“So this is the twenty-third floor…” One of the kitsune sisters, Thea, spoke up as they arrived through a golden portal next to the large gate. It had taken them most of the day simply to go through processing and be formally accepted in Fyor as researchers of Deckan. Another couple of hours to get the materials that they needed for the floor, and now they had finally arrived.

“Yup!” The smallest of their companions shouted energetically. Her tail swayed behind her as she stepped forward, not showing a single concern despite the razor-sharp crystal grass. They pierced into her foot without drawing blood, a clear sign that she already possessed a perfect body.

“We’re here to find a crystal salamander, not play around, Chel.” Nora gulped, watching the younger kitsune nervously. All of the researchers knew how James doted on this girl, and were afraid of her getting hurt. If not for the fact that he agreed to let her come due to the rest of them not possessing the Monster Tamer class, there was no way that she’d be there.

“I think that it will be fine.” The elven researcher said, wearing iron boots as she walked forward. Most of those present wore something similar, aside from those who had already shed their physical forms, and… well, the golem.

Said hulking pile of metal surveyed the surroundings with an expressionless face. “I believe it would be to our advantage if we moved with haste. It is a considerable journey before we reach the domain of our target. Should we delay, I feel it is likely he shall allow the beastkin present to be the first ones to experience his innovations with genetic alteration.”

The two sisters as well as the lycan of the group all grabbed their tails as their faces drained of color. “We should hurry!” The lycan urged, channeling his spatial ki to create pathways form them to use. He had heard of the difficulty in disrupting space within these upper floors, but was confident in his ability to manipulate his own energy after spending time with James.

Chel, however, rolled her eyes. “Why don’t we just fly there? You guys are all pilots, right? Is the gravity here really that bad that you can’t keep it up for long?”

The lycan cleared his throat at that comment, the two sisters looking away with the faintest of blushes while the elf considered it. “She does have a point, though her wording may have been a bit… off. However, we will need to first reach an area with a more unobstructed view of the ‘sky’ before we deploy our vehicles. Taking off from this location would likely damage the vehicles, if the leaves are as strong as the grass.”

“Oh! If that’s all, I can take care of that!” Chel grinned, hopping into the air. Her eyes swept over the trees as blue lines seemed to form in her golden pupils. “Analyzing structure. Crystalline plant matter with an elastic structure. Sharpness caused by the thin edges. Best method to remove impediment… let’s go with Resonant Force!”

After saying that, she brought her hands together. “Recipe, six units ki mixed with five units spiritual energy. Condense ki into three orbs of sizes one, two, three, mix with spiritual energy at two, one, two. Combine first and third orb. Mix the second orb with four units of mana, creating a ring around the center of the orb and allowing the energy to dissolve.”

“Finally, mix the two new orbs together by creating a sphere of natural energy, and placing the orbs together on either side. This will allow them to reduce internal resistance and increase malleability.”

As she spoke in an almost monotonous way, she created three yellow-orange orbs in front of her, each bigger than the last. Silver mist escaped her mouth to integrate with the three orbs, giving them a serene, almost golden glow. While two of the orbs merged together, a blue light circled the third and sank into it.

Then, the products of the two fusions were placed before her, wrapped in a pale green light, until all that was left was a white sphere that seemed to thrum with power. Chel smiled as she took the orb, popping it into her mouth as if it were a piece of candy. After doing so, her eyes briefly gained the same white glow of the item she had just ingested.

Under the dumbfounded gazes of those that had accompanied her, she cupped her hands over her mouth, aiming her head towards the treetops. “Beep boop.”

A pair of visible ripples appeared within the air in front of her, spreading out to the trees. The first one seemed to cause the trees to stiffen, refusing to sway in the breeze. Immediately following, the second caused all of the leaves in its path to shatter into dust, blown away to reveal a new, substantial gap in the trees above.

“Oh, hey! I got an achievement!” Chel beamed, distracted as she looked at the window that had appeared before her. “But… eh, I don’t wanna keep this one.” Saying that, she smacked her chest with the side of her fist. A crack rang out in the air as white gas escaped her lips.

“Did she just…” Nora gulped, looking towards Chel in equal measures of awe and confusion.

“I guess we know why James likes her so much now.” Thea nodded her head, before walking over. “What was that energy you used earlier? Not the sound one. You did something to scan the trees, right?”

“Heheh, yup!” Chel nodded her head, not hiding anything from these five. “Analysis Field. It’s a detection energy that lets you read detailed information about a target. If you’re good enough with it, you can even use it to fool other detection methods.”

Thea blinked at that, thinking back. “That must be how he read all of our energies that day…” She muttered to herself, to which Chel giggled.

“Nope! James has a better detection energy. That’s just something he was born with. The current me doesn’t really know how to make that one, though, so I went with what I knew.” After saying that, she spun around in place, looking at the surroundings. “So, time to fly?”

“Correct.” The golem nodded, retrieving a card from a slot in its chest. “Deploying now.”

Roughly five miles outside of Ashtanu, the capital city of what was now the Deckan Empire, formerly known as Kirol, a group of noblemen in gilded armor sat within an open tent. Standing in a ring around them were guards, each one adorned with a different symbol of their own nobility.

It had been a week now since the passing of the late queen, and there had yet to be anyone stepping forward to claim the throne. Not from lack of trying, but the indomitable force standing in the way known as James.

“Since you called us here, you must have some idea what we can do about this?” One of the noblemen, a kitsune with bright red hair, said towards a woman sitting at the end of the table with light blonde hair.

However, that woman instead let out a faint sight. “Krillis. If I had known what needed to be done, do you seriously think I would have chosen to consult all of you? I believe it should be more appropriate to say that I called you all here because we have each exhausted our own ideas, and now we need to work together. We can fight over who gets the crown once it’s in our hands.”

As he heard that, Krillis sneered, glancing towards the two empty seats. “Not like you to prepare extra spaces.”

“Not my choice.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Dillion and Thesa declined my invitation. They seem to believe that by not competing for the throne, they will in fact have a greater chance of acquiring it from the Goddess directly.”

“And they told you that?” A taller, more muscular kitsune asked, raising a questioning brow towards the woman.

“Of course not.” She denied plainly, the implications of her words quite clear. If they didn’t tell her, then she learned through other methods. No doubt meaning that she had agents in the houses of those two… and likely in other houses as well.

Of course, it was not uncommon for nobles to keep agents within another’s house to gather information. It was simply more rare for them to go unnoticed for long. Meaning that the ones she had sent should be fairly well trained.

“Enough.” Another woman declared, this one with silver hair. Despite her aged tone, she appeared the picture of youthful beauty. “We’re not here to talk about our internal affairs. Does anyone have a way past the researcher?”

The blonde woman shook her head. “I considered mobilizing soldiers, but… there are two issues that I couldn’t resolve before that. First, this man is a confirmed associate of the Keeper. If we managed to kill him, that would surely draw the ire of the entire Greater Pantheon. And secondly… if he were to die, the castle would fall to the ground. According to my scholars, the force of the impact would reduce the entire city to rubble.”

“Why not teleport directly into the throne room?” Krillis asked, glancing around the room. However, he saw the distorted expressions of no less than three other nobles. One of which was the muscular man himself.

“The researcher is exerting precise control over the space within the palace. Anyone teleporting in would be redirected back to their departure point. Even as high as fifty meters above the palace was blocked like this. Any higher… and he’d notice us before we had the chance to land.”

Krillis’s eye twitched at that, letting out a reluctant sigh. “Well… what about invisibility and flight? Surely, he can’t detect everything we could throw at him?”

“You haven’t even tried to gather any information for yourself, have you?” The silver-haired kitsune asked in an annoyed tone. “Flying troops have been isolated by spheres of wind and thrown fifty miles. Consistently. He’s even started aiming at the same tree in the distance, and marking his own score.”

“There is… one method that we could use.” The blonde kitsune spoke, drawing everyone’s attention. “However… it’s incredibly risky. Using this tactic should be considered a last resort, because it will either win us the throne without a fight… or all of us will be exterminated to the last man.”

“So you do have a solution!” Krillis pointed his finger at the woman, shouting in an almost accusatory tone. However, the rest of the nobles present felt a chill go down their spine as they considered her cold words.

“Thesa’s daughter. She’s highly favored by the researcher. To the point that it is believed he only agreed to take this post because of her. And this was months before her birth. There’s a high chance that she is the reincarnated soul of someone precious to him, and he has kept that same attachment to her even in this life.”

“A girl?” Krillis asked in confusion. “The great researcher can be brought low by a simple girl? Isn’t this as good as tying a noose around his neck? Where is she, anyways?”

Surprisingly, the answer came not from the blonde kitsune, but rather the silver-haired one, who looked at the leader of the meeting with a complicated gaze. “Just before the queen died, he sent her with his research team to Fyor. I don’t know what floor they went to, but they haven’t returned since then.”

The blonde nodded her head, while Krillis grit his teeth. “Of course it’d be Fyor. Finding a girl in that world is like finding a single fish in the ocean. Did he predict the queen’s death?”

“That’s unlikely.” The leader of the meeting shook her head. “He’s been pursuing a project for years, and apparently he recently found that a material he needs can only be acquired from one of the upper floors of Fyor. He sent his team out almost immediately when he learned that.”

Krillis let out a soft grunt, reaching into one of his bags and pulling out a card. “Well, if we can’t get to her… her parents, then. You said she was Thesa’s daughter. Thesa would never let her daughter out of her sight without a way to reach her.”

The silver-haired kitsune’s eyes went wide in disbelief. “You intend to use a favor to take hostages against the researcher?” Naturally, she recognized the card in Krillis’s hand. She herself had such a card.

“If you cowards are too weak to do what it takes to get what you want, then why not?!” He asked in a challenging tone, standing up and walking outside of the tent. “Oh, spirit of the world, I call upon you to fulfill the promised favor! I require an urgent meeting with Thesa and Chaldeen Hightail! I urge you to bring them before me!”

As usual, the figure of a beautiful kitsune woman appeared within the card, slowly walking forward. When Krillis swiped the card to the side, the spirit of the world was standing in front of him with an almost amused smile. I encourage you to begin running.

“What do you mean?” He asked, taken aback by the words of the spirit.

This meeting was always monitored by James. He’s heard every word you said. You wanted to touch Chel, so he’ll cut off your arms. You threatened her family, so he’ll burn out your tongue. If you don’t run fast enough, you’ll be nothing more than a stump planted in the ground, left to choke on your own blood.

With this warning, my favor to you is paid in full. As she said that, she disappeared in a wave of green mist, taking with her the card that had been used to summon her. And leaving behind a shaking Krillis. Heeding the warning of the world spirit, he turned to begin fleeing as fast as he could. The direction did not matter, so long as it was away from Ashantu.

However, as he took his first step, he saw a shadow falling over the hilltop where they held their meeting. “I hear someone has a deathwish?” A deep, rumbling tone spoke from behind Krillis.