Rory folded his arms as the Sludge Salamander Patriarch died.

  Well, I got some good data out of it, at least.

  Waves were his best chance to test out different ideas with projection magic. Due to his connection to the settlement, he had near-limitless Pneuma and plenty of unwilling test subjects to call upon. This time, his main takeaway wasn’t the projections themselves but how you understood the conceptualization of Pneuma. Long ago, he had discovered the importance of intent in using Pneuma. Still, he was beginning to understand it was only the first step. How you viewed the ‘layering’ -what he had decided to refer to it as- also mattered. The most basic form of Pneuma manipulation was intent; imagine a fireball, channel Pneuma through your intent, and boom, fireball. Step two was understanding how your intent shaped the Pneuma in the way it did. Rather than just imagining a fireball, you also considered the source of the fire, what was being ignited, etc. The most recent step he was beginning to grasp, layering, was taking that same intent and understanding of your intent and reframing it into something actionable. Academic knowledge of how to shape your intent wasn’t enough; in your mind, rather than simply knowing how it worked, you had to ‘layer’ that academic knowledge into a realized image of doing it yourself.

  In the case of a fireball, the intent would be shaped by understanding and then layered upon actualized imagery of how you would do it yourself, like imagining yourself igniting a ball of sawdust and twigs.

  It was a lot like having double thoughts, one layer of thoughts encoding another, the imagined imagery representing the academic comprehension, which itself vested the overall intent.

  If it weren’t for Rory’s well-invested Cognition, he doubted he would have begun to consider the concept for some time. His natural talent with Pneuma—or lack thereof—meant it wouldn’t have been something he’d naturally stumble upon; only his splitting mental threads had begun to play with the idea.

  The advantages of ‘layering’ were still mostly undetermined; it was still an abstract idea, and its main benefit seemed to be ‘solidifying’ his projections further, making them more stable.

  “Not that I’ll complain.” Rory huffed to himself as he looked about the quiet battlefield. Eia was sunning herself, looking rather engorged and satisfied. Violet, meanwhile, was giving him a rather odd look from behind the top of their wall now that there were no monsters for her to be wary of.

  Meaning.

  Pulling up his interface, he was met with the familiar Wave-cleared reward. As much energy as he knew had been awarded, it was going far less with each Wave. The increasing Ascension Energy requirement to upgrade a building or construct meant that even with the energy stockpile that would have been a treasure trove of untold magnitude several years ago, it was now barely able to upgrade one or two things per Wave and would likely soon reach the point where it would take several waves per upgrade.

  Meaning, as always, decisions, decisions.

  The Stellar Forge was off the list instantly. It had reached a point similar to the Essence Spire where the energy needed to force an upgrade was ludicrously expensive, which made sense given the Stellar Forge was the second most ‘advanced’ thing in the camp, behind only the Extreme rarity Essence Spire.

  The Essence Spire was also removed for the same reason. One day, he’d love to try to push it to ascend. Still, it wouldn’t be for quite some time as its benefits were largely intangible, meaning it was hard to rationalize wasting Ascension Energy on it for the time.

  The resource processors connected to the forge grounds were next to be thrown out. They weren’t all that advanced, but they didn’t need to be for the time being.

  Continuing down the list, Rory finally had two options as prime candidates. First was the Growth Ritual site outside their main wall. It was one of Rory’s first-ever major projects and hadn’t seen much love over the years. Sure, he’d updated some of the runic arrays, but there hadn’t been much else done simply because it worked, so why mess with it more than he had to?

  Now, given the Perks and Decrees he’d chosen for Ehkorrus nearly a year ago, Rory was considering taking a second look, and the easiest way to do that was to stuff it with enough Ascension Energy to force an evolution.

  The other option he’d settled upon was his home. Was it perhaps a little selfish? Sure, but he had accumulated enough stuff over the years that it was pretty cramped now, and honestly, as the guy in charge, didn’t he deserve not to have the smallest home?

  Allotting the energy to his hovel and the Growth Ritual, Rory turned his attention to the other fifty percent of the rewarded energy he’d not touched. Focusing on the Null Window, which had been set into a rather simple-looking frame next to their campfire, Rory found there was the option to dump the energy through the Null Window rather than into it.

  Perfect, I don’t even have to bargain with Eon.

  Dumping the energy, Rory saw a timer floating above the campfire upon his interface; ten minutes were displayed.

  I appreciate the warning.

  Not bothering Eia, who would likely be napping for the next day or so, Rory turned back to the wall and waved at Violet.

  “Go get the others.”

  “Why?”

  “For the welcoming party, obviously.”

  Kal was confused.

  One minute, he had been-

  Been what?

  -been doing something, somewhere, and now he was in the middle of a small village, a bunch of teenagers and a man in his mid to late twenties watching him.

  Kal wasn’t the only confused one. Next to him were three others, of whom he had no knowledge.

  “Well, at least two adults.” The man in his mid-to-late twenties said with a sigh. “Hi, hello, welcome to Ehkorrus.”

  “Ehkorrus,” Kal said with a frown. “Where is that? Where is anything? Who are you folks?” Kal turned to those standing beside himself, not sparing them questions. “Who are you folks as well?”

  “Easy,” The mid-twenties man said. “My name is Rory. You’re on the planet Aelia, and Ehkorrus is this here city, village, whatever you’d classify it as.”

  Kal was about to say something when the man turned his hand upward, and several seconds later, a ball of fire appeared.

  “This is magic. Magic exists.”

  Tapping at the air once, the man —Rory—flicked in their direction. Suddenly, a screen appeared, displaying information that confused Kal.

  “Magic, levels, interfaces, all of that exists here. Does that ring a bell with any of you?”

  Two of those that had appeared near him, more teenagers, waved their hands and nodded.

  “Good. You two will find it easier to understand.”

  Kal felt his joints aching, irritable, and annoyed at feeling so clueless. Raising his hand like he was sixty years younger and a student again, the man in his mid-twenties nodded to him.

  “What the hell is an interface?” Kal said, irritated and grouchy.

  The man winced, shaking his head as he did.

  “And you two will take some explaining.”

  Rory hadn’t been sure what game Eon was up to when it had decided on the four new citizens; two were past fifty, with one of them, Kal, pushing eighty. Sure, the two teenagers would likely fit into the band of misfit kids, but the other two seemed far out of place.

  That was until Rory spent more time talking with them and getting to know them as he explained things for the billionth time.

  From what Rory pieced together about the first of the two, a woman named Vivian in her mid-fifties, she had been a copywriter or something similar.

  An Inscriptionist. She’s perfect for it. Okay, maybe not perfect, but damn qualified.

  The oldest of the newcomers, Kal, a man of seventy-six years of age, had been a jeweler.

  A Gem Crafter.

  It was perfect, and it was also why Rory could understand the lack of newcomers compared to the last time around. Aelia had commentated that kids and teenagers were easier to ‘bring’ over, so bringing two people past the age of fifty must have been extensively more draining and expensive.

  Still, it was worth it. He’d gone through the spiel of inquiring about dreams or goals, and when he’d mentioned both Inscription and Gem Crafting, the two older folks had seemed to dial in, their natural proclivities drawing them to the fields.

  The two teenagers, Clyde and Carl -brothers- had shrugged, but that was a problem for Apostolos to figure out, as Rory had gotten what he’d wanted.

  Busy with helping the four newcomers settle in, it was nearly a month later when a somewhat bedraggled Apostolos returned.

  “Apostolos.” Rory nodded to the younger man as he eyed the three new huts that had been constructed.

  “Master,” Apostolos answered back. He glanced around before the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. “Finally upgraded the hut of yours?”

  “Yes, I did,” Rory said, crossing his arms. The change had transformed the living home into a true treehouse, a sequoia with black bark and red veins with silver sap.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Star Blood Sequoia

  Rarity: Uncommon

  A mighty tree that has grown in strength and significance due to its proximity to the Precursor of the Architect. Further guided by drinking in trace elements of stellar, solar, and blood energies, it evolved into a greater existence when fed an excess of the sparks of evolution. Still young, it promises to reach truly great heights and depths.

  It was wider across by nearly a factor of two compared to his old home and almost three times as tall, already as tall as the Sol’s Glories that dominated the jungle surrounding Ehkorrus. The morning he’d woken up to find his bedroom expanded and two sets of stairs that abruptly ended only a few feet above and below, Rory had rushed out of his former hovel to appreciate the changes fully. With time -or lots of Ascension Energy- the tree would only grow taller, its roots deeper, and the room he could take advantage of would only expand further.

  Did it make Rory feel even more like a tree-hugger? Sure, but anyone with any sense of an inner child wouldn’t be able to deny how damn cool it was to have a literal living tree house like he now had.

  “I also noticed the Growth Ritual changed.” Apostolos pointed out after a moment of silence, pulling Rory back from thoughts of his newly improved home.

  “Not much to say there,” Rory answered. “Between the direction of Ehkorrus and my Alchemical Transmutation skill, I figured improving the Growth Ritual would be beneficial. And, honestly speaking, we’ve got to start ramping up wood production if we’re gaining more and more citizens now; growth one or two bloodwoods at a time won’t cut it anymore now that it’s no longer the two of us.”

  The changes to the Growth Ritual were more about size rather than direction or quality. Half of the primary wall was surrounded by one extensive Growth Ritual. The only area that had seen a direct improvement was the central hub’ where the modular runestones could be swapped as usual. The one new thing was encapsulated glass spheres that could be opened and closed and used as isolated flora nurseries for direct experimentation.

  “Fair enough,” Apostolos said, looking around once more. “And the newcomers?”

  “Two adults, one of them around fifty or so-”

  “Aren’t you getting up there in age as well?”

  “Shut it,” Rory snapped, often forgetting that while he still looked only in his mid-to-late twenties, he was well over forty.

  “Sorry.” Apostolos snickered, not at all looking like he was sorry. “So, you were saying?”

  “So, four total. Two are teenagers, as usual. You can handle those two. The other two, Vivian and Kal, are different stories, mid-fifties and mid-seventies. Each is clearly here because they’re well suited to either Gem Crafting or Inscription.”

  “Look at that; your prayers have been answered,” Apostolos said.

  “Yeah, well, I’m going to have to push them to ascend faster than the kids; Kal is old enough that he could be dead in only a few years without the benefits of gaining tiers. Vivian isn’t as bad, obviously, but tiers never hurt when it comes to Inscription, especially if something explodes in your face.”

  “Won’t argue there.” Apostolos snorted.

  “That’s pretty much everything on my side of things,” Rory said. “Now, it’s your turn. Clearly, things weren’t easy on you, given the shape of your armor.”

  “I found them,” Apostolos said, his face darkening. “The Architect Bane has taken a page of inspiration from you.”

  “Meaning?”

  “It’s building its only little colony of monsters on the third floor, pretty deep within as well. It came to you twice, and the second time around, it was repelled because of the disadvantage of attacking you at your seat of power. It’s turning the tables now that it has the advantage that if you push tier seven without facing it a third time, it’s your auto loss.”

  “Well, that’s damn annoying,” Rory grunted. With how improved the defenses of Ehkorrus were, he’d wanted the Architect Bane to try its luck a third time. “As for why your stuff is so banged up?”

  “I spent a month on the third floor by myself. What else would you expect?” Apostolos snorted. “The further you get from the entrance, the higher the average level rises. By the end, I stopped seeing any of the filler tier-five monsters, and it was entirely tier-six monsters. I purposely avoided areas where a Territory Alpha was residing, as given our partnership with the Khan of Blue Lightning, I figured they wouldn’t be nearly as friendly.

  Which was saying something, given that the Khan of Blue Lightning had been prepared to kill them when they’d first met.

  Rory chewed on his lip for a moment, considering his options. The longer the Architect Bane had to entrench itself, the more difficult it would be to face it in the future. On the other hand, facing it too soon could pose its only problems; it would likely be high-tier-six, and if he didn’t come fully prepared to face that, there would be no shot of victory.

  “Fuck.” Rory sighed. “Fine. We leave it alone for another two or three years. The first one or two of those years will ensure Ehkorrus is self-sufficient without my direct constant intervention. Once we’ve reached that point, I’ll focus solely on preparing for the showdown with the Architect Bane. This most recent Wave’s results were better than I hoped for. Unless a Wave is supported by something like the Architect Bane, the defenses should be able to handle the bulk of the Wave monsters by themselves, as long as there is something around to face down the boss monster of the Wave.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “Mostly. It depends on whether my assumption about the hundred-year gauntlet holds. Assuming I’m correct, the first thirty-three years’ worth of waves should be strictly tier-five monsters with perhaps the occasional tier-six boss. It won’t be until mid-tier-five that the walls will likely need extra support for the average monster.”

  “And things won’t have remained stagnant during that period,” Apostolos said.

  “Exactly. We’re so close to being hands-off.” Rory said with a surprising fervor. “So here is the plan: Spend one or two years preparing the city to need my direct intervention no longer. Once that’s handled, I’ll spend another year or so preparing to face the Architect Bane for the final time of tier-six.”

  “And after that?”

  “We go hunt a nearby Territory Alpha. At that point, I should be damn close to tier seven. You shouldn’t be far off either.”

  “I’m only a few years behind you, yeah,” Apostolos said, currently level sixty-three, meaning he was thirty percent through tier six.

  Discussing for several more minutes, they only stopped when Violet ran up to them, her cheeks flushed.

  She’s beyond the point that a short jog through here would cause her to be out of breath.

  Following her gaze momentarily, Rory had to hold back a snort.

  Right. Apostolos.

  “Something wrong?” Apostolos took Rory’s moment of silence to ask in his place.

  “Manda and Marcie. They’ve both reached A1 finally.”

  It took long enough.

  All that was left of the original group to reach tier one was Gil and John. Gil was sure to be officially reaching that point shortly, especially given the muscle mass he’d been putting on while helping Rory in the forge; Eon would no doubt recognize the boy as physically mature enough to have a tier imminently.

  Manda and Marcie had been preparing in their own ways. Manda had been practicing with Pneuma and trailing Eia whenever she stayed within Ehkorrus for over a day. Marcie had been given a padded mannequin to beat on, nothing more than leather, wood, and some extremely basic inscription work.

  “Either of them have a Vocation already?” Rory asked.

  “Marcie. She already had Pugilist.”

  “Yeah, that tracks,” Apostolos said. “A lot more straightforward than what Manda is attempting.”

  “Anything else?” Rory asked Violet.

  “Uhh, not really.” She gulped, fidgeting with her scarlet hair. “I just didn’t expect to run into Mr. Apostolos while I was looking for you.”

  “Well, if that’s the case, bring those two to the campfire.”

  “What for?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Rory sat with one leg draped across the other as he reclined in his seat. The kids had suggested a ‘Head’ seat around the campfire for whoever was ‘in charge’ to sit in, perhaps a status symbol or something akin to the idea. Rory had reluctantly agreed when it was suggested several months back, which is why he grumbled for several days after it ended up being his job to make it.

  None of that mattered now, except that he was seated upon it, flanked by Apostolos standing to his right, when Violet brought Manda and Marcie.

  “You called for us?” Marcie asked, the girl always rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet as if she couldn’t contain her excess energy.

  “Yes, I did,” Rory said. “Take a seat.”

  Manda and Marcie sat across the campfire from him before Rory inclined his head toward Violet.

  “You as well.”

  Looking confused, Violet sat down.

  “Here is the situation. In as short as three to four years from now, I’ll likely be taking a leave from Ehkorrus. By that point, it shouldn’t be much of an issue, hopefully, but that’s where you three come in. Apostolos is only one man, and his primary concern is being here as the central pillar once I’m gone, the new figurehead of Ehkorrus.”

  Rory could sense the younger man’s surprise; he’d never communicated that part of the plan to him, but ignoring it, Rory continued.

  “We will need more than Apostolos to continue paving the way for Ehkorrus. Now that both Manda and Marcie have gotten a proper tier rank, I’m officially designating you as the first-”

  Rory paused for a moment as if for dramatic effect.

  The reality was, he’d never considered what he would call them, needing a moment to think.

  Ah, shoot. Well, sometimes, it’s best to default to the obvious.

  “-the first adventurer team of Ehkorrus. You’ll work together, training and learning from one another to form a cohesive unit that can face the dangers of Aelia.”

  “But they only just reached tier one!” Violet interrupted, her eyes briefly landing on Apostolos.

  Hah, she doesn’t want to lose one-on-one time with him.

  Unfortunately for her, that was a part of growing up.

  “Regardless. Tier one is short-lived if you actively push yourself. They’ll catch up soon enough. I was at roughly the same point when Apostolos first appeared.” Rory said. “But with that said, for now, Violet, you’re the team’s core.”

  He was throwing her a bone, the surprised girl puffing herself up a moment after.

  “That said, I’m still here for a few more years. Apostolos?”

  “Yes?” Apostolos stepped forward, just as in the dark as the kids.

  “You’ll be the team leader until Manda and Marcie reach tier four and Violet reaches tier five. At that point, you three will be on your own. Once you’ve all reached tier five or six, you’ll become Team Leaders of future teams. Any questions?”

  Manda raised his hand as Rory called on him.

  “Yes, Manda?”

  “But… I don’t have a Vocation.”

  “Vocations only guide the skills you’re offered on tier up. They don’t provide tangible benefits otherwise.”

  Ignoring Testaments.

  “Also, Manda, I’ll have you go on a few solo hunts with Eia. Perhaps that experience hunting side-by-side with a monster will help you in your quest to become a monster tamer.”

  Rory still felt a little odd about the idea of a monster tamer. Eia was fully functional as her own person—snake—without Rory controlling her, but he wouldn’t rain on the teenager's dreams.

  “So… when do we begin?” Marcie asked, her attempt at hiding her excitement failing miserably.

  “Apostolos just returned today. Give him a week, then I’ll start sending you all out on, uh, missions, I guess.”

  Having spent as much time as he had on Aelia, he’d grown accustomed to the video-game-styled world they now existed within. Still, the idea of giving people missions and forming adventuring teams was perhaps a bit on the nose for his tastes.

  Ah, whatever. I’m planning to abandon ship for a few years anyway, so what does it matter how I feel?

  “With that, you’re dismissed,” Rory said after a moment, waving the kids off, who looked between each other before leaving without much else said. Rory could have listened to their whispered words as they walked away, but he wasn’t that nosy.

  With just himself and Apostolos, Rory waited several seconds for Apostolos to express his thoughts.

  “It’s not a bad idea,” The younger man finally said after several moments of silence. “I’m not sure how I feel about you putting me in charge while you’re gone, though.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. Eventually, I won’t take back responsibility at all,” Rory said with a snort.

  “Is that supposed to comfort me?”

  “No.” Rory laughed. “I’m not the leader type. I’ll be like the CEO who never does any work but takes all the credit.”

  “What’s a CEO?”

  “A leech, but I digress,” Rory said. “Any thoughts on the rest of the plan?”

  “It’s a good idea. It can help develop those who want to be combatants without throwing them into the meat grinder. I mean, it’s basically what you did for me at times. Also, it builds a sort of structure, an organization. With time, I could see it allowing our settlement to have people who never once take up arms.”

  “We’ve already got some of those,” Rory said. “Any other thoughts?”

  “What about the future?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Tier seven isn’t the end of the line, as much as we’ve been framing it that way,” Apostolos said. “So, what about after?”

  “That is a far further along topic,” Rory answered. “Based on what we see from the kids, most people won’t advance as fast as we have. At my current rate, tier six will take around eighteen years in total. What if others take twice or three times as long? What about tier seven? Eighty years? A hundred? We’ve got some time to plan for things past tier seven.”

  “Well, I just figured if you want me to be in charge one day-”

  “Plan for new faces, not new years.” Rory cut him off. “Because the years will come anyway, it’s better to know what you’re going to do first and foremost with the people you are responsible for.”

  Apostolos was silent for a moment before sighing.

  “If you say so.”

  “If you say so, master.” Rory corrected with a chuckle.

  “Screw you.”

  How do you prefer chapter titles/what draws your attention more?