* * *

The Matriarch had already long left the wall, her glance back at the eccentric firing endless infused range weaponry tirelessly without end left her both in awe and no little amount of fear. The eccentric’s actions today had only shown once again the great chasm that lay between their skills. He’d grasped the tide master’s weakness so easily and quickly, almost instantly shifting from killing the monsters with a strike to instigating the tide master’s monsters and beasts to fall upon one another.

With the lull that Joe had offered her at the beginning, she’d finally been able to expand her senses, sending out her Presence deeply out across the tide. Her Presence swelled across the field and found the tide master’s Presence weak. She frowned, and pressed deeper, spreading her Presence further and a bit more weakly until she finally felt the soft Presence of the tide master, weak and hidden. She’d frowned at that and immediately pulled her Presence back. This is…

She’d immediately called for her closest advisors, commanding them to seek out the information she’d sought and to report to her that evening. It was now time to receive their reports.

“What have you learned?”

“The easiest was the eccentric’s weapon.”

“It is known?”

“Yes. It is a commoner’s weapon. Of the job hunter.”

“Commoner weaponry? Truly?”

The man nodded, “It is a weak and useless weapon. Its weakness is the same as all range weapons, infusion is impossible once it is well gone from the warrior.”

The Matriarch narrowed her eyes, “And yet I felt it.”

The man nodded, “That… is likely the eccentric’s great skill.”

“A thing I could believe. Yet…”

The man did not reply as the Matriarch fell into thought, her mind wrestling with what she’d seen this day. Her thoughts diligently digest what she knew until she’d found all she could and silently released a sigh, turning back to the man.

“It seems to be a warrior’s weapon and the eccentric uses it as such. No mean commoner weapon!”

“It seems, yes.”

“Is there a bow…man’s?” the Matriarch struggled with the name with some confusion, ”job amongst the warrior jobs?”

“We have not found such. The only such weapon is with the hunter, a commoner job.”

The Matriarch fell silent at that for a bit, then mused softly, “I’m inclined to have a portion of our warrior caste become this hunter job.”

Several of the advisors in the room gasped while two actually stepped forward, aghast and attempting to convince her against. Her military advisor actually seemed terrified and she rolled her eyes.

“Enough. It is only a thought. But we may need to rethink our view of the commoner jobs.”

All the advisors grimaced, looking like they’d swallowed dung, none pleased to see it.

The Matriarch frowned, “Tell me, would our warriors benefit from such a weapon or to have support of such teams with this weapon.”

The military advisor scowled at that before responding with some disdain, “It would be a powerful… tool, but it is unlikely that … any in the clan would take such… a job.”

“Did the eccentric make you believe it is a simple commoner’s weapon?” the Matriarch growled with some frustration.

The military advisor immediately replied, “No, it certainly is not. But… he must have found a job or skill that availed him to such.”

“He is a SCHOLAR,” the Matriarch hissed.

The military advisor’s eyes shot open, “That… I had heard rumors, but surely…”

She grimaced, “My daughter saw it herself. Scholar gold.”

“Then how…”

“He uses the goblin king’s rings.”

“Then…”

“Yes. His skill is gained from effort.”

The military advisor’s smile grew and he nodded, “And we could do the same.”

“Yes, but it will take much time.”

The military advisor nodded at that, “But time we have in abundance.”

The Matriarch nodded, “Just so.”

“Thank you, Matriarch. I will begin immediately”

The Matriarch nodded with satisfaction and continued, “Excellent, but also seek out news of any range warriors. Seek out the Temples of Mimir. And if any rumors are found, inform me immediately.”

The military advisor immediately bowed and backed away, “As you command, Matriarch.”

Before she could turn from the conversation, however, the clan relations advisor stepped forward, “And of Glandendar clan?”

The whole room stilled, a deep moment still the room then all coming to realization, the connection made immediately. The Matriarch turned to her, speaking quickly.

“You think this related.”

“The eccentric is infusing, at range… a range even greater than the Glandendar clan.”

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The Matriarch grimaced, “It is not the same.”

The clan relations advisor shrugged, “It is ranged infusion.”

The Matriarch’s grimace grew. She ground her teeth as she considered then focused back on the relations advisor, “It is not related.”

The relations advisor nodded, “I… would agree. However, it is superior and Glandendar will only hear one thing.”

The Matriarch sighed, “They will only hear ranged infusion.”

“Yes, Matriarch.”

She scowled and turned back to the military advisor, “Thoughts?”

“I agree with you, Matriarch. Our clandestine observations … this is not the same, in any way. His power and range exceeds anything the Glandendar have ever accomplished, control as well. They use… tools to accomplish this. The eccentric is … true ranged infusion. However, the relations advisor,” the military advisor offered a begrudging nod in her direction, “is correct. They will only hear ranged infusion.”

“And we will be suppressed.”

“All will be suppressed with assassins running in the streets.”

The Matriarch fell silent for quite some time, her mind wrestling with it deeply before she finally sighed, “Close the Gate. Let no one through. We will…”

The relations advisor stepped forward even as over half of the rest did as well, “Matriarch. We cannot contend with a Greater Cla…”

The Matriarch snapped her gaze to the relations advisor, “I am not contending with the Greater Clans. And I’m no fool to contend with Glandendar. We will… simply slow the spread. But make no moves to seek out the eccentric or learn from him. He is a guest and only a guest.”

The advisors all calmed, the relations advisor even bowing as she replied, “You are wise, Matriarch. I should not have questioned.”

The Matriarch considered that final statement, then hid a smile remembering some of Joe’s advice through her daughter, “You should have. I would have been a fool to contend with a Greater clan. We will not. Delay until after the ti… no… delay a month. The eccentric will have enough time if needed.”

“And I?” the military advisor asked.

The Matriarch paused at that, then scowled, “Do not involve the temples or any non clanners. Seek out information but under the strictest and safest protocols. We cannot afford to offend the Glandendar.”

"And if we were to... be standing by?"

The Matriarch paused at that, deeply in thought for quite some time before replying, "Then study and learn all you can. But ask nothing."

The military advisor quickly bowed and the Matriarch stifled a sigh. Maybe the delay will be a small … gift to the eccentric. Something a wife and Queen would naturally warn her husband of… She turned her thoughts onto the next agenda item. I'll have to tell Gwenvair later.

She turned to another set of advisors, “What have you found?”

The advisor stepped forward, “Our scouts found nothing, which seems to match your sense of the tide master. It is well hidden and of the shadows, likely. The Sensors and Seekers found nothing as well, although the Sensors agree with your observation. The tide master is weak. It is … too young.”

The Matriarch narrowed her eyes, “And?”

The advisor sighed, frowning slightly, “It seems your instincts have proven prescient. The monsters are weak. There are even some beasts. There are almost no Great monsters, let alone Master monsters. Aside from the tide masters extraordinary ability to remain hidden, this tide is very… weak. It is truly strange. The tide does not seem… hmm … This tide is likely not natural.”

The Matriarch sighed and closed her eyes, deeply concerned but entirely grateful for the eccentric’s subtle and kind warning. How could he see… so easily?

* * *

Kim Jae Yeon roamed through the forest and searched out his location with diligent care. He’d found himself woken from a strange sleep in a strange place surrounded by a massive forest. He’d been in an odd pod of some kind, and failed to take anything from it before exploring. Seeing the odd display before him almost made him believe he was living in some kind of VR world, and he happily delved into the exploration of the world.

He’d survived the first chance at death by happenstance only because he’d been driven from the pod by some great beast, and he found himself running terrified through the forest until he found a small rather worthless cave to hold up in. When he finally accepted the warning to join Aelthron’s cradle, he’d found himself holding his breath in terrified wonder when he saw a massive streak of something brilliantly green tear apart the skies with a shockwave and crash into the ground near where he’d left his pod behind.

He shivered, watching with some terror as the green streak resolved into some great person with wings stretched lazily behind her, holding herself up with lazy wafting beats of her wings. She searched long and hard and Jae Yeon hid quiet and still. When she finally left, he wondered why he’d remained hidden, but there was some terror that seemed to shiver through him whenever he looked towards her, and that had been enough for him to remain silent. When she finally left, she took his pod with her, disappearing into the distance at a speed that left him shocked. That night, he felt both angry with himself for failing to retrieve anything from the pod, but relieved that he had no reason to return.

However, like Joe, he’d quickly realized it would be folly to accept naturalization and rejected it immediately, seeking to develop his abilities back to his Earth capabilities with what he could. Despite his understanding of his situation, Jae Yeon still struggled, having nothing to defend himself with nor anyway to truly work. He had his middle school Taekwondo, as all Korean young men usually had, reinforced with the military training that all Korean men were required to take when they reach adulthood.

As luck would have it, he found himself relatively close to an odd humanoid lizard race of what could only be monsters. Despite their humanoid nature, they killed everything around them and showed no sign of using any tools, weapons, or clothing. There really were simple animals in a semi human form.

That gave him an edge, however, and his Taekwondo proved sufficient to defend himself against them. Within two months, he’d been able to hit over level twenty in commoner, and like Joe, despaired at the speed of his growth. He’d quickly understood the ramifications of his status in comparison to his Earth stats, but unlike Joe, when he hit level twenty commoner, he found no way to change his job. About three months in, he’d built a small home for himself in the cave he’d first found and it was at that time he’d learned he could access some kind of help. Reading the Korean proved easy enough, and he quickly realized he needed to find a priest or gain the priest job. He had just made level twenty one by then, and he knew he was now at a dead end, taking a month to gain each level from twenty to twenty five. The other dozen or so jobs tantalized him, but he was unable to change at all.

That, for no other reason, finally drove him from his small cave in the mountains. He could only hope to find some civilization and then be able to gain access to a priest job. He gathered up the poorly made clothing and pseudo armor he’d made from the skinned corpses of the lizard creatures, some dried meat and berries, and a rather poor walking stick and prepared to travel.

He’d found a stream quite a while ago, his only source of water, and now returned to it to travel downstream towards what he hoped was civilization. He traveled for a good half a month down the stream, walking barely ten or twenty miles a day before being forced to camp, finding a defensible place to sleep.

About twenty days later, his despair was relieved as he came upon the ruins of a small village, long lost to the encroaching of the forest. But, finding a village gave him hope, even if it was a ruined one. He almost began moving on quickly down the river, but then decided he could possibly find some tools and possibly even weapons. He slipped into the village cautiously and almost cried out in horror when he saw a warrior collapsed against the wall. Jae Yeon stared with some confusion, then grinned as he saw the weapon resting in the warrior’s hand: a strong sword, if a little rusted.

He grinned to see it, laughing to himself as he reached out to pick it up, “Must be a VR gam…Aaaarrh!”

He screeched out in horror and pain as the sword vibrated wildly in his hands before ripping from his grip and tearing wildly off into the distance, erupting from him like a wild beast. It tore directly through his torso and gutted him as it spun off into the distance, barely missing his spine. Jae Yeon collapsed to his knees even as his intestines spilled out all across the ground around him, sliced in half. He bowed forward, unable to remain upright, then turned slightly as he collapsed into the arm of the warrior he’d stolen the sword from, nestled into his side much like lovers, or a father enwrapping his child into his side with his arms. Jae Yeon gasped and stared at the sword, vibrating wildly in the tree trunk a good hundred meters away.

“Why…”

Kim Jae Yeon died, the eighth survivor of Earth, and the last to die this year. Seven more remained.

* * *