– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 219, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 26 –
[Believe it or not, but that group comes from a powerful martial sect,] said Terry while signing for Dargones.
Terry had to furrow his brow when seeing their miserable and frankly frantic state, especially when facing the simultaneous assault from nullification mana, targeted spells, and a powerful disruption domain. He hadn’t even made a proper move yet, and the martialists were already scrambling.
[At least from a sect that used to be powerful,] added Terry. [Nine-faced Fox or something sect. That woman, their leader, used to have a high rank in the sect’s intelligence division.]
Dargones jumped forward and unleashed another intense nullification discharge towards the martialists.
Amelia snorted at a silent remark that had been only audible to her. “Dargones said they can’t be very intelligent if they came to challenge us with this level of unpreparedness.”
Can’t disagree… Terry could see Mei’s frenzied figure. Her eyes looked almost like a maddened beast’s and she was desperately trying to get past the Magebane and to him.
“I think they’re simply following her and she appears to have lost all reason,” said Terry with a shrug. It was obvious that these martialists, while powerful, were entirely unprepared to deal with a magebane and a mage as skilled as the Spellcrusher.
Their powerful resonance techniques evaporated within the nullification mana.
Their lightning-fast movement techniques were meaningless in front of teleportation.
There was no way for the martialists to play to their strengths, and there was not a single location for them to remain safe.
“Mistress, we have to flee!” shouted one martialist.
“The duchess is dead!”
“We failed to join up with the Lich Kingdoms! The plan has failed! We should—”
“INSOLENCE!” roared Mei while striking at one of her own subordinates. “WHO’S IN CHARGE?!” After her outburst, her hateful eyes immediately returned to Terry with the intensity of a crazed beast.
“Wow, she really hates you, doesn’t she?” said Amelia, while firing another barrage of spells. “What did you do?”
“Spoiled her plans by refusing to die,” explained Terry. “And killed her son. Perhaps. I don’t remember that part, honestly.”
“That would do it,” muttered Amelia. “Do we need them all?”
“No, but at least the leader,” replied Terry while he was redirecting a wave of spell slicers within his domain to chase the dantian of a martialist. “I don’t believe they tracked us here, so they must have been in the area already. I’m curious to learn why and what they might know about the Lich Kingdom invasion.” His expression became apologetic. “Perhaps I was rash in killing the duchess.”
“No, I would have made the same call,” said Amelia. “They might be unprepared, but one slip of attention would have been enough. We made a move for a reason. We’re getting closer to the Lich Kingdoms’ center of power, after all. Better to have one less enemy to worry about.”
“Still…” Terry’s face contorted in a familiar unsatisfied expression. His eyes naturally found their way back to Mei.
Perhaps I’ll feel better after I’ve crippled their cultivation.
Terry twirled his king spear and cycled his mana.
Should I throw her to the Whisperer or to the martial sects? Wait, Chalita’s sect had a grudge against them because of Shen. Perhaps I should have Guillermo contact her Shadowed Forest Sect for the interrogation.
Not the time.
Not yet.
Focus!
Terry clenched his spear and his mana moved into the many divine hammer inscriptions hidden in his armor.
New target. First objective…
***
“Stop glowering at the instructors.” Siling hissed at her father, which elicited an amused chuckle from Daiyu, who was sitting between the two.
“They’re late,” grumbled Ying.
“They’re busy.” Daiyu pointed out. “They had full schedules even before their tower masters ordered them to give us a crash course in the magics at work in the construction.”
“I know. I just hate wasting time.” Ying sighed.
“Since your masked ‘friend’ still hasn’t shown up to help, this is our best way to understand what is going on, so I’d hardly call this wasting time,” chided Siling.
“Not what I meant.” Ying took a deep breath. He found it difficult to face Siling and doubted this would change. He reminded himself that this wasn’t about Siling or him. This was about Siyu.
Samuel entered the small hall with Jorg and a few assistants from the Crafting Tower behind him. The assistants were bringing a smaller contraption with them. Jorg gave Siling a thumbs-up.
“Does this mean…?” Siling spoke up with hope.
“Instructor Ser of Arcana Academy has agreed to join the conversation,” assured Samuel. “He can’t come in person, but we set up everything to pair a voice transmission construct to one at the Academy.”
Ying’s expression brightened. An expert in rituals from the best magic academy in the remaining empires had unexpectedly joined their efforts.
“I’m surprised,” said Daiyu. Samuel had previously told them to not get their hopes up.
“Officially, this is now a collaborative research project on ritualistic soul binding and spirit submission,” said Samuel. “Unofficially, I used some of the leverage I had thanks to Terry’s discoveries to get it approved and before you say anything…” He held his hands up at the two frowning elven women. “It’s fine. If I don’t get to return to my position, that’s fine with me. Family is more important than work.”
Siling took a deep breath, but nodded. She still wasn’t used to seeing Terry’s uncle without his signature burn marks, and that wasn’t even the most striking change.
There was something remarkable in the fact that they were facing a war against the most terrifying empire and somehow, the man was more optimistic and light-hearted than Siling had ever seen him before.
Siling didn’t know if this was because of Samuel’s success in developing fire-aspected healing spells or their success in finally finding Terry – probably both – but this was definitely not the same man that had given his doom and gloom Introduction to Dungeon Work lecture.
“Don’t forget that you also sold Terry out,” added Jorg in a teasing voice and a transparent attempt to lighten the mood.
“Excuse me?” Siling narrowed her eyes.
“Nothing of the sort.” Samuel raised a placating hand. “Terry will just have to fill up a… few… mana containers with oscillating mana.” He cleared his throat.
“And?” Jorg was enjoying teasing his uncle.
“And try his space-breaking touch and unstoppable shift combination on a… few…” Samuel cleared his throat again. “Things.”
“Things I’m sure are perfectly legitimate,” added Jorg with a grin.
“Yes,” said Samuel with a rebuking glare towards his dwarven nephew. “Don’t get any wild ideas. Ser is most likely going to bring old artifacts from the Academy’s storage basement.”
“But it was a personal condition and not one of the Academy,” reminded Jorg.
“Yeah, honestly…” Samuel shook his head. “I’m pretty sure he would have agreed either way, as long as the required time-investment was on the lower side, but I might have shared too much before getting around to ask the question.”
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Samuel shrugged. “Ser already knew about the spatial seal breaking effects of oscillating bursts, but combined with the shift’s ability to pierce every physical material or magical barrier, no matter what? Yeah, I should have seen this coming.”
Jorg snickered. “When we get back to Arcana, we should rent Terry out as a safe-breaker.”
“Didn’t you come here for a reason, Whaka Jorg?” asked Samuel pointedly.
“Uhh, yes?” Jorg’s expression turned sheepish, and he hastened his eyes to the assistants who were in the process of setting up the mana-crafted constructs for bidirectional voice transmission. He knew his aunt would quiz him later on the process.
***
“Thank you for coming.” Brynn stood up to welcome her guests and motioned towards a few chairs. “Take a seat, please.”
The three guests were all wearing the same style of outfits: dark leather cloaks and headbands. They sat down and then one of the two men spoke. “We’ve received your message and understand that you have a job for us.”
“Yes, I’m sorry. Even though I’ve heard about your group, I don’t really know your names,” probed Brynn while sitting down again.
“We don’t have names while we work,” said the man matter-of-factly.
“Given the jobs you take, that might be for the best,” agreed Brynn.
“Your message said that you are hiring to hunt for Hounds?”
“Which naturally brought me to you, but as you might have guessed, there is more to it for me to wish to speak with you,” said Brynn. “I’m not hiring for the Lands of the Four Towers. I want the hunt to center around the—”
“Freedom Cooperative.” The man finished for her. “We’ve heard about them pushing back against the Lich Kingdoms and we’ve heard about you after your group has taken over the Lands. So this is more of a personal mission?”
“Yes,” said Brynn. “One of their Hounds tried to mess with my nephew.”
“Freedom’s Guardian.” The man nodded. “We’ve heard.”
“Yes, but it doesn’t end there,” said Brynn with the same expression she had worn while her constructs were crushing one of the Lich Kingdoms’ invading armies. “Within the Spirit Tower, we are currently hosting a family of friends. The mother was born in the Lich Kingdoms and…”
Brynn told the story of Daiyu and Ying, of Siyu and Siling. She left out the part that Siyu had contacted them, but she emphasized all the misery that had stemmed from the torment at the hands of the Hounds.
“We usually try to stay away from war zones…” The man exchanged gazes with his two companions. “But I think we can make an exception.” He looked at Brynn. “If you can arrange a way for us to quickly reach our destination.”
“That won’t be a problem.” Brynn beamed at him. “My assistant will show you to a dimensional gate which will be at your disposal. Don’t hesitate to contact me if our Crafting Tower can be of any further assistance.”
“We’ll hold you to that,” said the man. Without further ado, he and his companions got up and left for the local Guild hall.
They had preparations to make.
The hunt was on.
Shortly after the group had left, Mina entered the room with a look of slight confusion, which was quickly mirrored by Brynn.
“You’re back early,” said Brynn.
“Yes, because it went much better than expected, which befuddles me to no end,” said Mina while sitting down. Her first stop was Brynn, because she considered her the most reasonable – and pleasant – to talk to from among her new colleagues.
The Martial Tower master had always been a pain to deal with and the recent replacement hadn’t changed that situation one bit.
As for the new Elemental Tower Master? His history, his appearance, and the fact that he was a walking army of elementals didn’t exactly scream sociable to Mina.
“I’ll take that. We can use ‘better’, can’t we?” Brynn winked. “Better is good.”
“Naturally, but still…” Mina furrowed her brow. “Right after I got to the point, there were already many representatives jumping to support my call for an alliance and it was from the martial sects of all people.”
The wrinkles on her forehead deepened. “These people can never agree on anything.” Mina moved her hands in front and placed her palms up. “And now they agree with me? On this, of all things? Without so much as a haughty snort?!”
Mina quickly raised a hand. “We’re not quite there yet, but at this point, I’m a lot more optimistic about our chances and we already have a first victory, because some factions have already professed their full support to reclaim the lost Union territory.” She rolled her eyes. “Most likely to claim it for themselves, but still. It should allow us some better maneuverability to extract the Spirited Duchess.”
“Siyu,” emphasized Brynn. She didn’t like addressing the poor woman by her title from the Lich Kingdoms.
“I also heard some rumors about the Valkyrie’s Disciple being on his way to the Freedom Cooperative,” added Mina. “He’s been seen teleporting with a medium-sized group led by a dimensional mage with a feathered hat.”
“I bet Terry will be glad to see Calam again,” muttered Brynn with a smile.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they know each other.” Mina began tracing circles on the table. “The Valkyrie is still helping with resettling the wasters into Arcana’s Hope district, but knowing her reputation, it’s only a matter of time before she makes an appearance herself to strike against the Lich Kingdoms.” She frowned slightly. “Not sure if that’s good or bad though.”
“How so?” asked Brynn.
“Well, I was never much for legends or history, but I’m pretty sure the Valkyrie gave an oath that went far beyond defending and reclaiming the borders as they were left after the Era of Upheaval,” explained Mina while continuing to draw circles on the table. “That’s a whole other beast to wrestle. I mean, good for her to stick to her principles, but I’m not exactly looking forward to trying to ‘crush’ the lich kings.”
Mina shot Brynn a pointed look with her light blue eyes. “Unless you can whip out a few magic sovereigns to support the cause, I honestly don’t see that happening.”
Brynn took a deep breath and moved a hand through her auburn hair. She had come to appreciate talking with Mina, because the Spirit Tower Master had a habit of getting straight to the problem without holding back her views. “From what little we know, Arcana’s government is busy enough with setting up a separate territory for what is left of the fallen Tiv Empire. That’s a lot of people to evacuate, secure, and get used to new laws, and we’re still dealing with the aftermath of the barrier shattering.”
“Which probably helps explain why the Lich Kingdoms dared a second expansion to begin with,” muttered Mina while watching her finger tracing circles on the table.
Brynn nodded. Another thing she appreciated about the Spirit Tower Master was her way of thinking loudly, even while in front of others. It helped get a better understanding of her, both as a leader and as a person.
“Well, I’m sure the Valkyrie has her own powerful allies she will bring with her,” said Brynn in a more optimistic tone. “And we should focus on our own fight first. Let’s worry about doing well now, and then we can still decide how to proceed later. Securing the borders and getting Siyu out of the Lich Kingdoms.”
Mina nodded while she kept silently tracing circles pensively until she paused and leaned closer. “By the way, what’s with your nephew and the martialists? Some representatives were constantly rambling about the ‘Arcanian Returnee’ and what not. I mean, I gladly suffer through a few unintelligible ramblings if they vote with me, but I’m still left puzzled. How, by the spirits, did a Guardian from Arcana get such a large following of martial sects behind him?”
***
From one blink to the next, Amelia appeared in the Freedom Cooperative’s plaza with Terry in tow.
Terry immediately flung the two tied up martialists from his shoulder and nonchalantly let them drop to the ground. Technically, Mei and her fellow sect member weren’t martialists anymore. Their cultivation had been completely destroyed by spell slicers and nullification mana.
Even so, to Terry, they would always remain martialists. From what he had seen, martialism was as much about lack of sense as it was about mana structures. They might have lost their dantian and acupoints, but the two remained as maddeningly insane as the best of them.
Terry involuntarily rubbed the palm of his left hand. When they had apprehended the two, Mei had attempted to bite his fingers off until he let her nearly choke on his fist. If he could hand them over and never have to see these two again, it would be a good day.
“Guardian!”
“Venerable Senior!”
“Ugh…” Terry took a deep breath. Teleporting into the wilderness had been such a relief from all the attention. He had to get used to this shit again.
“Honorable Elder!” “At your service!” Martialists were bowing to him, which only furthered the frown that was growing on Terry’s face.
Amelia snickered with amusement. “This will never not be funny.” She slapped Terry on the shoulder while Dargones quietly appeared next to her. “Come on, we have to bring these—”
“No, I think we can leave them here,” said Terry with a furrowed brow. He didn’t quite understand what he was sensing. He had thought about contacting her not too long ago and now she was already here?
The number of mana signatures in and around the city had increased by a lot compared to when the trio had left for their mage hunt on the Bloody Duchess and the nearby death whisperers.
The new arrivals carried both familiar and unfamiliar mana signatures. Among the many martialist signatures, there were clearly folks matching the cultivation style of the Shadowed Forest Sect – of Chalita’s sect.
“Just in case, I should inform Intira and Edmund as well…” I doubt Akemi would want to be a part of the interrogation. Chadwick isn’t here, so Intira and Edmund, it is. Terry quickly located them and shaped finger runes to get them to come before handing the two captives over to the Shadowed Forest Sect.
Right afterwards, Terry filtered through the impressions in his mana sense to locate his friends. He could sense Tiana, Vess, and Elena, which told him they had taken a break from the town liberation raids.
I guess the others are in the Lands then…
“Guardian, uhm…” Edmund rushed over but paused when he saw the two gagged bundles of squirming defiance to the heavens and common sense on the floor. “Who are they supposed to be?”
“Shitstains,” said Terry, without missing a beat. “But some that might have useful intelligence. They tried to ambush us while we were dealing with the Bloody Duchess. Best guess was that they were trying to join up with the Lich Kingdoms because they have a grudge against me.”
Edmund’s expression darkened. “Does this mean that the Bloody Duchess escaped?”
“No, she’s most certainly dead,” said Amelia, while slapping Terry on the shoulder.
“Dead dead,” mumbled Terry subconsciously, and nodded.
“That’s very good to hear. Real good.” Edmund heaved a sigh of relief. “Together with the news from the Lands, I’m starting to feel like we might really have a chance to keep our city standing through all this.”
“Oh?” Terry definitely wanted to hear the news from the Lands about which the dwarven city guard was talking.
***