Three days later, Nero was in the train with Amaryllis. The girls were in the shelter, Altia joined Serena as soon as they were safe in their cabin. Most of the train was carrying military personnel and supplies to Honeywitch at the border. Thanks to that, it was moving slower, to give the scouts time to check the tracks ahead for sabotage, traps, or an ambush. Glom was outside, talking to the officer responsible for the train. The only reason they were allowed to board was that they helped activate over four hundred new recruits yesterday.

Nero learned how to activate the Arbitrium easily. All you had to do was to keep [Essence Manipulation] threads connected to three spots on the backplate of the bracer, draw another three threads from the person, and connect them to one another after the Arbitrium was properly attached to the wrist. The bracer then would inject Essence into the body, awakening it and measuring their Essence 'impedance', 'conductivity', 'resonating frequency', and feeding everything into the central control crystal to prime it with the person's biometrics.

The pain one felt when activating the Arbitrium was caused by the flood of Essence, as people with a higher level cap had too much impedance and too little conductivity. Apparently, the two concepts are not opposed to one another. Both mattered and one was related to the level cap and the other to the current level. In Nero's case, Essence could flow through his body like water down a waterfall.

Finally, the professor returned. Nero had no idea what was worse. A hyperactive fairy or a sulking one. Amaryllis was silently brooding all the time.

"How was it, professor?" Nero asked. "Are we getting home anytime soon?"

"Instead of several hours," Glom was shaking his head, "We will take three days to get there. They won't move the train at night."

"I could run the distance faster than the train," Nero suggested. It wasn't the first time he said that, and with [Cougar's Speed] he was actually a bit faster than the train's cruise speed."

"You could try, but the army would stop you," Amaryllis broke her silence. "They would spot you and think you are some sort of enemy spy or messenger. Civilians aren't traveling toward the border anymore."

That gave Nero the idea of making a stealth-oriented build.

"Indeed. There are many that are fleeing the outer marches and trying their luck near the capital. But going the other way, not so much."

"Ok, I understood. If we are stopping at night and traveling slowly tomorrow, I'd like to spend the day inside the shelter. I need to forge the [Heart Bond] with Altia."

The pixie grinned. Glom raised an eyebrow. "You picked that for your reward?"

Nero grinned back, feeling victorious. "No. I got two tier-II Skills for Altia. Then I did as any Adventurer worth his salt would and traded."

"He is scary, Glom!" Amaryllis feigned bashfulness. "He negotiated me under the table and ripped me of almost all the cards I put on the table." She then turned to face him and blew a raspberry.

"Almost all," Nero quipped. The one she was using as bait for him was scorned and she took it personally.

"I hate you, level zero," She pouted. "And you can't go into the shelter for one day. Just for the night while the train is not moving."

"Why? If I open the portal here in the train cabin, won't it open again in the same place?" Nero asked.

Amaryllis smiled, savoring her petty revenge. "Yes. In the same place. All the way back where the train was when you entered your pretty shelter. While the train will be miles away, dummy!"

"I beg your pardon?" Nero had a grasp of what she was saying but he couldn't pin it.

"The portal remains in the same place relative to the world. Not a moving vehicle. For example, if we built a tall scaffolding and you entered at the top but while you were inside the scaffolding was removed, you'd reappear high up in the sky."

"And I would fall down from there!" Nero exclaimed excitedly as he figured out another utility for his portal. "Do you mean that if I was falling from a high place, I could enter the shelter mid-air and then leave in the same spot?"

"Yes, probably," Amaryllis replied and fluttered her wings, catching the light and glimmering. "And if you could fly, the portal could be opened high up in the sky."

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"Are you sure you should be provoking someone that can blow you into smithereens with a glare?" Altia asked her husband, a bit worried.

"Oh, c'mon. It's not like a pixie of all creatures can't endure a bit of teasing," He rebutted.

Serena giggled, delighted by the domestic argument. Nero went into the shelter at night, to spend time with them and give out the latest news, including about the portal physics.

"Once we get back home, I'm going to try something really stupid at the lake. I think I can use the portal as a climbing tool. Jump, open portal, and land in the shelter. Jump out of the shelter, open another portal higher up. If I time my skills and jumps correctly, I can ascend to the sky."

Altia snorted as she tried to hold a burst of laughter. "At the cost of ten mana per jump, that's quite an expensive way to climb up."

"Just get a flying Skill," Serena suggested. "Oh, they only exist in the third tier."

"Become a pixie!"

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

They all looked to the spot where the voice came from. They knew who said that but they didn't know Amaryllis had infiltrated their shelter. However she did that, there she was.

"Welcome to our humble abode, guild master," Nero greeted the unexpected guest.

"So, I figured out a little dirty secret of your shelter," Amaryllis said as she flew around Nero's head and then did a perfect landing on the table. "Altia, my dear, would you mind if I had a cup of tea?"

"And do you intend to share this secret with us?"

She smiled and remained silent for a while, savoring the curiosity of these youngsters. "Okay. Your portal leaves a tiny Essence marker where it opened. And it tethers the position of your shelter. I used a Skill of mine to force my entrance."

Nero froze. Did it mean anyone could invade his shelter? "Which tier?"

"Sixth. It is a nifty Skill that allows me to cross around barriers. But your shelter is not much different than a dimensional pouch. The size is the same-ish. You cheated a bit on that department," She winked.

If it was a sixth tier Skill, there weren't a hundred people in the world that could use it.

"And don't worry your little head. I only found the tether because I knew exactly where it was. It is safe enough in here."

"Good thing. Imagine if someone enters and robs Nero's livestock," Serena joked.

"Livestock? You are going to put livestock in here?" Amaryllis asked, apparently worried. "You use your shelter in the Dungeon, don't you? And it synchronizes the ambient Essence with the Dungeon from what I read on the mockup. You can't have livestock here. When you open a portal in a Dungeon, the livestock will most probably die. Or suffer a painful mutation and turn into monsters."

"That's new for me," Nero said. "Why I never heard of it?"

He looked around. Altia was also puzzled but Serena's fade told him she knew.

"Why would this become widespread knowledge?" The nereid asked. "Don't you think people would be willing to throw animals into a Dungeon owned by a rival so it overflows?"

"Oh, well. I wanted some chickens and dairy cows. Guess I have to give up now."

"Yes. Monsters don't yield eggs or milk," Amaryllis agreed. "But Altia can make milk once she hits the second tier."

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A boring three-day train ride that would be a total waste of time if Nero didn't use the time to work on the blueprint to the modifications to his rifle. The base weapon was blue and he had sixteen points to work with, twenty if he factored in that it already had a modifier and his Class bonus. He really missed that [Enchant +2] right now. The rifle's complexity was a league above the shield and the blueprint was giving Nero trouble. The two tiny veterans decided to let him solve it by himself. To vent his frustration, Nero took to paint the Dungeons he visited at night when he was in the shelter. Or at least he tried. Altia saw what he was doing and put him to paint and recolor some objects in the house.

They finally arrived at the train station next to Hom. The trio got off the train and the composition departed to deliver the troops and supplies to Honeywitch. The walled city became the headquarters of the anti-Coriander force. The station was empty save for some fast soldiers keeping it safe while the train was nearby. Once it was away, they departed, leaving the building deserted.

"I guess I'll get them out now, is it safe, guild master?" Nero asked.

"No. Just a moment, the military is thinking they are smart by leaving one guy with long-range sensing abilities snooping on us," She replied.

"No wonder. Why the guild master of all people would travel to the middle of nowhere?" Glom remarked. "It will make anyone suspicious."

Amaryllis rose up in the air. "Aye, but they should be less obvious with their surveillance." She took an ivory bow from her pouch. "[Sleep Arrow]!" And fired into the sky above. A minute later, she returned to the ground. "All done. You can get them out now, Nero Zero."

Nero opened the portal and the girls came out, along with the badgers. Maria and Bruce sniffed around and marked the station as theirs.

"We should move before the station becomes inhabitable," Altia suggested.

Nero reined in the badgers and they walked to the village where Glom would do the coming-of-age ceremony to those that paid for the Arbitrium. Due to the train's modified schedule, they arrived at night, later than expected. Glom went to talk to the village chief while the rest of the group stayed in the central square.

"We want to go and see our parents tonight. The trail to Hom is not dangerous," Nero said. "I can get there in less than an hour. I was thinking that everyone could stay in the shelter and I'll get you out once I reach Hom."

"I can follow you easily," Amaryllis suggested. "And with me, you won't need to worry about light or other dangers."

Fifteen minutes later, Glom returned. He said everything was alright and he would join them after checking the small shed dedicated as a workshop for him. It was identical to the one in Hom. Once that was done, everyone except Nero and the pixie entered the shelter and he ran with [Cougar's Speed]'s second mode. Amaryllis started to glow and flew a bit ahead and above Nero, illuminating the wagon trail ahead. In a bit over one hour, he reached the familiar farms around Hom and finally entered the village proper. His first sight was the Dungeon palisade. It was demolished, nothing more than a pile of kindling. The Dungeon portal shed a faint light, visible only because it was night.

"An overflow," Amaryllis stated the obvious. "I don't sense any monsters in a mile. Stay calm. Your parents did their job."

"And you wanted me to do what again?" Nero sighed, his voice distressed from the memory and a bit winded from the run.

And even with the Essence gas lamps in the houses, one truth remained. A glowing fairy will draw attention. As Nero walked down the street to his parents' house, Rhynne came outside.

"Rin!" Amaryllis squealed and darted to meet the minnid woman.

"Mary? What are you doing here?" Rhynne was surprised. "Nero? Son! Why are you here with the guild master?"

The door banged against the frame and the hulking figure of Byron came out as well. "What is going on? An attack?" He looked around. "No. Just the brat and the fairy. Oh. Wait a moment!"

"Hey, dad!" He waved, a bit embarrassed.

Byron approached Nero, his brows clenched. The man had what is commonly known as resting birch face in which a lack of facial expressiveness makes his emotions as easy to figure out as the tree. But Nero knew he wasn't angry. Nothing was getting broken as he walked, not even the ground.

"Damn, kid. You're packing some serious gear for a level zero, eh? Couple millions in there," He smiled and turned to his wife. "Rhynne, kid's packing a purple accessory."

The seed pod. Nero knew he should've left it in the shelter.

"Why... how?" Rhynne was confused as to what ask first. She settled on the obvious. "Where's Altia?"

Nero answered with a peal of laughter. He looked around and the entertainment-starved villagers were already coming outside to watch the drama.

"It's better if we go inside first," He waved them. "Amaryllis, could you turn off the light?"

"Right on!" She chirped then stopped glowing.

Byron grabbed Nero by the neck. "Rhynne, kid's got fifty VIgor!" He chortled.

They went inside while Nero cursed his father's Class abilities. One of them, from [Armsmaster] allowed him to see the statistics on any piece of gear if he could beat the resistance of the target. Another allowed him to gauge the defenses of anyone he made physical contact with either bodily or with a weapon.

"I'm going to call Altia. We have two guests. Dad, behave!" Nero warned.

The big man was full of mirth, grinning from ear to ear. "Me? I am as peaceful as a dove."

Nero waved his hand and Rhynne's eyes went wide. She could tell the amount of mana spent on any skill or spell near her. The portal to the shelter opened. Altia stepped forth, holding Serena's hand. Glom jumped after the girls and leaped on the table. Nero closed the portal before the badgers could come spread their musk on his mom's house. Probably a good idea.

Amaryllis was savoring every moment. Byron and Rhynne froze as they saw the two young ladies.

"Damn, so many purples," the [Armsmaster] mumbled.

"Your Highness?" Rhynne exclaimed, surprised.