A wide smile spread across Melissa's face as the bell finally chimed, confirming her skill upgrade. Arathos, a cambion and the first child born in Rathos—a name chosen to honor the occasion—grasped her finger, letting out an adorable coo. Melissa had worked with many volunteers, hoping to develop a skill that would allow her to discover their core concepts, but this had to be the most endearing one yet.
Arathos’s parents, Emily and Garris, had a story that Melissa would have loved to see turned into a romance movie. Emily, a lawyer from New York, had met Garris, an Infernarii, during the trial—much like Alistair and Riseth—and the two had formed a quick bond. The amusing twist came from Garris's initial misunderstanding. To the people of Neshan, humans were nearly mythical before the trial, and in their culture, lawyers were more like mercenaries or enforcers, ensuring business interests were upheld by contract—or force. So when Emily introduced herself as a lawyer, Garris believed she was a fierce warrior goddess, skilled in both combat and law. The misconception stuck for a while, as Emily’s sharp wit, tough demeanor, and natural magical affinity allowed her to excel during the trial, further reinforcing Garris's belief.
Unlike her previous volunteers, this little one didn't know his core concept, and his parents were eager to learn it so they could properly guide and teach Arathos once he was old enough. When Melissa had heard the bell—a sound identical to the one from her old workplace as a kindergarten teacher—she knew she had succeeded. She looked at the parents with a confident smile.
"Miss Ryser, did you figure out what Arathos's core concept is?" Emily asked hopefully, squeezing Garris’s hand.
"Please, call me Melissa," she replied warmly. "And yes, I finally succeeded." The parents watched her with bated breath. "It’s the concept of 'Law.' Congratulations," Melissa said, handing the small child back to his parents.
Emily and Garris received their child, barely able to contain their excitement as they hugged each other and thanked her profusely.
Melissa smiled, happy to have helped them. She knew Alistair had requested to be informed as soon as she developed the skill, so she sent a quick message to Nessyra through the network. Nessyra had also wanted to know as soon as possible, anticipating an influx of children in the coming months. Parents would be eager to learn their children’s concepts, and Melissa didn’t mind dedicating some of her time to help. Though she might have to gently remind Nessyra not to impose a fee for this kind of service.
----------------------------------------
During their expedition, Alistair and Riseth eventually named the planet Calidor's Cradle—a fitting name given its intense heat and the wealth of beauty and useful creatures it harbored. Over the course of roughly two weeks, they explored its diverse landscapes, taking advantage of the challenging yet relatively safe environment to train with their summons against a wide array of beasts. King, in particular, developed a fondness for the swarms of massive flying crabs, finding them especially delicious.
However, both Alistair and Riseth were hesitant to introduce these crabs to their home planet or moon. Although they were quite tasty, the crabs multiplied and spread rapidly, thanks to their ability to fly and their high mobility both on land and water. They were also rather ugly and highly aggressive, constantly seeking to expand their territory. While their spread was limited by the few briny seas on Calidor's Cradle, this wouldn't be the case on Lacustrine or Nautilus, where abundant water sources would allow them to thrive unchecked. They had captured some of the swarms and kept them in reserve, hoping to find a suitable use for these creatures. Unfortunately, the Brenga were the last of the "Big Payouts," as Riseth liked to call them, using a Neshan term similar to Earth's "jackpot." Although she was fond of the Earth term, old habits died hard, and she often reverted to the Neshan version whenever they encountered something potentially valuable.
While they failed to find any of the dungeons or beasts they could introduce to their planets, there were a handful of surprises; the first had been an exploration title that pushed them to level 125.
----------------------------------------
TITLES:
Tier: [Rare]
Name: Clan Explorer
Effect:
Grants a 5% bonus to the [Senses] statistic and slight environmental resistance.
Origin: A growing title acquired and improved by exploring, mapping, and enriching [Clan Ryser] through planetary explorations and expeditions.
----------------------------------------
The second one was announced with a chime Alistair had never heard before, and by the confused look Riseth had, she had received something similar. When he checked his notifications, he found that he had connected to the Aegis Coalition Universal Network, or ACUN, along with a message.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
----------------------------------------
[ACUN] Faction Message:
Title: Provisional Access to Aegis Coalition Universal Network (ACUN)
From: Aegis Coalition Headquarters
Well met, Clan Ryser,
In recognition of your Clan’s ongoing efforts and alignment with our shared objectives, the Council of the Aegis Coalition has designated Clan Ryser as an Independent Friendly Party. As such, we are pleased to inform you that your Clan has been granted provisional access to the basic functionalities of the Aegis Coalition Universal Network (ACUN). This access will enable you to utilize key resources, including the [Mercenary Mission Board] and [Universal Messaging System], and more to support our mutual interests.
We look forward to your continued contributions and collaboration as we work together to protect the universe from external threats.
----------------------------------------
Nessyra had previously informed them about the Aegis Coalition (AC), and they had considered reaching out for trade opportunities, mercenary work, and possibly special assignments that required powerful combatants. As Alistair explored the newly available functionalities, he noticed that access had been granted selectively—only the Clan's Leadership had been greenlit, with the option to request access for additional Clan members or Allies if needed.
The third surprise came in the form of immediate messages from both Melissa and Nessyra through the new network. Melissa shared the news that she had successfully acquired the Core Concept Identification skill. The second was from Nessyra, who mentioned she was already in touch with a representative from the AC and would handle the diplomatic talks, keeping them in the loop if anything important came up that required their attention.
"It looks like it’s time to head back to Lacustrine," Riseth said, glancing at their still sparring summons.
Alistair nodded. "Yeah, I was hoping we’d find at least one dungeon before leaving, but I’m happy to leave that to the other teams. Plus, I’m really eager to find out what King’s and Fluffy’s concepts are."
Hearing this, their summons, which had only slowed slightly to listen, immediately perked up. Both King and Fluffy stopped sparring and turned their full attention to Alistair, their excitement obvious.
"Is it finally time?" King asked, his usually deep, imperious voice tinged with anticipation, his sharp, draconic eyes locked on him.
Fluffy shrank back to her regular size, slithering onto Riseth’s back, her gaze fixed intently on Alistair.
"Yes, my sister finally upgraded her skill, so we can start your training in earnest," Alistair confirmed with a wide smile.
King insisted that they leave immediately, and Fluffy vigorously nodded her head. Alistair chuckled at their impatience before complying with their wish. He picked up Viv, who had been rubbing against his legs, noting the change of atmosphere and wanting attention. It stung a little that they hadn't found another dungeon, especially since both Alistair and Riseth had sensed they were getting close in their last underground expedition.
However, they had mapped the area quite thoroughly, and by now, they had multiple groups of explorers within their clan who could take over their expedition and pick up where they had left off. Discovery of a dungeon was associated with large payments, and Alistair would have preferred to find the dungeon themselves so they could have picked up those extra skill points and any rewards without having to return to the planet later. But their time was valuable, and they had run out of real challenges days ago and mostly stuck around in the hope of discovering the dungeon they were sensing.
As they lifted off from Calidor's Cradle, Alistair browsed through the ACUN network. There were plenty of intriguing opportunities to earn both [USC] and [ACG], the Aegis Coalition's currency. The network featured various tabs for trade, map data, fleet actions, material acquisition, and, most interesting to Alistair, a Special Request section and a Bounty Board. There were only a handful of open Special Requests, and they often vanished soon after they appeared; they would likely have to pay someone in their clan to keep an eye on the network for them and send the suggestion to Nessyra. The Bounty Board, on the other hand, was overflowing with thousands of bounties, organized by type. Most of these bounties targeted pirate fleets and individual ships, but there were just as many for specific individuals and hostile factions, many of which were tied to the Blackmarket Syndicates. The listings included details such as last known locations, known abilities, behaviors, and any other available intelligence.
Every bounty listed the target's crimes in graphic detail, and as Alistair continued to read through them, a deep sense of anger and disgust churned within him. With each new horror, his resolve hardened. He wouldn't let these monsters continue their atrocities if he could stop them. Determined, he linked his Akashic Link directly to the Bounty Board, enabling his Identify skill to cross-reference any targets he encountered with the database. He felt like he was on the brink of upgrading his Akashic Link skill again, suspecting that the provisional access and amount of available information were the only things holding him back.
Riseth, noticing his tension, gave him a worried glance. Alistair managed an apologetic smile and explained what he had found and how he had linked his skill to the network’s database. Riseth checked for herself and grimaced.
“I know that on Earth, people try to imprison and rehabilitate criminals,” Riseth began, her tone steely. “But this... this is beyond redemption. If we come across any of these monsters, I won’t hesitate to end them.”
Alistair met her gaze, his expression hardening. “I’m with you on this. Slavers, mass murderers, torturers, and worse... they need to be stopped. Permanently.”
Riseth reached out and squeezed his hand reassuringly, and he gave her a small smile as he tried to shake off the dark thoughts. I’m not on Earth anymore, he reminded himself. These people go out of their way to spread misery and death. Most of them aren’t even human. They’ll get what’s coming to them.
As Alistair leaned back in his chair getting comfortable for the trip back to Lacustrine, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of affinities their summons would reveal. While nearly any concept would work for them, he hoped their summons received ones that were on the more straightforward side. It was essential that King and Fluffy grasped their own concepts since Alistair and Riseth could only offer guidance and suggestions. Imposing too much of their own understanding, wishes, or ideas onto the summons could stifle their growth—and, given their link, it would affect Alistair and Riseth’s growth in turn, he was already struggling to teach Viv, still hesitant to feed it the pill of enlightenment, she was bound to grow even smarter as they advanced in grade. However, their speed had slowed to a crawl since leaving the trial for a multitude of reasons and he was grateful for every title that had helped mitigate the difference even slightly, he knew he shouldn't prolong the decision for much longer.
Still, he wasn’t too concerned for King and Fluffy. In fact, he was eager to see just how much more powerful their summons would become once they fully understood their core and linked concepts.