Life once more settled into a routine. The mercenary company spent most of their time practicing individual and small-unit combat Skills when a platoon wasn't assigned to a patrol duty. The patrol duties were standard every time, but Reivyn made sure that the officers kept a full report for the outposts and the command structure in Piori every time.
Just because they had settled into a routine, there was no reason to get sloppy.
Aside from sparring sessions with his father and Mana sessions with Kefira, Reivyn spent the majority of his time trying to figure out the Skill-sharing Mana-tether Skill the enemy had used. He had groups of individuals use their shared Mana Shield Skill as the breakthrough point, but he had little luck so far.
The other officers studied tactics and strategy for the most part, but they also had their own little homework assignments to try and get experimental data for Reivyn.
Reivyn continued to bear his focus down as much as possible with his Divine Sense Skill at all times, too. He knew the Skill was important to his future growth, but he hadn't realized how useful it could actually be. He had taken it for granted as a 360-degree super-Perception Skill, but it could be so much more.
He couldn't focus his attention down to a microscopic level, nor could he zoom out for a bird's-eye view. That didn't matter though, as he perceived everything in his range as if he was standing at the optimal distance to see or hear it.
Slowly, the Divine Sense Skill started to show some other interesting changes as it got closer and closer to Skill Level 25. He started seeing little sparks floating in the air or stuck to an object. He didn't know exactly what he was seeing at first, but it gradually dawned on him.
His Divine Sense Skill was synergizing with his Sense Mana and Mana Sight Skills. He was seeing the Mana directly through his Divine Sense Skill without having to actively focus on his other Mana-sensory Skills.
He increased his training sessions with his Mana Skills to see if it had a passive effect on his Divine Sense Skill or if it was just the Divine Sense, and after raising the two Skills a couple of Levels, he noticed a tangible difference in the Skill.
It took him a little while to get used to the new sensation of seeing sparks of Mana with his Divine Sense Skill, and it led to a couple of embarrassing situations. More than once, while he was just minding his own business, he would reflexively frantically swat at something in front of his face before he realized it wasn't a giant wasp trying to sting him in the eyes. Several of the mercenaries gave him some strange looks during those little incidents, but he just shrugged it off.
Reivyn was walking along the edge of the training grounds to a squad of mercenaries that were going to participate in his Mana-tether experiments when something tugged at his awareness. He stopped and looked over at a two of the mercenaries standing next to each other in a platoon drill practice.
Reivyn came to a stop and really looked at them. One was fairly tall, maybe even an inch or two taller than Reivyn, and the other one that stood out to his senses next to him was considerably shorter, about Kefira's height. The shorter one was obviously a girl, and it wasn't anything unusual. The two standing next to each other was slightly strange as they tried to keep the units in order based on height whenever they could, but that also wasn't what caught his attention.
There was a veritable swarm of Mana sparks clinging to their faces. Reivyn focused his attention further, delving beyond the Mana sparks to inspect their faces more closely. There was no tell-tale sign of a skin-mask on either of them, but they were extremely suspicious.
Reivyn motioned to a soldier walking by. The soldier walked up and gave a salute.
"Run to the headquarters and get Vice-Captain Refix and Lady Kefira," Reivyn said in a low voice. "Actually, scratch that. Don't run just get their quickly. Snag any of the other officers nearby, as well."
"Yes, sir!" The soldier gave a crisp salute and then turned to briskly walk away to complete the order.
Reivyn continued to meander closer to the platoon. They were performing quite well together, he noticed, but he wasn't really paying that much attention to it. He made sure to keep from focusing his eyesight directly on the pair, but that was all he was paying attention to with his Divine Sense.
It wasn't long before Refix, Kefira, Serilla, and two other officers came walking over in a casual manner. Reivyn looked at them and signaled for the two officers to make their way to the far-side of the platoon to surround them. Refix went to the left, and Kefira and Serilla went to the right.
Once everyone was in position, Reivyn walked straight up the middle to the two people in question. He unsheathed his sword as he approached, and the platoon came to an abrupt halt at his approach.
Reivyn could see sweat trickle down the sides of the faces of the two people in question, much more than was present on anyone else. They did a good job of remaining calm, but Reivyn's focus on them with his threatening stance let them know they had been caught.
The two shared a look before throwing their weapons down and raising their hands in the air.
"We're not spies!" The taller of the pair shouted.
The rest of the soldiers were taken aback, and they hastily distanced themselves from the two. All of the spears came up at the ready, pointed toward them.
Reivyn walked right up to the two. His sword was down at his side, but his muscles were tensed enough that a thought could send it streaking in for the kill at a moment's notice.
The taller soldier heaved a sigh. The Mana-sparks covering their faces seemed to fall away like oil on water, and two familiar faces stared back at Reivyn.
Reivyn stared back at them in stunned silence for a moment before he started laughing loudly. He sheathed his sword, and the rest of the soldiers warily lowered their weapons as well.
Refix came walking over with a frown on his face, but Kefira stared just as intently at the two individuals as Reivyn had as she walked up.
"So, how've the two of you been since the last time we met atop the Dagger's Peak?" Reivyn asked.
The two no longer sported robes and long, flowing hair, but their faces were undeniably those of the two people who had appeared out of nowhere atop the giant mountain and then walked through the air to descend. They were dressed in the mercenary arms and armor, and their hair was neatly tied up in buns to keep it out of the way.
The two shared another look before tentatively lowering their arms to their sides.
"Umm, good, I guess?" The taller man answered.
"Alright, let's go to my office for a conversation, shall we?"
"Yes, sir."
---
"We're just out for Life Experience," the male, Xudrid, answered. "When we're in the lower Regions, we have to disguise ourselves to look like locals as much as possible. Not many people wear the same attire as us, and we have certain distinguishing features and mannerisms that tell us apart."
"I had noticed," Reivyn said wryly. "It's not every day you see two Tier 4's walking in the sky."
"It's a Class Skill," Xudrid said.
"Walking through the air is a Class Skill?" Reivyn's eyebrows climbed up to his forehead.
"Yeah, our Classes are a bit different than those found in the lower Regions. We come from a sect, and the disciples have a fairly unified Class progression."
"And you're just, allowed, to tell us this information? I mean, you guys did go through all that trouble to disguise yourselves."
"Oh, no, that's for us," Xudrid said. "We're not disguising ourselves to keep secrets about where we're from, though that is generally one of the consequences. We just need to try and integrate into society as much as possible for our Life Experience excursions."
"I see," Reiyn said, stroking his chin in thought.
"Yeah, it's not like you're going to stumble upon our sect any time soon, anyway. It's in a Tier 7 Region."
Xudrid and his companion, Vyria, continued to sit casually as if they hadn't just dropped a huge piece of information on those present. One could hear a pin drop in the silence. From down the hall.
Refix kept a stoic look on his face, though Reivyn could tell from his subtle body language that he was just as surprised as anyone else. Kefira's mouth dropped open for a moment before she snapped it back closed, and Serilla's eyebrows actually wiggled a bit before settling down.
"The two of you are from a Tier 7 Region?" Reivyn asked.
"Yes, sir," Xudrid nodded his head.
"Forgive my skepticism, but you two are mid-Tier 4. How did you survive? How could anyone survive?"
"Well, let me ask you a question in return," Xudrid said. He waited until Reivyn nodded his head for him to go on. "Who built all of the teleport circles that connect the Tier 4 capital cities?"
"Space Mages, obviously."
"Uh huh. And what happened to them afterward? They didn't just disappear."
Reivyn tapped his chin in contemplation as he thought about the question.
I've never really considered it before, he thought. It's just been a fact of life that I've taken for granted. The Tier 4 capital cities have teleportation circles connecting them across the Realm. Everyone knows that.
But he has a good point. Was the Space Affinity just that much more prolific in the ancient times? Are these teleportation circles the pinnacle of Space Magic? If not, where did they all go?
Xudrid didn't let the silence linger for too long.
"They moved to the higher Regions," he said. "And as they gained Levels and proficiency in their Skills and Affinities, they got better and better at Space Magic.
"All of this to say, there are sects in Tier 5 through 8 Regions, and they have what we call secret realms to house the lower Tier population. The Space Mages made pockets of space, very similar to Dungeons, and that's where the youth and lower Tier individuals live.
"The core disciples of the sects occupy the mountain range on the outside, and there are different Tiers of secret realms for the disciples to train in to gain Levels and Experience. It's not perfect, though, which is why we still have to travel to the lower Realms to shore up our foundations in Life Experience."
"That makes a lot of sense, actually," Reivyn said. "So there are whole empires of super high-Level people out there?"
"Not exactly," Xudrid shook his head. "Sure, the average Tier and Level is considerably higher, but you're still not going to find a bunch of Tier 7's or 8's running around. The core disciples occupying the mountain of our sect are Tier 5. A couple of the ancestors are Tier 7.
"Also, our sect is about twice the size of Willowan in population. You could think of them more as large city-states as opposed to empires."
"What about these guys?" Reivyn tilted his head in the direction of the front lines. There was no question who he was referring to.
"We know about them, and we have some small interactions with them, but we generally don't interfere with each other. I couldn't tell you a whole lot about them, but I do know that us being here fighting with you guys won't be seen as some sort of political scandal. Competition is actually encouraged."
"Competition? Fighting and killing is competition?"
"Oh, sure. They simply follow a different path."
"A different path? Path to what?" Reivyn asked.
"Ascension," Xudrid replied. His tone of voice made it seem like the answer was obvious.
"Ascension?" Reivyn repeated with a flat voice.
"Of course. Isn't that the end goal for everyone reaching for higher and higher Tiers? The sects focus on individual accomplishment to achieve ascension, and the only thing I know about them is that they use the collective to channel their power and resources to a select few to bolster their efforts."
"So it's all about resources, then?" Reivyn asked.
"Most likely," Xudrid shrugged. "Treasure and people."
"Yeah, that tracks," Reivyn said. He glanced at Kefira. "Aeriella seemed to treat the people they had abducted as commodities to exploit."
"Don't mention her," Kefira said, turning her face away with a snort.
Reivyn rolled his eyes before turning back to Xudrid. The two sect disciples were together, but Xudrid did all the talking. He had never heard a single utterance from Vyria. Xudrid had been the one to disclose her name.
"So you guys come from a Tier 7 Region. Your sect is the size of a large city-state, and you protect the youths and lower-Leveled people by having them live inside secret realms. You mentioned that your Class progression is fairly unified?"
"Oh, yeah. Collectively we refer to ourselves as Cultivators. At the end of the day, they're just Classes, though. Our Classes follow almost exactly the same rules as everyone else, but they're also typically superior. A lot of the cultivators are pretty arrogant toward non-Cultivators for this reason."
"How are your Classes superior? And what are the differences?" Reivyn asked.
"For one, the minimum rarity of all Cultivator-type Classes is Epic," Xudrid answered. "That includes Tier 1 and 2. In the lower Regions, Tier 1 Classes are mostly common with some nobility and royals having Uncommon or Rare. Our Tier 1 Class is the Epic Body Tempering Class.
"As to the differences, it comes down to having to perform certain feats in order to qualify for the next Tier Cultivator Class. Our Tier 2 Class is Qi Refining, and it requires us to combine our Stamina and Mana together into one. The result is Qi."
"Interesting. That actually verifies a question I once had but had never really had the time to ponder before. That begs the question, if you can combine Stamina and Mana, what about Health?"
"That falls into what we call Forbidden Skills," Xudrid replied. "They're not forbidden in the sense that it's illegal to use them. It's just that one needs to know what they're doing before trying them out. Those types of Skills could kill you if you're not careful."
"I believe it," Reivyn said, nodding his head. He sat in silent contemplation for a moment. "So what are your intentions, now?"
Xudrid and Vyria shared another look. Xudrid turned back to Reivyn to answer.
"We're here for Life Experience. We saw the notice for the mercenary company, and we figured it would be the most unique experience we could have. We would like to continue being part of the mercenary company, if that's all right."
"I don't see why not, now that we've clarified everything," Reivyn said. He glanced between Refix and Kefira, and they nodded their heads in support. "You guys have given us a lot to think about, so go ahead and go back to your units. I'll call your commanding officer in here to speak to him about it, and I'll have someone inform your NCO's, too. There shouldn't be any problems."
"Thank you, sir," Xudrid replied. He maintained the proper military discipline even though he was someone from a Tier 7 Region.
"Alright, you guys are dismissed. If you think of anything else to contribute to what you know about the invaders, write it down and pass it up the chain of command. I'm sure we'll also have some other talks in the future, if you're willing. I would consider these conversations outside of our relationship as commander and subordinate."
"Certainly, certainly."
Xudrid and Vyria rose from their seats, gave salutes, and departed from the office. Reivyn watched them leave the building with his Divine Sense before turning to the other three remaining in the room.
"Well... that's a lot to think about, isn't it," he said.
"I'll say," Refix replied.