Kaden’s notifications had practically overflowed when he completed the final step in his long-standing quest to return all the inheritance items to the centurions who had died alongside his parents.
Quest Master is Active.
You have completed a Quest: The Weight of Memories.
You have received 2x: Outpost
WARNING: HOLDING IS CURRENTLY ATTACHED TO 1x OUTPOST (Meridian Island)
FREE OUTPOST SPENT TO RESTABLISH CONNECTION.
1x OUTPOST AVAILABLE.
[Outposts]
You’ve got a home base established where only you rule. Now it’s time to start establishing yourself in the wider world. Establishing an [Outpost] will enforce [Authority] and [Dominion] in the place you choose. Your sphere of [Authority] and [Dominion] will increase as you destroy competing [Authorities]. Monsters will not spawn in your [Outpost.] You may not establish an [Outpost] in an area under [Authority] without permission. To obtain more [Outposts] seek out forgotten places of the world.
Mana Cost: 5,000.
Cooldown: One Year.
Kaden shared the logs with Sara and Trella. “We could establish an [Outpost] inside the domain. Come hunt here whenever we want.”
“We should talk about the island,” Trella answered. “You’ve never seen wildlife there, right? I’ve spent a lot more time there. You don’t see it because Oceanus, the literal Sea Dragon, goes there to hunt. The lowest wildlife I’ve found is level forty five.”
“The beach is always deserted,” Sara said.
“Because everything large enough got eaten,” Trella answered. “So, wherever you establish this better be a place you’re comfortable. Once a year makes it difficult. The mana cost? With all of us pitching in, it’s almost a non-factor.”
A journey that had taken him to Omnor, and Egalion, and even the bitter windswept plains of the far north had finally come to an end—but now, he could see new journeys one the horizon. “What about the Iron Gear Empire? Or Xiao?”
“Pretty sure they’re under [Authority],” Trella said. “But imagine establishing one in the Fire Domain and harvesting it regularly.”
“King Evandor would probably object.” Sara seemed lost in thought. “It shouldn’t be anywhere easy. The Quest Text even says to seek out the forgotten places.”
The domain seemed forgotten to Kaden. There certainly wasn’t any [Authority] here to combat. The idea struck like a thunderbolt. “If I establish an outpost at one of the villages, Samuel won’t be able to claim it without defeating me.”
“But it would be a year before you could use it someplace better,” Trella said. “We’re not ready for the island. We could maybe pick off a lone, low-level monster, but probably not. Better we keep the outpost for someplace we want.”
“It might be worth it. Three hundred and sixty five days may be the price to keep Samuel from consolidating [Authority].” Sara summoned a crawling horror, tossing it in the air absent-mindedly. The sickly white grub squealed in unpleasant ways as her pseudopods caught it and then flipped it in the air again and again. “The Mercari want Samuel driven out of the north. The question is, what’s worth it to make it happen?”
A year.
Kaden could wait that long. “It’ll take us three months to search the Iron Gear Empire. Maybe four.” He winced as another stream of images hit via [Prophecy]. As always, it was smothering gray fog with flashes of lightning. When his vision cleared, drops of red fell from his nose.
“Same vision?” Trella asked.
He nodded. “I hate [Prophecy]. Half the visions make no sense and the ones that do are wrong.”
“Not so.” Ashi yawned and rose, settling to the stone bench like a leaf drifting from a tree. “Your understanding will grow. I can bend fate, but every effort I have made changes nothing. We do not judge our future self by our present ability.”
Kaden helped himself to the meal box and devoured food like he hadn’t eaten in a day or two, which was accurate, while Trella brewed [Fire Soul] potions, then set them aside to work on new ones that crackled and smelled like rotting meat.
Ashi quietly explained how her students had returned to their clans. How they would continue to grow and learn, but for now, she would be free to protect them emphatically. “I have swapped mana stones. And I would like to charge one with [Destruction] mana.”
Whoa. Ashi had specifically denied wanting the power the [Destruction] Wyvern wielded. “Are you sure?”
“There is a time to build, and grow and learn. So, too, there is a time to destroy. I am ready.” She followed him as he retreated away from the others and activated [Destruction Aura]. Her skin turned black and purple in streaks as she absorbed the mana, and the Dungeon Core embedded in her abdomen lit up as stone after stone in her wraps turned black. “There.”
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When he turned off the aura, Ashi drew her spellbook. The cover had shifted to deep purple, the texture to pebbles. “Ah. [Disintegration Storm]. The book shifts as I do, but the spells it offers I do not control. When I have more pages, I will be able to lock them to spells.”
She’d said there was another in the Iron Gear Empire’s treasury.
“We’ll get it.”
“I will not teach another student. I want to spread the knowledge of magic, but in a way that never involves children, ever. We face death, and they flinch. Let them be pursued by murderers, even once, and the moaning never ceases.” She put her head in her hands. “Najur would know kindness to say to calm fears. I did not.”
“You taught magic to people in a land where magic changes lives,” Kaden said. “Even though you didn’t like them, you still gave them attention, and equipment, and techniques that will go with them their entire career. How many did you lose?”
“Which time?” Ashi asked. “It is a simple thing, to follow when commanded so.”
Kaden re-evaluated his tactics. “They’ll be powerful and respected and make the lives for their tribes better. They won’t demand coins for their spells—”
“Oh!” Trella said, her voice filled with disgust. “Guess how many [Fire Soul] potions the new [Alchemist] brewed? And guess what he wanted in return.”
Kaden didn’t need to. He didn’t need to at all. Samuel had come in with adventurers pretending to be noble and willing to do the hard work of keeping peace, but the peace he planned was always his own.
Night came and went, and Eve returned, exhausted, with Garm in her shadow and Vip under her arm, safely kept warm in her robes. “There’s nothing left for me to do. Once the clans work out the agreement, I will be the [OathBinder] for a new accord, but the last thing they need is more help.”
Kaden had cooked breakfast and served it with pleasure. “We’re going out hunting this morning. The Domain is vast and I want to explore every inch. I have an ice dragon to kill and a scale to claim.”
“I have a dungeon map,” Trella said. “And this is effectively a dungeon. I want to map every exit and every spawn. [Frost] moves very slowly in the Domain, so I’ve brewed enough potions to keep the workers working. We’ll be back when we’re back.”
“I’m coming too!” Sara said. “Ashi?”
“I have been restrained too long. I seek greater challenges.” Ashi fitted her wraps and lowered the mask that kept the Domain’s intense mana at bay. “Come and see what Sevin has done with your monster.”
Kaden followed her up to one of the bedrooms, where Sara took the lead. “Sevin, that’s enough monster mashing for one night. Why don’t you and Skully come hunting in the Domain with us?”
Now Kaden recognized that this doorway arched higher than all the rest. From it emerged a monstrous skull whose eye sockets glowed with ruby light. Finger bones trailed off of its chin to form a ‘beard’ of sorts. Skully’s rib cage was formed of curved teeth that formed a cell. Inside it stood the necromancer Sevin. The mana stones embedded in his skull arced necro mana out to Skully, and he smiled as he saw Kaden. “I’ve made improvements to him! [Skeledeer] bones for his legs that flatten out into wide sleds so he can traverse snow. And just wait until we get in range of something. He’ll never be unarmed again.”
“Boss.” Skully spoke with a voice like grinding stone.
It was pretty much all he ever said, which still made him unsual for a re-animated monster. Skully lumbered over to stand behind Kaden. “Go.”
They headed up the stairs and exited to a bitter blue dawn. As Skully stepped out, the snow around them errupted with dozens of re-animated beasts made mostly of pieces of [Ulf] and [Razor Geese].
“See? Razor bones to cut with, four legs to chase!” Sevin took deep pride in his work. “Skully, let us find something to show off with.”
Ashi showed off [Soaring Wind]. “It is best to alternate soaring and [Hover]. To fly too high is to use all mana.”
It was less “soaring” and more “higher than hovering but not what anyone would call soaring if they’d ever seen something soar” with Ashi floating eight to ten feet above the ground.
Kaden stopped as they passed [Makur]. [Beast Soul] said something was different. The cattle-like beasts had always had rough brown fur, but now their fur carried streaks of sky blue, and their horns curved longer. More importantly, the beasts themselves carried a presence he hadn’t felt before.
[Glacial Makur]
The Makur have existed for so long in the cold they are not only immune, they grow stronger in it. Blessed with the power of the Ice Domain, they have adapted to an even harsher environment. Alone, a makur is prey, but together their defense is unmatched. This one is tame from birth but enjoys digging for the most powerful ice crystals it has ever tasted. *Happy*.
Skills: Bull Rush, Gore, Shared Shield
Talents: Ice Born, Arctic Aura, For The Herd
[Shared Shield] When two or more [Makur] face the same enemy, damage is distributed across all of them and reduced by the combined power of all shields. Makur may not move while invoking [Shared Shield].
[For The Herd]
Any area of effect attack against the herd with enough damage to kill will kill only a single Makur. The rest receive a buff to defense for each subsequent death.
Interesting. These beasts, who had emerged from the domain over thousands of years, had begun to change in response to its power. He called to the [Makur] calf, and it lumbered over. The spindly orphan had grown quickly and was now growing thick and heavy, with deep blue streaks across it unlike the tints. So much more handsome than the adopted brother, who probably weighed half as much.
The mother followed, flowing with pride for her adopted calf and frustrated loathing for his good-for-nothing brother who hadn’t even gained a thousand pounds. Such a disappointment, that one was.
“Sometimes, children are like that. Ask Ashi,” Kaden said. “And she wasn’t even allowed to slaughter and eat hers.”
Maybe Trella had the right idea, avoiding children.
“Are we going to kill an Ice Dragon, or are we going to stand around looking at that ugly [Makur?]” Trella asked, glancing toward the domain valleys. “I scouted this way the first few days we were here. There’s a cave system.”
“I like caves. Filled with bones,” Sevin said as Skully picked up the pace. “I like bones. Is there anything more wonderful that a pile of abandoned bones?”
“I would think you’d answer that ‘yes,’” Sara said, her voice filled with annoyance. “I would think you, in particular, could appreciate what bones can’t do. But maybe leaving you alone, with your bones for some time will—”
“I didn’t mean—”
“I’d start with the apology now,” Kaden said, cutting Sevin off. “Start apologizing now, and maybe things will be better by the time we get done hunting. Maybe.”
“Doubtful,” Trella added. “You know what really says ‘I’m sorry?’ Experience. Let’s hit the caves and get some. Kaden, where’s your [Ulf Ravager]?”
That Kaden knew. “He went back to the meeting room. The clans regard Ulf as good luck and he likes the attention. And he’s really angry. Like, about to attack someone angry.”
Horns blew everywhere across the settlement, echoing. The hunting parties came rushing back toward the fledgling village as cries of anger rang out.
Eve pushed her way through the crowds of clan members, speaking in hushed tones. The crowds parted for Kaden and the rest to come through. Around Eve stood the representatives, faces red, snarls on their lips. “Right before dawn, scouts received a notification of pending [Authority.] Samuel is attempting to establish his own kingdom.”