"Braxik is the obvious choice. Having another prospector and Master Builder will speed up finding a suitable location for our clan's seat," Nessyra exclaimed.
Riseth nodded in approval. "He isn't a strong fighter, but having his expertise to bounce ideas off of could be invaluable. Simon would probably need to stay close to protect him."
Simon grumbled at the prospect. "I don't know the guy. Who is he?"
"He is a capable demon who felt how the money was flowing and decided to take a chance on us early on." Nessyra said "We've mentioned him in multiple meetings, and you agreed to give him access to our information so he could do a better job. As the new Chief of Security, I expect you to remember these things."
Simon raised his hands and took a step back. "Alright, I got it. Protecting him shouldn't be too hard, unless he's still low Grade 9."
As a refresher, Nessyra displayed Braxik's dossier from her Bloodline tab and started reading it off. Braxik was currently level 79 and a Libranor knowledge demon. He had been a Master Builder on Neshan before the Initiation and had overseen multiple large city-state projects, some even above ground. They had shared with him some relevant information and techniques on Riseth's Cosmic Starfinder topic, and Braxik had spent most of his time learning construction and other relevant magics so he could continue working in construction as it was his life's passion. According to Nessyra, once she had clued him in that they wouldn't just stay on Neshan but build a whole new colony and industry on another planet, he had been beyond excited at the prospect and willing to permanently join their clan as a member, which only further improved Nessyra's opinion of the demon.
Alistair was briefly shocked at just how expansive and in detail her Bloodline tab was when compared to his own, as she must have spent a lot of time restructuring and reorganizing it, and was again glad to have her to rely on. Alistair himself had only occasionally seen the man and hardly exchanged words with him. He had mostly approved of them sharing information on their plans, magic techniques, and topic information so he could study them in preparation for their settling on a new planet. Riseth had spent more time with Braxik discussing plans and the potential design of their colonies. Fortunately, Braxik had a suitable set of affinities to fill his role with no big noticeable gaps, though they didn't know his core concept as they hadn't asked, as few were willing to share their strongest concept unless avoidable, and they had respected the decision.
There were quite a few other demons and other followers of note Alistair had hardly talked to or interacted with, like the herbalists and breeders in charge of their Herb and Lomie farms, as well as the Alchemists now working under Jessica, who had taken the title of Chief Alchemist. Usually, Nessyra was their point of contact, and she handled the members and followers. So he listened as she elaborated further.
"This is also a good opportunity to get to know him and see if he should be given an official leadership role and be let into our circle for relevant discussions," Nessyra added on a more serious note.
Alistair paused at that request. While he trusted Nessyra's judgment, he would be reluctant to add people he hardly knew to their somewhat sensitive discussions. However, getting to know Braxik and having his expertise at hand could potentially be invaluable and alleviate at least some of his concerns.
"I think it's a great idea, but did you ask him if he even wants to join the expedition? It’s going to be dangerous," Alistair questioned.
"Not yet, but knowing him, the chance to prospect planets for building sites isn’t something he’d pass up," Nessyra replied confidently.
After some back-and-forth, they agreed to meet with Braxik alongside the rest of the expedition team if he was interested in joining. About half an hour later, Alistair and Riseth sat in one of the spare Tactical Operations Centers (TOC for short) with Simon and Desily, who was lazily perched on Simon’s shoulder, waiting for Nessyra to bring Braxik over.
It wasn’t long before Nessyra arrived with Braxik in tow. The demon was large and sturdy, with dark blue skin and black hair. His thick, partially braided beard gave him a rugged appearance. He lacked both a tail and horns, though he had small, decorative bone growths on his forehead. In a way, he resembled a well-built middle-aged lumberjack, though his clothing was off the mark for that comparison. Alistair remembered Braxik as calm and professional from their last encounter and was surprised when the demon lit up enthusiastically, revealing long canine fangs as he greeted Riseth. Riseth stood to greet him, and Alistair, along with the others, quickly followed suit.
"Good fortune, Riseth. It's so good to see you again," Barxik said, taking a deep bow before turning to Alistair.
"Good fortune, Patriarch. I thank you for this amazing opportunity," he said with a more respectful and professional demeanor before bowing again.
"Yeah, none of that," Alistair replied. "If we're going to be stuck on the Artemis for weeks, let's keep it casual. Just call me Alistair."
After a brief shock, Barxik recovered. "Certainly," He said excitedly before bowing toward the other two people in the room.
"Fortune upon the two of you. I am Barxik; the profit is ours; what might your names be?"
Stolen story; please report.
After the initial introductions were complete, everyone sat back down, and Braxik began to introduce himself. Most of what he shared was information they already knew from Nessyra, who had left after dropping him off. Still, Alistair listened intently as Braxik talked about what he hoped to achieve on the expedition and some of his favorite projects before his initiation.
Simon eventually cut in, asking, "How good are you at fighting, and what kind of concepts do you generally use?"
Braxik responded, "I primarily focus on construction-related concepts and magitech, so I’m proficient with Earth manipulation and can shoot earth spikes. Aside from that, I mostly rely on my hammers in combat. I have a reasonably high affinity for creation magic, which allows me to craft objects with sufficient energy, though it's very energy-intensive and hasn’t been particularly useful in a fight. That said, I did reach the adept levels in the Dungeon arena."
He trailed off slightly as he considered his answer, then expanded on his capabilities.
From Braxik's description, it was clear he didn’t rate his combat strength too highly. A quick glance at Simon confirmed that he was thinking the same. They continued asking questions to get a better sense of Braxik’s abilities and personality, while only Desily seemed disinterested, casually observing the conversation.
"And you're certain you want to join this expedition team? It will be dangerous, and we might not always be able to protect you," Riseth asked, her concern evident.
Braxik shook his head enthusiastically. "This is the adventure and opportunity of a lifetime! Traveling to uncharted planets to find the perfect home and then planning and building it within my now much-extended lifetime? This is beyond anything I could ever ask for. Dangers be damned," he declared with conviction.
His answer was more than satisfactory for Alistair, but he didn't let it show immediately; the man had the drive and enthusiasm necessary to walk his chosen path, and Alistair would veto any dissenting opinions from the others as he wanted to see how far Braxik could go with a non-combat path. Through his resonance, he sensed that Riseth shared his opinion. The demon's enthusiasm and excitable personality were infectious, and even Desily eventually spoke up in his favor.
"I usually don't like to get involved, but I'd feel bad if we didn't bring him along, and he seems qualified," Desily said, trying to maintain a reserved facade. As Braxik thanked her, she waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, I'm not the one you need to court. Save that for the others," she said dismissively, though Alistair sensed that she was happy at the attention.
Alistair looked to Simon, who sighed. "It's going to be a pain to watch out for him, but yeah, we should bring him."
Braxik looked at him with a nervous expression, and Alistair smiled at him. "You got it. Welcome to the expedition."
Alistair could tell that he wanted to let out a sigh of relief but kept up the professional demeanor that his Neshan upbringing expected of him. Alistair was glad for his sharp senses and ability to read emotions this clearly, especially since he felt like an HR person who had just hired someone, which felt awkward to him. But he knew they needed to make a show of due consideration for the demons of Neshan as it was considered taboo to just hand out positions of power and influence. He supposed that he would have to vet more people in the future, especially those who would be making decisions within his clan. After telling Braxik about their expectations and talking with him about his ideas for the new colony and its infrastructure, Alistair excused himself as he had different plans and knew Riseth wanted to talk to Braxik some more.
Three days later, the team boarded the Artemis as its jump drive, assisted by the AI Core within the Kaiakos, completed the necessary calculations. They arrived at the edge of a moderately sized galaxy. Alistair knew that once they found their new home, establishing contact with any nearby civilizations in this galaxy and the surrounding ones would be crucial. There were likely factions open to trade. They had already spent valuable time exploring the wrong nebula and ambushing pirates sent by the Blackmarket Syndicates. Alistair was eager to finally push forward with their expedition.
Their first jump into the nebula, however, was a disappointment. A blue supergiant star dominated the system they entered, and despite the introduction of magic, none of the planets orbiting it managed to sustain life, though the presence of a blue supergiant within a nebula was odd and indicated a lot of time acceleration within the system. Some of the local asteroids could hold valuable and aged treasures or even materials they would want to return for. After mapping what they could while waiting for the jump drive to complete its next calculations, they moved on. The following days proved similarly unproductive. Although they found several habitable planets, none met their standards. Some had insufficient mana density, others were too small, arid, or covered in inhospitable deserts, dense swamps, or jungles. They did deploy occasional beacons to mark these planets for future exploration but ultimately agreed to continue their search elsewhere.
Alistair was busily trying to solve the latest challenge posed by the arcane puzzle cube he had acquired from the nurturing ward when he felt the familiar tug of the ship exiting warp space. He stored the cube and made his way to the cockpit. Upon entering, he saw Braxik petting Viv, who sat contentedly on his lap at the Navigation station while Riseth was already working at the sensor station. Viv had quickly warmed up to the large demon despite initially being startled by his presence. Alistair nodded at them before joining Riseth.
Simon had already joked that the nebula, or at least the quadrant Alistair had picked, was a dud, and Alistair was starting to worry, hoping this system would finally have a planet worth checking out.
"How's it looking? Any suitable planets?" Alistair asked.
After a brief pause and running the sensor sweep a second time, Riseth smiled at him.
"Yes, two in fact," she replied. "One is a dense jungle, so presumably unusable, but the second planet is large enough with rather high mana density. It is on the arid side, but not as bad as the others."
Alistair felt conflicted. This was the first planet worth investigating, but its arid nature was a significant drawback. Despite this, he wanted to leave the ship for a while and perhaps pick up some easy treasures before moving on. He watched as Riseth deployed a drone carrying one of their beacons while Braxik looked at him expectantly.
"I doubt this is the one," Alistair said, "but we should check it out. Having two habitable planets with sufficient size and mana density is already a plus. It might serve as a secondary location where we can farm for materials."
He exchanged glances with Riseth and Braxik, who both nodded in agreement and began typing away on their respective consoles as the Artemis picked up speed toward the planet. Noticing the change in course, Desily and Simon joined them, curious about the shift in plans. Alistair quickly filled them in on the situation.