Jonathan shrugged, and turned to the others.

“Do you feel ready to return to Mire now?” He asked. “We should be strong enough to deal with most of the threats there.”

“I have been ready for this entire time,” Hushar declared, a savage look on his face.

“We should be strong enough to reach the outer edges of the realm. Then, we can start gathering others to our cause, like in the Ash Heaps,” Edgar suggested.

“Yes. Pity we cannot easily recruit more Uthraki here. Unlike in the last realm of Tartarus, everyone here is under the tight control of the realm’s ruler. I doubt any would willingly join us.”

“Wait a second,” Hushar began, a frown forming on his face. “What if we petitioned the lord of this realm to help us? After all, the mimic scourge came from Slothari’s presence. As one of the mimics killed the local lord’s lover, would he not be predisposed to hatred of her?”

“You might have a point there,” Jonathan answered, raising an eyebrow. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. All the signs were pointing to something like this.”

“Yes, but what if he simply decides to kill us for trespassing?” Edgar asked.

“I have faith in our ability to escape in time,” Jonathan replied. “We do need to be careful with the token though. We will soon be too powerful to use it in unison.”

“I agree. Perhaps we should return to Mire, and dispatch one of us to gather allies and establish a base,” Edgar suggested. “That way, none of us will be stuck here.”

They proceeded to do just that, appearing back in the endless forest of the Rot-Trunk Copses.

“So, who’s it going to be?” Jonathan asked. “I would do it, but I need to be the one who approaches the Lord in Tartarus.”

“I’ll go,” Edgar said. “The presence of Hushar might help with negotiations, and my flight abilities will allow me to traverse the forest far easier. However, we need to agree on a meeting spot.”

Jonathan withdrew the map from his storage device, and opened it up. Edgar perused the map, and then pointed towards a landmark further towards the rim of the realm. It was located in the Waste Warrens, a massive pyramid of layered rock and corpses abandoned by the local rodents, after an infestation of undead had claimed it. The amount of detail on the map was astounding, and Jonathan was continuously grateful for the efforts of the cartographer.

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With that settled, Edgar lifted up into the air, and flew over the tree trunks, quickly receding into the distance. Hushar watched him go, a look of longing on his face. He would have preferred to be the one going, but he was logical enough to know that his desire for revenge would only lead to his own demise. As well as that, he knew that having an Uthraki as part of the diplomatic party would help to ease tensions.

“So, it’s down to us two then,” Jonathan said, injecting a bit of cheer into his voice.

“Hmm,” was the only reply he received.

The next day was spent training, as they had to wait for the cooldown on the token to eclipse. Hushar was able to burn off some of his rage, and Jonathan was able to train with his club and mace. Wielding both of them at once made his skill worse, not better, especially compared to Hushar’s mastery of his sword. However, it also increased his comprehension speed.

Neither of them held back, engaging in a full expression of their martial mastery. The surrounding area was leveled by the fight, and both men were covered in bruises by the end. However, it was worth it. By the end, he had increased his mastery by another point. He was only three levels away from Expert Rank now. After seeing Theodore’s power, Jonathan was eager to form a weapon domain of his own.

That was a task that would take longer than a few scant hours of pain filled sparring though, no matter how energetic. As the timer on the token ran out, Jonathan flipped it around his fingers and opened his palm, letting Hushar grab on. With a whoosh, they teleported to Tartarus, ready for the most fraught diplomatic mission of their lives.

As they appeared in the Breakbone Hills, Jonathan let a slight smile grace his features. The challenge ahead was one that could not be won through strength of arms. Instead, he would have to rely on something that was often neglected within his arsenal of skills. Negotiation. Edgar would have been helpful here, due to his Politics skill, but that was hardly a magic bullet of any sort. In the end, if the ploy was not backed up with sufficient force, it would be useless.

“I must say, I am eager to find out what a member of my species sitting at the apex of Tier 3 is like. It will be a good template for my own future,” Hushar declared.

“I think anyone at that rank would be useful to emulate. Imagine the secrets and treasures that he must have amassed over that time. Although we seem to be taking the fast track to power, there are benefits to doing it at a more sedate pace.”

“That’s assuming that we have a choice,” Hushar replied ominously.

The two men started running, following the directions on the map. The Breakbone Hills flashed by, the warrens of goblins turning into a blur as they went. Rather than stay and fight, they used their superior speed to flash by the foul creatures, and towards their ultimate goal.