Aisling listened to her husband and long-time friend continue their disagreement.

  “That shouldn’t be possible,” argued Luc.

  “You think I don’t know that? The gems in that enchantment are supposed to have a minimum fidelity of a single percent. Anything less should have garnered no response at all, let alone a response from every single gem present. There were affinities in there, that based on everything you and Aisling have told me, he has never used. Lava, storm and magnetic are just the three that spring to mind. But I am telling you what I saw. I don’t think he saw it. Not completely. But for the briefest of moments, every single gem lit up with enough light to indicate an affinity of at least three to four percent,” shot back Evindal.

  Her normally calm and controlled husband was clearly disturbed by what he had witnessed. She couldn’t fault him though. If what he saw was true, it was an interaction with the enchantment that none of them had ever encountered. What it meant for Nate she wasn’t sure, but at least Evindal had downplayed it enough that he was hopefully not worrying over it.

  “Could it have been something to do with his work with runes?” asked Luc, rubbing his chin in thought.

  “Perhaps. Or perhaps his affinity for space triggered them. Or it’s something we have never heard of or encountered. I just don’t know. And that worries me,” lamented Evindal.

  “Not the first time the kid has surprised us. It’ll be fine. Probably,” responded Luc, though it sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince them.

  “It doesn’t matter for now,” she interjected. “He will need to be tested again to make sure the alchemical concoctions are having an impact and developing his affinity for Life mana. Until then, there is nothing either of you can do. It changes nothing about our existing plans. Now, which of us is going to be watching over him during their next Dungeon run?”

  “I’m busy,” Luc said immediately, flashing an amused smile in response to her frown.

  No doubt what Luc meant was he was busy spending his time at that brothel which he had somehow gotten Nate involved in. She sighed to herself. That wasn’t fair of her. She knew Luc was working with Nate and Kiri on their nascent crafting business. It was more likely he was assisting them with some element of that and his smile was just to taunt her. At times, she had to admit, she wished the Arcane Riftwalker would grow up a little. Then again, if he did, would he even bother staying in Etrua? Putting those thoughts to rest she glanced at her husband.

  “I’ll escort them, my love,” he answered, smiling gently at her. “Besides, it will give me more opportunity and time to work with Nate on what he needs to do to achieve his goals of taking Lord of Life as his Tertiary Class.”

  She nodded and smiled back in thanks before turning to face the window, gazing down on the Guild training grounds. What was Nate thinking, adding Life Mage as his Tertiary Class? She had yet to figure out how he intended to fold such a selection into his existing choices and the path he seemed set on. She supposed that in the end, all she could do was trust that he knew what he was doing. That made her smile slightly. He had surprised her before. More than once, actually. She was confident he would do so again. With the matter settled, she turned back to face her husband and long-time friend.

  “That is settled then. On to the next topic of discussion, the brewing war with Asmuisil. Where do we stand?”

  *************

  Arikanvil bared his teeth in a victorious smile. This experiment had taken longer than he had expected. Figuring out what the device from a Dead Realm did had been simple enough. Reverse-engineering how it had accomplished such wonders had been far more difficult. Perhaps if one of his two Heralds that were accomplished crafters had been present, then he might have gotten to this point far sooner. But he had been unwilling to pay the costs for recalling them from their assignments. Either way, he now knew the basics of what was going on within the simple looking, yet incredibly complex device. That led him to his next experiments. Could he replicate the technology and methods applied.

  For the first time in more than two centuries, he had a pathway forward towards his ultimate goal. He ignored the small stirring in his chest. What was another drop to someone on his level anyway? Carefully putting the small piece of plastic back in the protective case that kept mana from touching it and destroying the fragile material, he turned to prepare his notes for his next experiment when he sensed a flicker on the planet below.

  Focusing his senses, he stripped the space between himself and the flicker, gazing upon the small room and the simplistic affinity measuring enchantment.

  His eyes widened slightly at what he saw and for a moment he paused, mentally calculating the risks, costs and potential rewards of interference.

  “Sooner than expected…too soon really…” he muttered to himself, before sealing his senses and returning them to his immediate environs. “No. It’s not worth the cost. The mortal’s path is his own.”

  With his decision made, he began working on the next stage in his project. The only project that mattered to him anymore. He was the Wanderer and he would not be denied.

  *************

  Duchess Charlotte Desmarais ground her teeth in annoyance. It was a habit she had developed when she was younger and never truly managed to grow out of. She had often wondered to herself, in her private moments, if it were her Classes and Embodiment that prevented her from removing the habit. She had even considered excising it directly. But in the end, the risk was greater than the reward. The situation now was starting to look similar.

  Tossing the page onto her husband’s desk she considered the contents again. The Storm Spear, Thousand Needles and the Eternal Grove had returned to the Capital. That normally would have been considered little more than business-as-usual, except for the part where those three Platinum-tier individuals had already been seen in the company of her targets. It was almost a certainty then, that the next Dungeon trip the pair took, they would be escorted by at least one of the three. The Kill-Squad she had put together was more than enough to handle the children, but would be killed, in no uncertain terms, by any of the children's three protectors.

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  The question on her mind was should she scrap the operation, or double-down and send one of their houses three Platinum-tier retainers to handle the target's protector. What were the risks of doing nothing? It would mean an even chance of their Ducal House falling and being handed over to one of the targets. The latest report from the Twins had confirmed that Princess Morgane had interceded for the crafter of the pair. Something about an investigation into the death of the Earl of Dralogne’s second-son. She might have tried to leverage that fact, using the Earl’s resources to lower the cost to their own House. But the Earl was in the Second Prince’s camp and was as likely to spit at her as laugh at her request to work together. That man had always been incredibly unreasonable.

  No, she had to rely on her own House and resources, lest she tip her hand to one of their rivals. Besides, most of the Lesser Houses that paid them homage lacked the resources outside of the Heads of their respective Houses to challenge the Adventurer Guild Platinums. Grinding her teeth again in frustration, she sent one of the servants to fetch Gordon. The risk to their House was just too great. Now that Morgane, that righteous little bitch, had her claws firmly buried in the pair, it was a foregone conclusion that the offer of Noble title would be made. No one would say no to such an offer, and it would be her House that would be the one to fall even further into decline. A decisive decision needed to be made, so she would make it.

  A knock at the door brought her back to the present and she adjusted her appearance minutely. She was perfection and it was important that others perceived her so.

  “Come.”

  “You asked for me, my Lady?” said Gordon, the man entering the beautifully decorated office.

  “There is a task I have for you. But first, I need your input. How would you fare against the Storm Spear, Thousand Needles or the Eternal Grove?” she asked calmly, not letting her inner turmoil show on her face. Appearances mattered after all. Her confidence would become his confidence.

  “To defeat or to kill?” asked Gordon, the tall and skinny man asking in the same tone that he would’ve asked about the weather.

  “Kill,” she stated calmly. There could be no witnesses. Of course, the Guild would likely suspect them. But without proof, without testimony, their suspicions would be just that.

  “Maybe against the Storm Spear or the Eternal Grove, my Lady. Definitely not against Thousand Needles. That slippery bastard would find a way to slip away if he was losing,” answered the Lava Mage honestly. She had always appreciated that about him and was one of the main reasons she had pushed her husband to invest in his development. That and his affinity, of course.

  “The Storm Spear and Eternal Grove…what if you had the assistance of a Gold-tier Kill-Squad?”

  “How many?”

  She considered her answer. Originally the plan had been for a four-person team. Two should have been more than enough to end the lives of each of the children. But then, the reports did say that the pair had gone to Dungeons with others from the Adventurer’s Guild. Those ‘others’ had warranted their own protection, in the form of a small team of Gold-tier Bodyguards. If she was to go down this path, she would go all-in. There could be no room for mistakes.

  “Ten,” she answered placidly.

  “With ten assisting me, I am confident I could kill either of the Guild Platinums if needed.”

  She nodded her understanding, detailing out her orders for Gordon and the Gold-tier kill-squad she was putting under his command. They were not to engage if Thousand Needles was present. Otherwise, the next time those children left the Capital of Etrua to run one of the Adventurer’s Guild dungeons, her forces would strike and end the threat to her House, killing it in the cradle.

  After Gordon had left to prepare his team and make their way to the Capital, she returned to the expansive window. Her holdings lay sprawled before her. She would do whatever was necessary to keep them. The rumours of war with Asmuisil were an opportunity. With that in mind, she returned to her desk to pen another letter. This would be no less risky than having the young Adventurers killed, but where that task was to retain her House’s existing position, this letter contained the potential to raise them higher. With her mind made up, ink touched paper. Such a simple act and yet it felt like the tolling of a bell, signifying the end of an age or the beginning of a new one. Life was full of risks. She just needed to navigate one more. Grinding her teeth again, she lamented her fool of a husband and his father before him. She would dig them out of this hole, one body at a time. Of course, if she failed, she was digging their own graves.

  *************

  Garnet soared through the skies on wings of flame. The clouds surrounded her, obscuring her vision of the forests and grasslands below, but she was alright with that. After all, they also hid her from the sight of any of the great predators of the sky. There were few such monsters over the forest, but few was not none, and the numbers would increase as she approached the Kirshell Mountains. She didn’t know if the nomadic Clans were incompetent or just didn’t care, but their lack of control over the ambient mana of their mountain homes led to more monster growth and development than was seen in the more central areas of Etrua. That increased ambient mana, coupled with some of the gryphons and rocs that made their homes in the Kirshell Mountains, meant there was a legitimate threat to her life if she wasn’t careful.

  That said, she was still a day or two away from her destination and could likely simply enjoy soaring through the skies like a mythical phoenix. The flaming birds had never been seen in Etrua, as much a myth as dragons, but as a child she had been enchanted by the idea of such creatures. It had been the driving force that had led to her defying her Father and developing her affinity for fire instead of the storm like him. He had never forgiven her for defying their family legacy and she had never forgiven him for the way he looked down upon her. Prince Bordain had seen her value, though, and brought her into his confidence. Paid for her to attend the University and given her her tasks after she had finished. She should’ve been confident in his presence, but he had always frightened her. Even when she had been certain that she was a significantly higher level than the Prince, he had still felt like a real and present danger to her. It didn’t help that Obsidian scared her almost as much as the Prince. His bodyguard was the stuff of nightmares.

  When she had been recalled to the Capital she had hoped that her punishment for her failure with the slaving operation was over. It seemed that was not the case. Lessened, certainly, as there were few punishments worse than being forced to work under Sapphire. But she was still being punished, forced to play courier for their manerium mining operation. At least with this punishment she was free to fly, though. Spinning gently, she floated above the cloud cover to stare up at the sun, that roiling ball of fire so large it boggled the mind. Perhaps that was where Phoenixes lived. She still hoped to see one, one day.

  Spinning back around and dipping back into the clouds she sighed slightly. The war with Asmuisil was certain to begin soon. Then the pieces would start falling, one way or another. Her patron, her Prince, would either rise as he so fervently believed he deserved, or he would fall. Either way, what would that mean for her once the chaos had finally settled? Would she be given the lead of her own House, her father executed? Was that even what she wanted? Would she finally free her half-sisters from their torture? Or would she run away from it all? Fly off into the sunset? To places unseen, where maybe, the myths of her childhood lived on?

  Her eyes narrowed as the thoughts came one after another. There were many things she might do but only one thing she would definitely do. She would torch that insidious bitch and dance on her ashes. Sending more mana into her flaming wings she increased her speed. The sooner she made the delivery, the sooner she could reach her destination. Her true destination. Not some mine, but the place she had always wanted to be. She just wished she knew where that was.

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