The four of them were led to one of the buildings. It didn’t look particularly distinct from any of the others he had seen. It wasn’t that the building was poor or dilapidated. If anything, it was luxurious, its size matching his brother’s own home. Although these buildings were structured to be taller than he was used to.

The building wasn’t hard to identify, it was an arena or something similar. Probably meant for training. A wide-open space sat in the center of the house. He could spot some doors along the outside, but it was the design of the arena that drew his attention. Hundreds of stones were scattered across the floor in a spiraling pattern. Only ending with a much larger stone in the middle. It was probably around forty or fifty feet in diameter, enough space for two people to spar but not much else. There was light coming out from between the rocks, and Mash found that he liked the area.

The Elders had no trouble walking over the stone, and all three just moved over to the center. Mash was absorbed in trying to figure out how the lights worked. His domain let him look into the building, and he saw some strange tubes beneath the ground. He felt some kind of energy moving between everything, but he couldn’t tell what it was exactly. With the way it was vibrating, he thought it might be lightning, but there was something wrong with it. It was too controlled, even more than he could manage with magic. When they arrived at the center stone, he noticed a pattern of lines etched into it. Runes, wards, or something else? He was curious.

Then there was a noise of something releasing, then the stone in the center changed. Multiple sections rose out of the ground. Different heights and shapes too. After a second, he realized that it was a table and chairs. The chairs were more like stools, and the table was shaped oddly. It wasn’t a simple circle but seemed to be designed to surround those that sat around it. It curved and opened around each seat, making the top resemble a strange flower. The elders sat down first, and mash realized how the table’s design worked. It was designed in such a way that one could rest their arms on the table itself, instead of adding armrests to the chairs.

Mash copied the Elder’s motions and sat in the chairs. The others followed as well, taking seats in the other chairs. The table had ten spaces for seats, though only the needed number of seats had risen. The guide who had followed them thus far didn’t take a seat or even approach the table. Mash wondered why and decided it was a safe enough question to ask.

“Why aren’t they joining us?”

Mash gestured towards the guide with his eyes, unsure about making any more pronounced gestures. He didn’t want to do anything offensive. Although it seemed like his gesture hadn’t been enough as Elder AvJi gave away with their response.

“Who are you speaking of?”

“Uhm, the guide. Are they just going to stand there?”

That got the elders to react, and they started making a high-pitched grating noise. It took a second for Mash to place it but realized that it was a peal of stifled and broken laughter. They had found his question humorous and were struggling to hide the fact. Mash wanted to protest or press them to explain but held his tongue as they gathered themselves. Elder SerJi was the first to gather his calm, but his reply still felt a little forced.

“Sorry, it is just the kind of reaction we expect from children. That is a Servitor. It is a device that we use remotely. Explaining all of the details would be beyond the scope of this discussion but know that it is little more than a tool.”

When he finished, another of the elders added something themselves.

“He is being humble. It is a finer creation than any other craftsman could ever hope to replicate. Its brilliance is only understood by our grand sect. The founder himself had created the first.”

It was Elder AvJi, who spoke. Mash listened to the whole response but was somewhat fixated on learning that Elder SerJi was male. Or his translation would mean as much. It was a small detail, one that was probably unimportant, but he couldn’t help but focus on it. Then the rest of their words got to him, and he turned to look at the guide, the Servitor.

Everything they had said felt like a bold-faced lie as he observed the Servitor within his domain. It didn’t have any mana or energy that he noticed and even gave off the faint impression of life. Unless it was something like necromancy, it was certainly not a tool like they had said. It had even spoken, even if the words had been a little confusing. He wanted to get a closer look, to see if he could get a better understanding of it, and almost stood up to do just that. However, he halted when Luke spoke up.

“I don’t mean to pry, but I detect some life in it. Can you explain how it works?”

Luke spoke, his tone flat. There was an edge to his tone, and Mash could tell that he was a little concerned, or angry. Mash did wonder about how Luke knew.

[I told him back when you had considered asking him about it later.]

Mash had thought about doing that. If it was a creation of necromancy, then Luke would probably be able to tell. At the very least, he would no if it was something they needed to be concerned with. However, Priscilla doing it without his express command was a little strange.

[Why didn’t you tell me?]

Honestly, he felt a little slighted by her action. It was a petty feeling, and he knew logically that it had done no harm, but he still asked. Her reply came quickly.

[It simply seemed like something I should do, and it was in your interest already. Imagine it as me expediting your decision.]

Mash left the matter alone for the moment. Honestly, Priscilla doing small things like that would make his own life easier. Also, he trusted Priscilla would know when something like this was appropriate or not. As he considered it, he decided to give her his express permission, even if she didn’t need it.

[If you think that there is anything else that they should know, but I don’t think of, you can just tell them.]

It was probably a good step to take. Priscilla was definitely being misused and underutilized. She had just gotten stronger along with his advancement, and he had done little to explore how much more capable she had become. With that, and how he had used one of her bodies to repair his core, he felt like he owed her some more attention.

[I am not a pet, but I agree that you should allow me more freedoms. And we should work on what we can do together more.”

Mash gave her a nod or the mental equivalent of one. Leaving the matter with Priscilla alone for the moment, he paid attention to how the elders responded to Luke’s question.

“I do not mind sharing it with you but would require something of you in exchange. I would like to know what abilities you possess. It need not be specific as we would not do that ourselves, but it is a small precaution. I am sure you understand, why we must take that precaution. Your people’s actions thus far have been violent and…destructive.”

Elder SerJi’s words had been firm, surprisingly so considering his general attitude. He had sounded extremely animated before, but now his excitement had seemed to die down. Luke looked ready to respond, and Mash thought he was going to do exactly what they wanted. But Red held her hand out and stopped him while speaking to the elders in response.

“We can address the topic later. However, there is something more important that we need to speak about. Why are you invading our world? I need to know if a peaceful resolution is possible.”

The way Red spoke seemed to wake everyone from the calm air that had settled on them. It was a reminder of the more violent situation behind their otherwise peaceful discussion. Both parties had been distracted by their fascination and needed that reminder. As much as they wanted to discuss more enjoyable matters, this was a meeting to settle a war.

“Invade! It was your people that had invaded ours! Sending in groups of monsters, who had wildly slaughtered our people. The Kishiv had been forced to abandon their forests and seek refuge outside of our city. You dare accuse us, after everything you have seen. We can barely manage to feed such a group, and nothing can be done for their dead.”

The elder who had been silent thus far, Elder PonJi, exploded in a series of angry words. His pleasant expression broke and revealed his true beliefs. The other Elders seemed to share the emotions and their expressions grew stiffer.

“Wait, we didn’t mean anything with our words. All four of us have only just learned of what had happened and are trying to understand both sides. Could you just explain what happened here? To the people on our side, it seemed like your people, the Kishiv as you put it, have been invading our world.”

Jill was fast to respond, desperately trying to salvage the situation with her words. Mash through already started building a picture of the situation. He felt a pain in his chest, a sinking feeling bringing up memories of the dead. Images of the people he had sacrificed in order to break out of that dungeon in the orphanage. Although, he suppressed those thoughts as he tried to figure out how to tell the others.

The words the elder had said slowly changed Mash’s perception of the situation until he began to understand what exactly had happened. There were a few assumptions in his theory, but he barely even considered them as the guilt began to settle in. His dread and anxiety made him ignore any argument, and he reconstructed the reality within his mind. The image set in, as everything else seemed to break a little.

He had arrived and told Daniel that they were going to be invaded. That they should prepare and look for more portals. His words had caused this whole thing. It had led to Daniel’s sect sending scouts into the portal. He imagined what the scouts had seen on their arrival. He had seen monsters, those with scaled bodies and beast-like heads. Some wielding weapons and had probably just assumed that they were monsters in truth. Had hunted them to make those pills as Daniel had. Mash wondered how many had died from those missions, and he began to realize how these people had responded.

The Kishiv had sent their own people through the portals, either for revenge or peace, he didn’t know. Either way, it had only led to more violence and death. Then came the retaliation as both sides grew more aggressive and worried. Even if Daniel said that they had only tried for scouting missions, it wasn’t like the Kishiv would just stop being hostile. From their perspective, they were being chased out of their homes.

As he thought about the Kishiv, he remembered what he had seen in the outer city. He had been planning on blaming the elders for their treatment of the Kishiv, but now he knew the truth. The truth grew in his mind but felt like a stone in his stomach. It grew bigger and sharper, and he started to feel a sting in his chest as he considered the bigger implications of his words. The death his actions had caused, the stupidity of it all.