Combat in the mouth of the tunnel halted as a divine glow radiated from Akamori. A cleansing glow rippled over all the Katatska gathered, purging the corruptive damage caused by Vulcan. They were no longer thralls. Free to think and worship of their own accord. While Akamori didn’t demand their worship, many took a covenant with him immediately. Those connections yielding automatic increases to his divinity. The golden energy clung to his aura like drops of dew to a blade of grass on a humid summer morning.

Many others still yet had doubts, but none were hostile. He’d earned much goodwill among the leonine Katatska. Now freed of their false fire god, he’d effectively opened their eyes and shattered their faith in a singular blow. It would take time, but word of his miracle would spread. A costly expense, but a worthy investment if it meant he could begin building a power base.

He wondered how Thanaton felt about his stunt. The sword pulsed silently on the question. There weren’t any prompt recriminations, so that was positive at least.

It is a start, but by no means is it the end.

Akamori nodded to that, sheathing the weapon at his back. His ragged black jacket and environmental armor singed, battered and barely hanging together. Akamori drifted down to the ground, letting out a long breath as released the held aether points while he was channeling his air and void flight magic.

“Sir, just what the hell was that?” Sirsir asked Akamori.

This wasn’t something he wanted to discuss with the others yet. But there wasn’t any avoiding it now. Akamori glanced at Sirsir, “I’ve reached a different level, and with it, comes different needs. I’m a Demigod now, and to become a full god, I’ll need worshippers.”

Sirsir glanced back at to the Katatska. Some were hugging, others sobbed in relief. More yet seemed suspicious and aloof. Others were still just silently thankful to be freed of their corruption from Vulcan. Capable of making their own decisions and thoughts, and no longer being twisted out of balance.

Sirsir nodded finally. “Well, it sure beats havin’ to put them all down. At least this way they won’t be summoning back another iteration of Vulcan. Now they have a choice, at least.”

“It was more than I was given when my world ended.” Akamori lamented.

“Wonder if the Adventurer’s Guild will give us a bonus fer not having to wipe out the Katatska.” Sala said as he healed a nasty burn on Yasiin’s arm.

“Guess we’ll find out. Can’t hurt to ask. No one likes having to put down a full tribe because of an icon.”

“Reckon the Federation sends some investigators to question the Lt. about his little miracle?” Sirsir asked Yasiin.

The injured sniper gave a gentle shrug as Sala continued treating the burn, the tissue was now less angry looking and just red.

“Hard to say. Our relationship with the Federation has always been kind of rough because of the Captain. Then again, he’s a demigod. Those are pretty rare outside of the Arch Priest. To have one wandering around and performing miracles might raise some questions.”

Akamori sighed, folding his arms. “Great. More trouble with them. The sooner we’re rid of this place and its politics, the better.”

“Let’s go do what we came here to set up. Head to New Xinjia and beat some Sauridius ass.”

The hike back into the capital was quiet. No one brought up the miracle Akamori had created, and he found some comfort in that silence. He was still trying to wrap his head around the action. There was still so much he didn’t know about being a god. Once again, he felt like he was just stumbling around in the dark, faking it till he made it.

As the squad got to the Adventurer’s Guild, a lot of stunned expressions greeted them. Virtually everyone had expected them not to come back. Vulcan was notoriously dangerous, but isolated just far enough that the Federation was comfortable leaving the problem alone. That was until the Sauridius shacklers started causing problems in the city.

“Welcome back to the Adventurer’s Guild. Another job well done?” The front office clerk Sigbert said.

“Yeah Sig. I don’t think the Katatska will make trouble again.”

“Yes. Terribly unfortunate the village had to be put down.” Sigbert said.

“Actually, they’re still alive. We were able to undo the aether corruption from the Icon. They are a free people once again. I don’t expect they’ll make trouble for the city or the Emerald Forest.”

Sigbert leaned back, looking one part impressed, one part skeptical, and two parts pleased. “Well, quite the accomplishment, young master Shinjo. If you’ll allow me.” He held his hand out to process their contract. Sigbert reached over and grabbed a large stamp, dabbing in magical ink, and then brought it down on the contract.

System Info: You have completed Quest: Cooling Off

Objectives: Defeat Vulcan. Pacify corrupted Beast Tribe.

Rewards: Extremely large amount of Guildmarks.

You have earned 20 Million Guildmarks

Akamori blinked and turned back to the boys. “Well. We have money we can spend finally. Question is, how? Do we gear up and grab a ship?”

“We already have a ship.” Yasiin said. “There are other ways to get to New Xinjia.”

“Well, if we cut a ship out of the expenses, that leaves us a bit of room to work with to grab the best we can find. No more Federation handmedowns.”

Akamori turned back around to see Sigberts expectant look. The clerk leaned forward with a friendly smile. “How may I help?”

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“We need to go shopping.”

Sigbert smiled and rose, gesturing for them to follow as he led them through the guild hall. As they strode, they passed magic pictures of past Adventurer teams. “Since you’re here, I’d be remiss if I failed to mention it would be in your best interests to register yourselves as a team.”

“We can do that?”

“Oh yes. Many of our best teams have been former Federation soldiers. There may be the occasional bad habit to be outgrown, but by and far many former soldiers find a comfortable life among our ranks.”

They reached the end of a long hand, hung a turn, and entered what looked to be a shopping mall within the guild. Akamori recognized some vendors. There was a large stall for the Artificers of Aeryn, the largest Artificing guild in the sector, and, subsequently, the largest arms producer, as well. His friend Kusinaki worked with them. He idly wondered how his old friend was doing. Before he knew it he was idly standing in front of the Aeryn Arms section.

To call it a stall was grossly understating the size. It was more like an entire wing of a building all its own. Rows of mannequins wearing various spell armors stood assembled like an infantry company. Akamori’s eyes slid up and down the rows of armored dummies. Then he turned back to the boys with a boyish grin.

“Gents, let’s gear up.”

“Yes, sir,” they all chorused, with matching grins.

He missed the full body coverage of his old armor. But liked the agility the environmental armor afforded him. Thinking back to how he lost the armor Kusinaki had given him, he’d been unable to dodge the surprise disintegrate that Lucinda had set him up with. Had he been less encumbered, he could have easily evaded.

You are still thinking too much, like a mortal. Armor. Trinkets. These are the tools of lesser beings. You are nearly an Iron Ranked god now. Once you fully ascend, such things will be meaningless.

“I’m sure my predecessor may have felt the same. But I’m inclined to take every advantage that I can find.”

The blade thrummed, annoyed at him. He took it as passive disapproval. He paused at a particularly interesting blue robe. It reminded him a lot of home, and when he ran a hand along it, it felt smooth.

“Do you like it?”

“Huh?” Akamori turned to see a dwarf smiling up at him. She wore the apron and gloves of a crafter.

“It’s made of Ash Spider silk. Nearly completely resistant to fire magic. You could be Vulcan himself and wear that, and it would be just as cool as the void itself.” She said with a proud smile.

Akamori knew that look. He’d seen it on Kusinaki enough whenever his friend had made something to help on Honshu. The blue robe looked to be about his size. He pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Can I try it on?”

“Be my guest.”

Carefully, Akamori shrugged out of his ruined gear and slid the robe on as if it were fragile and might come apart in his hands. He studied both arms for a moment, then caught the dwarf smiling at him. Her blond hair tugged back in a ponytail with her bangs pinned back to keep her hair free of her eyes.

“It suits ya,” she said with a confident nod. “What’re ye aspects?”

“Light, Fire, Void, Soul, and Air.”

“Ohhhh, you’ve got some power in ya.” She flipped down a rune etched monocle and looked him over, nodding. “You’ve even got the touch of the divine in ya. Means you’ll be needing the very best.”

She eyed Thanaton appraisingly and nodded. “I see you’ve at least got yerself a capable weapon. It resonates with ya. But you’ll be needing something to safeguard ya.” She turned back to the robe that Akamori had just slid off and glanced at his mangled environmental armor from the Brotherhood. “Ya strike me as the light on your feet type, but still packing plenty o’power.”

“I guess that’s accurate.”

She reached into her satchel and fished out a pair of large shoulder pauldrons with runes etched into their surface. They had a blue metalic finish to them, hinting to the water magic imbued into them. The dwarven crafter snapped her finger and floated up so she could fix the armor to the robe and floated back, studying the overall ensemble.

“Hmm. Still needs just a little something else.”

“Well, I could use some storage.”

“An umbral pocket. Can do.” she said with an exicted expression. Back into her storage pocket she went, rummaging around

She pulled out a void rune and pressed it to the fabric. The rune dissolved into the weave of the robe. A shiver danced across Akamori’s skin as the dark magic settled into the robe. The shop keep nodded and stepped back to observe.

“Better, but still a long ways off. It still needs a little extra fer someone of your stature.”

Akamori wasn’t quite sure if she was insulting him or complimenting him. He found the dwarves to always be a facinating sort even since his trek to the Forge. He felt the sword thrill at that.

We must return to the Forge. There you can craft truly remarkable works. This mortal may make fine goods for mortals, but for you, it will barely serve and she knows this.

“Tell me. In yer adventures, what do ya feel ya need more of?” She asked.

He sighed. Well that was a loaded question. Skill? Time? Luck? Armor? All of the above? Which was more important? Which was most possible to get?

Think back to your training. Reflect on what you have learned and you the truth will reveal itself to you.

Virtually all of the fights he’d had so far, it usually came down to raw speed and brute strength. He could augment those on his own sure, but the AP might be better spent on other spells.

“Speed and strength are the most basic tenets of victory in combat.”

“Ahhhh. I think I’m beginnin’ to understand ya.” The dwarf strode away and came back with a pair of boots and fingerless gloves.

“Platinum Ranked Boots of Striding, and Gold Ranked Gloves of Strength. They’ll give ya large bonuses to each that surpass racial limits.”

Fascinating. So she could help equip him past his phsyical peak. He glanced down at her with a grin. “Ok. You sold me. How much for all of it?”

The dwarf grinned. “How much ya got?”

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