I dreamt of golden waters. Of calm seas, and endless horizons. Of reaching up and grabbing the sunlight in my hands.

Of beautiful, peaceful days. Breathing deep. Sprawling underwater coral reefs.

I woke up to a notification.

[Golden Wellspring advanced to 4th Step.]

Perhaps it shouldn’t have come as that much of a surprise. Talents stacking atop each other was potent, and the enormous influx of power in the aftermath of Ann’s ritual was also quite helpful for cultivation. So was… well, grieving, I suppose. It was part of any journey, too, after all.

Saying goodbye.

With a soft sigh, I pushed myself up in the meagre tent. Ann laid next to me, her lips faintly parted, a single strand of hair draped over her face, laying the bridge of her nose. I smiled, brushing it aside, and she leaned into my hand slightly.

For a few moments, I let myself enjoy that lingering sensation. The aftermath of a dream, and the presence of what I wanted to live for. Who I wanted the world to be for.

Then, letting my wistful smile fade away slowly, I focused on the presence. Where we were. Who was outside. What needed to be done.

I wrapped my Qi around myself like a mantle, braiding it with an almost casual ease. Some of it flowed through the connection with my spear, feeding the waking spirit. It was dormant still, barely so.

Another part siphoned off my mirror wellspring, feeding a specific technique, as a humanoid body wove itself from greyish magic. Cass’ avatar soon floated in the air next to me. I gently laid a finger on my lips, and she understood the symbol.

Before heading out, there was one thing I still needed to lay eyes on. My training recently had been intense, especially in terms of manipulating Qi. It was time to see the results.

[Name: Fiona Bellum

Class: Spearwoman (10) / Gateway (9)

* Techniques

* Stats

* General

* Strength: Greater (Inferior)

* Agility: Greater (Inferior)

* Endurance: Greater (Intermediate)

* Resilience: Greater (Lesser)

* Manipulation: Greater (Basic)

* Capacity: Greater (Lesser)

* Absorption: Greater (Lesser)

* Qi

* Disposition

Current Status: Metamorphosing]

I only called up my general stats. I had seen all the updates to my Qi, and my disposition was still the same. Same with my techniques - save for [Gifted Fragment] having been subsumed into the new tab. [Weapon Resonance], [Spear Qi], and [Spear Spirit] all felt on the verge of a breakthrough, and I had the feeling that once the spirit awoke, it would take the other techniques up a notch with itself.

But for now, all I managed was a barely visible smile of content at the increases. All my stats were now in the greater realm. My strength crossed over, maybe from all the hauling. My endurance was stretched to its limits with the never ending wave of usurpers during the ritual.

My capacity and absorption, however, had leapt into the greater realm and, simultaneously, into the second step of those. Absorption was steadily growing more powerful as I used my Qi, being dedicated to the production of it. Capacity was simultaneously self explanatory.

Manipulation, too, had leapt two steps, which came from my steady practice and use of more esoteric abilities. Melding my two types of Qi together must have been a major step forward there, as well.

I could hardly be compared to myself from just a year ago, now. I could beat that Fio with both my cores near empty, myself blindfolded, on one leg and with an arm tied behind my back.

The comparison was unfair of course. I even improved faster than back then, the talents of my friend taking root and blossoming within the network. I could feel it - as time passed and I used them, they grew stronger. As my gateway grew, they grew, too.

A part of Marie was still with me; that uncanny ability to fully assimilate the building blocks of Skills faster. Silently, I thought a ‘thank you’ to her.

Then I reopened my eyes, and pushed the tent flaps aside, stepping outside. The sun hung high in the lilac sky, and despite a good chunk of it being covered in darkness now, its rays warmed my face.

“Ah, you’re awake,” the hoarse voice of an old lady greeted me.

I turned towards the archmage that was here with Erasmus. Lyria, a space mage. She also dabbled in time and gravity magic, but her greatest skill was in space. Which is why she often played taxi for other archmages - and worked with Erasmus to be at emergency sites as early as possible.

“You didn’t sleep,” I noted.

Lyria gave me a hoarse laugh, then coughed, and cleared her throat. “No. No, I did not,” she said. “I thought you could use it more.”

“Can’t judge that without knowing how much you needed it,” I said with a shrug, sitting down across from her over the embers of the campfire. I threw in a little more wood, preparing to make some breakfast. The others were still asleep, worn out and tired. My endurance was the highest among the group - courtesy of my habit of pushing myself.

“Your friend in armor might not be fighting any more battles soon,” the old woman remarked.

At that, I looked up from the fire I was poking around in, meeting her eyes. They were dark blue, almost black, her hair greying, full of silver streaks. Her skin, on the other hand, was full of wrinkles and lines that showed her age.

Then, I snorted. “Pffffft. You would think that.”

She blinked. “What?”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Emilia, not fighting any battles? Yeah right.” I chuckled again more softly this time.

“Apologies, but she lost a limb,” the archmage said, seemingly worried.

I shrugged. “So she did. I don’t see this conversation going anywhere, so let’s just wait and see. Don’t you have important mage business to attend to?”

Lyria gave a long sigh at that. “After taking Erasmus to the healers, I do not. His injuries will take a while to mend - a day or two. Less than would be expected facing an enemy of this caliber. Had the usurper not been chained to the rift, one of us would have died.”

So it had been just that dangerous. I drew in a long breath. “Then, until he is ready you will just… what, sit here?”

“Recharge my mana,” she said with a shrug. “Space magic demands great volumes of it. I can hardly fold the world in half on an empty vessel. So I must meditate.”

“And you can chat next to that?” I asked.

The corner of her lip quirked upwards. “Why yes,” she said easily. “I can multitask quite well.”

“How’d you become an archmage?” I then asked brazenly.

She tilted her head a little. “Hmm? What are you getting at.”

I dangled my feet at the edge of the seating, idly watching as the fire finally took hold of the branches I’d added in. Not looking at her, I continued. “There are seven archmages. Each one of you is a little different. Driven. What drives you?”

Lyria blinked, then gave me a soft chuckle. Her hoarse voice grated out the sentences. “You’re right. Do you know what drives all the archmages, Fio?” she asked.

“No,” I shook my head.

The old woman hummed slightly, then smiled. “Erasmus wants to know the future because he desires control. Maximum benefit for minimum cost. It’s why he approved of saving you - because by all measures you did well.

“Orvan wants the stars because this world isn’t enough for him. His ambition is selfish, driving upwards because he cannot stand having anyone above him. Calio researches barriers to be left well alone, and they achieved the exact opposite.

“Then there is Finnyr, who simply wants a life of convenience. Saif, who cannot bow her head, and Klein, who simply cannot stand to see others get hurt. Not that he cares about most people.

“Finally, me.” She smiled, showing me two rows of teeth. “I learn space magic, because I love this world. Because I want to see every single corner of it. I want to meet people, see places, I want to do it all. People like you, Fio,” she said with a smug, self-indulging grin, “are why I want to keep this world alive. So I can have talks like these.”

I nodded slowly. “I see.”

She smiled even wider. “I don’t think you do. Just like how I don’t understand your friend, I don’t think you understand me. And that’s fine. People don’t always need to understand each other. Suffice to say, I think this world is worthwhile the way it is right now, and I think it’d be a real shame if someone tried to take it away from me.”

Lyria took a deep breath, finally, gazing into the sky, pausing her rant. I saw as the ecstatic glint in her eyes faded to a more dull one, reminiscing rather than reaffirming her wants. “I’ve seen so much of it all. Waterfalls and dunes. Dark castles, sunsets by the ocean, people of different species. Creature big and small. I’ve spent hours watching bugs, and seconds crushing titans. And I’d spend hours more on it. So, suffice to say, I despise those that try to take this world from me.”

Her eyes lingered on the lilac sky. “I’ll kill ‘em,” she said hoarsely under her breath. Then she looked at me again. “I’m not a war mage - not like Saif or Orvan. But I’ll do anything in my power to keep this world as it is.”

Lyria paused and clicked her tongue. “Well, not as it is. Change is necessary, of course,” she said, waving her hand. “Rivers will erode mountains. People will change, move. Old fossils like me will die, and new people like you will rise to power. Some conventions will become unacceptable, and some will become more acceptable. That is how things are supposed to be.”

Then, she shook her head. “But I do not want a genocide to come from the outside, tear this world apart, and then change things. Replace our trees with theirs, our soil with theirs, our animals with theirs, our magic with theirs. Of course, if it went peacefully, and equally, that would be fine. But we are in a military conflict, and the usurpers have done this to other worlds before.”

She breathed. “Not this one,” she croaked. “Not this one.”

I swallowed heavily, looking at her. Archmage Lyria had, in a way that seemed rather effortless, poured her heart out to me. Were all people with that kind of conviction so readily able to do that?

Given her eerily wide smile, I doubted that. No, this was some kind of special skill. I took a deep, long breath, then met her eyes again. “Thank you for explaining.”

“Of course, Fio,” she said. Her eyes flicked to Cass’ avatar in the air near me. “I hope your keeper friend also has learned a little more about my motivations.”

Cass nodded. “I have,” she said, her voice smooth and calm. “Your drive is admirable.”

Lyria nodded, leaning her face onto her open palm. “How diplomatic of you.” She opened her mouth as if to talk more, then pushed her lips close together, knitting her eyebrows. It accentuated the lines on her face, making her look like a rather angry statue. “Ah,” she said. “It seems I’ve been called on. Erasmus is in worse shape than expected, and needs better healers. Pleasure talking to you, young defender. I’m sure we’ll meet again in this war.”

Before I could reply, the chatterbox of a woman flicked her wrist, and space tore open.

It wasn’t a gracious portal, looking more like someone ripped a hole into a shirt. She stepped through without turning back once.

When space closed behind her, I felt a small shudder, the hair on my arms raising. The ambient mana was slowly increasing. I hadn’t even noticed but with it being that low… she must have drawn in mana for dozens, maybe hundreds of meters out.

“Terrifying,” I muttered.

Cass looked at me. “She doesn’t seem too bad.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, no, not too bad,” I agreed. “Just intense.”

My keeper nodded. “Definitely,” she agreed. “But was that unexpected?” Cass teased with a smile.

It made me snort for a moment. “I suppose not, no,” I said. Then I sighed, stood, stretched, and grabbed a few rations from my inventory. We had enough food for a few days, but then we’d need to see about getting more.

While pouring some preserved soup into a metal pot, I thought about the future. What, exactly, was next? Given what we’d done, we probably had some contribution to turn in with the divines, but it wasn’t an urgent priority.

I squeezed my fist, feeling the strength in it. The raw stats combined with my levels to make me genuinely strong. Despite that, I felt a little… aimless. If we just hunted a few more usurpers with gateway fragments, we could just… drop this all. Go home, come back another day.

But, having seen the destruction… it didn’t feel right. It-

My train of thought was interrupted when Liam sat down next to me. He’d replaced his mask, the old one having been soiled when Marie died, but he didn’t even wear it. It was pulled down to under his chin, showing me his whole face.

He breathed slowly next to me, not saying a word. I listened to that, watching his slumped figure from the corner of my eyes. Slowly, as the seconds ticked by, he sat a little straighter, and his gaze focused on the food.

“What’re you making?” he asked. It was entirely his own voice, no whispering.

“Breakfast soup.”

“No normal person has tomato soup for breakfast.”

“Never claimed to be normal,” I said with a shrug.

It coaxed at least a small smile from the rogue. I reached out hesitantly. “Can I?” I asked.

He nodded faintly.

I put a hand on his head, ruffling his hair slightly. He gave that same, faint smile again. Then I hugged him, and he returned the gesture.

“The soup’s burning,” he muttered up against me after a few moments. I smiled, taking the hint, and letting him go as I stirred.

“Thanks, Fio,” he said.

“Anytime, Liam,” I replied. “Take it easy. We’ll figure out what’s next when the others are here.”

He looked up into the darkening sky, and nodded. “Okay. Yeah. That seems… doable.”

We spent the rest of the morning in silence. I added some more spices and vegetables to the soup to make the meal less miserable, and slowly, the others trudged in. Matt and Reya. Chris’ two shells. Eventually, Emilia stumbled out of her tent, too.

I watched her plop down on a rock, her stump bandaged up and scabbed over. She was tough, and it was already healing over. Gingerly, I handed everyone bowls of soup.

Everyone ate silently.

Emilia finished first. She let out a long sigh. “Could you give me a second portion?” she asked. “And stop staring like that,” she added. “I’m okay.”

Reya signed something that Liam tried to translate, falling back into the familiar whispering pattern. “She’s asking if you’re sure. And if you need anything. Ah, she’s offering to help.”

The warrior woman smiled and looked around. I refilled her bowl, as she took a deep breath. Then, without warning, she smashed her gloved fist into the rock she sat on, sending a crack through it.

“I’m fucking pissed,” she said, still wearing that same smile. “I get moping. I really do. I feel like shit, too. I’m in pain, I’m exhausted, and I feel like a giant fucking failure.” She stopped, taking her bowl back, and putting a spoonful into her mouth, swallowing quickly. “So, what I’m going to do. Is eat well. Recover.”

She clenched her fist in the rock, and the dull grey thing took on a life of its own, melting, reshaping, flowing into a new form. “I’m gonna get strong again.” She pressed the shifting construct against her stump, and it slowly flowed into the shape of a prosthetic. “And then I’m gonna kill something.”

The crack from the stone shattering must have woken Ann, because she walked out of the tent, bleary-eyed.

“Because if Marie fought with us, then we gotta keep on fighting without her. Because that’s what tough bitches do.”