Sara sighed at the dimly lit cave. It had been a close thing escaping with A’nar. Only the fact that all of the Tier Four and Five were detailed to capture Lady Eve allowed them to slip the net. Being smuggled through the checkpoints until they reached the Skysword mountain range was unpleasant in the extreme.

If I ever have to smell pickles again within the next ten years…Sara thought shuddering. At least we made it to a fallback location.

Lady Eve’s paranoia was extensive in the extreme, and practically a malady. Sara pulled a handful of seeds from her spatial pouch before moving to plant them in even spacing within the cave.

As everyone with her watched, Kudzu’s infamous hibernation chambers took shape. Sara looked at them for a moment before turning to the group and saying, “Youngest in the back, moving forward towards the entrance by age.”

The smaller children moved to their hibernation capsules, while the older ones took a moment before moving to theirs. Thomas stole a quick kiss before smirking at A’nar as he took the second to last chamber near the entrance.

A’nar looked at the plant-based hibernation chamber with a curious expression. Sara said, “You’ve placed all your assets into the Dragon Bank like everyone else, correct?”

“Yes, a long-term saving account like you told us all.” A’nar said.

“What do these coffin things do?” Iron asked.

“This is one of Lady Eve’s backup plans. It wasn’t exactly for this situation, but it will work all the same. These are hibernation chambers that will allow us you all to sleep the centuries away.” Sara said pausing before she continued, “Unfortunately they only work once in a person’s life. I will remain awake to ensure nothing happens to Lady Eve’s Sleepers.”

Once everyone entered their capsule and the hiss of escaping air silenced, only Sara was left. She allowed rage to cross her features for several minutes as the close call finally caught up with her. If the woman she served had not been so paranoid, things would have ended on a far different note. The children wouldn’t understand, but Sara knew the depths of depravity possible. It was good that such a fate had been avoided.

Sara used her Copy to seal everything in the cave in a solid block of paper. The hibernation chamber plants would supply everything needed to keep her mistress’s family alive. It was up to her to ensure they were never awoken until Lady Eve made contact once again. She could feel through the bond that her mistress was at a distance impossible for mere mortal minds to comprehend.

Well, at least this is taken care of. Sara thought darkly. Now, I simply need to wait. Wherever she is, Eve will not remain weak with such a brutal lesson. As she rises to new Tiers, so will I. I haven’t forgotten Sunspire city, nor the Arena’s treachery.

Sara sealed the cave using Copy to manipulate the paper until it mimicked the dirt with seamless precision. She placed runes of warding, concealment, and aversion in constant batches. No one would be accidentally finding the Sleepers, not on her watch. Pulling out a Map she set off for the closest town, Mountain’s Edge, as she moved from the sealed cave her clothing shifted into something resembling a well-to do adventurer.

“Status.” Sara said looking at how the System viewed her.

Race: Elf (Witch)

Class: Runelady (Scripture Witch)

Profession: Scribe (Right Hand of the Library)

Level: 316 (400)

Health: 7,200/7,200 (720 HPs regen)

Mana: 21,600/21,600 (21,600 MPs regen)

Stats: Str 720; Dex; 720; Con 720; Wis 2,160; Int 2,160; Charm 999

Free Stats: 0

S/S Slots: 0

Skills:

Polyglot I (89%)

Map I

Pleasant Face (Lure II (2%))

Written Bonds (Contract I (31%))

Spells:

Clean V*

Blink V*

Runes III (Copy IV (99%))

Appraisal III (Read IV (97%))

Mental Traits:

Rune Mind II (Mind of Scripture III (33%))

Physical Traits:

Rune Body (Body of Scripture III (33%))

She had managed to make a small upgrade to charm with a few Stat purchases before their escape. However, most of her money purchased Slots which went to increasing her Skills, Spells, and Traits. Polyglot, Blink V, Clean, and Map I were all purchased since she was solo at the moment with no decadently luxurious Hut as a base of operations. Sara was rather confident that someone was attempting to track her down. It would be utter insanity not to take precautions against such things. If they were not, well the Skills and Spells were still worth it in her opinion. She didn’t doubt the trackers would die off soon enough, only the most insane bounty hunters operated in the Skysword range.

As it was, she had used her Copy to adjust what people would see. Someone at Tier Five with a specialty in analyzing information could likely break her disguise. However, most common methods would see nothing but a Rune Elf with the Scribe profession. Unlike her mistress, she couldn’t pump enough mana in the manner required to fritz identification attempts.

Her race would easily explain her ageless nature, while at the same time providing a solid clue to her magical might. Elves were among the higher Races in terms of mana manipulation. All the current set up wasn’t done without a plan, no, Sara was more than ready to hunt down a specific organization to ask for assistance.

The Color Coven Alliance.

She had used her Allure liberally on A’nar pumping him for information, among other things on the way out of Sunspire. The knowledge that there was an organization dedicated to the protection of witches made her earlier blunders all the more despairing. From what she could learn, had her mistress been one of the Coven, no matter the color, the Arena would have shit themselves trying to play nice.

Hindsight as Lady Eve would say, was perfect sight.

She didn’t know when her mistress would return, but when she arrived back on Tal Mor, it wouldn’t be alone. Sara would do whatever it took to pave the way for her return. If doing so happened to coincide with reporting the Arena, and watching them burn, so much the better.

The first step is gathering information and resources. Sara thought utilizing Blink V to move unhindered through the wilderness. For that, I need reputation and recognition. Thankfully I have a solid amount of funds set aside from the betting, even after buying Slots.

Without the availability of a personal dungeon like Felix, soloing dungeons would be annoying, but viable. Since she was effectively immortal unless Eve perished, clearing a Dungeon was simply a matter of time. Setting up a location for her body to reform if she was killed would be the work of a few days, then she could grind experience in a town’s Dungeon.

A lot of which would be spent dying in various manners.

Can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Sara thought fondly. Best to find a large Dungeon town, and set up a Gem Shop while building a larger version of the Glenwood network. The mistress was never too pleased with such things, but didn’t deny they were useful methods.

The Gem Shop in Glenwood had turned massive profit while providing her an outlet for stress at the same time she made excellent contacts. The fact that her ‘gems’ were girls who got a better education than most nobles weighed heavily in her favor. Along with specific monetary bonuses to pursue the paths they desired it was a winning combination to run a successful shop. She would need to take a look at the competition in these mountains. It would be a small bit of effort to decide whether it would be best to start from scratch, buy out an already working operation, or poach people over to her own operation.

Even with her mistress gone, Sara refused to utilize slaves for a shop.

Contracts weren’t slavery, no matter what some might say. Slavery wasn’t an optional state of being where someone had signed on the dotted line like she had. Sara didn’t doubt she could run a professional evening shop far above anything outside of a nation’s capital city could compete with. The knowledge Lady Eve had about such part of society was truly breathtaking. From the magic of branding, to the allure of perfume, and the thousand ways to gain, keep, and enthrall male attention no business she ran could suffer.

If there was a branch of the Blood Snakes or Wild Hunt, a soft takeover of the market would be all but assured. Sara hadn’t forgotten the favors owed from Glenwood, and she wasn’t above cashing in on them to get ahead. Since the favors took the form of coins, they could be ‘traded’ to other people. An elf showing up with some favors owed wouldn’t even raise eyebrows. Long-lived races were well known for deep pockets, and few thieves were willing to risk earning the ire of someone with potent magic.

Arriving at a decently maintained Black Road that split the wilderness apart like a burning knife, she turned to follow it north to Mountain’s Edge. The Skysword Mountains were famous for several things, the least of which was the strange roads like open wounds that cut through the lowlands beneath them. No one knew where they came from, although the dwarves claimed to know how they were made. She could always return, as her Map had the location of the Sleepers detailed upon it. Even better, the runes she had placed would warn her if anyone breached into the cave. Wild animals would likely not be an issue, and the hibernation chambers had a solid defense against insects. Still, it paid to be prepared, a lesson Sunspire had burned into her mind with fire and fury.

It isn’t paranoia if they are really out to get you. Sara thought, with morbid humor. Going the gem shop route would also let me introduce some of the toys. As the mistress liked to say, sex sells. Mind blowing sex sells for even more.

Pulling out a small notebook from one of her pouches Sara started to put ideas to paper. As she traveled, an entire business model was slowly ironed out. Since she wasn’t accompanied by anyone, there was no need to pretend to require food or drink. Her mind was so pre-occupied that it took a few moments after she bumped into someone to realize she was no longer alone.

Looking up with annoyance, Sara realized she had been surrounded by bandits. Unlike the more civilized lands, bandits were a bit of a problem in these parts. A quick look around while feigning terror allowed Sara to use Reading.

Bandit Lord (386)

Bandit Rogue (297)

Bandit Mage (212)

Bandit Archer (217)

Bandit Rogue (238)

Bandit Swordsman (227)

There was one lord, one archer, and one mage, the rest were rogues and swordsmen. As she straightened up discarding the pretense of fear Sara said, “I’m so glad to meet you gentlemen, I was hoping to get a bit of information before arriving in town.” The bandit lord’s expression grew confused as she continued, “Unfortunately, I don’t need many of you alive to get the answers I need.” Paper rippled into existence as the bandit’s eyes widened before Sara started to separate the wheat from the chaff.