Ray felt much calmer now that the shawl was gone. Why did he even react this way?

"Does the shawl have some kind of detection property?" he asked, guessing. The Elder not reacting could be easily explained by her Tier.

"Not really, the shawl is merely repugnant to Fae due to your nature. But enough of that. I have something to ask of you." the Elder said, sitting upright before Ray, as if to make a big declaration.

"Three thousand years ago, the Satyr King disbanded our nations, freeing us from the state and setting us free to do as we wish. The council was formed of those of us too old to travel anymore, but we do not rule.

The council's authority extends to only the Satyr capital, Satri. But we have another power. In time of need, the council may call upon the might of Satyrs, to once again unite and form a nation, so that we may protect ourselves from outside forces.

I thought the Empire too divided to pose a great enough threat, I was wrong. Humans…these fickle creatures are far too powerful, even divided. I have already submitted a petition of war, calling for the council to exercise it’s power. '' the Elder said.

"Why tell me this?" Ray asked. The conversation was puzzling, why was she telling him all of this, he had nothing to do with it?

"The petition will not pass, too many of my kin think the Empire's threat is minimal. And even if we do join the war, we cannot actually do much, we don't have a nation, let alone an army. But there is one force that can put a stop to this., and encourage the council to join. The Fae. I want your aid, High Fae of the Empire."

"What do you mean?" Ray asked.

"I want you to push the Fae to act. I will ask, but the Fae are unlikely to move just because the Satyrs asked them to." the Elder said.

"Why would the Fae even listen to me? And why would I help you?" Ray asked, a bit irritated. Why couldn't he just go a few days without someone wanting him to do something again.

"The word of a lost child carries more weight than you think, and you are fooling yourself if you think you are just a normal child. Just think about it." the Elder said. "But I digress. I did not come here to make demands of you, I came here to give you this."

The Elder conjured a small golden flute from somewhere, holding it out to Ray. "The flute marks you as a friend of the Satyrs. Sing into it should you be in need, and I shall come to your aid."

Ray did not take it, the flute was tempting, but it came with too many strings. "No, with all due respect, Elder, I cannot take this."

The Elder sighed, shaking her head. "The flute comes without any strings attached. I will fulfill my promise whether you take the deal or not, but I do feel it is not much to ask. Not to mention, I can take you there now."

"What do you mean?" Ray asked.

"Satri, the Satyr capital is located on the Fae continent itself, I have permission to teleport in and out, and take you with me." the Elder tempted.

"No, I cannot. Not unless you can take Ma too." Ray said.

"Ma? Do you mean the Scholar?" the Elder said.

"Yes, can you take me in?" Ray asked.

"No, the continental shield is too strong. But I can teleport you out, but you must be with your Ma when you call upon me, the Emperor will sense me acting and act himself, we will have but seconds." the Elder said.

Ray sighed, that left him with the same problem as before, how to get to Ma.

"Thank you for your aid, Elder. I appreciate it." Ray said, getting up.

"No, I should be the one thanking you. And I hate to pressure you, but I must. Do consider my offer." the Elder said, not getting up.

"I will." Ray assured her. What she asked wasn't that hard, just not something he wanted to do immediately.

The Elder disappeared as Ray sagged back into his chair. What the heck was he going to do now?

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The Human Sea

A man stood in the air, a dagger twirling in his finger as he stared at the beast in front of him. A large coiling dragon-like thing that was roaring at him like there was no tomorrow. Not that it fazed the man, a light scoff left his lips as the dagger stopped spinning.

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A wave of water appeared, shooting towards the beast as lightning attempted to intercept its path. A normal wave would have been slower than a bolt of lightning, but not this one. The beast fell, its body cut in two as it failed to resist.

"Master." a boy said, appearing next to the man, bowing low.

"What is it?" the man asked, looking at the boy with disdain.

"The Rebel Queen has acted, your majesty, Xnarthan bases across the Elven continent have stopped reporting. I fear that brother-" the boy began, but was interrupted.

"How interesting. Why attack the Xnarthan? The nobility would be a bigger statement…or was this an unplanned action? Tell me what exactly happened." the Emperor demanded.

"As far as we can tell, brother Fitrus-'' the boy gulped as a scoff sounded out- "I mean, the honorable outer disciple of your majesty was carrying out your instructions and collecting materials. Hundreds of Elves, Satyrs, and even a few Dwarves had been caught by him. "

"I doubt it. The boy was an airhead. The plan must have been that Erkland’s. Did he survive the attack?"

"No, your majesty." the boy replied.

"A pity, I would have liked to employ him further. Perhaps have him be one of my ministers. Tell me, who attacked them?" the Emperor asked.

"Th-the rebels as far as we can tell, your majesty." the boy said, shivering in fear.

"I know that, you fool!" the Emperor said, his lip curling in disappointment. "I want to know who exactly was responsible for this."

"Th-the Satyrs blocked information access, your majesty. I-I don't know, please forgive me!" the boy said, kneeling in the air.

"The Satyrs! So, you are telling me that a bunch of hippie goats that don't even have a bloody army, were able to block me, me, from getting information? And because what? Humans can't control space as well as them? What hogwash. The bunch of goats have some kind of artifact." the Emperor seethed.

"Tell me, did you at least get the Elf head teleporters? And that Satyr shawl I wanted?" he asked.

"N-no, your majesty. Professor Revelia was the one in cha-" the boy didn't get to finish his statement as a hand slammed him into the sea, killing him.

"What imbeciles." the Emperor cursed, pulling out a communicator. "Rempe, you have three months, I want that bloody Marquis and her croneys as my slaves. The idiotic rebels are acting up again, and I can't risk her getting in with them. Oh, and make sure that Scholar thing is dealt with. I don’t want to hear about some bloody woman spreading rumors again."

"The Dean of the local Academy branch already dealt with the Scholar, your majesty, it was the Duchess of Afrieal." the voice on the other side replied.

The Emperor's face relaxed, some semblance of calm returning. "I should have known it was that idiot again. I have changed my mind, Rempe I want you to deal with the Marchioness in a month. After that, I am coming to that bloody continent.”

“The Elves have become too much of a nuisance, and I need that goo in their heads. Have the Xnarthan set up a few breeding factories, we'll be needing a sustainable supply of the goo. The teleporters could be a game changer."

"Y-yes, your majesty. At once. Do you have any message for the Academy Dean?"

"Yes, tell him to wash his hands off that disciple of his, she's too much of a threat. Tell him, if he keeps at it, I will kill half the Commoners of Afrieal. A weak hearted idiot like him will know what to do." the Emperor said, crushing a cube as he vanished from the place.

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Matilda

Matilda looked out the window with resignation in her eyes. The scene outside was beautiful, no doubt about it. The barony was largely weak Tier wood, with few beasts over TIer 5 in the area. The area was picturesque, filled with orange and brown leaves, marking the coming of Autumn.

The seasons were far more prominent here in the Human continent than in the Elven one, the trees responded to time, making it seem more significant. Matilda had forgotten just how militaristic the Empire was. Just her barony had three thousand armed privates to 'keep the peace'. As far as she could tell, the army was the only one breaking it around these parts.

The castle came into view, marking the end of her journey. The gates opened, allowing the carriage into a wide, but empty area. The castle was grand, but also bad at defense. The walls were weak, the guards were missing from the holes, the castle was barely maintained. But that was not all Matilda saw.

Mana leaked from her as she felt the secrets pour out of the castle, her feet moving of their own volition. The carriage door was thrown open as she stepped down, looking at the space before her.

The castle staff was supposed to come out to meet her, but had clearly chosen not to. Had her message not reached them? Or some army official felt snubbed by her taking over?

A sly smile emerged on her face as she stepped into the castle, pulling open the doors with her enhanced stats. The area inside was stuffy, not quite dirty, but certainly not as clean as it should be. The windows looked like they hadn't been opened in years, likely to prevent dust from getting in.

Matilda had no such worries. Mana surrounded her as windows slammed open and dust levitated out. A small cyclone of mana stepped out, opening windows throughout the castle as she reached the main hall. A long table occupied most of the space. The candles were unlit, the carpet resting against the wall, the table unset. Matilda wasn't having any of that.

The carpet rolled down, cooking up a storm of dust as the staff rushed into the hall. Matilda stood at the head of the table, her hands on the head chair.

"Hello, I am Matilda Rosenmund, you don’t know me, and I don't know you. I plan to change that. Come sit, we're going to be spending a long time together, and I want to know who you are." she said, taking the seat as she motioned for the staff to take theirs.

The staff nervously took their seats, looking at each other as they wondered what exactly was in store for them. Oh, they had no idea. The Scholar of Afrieal might be dead, but she was just getting started.