There was a knock on the door.

“Come in.” The man behind the desk called. He was in the middle of sorting out some papers and placed the quill he was writing with to the side. He could have done it mentally, but he preferred the physical touch and doing it with his own hands. The door opened. “Oh, Onyx. What’s up?”

“Hey, John.” Onyx answered through a mental link. As his body was made out of metal, he could not physically speak. “Any news?”

“Of Gerald? No, I’m afraid not.” John shook his head. “You know, same old, same old.”

“But it’s been months since the Anchor was finished. Years since he disappeared! How can there still be nothing?” Onyx expressed his frustration through the link.

“He’ll turn up eventually, I’m sure.” John calmly replied like he had done many times before. “Ah, I did visit that diviner, like I promised.”

“And?” Onyx leaned in excitedly.

“Nothing. There was no trace of him. But he confirmed Gerald is not on this Plane at least. Not his body, not his Soul.”

“Oh… Well, that’s something, at least. Useless fate readers. We need fate weavers, not these pompous charlatans.” Onyx mentally grumbled.

The diviners always liked to boast they could give answers to any question you desired, but clearly, they were limited in some ways. Not to mention that their mystical sight couldn’t touch those who were stronger than them.

While they liked to boast, they were quite useless in some regards. The people at the top didn’t take them all that seriously. Still, they were useful for spying on the general movements of the enemy. That was enough to give them a cushy position in any Sect or Clan.

There was another knock on the door.

“It’s open.” John called. It was Adam. The man entered the room with his magic rifle slung over his shoulder and confidently strode forward with a beaming smile on his face.

“Hey, boss! Onyx.” The man inclined his head.

“Hoh? You reached the Spirit Realm already? Congratulations!” John praised the guy.

“Oh, that was fast. I thought you would slack off again.” Onyx teased his teammate.

“Hah, you wish, metal man.” Adam laughed. “I pushed myself nearly as hard as John did, and man, this feels great! My power is so much greater than before, I almost couldn’t believe there was such a difference. No wonder I was so weak before.”

“So it is safe to assume the hunt was successful?” John probed.

Adam’s expression hardened and he frowned. “Yeah, about that… I think I killed at least a dozen Drow in the last few days. The war with The City is really making them lash out. I’m starting to think we chose a bad place for our base… Almost directly in the middle of the two giants.”

John sighed and rubbed his face. “Yeah… That was my mistake. I didn’t think they would move so far south. I was certain the conflict would move north instead. This is a freaking desert, for god’s sake. There’s nothing here!”

“Except us.” Onyx added playfully, not taking the situation seriously in the least.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

John frowned. “Now’s not the time for sarcasm, this is serious.”

“Yeah… So is finding Gerald.” Onyx countered. “It’s been how long already? And we still know nothing about his whereabouts.”

“Oh, for god’s sake!” John slammed his hand on the table and stood up. “He was sucked into the Lower Realm, alright? There, you happy? Now you know where he is.”

Onyx took a step back. “You… You knew?!”

John snorted and rolled his eyes. “I made an educated guess. It wasn’t a stretch to figure out he was sent there after the diviner confirmed he was not on this Plane anymore. Not to mention he was fighting one of the High Priests when he disappeared. They are known for such things.”

“So what are we waiting for, then? Let’s go get him!” Onyx demanded.

“We can’t!”

“Why not?!”

“Because we are not strong enough, god dammit!” John shouted back. “You need the power of a Sky Realm to jump between Planes, and even I am not strong enough to do that yet, despite being right at the cusp of it.”

“Oh…” Onyx slouched down, depressed and defeated. “How long will it take you to reach the Sky Realm then?”

John sighed. “A few years, probably. Could be sooner depending on how this war goes. What? You thought I was slacking off? Hah!”

Onyx lowered his head. “Sorry. I didn’t-”

“Forget about it, it’s fine. Gerald will be just fine on his own. However, if you want to help him, then make sure this place remains standing. Without the Anchor, he might really be lost forever.”

“Right…”

“Adam.” John turned to address the other guy.

“Huh? Yes?” The man snapped back to the real world. He had not been paying too much attention after the two began arguing and just let his mind wander.

“Go with Onyx and establish a perimeter. Traps, illusions, barriers… Do whatever is necessary, just make sure this place is protected. We need to keep this place hidden for as long as possible and defend it if it is not. I’d rather avoid a conflict with the Drow, but…”

“I get it. We’ll make sure they stay away.” Adam nodded and turned to Onyx, the metal man. “Come, let’s go.”

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Onyx walked through the desert with Adam by his side. They were picking up flat stones and carving runes into them, before placing them back on the ground. Each rune drawn shifted the energy in the air just slightly, but the combined effect of hundreds of such stones created a zone that would deflect anyone who was unaware of their presence, subconsciously pushing them away from their base.

“You sure this is going to work?” Onyx asked after nearly an hour of silence.

Adam shrugged. “Probably not. The big dogs will see through the illusion immediately, but it might distract the grunts long enough for us to take them out. Or they might just leave us alone, who knows?”

“Hmm. I doubt we will get that lucky. Still, it would be great if we got some skirmishes. I could use an upgrade.”

“Who wouldn’t.” Adam laughed.

Onyx laughed with him but then turned serious. “What do you think Gerald is doing?”

“Dunno. Training? What’s a Lower Plane like?”

“I heard it’s an endless wasteland. No sun, no life, no Qi.”

“Damn! That must suck then. Wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. And he’s been in there for what, a few years already?”

“Yeah… It’s been so long… I can’t believe one needs to reach the Sky Realm to be able to enter. Or leave.”

“Don’t worry.” Adam placed a hand on the metal man’s shoulder. “That guy is more stubborn than a bull. He will definitely survive, and we’ll get them out of there. I promise.”

“Thanks.”

“Actually, with him stuck in the Lower Plane, I just might be able to overtake him. That bastard got me good last time, but now it’s mine turn!” Adam grinned.

“Oh, piss off!” Onyx laughed and pushed him away. “Just you wait… I bet he’s going to come out ten times as strong and then he’ll really beat your ass.” They both laughed and continued carving the stones around their base.

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John, Adam, and Onyx were relaxing around a table, drinking some potent spirits during the cold night of early spring, when Alexandra came running into the room.

“Guys, guys!” She called, and it was clear from her demeanor that something big had happened.

“Hah?” Adam immediately jumped to her side. “What happened? Are we under attack? Are you hurt?”

“No, no… It’s nothing like that.” His wife pushed him to the side and handed a folded piece of paper over to John. “This just came through the Anchor. I thought you should see it.”

“What is…?” John took the paper and opened it. On it were written just a few words, but that was enough for his eyes to open wide.

“What is it? What does it say?”

John frowned. “It says… We are coming. Get ready. Make room. And under it’s signed Gerald.”

“Alright! He’s coming back! Does it say when?!”

John shook his head at Onyx’s question.

“He’s coming?” Adam asked. “Great! The gang is coming back together. We could use some of his he- Wait! Who the hell is this… we?”