Upon returning, Kihet was immediately informed of the raid.

His informers expected him to act irrationally and order a sortie to confront the mercenary guild. They braced themselves to reason with Kihet, instead they were met with an indifferent expression.

“So, what I’m getting is that Fatilda, Krullu and Vol are being held at the mercenary guild, right?”

“Correct…”

“That’s fine.”

“Fine?! Oracle, Krullu has been abducted alongside your friend and our sponsor!” Yizdra complained. “This could spell disastrous!”

“Kihet, you don’t seem too angry about it.” Salith commented. “On second thought, you don’t look bothered by it at all.”

“That’s because I don’t believe the mercenaries will do anything stupid knowing I can tug their tails whenever I want. If anything, they’re being quite helpful. Although I did want to ask Fatilda something.”

“Tug their tails. Nyow that’s a phrase Nyie haven’t heard in a while!” Tama chuckled.

“You’re not worried too?”

“Tama gets it.” Kihet said, handing documents to a Tortoise Folk and delivered to the chieftains. “Two of Douglas’ targets are together guarded by hardened and experienced mercenaries. They’ll at least be able to hold off Douglas’ forces or buy time.”

The sound of wood clashed. It earned everyone’s attention.

One of the training rings garnered a crowd of spectators erupting in loud cheers. The two participants dueling exchanging blows at such frightening speed required Ainig to be on standby with the Pale Dragon’s barriers protecting the audience.

Aten lunged forward using dull training spears. When Lily deflected one, Aten’s second and third weapons crossed at her from both sides.

Knowing she could not parry two attacks at once, Lily retreated using [Crescent Moon Dance]. From an outsider’s perspective, she slid backwards in a path drawn like a crescent moon. Lily quickly swapped to her bow after putting distance between them and rapidly shot training arrows.

A few were swallowed by [Trick Orbs] while some flew at a straight path. Lily’s [Trick Orbs] soared freely throughout the arena and redirected dozens of projectiles at Aten from all angles.

The tips were soaked in red dye. Since Aten was immortal due to his [Shadow’s Curse], his condition for defeat was if he were struck in several precise parts of his body. There was a total of six targets for Lily to hit before she was defeated.

“Argh! That one was so close!”

Throughout the duration of battle, she managed to hit two of the six targets.

Aten, a dragonfly insectoid, was an expert flyer with the ability to change his trajectory at a whim’s notice. His large compound eyes gave him wide vision all around him and rendered Lily’s [Trick Orbs] ineffective once he adapted to their patterns.

“The Vivirian is certainly in control of the battle.” Yizdra said.

“Tomoe’s barely holding on. Nyat this rate, she’s going to run out of stamina.”

“It’s actually a closer fight than it looks.” Salith commented. “She’s not the type to shoot arrows randomly. Though, her chances will get slimmer if she doesn’t act now.”

While everyone intently observed the duel, Kihet could only afford to spare a glance before diving back to his work. With Krullu absent, only he knew the recipe of fire medicine needed for his firelance.

“Sorry, Aten! But anything goes, right?”

Aten did not respond and instead hurled his training spears at Lily. He dove after them, and quickly closed the distance. It was a simple frontal assault, but those who did not possess a sharp eye only saw a blur.

He knew Lily had a plan up her sleeve. He knew he would lose if he didn’t end this now.

His thrown spears led to her a predictable path. Aten charged forward, about to take his victory until he saw a small flame traveling down the wick. A yellow cylindrical tip was aimed down at him.

And because they were traveling companions, Aten had learned it was a flash arrow.

He quickly zipped around, aiming to take the decisive blow at Lily’s back.

Unfortunately, when coming to a halt, Aten saw numerous [Trick Orbs] lying dormant on Lily’s back.

“Gotcha!”

A blinding arrow emerged from one of them, flashing Aten point blank. His senses were disoriented. He couldn’t tell from up and down, making it impossible for him to fly away.

He needed to quickly see, but in that span of a moment, three more targets on his body were hit. He managed to retreat and protect the last target.

Aten spun around, using his back half of compound eyes facing backside to vaguely determine Lily’s position. He was given a split second to act when he saw lightning coursed through Lily’s gauntlet. If the charged prongs touched him, he would be stunned.

For him, it was more than enough.

Aten sidestepped the oncoming punch and brandished two spears. He managed to send Lily tumbling forward and land on her back. He lunged forward, pointing his weapon at Lily to secure his victory.

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The crowd went wild.

“Ouch… that hurt.”

[Are you okay?]

“I’m alright.” Lily smiled. “I can’t believe I made a mistake at the last moment. I shouldn’t have charged in like that. Ugh… I’m so tired. I can’t fight anymore.”

[If use bow, I’d lose.]

“I didn’t know what I was thinking trying to close the gap like that.”

[You did good.]

“You did better. It’s your win.” Lily gulped a mouthful of air. “I haven’t moved this much since months ago. Looks like I still need to do more breathing exercises. Can you help me up?”

Aten nodded, extending a hand to pull her up and lent his shoulder. Together, they walked down the training ring with cheers and compliments hurled at the two.

“That was quite a show. How about it, Aten? Wanna go for a round against me?” Salith rolled her shoulders.

Having flashbacks from the time he confronted her using [Wars Blood], Aten vigorously shook his head side to side.

“C’mon, there aren’t many who I can go all out. Kihet, how about you? Wanna go for a round-, wait a minute. Where did he go?”

“The Oracle has gone back to his den while everyone was watching the duel.” Yizdra said. “Perhaps this. I am curious to see how the Herald would fare against a Giant’s might. He was a pillar of support to defeat the Acolyte back home.”

“That’s true.” Salith’s eyes glint and waved to the Tortoise. “Hey Ainig, buddy! Let’s say we go for a friendly round. How about it?”

“H-huh? N-no! No no no no! I don’t know if I can control my blessing!”

“Hey there. That means you’re talking down on me.”

“I-I didn’t mean to!”

“Then come up here and have a friendly fight with me. I want to see how strong you are.”

“I’m sorry! Please spare me!”

“Step right up people! A second duel will commence! Will the Rozzalian or Scalemen be victorious?” Tama opened a stall the second she smelled money in the air. “Come bet and win large!”

A large gathering immediately swarmed Tama, handing their names and coins while eagerly waited for the match to begin.

Lily and Aten exchanged looks and shrugged. Morale was indeed high, which was greatly welcomed before Douglas’ siege would turn the city upside down. While everyone else was fixated on the training ring, the two decided to look for Kihet.

Since traveling by foot would take long, Aten offered Lily a lift. From a nearby stockpile of construction material, he carved two holes in a plank of wood. After, he would thread a rope through, creating a swing as he hovered just above ground.

“Are we going to fly?”

[Yes.]

Like a child, Lily gleefully hopped onto the swing. “Onwards!”

Aten nodded, slowly ascending to make sure Lily properly fastened herself onto the seat before moving.

----------------------------------------

In a dimly lit room, Kihet scraped ingredients from barrels and carefully measured before mixing them together. He followed recipes; some new provided by Tama and others tested. He was able to produce several paper cartridges after some revisions of formulas.

He picked one up inspecting it thoroughly for tears or malfunctions.

“Now that I think about, how did Irvan get his hands on one?”

The flintlock Kihet recalled did not use a primitive method to shoot projectiles unlike his firelance. There was a switch which triggered a small hammer and sparked the fire medicine packed in it upon impact.

If only there was some way to replicate the function to his firelance.

He set down his twelfth cartridge and strode over to Krullu’s desk. There were sketches of the things Kihet wanted to create. Then, there were doodles of outlandish ideas based on vague concepts far from the ones Kihet brought from Elenora’s realm.

A large object carrying a fortress with strings, a boat with two giant wheels to paddle on its own, a castle on legs. Though magic existed to make the impossible happen, the only country came to mind with knowledge of understanding the engineering concepts was Easul.

Since Easul was the pioneering country of advanced magical technology, it may explain how Irvan was able to acquire such an advanced firearm. But then, why didn’t Elius’ group utilize them during the Stusis conflict?

As he muttered to himself, something outside the window caught his attention.

“Wait, wait! Slow down! We’re going to crash!”

A young girl flew in panicking. Her seat swung out of control as she rapidly approached. The Insectoid providing the flight lost control since he misjudged his stopping distance with someone swinging below him. Aten was able to correct his trajectory at the last second, aiming Lily through the window.

“Kihet, watch out!”

“Lily?!”

Lily was launched off her seat and flipped into the workshop. She crashed into Kihet who instinctively dropped everything and held out his arms to catch her.

Then he realized he made a mistake.

The paper cartridge split open as it hit the floor. Fire medicine and a pile of red powder stirred into the air. Next thing Kihet knew, he and Lily accidentally inhaled some of it. Their eyes stung, teared up and choked on the smell.

“This way!”

Kihet snatched Lily by her wrist and managed to drag the two out of the workshop. After several minutes of breathing in fresh air, they were able to clear the stinging sensation from their system.

“My eyes and throat feel like they’re burning! What was that?” Lily asked.

“A recipe Tama sold me. The Pamalyrians called it tear gas. I’d say it’s very effective.”

“Maybe too effective.”

“Anyways, where did you come from? This is the third floor, you know?”

“Because I wanted to see you! You didn’t stay till the end of my duel!”

“I had things to do. Anyways, who won?”

[Me] Aten flashed a sign as the Vivirian swept the workshop. His other arms held a wooden board, fanning the tear gas out the window.

“That’s to be expected. You do have the most fighting experience out of everyone here. Did Lily do well?”

[Exceptionably. Almost caught me.]

“If only I didn’t mess up at the last moment, I’d win. But it’s a mistake I’ve learned thanks to Aten.” Lily sighed and looked around. “So, was this that urgent you couldn’t wait to do?”

“I’m here killing a bit of time before the appointed time to meet with the Cheiftains. After, I’m trying to get an audience with Vike. While we’ll be protecting the four families from Douglas, we need to avoid getting the Scalemen involved or at least have them capable of defending themselves.”

[Cannot set Ainig?]

“I need him to defend the harbor and stop what forces Douglas plans to bring into the city. Tama already brought the attention of the attack to the guards, but they didn’t take it in well. I figured Douglas has people stopping our warnings from being passed up the chain.”

[Any idea what do?]

“Yizdra will be resting after I ask her for a big favor. Ryker should be enough to guard this district with the militia we trained up just in case. I doubt the enemy will come here anyways.” Kihet then pointed to Aten. “I’ll have you go help Ainig while Salith joins Lily to the mercenary guild and pick up Fatilda, Krullu and the guildmaster. Tama forwarded some concerning information about a Guardian being involved as well.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be guarding Vike with Tama. It seems to be safest since Vike’s lives in the middle of the city, but that also means he’s likely targeted first. I won’t be fighting out there since my main priority is to negotiate and have him drop Rogus’ bounty and other matters about the Tower.”

Tama also passed off information where Rogus was vaguely hiding. It was risky to contact him with so many prying eyes. During the confusion, Kihet was sure Rogus would try to escape Navargzan. That’s when he’ll send messengers to reach out to the Lycanthrope before that.

“At least, that’s the plan based off Tama tip. We’ll be spread thin, but it should be manageable thanks to the mercenaries’ stunt. Vol’s there to protect Fatilda and Krullu for the meantime.”

Kihet plucked Lily off him and went to pick up the documents he dropped. Noticing the sun had risen to its peak, his meeting with the chieftain would begin soon.

“Anyways, I need to get going. After the meeting, I’ll have to speak with the others about my plans. You two are free to join me if you want.”

“En! I’ll follow you of course!”

[Nothing better to do.]