“Sold, let’s go.”

Falk didn’t need to say any more, Ben was already grabbing his arms to pull him and Thera along, eager to get there.

How could he not be? To his knowledge, the world had eleven awakened skill holders and he knew five of them, he wasn’t going to turn down a chance to complete the set. Especially not when that meant getting to see what sort of power some of them wielded.

The two soul mages and the soul smith, the knowledge holder and the record holder, other than those he only actually knew of two more among them being the divine cook and the true shifter, meaning there were six others to wonder about, even if a realization stopped him in his tracks.

“Wait, do I already know about all of the terrestrial ones?” He asked.

It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption, while Elvat was aquatic the other four he personally knew were terrestrial and given that until Yuzu showed up, the current soul mage had to have been focusing on the environment he was most suited for, it wouldn’t have surprised him if the ocean races had more currently, with that being a question his teacher couldn’t answer.

“Couldn’t tell you honestly, a few of them prefer to keep to themselves so they aren’t actually known in the broader world and this will be my first time meeting the whole crowd, other than the bits that are common knowledge I have no idea who’s on land or sea.”

“Huh, I guess it will be cool to find out then.”

“And is that the purpose of this, uncle?” Thera asked. “For you to meet your contemporaries?”

“Ah, it sounds like that’s part of it but a large chunk is also going to have to do with discussions, both in how we’re dealing with the consequences of the last wave and how we might work together between now and the next. A bit awkward to say but we’re all powerful, finding ways to work together could yield explosive results.”

“And is it actually okay for us to come then?” Thera wanted to know. “This sounds important, I’d rather we didn’t get in the way.”

Ben was instantly prepared to say just how willing he was to be in the way but he didn’t have to, with his teacher waving away that concern.

“It was Nare himself who suggested I bring you two along and from the sounds of it it’s not the most unusual thing. Throughout history it’s not uncommon for someone at the third tier to look after those close to it; there'd be no complaints about bringing someone if they were at least the seventh awakened level. If they’re young enough, even lower and seeing as how you’re both currently contenders there’s no reason for it to be a problem. So long as one of you keeps one of the things you’re a contender for to yourself.”

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“I mean, I won’t bring it up but if we include you, five of the bigwigs going should already know about my sacrilege. Wait, actually is there going to be anyone else there who can see my status?”

“We’re going to hope the answer is no for the sake of saving all of us a lot of headache.”

They continued to chat as they went, heading to the world’s main gate network and passing through a new one, not a gate Ben had enchanted while also being one he’d never used, with his nose telling him they’d arrived at a coastal city.

Not that that was a surprise, all of the major cities of the world were built on coasts if there was a need for both the aquatic and the terrestrial to interact at a significant level, but what was more surprising was that the scale of it didn’t seem to match the other major cities he’d seen.

Allfaith, the magic towers, warriors’ tower, and the now decimated craftsmans’ tower had all felt significantly grander in scale. That wasn’t to say the place they’d found themself was small, the fact that he could see the marking for an invasion point jutting up in the sky a ways off told him that, but it didn’t seem as significant.

He didn’t know if his teacher was picking up on that feeling in him or just wanted to explain regardless but he got something of an answer when the yeti spoke up, quietly enough that only the two of them would hear.

“The meeting spot moves each time, it would be obnoxious if word got out and anyone without the sense to spare came to bother us but still try not to be too loud about the reason you’re here, understood?”

“Yes sir.”

“Yes, uncle.”

“Good, in that case, let’s get ourselves situated first.”

A city that size still needed to carry out diplomatic relations after all, meaning there’d be a few embassies around to take advantage of, with Anailia being represented too.

The moment they found it Falk showed off his letter from the queen to secure himself a room and that was met with him receiving a letter in return, the yeti’s eyes wrinkling as he read it.

“Problem?”

“Bah, somethin’ looks like it’s come up so this blasted thing’s been moved to tomorrow morning. Could have contacted us before we came, our time isn’t so cheap.”

Despite his grumblings, he still took the key to his room while Thera got one for them as well, creating the question of what they’d do from there.

They knew they were going to be busy for a couple days with it and even if it wasn’t a good use of their time, getting the chance to do nothing for even a bit was a blessing, with Falk being the first to voice how he’d be spending it.

“If things are going to be like this then I need a nap, I’ll see the two of you tomorrow,” He told them while he slipped away, looking plenty satisfied to have the chance, even if he’d been annoyed about how it had come up and left the two alone.

“Well, what do you want to do then?” Ben asked Thera beside him. “Also nap?”

It wouldn’t be the most productive but he could use any sort of laydown to focus on making souls for whatever bits of experience it would give him but she shook her head.

“If you’ve got energy, so do I. I feel like I haven’t had a proper break forever, let’s look around a bit.”

A better option that would let him train his connect on any random passersby too, it was a chance he was happy to take, with the two going out to see what that new city had waiting for them.