I awoke to find myself in Yna’s embrace and although she reeked of alcohol, I allowed myself to sit on her lap as the morning sunlight bathed the cabin.

Unfortunately, there was much to be done, so I pulled myself free from her grasp and hopped off of her legs before lightly stretching my small limbs.

“Mmm?” Yna sounded as she awoke.

“Did you have fun? Last night, I mean.” I asked.

“You already know the answer to that, you furry little voyeur.” Yna said with a smirk.

“Ahem! Anyway, let’s go check in on Han. Then Farin, I want to discuss a few things with both of them-“

“No, we’re going to eat first.” Yna said as she picked me up and although I wanted to complain initially, I sighed before allowing her to take me to Shiru’s house.

“Good morning, Katsíki.” Shiru greeted while Yna placed a grumpy me onto my chair in the dining room.

“Good morning, Shiru-“

“Katsíki!” Erna yelled as she ran to me.

“Hey-“

“Look how strong I’ve gotten.” Erna said while flexing her small arms.

I knew that she and many other children had been training and whatnot but what they probably still didn’t understand was that it was all for self defense.

I was never going to ever allow them on the battlefield-

“Are they that bad?” Erna asked with a saddened expression.

I quickly noticed that I was frowning and so, after shaking my head, I placed my palm on her little bicep.

“MY GOODNESS! I didn’t realize it before, but you’ve grown so much stronger!” I yelled dramatically.

Erna’s eyes widened and she puffed her chest before nodding confidently.

“Just you wait! One day I’ll be a Black Blade or even better I’ll be like… lady Yna.” Erna said although she whispered the last part.

“You can do it!” I said while giving her a thumbs up but I dramatically lowered my head before rubbing my temples.

“But… Yna is a Golden Knight. Could you ever reach her level?” I asked softly.

“I can do it if I put my heart to it, right?” Erna asked with an expression that was a mixture of desperation and determination.

Why was she trying so hard?

What are adults for if not protecting children?

I’ve never really judged parents who spoil their children a little.

The following generation should live lives easier than the previous one, no?

I always spoiled Erna and gave her whatever she wanted, within reason of course, but I had made the mistake of assuming that this alone would stop her from wanting anything else.

I crossed my arms before nodding.

“You can do it. Now scram. I’ve much to think about.”

Erna did a cute little giggle before running to her chair.

I shifted my attention to Farin who entered Shiru’s house with a yawn.

He greeted everyone before taking his seat.

We were then joined by Han, Serylea and everyone else.

We all ate before returning to our respective posts although Yna and I followed Serylea to lower Coh to a separate research building.

Scattered within it were various dark contraptions, but our focus was the one in the center of the building.

It was basically a train carriage that operated on darkness.

I quickly realized that a darkness magician, like myself, could provide the mechanical power required for certain devices and machines.

This dark carriage was one such machine.

A darkness magician would sit in the front and they would operate the many mechanisms that allowed the carriage to move forward on its many wheels.

The carriage in front of us was a mere frame, but it would serve as the foundation for many future variations. Some would be used as a form of public transport allowing people to travel from Coh, to Eimval to the Oasis with ease.

Another use, the use I had in mind when I originally proposed the idea to Farin and everyone, was to assist people in long distance travel.

I wasn’t the only one who had a feeling that the Nemen were still out there somewhere and I wanted to send a group of Rendaro west to search for them.

Serylea was the head of all the research and development that involved darkness based machines.

She had transitioned from botanist to mechanical engineer quite smoothly.

I inspected the dark carriage and beheld it’s size.

It was about the size of four train carriages. Or more accurately, two carriages stacked on top of another two.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Instead of typical train wheels it had the same tracks and suspension one would find on a tank to allow for smooth traversal across the desert.

It was also capable of storing a ton of food and water.

The public transportation variant wouldn’t have all that I suppose.

Serylea handed me a blueprint for the long distance travel variant.

“Magnificent work, Serylea.”

“Ah, you should really be thanking my assistants. They’re the ones working their butts off while I’m taking notes.” Serylea said shyly.

I nodded before handing her back the blueprint.

“Have the final ready by tomorrow. I’ll go check up on Farin and Han and see if everything’s ready o their end.”

Serylea nodded before waving us goodbye as we left the building.

Yna and I then made our way to Farin’s house to find him in the living room lecturing his students on Rendaro history.

We didn’t wanna bother him and so we simply watched as he said various things about each Rendaro tribe.

My ears perked up when he got to the Nemen.

I wanted to find them because if they were willing to cooperate, we could create an alliance that Caligo wouldn’t be able to easily mess with.

That was my plan anyway.

“Alright, you all have your assignments. You may leave.” Farin said and his students all promptly left the house shortly after.

I sat on the chair opposite his before smiling as my heart felt overwhelmingly content.

“Katsíki?”

“Err… the five students I asked for. Are they ready?”

“Yes. Is there anything else you need?” Farin asked as I stood up.

“No. What about you? Need anything?”

Farin shook his head.

I gave him a curt nod before standing up.

“What will you do if we end up finding nothing and no one?” Farin asked.

“We’ll fight and we’ll keep fighting until Coh and the Expanse know peace.”

Farin nodded before waving Yna and I goodbye.

We then made our way to Han’s office.

It was a two storey building which was filled to the brim with Black Blades who documented and read various reports.

We entered Han’s office to find him writing something into a small notebook.

“Hello.” I greeted become sitting on one of the two chairs in front of his desk.

“Ah, greetings, Katsíki.”

“Hey. Congratulations on the victory by the way. I can’t imagine how it would’ve gone without you.” I said, but Han shook his head.

“All I did was yell at people. The hard working men and women of the Black Blades is what deserves commendation. I guess that also extends my thanks to you, Yna.” Han said with a lowered head.

Yna didn’t respond and I saw that she had a rather stiff expression.

“Anyway, it was cooperation that won us that battle. Speaking of working together, how are the men doing out front?” I asked.

“Almost every injury has been healed and the dead are being buried as we speak.”

I nodded before remembering something.

“Oh yeah, not to add onto your already burdensome workload, but once you’re done with everything here, I’m gonna need you to head to the Ash Wastes. I want a few wraiths for a special team. I’ll give you more details later. So just focus on clearing up your schedule for now.”

Han nodded before jotting something in his little book.

“Yep. Oh and also, remember to send five of your men to Serylea for the trip west. That’s pretty much it so I guess we’ll leave you to your work.” I said before leading Yna out of the office.

We then made our way out of Coh and into the war room where Anda and Calëb were packing up various documents.

“Hey.” I greeted softly.

“Hello.”

“Greetings.”

The two greeted.

“Is there anything you two might need before you head back home?”

“Mmm… no, not really. Actually, I’ll pass through Han’s office and see if he needs anything. I’d prefer it if we began preparing for the full force of Lanceberg as soon as possible.” Anda said.

I nodded before turning to Calëb.

“Good. And you?”

“I don’t need anything in particular although I would like to ask for the permission to allow renegade troops to deploy when the rest of man’s armies arrive.” Calëb said.

“Renegade… oh! You mean like Shakha’s troop and whatnot?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“How’s he doing anyway?”

“He’s doing great. Leading a troop is no easy feat especially without the support of the tribe.” Calëb explained.

“I see. Well, all you need to do is talk to the Black Knives and I’m sure they’ll find a way to best incorporate your renegade troops.” I said.

Calëb nodded and this was my cue to leave.

I placed my hands on my hips as Yna and I stood just outside the war room tent.

“Alright, we’ve spoken to all the major quest givers. Now, I suppose I should head to the research facility.” I said before noticing that Yna’s eyes had dimmed somewhat.

“Mmm… wanna hang out for a bit?” I said and Yna promptly nodded afterwards.

We made our way to the heart of Coh where a dark bridge now sat near the waterfall allowing people to enter the throne room from the residential area with ease.

That being said, the heart, the centre of the forest, was surrounded by a fence that although short, it barred people from entering this place willy nilly.

Well, the Black Knives would apprehend anyone who tried, but still.

Yna and I sat next to each other as the sun slowly set.

I reached out to her, silently asking for her hand and she gave it to me.

I then sighed deeply before falling back onto the dry grass.

I tightly clung to Yna’s hand as my mind frantically thought about various things.

“Lunësse… mentioned the Helma, Stormhawks and Five Stars. Tell me more about them. I know the Helma are the prince’s personal guard, but that’s pretty much it.”

Yna nodded before looking up in thought.

“The Helma are the strongest golden knights simply because all of them are healers and light magicians. Not only are they capable of setting entire regions of land ablaze, merely cutting one is tantamount to blemishing the golden will of Summus itself and thus grounds for immediate extermination. No being has ever been known to have harmed a single hair on the heads of any of the Helma and if someone did… they didn’t live to tell anyone about it.” Yna explained.

“As for the Stormhawks, you’ve already met one. Gess is part of a Legion that garnered quite the reputation for wanton destruction. They simply don’t know when to stop and their endurance is almost laughably inexhaustible. The Five Stars… are a mystery. Everyone knows they exist because their names are marked on the gigantic tapestries that list every legion. These can be found in almost every knight owned building. Some say the five stars watch over Lanceberg from high above while others say that the legion doesn’t exist at all.”

“I see.” I droned.

“What about you, Yna? Who are you right now?” I asked.

Yna’s eyes narrowed.

“Who do you think I am?” She asked as she squeezed my hand.

“You are the woman who is doing her best to help me defend the Expanse. A powerful warrior, ruthless leader and most importantly… you’re my friend.”

“Aww! If I could cry, I’d drown you in tears!” Yna said as she reached out to hug me, but we had work to do, so I crawled away.

“Get back here!” Yna yelled but I got up and ran away.

Unfortunately, my goat legs could only run so fast, so Yna easily caught me before tightly hugging me.

She then exited the heart and took me to the main research facility where I oversaw the development of many technologies.

Yna left shortly after delivering me there as she had business elsewhere.

I nodded to myself before helping the Rendaro with various things.

My primary focus was analysing feedback from soldiers on how my ballista’s were performing and so I plopped onto one of the chairs in the corner of the facility. It was next to a table littered with countless notes and documents and this is where I spent most of my time.

.

..

“Phew!” I sounded while taking off my clothes.

“Were you working hard or did you do hardly any work?” Yna asked with a smirk as she changed into her blood red nightgown.

“The former.” I said as I hopped onto the bed.

“Is that so? Well, rest up. I want us to head north and create a bunch of towers for our men in the Kommátia planes.” Yna said.

“Alright- wait a minute! Who picked that name?” I cried, but Yna simply sat on the bed before placing me on her lap and covering his both in a blanket.

“Shh. Rest up now.” She said and all I could do was groan.

Now the area north of Coh would be associated with a group of dark and deadly warriors.

Oh well.

I suppose it was too late to change it.

I closed my eyes before resting my head on Yna’s chest, but just as I seeped into unconsciousness, I felt an extreme pain deep within my mind.

[Wow. Impressive.]