Hiral, Seena, Nivian, and Ilrolik all left the keep to let Grandmother and the Trust come up with a plan, and found their parties waiting nearby.

“How’d it go?” Seeyela asked.

“Dad and the others are figuring out what our primary targets are going to be,” Hiral said.

“But we’re probably going to the A-Rank trial,” Seena said.

“That should be some great experience with us at B-Rank,” Yanily said. “Plus we’ve got that It’s What Inside That Counts achievement giving us up to thirty percent more experience for higher Ranks. Oh yeah, this is going to be great.” The spearman even started rubbing his hands together in anticipation of the experience harvest playing through his mind.

“Speaking of achievements,” Romin interrupted. “A raid interface popped up nearby. Just between the keep and the barracks.”

“Oh, really?” Hiral asked, instinctively looking in that direction. They had the achievement from defeating Al they could claim. “Want to go see what we get for The Power of Teamwork?”

Nivian and Ilrolik each looked at their parties – even Politet standing further away from the rest of the Breathers – then nodded their agreement. Everybody was curious what a raid achievement would result in.

It didn’t take the three groups long to find the interface, more than a few others gathered around looking at it. Nobody seemed to be using it though.

“Something wrong with the interface?” Hiral asked.

“Nah, just nothing to use it for,” one the nearby Bonders said, his monkey-companion perched on his shoulder. “Everybody got all of their evolutions and achievements out of the way before we came here.”

“Ah, makes sense,” Hiral said. Nobody had known if there would be a way to get either of those things here, but it sure made their lives easier. Having to return to Ascender’s Tower – the nearest interface – or an Asylum via a Disc of Passage would’ve been time consuming.

“Mind if we get it a try?” Yanily asked.

“Not at all,” the man said. “Hey, Romin.”

“Migi,” Romin said with a nod. “You and Hidari are both here?”

“Yeah, mom sent us,” Migi said. “Hidari is around here somewhere if you want to talk to him.”

“It’s okay,” Romin said. “Just glad to see you two getting the opportunity. Ah, sorry,” he said to his raid party. “Migi and his twin brother are D-Rankers. Talented ones, at that.”

“Not compared to you, Romin,” Migi said. “But, means a lot to hear you say that.”

“Of course,” Romin said. “Did you get put in a raid group?”

“We did,” Migi said. “With some of the folks from the flying islands. Look, tell me straight, are the islands really flying? I half-didn’t believe the girl when she talked about it. I was sure she was lying straight to my face…”

Migi seemed to trail off as he looked at the party with Romin. Then he stopped cold when his eyes landed on Hiral. The next second, he went pale and visibly gulped.

“You okay there, Migi?” Romin asked.

“F-f-f-f-fine,” Migi said. “Just… uh… realized I… was an idiot. Why would that beautiful, wonderful girl lie to me? Ha ha ha. Me? Why would I be worth lying to? Let alone erasing from existence? I mean… you know… I don’t even know what I mean. See? Not worth lying to. Or anything else.”

“Ahhhh,” Hiral said with a chuckle, and Migi absolutely froze. The monkey on his shoulder? It ducked behind his head and barely peeked around. “You’re in a raid group with my sisters.”

Migi blinked once. Then a second time. “Sisters? Plural?”

“Milly and Nat,” Hiral clarified.

If it was even possible, Migi paled even more. “Nat… is your sister too?”

Hiral crossed his arms, while Left and Right did the same thing on either side of him. “Yes.”

Something akin to a whimper escaped Migi’s lips. Or, maybe it was from the monkey?

Hiral was just about to open his mouth when an exact duplicate of Migi came running over, a small boar running at his side.

“Migi! Migi!” the other Bonder – who had to be Hidari – said. “I did it! I did what you suggested. I swear, that beetle had to be fist-sized, and when she finds it later in her bedroll? Oh man, she is going to scream!

“Migi, bro, what’s wrong?”

At the tirade from his brother, Migi’s eyes went progressively wider, then his head turned in mechanical increments to look at his twin. The boy – he couldn’t be much older than fifteen or sixteen – just started shaking. From his head to his toes.

“Hi-hi-hi-Hidari, t-t-t-this is… is… that wonderful girl’s older brother,” Migi said, voice cracking along with the stuttering.

“Oh, I bet you had a ton of fun teasing her,” Hidari said, turning to where Hiral and his doubles stood. “She’s so easy to…” he trailed off. “You look familiar. Hey Romin. Who’s your friend? Why do I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before?”

Before the Bonder could respond, a small flare of purple, infernal fire erupted from Right’s shoulder.

That seemed to trigger a memory in Hidari, and his face slowly extended to match his brothers. Mouth open, eyes wide, skin almost as pale as Nivian’s.

The boar? It bolted.

“If he kills us,” Migi quietly hissed at his brother. “I will haunt you.”

“So,” Hiral said. “You’re teasing my sisters?”

“I…” Hidari started.

“Don’t lie to me,” Hiral said, flexing his solar energy enough the two boys had to feel it like heavy hands on their shoulders.

“We… yes… sir,” Migi said.

Hiral shook his head, giving them his best glare. “Then… you’ve made a bad choice.”

Another whimper, and this time the monkey chose to join the boar hiding around the corner of the keep.

“We… we don’t do it again. Ever again,” Migi said, eyes filling with liquid as if he expected Hiral to be the last thing he ever saw.

“No, you won’t,” Hiral said gravely. “Nat isn’t afraid of bugs at all. If you really want her to scream, find a snake. A non-poisonous one.” He made sure he clarified that last part.

“We won’t ever…” Hidari started blubbering until Hiral’s words worked their way through his fear of imminent death. “What?”

“Nat and Milly may’ve grown up in the city,” Hiral went on. “But they were absolute tomboys when they were young. Climbing trees, playing in the dirt, digging up bugs, and skinning their knees. You did it? They probably did too. Means they’re not afraid of it.

“But, one thing they never got over was the time a snake found its way into a vegetable basket. Nat reached in thinking it was a cucumber. When it started to squirm, well, she figured it out. Threw it at Milly. Snake landed on her shoulder. That went about as well for everybody as you can guess.

“You want to tease them? Use a snake.”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“You’re… okay with us teasing them?” Migi asked.

“Are you trying to hurt them?” Hiral asked seriously.

“Of course not!” Hidari said naturally. “They’re just… different. Fun to tease.”

“So, you want to be friends with them,” Seena said dryly. “Boys.”

“Look, guys,” Hiral said. “If I find people trying to hurt my sisters, then I will very much get involved. But, I also want them to have a chance to be kids. To make friends. Just – I have to warn you – they give way better than they get. You start this, you better be ready for them to finish it.”

“I don’t think they can beat us,” Migi said.

“Then you don’t know my sisters,” Hiral laughed. “Now, get out of here. We’ve got to use this interface.”

“You’re not going to…?” Migi asked.

“No,” Hiral said. “Unless you hurt them. And, I wouldn’t object to you watching out for them. I might even appreciate it.”

“We won’t let anything happen to them!” Hidari immediately said.

“Good. Go.”

With his dismissal given, the two boys dashed around to the back of the keep – there wasn’t an actual corner there, since it was nestled up against the cliff – but more a bit of a lip. There, they grabbed their companions and ran off.

“They really thought you were going to, you know,” Seena said, chuckling beside him.

“Why didn’t you?” Seeyela asked. “If I found somebody put anything in my bedroll, I’d skewer them.”

“Exactly,” Hiral said. “You would. Not your big brother. The girls can take care of themselves, and I don’t want people around their age to be afraid of them because they’re afraid of me.”

“Do you want people to be afraid of you?” Yanily asked.

“Anybody who’d hurt my family, definitely,” Hiral said. Though, he glanced in his mother’s direction immediately. Maybe she’d be the exception to that. She was B-Rank after all. Should be able to take care of herself. “But! Raid interface. Let’s see what we got.”

“Who wants the honors?” Seena asked.

“Smash!” Bash said, throwing his arm into the air… where it was immediately caught by Nivian and lowered again.

“No smashing here,” the Death Knight said simply.

Bash just pouted, but that was the end of his volunteering.

“You’re the raid leader,” Ilrolik said to Hiral. “Why don’t you do this first one?”

“Sure,” Hiral said when no objections came, though he did notice Politet still give him the ol’ stink-eye. Whatever. That guy would need to get used to working with Breathers. An internal shake of his head later, Hiral waved his hand over the raid interface’s crystal. “Achievements.”

To his Cycling senses, energy pulsed out of the space between reality and where the PIMP seemed to exist, streams of it connecting to each of the party members. A heartbeat later, a window appeared in front of him.

Achievement: The Power of Teamwork

Reward: Party Interface: Raid Party

Party Interface: Raid Party – Allows multiple parties to join together to form a raid party (up to 18 members), and additionally allows any abilities or skills that would normally only apply to party members to apply to all members of the raid party.

Note: User of skills and abilities can designate (to a limited degree) who is affected by said abilities or skills within the raid party.

Hiral – as he usually did – read the notification twice in quick succession to understand what it meant. Then, as a test, he cut off his Shared Storage from the other two parties. Just like that, he knew they wouldn’t be able to interact with his party’s items. That was handy in case anybody had sticky fingers, but could he take it one step further?

Another moment of concentration, and he’d set up each of the other two parties with their own Shared Storage. Especially for Ilrolik’s party – they didn’t look to have any Interspatial Rings – it would be hugely helpful. As it was, the big Shaper was carrying her new axe over her back in a sling.

“Is this on?” Yanily asked into the party chat. “Can you guys hear me?”

“Of course we can hear you, Yan,” Seeyela said flatly.

“Yeah, but what about the other parties?”

“SMASH!” Bash shouted, his voice coming both from his small body and through the party chat.

Wule cuffed the Troblin on the back of the head. “What did I tell you about doing that?”

“Smash?” Bash asked much more quietly.

“Better,” Wule said, then pulled some kind of small cookie out of somewhere and handed it to the Troblin.

Bash snagged the treat and popped it into his mouth with a wide smile.

“There’s a good Bash,” Wule said, patting the little guy on the head where he’d just smacked him a few seconds before. If Bash even remembered getting hit, he didn’t show it.

“So all of our Party Interface abilities work across this new Raid Party ability?” Seena asked.

“My Vanguard ones seem to,” Hiral said, then quickly explained to the others how the Shared Storage worked. That got more than a few raised eyebrows and excited comments when they realized what it meant. Only Nivian and Wule – outside of Seena’s party – had Interspatial Rings – and it gave the others a lot of sudden flexibility.

After that, they did a quick run through of what the benefits would be, and it quickly turned out it wasn’t just anything with Party Interface in the name. Wule’s group buffs – as well as Sera’s – suddenly worked on eighteen people instead of six, all without losing any potency. Their reward for the achievement wasn’t flashy, but it was huge.

“This is a big advantage,” Nivian said. “As a group, we’re just that much stronger.”

“What about the other groups, though?” Wule asked. “Is there a way for them to get this now? Can they go bully Al for the achievement?”

“We can ask him after he finishes up with Grandmother and the Trust,” Seena said.

Except, to Hiral’s ears, the answer may already exist. “Hold on,” he said, focusing on what he was hearing. “It sounds like other people got the ability as well.”

At the comment, everybody turned to look at the others in the keep’s courtyard, and many of them had stopped where they were, eyes glazing over like they were reading a notification window. Others still were talking excitedly amongst themselves.

And, by the bursts of solar energy – and the ensuing buffs covering entire crowds – it was pretty clear what they were talking about.

“They all got our achievement?” Yanily asked.

“Or, at least the reward,” Seena said.

“I guess we aren’t so special,” Seeyela said.

“This is better,” Romin said. “It’s too useful an ability to hoard for ourselves.”

“He’s right,” Hiral said, already thinking about how Milly and Nat would take advantage of it in their parties. Would Milly’s Chain Heal suddenly bounce eighteen times instead of six? Hiral would have to ask.

“Well,” Wule said. “Either way, it’s done. Anything else we need from the raid interface? Anybody else have some achievements or evolutions?”

“Nothing here,” Seena said after a quick look at her party.

“Same here,” Ilrolik said.

“I guess it was too much to hope there’d be a lineup of people needing to evolve,” Yanily said, a sad look pointed at the interface. “There go my dreams of soaking up the sweet, sweet rays of Evolutionary Inspiration.”

“Wait till a few trials get completed,” Hiral said. “We’ll see levels and advanced classes in no time.”

“Will we?” Yanily asked. “Pretty sure we’ll be out in the field completing our own trials, not sitting around here.”

“Speaking of which,” Seena said. “We’ve only got a little bit of time before the mists lift. And, since we know this is going to be our home base, how about we get those MUPS set up. You said your group got one too, Nivian?”

“The Mechanized Unit Production System?” Nivian said. “Yes, we got one.”

“Doesn’t sound like they’ll produce their B-Rank guards very fast, so we should get them started,” Seena said, then pointed at one of her Brass Cannons walking a circuit around the edge of the keep’s territory. “I’ll get a few more of them summoned before I have to leave as well.”

On their way to the keep – and since they’d arrived – she’d been able to call in two of the mobile, mechanical cannons. While they were only C-Rank, being able to leave them at the camp as permanent guards – unless they got destroyed – to support whatever the MUPS produced was a nice, extra layer of protection.

“Where do we want to set them up?” Wule asked. “Do we even know how big they’ll be?”

“No idea,” Left said. “And, really, we have three options. Near the keep itself would be the safest. As the fortified area grows, it would keep the production of the defenders secure. On the other hand, as the area expands, they would then have to go further to reach the front lines if there was active combat.

“The opposite thinking would be to put the production systems near where we think the final wall would be. This would allow them to quickly enter any fight after they’ve been completed. On the other hand, it would make the actual facility more vulnerable to attack.

“The third and final option would be a middle ground,” Left continued. “Literally. Though, until we have walls, the MUPS itself would still be vulnerable.”

“It sounds like all three of these buildings are going to grow as they advance,” Hiral said, pointing at the keep, barracks, and craftsman’s buildings. “So, why don’t we put the MUPS along the cliff-face, but a bit further out to accommodate that growth? Should keep them safe from attack for the time being.”

“Do we even need to worry about an attack before the other faction unlocks the ability to come to our side of the Cradle?” Loan asked.

“Random Chimeras, I think,” Hiral said with a shrug. “Until we have a nice, solid wall, better to be safe than sorry.”

“I agree,” Seena said. “Ilrolik, Nivian? Thoughts?”

“Should we ask the Trust?” Nivian asked.

“We probably should,” Seena sighed. “I just hate waiting to get those guardians built.”

“Nothing stopping you from making more Brass Cannons in the meantime,” Hiral pointed out.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Seena said, clapping her hands. “I’ll get to that, then, and we can ask the Trust about the MUPS when they’re done their current thing.”

“As for the rest of us,” Hiral said. “We’ve got a couple hours – again – before we can really do anything. Get some rest. Get some food. Talk to the other parties. Whatever it is, be ready to go when the mists lift.”

Seena,Nivian, and Ilrolik nodded at that, grabbing their groups and taking everybody towards where the rest of the parties were working on getting settled in.

Well, almost everybody, with four people staying behind.

The first two were of course Left and Right, his doubles not willing to move a muscle when they saw the others sticking around.

The next person was Wule, who clearly had something he wanted to talk to Hiral about. But, between the two of them, they didn’t say anything, and instead looked at the final person waiting for a few minutes of Hiral’s time. The one who’d caused Hiral’s doubles to stay where they were.

His mother.