There were a good number of adventurers already on the wall when Max, Emi and Vel arrived. Besides adventurers and the odd mage, the guard took up a majority of the battle placements. Max scanned for Reep not finding her but instead finding a familiar black-purple shimmering bird along with a smaller autumn colored bird. He would have thought nothing of the animals but the way they were acting was very noticeable. Besides being completely fearless, the birds stayed together even though they were different species and sizes.

When Vel found an isolated spot to watch the ensuing battle, Max created a few drops of water that landed lightly on the smaller of the two birds. It took Celenia a few moments of panic searching to find the source of the seemingly random water. Max gave her a imply smile and a cheeky wave. The [Druid] and her apprentice made the way through the crowd, or rather over the crowd. Celenia landed with a dull thump, seemingly not quite used to wings. Much to the surprise of Max and Vel, Dreamstem spoke.

“Don’t worry, you will get better at flight with time.” She said to Celenia.

“It’s just embarrassing.” Celenia said eyeing Max.

“I think it’s pretty cool.” Max said. “Shifting is such a neat spell, I’m honestly a little jealous.”

It was impossible to tell, but Celenia was blushing. “You could alwa-“

Dreamstem interrupted with an angry glare at Celenia. Was she about to reveal some [Druid] secret? Both Max and Vel noticed the master’s odd behavior, but each decided not to press the issue. Max simply because he didn’t want to get Celenia in trouble and Vel… Well because she didn’t really care about magic secrets all that much.

“So, Max. How has your spell experimentations been coming? Celenia tells me you are working quite diligently.” The deep purple raven asked.

“I might have just had a breakthrough, actually. But before I could fully confirm it, the bells sounded. Speaking of which, do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“Leaun migration wave.” Dreamstem said before adding, “A medium sized hairless wolf but it has no head and where it’s neck would be it has a giant singular eye.”

“Sounds… Gross?” Max said.

“Indeed,” Vel added. “If it’s a Leaun wave then we won’t be needed. They are relatively weak compared to the some of the other monster waves that will come. A common non-combative citizen with a shovel could kill one.”

A horn sounded to punctuate her sentence, and every [Archer] drew their bows. A stir in the far tree line was the only signal something was coming. Branches and shrubs were jostled as the Leaun poured into the empty field in front of the walls. The horn sounded again, and the distinct whirling of speeding arrows filled the air. The image was reminiscent of Esmel, and the cycle of volleys against the horde of undead. But the difference between the two was that the undead numbered into the tens of thousands. The Leaun on the other hand were ranging in the lower hundreds.

The first thing Max noticed about the Leaun was that they were exactly as [Druid] Dreamstem described. They were no larger than a rottweiler but much more muscular. They were a pale grey, almost as if they were devoid of all pigment and their massive singular eye darted back and forth seeming at nothing. As far as he could tell, they had no mouths. But as the first of the volley landed, killing, and knocking over the brunt of the pack, he saw little slits on their palms. Mouth feet? Max asked himself.

The Leauns were utterly decimated by the second volley. Only a few stragglers remained, which were quickly finished off by a couple well placed shots from the wall. A higher pitch short-bust horn sounded signaling the end of the wave. Vel pointed out a man sitting cross legged next to a guard captain. The man looked winded as he brushed off sweat from his forehead.

“He’s a [Seer].” Vel told Max. “He’s the one on call currently, but Lesterwood has a small unit of people who spend all of winter simply watching the trees. The guard doesn’t dissipate until one of them gives the all clear.”

“Interesting.” Max said. “Sounds like a crucial ability to have for a city.”

“Indeed. Spotting monsters gives the city enough time to prepare as well as send messages to the outlying villages.”

“What about the villages to the north? Surely they see the monsters before Lesterwood?”

“Correct, but those villages are heavily guarded compared to the ones in the other directions.”

A low pitch horn sounded, and soldiers started exiting the city through the gate. The ventured out to the tree line, picking up stray arrows and butchering the monsters for their valuables. Guess Leaun meat is going to be on sale soon. Max thought as he watched a [Skinner] slice up a corpse in spectacular speed. It only took a few moments before the deep red muscles of the beast laid on the blooded grass.

“Why did the Leauns not just walk around the city? Are they that dumb to not realize they would survive by taking a small detour?” Max asked.

“What you’ve got to remember is that they think they are just moving through the forest only for the forest to suddenly open up to a clearing where a city happens to be. Sure, they can see the walls from inside the forest, but they are dumb monsters and don’t know what man-made structure are. Some of the more intelligent monster may seek different passage, but the Leaun are rock eating cave dwellers. They don’t interact with people enough to know the dangers, like most monsters.”

“So Lesterwood only attacks monsters that are heading straight for the city? What about the ones that pass by close? Are they just going to allow the monsters a chance to destroy a smaller settlement?”

“What would you have Lesterwood do? Send their entire guard out to kill a wave some distance away from the gates and leave the city undefended? Max, you’ll see, not every wave is going to be like this. Those villages know what they are getting themselves into.”

“But how are they expected to survive. I mean, if the Leaun were only the tip of the iceberg, how is a team of adventurers supposed to protect a village?”

“They oftentimes don’t. That is the harsh reality of Nava winters and why many of the outer villages seek shelter within the walls for the season. Death is incredibly common, and monsters are a force of nature.”

“How am I… How am I supposed to protect anything then? Domic made it sound like I would be by myself when a village needed help.” Max said irate.

“Domic… Domic is many things. A perfect man is not one of them. To be honest I was a little surprised when he asked you for help. He was obviously asking you the impossible, you just didn’t know. I even thought about sabotaging your experiments in hope that you would simply not be able to leave Lesterwood… But…”

“But?” Max growled.

“But” Vel began. “You don’t really need to protect a village. You only need to ensure an attack doesn’t happen.”

“What?” Celenia chirped from the side having been listening in on the conversation. “You want Max to actually go through with leaving Lesterwood? Didn’t you just say it was impossible? No one could protect a village solo!”

“But he won’t be solo, will he? He will have Emi, the only one he can currently teleport with.” Vel gestures to the bond. “Together they have a grasp over water that is nigh unparalleled. Bonds were originally used for circumstance such as this. Where a single mage is too weak and where an army is unfeasible.”

“You are referring to resonating.” Dreamstem said. “A difficult task for newly bonded partners.”

“Indeed. But they have resonated before, why can’t they do it again?” Vel said.

Max and Emi looked at each other confused. Max echoed their thoughts aloud. “I’m not sure I understand. I thought I - we - weren’t strong enough to protect a village?”

“Individually, definitely not. Hells, I’m not strong enough. But together you may be able to hide the villagers.” Seeing his confused look, Vel added. “Villages are small. A population of a few families will not be uncommon. All you would have to do is ensure that the monsters have no change in attacking the citizens. Migrating monsters are still monsters, yes, but they are not monsters as you know. They have a goal; get to warmer ground. They have no need to destroy or hunt if they are not in need of food.”

“And what? You want me to just make a bubble of water and hide the villagers in it?” Max surmised.

“Yes, exactly.”

Max looked to Emi. The shared the same thought. That might work.

“There will be, of course, a few special circumstances that simply hiding will not be enough. Reslotips will be one of them.”

Reslotips? Max thought. Those were the monsters that wiped out Iris’s team…

“What am I supposed to do in those cases?” Max asked.

“Honestly? Don’t go. Stay in Lesterwood.”

“Not happening.” Max said firmly.

“I thought as much… You remember when you healed Bishop? You are going to have to do something similar.” Vel said catching Max’s eye, ensuring he was understanding her meaning. His racial, Divine Powered. There was no doubt that the racial would be able to assist Max in protecting a village, the question was if the cooldown would be up for those times. It could be used once a month and as the winter migrations lasted close to two with a few months break in between before the started again, it would be imperative.

“This is all if you get that spell to work, mind you.” Vel added.

What do you think? Max asked Emi.

Protect. She said firmly.

I couldn’t agree more.

“Come on, Vel, let’s go back. I need to make a stop along the way though.” Max said, turning to Celenia and Dreamstem who were still shifted into birds. “Fly safe you two.”

“Until next time, Max.” Dreamstem said.

“See you tonight, Max, Emi, Vel!” Celenia said.

The one place Max needed to stop by was the crest shop. It had been a few days since his initial visit, and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to see the outcome. The door chime sounded as Max and Emi walked in, Vel choosing to wait outside. The older man was not present this time around instead a younger man sat at the counter looking rather busy. He was working with metal parts. A spring floated from a tray behind the young man, twisting and reorienting itself to fit snuggly inside a hollow tube. The tube moved to fit between an elongated metal arm and a second thicker tube.

“Excuse me?” Max asked stepping up to the front.

The man twitched in shock, obviously not having noticed the door open. The parts he was manipulating fell apart, clinking and bouncing off the table.

“Ah man!” The he shouted. “All that work down the drain!”

“Sorry.” Max cringed. “What were you working on?”

“I was trying to make a piston that could- Forget about that, what can I do for you? Just know the owner is out for the day, I can take orders but nothing custom.”

“I’m here to pick up my order, actually. Should be under ‘Max’.”

“Oh Lord Fowler, forgive me. I was told you might show up. I’ll go get the order from the back, I will need to see some identification, however.”

A black plate appeared in Max’s hand. The man’s eyes widened but he stayed quiet, with a quick nod he left and returned with a large box. He opened it and started removing various smaller boxes, which he opened.

“What was the piston going to be used for?” Max asked as the young man opened another box.

“Well, I don’t want to bore you with the details…” He shyly said.

“Oh, come on, I genuinely want to know.”

“Well in that case… I am a [Tinkerer]. I know, I know, a low rarity class, but I feel as though I can be so much more… The piston… Well, I don’t have a use for one yet, but I may need one for something… Later… I was thinking of an automatic door closer… I know, I know, ‘why can’t people just close the door?’ Well, I have no idea, because I already have had to close the door three times today.”

“Why are you working here and not under tutelage of an [Engineer] or [Artificer]?”

“This is my uncle’s shop… And well, my class leaves room to be desired. Most masters wouldn’t give me a second glance, I can only home someone takes notice of my small inventions.”

“I knew an Elf who had a full and fulfilling life as a level five. No classes, no spells, nothing. He told me that its not a class that defines someone, but the actions they take.”

“That’s easy for a noble to say…” The boy muttered.

“I was a commoner up until a month ago.” Max said simply, causing the boy to look up with reflective eyes. Max turned his attention to all of the boxes. “What’s with all of these boxes? I didn’t know my order was this large.”

“It is the largest package service we offer, my Lord.” The boy said, all hints of jealousy washed away. “Allow me to present you your family ring.”

He handed Max the open box, the ring sat upright on display. It was a signet with a circular cast design. It had a deep blue and purple band with small runic symbols carved along the edge. On top, Max’s design for his crest was stamped deep into the metal. Waves filled the flatted top in a way that almost tricked the eye in believing they were moving. It was simple but well crafted, adding to authority it conveyed.

“It’s perfect.” Max said with a smile. “What do the runes mean?”

“If inspected by an [Appraiser], they should be able to identify that it is indeed a noble’s ring and that it relates to House Fowler. Normally uncle hides them inside, but he said that he figured you would rather them be on the outside. Some prefer it that way.”

“I do like it; the runes add a certain amount of character to it.” Max put the ring down. “What else?”

“Everything is rather standard. Metal punch with your seal, wax seal, banners, and some other small things.”

“Alright, is that everything?” Max asked.

“Yes, just sign here…”

After their return, Max ate a quick late lunch and got back to work. With some preliminary testing outside with larger distances, he was certain that his tunnel constructed teleport worked as intended. It significantly lowered the cost of moving large distances, but he still had a bit to go if he wanted it to actually become a system certified spell. With a goal in mind, he worked well into the night, missing dinner, and social time with the others. But his work bore fruit.

Congratulations through knowledge or dedication Jump has evolved into Leap (Evolved Rare).

Leap: Teleport yourself to a location within line of sight. Mana cost is significantly lowered.

Variable.

You ready? Max asked through his shared bond.

Do it. Emi answered in an excited way.

Hold on tight. Max felt her grip his shoulder more firmly. A quick teleport straight up let the pair see all of Lesterwood. The view was absolutely breathtaking. It was night and the moon was high, lighting up their surroundings and allowing such a glorious sight. They plummeted downwards but both were calm as the air screamed past them. A second leap a caught their momentum. They appeared on the city’s wall, each with a bright smile on their face. A third teleport happened much quicker than the previous as Max didn’t want any guards seeing them. This time they appeared back on the island in the center of the city, safe and sound. The biggest take away from this test was the importance of line of sight. From their current position, Max couldn’t see the top of the wall. But he could see the island from the wall, which was a significant difference. It could easily be the difference between splatting on the ground or landing in the correct spot. But regardless, the pair was happy with the outcome, and each went to bed ecstatic.