This time I had to wait for a little moment before it was my turn.

Prince Nelantis: “... are also to send the third army immediately. And Kerom should come along.”

Captain Ravon: “I doubt they will act this quickly. Even you can't give that order. Especially not now that the second army is engaged at our northern border. Perhaps your brother can speed up the process if you ask him. Didn't he offer his help if things were as serious out here as we feared?”

Prince Nelantis: “I will not ask my brother for help. Do not bring him up again, Captain. My report will be sufficient. Here, deliver this as ordered.”

The prince handed a letter to Lieutenant Kite.

Lieutenant Kite: “I will be off then.” and he quickly disappeared from my sight while he ran with quick steps.

Turning to me the Prince spoke out: “I suppose you have something to report?”

Me: “Yes, I have made a lot of progress and didn't encounter any further difficulties. If I continue on I should be able to finish in another day. There are two problems I can see right now. I was able to cut off the main power supply of the monolith but my next actions might still set a chain reaction of some power into motion. The immediate vicinity will not be safe then.”

Prince Nelantis: “If you are sure you will be finished after that we can just pack up and evacuate the camp just before then. For your own safety we will erect a proper defense beforehand. What is the second issue?”

Me: “The monolith is connected to some_thing. I can't make out what it is or if it is aware of my actions, but the probability will increase that it will become aware once I proceed further and cut that connection.”

Prince Nelantis: “That fits perfectly with what I said. We are facing something greater here.”

Captain Ravon: “I never doubted that the moment I saw the animals acting in this way. What I do doubt is whether the bureaucrats in the capital will think the same way. We definitely have to get back to Barlaine after this as quickly as possible and prepare for anything further there.”

Prince Nelantis: “The wounded should be able to move by now. First thing in the morning they will depart along with most of our package and a few healthy soldiers. As long as the scouts don't detect another hording of beasts we can split up like this. Once the monolith is destroyed the rest of us will follow immediately. Captain, prepare for our departure and organize some transport for Miss Shalyne.”

Captain Ravon: “I will take care of it.”

I suppose it was unavoidable that I would need some assistance on the way back. I spent most of my time and energy on things other than healing myself, so I wouldn't be up for the march in just another day, let alone be able to move at a solid speed.

Prince Nelantis: “Have you eaten anything yet?”

Damn.

“No, not yet.”

“Care to join me? I have a few better bits left over even after all that happened.”

The food that had been available to me until now didn't leave anything for me to wish for, but I had always been very hungry when eating. But that was hardly a point I could argue, I had a feeling that this was an invitation that I couldn't decline easily. I had hoped my outer appearance would have a deterring effect, but aside from his first shock the prince had gotten used to it far too easily and now even acted as if it didn't matter to him at all. I grudgingly accepted, though I didn't show my discontent.

Why was there suddenly enough time to spare on grilling an entire bear, when before everyone had managed with simple provisions? Although most of the survivors seemed happy about a decent meal, the overall atmosphere especially among the adventurers and the town guards remained. The submission force of the prince hardly seemed affected and was holding back more out of respect than their own grief. Still, it might not have been a bad thing to heighten the mood a bit, even if it was something as trivial as food.

I was happy the bear wasn't grilled in one huge piece, or my own growing hunger might have killed me. Instead I was able to pass the time with a few less appetizing bites. Only when I finally got to eat the bear did I reflect how strange it was to eat one of the beasts which had killed so many of us. But even now there was a distinction in my mind that separated a sentient being from the beasts we had fought, and that was enough to accept this strange reality. The other people in the camp lived in this world their entire lives and must be used to this. Where then was the difference between intelligent beast and beastman?

While I had been able to use most of the preparation time for resting, once the main dish arrived I was forced into unwelcome company.

“Care for some wine? I still have this rather good bottle of wine from Farfa.”

Another meaningless name to me.

“I should avoid drinking until I have healed up properly.”

“Understandable, you should try it some time if you get the chance. You know, I have always admired your people. No matter which one of you, everyone has their own story and I never get tired of hearing them. I am lucky enough that I can roughly estimate your age by your aura. It can be a real affront for a prince to treat an ageless thousand year old elf the same as someone his own age.”

“Has that happened to you before?”

“Not with Elves, fortunately. But I have had to deal with some very old humans, and they can be very stuck in themselves.”

“Where is the difference then?”

“Maybe I am overstating it, because I have only ever seen travelers. Even those of you who live here have to deal with different issues. Does it form personality? I am led to believe that. You, I can't make sense of either. You are mysterious, courageous. You have faced death, are even deformed and hardly seem to be affected by it. Of course that is no permanent condition if you have a bit of money or the right connections, but it does impress me how you deal with it.”

Those compliments fell on deaf ears, I wasn't easily swayed with simple words. I myself didn't consider myself courageous, it was just that in relation to some things the normal dangers didn't hold the same sway over me anymore. He didn't know that of course. I also liked to avoid the really hairy situations instead of tackling them head on. It was just that I was getting used to swimming.

“And then there is your aura. I have hardly seen anything like it. You hide it most of the time, but you have such an intense light about you. Did you attune yourself?”

Now what was that? I probably never stumbled over the topic on my own, because I had kept it to myself, but I wasn't aware there was information to be had. It could also be a huge pitfall. If I had to judge by the way he asked it wasn't anything negative, so admitting to it was no problem. But I knew nothing about the process that was used in this world.

“Yes.”

In Ascension there had been a period of acclimating to one of the paths, where a player continued to to do actions that accumulated the element. Opposing actions would reduce the amount and beyond a certain point start to build up the other. After a base amount of either one was achieved, it was possible to attune to one of the two permanently in one of the temples, where the player would receive a blessing. From then on the other side was barred, but so was the reduction penalty of wrong actions, and over time the attunement would build up more and more.

That was the way things had worked in the game, but this was reality. A strange world, sure, but a real one. However if I considered my situation the attunement was also very real, so there might be some parallels, as strange as it was. I didn't come up with anything, so I tried to be vague. Chances were, that the prince didn't know enough about the topic to find a hole in my statement that way.

“Back at home.”

“That is the Elven Empire? The only temple of light I know is in the Culian Empire. So there are others around. I wonder how many there are.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It didn't seem like he knew all that much, I might use the opportunity to get some information out of him, even if it was only common knowledge.

“Did you think about attuning yourself?”

In my opinion the question was a bit risky, because even if the process of attunement was anything like I imagined, there still could be any number of correlating issues, especially for someone of a special position like the prince.

“Actually yes. I strive to be open and charismatic that I can comprehend enough of the light to go and attune. Not like...”

“Like?”

He was struggling with himself, it was probably something personal. My question had just slipped out, and I already regretted it. Getting personal was something to be avoided if I wanted to keep my distance, no matter if he chose to answer or not.

“My brother.”

I didn't press on with it and kept silent in the hope the topic would die out that way. But now he just took that as an invitation to spill out.

“I can't keep staying in his shadow forever. It feels no matter how much effort I expend he still stays miles ahead of me. But I made a lot of achievements already and as long as I stay true to my path I will catch up to him. He attuned to the dark, but even if he can benefit with his manipulations now, he won't be able to keep up long term.

The light path, do you find it rewarding?”

“That's irrelevant. Once you are on it you deal with what it brings. Perhaps you have more freedom if you don't choose at all. I can't deny that my attunement has given me some power, but it's also pushing me forward.”

“Isn't that great? The further you reach the more you increase your abilities and your momentum increases until you are unstoppable. And then I will become a great general."

"I actually expected you to say king."

"I am not cut out to sit on a throne and listen to the orders of some ancient nobles. There is by far more glory on battlefields like this."

He pointed around us. Realizing it wasn't the ideal situation to praise the battles he added:

"There are always casualties, but the higher my abilities, and the greater the victory, the less people on my side will have to die. I know this mission didn't turn out that well, but this threat is something that has to be dealt with. You also suffered from the events, but I will do what it takes to help you heal completely again."

He stretched out his hand towards me as if in an offering of assistance for me to take. I left it hanging in the air. He had gotten uncomfortably close and I was beginning to feel really awkward about it. I felt if I took the hand he would use the opportunity to further close in on me and I shuddered at the thought of his touch. It made me feel vulnerable.

I tried to keep up a friendly face while slowly shaking my head.

"I really do appreciate the offer, but it won't be necessary. For me those scars are no permanent condition. It would go against myself if I were to fall into your debt without a real need. Please do not take this refusal the wrong way."

"I see... you are a difficult woman to impress Miss Shalyne."

"There are few things I desire, but right now one of those is some sleep. If you would excuse me?"

"Of course I will not keep you from your well earned recovery. Rest well."

Finally I could retreat and be by myself for a while. Although not pressing on in an impolite manner the prince wasn't letting up. If this kept going on I wasn't sure if he wouldn't take a more direct approach. Right now I feared the touch of a man. It had gotten a different meaning and I became by far too aware that I was a woman now. Situations like these made repressing it almost impossible while irritating me in the worst way.

Before tonight I had been sure with me disfigured and many people still grieving, the prince wouldn't have an interest to further pursue this. Tomorrow we would finally leave and then I could hopefully cut any contact. Nelantis should keep himself busy with the noble woman he had arrived with.

"You really dislike men."

Arienne stated the obvious shortly after I had gotten down on my blankets, almost ready to pretend sleep. She was talking in a hushed voice, as not too far away others were already sleeping and this was no question for the ears of a stranger. She could have chosen a more isolated place if she absolutely had to talk about this. I concentrated my senses on the people in the tent. If anyone wanted to listen in, their focused attention would betray them and alert me.

I whispered back: "Why can't he just leave me alone. Richard immediately took the hint."

"He is too young and self absorbed to notice anything. I think he is so set on you already, that you should just stop giving him hints and reject him directly."

"How will he take it? I don't think he is used to refusal."

"You will have to see. You can always mention that you are a noble and he should think twice about doing anything stupid. Tell me, are you part of the court? You would fit right in. Well your manners are a bit strange, but I heard they are all pretty unique so I still wouldn't be too surprised."

"I'm not."

"Come on, tell me at least a little bit about yourself. The blood hunters are usually the only elves I have some contact to, but most of them are so dull and business like. Do you know how rarely I hear something about home? Some gossip? I don't know why you are here, but I can help you out if you tell me a little bit. I'm not asking any secrets, just that it would be fun to be involved a bit. Does that work out somehow?"

She stopped talking for a moment, probably to consider if this was something that could be resolved. It had become a bit difficult to follow what she had said, but that was not all that unusual with her. Her thoughtful look changed into another kind of thoughtful look, but more serious.

Suddenly she began to speak in another language. One I didn't understand in the least. That was a real issue. Naturally there was nothing I could repeat, nor could I properly react to the words. Arienne's eyes began to pierce into me, now standing at the ready.

"That never was where I was from."

Someone close to us stirred, I must have spoken out too loud. Arienne and I both eyed each other silently. Then her gaze turned back to the usual open and friendly look as if nothing had happened. She took a quick look around but nobody was observing us. Silently she began talking again.

"Wow, that explains so much. Of course you would keep everything to yourself so much and land here without any language skills at all. I suppose the story in my head doesn't really make much sense."

"But you..."

"You aren't the first traveler from afar that I have met. Your kind is still very rare, but nothing completely impossible. I just never considered that there could be other elves. Or are you just a shapeshifter taking that form?"

"No, that is really me."

There was a small defeated undertone she didn't seem to perceive. I added:

"Am I going overboard with secrecy?"

"Maybe not. No matter where I traveled, strangers are always considered in a different light. It's pretty light between humans and elves, but different races can be very hostile, even more so the further away you are from. The beastpeople aren't looked upon well in many parts of the world I have been to, and they are very aggressive as well. I guess if the elven empire didn't border on their territories directly, it would be a lot worse.

I guess I am a bit strange, but I have always gotten along with all different kinds of people. Yes, you should just keep to yourself. Of course you can tell me everything, I will keep it all a secret. How far away are you from?"

Her unprejudiced way opened me up a bit, though that only went so far. Still, it would be nice to have another source of information aside from Catherine who I didn't really see that often anymore. There had been far too many questions coming up lately.

"I don't fully understand the question, but it is from REALLY far away."

"The question? I am not that sure myself, I have only traveled through a few countries and that has already kept me busy long enough. Sometimes there are people from neighboring countries, some from countries further away which I barely know by name. And then there is beyond that. Some scholars will know more about maps, but I don't really want to look those up. Anyway, I can't really explain it but not all of those places are away in a matter of distance. They are not that far away, but you still can't get there so easily. At least that's what I have heard. I have only been around sensible places, where you can enter from any side normally.

You said really far away? You suddenly appeared around here. That means you came through one of those strange ways? Can you show me? I really want to see at least one of them."

"I admit it was not exactly a physical..." we had to stop talking for a short while when three of the soldiers entered. They weren't nearly as quiet as we had been and woke up some of the sleepers. After some grumbling the soldiers tried to be more silent. I once again became aware, that this place wasn't exactly ideal for a secret conversation. We still took up the conversation where I had left off.

"I don't know a lot about how I ended up here, much less about the way back. I want to do some research, but for now I can't show you anything like this."

"This is typical, why is it so difficult to get to strange places? If you plan to go on a trip like that, make sure to tell me."

"I will consider it."

"Who knows if we are even at the same place at the time. We will just have to see. At least tell me some stories from your home, now that I know about it? Oh no... I just realized, if you aren't from anywhere around here, you can't have understood lots of the stories I have told you so far. I have to explain a lot to you."

"Good night."

There really was a lot we might be able to talk about more freely now, but there were better places than this crowded tent. If I hadn't been able to observe the auras around me I never would have held such a talk under similar conditions, no matter how quiet the whisper might be.

I took some time to consider the events of the evening. My mood had somehow brightened after talking to Arienne and at least for now I was able to put aside the conversation with the prince.

After some rest I grew restless and began with a quick self healing session, which was still focused on non superficial parts of my body. Then I set my further plans into action.

The monolith's functions had been reduced a lot and the work I wanted to attempt now had difficulties in different areas. Once I actually looked at the building plan part of the monolith I had to realize that transporting it back to Barlaine would be completely impossible and even cutting it out would prove extremely difficult.

When I had looked at the structure in my energy form and let my senses float over and through it, I had lost my perception for proportions. The plans probably filled out an entire cubic meter. Such a large anchor was certainly not necessary for the construct, but it was a stronger and more stable foundation. If a huge structure such as the monolith was already available, it would probably also make sense to use it in its entirety.

Next I turned my attention to the power cell I had been eyeing. The same held true here as well, but if I ignored the power cell and just focused on the little instruction of how to collect energy from the surroundings, I would be able to transport it.

The complexity wasn't too great and just studying it tonight might have been enough to comprehend the necessary basics. Perhaps something similar was even in one of Mr. Heart's books. The reason why I still decided to cut it out was in the characteristics of the used intents.

Imagining a fire or water was a simple thing with a bit of practice. But getting the feeling for the various energies on the outside and forming that as a command for specific collection, purifying and storing were very different. Doing this as part of a complete automated construct even more so.

I determined borders to reduce it to a closed off unit and then wanted to cut it out. Then I realized the block was somewhere in the middle of the monolith and I would have to cut a path for it as well. To test the difficulty I tried myself at a piece of the black material right on the outside.

Breaking it apart telekinetically cost me ridiculous amounts of mana and this was just a little piece. And I wasn't even finished. I went over to heavily heating up a very tiny border of it. Still very costly, but a bit more efficient I could separate it. The extreme heat caused light to emit, so I refrained from doing it on the outer side. Finally able to control this piece as a separated part I reached the conclusion, that this wasn't going to work.

Then at last I came up with a working solution. I just took the parts of the construct and, using the newly broken off piece of the monolith as anchor, reconstructed it piece by piece in the same order I had taken them away. This method of moving it allowed me to keep the intents the original creator instead of making a quick and inferior copy.

I didn't have to use much space to anchor the construct, and even cut the stone piece a bit further into a somewhat cubic form. Easily avoiding detection I flew the less than fist large piece into my backpack.

Sadly using the same tactic with the entire building plans wasn't possible in the time I had left and I had to settle with this one construct.