Alistair, Riseth, and Esta spent the next few hours with the Beshin Clan, talking and drinking. The Oni were quite fond of Spirit Orchid Wine, so much so that they insisted on opening up trade between their clans. In return, Alistair and his group were introduced to a rum the Oni made from magical cane they had discovered on their settled planet, as well as a very pleasant floral tea that Hara presented, quickly becoming one of Alistair and Riseth’s favorites, having a similar soothing effect as the wine.
During their conversations, the Oni revealed that much of their rapid growth had come from hunting down powerful individuals within the Blackmarket Syndicate and conducting swift strikes against Syndicate outposts and shipyards, aided by intelligence from Coalition spies, which drew both Riseth's and Esta's attention.
Alistair and Nomura, meanwhile, were engaged in a deep discussion about body enchantments. Her insights into magical tattoos were fascinating, though Alistair found himself completely locked out of the technique, as his body cultivation methods didn’t align with the use of runic tattoos. Despite this, they found significant common ground in their approaches, and Alistair’s initial impression—that the Beshin Clan had much in common with his own—was confirmed as they quickly developed a natural camaraderie.
Nomura shared that her core concept was ink, a defining element that had shaped much of her growth and combat style. She insisted that her greatest contribution to the clan was the development of magical tattoos, which offered a unique layer of power beyond the limitations of traditional magical equipment. Unlike armor or weapons, the tattoos functioned as body enhancements, similar to cybernetics and Body Cultivation, providing permanent strength and versatility rather than the temporary boosts of conventional gear.
Alistair further elaborated that modifying one's body—whether through cybernetics, runic tattoos, or body enchantments—wasn’t bound by the same limitations as magical equipment, but it came with its own risks. He noted that while he hadn’t observed any particular issues with her runic tattoos, it was still important to be cautious. Nomura nodded in recognition and thanked him for the insight, admitting that some individuals who had taken on too many tattoos experienced strange side effects, which only improved when she had drawn the ink back out of their bodies.
She had initially thought the problem was due to a mixture being too potent, as she often used beast materials to create her ink. The recent acquisition of a Kraken’s ink sack had proved almost too powerful for her current grade. She had since switched back to using ingredients like wyvern blood, opting for safer, more stable sources until she could handle the more potent materials.
During their discussion, Nomura even requested that Alistair train one of their offspring in body cultivation when the time came, as no one in their clan currently practiced it. She believed it held incredible potential. In exchange, she offered her tattoo services and training for his future offspring. Alistair smiled and explained that they didn’t have immediate plans for children, but he would consider training her child if they showed promise, which seemed to satisfy the Oni woman.
Riseth spent most of her time talking with Hara, whose core concept related to manipulation. Hara was eager to learn more about magic, and Riseth’s insights into manipulation proved invaluable to her. Meanwhile, Kujo ended up bonding with King, whom Alistair had summoned soon after they arrived at the Beshin chambers. Fluffy stuck close to Riseth and Hara, while Kujo and King dug into the food provided by both clans, exchanging recommendations. They repeatedly called on Alistair and Riseth to bring out different foods from their storage. Italian dishes and Lom Lom meat quickly became favorites, so much so that the Oni insisted on establishing a direct gate between their worlds, joking that they had been "culinarily enlightened," as Hara put it.
Though Alistair felt things were progressing swiftly, the Oni were good people, and with the proper security measures, he saw little cause for concern. Everyone kept their aura veils loose, genuinely enjoying the gathering, making it difficult for him and Riseth to excuse themselves as they had promised to support Nessyra in her talks with the Noross Cabal. Before leaving, they assured the Beshin Clan they’d return with Nessyra once the meeting concluded. Esta, King, and Fluffy opted to stay behind with the Oni, as the discussions with the Noross Cabal seemed far less exciting.
The Noross Cabal was one of the more renowned factions, known for traveling atop a massive Mana Ray, a type of giant space fauna that contained its own realm. This realm could be accessed through the Mana Ray's pores, scattered across its body—a somewhat unsettling thought to Alistair, as the idea of entering and exiting through a living being’s pores made his skin crawl. The Cabal itself was a coalition of magically inclined species known as the Xaross. Though they had many evolutionary branches, most appeared as gray-skinned aliens with blue and green decorative markings, elongated heads, and large, black, shark-like eyes. Their mouths, shark-like and lipless, gave them a predatory look, which they often concealed beneath practical yet plain robes, the rims of which rested just below their eyes. These robes, fastened with straps, opened at the sides for ease of movement. Alistair had spotted a few Xaross earlier in the gathering hall, noting that some had four arms while others had only two, and their sharp, elongated ears, reminiscent of elven ears, only heightened their already alien appearance.
Nessyra had been in talks with the Xaross for quite some time and had warned Alistair and Riseth that they weren't a particularly emotional species, driven primarily by logic. They had a fondness for debates, though these were usually kept brief. The Xaross weren’t looking for close alliances but were keen on fair, equal exchanges of knowledge and mutual protection. However, they insisted on meeting the leadership of the Ryser Clan in person before committing to any protection agreements.
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As they entered Nessyra's space, three Xaross greeted them with cold, shark-like eyes that fixated on Alistair and Riseth. The lack of movement in their gaze or bodies gave the encounter an eerie stillness as the door slid shut behind them. Briefed by Nessyra earlier, Alistair addressed the four-armed individual standing in the center, [Stexan Noross - lvl 126], the chosen representative for this negotiation. Alistair knew he was to address only him.
"Greetings, High Seat Stexan. It’s an honor to finally make your acquaintance," Alistair and Riseth spoke in sync, stepping to Nessyra's side.
The Xaross were a peculiar species operating and communicating through a psychic link. This connection allowed them to act in perfect harmony with one another, with one chosen individual typically leading the link. With the introduction of magic, this link further empowered them, which was why they preferred to establish more permanent psychic links. Speaking in unison had been a deliberate move on Alistair and Riseth's part, building rapport with the Xaross by mirroring their synchrony.
All three Xaross nodded in unison. "Thank you, greetings to the clan heads," Stexan responded, his voice raspy and filled with phlegm.
Alistair had difficulties not grimacing. As far as allies went, he strongly preferred the Oni over these strange aliens that lived within a space ray. However, he could tell they were powerful and seemed to almost share their mana pools. More interestingly, they seemed to have a type of energy he wasn't familiar with that was even more abundant than their mana, perhaps some form of psychic energy or race-specific energy type related to their connection.
"We are satisfied with this arrangement. Your leaders are as powerful as promised. Please proceed with signing the agreement," Stexan intoned. One of his lower arms extended, offering a glowing pad filled with text. Nessyra took it, swiftly scanning through the document to ensure everything was in order. Once satisfied, she signed and handed the tablet to Riseth. After a quick review, Riseth signed as well, passing it on to Alistair, who did the same.
The agreement was rather sparse, focusing primarily on limited trade and knowledge exchange, with the core aspect being mutual protection. Both parties would implement magical safeguards to conceal their respective clan locations, with the Ryser clan receiving a tracker to locate the Noross Cabal wherever they were in the universe. After Alistair signed, he handed the contract back to Stexan, who accepted it with an expressionless nod.
Without a word, Stexan and the two Xaross accompanying him turned in unison and exited the room in single file, never glancing back. Moments later, Alistair received a copy of the signed contract through his Akashic Link, courtesy of Nessyra.
"Seriously, sis, why did you go through so much trouble to ally with the Noross Cabal?" Riseth asked, raising an eyebrow.
Nessyra sighed. "Managing a web of alliances with different species can be tricky, but they’re powerful and, more importantly, require little maintenance from us now that we’ve signed the agreement."
She paused for a moment before adding, "Plus, we don’t have to worry about offending other factions by working with them. We’ve already had enough pressure from our past dealings with the Synth Alliance."
"Were our dealings with the Synth Alliance such a big deal?" Alistair questioned.
"Quite," Nessyra responded. "We gave an outsider faction the means to mass-produce military and labor forces within our universe using those replicators. Without our help, it would’ve taken the new members of the Synth Alliance months, maybe longer, to build them, especially without a direct link to their main faction. It would have also cost the Synth Alliance most of the permitted resources within the trial to provide these blueprints without our help, which they now use to mentor powerful individuals. It’s a blessing they haven’t used those replicators to attack the Coalition, or our standing here could’ve been very different."
She paused for a moment, her tone more serious. "Remember, invader species are heavily restricted in what they can share with the new universe—at least until the first bridges open. Once that happens, we’ll see an explosion of people receiving tutelage from outsiders, which would be my guess, especially if the coalition falters at one of the bridges."
"Right," Alistair nodded. "They were pretty eager to get those blueprints. Sharing them during the trial would’ve limited the Synth Alliance quite a bit, I suppose."
"Regardless, did you manage to approach any of the other factions for a meeting?" Nessyra asked, shifting gears.
"Yes, we made great friends with the Beshin Clan. We were hanging out with them before coming here," Riseth replied.
They took a moment to bring Nessyra up to speed on everything that had transpired with the Oni clan. Alistair watched as she pinched the bridge of her nose but eventually relented, a hint of satisfaction in her expression.
"I would’ve preferred to vet any faction and be involved in any agreements, but from how you’ve described them, I probably wouldn’t have been much help anyway," Nessyra admitted.
"We got to choose our battles while we are here, and allying with the Beshin felt right." Riseth added confidently.
Nessyra raised her hands defensively. "No, don’t get me wrong—they sound like excellent allies. It just means I’ll have to review their relations closely to make sure I don’t step on any diplomatic landmines."
Nessyra then caught them up on her progress with the other factions she’d spoken to. Apparently, during their absence, the dinosaurkin from the Zondu Collective had made a loud proclamation that they would only accept allies who proved themselves worthy in the illusionary arena.
"I’m not sure allying with them is the best move," Nessyra admitted. "But if we can’t find enough strong allies, one of you beating up one of their warriors could solve that."
"Do we have any other prospects at the moment?" Alistair asked.
"Yes, I managed to get into a forming Alliance cluster. They aren't the strongest of the 50 factions present, but they are still powerful and make up one of the larger forming clusters; having them on our side would help pad our number of allies."
"Doesn’t that also increase the odds of one of them being found and dragging us into a fight?" Riseth asked.
"That’s not necessarily a bad thing," Alistair interjected. "It would give us more chances to strike back at the Blackmarket Syndicates alongside allies. We're already starting to trail behind in levels. We might even want to join the Beshin in their raids to hit harder targets with relative safety."
Riseth considered this and nodded, turning to Nessyra, "So who is part of that forming Alliance?"