Atla was the first to step inside, followed closely by Mikla. Both wore the same type of ceremonial robe decorated with intricate color patterns woven into the fabric that Atla had worn for her first contact with Earth.

“You!” Boulder Fist Gary snarled and stood. His face showed equal parts fury and trepidation. Most telling was the fact that he didn’t charge at her mindlessly. Travis had also gotten to his feet but looked quite satisfied with her presence.

“Me.” She gave him a crooked smile.

“You-You… Who gave you permission to enter?” Mr. Kerman stammered.

She pointed to Eik. “I came at his request.”

“The temporary liaison does not have the authority to invite you to this debrief!” the balding man protested as he waved his finger around.

She raised her eyebrows. “Why not?”

“He’s not someone whose word carries such weight in our society!”

“To me, he’s the one among you whose word weighs the most,” she said.

“Temporarily, yes. We’ll soon appoint someone who can more appropriately represent our interests.”

Atla gave it some thought. “I’m very satisfied with Eik’s performance thus far.”

“We are not,” Merchant Lord Greggers huffed. “He has no political experience to speak of, he’s of common birth, he’s not a national, and frankly, we’re questioning his loyalty to the human race.”

Atla frowned at that. “So I get that you’re a shallow old man and all, but he continues to impress me whereas the rest of you have yet to impress me once,” she said casually before pointing to Travis, almost as an afterthought. “Except you, Travis Lockwood. You’re not bad either, I must admit. But not you, Big Boulder Harry. You have issues,” she added with a wave toward Boulder Fist Gary.

His face grew red as a tomato. “What’s so good about him? He’s weak!”

“Yes, but he’s only weak for now. He will not be weak forever.”

“That does not change the fact that we doubt his loyalty.” Mr. Kerman fussed despite his fear of Atla being painted clearly on his face. “How can we be sure that he isn’t plotting to hand over Forest to your forces on a silver platter?”

Atla snorted a laugh and leaned in. “I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but we have at least a few S-rankers stationed permanently at our headquarters. Has Eik not told you about our organization? If we wanted you on a silver platter, I would take a squad of high-rankers with me and come here to do the plating myself.”

That seemed to shake the leadership. They had speculated and discussed at length among themselves that the Nidafjeld Alliance might be aiming for a takeover, but this was the first time the notion had been aired by anyone from the foreign power itself.

Chairwoman Huntley’s voice shook as she spoke. “N-Nonetheless, we will be changing our representative soon.”

“That’s completely fine. No worries there!” Atla said. “Unfortunately, unless I completely step in it, I am permitted to make decisions for our side as I see fit. Eik is a man I trust, so even if you decide to appoint a representative, anything official will still be communicated via Eik. Whether he then has to talk to this representative of yours is of no consequence to me.”

“What do you mean?” Merchant Lord Greggers asked, beads of sweat running down his forehead.

“I’m saying that, if you don’t want Eik as your representative in the relationship between us, then I'll simply make him our representative. Easy, right?”

Chairwoman Huntley was completely taken aback. “Y-You… You can’t do that!”

“I also have qualms with the boy!” Boulder Fist Gary boomed. “He has committed acts of unprovoked violence against one of my associates. That should bar him from any political participation!”

Atla raised an eyebrow and turned to Eik. “Really?”

Eik rolled his eyes. “Yes, I hit somebody. No, it was not unprovoked. And yes, his son…” he snarled with an accusatory finger at Gary. “Rock Fist Bart tried to murder me and almost did murder my friend and teammate Heath! He, a high D-ranker attacked my low E-rank friend who was already badly injured!”

“What?” Gary bellowed. “You would accuse someone who’s not even present to defend himself? Could you be any more cowardly? What proof have you?”

Eik threw his hands up in exasperation. “There were like fifteen witnesses! Ask any of them!”

“I believe an investigation into the incident was already conducted by… who was it again?” Merchant Lord Greggers muttered as he looked through a stack of documents.

“Conducted by me, sir,” Andrew said with a raised hand. He looked exceedingly uncomfortable, like he was ready to run out of there.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“And pray tell, what did you uncover?”

“I, uhm… I… I spoke to as many of the Awakened who had been present as I could find. When questioned, all of them dismissed the reckless assault by Rock Fist Bart as rumor.” The man could barely tear his eyes away from his boots, much less meet anyone’s gaze, including Eik’s. He was not the confident man Eik knew. He was faltering.

“Well,” Mr. Kerman said and looked around the room. “I suppose that settles that then.”

“That’s bullshit!” Eik shouted.

“But, sir! Actually, Heath’s injuries are not consistent with any of the monsters they encountered,” Andrew added hurriedly. “Also, all of the witnesses appeared very nervous during questioning. My opinion is that they could be withholding inform—”

“That’s enough, Mr. Brooks. If you concluded your investigation, then that’s all we needed to hear,” Merchant Lord Greggers snapped. “And you were present to personally witness the assault committed by Eik Magnasen?”

“I… Yes, I was.”

Chairwoman Huntley nodded. “And was there any provocation directly prior to the attack that would warrant physical assault to that degree?”

“Not that I personally witnessed, no…”

“It’s settled then,” she said with finality. “Due to the thoughtless assault by Mr. Magnasen, I motion to dismiss him as the representative of Forest in our dealings with the Nidafjeld Alliance.” — She raised a hand — “Effective immediately.”

Hands followed hers. Merchant Lord Greggers, Mr. Kerman, and Boulder Fist Gary all raised theirs along with other members of the leadership. Some, including Travis and the blonde woman from earlier, didn’t.

“The decision had been made! I hereby declare Eik Magnasen relieved of his duty as representative of Forest.”

Profound Toxin streamed down Eik’s arms and up his neck, wriggling like a scarf in a hurricane. “The voting I don’t give two shits about, but I demand another investigation! Done properly this time!”

“That will not be necessary,” Mr. Kerman said with a wary eye on Eik’s poison. “The matter has been concluded.”

You old, fuckin’ snake!” Eik snarled and the Profound Toxin stretched and wound toward the balding man like a manifestation of its owner’s rage.

In the blink of an eye Boulder Fist Gary stood before him. “Step back, kid. You don’t want to start something you can’t finish.”

Atla appeared between them in a whirl of fabric. Her amiable expression never faltered. “There, there. How about you calm down as well, eh?”

Gary slapped her hand away with a huff of indignation. “Stay out of this, you vixen! We don’t need your kind here!”

She chuckled at the insult. “Didn’t my friend Eik here tell you about what happens to new civilizations in the Unified Mass if they have no allies?”

"About the monsters and the people who sent them? I’m far from convinced that you aren’t the true source of those. We’ve all seen that you can control fractures as if they were common doors.”—He regarded the others in the room—“And even if you’re not, we can handle whatever those rotten bastards send our way. I’m ready for them!” He tapped his own bicep like some 90’s action movie star.

Atla just stared at him like he had drooled all over the floor. “Good luck with that, man.”

“What did you just say?”

“I’m saying you can’t even beat little ol’ me, so how to you expect to beat an entire civilization that has been home to powerful Awakened for hundreds of years?”

“I challenge you! I challenge you to a duel!” Boulder Fist Gary roared, face going back to the color of a tomato. Judging by their faces, a lot of the leaders weren’t quite as confident in the large man’s abilities as he himself seemed to be.

Atla actually looked surprised. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious!” he hissed as people came to try to talk him out of it. He simply dismissed them all with barely a glance in their direction. “No one insults my honor!”

“I never insulted your honor. I insulted your strength,” she corrected. “From what I have been able to gather, honor was never something you possessed.”

“You vixen! You harlot!” he rambled and stomped toward the double doors. “Well, are you coming or what?”

“What, now?” she asked, glancing at Mikla who looked at her with annoyance. “Is the meeting over?”

“Yes!” None of the other leaders had the courage to step in so Atla simply shrugged and followed the agitated fighter. Eik ran to catch up with her. Most of the others trailed them at a distance.

“Is it really okay for you to speak to them like that?” Eik asked once he fell into step next to her.

“To those old farts? Mmh, yes and no,” she said. “One one hand, as representatives of the Alliance we’re always expected to handle any situation respectably. But on the other, these are people unwilling to open their eyes to a looming threat that’s already shown its face.”

“But…”

She clapped him on the back affectionately. “Listen. Although I was born long, long after my own home world became a part of the Unified Mass, I know that your society is probably still accustomed to alliances lasting a few hundred years at most before breaking apart. That’s not the case for us. Our aim is something that will last millennia. Earth is the first world I've been in charge of and I'm sure it shows but I'm testing a new approach," she said.

"This is not how we usually do things. I think establishing a closer relationship with a select few first and then having them help convince the rest of the population is more effective than showing up and going broad right away.”

Eik listened but didn't know what to think about it.

“All of these stubborn old-timers here will be dead and buried while your world is still in its infancy,” she said matter-of-factly. “It will not be up to them to carry your Earth through the trying times. I do, however, think you will be a cornerstone of your world’s survival — if you’re able to keep yourself alive until then that is.” She grinned and elbowed his arm.

“Because of... that?”

“That, and your grit. I think you’ll go far.”

He grinned back. “It's been acting up recently. Like it’s got a mind of its own.”

“Well, I don't know. There’s something about them. They’re ancient and primal," she whispered.

They walked in silence for a while until they were outside the city limits. Even then they continued further across the expanded plains. Finally, Boulder Fist Gary turned to face Atla. “Are you ready?” he called.

They waited for the spectators to arrive. “Would you mind fighting me when you’re done with him?” Travis asked as he came closer. That expression of excitement was back.

“There won’t be anything left for you after our duel, Travis!” Gary yelled, but Atla ignored the man.

“I wouldn’t, but I think it would be more fun if the two of you came at me together,” she said and leaned in so only Eik and Travis could hear her. “I see that you’re a smart man, Travis Lockwood. You know what’s at stake here, don’t you?”

The young man only smiled. “How could I possibly? All I want is to test myself against you.”

“So be it. I won’t be holding back this time then.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way!” Travis yelled as he leapt to Gary’s side.

“Ready?” Atla asked as she folded her robe neatly and handed it to Mikla who sighed.

Boulder Fist Gary slammed his gauntleted fists together. “I always am!” A spinning bolt of Lightning Judgement of Tyrannical Ruination was already coming to life in Travis’ palm.

“Good,” she said and before Eik could blink, she was gone.