The noon Coalition meeting was due to start in a few minutes. Eden sat beside his father and sister, both of whom looked somewhat agitated after the failure of a meeting at breakfast. He wasn’t, however. During the meeting he was furious, Veline of Lesterwood had played him like a fiddle. Old, embarrassing stories were one thing, but blatant disrespect to his father was appalling.

His father had warned him before hand of Veline’s attitude, but Eden never would have guessed she would be so direct in front of royalty. But she was a savage, after all. An outcast from her homeland of the Isles and a member of that wretched man’s team. Ugh. Just the thought of Lester gave Eden chills. He remembered the infatuation some of his nightly bedwarmers had with the Lost Lord. Simply tarnished, Eden thought. Why did they care for Lester and not him? He was first born to a kingdom, why does being from a different world cause so many heads to turn.

It took Eden nearly an hour after breakfast to calm down but when he did, his father came to him. King Tobyn wore an honest expression when he talked to his son now-a-days. He didn’t pamper the boy any more than what was smart, and he didn’t cast his opinions away as quick as he used to. Tobyn had to admit Veline played their meeting smart, she remained outside the pool, only dipping her toes in when needed.

Her snide remark to Eden would have been glorious if she had said it to anyone other than his son. Tobyn did, however, feel she let a few things slip some of which he needed to discuss with his son. First and foremost, he explained the labored relationship Salae had with Lester.

“Lester has been a critic of our Kingdom for centuries. At first, I thought it was just his way of life. He came from a different world; I made my plans around him adjusting to Nava’s culture. He simply never did, at least on some matters.”

“And when you realized this, he was already too strong to simply kill off.” Eden inferred, having lived through some of it.

“Too strong, too connected, too influential.” Tobyn nodded glancing to his daughter. The family ‘fan’ of Lester. She reddened and looked away. “But that hardly matters now. Lester is gone, or dead, and our country still stands.”

“Then we should take Lesterwood. Show our strength.”

The King shook his head, “Lesterwood is a very different city than Salae. They idolize their city’s namesake as if the man where their God. The city would never submit.”

“But is that not more reason to show strength? Show who the true leaders are?”

“Eden, there will come a time where you will decide what type of [King] you will be. Do you want to be equated to death and despair? War does that to an image as well as makes your citizens lives miserable. Unless a state starts forming military action against you, I recommend you do not start a war.”

“But then everyone is going to think we are weak.” Eden felt his chest heating up.

“Ah, dear son, that is where you misunderstand. War, absolute war, is something you should never stride for. There is more than one way to show strength. Bullying smaller settlements, moving troops to strategic areas, leveraging capital and trade. Trust my words; money is the true way to show strength, which equates to prosperous citizens. Happy citizens are a strong kingdom.”

Alia couldn’t help but shake her head at her father’s words. She found them somewhat hypocritical. Lester’s motto was freedom and respect for all. Slaves were something her father advocated for. Were slaves happy? Eden accepted the lecture as gospel, however, even going so far to take notes.

“I guess that brings us to what I truly wanted to discuss.” Tobyn cleared his throat and level his eyes with his son’s. “I am proud of you. These last few days I’ve noticed your due diligence. My words and the situation at hand have seemed to establish something in you.”

The King slowly slid Eden’s journal over, skimming through a few pages before snapping it closed. “This right here is a great start. Truth be told, at the start of this journey I was not convinced you had what it takes to lead. For that, I am sorry.”

Alia’s eyes widened, mimicking Eden’s. Their father continued, “It will be a few more years until you are fully acclimated to running a kingdom. Much of that will be tedious study of rival interests and political nonsense, but I see that you have taken the challenge in stride. However, you are going to be on the forefront of something new.”

“The New Era.” Eden guessed.

Tobyn nodded, “That and the new Lost Lord, as well as the revival of the Empire, and much more to come.”

“I-I understand.” Eden choked out.

“I don’t think you do. But you will, in time. For now, let’s talk about this mysterious apprentice of Veline’s. She said he is a [Space Mage]. Now, I don’t believe her for a moment. The class is rare and dare I say, rarer for a Lost Lord. But we need to prepare just in case. Space-locks well need to be commissioned; we will need more patrols in the Gate Hubs. Searching for illegal contraband will take on a whole new meaning.”

The father and son continued to talk about the future, accepting chimes of insight from Alia. Many topics were discussed, but only ones that pertained to Lost Lords or Vast Empire. There would be a time and place for other conversations, but for now the Coalition took precedence.

Trees blended and bent as Bishop passed at high speeds. His leg and thigh muscles were cramping, having been electrized for so long. His speed was gradually slowing down, a symptom of an ever-draining mana system. The monsters attacking from the north weren’t helping either. It seemed every few minutes a group of monsters would impede his path, almost as if they knew he was coming. The fungus, he concluded after a patch of monsters got close enough for him to see the blue streaks across their bodies. He hastened his pace.

On his scaled back, Clammy weakly held on. Her throat was still numb and raw, along with a deep burning sensation at the base of her breath. The raid’s healers had looked at her, diagnosing that there was nothing wrong with her. At least, nothing any magic ailment could treat. She had overworked herself using techniques little understood. But they gave Clammy a high success rate of a full recovery if she rested.

As soon as she was cleared to travel, Bishop high tailed it out of the goblin stronghold. Clammy had a message that drastically needed to be sent, and no one was faster than Bishop. He didn’t earn his title for being slow. It would be a risk traveling back to Lesterwood without fully quarantining. Eldritch blood was known to last for months after leaving its host, but they needed to act fast. Domic had purified the duo the best he could without burning them too bad, but even he didn’t know the full extent of exposure.

As they crested the top of a hill, the high sun cast an odd reflection. As if the light glimmered off calm water, orange-yellow light blinded Bishop. He came to a full stop, setting Clammy down. They were close enough to send a mana message, but the far-off light worried the Drake. They should be too far to see such reflections, Lesterwood’s high walls and infrastructures would have blocked the light anyways.

Clammy was leaned against a tree trunk, fiddling with the message spell. She knew what to say. Exactly what to say. She had seen it. Future memories being passed back through time, resulting in a vision. She also knew what the light Bishop was wary of was.

“That’s Icarus’s dome.” Her voice was trampled, like a stampede had raced across her vocal cords.

Bishop turned wide-eyed to his apprentice, he watched as a small blue bird fluttered away. The message had been sent. “We’ve got to go, come on-“

“No.” Clammy shrugged off his attempt to pick her up. “We wait here. Max will be here in a few minutes.”

Bishop looked to the golden light and back at the disheveled young woman trying her best to sit up straight. A question came to him, “What did you send?”

“A memory. This memory.” She briefly gestured around, conveying the hill the two rested on.

“You found your magic?”

Clammy nodded, her eyes slowly blinking as if to ward off speaking, “I’ll tell you about it later.”

Soldiers gathered around in hesitant ranks. The rounded city walls made surrounding the target slightly awkward, but they stood strong above the possible enemy. Their orders were absolute; do nothing. It was strange, especially for the given situation. Beasts, regardless of what kind, were considered enemies to cities. Legendary Beasts were no acceptation. Beasts were only one step away from monsters, and their destructive powers were no less ambitious.

Seetrin was rather popular with her subjects but horror stories from other nations on other continents left the air suspenseful. A few Legendary Beasts took their mission to protect nature too far, slaughtering anyone or thing that stood in the way of the ecosystem. Small settlements or encampments had been sundered from the land they stood; no survivors left behind. Centuries prior, the Unicorn Queen was on the path towards absolute reign but through one way or another, she opted for the tranquil route.

Even now people stood before her awkward in demeanor. Did they bow, did they stand silently, did they draw arms? Who knows? Seetrin is often equated with solitude, often disappearing for decades. Her delegates often did her bidding, traveling around her territory enacting her will. One such delegate was currently at the Coalition, which made the situation at Lesterwood fall to the Queen herself.

Seetrin was pure silky white, her thick muscles gave her bulk to overshadow even the largest of work horses. Her eyes were sparkling blue with whispers of radiating mana, which highlighted against her dark-haired hooves. A single, sword length, ivory horn jutted out between her eyes, stabbing into the air before her. It was sharp and pointy, a weapon in some cases, but a wonderous beauty in others.

As the guard nervously twitched high above the Unicorn, two beings suddenly appeared before her. A moment before the two had stood in the sky, overlooking the situation. But now, they stood casual and tired, like returning home after a night out with friends. A flicker of purple shattered in the area just past the man’s shoulder, it sliced open as if a curtain was drawn. Two young women stepped out, both shading their eyes from the sudden influx of light.

Even the Unicorn Queen tilted her head in question, let alone the guards standing on the wall. A few of Lesterwood’s administrative leaders pushed across the snowy landscape, joining the newcomers in standing before Seetrin. Mayor Silverjewl and his dapper looks was the most recognizable. He bowed and stood next to the others, his entourage stopping back a few meters.

“Welcome to Lesterwood, honored Unicorn Queen.” Silverjewl began, “Are you here about the monster problem we seem to be facing?”

Seetrin looked blankly at the opulent Elf. She blinked slowly trying to decide what to say. She turned to Max and Emi, connecting a telepathy mana connection.

You two did well in Esmel. You have my thanks. Seetrin bowed, lowering herself by stretching her front legs out.

Max, thinking of the others, spoke aloud. “Thank you. I’m glad we could help.”

Everyone twitched at his words, Emi took her turn, “Hello.”

Hello little one. I am glad to see you are prospering in your partner’s care.

“More like I’m prospering in her care.” Max said, smiling to his other half.

Emi looked contemplative, “Agreed.”

Seetrin snorted, shocking the crowd even more. I see that you have not received your payment for a quest completed. Honeygreen had the responsibility of seeing your reward to the both of you, it seems he failed.

“I wouldn’t say failed, more like became… Indisposed.”

I guess you are correct about that. Allow me to take the responsibility. A wave of mana suddenly pulsed, encompassing Max and Emi. It was subtle, no one else noticed.

Quest completed!

In the Elven City of Esmel a darkness has begun to surface. Seetrin asks you to investigate and report any finding to the local authorities.

Rewards:

Reported darkness: 1,000,000 experience.

Source found: 15,000,000 experience.

Protection of the city and its people: 45,000,000 experience.

Slaying the perpetrator of such darkness: 150,000,000 experience

Protection of the true ‘treasure’ of Esmel: Two full levels, Unicorn Horn Heart.

A long and thin cone hovered from Seetrin to Max. It gently landed in his hands before disappearing into his inventory, but not before he Inspected it.

Unicorn Horn Heart:

Rarity: Legendary

Type: Crafting Material

A heart of a Unicorn horn. Used in many high-end magical items.

Golden light expanded from Max, as four level-ups simultaneously happened. Everyone shifted a step back. The experience gains for Max were quite impeccable, his light show explained as much. As the blissful and ever addicting feeling faded away, his thoughts turned to the final reward. A horn. To be completely honest, he felt it was somewhat anti-climactic. But it was a Legendary crafting material, so maybe not.

He looked to Emi who was supposed to be sharing in the rewards. Her eyes were glossed over, reading something only she could see. That was… Concerning. Emi didn’t have a system, at least not yet. Her intelligence was high enough, but until her race was recognized by the system, she should not be able to see the blue boxes. But her eyes moved, as if reading a book.

“Emi…?”

She blinked once; a tear evaporated before anyone but Max noticed. “Thank you.” She said, bowing to the Unicorn.

It comes with limitations that will be lifted once you find out what you are. Seetrin shifted on her four hooves. I cannot say much on the subject, but the limitations were not put into place by me. The Unicorn’s blue eyes shifted upwards, emphasizing the sky. Or Heavens.

A wave of emotions assaulted Max. Pride, joy, gratitude, hope. A stream of images came along with the emotions. They were of a blue floating box with white text. It was sectioned into a table with cells, each corresponding to attributes of Emi. Race was listed as three question marks. Max smiled; he was glad. It was about time.

“Thank you, Seetrin. You’ve made her day.”

“Week.” Emi said.

“Week, you’ve made her week.” Max amended.

It was due to your diligence. One less evil the world must face. The Unicorn Queen’s posture changed as if she smelled something vile. The bears draw near. I know this Den. They are harmless.

“Right, the fungus.” Max’s words shifted the crowd. They leaned in, listening intently.

Filthy peasant. I should have killed that foul excuse for life when I had the chance.

“Peasant?”

The sporeling.

“Sporeling…?”

It begged for its life. Pleaded as if it were a lone soul, forgotten, used. It twisted itself free of our contract, and now a city faces destruction. Let alone the lives its already ended.

“You- Wait- A spore can make a contract? Can it even think-?” Max’s words confused himself, as well as the others. Everyone looked at him as if he were daft, including Seetrin.

Magical spores, yes.

“Oh, right, magical spores. That makes sense now, I misunderstood.” He didn’t understand.

It is my fault this city is under siege.

“Wait, wait, wait. I don’t think I’m the one you should be telling this to. Lesterwood’s mayor is right here.” Max placed his hand on the Elf’s shoulder. He shuttered.

Seetrin twisted her head, her tail whipped in irritation.

“Fine. I will inform this city’s leadership.” She spoke, turning to Silverjewl. “This is my fault. I will deal with the original spores.”

“I thank you, Unicorn Queen. May I ask how these events came to be?” Silverjewl spoke well, even though he was trembling slightly.

“I held a contract with the spores. They were not to encroach out of the north forest, as that is territory deemed as Lesterwood’s. It was able to break the contract somehow.”

“And it rushed straight for Lesterwood? Why would it do that?”

“It didn’t. It was chasing something. I couldn’t see what, but it was led here.” Seetrin hoofed, “Regardless, this is my fault, I will aid the city. I take it your defenders can handle the bears while I search for the main host?”

Silverjewl looked past Seetrin, through the dome. Hundreds of feral monsters snapped at the air and protective spell. “We will lose some guard, but we should be able to hold out.”

Seetrin bent her head and neck back, contorting it in an awkward angle. She bit down on her tail, yanking out a patch of hairs. They hovered into the mayor’s hand. “For the family of those who will fall.”

Silverjewl knew very well how much wealth he held in his hands. Just a single strand could pay for… No, no. There should be no value to life. The patch of hairs began to feel like a lead weight. His hand tilted at the responsibility he held. A small blue flutter caught his eyes. At first, he thought the Unicorn was casting something, but the flutter stopped before Max. It was a mana message.

The bird broke into nothing, odd for a mana message. Did the sender forget to attach a note? Max fell to his knees. Images, like how he and Emi could communicate, bombarded his mind. Hill, trees, tired, miserable, dissatisfied, sorrow, guilt. The pain subsided with a blinding finale of focused dedication. A location.

He suddenly jumped to his feet, ignoring the two young women beside him asking for answers. Emi understood the situation almost instantly, attaching to his shoulder. They teleported.