It was rare for Kaden to rethink a plan once he decided on it, but as Ashi clutched his waist and screamed in terror, it was definitely the moment to rethink. Instead he leaned in and urged the [Drake] to fall faster and closer. A little terror was good for the soul. Just because they’d walk back from Deshun didn’t mean they had to walk to Deshun, and Kaden had been eager to revisit the [Drake], who’d become a mascot of Birchhome.

Flying was so much better than walking but even better than flying was falling, a complete surrender to gravity, giving the middle finger to the earth, and only changing your mind at the last moment.

“Less fall!” Ashi shouted. “I will walk from here. I will walk!”

They rose again on powerful wing-beats as the [Drake] followed the road east. “This is all about appearances,” Kaden said. On the horizon he spotted the cluster of buildings that was Deshun and leaned in. On one hand, landing with a [Drake] in the middle of Deshun sent a particular message. On the other hand, one of the archers shooting his Drake might lead to a death—the archer’s.

He settled for sweeping north with a screeching scream and setting in the road.

Ashi looked a little green as she took in [Life Mana] from one of her beads to heal.

“There were two bands of people headed south,” Ashi said. “Workers?”

“South isn’t the road, so maybe.” Kaden approached the gate to Deshun—a gate he’d personally placed. “Good morning! I am but a humble trader, here to do business with a small village selling Mana Stones. I have plenty of rope to trade.”

From inside came a murmurred discussion, then someone spoke clearly. “It’s the [Beast Master] from Verona. If a Drake were going to attack, it wouldn’t land outside the walls.”

Kaden thanked the [Drake] and sent it winging home. No matter what, he didn’t want it involved. He held his breath as the gate unlocked. Inside stood four [City Knights], wearing silver armor and carrying lances. “Good morning. Know anyone selling Mana Stones? Verona has a trade agreement and I’m here to trade.”

The Knights began to laugh among themselves and greeted Ashi with bows, which she greatly enjoyed. Ashi was hardly prim and proper like Eve but she still enjoyed the attention. “You know what we haven’t found?” one of the knights asked. “Bandits. Not a single damned bandit on this whole road. We found their camps and Ches got attack by a trio the third day, but the bandits are at an all-time low.”

“Is that good or bad?” Kaden asked.

“Bad if you have the Quest, which you do. Knights have a skill that shows us potential [Alliances]. Seriously, what brings you to Deshun?” The Knight led the way to the inn, which looked a lot like a once-abandoned house, where they chatted.

Ashi looked over the village. “Where are these mana-stone caves?”

“The river is south of here,” a knight answered. “The caves are near the source, but the miners let Adventurers handle the caves and sift in the river.”

“I need a shipment of mana stones to ship to Xiao as bait for [Pirates],” Kaden said. “We found a hidden pirate island. My Party Leader is organizing a strike with the Mercari.”

Now he had all four Knight’s attention. “I’ve heard the Justari are often involved in such operations. Just saying, if you’re interested, it’s going to happen and it’s going to happen quickly.”

Ashi excused herself to go see the sifting operation, while Kaden ordered a round of beer and spoke frankly. “I thought you’d get stuck slaughtering everyone in this village. I really thought they’d go right back to robbing people.”

“Haven’t seen any evidence of Bandits, and only bandits would do that. Though it wasn’t until after the third round of Adventurers that they really started mana stone operations. The Captain says sometimes you have to help people make the right choice.” The Knight sighed. “This place desperately needs a [Priest] to heal. Even a disgraced priestess with a mana dust habit would be better than no healer.”

Kaden waited in the silence. “You’re telling me…why?”

“It’s your village, it’s your problem, I’m doing you a favor by letting you know.”

That was not how this worked. The choice he’d presented was simple - be villagers or be bandits—and one of the two was on the approved hunting list. Still—Kaden summoned the Falcrow and sent it off with a private message. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Good. And a blacksmith, if you can find one,” another [Knight] added.

Villages weren’t given Blacksmiths, they usually sent one of their own to be trained, training that cost in time and apprenticeship. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Rumon Long travelled about selling wares, and Munoz was a decent general crafter and a fantastic leatherworker. Maybe both would be willing to add Deshun to the circuit for the right amount. “What’s there to do around here?”

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The first Knight answered. “Nothing, which is why Captain Blanco’s swapping out a garrison of [Guards]. Ten of them is about worth one of us, but the more these villagers be villagers, the easier it is to stay villagers.”

So this was probably a favor he’d owe Captain Blanco. Or maybe this was the right thing to do, according to the Justari. More wrinkles, more relationships to manage. Kaden took his beer and his bird and sent the Falcrow with a message for Rumon and Chen. Sara would know what standard rates were for visits, which mean Kaden needed a messenger bird. “Where’s the messenger bird colony?”

“Don’t have one,” the bartender replied.

Ridiculous. It was like someone had forced this town together with zero planning. Instead, Kaden waited for the Falcrow to return and this time, sent it to Sara with so many questions. And he went looking for Ashi, following the trails out into the woods closer to the river.

There, sifters worked in the river, checking row upon row of wooden racks and diverting water over them. Kaden approached carefully. “I’m looking for Asha Rham. [Polymage]?”

The miners pointed up river, toward the mouth of a yawning cave, but before he could sprint in, the river errupted, and Ashi rose on a geiser, her skin bright blue inspite of the wrappings that protected her. She clutched the end of a pipe in one hand and a cluster of stones in the other. “Pass to me the sifter.”

Kaden helped the miners feed the longer end of their device to Ashi, standing in the river with water flowing over his head while she attached it. Then she tapped his hand and he followed her to shore.

“If one wishes to harvest, it helps to do so in a field. There is nothing in the shallows,” Ashi said. She flushed red and burst into flame, sizzling as the water boiled off, then gripped his hand pushing a wave of heat that left him steaming and damp instead of soaked. “I gathered a few. We will pay for what they have harvested.”

That wouldn’t take much. Kaden and Ashi went to the mayor’s house, where he handed over five gold for a case of poor quality mana stones. This trade agreement was the definition of how not to do it, but if five gold got him a path to Cutter’s party, it was cheap.

“On to Krevat?” Ashi asked as they approached the road. “Or back to Verona?”

This hadn’t been discussed, but Kaden had opinions. “Krevat. I want to get there early. I want people to see me with the mana stones. I want to talk about how lucky I am to have them shipped to Xiao. Lots of time for everyone to know.”

Kaden summoned the [Wyvern] hatchling and a pile of meat, which he fed. The hatchling’s scales had deepened to a lavender. Its snout was blunt and wide, and unlike Trinity’s blind head, every tooth was the same length, with additional rows past the first.

The hatchling devoured meat until its belly swelled and staggered around in circles, using its tail to balance. The Drake’s tail was long and agile, almost as suple as Trinity’s, but the [Wyvern] had a stumpy tail more used to prop itself up when it leaned back than to strike or balance. It spread wing membranes over and over, stretching wider each time as it learned to balance.

The grass under it withered and died. The mud cracked. Kaden lost ten points of health with every moment, and it didn’t seem to cost the Wyvern any mana to use. Then again, an aura which destroyed everything and couldn’t be disabled already had downsides. Kaden used [Beast Soul] to enable the aura and stepped back from Ashi and the hatchling. “I’m going to try its aura.”

Ashi took three more steps back.

Kaden activated the aura.

A wave of purple rushed out, killing grass in a ring ten feet out. His armor creaked and groaned, and Kaden’s boots shifted. His armor was definitely affected. His everything was affected. Kaden shut down the aura before it damaged the guantlet that kept his right hand functional.

“That’s powerful. And deadly.” Kaden fed a gush of mana to his equipment, most of which had enchantments to repair themselves even from near total destruction.

Ashi kept silent. “Is it wrong that I do not want to know what I would be capable of?”

“Not wrong. It took Trella and I three days from here, but we were pulling a load of wood and watching for more bandits. Hover!” Kaden waited for her to rise a few inches up. “Now, I just need to tie you up.”

“Oh really?” Ashi laughed as he tied the rope around her waist and pulled the [Wyvern] into his soul. Kaden handed her the case of mana stones. “Hang on.”

Before Kaden even had Class, he’d worked for Beast Control running medicine, food and equipment through the streets of Verona to get closer to using Vip’s speed. Now he called on that, sprinting down the road with Ashi trailing behind him.

“I must go higher!” Ashi rose slightly higher to avoid the easy dips of the road.

And Kaden ran, ran for the sake of running, with the wind in his face and the power of thirty attribute points driving him, stamina won from fighting for his life. The first fifteen hours easy. Then the sun set and Kaden was forced to slow.

Ashi used mana orbs to light their way in the darkness, and the occasional monster spawn volunteered their crafting materials. The only pause was when Kaden spotted a wandering boss not half a mile from the road.

“Focus,” Ashi said. “We can return at any point and destroy as we please.”

Kaden accepted that and pushed onward until a gust of wind brought the first scent of the sea. “We’re close!”

“Hold!” Ashi floated higher and higher. “On the horizon, Krevat waits. I must descend. Catch me?”

He did, putting her on her feet. “Ready to float?”

She was already a foot and a half up.

Kaden sprinted away, driven by the lure of the sea, of Krevat, and ships and pirates and the promise of answers. The sky had turned blue with the first light on the horizon when Kaden slowed and walked side by side with Ashi past vast lines of wagons waiting to unload or load.

He left the rope coiled over his chest so he looked like a worker. Krevat buzzed and boiled like the [Burning Dream] nest. The port city didn’t sleep when it was time to sail. Instead of heading to the first bar he could find, Kaden watched the merchants who unloaded and followed them through Krevat to a building shaped like an oversized barrel, with level after level of balconies.

The Broken Barrel, read the glowing letters spelled out in pure mana over the doorway.

Ashi slipped ahead of him through the doorway. “You. Where may I eat and look out on the sea? Also, I require shipping services to Xiao.”

Kaden didn’t hear the answer but he recognized the shift in her stance. “Ashi?”

“We go up, fifth floor and eat breakfast. Food first, business second. We must be patient to move such precious cargo safely.” Ashi looked from Kaden to the portals that led upward. “We will be safe here, I am sure.”

Kaden had been using [Read Emotion] on the people around him and several of Ashi’s statements had stuck deep in the staff. Excitment, desire and jealousy, along with eager—and note of triumph from a short bald man in the corner. Ashi said she was sure they were safe. If she was sure, she was the only one.