Nobody in the crowd moved or said anything as Hiral levitated with Left beside him. Sure, he definitely got a few dirty looks – and maybe he even deserved a few of them for selfishly slowing their raid progress – but that didn’t make him regret his actions. He’d… taken the abuse for a lot of years. Like he’d told Seena, he was even sort of, almost, kind of, occasionally fine with it. He’d felt like it was his fault, and – more importantly – that it was within his power to change.

Which he had. He’d gotten a class, and more than enough strength to make those haters eat their words.

But his sisters? They’d never deserved it, and he was not going to hesitate a second longer to be the big brother protecting him that he always should’ve been.

“Good,” he said to the waiting silence. “Then we’ll get back to things.” With the words, he lowered himself to the ground as Right passed the two healers moving over to see to the fallen Shaper.

“You’ll need to reabsorb me before I can fight again,” Right said quietly as he joined Hiral and Left.

“Low on solar energy?” Hiral asked. It wouldn’t be a surprise considering the show he’d just put on.

In answer, Right put his body between Hiral and most of the crowd, then lifted up his right hand. His mangled and broken right hand. Even under the Auroran Conqueror, the fingers bent at all the wrong angles – where they weren’t missing entirely – while there were three clear breaks in the forearm, not to mention the solar energy leaking out like thick blood.

“His Shaper body lived up to expectations,” Right said. “And, as much as I’d like to boast otherwise, he’s not hurt nearly bad enough for what I tried. Unconscious, yeah, but probably not less than half health.”

“Seriously?” Hiral asked, looking over at the Shaper. “You absolutely trashed him though…?”

“I took advantage of his weaknesses and overconfidence,” Right clarified. “His endurance – and those buffs – I couldn’t punch through them completely. I don’t think he could beat me, but if he turtled up, it’d be a pain. If it’d been somebody like Loan or Ilrolik – or some other B-Rank Shaper taking me seriously – it would’ve been a lot tougher.”

“Think you could take either of those two?” Hiral asked quietly.

For all his usual confidence, Right didn’t answer immediately. “Probably? They’re both two of the more skilled Shapers, and it wouldn’t just be their durability I’d have to deal with. Maybe after we finish up here, I’ll spar with them a bit.”

“For fun,” Hiral said. “After.”

“For fun,” Right agreed. “After.”

One more look at the double’s wrecked right hand, and Hiral cancelled and quickly reactivated Foundational Split. It cost him some solar energy, but the look of relief on Right’s face as the pain vanished was more than worth it.

“Can we finally get back to why we’re here?” Ilrolik asked, though she was looking at where Rikki sat up in the crater. The big man had one hand on his head while Wule and Yully treated him, and he kept blinking like he was trying to figure out what had happened. “I’ll keep him out of trouble after this.”

“Or you can let him challenge Hiral again,” Milly said, sliding up beside Hiral and his doubles.

“Pretty sure you challenged him,” Hiral pointed out.

“Technicalities,” Milly said with a wave of her hand. “You took care of it.”

“He did,” Hiral pointed at Right.

“Same thing,” Milly said. She punched Hiral gently in the arm. “Still, it was good to see you thrash one of those jerks.”

“It was,” Hiral said.

“Ahem,” Ilrolik faux-coughed.

Hiral nodded at the woman; she was right, after all. “Al,” he said, turning to the guide. “Back to my question. Could one raid group – mine or somebody else’s – sweep across the valley to clear all the areas?”

The guide shook his head. “Different areas within the Cradle have different solar energy concentrations – by design. It would be unwise for anybody above the suggested Ranking to enter an area. For example, E- and D-Rank people could enter the D-Rank zone, though there would be the normal dangers for E-Rankers to go there.”

“Why can’t C-Rank people enter D-Rank areas?” Nivian asked.

“The concentration of the solar energy will act like a poison to anybody of a higher Rank than the zone,” Al said.

“How serious of a poison are we talking about?” Seeyela said.

“Depends on the Rank difference between the zone and the person who enters,” Al said. “A one-Rank difference would cause severe pain and disorientation within fifteen minutes. Death within sixty. Two Ranks would halve those timelines. Three Ranks? Halved again.”

“You’re saying…” Hiral started, doing some quick math. “That a B-Rank – one of us – going into an E-Rank zone would be death in fifteen minutes?”

“Agonizing pain in less than five minutes,” Al confirmed. “And, when I say agonizing, I’m not exaggerating. The solar energy will ravage your channels, charring everything in their wake and constricting them into little more than rotted and broken passages. Even if it doesn’t kill you, recovery will be long, with the damage possibly being permanent.”

“Which means there’s whole sections of the valley we’ll never be able to enter?” Seena asked. “Doesn’t seem nearly as safe as you suggested.”

“Once you’ve conquered your half of the valley, many of these restrictions will vanish,” Al said.

“Many?” Ilrolik latched on to the choice of vocabulary.

“Even after you pacify your region, the trials and challenges will remain,” Al said. “Hrm, I should clarify, while it is the Chimeras you must remove to ‘pacify’ the region, they are not the trials left by Tomorrow. Within each of the areas currently controlled by the Chimeras, Tomorrow’s challenges await you. Each of those challenges will retain their Rank-specificity, preventing those at higher Ranks from abusing them.

“For those of equal – or lower Rank – though, they will forever remain. How you choose to use them, if at all, will be up to you. Though, they must each be cleared at least once for you to gain control of the valley.”

“How many of these zones are there?” Burs asked. “As you can see, we’ve got a lot of people looking for opportunities to grow stronger.”

“The answer to that lies with the map in the fortress I will take you to shortly,” Al said. “Though, having this many separate raid groups will allow you to clear the valley faster. As was designed by Tomorrow’s wisdom. More people working together increases chances of survival.”

“Then I think we should go see this map and get started,” Ilrolik said.

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“One more question before that,” Hiral said. “When we found the raid zone, it said there would be a need for people of all Ranks. Are there S-Rank challenges in here we need to clear?”

That question made more than a few people exchange glances. If there were S-Rank trials, would anybody be able to clear them? Hiral and his group were pretty confident in themselves, but fighting up two whole Ranks? Maybe not so much.

“There are no S-Rank trials,” Al said. “Within the Cradle of Tomorrow, you will only find trials of E- through A-Rank. And, for you to control your half of the valley – to have a chance at winning it all – you must clear three-quarters of them.”

“So, we can avoid the A-Rank trials if we need to?” Wule asked, coming back out from where he and Yully had healed Rikki.

Al shook his head again. “You must clear at least three-quarters of the trials at each Rank. And, as there is only one A-Rank trial, you must clear it.”

“Of course,” Wule said flatly. “What idiot group is going to try that?”

Seena’s entire group, along with Nivian all looked at the healer.

“Oh hells,” Wule said. “Our idiot group is going to try that?”

“Who else would it be?” Nivian asked.

The poor healer just threw his hands up.

“Anything you can tell us about the A-Rank trial?” Seena started, then held up a hand to stop Al from answering. “Actually, hold off on that. I’m sure we’ll have questions about all the trials. Let’s go see this map, then we can ask questions and figure out which group is going where. Unless somebody else thinks differently?”

“No, I agree,” Hiral said. “Grandmother? Dad? Burs?”

“Take us to this fortress,” Grandmother said. “I’m curious to see our new – temporary – home. Does it have tea?”

“If it doesn’t,” Gran said, floating up beside Grandmother, the Shard of the Lost Epoch hovering behind her like it had the Wild-Boss. “I do. It’s an… older blend, but I’ve kept it fresh.”

“Ah good, it’s almost that time of day.”

“Isn’t it?”

Grandmother nodded at the vampire, then her attention returned to Al. “Well, why aren’t you moving?”

More than used to their matron’s peculiarities, there were several looks of pity on the Growers’ faces, but Al didn’t seem to mind, and turned to begin his walk toward the break in the trees. It didn’t take long for them to find a sloped trail leading down into the valley proper, thick fog covering most of what lay head.

As before, only some of the tallest structures – natural and man-made from the looks of things – extended slightly above the heavy mist. Most of them were trees or small earthen peaks, but that over there looked a lot like a peaked roof. And, further along, Hiral could almost swear those looked like the tips of the fingers of a massive, upturned hand made of some kind of stone or metal.

His mind flashed back to the Colossus of Tomorrow, and part of him shuddered at the possibility. An A-Rank, fully released version of one of those monstrosities? He might have to agree with Wule in that case.

On the other hand, it could be a fun challenge.

Ugh, I really am as bad as Yanily.

With around four-hundred people, a long line trailed behind Hiral – with his arm still over Milly’s shoulders – as he and his party walked near the front with Al. Elezad – along with some Growers and Bonders – had taken it on themselves to organize the procession, ensuring the other B-Rank raid group was at the back in case anything happened.

That didn’t have anything to do with keeping Rikki as far from Hiral and his sisters as physically possible. Nope, nothing at all. No way Elezad would play favorites like that when it came to his prized children.

By the time Hiral got to the bottom of the slope – with the path only being wide enough for two or three people side by side – he took a quick look behind. The crowd had stretched out a bit, separating into individual raid groups by the looks of things, but it didn’t extend all the way to the top. The basin of the valley had to be a few hundred feet deeper than the field they’d been on, and the thick fog stood like crafted walls on all sides of them in a crescent about fifty feet away from Al.

“Tomorrow gave me the ability to keep the fog at bay until you claim the fortress,” Al explained, continuing to stride down the trail. Just like he said, the fog maintained a constant distance from him – like shadow to a carried lantern. “Once you do have the fortress under your control, more of the fog will lift, allowing you to see additional parts of the valley. Then, with each trial you complete, more and more areas will clear.”

“You said something about clearing trials also providing us with ways to improve the fortress?” Seena asked. “How’s that work?”

“The fortress is not alive, but it does have a sort of intelligence, like the valley does,” Al said. “As you progress through the challenges, more of the fortress’s options will unlock, along with gaining better construction materials, for example. This will give you access to new modular building components, such as defensive walls – wood, stone… or something else – lookout towers, siege weapons, or more advanced kitchens and dining halls.

“Clearing the entire valley will unlock all of these options, allowing you to build a comfortable – and protected – home.”

“But,” Hiral said, thinking about that. “Didn’t you say the valley would be safe after we clear all the trials? Why do we need more defenses at that point?”

“For two reasons,” Al said. “The first is the other faction. Should you fall behind, their goal will be to assault your fortress and take it for their own. If they succeed, you lose. Having a fully outfitted fortress increases your chances of successfully defending your territory, or at least holding out long enough to turn the tide of the war.”

“Which means,” Seeyela said. “To defeat this other faction, we’ll need to go through their fortress?”

“Correct,” Al said. “The faster you complete your trials, the less time they have to complete theirs. Which means less options and resources for upgrading their base of operations, on top of lower personal power for each of them.”

“Even knowing what upgrades our fortress can get helps us when we have to siege theirs,” Hiral said.

“Not entirely incorrect,” Al said. “The two factions share some of the same upgrade paths, but there are also differences. You would be wise not to limit what you think your enemy is capable of.”

“Good to know,” Hiral said. “What’s the second reason? After we beat the other faction, do we need the upgrades?”

“Need?” Al said as if he was thinking. “Maybe not. Hopefully not. Consider this, is any place ever completely safe? Tomorrow made this place hidden from the Enemy, but could something else wander in? It’s one of the reasons your fortress is not situated up in the field where we fought, and instead some place a little deeper into the valley. More protected.”

“He has a point,” Seena said. “If that’s really Vorinal on the other side, it means Infested can come in here, even if the Enemy can’t. Our islands are naturally protected being up in the sky…”

“And Grandfather,” Yanily reminded her. “Along with the Spear of Clouds.”

“True,” Seena conceded. “Either way, we don’t have to worry about… wandering dangers. What if that Reinforced Runeocerous had strolled in here. Or something else like it? Having some strong walls and other defenses seems like a good idea.”

“Especially if we do decide to leave people here after the raid is finished,” Hiral said. “I doubt we will be sticking around to keep them safe.”

“We haven’t even really started the raid zone,” Seena said. “And you’re already thinking about what comes next?”

“I guess?” Hiral said. “Though I honestly have no idea what that next might be.”

“Even then,” Nivian chimed in as they walked behind their guide. “He’s right. We won’t be staying here long. A hidden, safe valley is nice to have, but I’d much prefer a safe world.”

“Lot of work in front of us,” Wule said with a dramatic sigh. “Good thing this guy doesn’t need to sleep anymore.” He pointed at his brother. “Though, would it kill him – uh… you know what I mean – to remember that some of us still do need to sleep? Maybe occasionally take a break.”

“This stroll through the woods under the sun is your break,” Nivian said in his otherworldly voice. “Don’t waste it.” Then a sandwich appeared in his hand – probably from his Interspatial Ring – and he handed it to his brother.

“You think you can shut me up with food? Just like that?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you’re right,” Wule said, taking the sandwich and immediately stuffing it in his mouth.

“Hey,” Yanily said. “What about the rest of…?” He didn’t even get to finish his sentence before Nivian had a long sandwich pointed in the spearman’s direction. “Thanks!”

“Anybody else?” Nivian asked.

“You know I’ll never say no to your food,” Hiral said, taking some food of his own. And one for Milly when her eyes practically sparkled like a puppy’s at the sight of Nivian’s cooking. “Though, I am curious where you got so much bread…”

“Don’ ash” Wule said through a full mouth, happily eating away. “Jus don’ ash.”

So, Hiral didn’t.

More sandwiches got passed out to the rest of the parties nearby, and the group continued their walk – and chatting – for another fifteen minutes, angling to the side as a steep cliff emerged above them on their right. Sure, the B-Rank group could’ve moved a lot faster than this – if they knew where they were going – but it was a much more reasonable pace for the E-Rankers with them.

Finally, after the quick snack was finished, and Hiral could just tell Yanily was about to ask ‘Are we there yet?’, the path ahead expanded outward to Hiral’s sensory domain. A clearing.

“I think we’re almost there,” Hiral said to his group.

“You are correct,” Al said from in front, stepping off the path as the fake sunlight seemed to stream directly into everybody’s eyes.

Even the hood of Hiral’s Coat of Amin Thett didn’t protect him from the effect, though it lasted only a split second – like it was only there for dramatic effect – before it passed. Then, there ahead them, sitting nestled up against the towering rockface, was their fortress.