_________________________________________

Elaria

Elaria felt a little lonely when she woke up this morning, as Leo wasn't in her bed with her, but she knew that was just the small selfish part of her that grew to want him all to herself, a part that she was starting to get increasingly annoyed with.

Elaria ran a hand across the empty space beside her on the bed and sighed. 'At least I'm completely sure of my feelings for him, now if only we could have a moment alone…' The thought trailed as she got out of bed and readied herself for the trip.

After a refreshing shower, Elaria made her way down stairs to have breakfast. As she walked through the large halls she couldn't help but drag a hand across the ornate walls, just to make sure that her life up to this point wasn't some kind of fever dream, and she smiled as her fingers traced along the smooth wooden grooves.

When Elaria reached the dining area she saw Fel, Glia, and Sciesch all having breakfast, but Leo was nowhere to be seen. She eyed the trio suspiciously as she took a seat, because there was no way that they managed to walk down stairs on their own. "So where's Leo." She asked curiously.

Fel rested her head on a propped up arm, while forking some fluffy pancakes into her mouth. "He went to pick up Allis and the provisions for your stay at the capital." She answered before chewing some of the deliciously golden food.

"After breaking in the manors patrolling guard." Glia supplemented while snickering, causing everyone else to start giggling as well.

A staff servant brought out a plate of food for Elaria before heading back to the kitchen. "It was only a few months ago that he was still acting a little awkward from having sex with other people. I'm glad he finally shook off that crap from his world." Elaria remarked before she started eating.

Sciesch cocked her head as she brushed a strand of hair back behind her horn. "Was it really that bad? I mean I didn't notice anything." She inquired a little skeptically.

Fel let out an irritated groan as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "You were still just getting railed for the sake of it, not even a close friend yet if I remember correctly, but around us he acted like he just committed a serious crime after he had a little fun with someone else, and I had to call him out on it 'so' many times." She finished in frustration.

Sciesch frowned deeply as she furrowed her brow. "Huh, I mean tieflings are usually monogamous, but we don't treat sex like, that… And the texts we have of the second summon doesn't mention his preferences, but to be fair the Archive doesn't share much to begin with."

Glia fiddled around with the compartment on her legs, and tapped a small rune on it to adjust the amount of light it reflected. "From what he told us, his world is amazingly boring, and don't get me wrong that's my preferred kind of life, but not having 'any' prospect of achieving anything else is just fucking depressing. Especially without sex, it's no wonder they make so many things to occupied their time. What was his trade again?"

"A 'video game developer' I think. He said that it involved a lot of other professions, and that's partly why he's so knowledgeable. He said that 'worldbuilding' and 'programming' were his main skills." Elaria answered as she finished her bacon egg and cheese sandwich.

Sciesch perked up. "Programming, really? Our religious texts on the second summon reference something called programming, I thought it was just a bunch of nonsense… Maybe I should have him go over them with me to pick out the truth from the crazy bullshit, if nothing else it'll be funny to see him cringe at how much they actually worship him." She finished with an amused tone as she started finishing her sausage rolls.

A growing awkwardness accompanied the silence that followed the abrupt end of their conversation, before Glia spoke.

"So are we not going to talk about the flying ship on our lawn or what?"

_________________________________________

Leo

Leo was flying back home with Allis and crates of provisions, having asked Kesl for more food to store on his ship now that it was done. He let out an amused chuckle while he watched Allis speed around in the air like a flying serpent as she giggled with glee, because he let her have the flight controls whenever they flew together, but since it was winter he also added a temperature spell to keep her warmer in the chilling air.

He had wanted to teach her how to fly, but that meant that she would learn how to use gravity magic, and after having a serious talk about what that kind of power was, she refused the offer, saying that it was best to leave that kind of power in the hands of those who don't want it. Her refusal both relieved and disappointed him, as he wanted someone to be able to smack some sense into him if he ever did go off the deep end. So then he had offered to teach Fel, but she said no the moment he was a few minutes into his explanation, because of course she didn't want it, since they were reflections of one another.

'It's not a problem now, and I trust my judgment as long as I have a clear head with friends and loved ones close by, but it's when those things are threatened that worries me. I don't want to go all injustice if those I truly loved were killed… Oh wait, I'm going to the capital! I need to finally visit the temple and see about getting some answers from those ‘gods’.' His thoughts finished as they flew down to the Icarus, and he saw all those to see them off, as well as the very confused ambassador escorts.

Allis landed next to Elaria and Fel, giving them both a hug as Fel giggled. “It's only been a little over a week since we've seen each other, save this kind of greeting for when you get back.” The dragon remarked playfully.

Leo chuckled, setting the few small crates of food on the ship as he flew down to the ground to join them. “Well aren't you affectionate, miss us that much huh?”

Allis became a little bashful, quickly breaking the hug and slithering back from the pair before letting out a sharp cough. “Uh, yes, well…” She muttered sheepishly.

Elaria smiled warmly at Allis. “We missed you too Allis, and were happy that you're joining us on our trip, especially since Leo’s diplomacy could use some work.”

Crossing his arms, Leo took mock offence at the remark. “My negotiating skills are fine.” He stated assuredly.

Elaria looked critically at the stubborn man. “So I just imagined that you sent the past, however many, selarin ambassadors on a one way trip to Rak’s statue…” She rebutted, and Leo shrunk a bit as he broke eye contact from the completely correct statement, as that was the entire reason for Allis coming in the first place.

The queen's messenger chose to enter the conversation, apparently a little impatient to get back to the capital. "Lord, if you would be so kind, we should depart as soon as possible if we want to get to the capital at a reasonable time, since it is nearly a two day journey by carriage."

Leo looked at the messenger with a bit of a frown, as he didn't expect it to take that long to get there. Even though he could just grab the messenger and turn the trip into only a few hours on the Icarus, he saw an opportunity to get acquainted with his new ship while spending quality time with his two loved ones. He also mentally noted that he needed to add maps of the continent to the list of things that he had to study, because the purchase always slipped his mind since he was worried about leaving Telnar on it's own, but now that he was traveling he should pick them up at the capital while he's there.

"Ok then, you all ready yourselves to start moving out, and we will follow you on the Icarus. Just give us a moment to say our goodbyes, and I'll wave to you for us to go." Leo told the selarin, who looked to the ship with mild confusion before leaving them.

Turning to Fel, they both synchronously stepped into a deep embrace and kissed passionately before breaking apart. "You know it's both comforting, and a little creepy that we know each other's thoughts so well." He told her with a smirk, as she stepped over to Elaria to give her the same send off.

"Yea, but it makes the sex amazing." She countered with a little snicker, saying her goodbye to Elaria, then walking over to Allis, who lightened a shade when Fel did the same for her. "You may be very shy about it, but we consider you a part of the family, and if you do want even more, which I can guess you do, then a spot with us is always open for you." She told the somewhat flustered selarin, who looked to the other two, and received a warm nod from both.

Allis's hood rose up while she teared up at the affection. "I would love to, thank you!" She accepted with a joyous smile as tears of happiness streamed down her face, and they all embraced in a group hug before parting one final time.

Leo flew Allis and Elaria onto the ship, and casted the flight spell on the vessel before leaning over the side to wave the small convoy of carriages to start heading out. Many of the drivers craned their heads to gawk at the ship as it rose high into the air before it began to follow them. He smirked at the reaction, and pictured what people at the capital were going to think when he passed through on the Icarus.

'Since Fel is staying behind, then this is my chance to make another 'proper' statement…' The thought trailed as the journey began.

But after a few minutes of steering the ship, Leo got bored and set the flight spell to auto pilot, tagging the back carriage to follow, so he could go below deck to explore and start enchanting parts of the ship for comfort.

Floating up the small food crates to follow him, he made his way to the large reinforced open hatch toward the middle of the deck, specifying that he needed below deck to be secure to the designers. The ship was going to be his travel home, and he didn't want people entering without permission, granted they would have to come up the already steep side of the ship, but it's always better to be on the safe side. He would have to make something for those staying with him to board more easily though, since he shot down the idea for a door on the hull, because as cool as it would look, it just made it easier for people to break in.

When he got below deck he immediately found himself in the small galley, lit by a few dim lamps that were hung around the walls. A simple hard wood table protruded from the wall with a bench on either side, and directly opposite of it was the kitchen, it was made up of a box stove, sink, and two countertops lined up in a row. At the end of the row was a small walk-in closet that would act as his enchanted freezer. When he opened it he saw that the walls were lined with a thin metal sheet, and if the designers followed his requests then the walls around it would be well insulated.

Stacking the crates in the corner, he pulled out a two inch metal cube and started enchanting it to draw in the thermal energy from the air around it up to a certain temperature, then it would just chill itself to get rid of the heat. It took only about a dozen runes, as he had done with his own food storage back at the manor, and when he revamped Kesl's at the inn.

Leo stepped out of the freezer and saw that Elaria and Allis had taken up a seat at the table. "Have a look around already?" He paused to chuckle as he closed the door behind him. "Well I guess it is a bit small compared to the manor." He joked slyly as he walked over to the stove to start enchanting it.

Elaria smirked as she bundled up in her coat. “I think it's cozy. And speaking of cozy, do you mind making it a little warmer in here first? Remember, we selarin don't like the cold all too much, even with your enchanted clothing.” She reminded him, and he mentally winced at forgetting.

Leo nodded as he pulled out his last two metal cubes, setting one to the side while he did the reverse of what he did with the freezer to one of them, having it create its own heat and leveling the air around it to match. He walked over to a small wall compartment that was near the exit, yet another special request that he had implemented into the ship, and smiled when he opened it to see that on the left and right side of the walls were wooden pipe openings that should connect to every area of the ship. One pipe had entrances that were a foot off the ground to take in air, while the other was closer to the ceiling to expel the it.

Leo placed the cube inside the compartment and set it to warm the air to a little above room temperature, then set about enchanting the back wall to start flowing air through, essentially creating a magical air conditioner for his ship. He had the same setup installed for Kesl, but he just opted to make a bunch of magical radiators for his home, since he didn't want to start putting holes and out of place pipes in the pretty walls.

Closing shut the compartment, Leo could hear the hum of air traveling throughout the ship. He frowned when he realized it would be a bit slow to start, so he simply snapped his fingers to instantly bring the temperature up, while the AC just continued to maintain it. “Alright, all should be good for you to shed your winter wear.” He told the two as he took off his own jacket and scarf, and they soon followed suit as they slipped off their heavy clothing.

Elaria stretched in her seat before looking between Allis and Leo expectantly. “So should I wait here while you two go get a little more reacquainted? It has been a while...” She implied with a smirk.

Allis lightened a shade, but Leo sighed. “Not today, I gotta start enchanting a little more, for instance these dingy glow lamps aren't gonna cut it. So I'll be setting up proper lighting, among other things.” He paused when he saw that Allis had become a little crestfallen as her hood slumped. “But, what you can do is shadow me with Elaria while I work. We can talk about how you were doing at the hospital, and I can teach you a few of the concepts that I use while I’m working.” He offered warmly, and Allis brightened immediately.

Leo felt a light flutter in his chest as Allis beamed. 'This trip might not be so bad.'

_________________________________________

Allis

Allis had not felt such happiness in a long time, as she had new loved ones to call family. People who genuinely cared for her, pulling her out of the dark rut that she'd been in for years, and so much so that the hollow hole that held a need to ruin Taipa was little more than a speck compared to what it once was.

It was months ago that she suggested that he didn't need to help with Taipa anymore, as she didn't want to burden him with the task, but Leo looked insulted. He said that he made a promise to a beautiful woman who begged him on her hands for him to help her, so nothing would keep him from fulfilling it. It was probably at that moment that she started to genuinely feel for him, but never worked up the courage to ask to join their relationship, which is why she cried with utter joy when they offered her to join.

Allis was happily shadowing Leo while he continued to enchant parts of the ship, as the three of them got more acquainted with his new vessel. When he finished the galley, enchanting the stove, sink, lights, and a few small kitchen tools, he moved on to the bathroom.

The bathroom was on the other side of the exit staircase and took up a lot of space near the peak of the ship, passing two small cabins on the way there. Leo said that he wanted it that size to accommodate any race that was larger than him, so the shower was nearly six by six feet, and Allis knew that her and her long tail would never squeeze into anything less than three.

As Leo enchanted the shower he continued to explain the concepts being used, and how the interactions between temperature levels can create other kinds of phenomena besides with water, like tornados with air. She was hanging on his every word, but he suddenly diverted the conversation to another topic, and Allis pieced together that it might have been because of Elarias board expression.

"So, Allis. Is there anything I should know before we meet the queen." Leo casually redirected.

Allis cocked her head with a slightly critical look. "Besides 'don't fling her into the sky', nothing really. She doesn't hold any real authority, and is looked down on by most power-tripped nobles. So just treat her with a modicum of respect, and she should do the same."

Leo furrowed his brow as he walked over to start enchanting the sink. "What about the military, wouldn't it be technically centralized under the crown? You know, since not every noble has their own private army." He inquired curiously.

Allis shook her head as she looked over his shoulder to watch him work. "Yes and no. The real power behind the military are the nobles who fund it, they have way more control since without them there would be no centralized army." She answered, and Leo stopped all of his enchanting.

A familiarly wide and devilish smile crossed over Leo's face as he turned to regard both of them directly. "With what money?" He questioned knowingly, and it took only seconds for the both of them to go from confused to wide eyed, as they also made the connection.

‘The trade isolation will drain the pockets of the nobles if they attempt to maintain the army they bloated in preparation for the war, and try to keep their own territories from starving.’ She thought in realization, but Elaria mouthed the thought first.

"The nobles are going broke! Soon they won't be able to support the army." Elaria remarked in shock.

Leo crossed his arms with a prideful demeanor. "Yes, but that's only a fraction of the problem that Selaria is facing, since they can't support a centralized army then all that unity they were supposed to be portraying is shot. The kingdom will fracture sooner than they will submit to my demands." Leo informed them with a smug tone, and the two selarins dropped into confusion yet again.

And just like that, Allis was lost. "Um, isn't that bad, since you don't get anything out of it..." She questioned in complete confusion.

Allis furrowed her brow as a quick thought crossed her mind. ‘It would mean that he would have to deal with every noble, and who's to say that other kingdoms wont start trading with them once Selaria as a whole doesn’t exist anymore.’

Leo snorted while trying to stifle a laugh. "Bad? This is great! It means that they are way more fucked than I originally thought, and I'm going to use that little fact to beat the opposition into submission. Since the queen tossed her hat into the negotiations, then that means at this very moment she is the most dangerous and powerful person in the kingdom, because she controls an army that's facing dissolution with their families that are facing starvation, and she’ll lose her title along with everything else if the kingdom fractures. We might actually get shit done, because it's her and the people against the nobility!” He finished with a manic smile.

Allis’s eyes widened in disbelief, as he was thinking about the opportunity before him, not the potential mess after. ‘This is probably the perfect time to negotiate then, because the kingdom is at a turning point that he could use to restructure Selaria. The queen would have the power to remove the nobles if she ordered the army to do so, and nearly all of them would follow it without complaint, as they also have everything to lose. Wait a minute...’ Her thoughts trailed as she realized something.

“You're going to start a revolution…”

_________________________________________

Leo

Leo could not be anymore happy about today, as in just a few days he was finally going to lay that irritating problem with Selaria to rest. He’s even going to offer to kick every noble out of their homes himself if that means getting it done faster, but for now he brushed those thoughts aside to finish his work on the ship.

“Do you hear the people sing….” Leo hummed as Elaria and Allis left to make something to eat for lunch. “Eh, not entirely accurate, as it's probably gonna be a standard monarchy with a sub parliament, but that's a lot more preferable to the cluster fuck of a system they have at the moment. Ha, and I managed it in less than a year too, suck it Yez.” He finished with a shit eating grin as he was setting up an alarm on the hatch.

Leo paused for a moment as he stared at one of the runes, and a familiarly nagging thought rose to the forefront of his mind. ‘The hell is mana…’

As Leo delved deeper into messing around with the limits of what runes he could make, he quickly found that logically they didn't make sense, because every rune had one visual appearance, were unusually versatile in how they could be used, and didn't follow the ‘intent’ rule for casting. For instance, 'up' is a direction that in reality doesn't really exist in space, and after some testing with intent, he found that the rune only ever went in a singular direction that was fixed to go above whatever it was being used for. Same thing with the clean rune, because how did it know what was clean or not? How did it even go about removing all the dirt, grime, and even smell, all within a single rune? Not to mention the translation rune around his neck.

Leo could only guess one thing that would let him make sense of the system that apparently had hard set rules and boundaries that went against the ones of intent for casting, they were created separately. Why and how the system was made was a complete mystery though, as his only assumption was that the gods did, and that he had to know what mana was to actually make a system that uses it.

'Gods huh? I hope that they are more fictional fantasy, and less human mythos. Or at least chill, I'll take a chill deity...'

_________________________________________

??????????

Voice one : Finally! Maybe now we can have him help us.

Voice two : You put way too much stock in human's, just look at our attempts to recreate them.

Voice one sighed : You damn well know why, even though it's literally been over a million years.

Voice two scoffed : Whatever, I'm not getting into another decade long argument with you. I'll tell the others that he stopped fucking the natives, and 'might' try to speak with us.

Voice one snorted : Don't call them that in front of Elsie, she'll get pissy again.

Voice two groaned : She just misses having a body, it's why she puts breasts on the females of every race she makes.

Voice one : To be fair, they are still ‘very’ advantageous.

Voice two : How! A quarter of the races lay eggs! Only a few evolutionary paths even have those traits, which are all supposed to be mammals. She even gave them to sentient light, ‘light’!

Silence hung between the two for a few moments.

Voice one : Still mad about losing the job huh?

Voice two left one while muttering to themselves irritably.

Voice one sighed : I can't fault him, not much to occupy our time when we're fixed to one place for all of eternity…

_________________________________________

Leo

It was late into the day, and Leo was drafting some ideas for how to create a rune system for the Icarus to fly without his casting, when he heard shouting coming from outside the ship. Quickly putting on his jacket and scarf, he rushed up above deck, and saw large plumes of smoke in the distance, and looking over the side he saw that the messenger was shouting and pointing in the direction of the smoke.

Leo grimaced as he could piece together why the convoy stopped, and his gaze drew back to their apparent heading. “And that would be our resting stop for the night, that's on fire…” He finished exhaustedly as he landed the ship, and yelled down below deck to Elaria and Allis that he needed to deal with a problem that just popped up.

The two yelled back up for him to be careful, while Leo couldn't help but smirk at the pair's concern as he held out a hand below deck, and moments later his staff flew up into his hands.

‘Tell that to whoever is about to inevitably piss me off in a second…’

_________________________________________

Bandit leader

The bandit leader was walking through the village as her group ransacked the place, and she paused in the middle of the road to breathe in a satisfying breath.

The raid on the large village was going fantastically, just like all the others in the past two months. Ever since she managed to get a couple of mages from the destroyed academy to join, she had enjoyed smooth pillaging after pillaging, because peasants basically gave up when a mage showed off a little magic. Though she made sure not to kill anyone, because life grudges and a lack of repeat targets would be bad for her pockets. She was no longer afraid of the guild's hiring of slavers, since they left Selaria, and she was not even remotely afraid of the army, because they were spread way too thin across the kingdom trying to maintain order.

All in all she was having a pretty good da-

“Hello madam, it appears like you and your party are engaging in some ‘pretty illegal activity’.” A slightly irritated voice sounded from behind her, and she turned to see a man, no, a mage standing just down the dirt road.

He was a strange looking mish mash of a race, but the allure was exotic enough to get her blood pumping. “Well handsome, if you're here to lock us up then I'm afraid that you are going to be ‘very’ disappointed.” She snapped her fingers for her mage companion to guard her, but she noticed that the man in front of her smirked to her left.

Looking to her left, she saw that the mage was shaking like a leaf while her expression was that of sheer terror. Believing that the mage was just too afraid to fight one of her own, she quickly pulled out her horn and blew into it four times to draw everyone to her position. It didn't matter if he was a mage, she still had three more and over fifty people under her command, a few of which have killed mages in the past.

It didn't take long for people to start rushing to their location, while immediately beginning to surround the man. She wore a smug expression as her gaze traced along her girls that were surrounding him in a twenty foot radius, as even if he killed ten of them, they were all close enough that the other forty would restrain or kill him. But she became ‘very’ confused when her eyes drew back to the man, as he looked even happier than before.

The man let go of his staff, and it floated aimlessly next to him as he started to slow clap. “Ha! You know I thought that this would have been a ‘lot’ more difficult, as I had to literally start ripping limbs off when it came to the last person I tried to have call his scum from out of the town. But here you are, not needing me to even prompt you. Bravo!” He paused to gaze around at those surrounding him, his eyes settling on those who were a little more covered in blood, and his visage became dark, ‘very’ dark.

“Well, I would give you enough credit to not kill you all outright, as bandits being bandits isn't really all that surprising, but I will have to still teach you all a lesson that you will ‘never’ forget.” He finished with a chilling tone that genuinely unsettled the leader, and she became even more worried when she spotted two of the remaining mages also petrified with fear as they stared wide eyed at the man.

The leaders worries were a little alleviated when the last mage stepped forward with a brimming confidence. “The hell is wrong with you three, never seen a male mage before?” The mage scoffed before shouting ‘icicle’ a few times, creating three, one foot long shards of ice that floated to her right.

The man turned to regard them with mild interest. “Judging by how they are acting, I can personally guarantee you that they've seen one before. You though? I don't think I can vouch for-” He stopped short as the mage shot an icicle at him, the direction aimed at his leg, but it stopped mere inches from it's intended target.

The mage faltered for only a moment, but then immediately sent the other two at him, one aimed at his head and the other at his chest, and they stopped short just like the first.

The man smiled as he raised a hand and snapped his fingers, and the three icicles looked like they were melting, but not quite. She then noticed that the three petrified mages tried to run, but froze in place while they were in a mid step. “Tsk tsk tsk, I have some personal things that I want to talk to you three about, but the rest of you…” He trailed as the leader felt something grip her entirely, lifting her off the ground and pulling her into a small floating formation with the rest of her group.

As utter panic started to set in, she noticed that the three originally terrified mages were not in formation, but instead sat in front of the man, completely unrestrained while half in the fetal position. “I ask you idiots to deliver one fucking message! How do you let people's imaginations run wild like that? I mean the dragon was just watching the whole time, you didn't even ‘need’ to mention her!” He shouted loudly as he berated the trembling selarins before him, and the bandit leader's eyes widened with terror and realization as the pieces started to fall into place.

‘Oh dear gods, he's the summon….’

_________________________________________

Leo

Leo had spent about half an hour putting the fear of humanity into the bandits, as well as letting out his misgivings towards the three former academy mages. The reason that he didn't kill all of them outright was a two parter, one was that he didn't want anymore nightmares, and two was that they were bandits. Bandits were nothing like the monsters that attacked Telnar, as most if not all didn't choose that sort of life, so many of them most likely had a story, some of which were probably directly tied to the economic collapse that he had a part in creating, so he didn't want those kinds of deaths on his hands.

So Leo opted to fling them around with gravity, snap a few objects out of existence, and make them piss themselves by dropping them from the sky and having them stop just inches from the ground. Yea, he knew it was kind of fucked up to use his magic like that, but it was either scare them shitless so they wouldn't raid another village, or let them go with a slap on the wrist and an empty bottle of hope. After he was done he simply let them all go and warned them that if he ever caught them attacking innocents again, then he would snap them into nothing.

Leo sighed as the denizens of the village came out of hiding, and thanked him deeply. He was tempted to ask about the number of dead, but he decided that would be ‘very’ bad for his mental health, as he recalled Fel’s words. ‘Even though you have the power to protect everyone, doesn't mean you can.’ and ‘People die, that's just life.’ So he told the villagers that his convoy and flying ship was going to be stopping here for the night, and to bring any of the injured to the ship to be healed.

Leo felt a little drained as he flew back to the Icarus, and informed everyone of the situation, knowing that the people in the escort wouldn't help the peasants, but he resolved to put in a few hours of assisting them before he called it for the night. So he, Allis, and Elaria assisted the village by healing the injured and removing rubble from some of the burnt out and destroyed small buildings. Surprisingly, no one actually died, as most had non-lethal wounds on the arms or legs, probably from resisting the raid.

‘At least that's one small thing that doesn't have to weigh on my conscience for no reason…’ He thought with complete exhaustion as he entered the captain's quarters, which was sectioned toward the back of the ship, in between the galley and large storage room.

Leo turned to see a full sized bed on one side and an ornate desk with a few shelfs on the other, but he was too tired from enchanting the whole ship as well as assisting the village to form any other coherent thought, so he crashed onto the bed and quickly slipped into a deep sleep.

Leo felt much better when he woke up the next morning, and after a hearty breakfast it felt like over a quarter of his mana was back. He chose to do a once over of the village before they left, and handed out a few enchanted plates that acted as portable radiators for the cold winter nights. He wanted to stay and improve the village more, but he knew that getting a deal worked out with Selaria would help them far more, especially when he started supplying aid to get the crippled kingdom back on its feet.

So they continued to the capital when they were ready, leaving the partially destroyed village behind.

Leo stood at the back of the ship above deck as he stared out at the cluster of dwellings while they slowly shrank behind them, and a feeling of doubt crossed his mind as his eyes grew a little distant.

‘I hope that I can end this quickly...’

_________________________________________