I woke up, surprised by a large influx of mana. The quick investigation led me to the discovery that the lumberjacks and miners weren't wasting their time, and they took advantage of the much larger dungeon zones. The enormous parties of all races were currently devoted to finding and cutting down every single timber node in the dungeon. They even took cartographers, who marked every node on the map for later use. In shock, I checked who had posted such a quest, only to discover Admiral Sparrow had posted it. Uhum... So, the Navy. Makes sense. It was barely light outside, but I decided to get up anyway. After a quick shower, I sat in our living room and summoned a few interesting reports.
The first one was from Ian, who informed me that building a train would be complicated due to the lack of steel. However, the solution to that problem was pretty simple; he would build a train more akin to a maglev than a steam engine. He could build almost ten maglevs for what was needed to build one steam engine. Most of the train and its wagons would be made of wood, but the frames would be made of steel. Of course, the technology of the maglev was beyond our current capabilities, but that's what you have magic for. Using precisely the same float and fly runes used in our airships, but far fewer of them, we could effortlessly levitate the train over its tracks. We can make the entire train move with cores similar to the ones used in the airships. The tricky part would be changing the controls to something more fitting a train than a ship, but Ian was sure his team would brainstorm that problem. I left him the details, happy to hear we could deal with the transportation problem.
Bjorn reported that two cargo ships were seventy percent done and would be operational much sooner than expected. They would undertake the first tests at the beginning of next month. The faster pace of work was simply due to the experience gained during the construction of HMS Victory. The shipyard workers were also determined to deliver the ships as soon as possible because they were all aware of the threat of the Bernan Navy. However, after more free time, I started rethinking the entire airship approach. I mean, the tall ships look so majestic on the water and flying around, but... They were not really the best that we can build. First of all, they don't need sails at all. Mana gathering could be achieved through other means, such as ships sailing on water using propellers. The main problem was the controls. However... I took a look at Ian's report about trains again. That would be a great experiment.
"Good morning, Theon." A sweet voice made me smile.
"Hello, Aoi. You woke up early."
"Yeah... I had to prepare for the exams, and Stella wanted to train with me early in the morning." My Dragonkin Queen sighed heavily. "I know I need more training, but I am sure that more sleep would help as weeeell...." She covered her face with her hand to mask a massive yawn that disturbed her last sentence.
I started laughing but quickly masked my amusement with a cough. With her face still covered, Aoi approached the table and glanced at the papers. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, these are my fun projects." I grinned while giving her reports.
"The last one report is rather cryptic..." She showed me a short note, and I nodded.
"Well, there is nothing much to report anyway. Ragnar complains that splitting the metal supplies between the Navy, Ian, and him will slow him down considerably. And Avalon's Wrath was almost finished." I rubbed my eyes and laughed briefly. "Almost finished meant for him that the Titan was eighty percent done."
"I see..." She sighed and looked at the clock. "I got to gooooo!"
"Best of luck, Sweetie!" I managed to say before she kissed my cheek and ran straight to the bathroom.
•••
Marie looked at her dad and mom in shock. The three of them were sitting around the table in their living room, and she was surprised, worried, excited, and anxious at the same time.
"I'm going to have a brother?!" she finally choked out, stunned by the news.
"Or a sister," Annika added with a soft smile.
She looked uncertainly at her stepfather, who had always been a better man than her birth father. Fornal Ban was slightly nervous, but Marie finally smiled and hugged them both. Before Ban could even say something, Marie entered turbo mode.
"Iiiiik!" she screamed in excitement and started jumping and tip-toeing. "I must tell... EVERYONE!"
"M-Marie..." Ban extended his hand, but she was already gone. He smiled softly at the spot where she faded into the shadows and turned towards his beloved wife. "Heh... That girl."
Marie, who hadn't noticed that her father wanted to tell her something more, was already sitting on Mr. Fluffles's back. "I will have a sibling!" she declared with excitement.
"That is incredible news, Miss Marie," the Shadow Wolf replied cheerfully. "I'm happy with your happiness!"
"We must tell everyone." the girl declared with conviction.
"Wait... Everyone?" Her familiar turned his head at her as much as he could in mild shock.
"EVERYONE!" she reaffirmed. "Let's go, Mr. Fluffles! We don't have the entire day!"
And just like that, everyone who knew Marie learnt the news before lunch...
•••
"This is unacceptable!" Dolren smashed the table with his fist. He cast a furious look at the commanders before him. "I don't care about the pirates! How come that one filthy frigate and four schooners have tied your hands, Admiral?! Are you telling me that the entire Holy Navy cannot stop a few pesky pirates?!"
"Your Excellency..." the admiral tried to defend himself.
"Silence! We are at war! Do you understand that?!"
"Yes..."
"It doesn't look like it! For the last few weeks, the only things I have heard were your excuses for scores of failures!" Dolren pointed his finger at each one of them. "The Navy almost lost seven ships trying to attack enemy forces! And they don't have a single airship! The Army is making excuses that they can't attack because the enemy somehow always knows where you want to attack. And you..." the Patriarch lowered his voice coldly. "A pathetic excuse for a spy! You can't even place one of our men in their ranks?!"
"My Lord, we are facing the Holy Jukk'nala... How could we fare against his light of perfection?" the spy lowered his head, utterly defeated.
Dolren choked on his next few words, cursing under his breath. In silence, they all stared at the map highlighting all the lost to Jukk'nala. Dolren Inaris, the Patriarch of Berna, one of the most powerful people in the world, sat heavily and buried his face in his hands. He felt the bitter tears falling down his cheeks, but the sadness he felt and the powerlessness of his once unbeatable armies was too much for the old man. In his darkest nightmares, he would never suspect that the God who promised him greatness would betray him. Yet, Jukk'nala was there... What was worse, the remaining Gods seemed to be in disarray, unable to grasp that Jukk'nala was waging war against Berna.
"Ignore the Pirates," he ordered quietly.
"But, my Lord, if we let them be, they will wreak havoc on our backlines!"
"So be it, Admiral. We don't have the luxury of waiting. If you haven't noticed yet, the three ships sent to Avalon haven't returned." The Patriarch trembled but continued with a grim and cold tone. "And you assured me that only another airship can take down an airship. You promised me the victory over that heath–" the Patriarch cursed silently again. "I can't even call him that anymore. He follows the will of Holy Jukk'nala who abandoned us."
"Your Excellency, you must declare them heretics. Only by declaring a Holy War might you encourage people to join the army," the Lord Paladin said, but his head was lowered, and his words were hollow. "I know how that sounds..."
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"Lord Wilcov, do you realise what you ask for? Do you want me to declare Jukk'nala and his faithful... HERETICS?!"
"The common people won't join the army otherwise!" Wilcov screamed back at the older man, shocking him into silence. The great Paladin took a breath and continued to explain slowly and quietly, "The enemy is fierce and fearless. They never surrender. They never retreat. We often attacked them with a huge numerical advantage only to be stopped and had to run in shame, seeing their reinforcements coming. If put under pressure, that would break even our greatest paladins—the enemy attacks with reckless abandonment, disregarding their lives. And the worst part is that their posts are replenished after each of our attacks. We can't sustain casualties like that, but it seems they do."
"Ehhhhh..." The Patriarch exhaled heavily and shrank in size. He grabbed the table's edge so hard that his fingers whitened. "We need the Navy, Admiral. How much time do you need?"
"I pray for one month to be enough..." the Admiral replied with a lowered head.
"One month then. Chase off these pirates and prepare to aid the Army. We have to breach the enemy lines and force them to retreat."
"Lord Wilcov, prepare plans for a joint mission between the Army and the Navy. And you..." The last words, most cold and angry, were aimed at the Spymaster. "You will prepare our best assassins. You will send them to kill the enemy leader when the time comes. Even if it truly is my daughter."
"As you wish, my Lord."
•••
"Oh, Great and most Venerable Jukk'nala, shining ray of morning su..."
"What the fuck do you want?!" Twirll raised his head, filled with the rage of a very tiny creature pretending to be something beyond the usual scope of thinking for a sparrow. But most importantly, filled with the rage of someone brutally awoken from a nap.
"How dare you interrupt the meditation of the Divine?!" Elisabeth entered the tent, and the lights of her Combat Aura flashed around her. She put her hand on her sword's grip and looked down at the Bernan noble who had somehow managed to enter the command tent.
"I bring the most urgent news! The Patriarch is preparing for the general assault. You have one month until he begins his offensive."
"Thank you for telling us this," a deep and peaceful voice calmed Elisabeth. Major Raphael Nix had been sitting near the desk unnoticed until just now. "Do you know where he wants to breach our lines?"
"No, Lord Nix. But the Patriarch ordered the Navy to aid the assault." The informer paled a bit.
"You did well. Keep informing us about this matter," Twirll admitted begrudgingly, but his voice softened. "Pass such news to my generals next time. As important as they are, you interrupted me."
"I beg for your forgiveness, oh, the Mightiest!" The noble was close to pressing his forehead to the ground.
"I forgive you. This time." Twirll chirped and flew in the air, shining with a brilliant yellow light that softly illuminated the tent. "May my blessing guide your steps!"
"Thank you, thank you, Lord!" The man left the tent, and Twirll landed on Elisabeth's pauldron.
"I swear on Eriar, one more time someone wakes me up from a nap..." He looked at the tent flap menacingly.
"How did he even get here?" the Sword Saint asked no one in particular.
"I allowed him." Raphael finally cracked a smile, visibly amused.
"Traitor! Off with his head!" Twirll screamed in overly dramatic anger, pointing at the towering Wolfkin with his wing, making Elisabeth and Raphael laugh.
"Sorry, Lord Jukk'nala. The opportunity was... Too tempting." The Wolfkin was still laughing but he remembered to use Twirll's fake name.
"Nonetheless, the news he brought is extremely important to us." Twirll sighed, ignoring the major. "I think I can take down one airship, maybe two. But the fleet? No... I don't think so."
Elisabeth and Raphael looked at each other and slowly turned their gaze to the sparrow without even trying to mask their respect. Twirll, unaware of their gazes, was pacing irritably back and forth across the table, fixing his feathers while occasionally stopping to make angry noises.
"Lord T... Jukk'nala, are you serious about taking down an airship?" Elisabeth asked.
"Field of Silence." The Sparrow raised both his wings, and a moderately sized circle of blue light surrounded them. "No one outside this circle can hear anything said inside. Now, who do you think I am? A wild bug eater?"
"N-no. You are a scion..." the Major stuttered some.
"Wrong. I am not a scion. I am a familiar. Or should I say; I am THE familiar of King Theon Avalon." Twirll corrected him, but seeing their unsure faces, he sighed heavily and started explaining. "As you know, a Scion is a very powerful entity, the leader of its kind that the Dungeon they served has empowered. The nature and amount of this power often ascends such monsters to heights unthinkable otherwise. It allows them to be much more deadly warriors, more proficient mages, far superior tacticians, and so on. The more powerful the dungeon is, the more powerful are their scions."
They nodded, surprised to hear the confirmation of something that Mortals had been only to speculate upon with various degrees of accuracy. Twirll, seeing their frozen expressions, let them contemplate his words for a few more moments.
"But you must understand that scions are fundamentally different than familiars," he eventually continued, watching them carefully to ensure they understood. "A Familiar Pact is a bond between two beings based on mutual trust. No side in such a pact can be exploited by the other, and the pact can't be used to force anyone to do anything. But when two parties enter a familiar pact, it is customary to exchange gifts. The bigger the power difference between the parties, the more impressive the gifts must be."
"I don't think I follow…" Major Nix admitted while scratching the back of his head.
"For example, young Marie Ban and Mr. Fluffles." The bird tilted his head and looked at the Wolfkin patiently. "When she tamed the Grand Shadow Wolf of Avalon, Marie was at a relatively low level. Despite her unnatural behaviour, intelligence, and wisdom that is more akin to an adult’s, Marie is just a small girl. The disproportion between the two was so immense that she was granted more than customary gifts, which busted her powers to a point probably never before seen in Nilmerthis. If I can be honest, she certainly obtained the power that rivalled the power of summoned Heroes, and mind you all, she is still a child who has her entire life to hone those skills."
"I met her during the Grand Festival wedding ceremonies, and thought she was a Dwarven Lady. She really is behaving like an adult," Elisabeth admitted. "But what about her familiar?"
"Mr. Fluffles received a voice. Don't let something so trivial for you, the people of Nilmerthis, fool you. The voice and ability to speak changes everything for monsters. They rapidly advance from mere beasts and tools and obtain skills unavailable for their voiceless kin. The ability to speak changes their minds and the way they think. I'm pretty sure that Mr. Fluffles's mana pool is at least double, if not triple what the Great Shadow Wolf should have, and one day, he will evolve into a Shadow Fenrir. He is fully capable of using spells that require incantations and use them proficiently in combat or even chantless. Like Marie, who is an incredibly expert Shadow Ranger, Mr. Fluffles is a unique warrior-tank who could pose a challenge to even Lords Blair, Ban, and Drake. While monsters usually don't have classes, he can be described as a mix of Hexblade and Paladin. It might not seem like much to you, but trust me, it's a big deal for monsters."
"Okay..." Raphael carefully nodded.
"Wait. You said that you are King's Theon familiar." Elisabeth's eyes went wide. "If Mr Fluffles received such incredible gifts from a little girl..."
"Yes..."
Bolts of lightning jumped between his feathers, and as he spread his wings, the blue flames that initially covered his body turned into an incredible mosaic of deep ruby red, sapphire blue, emerald green, and pure gold. Effortlessly, the small bird created a small vortex of air and forced a strand of water from his cup to dance around him. From the ground small pebbles rose and joined the dance of water that froze rapidly, creating a sharp disc inlaid with stones.
"When our Lord formed a familiar pact with me, it was as if I was thrown into the bottomless lake. I was drowning in one moment to be awakened in the next. Yes, awakened. I was no longer a wild sparrow leader who instinctively tried to seek shelter for his flock in the dungeon." With the turn of Twirll's head, the fascinating spectacle of magic the others had been observing disappeared. "No longer I was a wild monster. I was Twirll, the Sky Marshal of Avalon, the familiar of King Theon Avalon. I received that title as an innocent joke, but it was powerful and serious nonetheless; it solidified and guided the power that I could barely control back then. I attended the lessons Stella gave our Queens as a tolerated spectator and learned how to harness that power. It took me months to control even a small fraction of it. And this is just the beginning of the gifts that I received. But it wasn't until I fought Jukk'nala and drank his blood. That changed me even further and unlocked the potential to wield even more power that I had received. I have no idea what I am now, and even the joint efforts of the Queens and Stella were not enough to figure that out. We don't even know if this transformation is permanent or not."
"That's incredible..." Elisabeth gasped, and Raphael could only nod with conviction.
"You probably wonder what the King received from that pact. He obtained a capacity spawner and a passive skill that drastically lowered his upkeep expenses."
"While I am impressed by the display of your power, I can't understand how some upkeep-lowering skill and a spawner are equivalent..." Elisabeth said with confusion in her voice.
"Hahaha. Ask the King if he thinks that a passive, stacking skill that lowers his upkeep costs by twenty-five percent is not a big deal..." Twirll laughed but after a short moment became serious. "Among the twelve scions of His Majesty, only five can fight me and hope to win. Even the Queens would struggle greatly to kill me. So one or two airships like Victory are not that impossible to take down."
"But..."
"Don't 'but' me here, Major Nix. I know the enemy airships are weaker than Victory, but you can't underestimate your enemies." The Sparrow looked towards the north and added quietly. "And the enemy has an entire Navy..."