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The next morning, they returned to Krivoburg with the train. Their early breakfast consisted only of a coffee and a croissant, leaving Vincent hungry. He couldn’t wait to reach the Guild and have a proper meal, and he would have Strode there if not for Irene, who wanted to socialize. Except for Vincent and Selim, the open wagon hosted Irene, the Celtic Knight and her entourage, still dressed in armor, the Northern woman, and a girl about Irene’s age, whose identity Vincent had no idea about.

Irene whispered with the latter, a torrent of words and exclamation marks. “And he’s tireless. He could go on all night!”

“Whoaaaa!”

Vincent could ‘hear’ the girl's widened eyes despite pretending to be dozing.

I know girls be girls… but seriously… discussing my private life with a stranger?

[Gia to Vincent]: She’s not a stranger; she’s Irene BFF from school. The one you saved from a cult leader. Don’t you remember when she joined the traveler group?

[Vincent to Gia]: No, I don’t.

[Gia to Vincent]: She and her parents bought a house in Pragwyn, and now they’re catching up.

[Vincent to Gia]: Are you reading my mind now?

[Gia to Vincent]: No, but I can read focused thoughts, and your thoughts really shout out.

[Hubris to Vincent]: Sorry to barge in, but as your assistant Archetype, I can’t help but observe you are very nervous lately, always on the defensive or snarky. You need a best friend to gossip with. I volunteer for the position.

[Vincent to Hubris]: I’m fine, thanks.

[Hubris to Vincent]: C’mon… Indulge an old man here… BFF? You know we have a special connection… Think of yesterday… We literally cried together… So. Let’s talk girls. What blonde do you like better, the Celt or the Northerner?

[Vincent to Hubris]: Neither… I’m a married man.

[Hubris to Vincent]: It’s just small talk. C’mon… Virtually speaking, of course.

[Vincent to Hubris]: Fine!

Half-opening his eyes, Vincent peeked around.

“… and this is why any educated lady should read the Karma Sutra,” the Viking woman said. She wore a tight white blouse and short pencil skirt, letting her crossed legs show all their length. She looked around thirty and had a severity in her deep blue eyes that was not matched by her bust and sexy black silk stockings. In college, Vincent had a teacher who looked the same… and he had entertained anything but pure thoughts about her… His parents often wondered why he was locking himself in the bathroom so much.

“Hmf,” the Celt knight snorted, her eyes conveying a clear: ‘Only a whore like you would read such filth!’ The armor revealed little from her body, albeit following her curves. The way her eyes looked at the world was as prideful as the Viking’s, but instead of being cold, her gaze was fiery. She was categorically younger than the Northern woman, maybe around twenty-five. Her hair was a deeper shade, and her mouth had full red lips, puckering by default. Vincent had to admit she was very pretty.

[Vincent to Hubris]: OK, if you must know, I think the Celt is cuter…… Err… What are you doing? Selim, is that you?

Either Hubris, through Selim, or Selim on his own, had slapped his hand on Vincent's shoulder and squeezed it like an inept try at a massage. The old man’s eyes were bulging out, and he was panting.

[Hubris to Vincent]: It’s the Vulcan pinch, you mother fucker. I’ll strangle you as soon as you’re incapacitated. I forbid you to hit on—

[Kiara to Vincent and Hubris]: Stop this nonsense! She’s one of our descendants, Vincent, that’s why he’s behaving like this… He’s an old senile fart who overreacts. STOP IT!

Descendant? Geez!

[Vincent to Hubris]: Please… Spare me! I promise I will behave!

In truth, he was barely registering the squeeze, but he liked Hubris, and there was nothing wrong with feeding his ego a bit. The limp clench relaxed, and Selim’s hand gave him a ‘My eyes are on you’ gesture.

[Vincent to Kiara]: Long time no see. How’s it going for you—

[Kiara to Vincent]: Sorry, I can’t stay to chat. I’m busy. Not like some other people.

“Hey, we arrived,” Selim said, stretching. A certain demeanor in his attitude, more relaxed, showed when the old man was in control of his body.

An unexpected welcoming committee was on the platform: Dragon and a few other mercs, all dressed in military fatigues.

“The commander of our troops, Colonel Dragon,” Irene made the presentations when they were all out. “Her Highness Princess Brigid Gearheart, descendent of the Clockwork Queen, seventh in line for the throne,” she gestured with both hands toward the Celtic woman.

“Your soldiers wear pajamas?” the knight frowned. “How curious.”

“We’re still low level, Your Highness,” Dragon bowed. “We supplant our weakness through ranged combat and drones.”

“A wise choice,” Brigid nodded. “May we hurry? I need to change into more appropriate clothing before lunch.

“This way,” Dragon gestured. The princess followed him with the rest in tow, and Irene and Vincent were last.

“You look preoccupied,” Irene fondled Vincent’s arm.

“It’s the bloody Archetypes,” Vincent hissed. “Brigi’s like a grand granddaughter of Hubris and Kiara. What the heck is that?” he gasped. His mind still weighed on the previous weird chat, and he didn’t notice the infernal noise in front of them. Three racks, each carrying ten suits of armor in different colors and shapes, were pulled by the three male Knights of the Celtic delegation, helped by the mercs.

“It’s the princess’s voyage wardrobe,” Irene whispered. “She changes armor three times a day.”

“You mean like changing a Chanel with a Lagerfeld?”

“Lagerfeld was Chanel. Elina modeled for them a lot… Anyway… Let’s address the elephant in the streets. You must wonder why I asked the princess and Nora to come here during last night’s dinner…”

Nora must be the northerner… “To build better relationships with their countries?”

“That too, but… I have a plan to convince the Mongols to make peace. The uncle recognizes the nephew as Great Khan. His region will become independent and allow us to trade with the Vikings. Everybody wins.”

“That’s—”

[Kiara to Vincent]: She wants to impress you, so you love her for her smarts.

“—a great idea,” Vincent said in a neutral tone. He planned to pretend to be ‘knocked out of his socks’ by the results later, so beginning with an indifferent attitude was the best. Anything to make Irene happy.

“You know what makes you a great leader, Vincent?” Irene asked, changing the subject all of a sudden.

“I’m not a great leader,” he objected. “I’m free-riding all of you. You should be the Guild’s leader… Oh… sorry,” he slapped his mouth. “You are the leader now… I forgot we had elections…”

“The answer is that you bring us together, inspire us, and make us give our best by giving us a gentle push in the moments that count.”

“Because you brought together such a bright group in the first place,” Vincent said. “Trust me, motivational speeches and huzzahs won’t work with idiots.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Irene shrugged. “Anyway… my plan is to get the chiefs face to face and make them see they both want the same thing: modernize.”

“And how are we going to bring them face to face?”

“Brigid will send two blimps after them, and Kiara spoke with a few other Archetypes, who all issued guarantees. The meeting is next week… hopefully. As soon as possible, anyway. As for Nora… I noticed how you looked at her—”

“Please!” Vincent stopped abruptly. “Noticing a woman’s good looks is just a reflex. What matters is love and relationship.”

“I was talking about how you noticed her smarts yesterday,” she patted his cheek. “For the Celts, Brigid is the princess, and the rest the assistants. It’s the other way around for the northerners. Nora is a secretary hired by rich industrials. We chatted last night, and I hired her… for a hefty sum. She will be our assistant from now on. Mostly yours because I know how to use an agenda on more things than swatting flies.”

“I guess I can use some help…” Vincent said.

“I also thought she may be asked to spy on us. I brought up the subject, and she told me she’s ready to take a System oath.”

“It doesn’t matter so much,” Vincent shrugged. “We already have spies among us.”

“We do?” Irene widened her eyes.

“The Archetypes. They can go everywhere and are big on gossip.”

“Maybe we should bring it up with the bigger guy…”

“I’ll try when I see him..”

“We’re going for a strudel together, right?” Irene’s BFF asked. They had arrived at the guild while talking.

“I expect to be shown around the town as soon I settle in my quarters,” the princess said.

[Gia to Irene and Vincent]: We need to talk. I’m marking a path for you on the mini-map. Take Bee with you too. He’s in the gym, the new hall I built. First story, and first door on the left.

“I have something to attend to,” Irene told her friend. “Why don’t you take care of her Highness and show her Krivoburg?”

“I’d be delighted,” Irene’s friend curtsied toward the Celt woman.

Vincent and Irene waved their hands at her, already on the move. Inside the gym, they found Bee and Thug. The first was throwing kicks into Thug's groin and head, alternating.

“C’mon, I can’t feel anything!” Thug yelled.

“What are you doing?” Irene asked.

“I’m learning Kung Fu to honor my mother’s memory,” Bee said.

“Since when have you known Kung Fu, Thug?” Vincent asked. His friend was a formidable close-quarters fighter but more of a street-smarts kind. If anything, Vincent would have called that style Thug-Fu.

“Since always!” Thug stared a few daggers at Vincent, meaning: ‘It’s Kung-Fu because I say so.’

“Whatever… We need Bee for something important. You’ll continue later.”

“Can’t I—”

“No, Bee, you can’t,” Irene interjected.

“It’s OK, kid,” Thug said, patting Bee’s shoulder. “I have to check the perimeter anyway.”

“Let’s have a beer later and talk about your class,” Vincent proposed. Having Hubris as a BFF was out of the question. Thug was a reliable friend… albeit Vincent didn’t intend to discuss sensitive subjects with him either.

“Great!” Thug’s eyes beamed with anticipation.

“Come, Bee,” Vincent said, proceeding on the path shown on the minimap. They went up a few rows of stairs, and through a few empty floors they didn’t even know existed.

“We… could… use… some… elevators,” Selim said, catching up with them. “My Body grew to eight only…” he stopped, heaving.

“By that?” Bee completed the sentence, supporting the elderly. Selim nodded.

They entered a small round room with windows on three sides, but put so they covered all the city. The view was beautiful, and Vincent guessed they were at least two hundred feet high. A discreet light enveloped the walls, and then Hubris detached himself from Selim’s body. Emerging from the floor, a wooden creature appeared. Slim, about five feet high, humanoid, with a hint of female shapes, big green eyes without sclera, and moss hair.

“I’m Gia,” the apparition said. “A Dryad, Prodigia’s avatar.”

Vincent slapped himself energetically four times.

“What’s wrong with you?” Irene yelled.

“He’s fighting against his Czech sarcasm,” Gia said. “He’s insides burn to say: Hi, Pinocchio. It’s OK, Vincent. If you had thought: Hi, Groot, that would have been offensive.”

“Thank goodness,” Vincent sighed with relief.

“I was messing with you. Both are offensive, but I don’t care. I like you as you are, you big Czech oaf. Give me a minute to put Bee and Irene to speed.”

Waiting for the Dryad to explain what Vincent already knew, he killed time by looking through the windows. Krivoburg was vibrant… Not only bigger but more people on the streets, newspaper stats, book shops, restaurants… Its vibe was morose when they arrived: an old, antiquated place where little happened. But now everything was shiny, from the sun to the autumn leaves and the sounds of the children playing. Even the destruction brought by the Calamity was almost gone.

“Selim says he had identified a pattern in the crisis the Summoned deal with,” Irene touched her husband’s hand, returning his attention to the discussion.

“That’s good news,” Vincent said. “What pattern?”

“Let me explain,” Selim’s ace lit up. “I visited the Archives of Prague and researched the relationship between the catastrophic events of the past. And by the way, Summnings are more frequent than believed.

The last Summoned to appear around here, an individual called Joe, arrived a hundred years ago. He successfully fought a plague in Pragwyn by installing a new sewage and running water system. Examining the victims’ distribution and the newspaper articles, I discovered that a monster corpse poisoning the aquifer was responsible for the disease. And who had killed that monster?”

“Let me guess, another Summoned one?” Irene asked.

“Exactly. Three centuries before. It was a big, venomous monster. Cutting it to pieces and carrying it out was too big of a task. They buried it by collapsing the cave. The city expanded, and new wells were dug, which disturbed the burial site. Joe identified the problem, unearthed the remains, burned them, and constructed a more isolated water network using enchanted pipes.”

“Too bad he became a bad guy,” Hubris said.

“Almost every time there is a crisis, there is a downstream consequence. Like plugging a leak and creating pressure in another place, which breaks later.”

“Like the Calamity thing,” Vincent said.

“You said it. Now, the Archetypes themselves are becoming the next crisis, and my graphic tells me it’s a big one,” Selim said.

“We need more information about the Archetypes,” Irene said.

“I’ll make you a list, of course,” Hubris said. “The problem is Kiara and I haven’t interacted with more than a handful of them in years. My daughter would know more, as she keeps track of them, but—”

“Your daughter?” Vincent asked.

“The Clockwork Queen.”

“Your daughter is the Celtic Queen? That’s interesting. Tell us more,” Irene rubbed her hands, obviously anticipating a juicy story.

There was a hesitation on Hubris’s face, his body contorted in unnatural flickering, which reminded them the Archetype was only a sort of a projection. Maybe reaching the conclusion that avoiding a conversation there would lead to another one later, the man inhaled deeply and started talking.

“We were Summoned a thousand and thirty years ago from Ireland. Our village was under attack by Vikings. We took our little girl, fled into a forest… and arrived here.

“We didn’t get involved in adventuring at first; just got on with our lives… On the other hand, our daughter grew into a fierce warrior, and we started to fight alongside her… Like the naïve parents we were, we thought we were keeping her safe. We did learn to fight, but she outmatched us by an order of magnitude.

After a while, she stopped going after dungeons and conquered France, a one-woman army by herself. I became her adviser because I got a knack for politics… We discovered a core; her power spread throughout western and southern Europe. She followed my advice and gathered new information from every Summoned. Inventions, philosophy… She had numerous progeny, choosing the best warriors or scientists to mate with.

“She somehow modified her pod into an armor that grants her tremendous regenerative and combat powers… She’s one of the few Archetypes that managed to stay awake and sane… We had a fallout because she started to be too authoritarian.”

“Age changes people,” Selim said philosophically.

“So we’re not welcome near her anymore. That said, if you present your request in a logical and respectful manner, she might grant you information about the other Archetypes.”

“Guys, sorry to break it to you, but the Archetypes are only part of the problem,” Bee said. “The System is the one who created the domino effect in the first place. It’s not interested in the real world and delegates responsibilities to dungeons, Summoned, Archetypes, and now to Summoned again. Eventually, we must check it and see if the bloody thing won’t go mad too. Any idea where it is?”

“The System? Everywhere,” Hubris laughed. “It’s pure energy.”

“Wow…” Bee widened his eyes. “Really?”

“Yes,” Hubris nodded, a loud self-satisfaction smugness on his face.

“Wow!” Bee repeated.

“Err… I fear he means it like: are you stupid?” Vincent said.

“You do?” Hubris creased his forehead.

“Maybe naive,” Bee tried not to offend the man. “The System has to have a material support, like a core or something. Mana is dark matter, remember? That’s complex stuff. Quantum fields, maybe a fifth fundamental force, quantum entanglement… We know the ones who created the System were people. People don’t have godlike powers, so we can assume they used something akin to a quantum supercomputer, only magical… And I’ve just been proven right by gaining five levels from this theory.”

“The first step is to sort out the Archetype stuff and find information,” Vincent put his hand on Bee’s shoulder. “The only way to do it is by collaborating with reliable, sane, and trustworthy Archetypes like Hubris.” He didn’t wink, but the emphasis on the words meant: ‘He could be one of the crazy ones; don’t argue with him.’

“Sure… sure…” Bee nodded, widening his eyes and mouth in understanding.

“Are we done for today?” Irene asked.

“Except for one detail. Vincent, do you still have that tree golem gem you got in the Vault?” the Dryad asked.

“I do. It’s in my inventory.”

“If you install it in this avatar, I could walk around the Guildchy and build roads and defenses faster.”

“Sure, why not…”

“If you are kind, leave us alone,” the Dyrad said. “I’m attuned to Vincent. Any other presence would risk messing with my settings.” The forcefield ceased, the door opened, and the group left, Irene starring daggers at Gia and Hubris vanishing. “OK. First, they didn’t need to leave, but it’s better not to have the Archetype listen to us.”

“Do you think Hubris is one of the Archetypes going crazy? He had a totally unhinged reaction on the train.”

“I don’t know,” the Dryad said, “but why confide in someone you could be forced to kill? And on top of that, could read your mind and take pre-emptive action.”

“Yeah, that’s a problem,” Vincent sighed, scratching the nape of his head. “I mean… I like the guy. He has been a lot of help… but… we must keep our options open. Any suggestion?”

“Raise your passives. Slippery is five levels away from evolution. It should grant you immunity to mind reading. Quiet Leadership is only one level away and should give you another rise in stats, including Mind. If you need to discuss anything serious with your friends, come here, where I can shield you.”

“Thanks,” Vincent said, turning to leave.

“I do need the gem,” the Dryad said. “And you’re thinking of saying say: Here, Pinnochio, now you will be a real boy.”

I have to level up Slippery as soon as possible…