The Musicians of Askelm, they say the best of them could soothe a dragon with something to pluck, something hollow to smack, and a clear voice. I've heard them once before and it's not something I'll soon forget. There's real magic to their voices, some type of technique passed down within their circles. To imbue sound with magic... the possibilities. Chanting, yes, it's been done but only to invoke spells or jog memories. The Musicians of Askelm alone hold this secret. Perhaps a hedge mage might have figured something out but the Musicians are most notable. And not only that, even among the varied groups of Aerae, at least the small portion I know, they are the one of the most unique. Although I'll have to give credit where it's due, my people are quite strange as well.

-Yyylens Skiaet

Eyes blazed amber. A fist shattered the air beside his ear. His fighter's instinct itched at the other arm coming just after it. He dodged it, falling to a spinning crouch. His leg swept out quickly, a practiced retaliation that was just as easily dodged by his opponent as it was executed by him. Maxworth was unbothered, jumping Luck's leg as if skipping rope. The metallic man watched Luck, both curious and quiet.

"You move fast." Luck said, circling the man. An early evening spar had become routine. Today was the first time Luck and Maxworth had been matched together.

"As do you, sir." Maxworth moved opposite to Luck.

Whether it was a result of the sand kicked up or if it were just Maxworth's body, he twinkled in the moonlight. Luck didn't allow himself a half of a half second's distraction but Maxworth reacted all the same. Silver darted forward. Three straight jabs. Luck bobbed and weaved, the boxer in him coming out. He didn't bind himself to one style of combat. Forearms came up to deflect fists he couldn't dodge. Not for the first time, Maxworth adapted to even that. There was a mechanical precision to his movements.

No magic, no weapons. Luck didn't care. Spirit tracked Maxworth, calculating his moves and possible trajectories in an unobtrusive blue overlay. Luck's mind worked just as fast if not faster. Stamina from Exceptional Regeneration and Troll's Blood. Control and unerring precision through Spirit. Luck's head moved on a swivel. His body, shoulder, and torso flicking back and forth to dodge incoming strikes. His footing, like Maxworth's, was always firm and light. He dropped his shoulder dodging Maxworth's searching fist, only for his torso to be targeted with a spinning elbow. He brought his arm up, forcing Maxworth to defend while deflecting his arm in the process.

Luck watched, moments before, the possibility of Maxwoth landing a spinning kick to his thigh in a blue outline. Luck set his counter stance, taking a measured step back and to the right. Maxworth hesitated. A moment. The smallest of windows. Luck wasn't a stranger to such times. Luck's hand reacted like the flick of the sword and struck on the man's shoulder.

A sudden clattering of cookware to the side. The firepit. Erok bolted upright, knocking utensils to the ground. His eyes were locked onto Maxworth and Luck.

Maxworth tilted his head, taking a step back. "How are you doing that?" He said, intrigued. His voice so smooth and full of curiosity he wouldn't have thought it came from someone seemingly so clockwork.

"What exactly is it that you think I'm doing, Maxworth?" Luck held back his natural inclination to smirk at bay. Maxworth was an interesting one. So much expression in one Luck wouldn't think would express it.

Maxworth's eyebrows, which were just small ridges of silver, drew together. His face was multiple moving plates that seamlessly connected allowing him to make complex facial expressions. Right now they were moved in a position one might call suspicious, maybe slightly confused or bewildered. Silver clockwork eyes squinted as they took Luck in. They did it in such a way that Luck deemed fairly human.

Maxworth turned to see Erok wide-eyed staring at him and then to Luck a mess of scattered kabobs and metal skewers strewn about him.

"Hmm." The metallic man hummed.

Then Maxworth was upon him. A flurry of silver streaks, so fast Luck could barely keep up. Or so he thought. His hands, his movements, they were faster than they had ever been. Hands moved smoother than they ever had, catching and twisting Maxworth's as fast as they came, redirecting their momentum. Grapples were broken and his mind didn't need Spirit's intervention at all. A hand on his shoulder was pulled off by the elbow, metal fingers stabbing at his neck were redirected to the path of his other metal hand. Maxworth, perhaps unsurprisingly, was adept at keeping himself moving, perpetually on the attack. Luck had the time to smirk at the thought.

A punch cut off at the wrist. A palm strike similarly deflected. Straight jabs he danced away from. Maxworth was not a simple opponent. He used every limb and if Luck weren't used to the pain or didn't know he would heal near immediately he would've been loathed to block the attacks. Luck caught Maxworth's leg as it aimed for his chest, throwing it up and taking shots at his other thigh in the process. The metallic man flipped effortlessly landing in perfect equilibrium and began to advance again. He hummed or maybe whirred, a little louder as he watched Luck's stance, approaching fast.

Erok got out from between them. The clatter of cooking implements earlier had left skewers and pans around the cooking pit.

Luck smirked, a familiar twinkle to his eye. Fighting dirty was what he excelled at. Maxworth just didn't allow him the normal gaps of improvisation he would normally have. But that in itself offered him something to work with. Despite Luck having internally deemed Maxworth robotic the man wasn't perfect. He was near to it though.

In a trading of blows where Luck reduced his speed, then sped up again, and then completely repaced the fight, he caught Maxworth in another moment of slowness. Slowness for his opponent was an extremely small window. But that was all that Luck needed to land a strike in the next exchange. He stepped on a pan's handle and flipped it into the air. He caught the pan in his left hand, brandishing the thing, adjusting his grip. He was running, no time to waste. Maxworth focused on the pan as if Luck might present some strange danger as a pan wielding master. He was too late to see Luck twisting in mid-air in a well-practiced spinning wheel kick.

He slammed his heel into Maxworth's neck, knocking the man to the ground.

Ace stepped in, signaling the fight over. Too fast the fight ended. And yet somehow, it was too short. "Luck is the victor." He announced, a moderate amount of surprise on his face when he said it.

Maxworth stood himself up wiping the dust off himself before addressing Luck. "Who are you, sir? I've not met anyone with such a peculiar set of moves." He rubbed at his neck, no pain in his eyes but a little unsteady on his feet. His neck was slightly dented. The back of Luck's foot throbbed.

"Just a man looking for his family." Luck said truthfully, it had taken him a while to shrug off the habit of being so secretive. He had been more open to these strangers than he had in a decade to others.

"Your form is not just efficient. I've never seen it before. And you yourself, your mind works faster than mine. An incredible feat, sir." Maxworth remarked, he seemed genuinely impressed. "Undoubtedly honed through years of training."

Erok walked over slowly. "All my days traveling I've never seen someone land more than a glancing blow on Max here. You landed two while dodging all of his. And one of those was enough to knock him down. Maxworth, the same-"

"Erok." Maxworth cut him off with a polite stare.

"Sorry Max. I'm just... shocked." The roken said. "Rare you find someone without weapon or magic able to stand on equal ground to a Gentleman."

Maxworth nodded. "May I ask what you are, Sir Luck? Perhaps that may give some insight to my loss."

The question took Luck by surprise. He blinked slowly. "What I am?"

"Beastkin? I saw you transform earlier, it would explain your speed and maybe your heightened instincts. Though, it didn't seem you were using any of your strength then. A Changeling then? But that would only account for your appearance, though I hear they are indeed fast. Gorben? Hmmm, no that wouldn't be it." Erok muttered loudly.

"I'm sorry, what do you mean exactly?" Luck asked, confused. Wasn't it obvious?

"Your race, sir. I am curious. In a physical contest, there are few races I cannot beat. At least, those my size."

"You can't tell at a glance?" Luck wondered.

Maxworth looked to Erok who answered for them. "The lands we travel are a majority Roken, Dwarf and Cevao. We are confident we could identify a major race at first glance such as the Elves or Gnomes but most others we know only by vague recollection. You, Druid, do not have the ears of any elf, the height of any gnome or dwarf, the fins of the merfolk, the fur of the gnolls, wings, horns, four legs, rock skin, metal skin, or any other distinguishing features and, you share no similarities to the forest sentients I immediately thought of."

Ace sat on the saddle closest to the fire pit listening in. "Ever heard of a human?" His legs dangled free. The mercenary seemed content in the moonlight.

Erok and Maxworth cocked their head at that. "A human?" Maxworth said, their silhouettes confused at the name.

"Is that what you are? What is it that your race does differently from the rest then?" Erok questioned.

Years of grim living passed Luck's mind. He glanced at Ace who shrugged. "We're... smart, cunning, intelligent. Hard-workers, stubborn, and determined. At our worst, we're twisted, evil, killers, thieves, smugglers, slavers, rapists, blackmailers, greedy, lazy and more. At our best, we're caring, loving, compassionate, empathetic, righteous." Luck paused, not really knowing how the humans on Aerae fit that description. "We're... different, I'd say."

"You are both humans?" Maxworth asked.

"Yes." Ace replied.

Maxworth gestured. "Do all humans heal bruises as fast as you, sir?"

"What of their physical traits?" Erok added.

The throbbing pain in Luck's forearms and upper arms had dissipated. He had been using them to block or redirect whenever he needed to. They didn't even count as actual strikes, the ones he blocked, but they felt like them. Luck had compartmentalized the pain a while back. Already, the blue-black bruises were healing, receding at the edges to new, healthy skin. Maxworth's attacks weren't a something to laugh at. But neither was his regeneration.

"No, we do not." Luck answered simply. They both took that at face value. "And physically I don't believe we're excellent in one particular way. Perhaps what sets us apart is our potential to adapt."

"And can all humans transform as you do? Though perhaps that is a perk of being a druid than a human." Erok inquired.

"You'd be correct, Erok. That's a skill I've learned from time in the forest." He said, not really lying. "Unique to me."

"And do all humans have such colorful eyes?" Maxworth asked, an honest air about him.

Ace laughed unabashedly. "Even they recognize the amber gaze!" He chuckled while Luck grimaced. Luck rolled his eyes at the mercenary child sitting above.

Maxworth gave Ace a sideways glance, thinking perhaps he misstepped. "Apologies, sir. It is not often we travel with others, more so people of a race we are not familiar with. The people of Peace are too varied to pin down and too busy to converse with. I believe Erok can agree that we are both curious people. Any insult to your culture was unintended." Maxworth explained, a hint of slight embarrassment as he bowed shallowly in apology.

Erok dipped his head, respect in the gesture. "I believe adventuring is the consequence of our personalities. Like many, we live the dream of traveling Aerae. We as individuals love to explore, love meeting new people. And the most interesting of people are those who seek power." Erok supported.

"Don't worry Maxworth, Erok. A few questions aren't enough to offend us. Humans are a rather open bunch. Normally they love talking about themselves anyway so ask away." Luck smirked, waving away their concern.

"Do humans have a natural aptitude for magic?" Erok gestured to Ace, large arms shifting with the movement. Luck assumed he remembered the fight with Melthin and the wazar. Ace had zapped the Wazar King to unconsciousness after all. "I believe you both are somewhat versed. I have seen Ace's aptitude myself." The large roken grunted.

Spirit didn't have enough data on enough users to have reliable information on that subject. Luck answered anyway. "I'd assume they're average, Erok. If anything I believe any gap in talent might be bridged by hard work. That's normally the case for us." He was more open, true, but Luck wasn't about to share the fact he was from another world. That would open a whole new can of worms.

"Three mages then." Maxworth remarked. "Once we're past the dunes and into the zones that will be a help." The clockwork in his neck whirred silently as his head swiveled to glance at Nayah.

She, perched on one of the nearby keid, shifted uncomfortably, an uneasiness to Maxworth's knowing stare. It was understandable. Luck knew they saw her cast magic in the fight with the Guard, the remote drone carrying out Protocol West. She was trying to help even while Luck guessed she didn't often display her magic. There was a risk for her if any of the two found out she was an Illuse. Perhaps that was a common race? Or at least known to everybody.

Many people here in Aerae were not above slavery it seemed, that is if Spirit was to be believed, and he was. To power ritual circles, artifacts, focusing devices and more an Illuse was one of the best methods. Slavery, torture, magical enchantments, brainwashing. It disgusted Luck. His stomach twisted just thinking about, a slight grimace painting his face in what might as well have been a bright streak of red with how careful Luck normally kept his expression. At least to Ace it was.

Luck followed his gaze and looked to Nayah as well. "You just gonna watch or come spar with me too?" He called, his body was relaxed and his signature smirk was present as he did so.

It was a mocking gesture, she never participated. Apparently, she was somewhat daunted by watching the others. She hesitated before hopping down. Luck rose an eyebrow.

Her hair flickered orange but Luck was unaffected by the magic that accompanied it. Instead, he looked to Maxworth, "If you will, Maxworth. Ace, Erok." Underestimating your opponent was a one-way ticket to the ground.

They nodded, Ace had found a kebob somewhere which glistened with a glaze Luck was sure came from one of the fruits from the grove.

Luck focused.

Today was different. Nayah looked like she had something to prove. "If we're going hunting for a frost drake you might as well know my capabilities." She opened, her face unhappy with that. Even in the shallow light of the moon, he could see her frown, her fear, at the thought. The excitement underlying it all.

Already Luck was examining her stance. She had distanced herself to start, probably a habit of casting magic. Luck checked himself though, she was fearful, yes, but not towards the spar. She was calm, collected, even if it didn't show on her face.

Night fell fast in the desert and Luck's mouth curved upwards imperceptibly, unnoticed in the moonlight of early evening. Perhaps this would be an interesting match. "I already know a little. " Luck said with just the amount of emotion to leave her guessing whether he was actually mad. He wasn't.

"Begin." Maxworth's voice carried across the space between the keid, their grounds for this spar.

Luck made no move forward, backward or sideways. "We aren't hunting a frost drake." Luck held a hand up in a joking half shrug. "I mean, you can if you want to but I'm not helping you."

Her mouth opened.

Luck dashed forward, breaking the conversation. Moving as soon as he finished talking. Nayah actually had a stance to Luck's surprise but she didn't know what to do with it. She kicked forward at Luck but unlike Maxworth, allowed Luck to get under her.

"What the-" She didn't finish.

She fell to the ground hard, Luck holding her leg up. "This," He said, "should stay planted with that stance."

She kicked Luck's hand off, rolling onto her hands and flipping onto her feet. Agile. Flexible. Just unpracticed. Luck reassessed her. She had a short temper.

It proceeded like this three more times. Luck waved Ace, Erok, and Maxworth away and they left silently moving to the keids. It was more out of courtesy than anything else, Luck and Nayah were in perfect hearing range but Luck didn't care.

Nayah was becoming more reckless, angrier, and spent. The girl needed an outlet and Luck knew it. But she also needed to be taught a lesson, one Luck learned early. Today, Luck wasn't that outlet but he was a teacher. Aerae could only be more dangerous than the city so Luck would treat it so.

She came more cautiously. Luck caught her overstepping and hooked a foot behind her, pushing her over and tripping her. His foot came resting on her throat where he stomped with all his force before stopping an inch from her neck. His eyes held a coldness to them, a necessary one that he didn't feel Nayah had ever seen before.

Luck's voice was slow, an unreasonable darkness to it. "Out here, death is a very real and very present possibility. Every hour, every minute, every second, it could happen. Guard, that drone, it could've easily killed us if I hadn't thought to talk to it. Accept that fact, that truth, and you could live like your father did."

Her hand smacked Luck's leg away violently. Her glare was lava, angry, molten, ready to erupt. Her voice came just as slow, just as hot. "Don't ever talk about my father. He was a great man. You have no idea the circumstances around his death. He did everything he could for us, but he could never settle down. It just wasn't in him. Don't act like you know who he was. What he did was within his right. To die rather than be a battery. " She lay there on the ground breathing hard and on the verge of tears.

Luck only scoffed quietly.

"I don't know him." He said, looking away, looking to the moon. "Your father was a man destined to adventure, I know that much without a doubt. But he was also an Illuse. He risked capture everytime he went out, just as you do. You're living in fear, I can see it in your eyes, in your every movement. And you're angry for it, I can see that clear as day. And the second you realize that fear for yourself it only fans the flames. I've accepted death Nayah, accepting that it's real, that it's there, looming, you don't have to fear it anymore. Capture is different, but everyone can die. Don't fear being captured and you might have a taste of what your father felt like every day." His voice was softer than a bed of flowers.

"Accept death? How can-"

His voice startled the night as much as it did Nayah. "Have you even looked up since we left? Just once this journey? So caught up in your fear that you never saw the moon? The stars?" Luck's voice was sudden and quiet. "Worrying every day since we left that you never got to enjoy the beauty right here, right now. There's nothing around us but the stars to keep us company. Have you ever thought this freedom is what your father lived for? To risk capture for the ultimate freedom?"

She shut up, lying on the floor she was forced to look above. Starlight reflected in the tears that ran down her face. She didn't cry, but her voice shook with emotion. "He killed himself, you know."

"To live life knowing this is out there? To never see it again?" Luck speculated, leaving her to her thoughts. "I might be tempted to do the same. But we are different men."

"I don't want to bartend."

Luck only hummed, amber eyes shining even as they looked to the distant stars above.

"I want to adventure. I want to see Aerae as my father did." She was spent, covered in sand. Soft round eyes unfocused, blinded by the starlight above and magnified by her tears. "I want to see what it was he loved seeing. I want to know what my father did, what he loved, who he was. This is all I know about him. That he traveled, before... before we got news of his death."

Luck looked down at her, remembering seeing his own father dead. A pit of sadness grew inside of him before it was washed away. Nayah would never know how much true empathy he felt for her. Luck only smiled at her, a weight lifted off her shoulders. He could see that she needed this.

And that was enough for him.

Luck stepped away. A silent specter leaving in the moonlight.

They departed minutes after Luck left. The rest, save Ace, didn't know what spurred the keid to move at the time since no one was communicating with them. But it had become routine and so no one questioned when the keid began to stand as one and begin moving the second Nayah slowly made her way onto one. Luck had talked to them.

That night Ace and Nayah were riding together, Erok with Saga and Tric, and Luck was left with Maxworth. It passed in relative silence but it was the third or fourth time that Luck caught Maxworth staring at him out of the corner of his eye. Luck was about to ask why but apparently Maxworth had decided at that moment to finally talk.

"That was quite honorable, Sir Luck. At least in the sense I know rather than Erok's. Roken honor is dependant on respect during combat in whatever form that may take." He said, resting his hands on his lap. The man sat with comfortable decorum. It looked uncomfortable to Luck. "A Gentlemen's code is somewhat different."

"Is it now? And what about what I did was honorable to you then?" Luck smirked softly, not in the mood to really talk.

"Are all humans just as strange? Sir Ace has apparent vested interest in the Banks of Aerae, the Adventurers' Guild, the Book of Sentients, a multitude of System related questions, and even peculiar interest in combat styles and techniques of races with three or more appendages."

"As strange? Probably not. But as curious? I can say with confidence we are."

"Yet you do not ask."

"I don't need to."

"You both help the people of Peace. I saw you two dancing among the rooftops, skipping between buildings, crawling on their walls. You weren't fighting, but directing, leading, bringing others to safety. I could've mistaken you for mountain dwellers or perhaps people of the forest. And here, you fight strangely and help our companion Nayah where Erok or I would have been too focused to even notice."

"People needed help, Maxworth. I'm just helping wherever I can." He shrugged. "If I can save a life or make one better, even just by a little bit. If it's within my power, then consider it done."

"You cannot help everyone though. It is a mistake of many do-gooders and often their demise. I have seen my own people suffer from this folly."

"I know that better than anyone else, Maxworth. You could never know how much I know that. But trying to help everyone ends up helping a lot of people. And I'm no do-gooder, make no mistake." There was a pause as Maxworth watched Luck. "I've seen people die over misunderstandings. I've killed people over misunderstandings. What a sad waste of life. People with families, people that cared for them. Dead over a simple matter. Tortured or worse, unnecessary pain for a problem that wasn't theirs to claim. I've seen smart people hunching over a barrel fire on the side of the road. Intelligent people capable of great things succumbing to systems of power so corrupt they're forced to the streets. I've seen the most kindhearted of men destroyed. Innocent children raped or murdered. " He breathed, a heat to his voice. "If I can help someone back on track, that's enough for me."

Maxworth nodded, clockwork whirring before he spoke. "It is a worthy cause. Not many are as kindhearted as you, sir."

"No," Luck said, "I'd think not. But I wouldn't call myself kindhearted. I've done my fair share of violence, Maxworth. The skills you witnessed aren't from charity work. And that wasn't even all of it. You haven't seen a lick of my capability." Luck shut his eyes, the weight of a past life bearing down on him. What had happened in his absence? Had Mr. Ark taken over? Had the failsafe he put in place worked? "I might as well be a sitting duck asking for you to kill me out here in the wilderness."

To that Maxworth only hummed silently. For a moment Luck thought it was mechanical whirring. It wasn't. The man was actually humming, a small song that encompassed the night. Luck turned, quiet curiosity in his eyes.

There was a calming aspect to it. A soothing chill that Luck almost mistook for another one of the cold breezes they'd often get due north. But no, it was the song. Maxworth's voice was beautiful and that was saying something coming from the Amber Demon.

Oh the lords of rain and sky

The kindhearted of the country

The stone-cold of the mountain

Oh they live in craze and die

Or only seek a bounty

Keep close their only fountain

For neither men, nor god, nor ocean breeze

Is ever what it seems.

Luck's hand pulled out his pendant, many motes of light point north. Was it his mother? His sister? His father? He hoped it wasn't Tate. Like Luck, she had no experience in the wild and if she didn't get something immediately useful from the impartations Luck didn't even know how he would manage in the middle of nowhere. He long suspected his mother and father had a past that necessitated certain skills. Why would his mother know how to tie knots, or the calls of exotic birds from the pet shop, or how to disassemble and reassemble weapons Luck wasn't even familiar with when she hated firearms? And his father had a hobby in antique weaponry, but that wasn't all. His father was skilled with them, knew how to use all of them to great effect and deadly efficiency. Once, they were out of lighter fluid, and his father started the fire with nothing but sticks. Sure, a skill a lot of people knew but his father managed it in seconds. Not to mention that for as long as Luck lived he had never known anyone in the family to have gone camping.

He stopped those thoughts as Maxoworth's humming began to slow.

The sound died down. It had a lingering effect. He felt it acutely, so aware he was of his person. It didn't seem detrimental to him so Luck allowed himself to enjoy the feeling, though he did ask Spirit what exactly happened.

His S.I.'s secular voice answered. Magical input detects lingering traces of mana in the air. Maxworth's singing seems to have brought it on. Effects are beneficial though nothing drastic has changed aside perhaps from your morale and mood. This would be classified as Buff magic, a general term denoting temporary beneficial effects attained through magic. There are no records of any such magic in my knowledge involving music. An odd implementation to be sure.

Magic in music? The thought boggled his mind. Luck watched Maxworth silently. He didn't expect such a beautiful voice from someone so... seemingly mechanical. Every moment he spent with the gentleman reminded him he was not to be judged on appearance as the rest of Peace had. And that knowledge of magic, it seemed even Maxworth had some measure of magical aptitude.

An amiable silence settled among them until Maxworth spoke. "A small spell I learned as a reward for a Quest. I was asked to help a traveling group of performers being hounded by chuth. They were heading to Askelm. Their lead bard taught me what she knew even as the rest frowned at my presence. I've not many reasons to use it but I've perhaps developed a taste for music." His voice was quiet as if there was more to the story but Luck respected his space.

"You have a beautiful voice-"

A shout from ahead. "Hey! You might wanna take a look at this, friends!" Erok's voice boomed.

Maxworth and Luck shared a glance before popping up to peer ahead. The dull desert had ended. Hydry Dunes had slowly given way to more rocky outcroppings and less sand until finally what lay before them came into view.

The Frozen Zones.

Desolate, solitary and jagged. The path ahead was covered lightly in the snow, a stark line separating the desert of the Hydr Dunes from the Zones. The temperature was uncomfortably warm, nowhere near the searing heat of weeks earlier. Yet, it was not enough to warrant snow, and looking forward Luck became curious as the line separating the two biomes became more and more apparent.

Keid stomped ever forward, a faint crunching of less and less sand as they moved towards the line. Erok, Maxworth, and Nayah seemed unconcerned but Ace and Luck, Saga and Tric, all looked with uneasiness.

Until finally they passed it.

Instantly the temperature dropped a magnitude lower. The heatblind's aspect Luck pulled on hard, warming himself up through its ability to regulate temperature. He shivered still, feeling a draw on his mana.

"W-what just happened?" He chattered, the thin snow deceiving to the eyes. It was cold enough to warrant a hailstorm let alone a thin sheet of snow. "What was the drop in temperature?"

Maxworth was as unaffected as the keid, turning smoothly despite the thin layer of frost on him. "We've officially entered the Frozen Zones, sir. Were you not aware of the Zone cut off? Once you pass a certain threshold the temperature drops due to the ambient mana in the air. The magiscience behind it is beyond me but I believe it's been speculated that odd mana circles below the ice cause the surrounding mana to behave in strange ways. One of the many being a conversion to ambient ice mana and another regulating the boundaries of it."

Maxworth looked forward, perhaps scanning ahead for danger. A veil of frosty mist covered the path ahead.

"Ice mana?" Luck muttered, already breathing deep despite his shivering. The air was definitely heavier, but that might just have been the cold. He cocked his head, listening for something that couldn't speak back.

His senses spread open like a budding flower catching the first rays of daylight. Slowly, unfurling with tentative petals. He sat basking in the feeling. He was a man in the moment, though he didn't realize, achieving for seconds what he envied Ace so often for. And with sudden slowness, like a ray of sun, mana touched on amber.

Luck let out a small gasp. Cold. A pleasant numbing cold layered over his personal mana, himself now suddenly aware of its presence. Like a newborn opening his eyes.

Attuned mana is often easier to sense. In many mage curricula, it is often a type of attuned mana apprentice mages are exposed to in order to awaken their sense of mana, however small or large it may be.

Luck lay in metaphorical snow, another part of him making snow angels of endless icy possibilities. Attuned mana?

Mana charged with an element is an easy way to grasp the concept. Attuned mana is used primarily for that magic. Natural occurrences are often elemental. The environment determines the accumulation or conversion of mana to attuned mana. For example, a volcano might create fire mana while an untouched forest sanctuary might produce nature mana. These are natural occurrences. Magics as encompassing as, Time magic for example, have not ever been known to produce specifically attuned mana. Specificity of a magic reduces the chances of such a mana type to produce naturally.

And the benefits?

With benefits come detriment. Ice mana augments Ice magic, creates cold environs, breeds elemental beasts, and changes the landscape, animals and plant life. Of course, historical data suggests more effects yet undiscovered of such mana. There are detriments to other magics when utilizing this mana though the interaction between them still lay in the unknown. Important to note however is that the individual is not affected, mana regeneration is filtered through the soul, clear mana, untainted, is always at one's disposal.

Interesting, I didn't know mana could become attuned.

"The Frozen Zones." The metallic man sounded as if gesturing to something large and sublime. He spoke without preamble and didn't offer an explanation.

Luck didn't need one.

They hadn't traveled for more than ten minutes when Luck finally opened his eyes to the physical. The mist that hindered eyesight came away in whorls of frost breaking upon majestic mountain faces bearded with snow. They cut a slim path between two cliffs misleadingly beautiful. To either side, a slant uphill climb dotted with ice and snow.

He paused. Luck could feel the eyes of an animal. He turned around to catch a glimpse of a silver wolf standing proudly in front of a cavern entrance, a young cub by his side. Icicles hung off every ledge they could, reflecting the sunlight wherever it pierced the fog cover.

Luck nodded to the wolf, knowing to tilt his head at an angle, avoiding eye contact not in a way of inferiority but deference. With that, the wolf pawed the ground gently nipping at the young cub. A sharp, quick yip echoed across the mountain and Luck had the feeling he had saved his group a lot of trouble. The wolf gave what Luck recognized as a sign of respect before looking further down the path to something Luck couldn't see and then disappearing.

Maxworth eyed Luck. "It is true that you are a Druid then."

Luck only shrugged back in return. "Nature's my home, and I protect what's mine." And oddly, Luck knew that was true.

Maxworth dipped his head before nodding to the cave above. "Those are Icil Wolves, getting their name from the icicles that hang from their homes. Intelligent pack-hunters well adapted to the mountains, capable of silently traversing the snow and hounding travelers for weeks on end. They go for every meal they know they can take. I've heard of seasoned adventures lost to them."

"They've allowed us passage." Luck watched the path ahead. There was no telling what the System had awoken, and even then, he would've kept to the same level of tact. This was unknown territory. Spirit's data wasn't completely reliable here. His posture was unconcerned as he turned back to Maxworth, they were safe so long as they were within the territory. "We are welcome here so long as we keep to ourselves."

"I assumed as much, sir. That is not behavior ever observed from a pack leader." Maxworth's gaze lingered before turning forward as well. He glanced warily at the cave above. "Not behavior I've ever heard of previously."

Luck was too entranced with the scenery to care. Was it possible for ice to be this bright? To be so vivid? There was a hint of color to every icicle or drift of snow he saw, disappearing in the next second. He could feel the cold in the air, in the mana of the place.

Blue plants, as if frostbitten, rose from the snow. They were leafy and pristine seeming as brittle and surreal as the ice around them. There were trees, rare and pockmarked on the cliff, small ones that were thin as they were beautiful. A stalagmite of cold wood, reaching toward the icy sky and into the fog as if searching to pierce an invisible enemy at an angle. Drifts of snow, white and soft like the fluffiest pillows as luring anyone to rest upon them.

And yet, underlying it all was a jagged edge, right below the snow. A lurking hazard that used the beauty of the mountains, the rising cliffs and steep hills, the beautiful snow and seemingly brittle plants, the trees and the caves, to hide its teeth.

There was a danger in the air, of nothing but the ferocity of nature sublime. Life was harsh here as Luck assumed all the areas surrounding Ardun was. He closed his eyes and felt for the place through his connection with nature. A frosty breath escaped his lips as his magical senses opened up reflexively. Seconds later, without getting lost in what he was seeing, he managed to focus on the connectedness between himself and nature.

Spirit exploded in analysis and situation awareness. Unnoticed movement 3' o'clock. Medium sized, inorganic. One signature....multiple signatures detected below difference threshold. Unknown quantity undetected. Probability of additional signatures 97%. 4 o'clock, 9 o'clock, 7 o'clock, 6 o'clock. Weaponry unknown, hostility unknown.

Luck's reaction was as fast as a gunshot.

Luck jerked himself out of his senses, immediately dropping to instant awareness. He echoed low, "We're surrounded," his voice soft and sudden. He was taken at his word as he saw Erok quickly remove his great hammer from his back, moving it to a firm grip across from him. The roken gave Luck a glance before turning outward.

Saga, we're surrounded. Watch Nayah, help Erok. If they're hostile and you can escape I want you to run for it. You can circle back and track us down. Take Tric with you if it comes to it.

Saga's stolen amber eyes, locked to Luck's. The shar nodded imperceptibly, his feline head scanning the surroundings, locking onto where Spirit had indicated a drift of snow in a bright red overlay.

It will be done, Amber Eyes. I am puzzled, how did the enemy get so close?

Your guess is as good as mine, Saga.

Maxworth's hands moved as his eyes did, slowly and carefully towards his daggers. Across, Ace shushed Nayah and stared intently at a drift of snow they were coming up on. This one also highlighted in bright red. Danger, Luck knew. The keid were flustered, perhaps sensing something in the air but Luck calmed them down with gentle, mental words.

"Where?" Maxworth whispered quietly, not sparing Luck a glance.

Luck whispered, "There. There. There." A tug on his magic and three pebbles arced towards three different locations. He trusted Maxworth to remain guard over those three bright red swatches.

Erok seemed wary at everything, which was impressive given that he, Saga and Tric, were surrounded by the most inorganic unknowns. The roken's senses were spot on.

Spirit, how are you getting this data? My own senses can't pick up anything, neither vision, hearing, smell or touch. Luck wondered, springloaded to move at any disturbance.

Visual data unnoticed by the user can be processed through the Mk3 at incredible speeds. Enough visual data is present that the probability of hidden foes is nearing 100%. Highlighting evidence in orange. And immediately, the world lit in orange. A broken twig, scraped tree trunk, dents in the snow barely visible, chipped icicles. Blue pristine plants, bent at odd angles. All were small, but together they were enough to paint a picture. The assumption they are inorganic comes from your inability to sense any nature-based beings in those spots. Additionally, feeling through Earth magic is possible once-

Cold metal burned like the sun, a second of stinging slit open Luck's neck with a sickening squelch. Whatever it was had clashed with Maxworth in a shower of sparks.

Luck blinked, making a face he had seen others do countless times before him, denial of death, a moment of disbelief. Luck choked, panicking, grasping at his neck. Blood gushed out of his throat, clogging his airways, preventing his breath. Filling his lungs. He rasped, gagging. Pain? Luck had felt it before. But panic? He had never been so sure he was going to die. His lifeblood gushed from him, warm blood exposed to the icy air. He was going to die. Thoughts flashed through his mind. His family. Memories warm as his blood, and cold as the air. In moments, Luck Lockyer would be another carcass.

Immediately he calmed, an almost surreal experience.

He was dying. But he wasn't. His breath was long. He hadn't even needed to take another breath. Why? He was ignoring the pain but only now he realized it was lessening anyway. Luck's mind started working. The Amber Demon didn't panic. His regeneration! He looked to the cushions, splattered in scarlet blood, a pool of the almost mirror red. Troll's Blood. His throat wasn't gushing anymore, only a minute in passing. Flowing was the word, not gushing.

Advance action taken. Chemicals introduced to the brain. Panic is unhelpful during this situation. Enemies outlined in red, proven hostile. Chitin armor cannot be implemented until throat closes up for risk of suffocation.

A clash of sparks reflected in his blood and his mind was pulled back into the moment. He turned around, narrowly avoiding another blade of some swift adversary with an awkward duck. He growled, knowing to use Time magic as a last resort. Too consuming was its mana cost. This fight it seemed would be a marathon rather than a sprint. He could see the rest fighting. He caught only the sight of a fireball and Saga leaping after it. Thunder echoed throughout the mountains, the tinkling of shattering icicles answering the sound.

A slice across his back pushed him forward. The cut was deep and Luck tracked his foe with difficulty. A two-foot tall sphere with two bladed arms and legs. The ringing of metal on metal underlying all the rest of the noise came from Maxworth, dancing around under the awning between three of the sphere-blades. Luck was only meters away.

One landed on the saddle's edge, swiping at the keid's body. Luck twitched.

He tried to yell. Only unnerving gurgling came out. He coughed out blood.

The sphere-blade shot towards him with impressive velocity as if realizing a job undone. Luck caught the thing on his arm, feeling the metal blade strike bone. The thing didn't have enough inertia to slice cleanly through, he could already tell these things were meant to bleed out their enemies. He grabbed the thing by its body and threw it overboard.

Luck grasped upwards and, in tandem, a hand of rock came up and crushed the small sphere. A result from practice in the Grove. It sparked, smoking and broken. Luck's neck was reduced to a deep gash, his arm would be the same in minutes.

"Erok! Ace!" The looked. "Throw them this way if you can!"

Not waiting for their response Luck moved quick and cautiously to Maxworth. Two of the sphere-blades hounded him. Instead of bleeding him, however, they only nicked his own metallic frame, if they even got that close. One deflected off Maxworth's blade and was sent flying towards Luck.

Luck pulled from Saga instantly using his heightened reflexes and claws to catch the sharp sphere. To his surprise, rather than deflecting the ball his claws cut right through to expose wiring and machinery in its design. Odd gems were affixed to its interior, glowing and pulsing a variety of colors. He ignored that as Maxworth smacked another one with the flat of his dagger toward him. That too was sliced cleanly into sixes. He didn't have time for further observation of the scrap metal.

"Lucky!" Ace yelled, blasting one of his own problems with lightning, short-circuiting its programming or whatever governed its actions, while Tric did the same around Nayah to a lesser degree. Ace received a nasty carving to the leg as he knocked one into the middle of the all the keid and towards Luck with a powerful kick.

Luck followed its arc even as it altered its path mid-air through some unknown method. Two pillars of solid rock tracked it, emerging from both sides in an eruption of snow, before smashing it into pieces. That was when Luck saw the multitude of sphere-blades slicing up the keid below, or at least attempting to through their weathered skin. He checked his anger as the keid stomped them into pieces with only a few deep cuts in return. There was a lot of scrap littering the floor, only two of the keids were targeted it seemed and they weren't seriously injured. They had done a good job creating a scrapyard though.

"Come." And the metallic man leaped off the keid without further words.

Luck didn't need any.

Erok was at a stalemate being arguably the most durable and also slowest of the group. Maxworth, similar to Luck's own thinking, left him alone and beelined towards Ace and Nayah. Luck trusted him and went for Saga who was being forced apart from the group and towards a cliff, though intelligently staying out of harms way. Fast instincts and quick muscles allowed him the luxury.

Lead them here into my range Saga. I won't get there in time before they push you off the edge. Luck jogged, watching his footing and surroundings for anything else dangerous. He wasn't naive.

Saga growled, baring his teeth at the five or so sphere-blades surrounding him. I will be there.

They were unflinching in their design and only darted at odd angles going for slight scratches out of danger and yet forcing Saga back with their numbers. Saga lunged forward as one went for him, using a powerful hindleg to kick the sphere-blade off the cliff behind him as he passed. He pounced on a nearby ledge and wasted no time taking a large leap to land by Luck's side, all four trailing behind him at fast speed.

The peak of Luck's current skill was controlling two pillars simultaneously. He stomped hard, raising two pillars of solid grey rock at an angle that crashed into two separate sphere-blades denting them broken before converging on a third and demolishing it like a violent machine press.

The fourth shot like a missile for Luck and he saw its spherical body open up, some type of barrel he didn't see in the previous scrap piles emerging. A point of energy built for a half second. The entire sphere-blade vibrated uncontrollably. Luck didn't like that.

Luck slammed his foot down and pulled on his mana, pumping a fist in the air with extreme effort. He had just the time to see a spread of light orange, erratic bolts exploded from the sphere-blade as it disappeared behind his rising wall. And he was glad he had the wit to do so. He felt the impact of the explosion not only through the wall five feet from him but from the ground too.

Saga regarded Luck, before turning sharply to Nayah screaming. I will help them, Amber Eyes. Quiet One cannot protect the strange girl alone. Already I smell blood.

Go. And the shar did.

Luck sprinted after them, watching his sides and blind spots as he approached. A mental nod to a nearby keid as he got close and it lowered enough for him to jump onto its back without much effort. From there he took short stock of the situation before moving to where he was needed.

Orange points of light surrounded Erok. The same weapon being employed that Luck just experienced. Not good. Not good at all. Already, his mind whirled with ideas.

He needed to think fast.

"A roken does not back down! No less a Rhoride Hammer! I am the pride of both my tribe and company!" He roared, echoes from the mountain answered him as he faced multiple orange bolts of energy.

Suddenly, Luck's chitin formed. His neck had closed up. And a terrible, terrible idea began to form. Three points of light, the most defensible aspect of nature he had, and a roken larger than he was. He would need to cover the explosions from close up.

He grimaced, not knowing what it would do, he pulled heavily on the connection with the hard chitin centipede. Immediately he could feel the armor become more taught as he began to run towards Erok. He jumped down from his own keid and towards Erok's while some type of material formed between his armored plates.

They seem to be impact absorbers, kinetic sponges. Spirit chimed in.

Luck was laser focused. "Erok!" He yelled, running up the keid. "Get back!"

The large warrior smashed a sphere-blade, just one of the many that ganged on him. "I am fine, Druid. Help the others-"

"Now!" Luck yelled, Erok finally looking over at his armor, he paused, a second of hesitation, before locking eyes and diving behind Luck. The roken could recognize urgency.

The two-foot sphere-blades were under the awning of the keid, lined up standing on the edge of the saddle towards the mountainside. An almost devilish tinge to the way they stood. Luck scrambled across cushions. Orange energy vibrated violently, a similar sound to minutes earlier. He cringed, knowing how close he was cutting it. He dove forward, time seeming to slow, so pumped up with adrenaline he was. To actually pause time now might take away his armor.

The sphere-blade furthest from the left tried to move away from Luck's blocking body but he had leaped in such a way that he was horizontal to them, his belly exposed. He hooked that first sphere-blade with his ankle, nothing but a dull scrape on his armor, and yanked it up to chest level. He caught the other two with his arms and shot off the side of the keid encasing the three erratic orange points of energy as best he could. He screamed. Consuming vibrations shook Luck's armor where it was in contact with the orange light. His arms felt like they were melting from the intense shuddering. His chest juddered against the movement. Half a second of that suffering, before it multiplied tenfold.

His world exploded in orange light, blackness surrounded him as unshunnable anguish engulfed him.

How long did he float across a sea of pain? A doomed sailor finding solace on islands of suffering if ever he found them. Luck didn't dream, his body was too taxed to allow him that luxury. Troll's Blood worked around partly liquified arms, rebuilding lost chunks of flesh even as they sloughed off, the chitin armor unable to protect against the explosion. His regenerative smart cells from Exceptional Regeneration worked in the background, facilitating the ludicrous speed of healing. They borrowed energy through Troll's Blood when they could. An injury as complex as liquefied flesh and deep heavy bruising to go with it wasn't something immediately healed. Even with Luck's tools. Add to that, Luck was burned. For anyone else, it was just another type of injury. For Luck, that meant a vastly decreased regenerative quotient.

"Fuck!" Luck screamed, a yell that pierced even the loudest of cries around him. The sound of thunder rolled around him. Growling, shattering metal, high pitched ringing of steel.

His eyes widened, the sudden pain overwhelming his senses. His arms. They raged in phantom pain, spasming, and cramping muscles that didn't exist. Burning. Stinging, aching pain. Suffering. His chest flared as red-hot as his arms did, throbbing as if he got hit with a shotgun. He screamed before it immediately disappeared, another flavor to the cacophony of chaos around him.

He blinked.

He, laying on his side, was privy to the mangled half-carcass of one of their riding keid. Luck had known this one as he breathed heavily. She was the youngest, the most willing to prove herself to her elder keid. He frowned hard, his mouth slipping into a thin line. He tried to move. He couldn't.

Sense of pain dulled. Arms missing 38% of their mass. Loss of limbs through the force of unidentified explosions through the chitin armor. Explosions are of unknown origin, unidentifed reactions caused a blast of beam-like energy. Organic kinetic sponges were insufficient to prevent damage. Burns across chest and parts of the arms. Left leg is broken, irregular breaks with fragments surrounding a shattered knee cap. Burns will prevent expedient healing. It is highly recommended you remain still and await your own personal healing to take over.

Spirit, keep my pain dulled. What's happening around me? How long?

You've been unconscious for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. Longer if not for a release of chemicals in the brain to awake you. New enemies, inorganic, larger, they seem to be taking others hostage or attempting to. No vision of situation.

Luck rolled over with effort. Large, ape-like machines, if they could even be related, lumbered around. He couldn't see anything but he felt the thunder, felt the ozone in the air. He could hear metal denting with a heavy impact in the distance, it had to Ace and Erok, and, more faintly, the spark of steel on steel, Maxworth. Nayah then, had to be with them.

Saga, where are you, friend?

Escaped, Amber Eyes. Quiet One's dragon is with me. We watch from above.

What do you see? I need to know the situation. How many? Describe them.

Many. Watching, from up above. And more coming, Amber Eyes. Angry, heavy. I cannot scratch them this time. it is useless as they are too thick. They are not prey to me, not these. Small ones join them, same from before.

Do you see where they're coming from?

A silence. They are exiting from a cave above, not only one but many. They come from the mountain. But they are not natural Amber Eyes.

No, they're not. And the others?

Quiet One is with the others, encircled, fighting. I could not protect the strange girl. She disappeared on her own. They are tiring, I smell and see their blood from even here. They will give in soon. Only Quiet One has any teeth in this fight I think, the others can do naught but avoid and retreat. No, mistaken, the large one is defeating them too.

And me?

Only two surround you, they are taking remains from the dead beasts we rode. They are ignoring you, Amber Eyes. Sit still, I cannot help you from here. Your healing will save you.

Luck growled, almost beastly. They killed all three? He pushed the emotion back. Focus.

All three are dead.

Luck played dead as Spirit indicated one hostile passing him. Its steps shook Luck's body, lying prone as he was he felt its weight through the floor. He felt its size. He peeked an eye open surveying the field. Shiny metal legs, covered in light frost passed him, mistaking him for dead. Aside from the keid carcass, Luck's eyes sharpened, he was simply on the outside edge of all the commotion from earlier.

Scrap metal lay about the snow-clad landscape, cutting grooves in the otherwise perfectly unbothered snow. Sphere-blades. Some were completely flattened and destroyed, a few acted as statues of metal slammed between two pillars of stone, more mere were simply lying down inactive. That last one had to do with Ace. Around him, he noticed with a surreptitious glance, he found nothing but a small crater of blackened ground. The remains of the little machines Luck defended against were nowhere to be found.

Where was the rest fighting? Luck couldn't see them.

And then Ace was sprinting across the snow, somewhat more agile than Luck could accept. The gorilla-like machine beside Luck alerted onto him immediately. It slammed the ground and propelled itself forward, a heavy inertia to the motion. Ace was running from multiple sphere-blades and now two gorilla bots. He planted his feet and twisted, shooting lightning with a yell muffled by thunder. He was bleeding from the leg, Luck remembering him sacrificing a little to launch a sphere-blade to him with a kick.

Now, Ace Vent limped.

The spheres almost hovered across the now, the points on their blades unbelievably keeping them from sinking into the drift. But behind them, two lumbering machines plowed through the snow towards Ace. More lightning. More thunder. Ace dodged the larger ones, rolling between them and scrambling out of the snow frantically. There was something to his movements that was off though. He should've been moving away, not towards the machines. One of the gorilla bots turned around in a flurry of snow and swung heavily for Ace's head.

With a physical impact, even Luck felt, Erok's great hammer was there.

The large machine's fist shattered. Luck blinked, with a foe that Erok could keep up with, the large roken was demolishing the first while weaving around the second. The movements weren't so much as fast as they were slow and methodical.

In a moment unhindered by other sounds, he heard him yell. "The Rhoride Hammers!"

And then he was upon the next one. Maxworth appeared now, evidently keeping multiple sphere-blades busy. The metallic man backed up slowly keeping himself between Erok and Ace, and the sphere-blades. Luck counted four or five. They moved to quick for him to track. Maxworth deflected two easily, sending one of them into another. He managed to pin one under his foot and stomped hard enough to dent it.

Luck's eyes strained at this distance. He grimaced, unable to help. He pulled on Saga, feeling his body changing subtly. Even with the damage to his arms and his current crippled state he felt no pain. His eyes no longer strained to watch the battle. He could cast magic, unbefuddled as his mind was, while a normal man wouldn't even entertain the idea. Luck was different. Pain didn't fog his mind, it normally didn't. Though currently, this was thanks to Spirit. He could achieve full focus lying here as he could standing elsewhere. Unfortunately, they were out of range.

An unknown enemy posed unknown complications. He couldn't reveal the full extent of his capabilities. Machinery could just as much imply cameras, though Luck couldn't say with certainty they existed in this world. Yet, even so, Luck suspected the reflective eyes of the machines. Whatever these things were doing, they weren't friendly.

Another call of thunder. The mountain lit up in ghostly flashes as mist descended. Above the fog swirled ominously, bothered by the chaos below as if it were a living creature upon which Luck and the rest had trod upon its territory.

Luck watched silently, to all just a man killed in the snow. A sphere-blade approached, cutting pieces off the keid and opening its body, placing it there. Luck's eyebrow rose a fraction. Information gathering? Were these robots similar to the combat drones like Guard? The design was completely different though. Luck would be the first one tell anyone that. These had a more edge and corner design compared to the ancient, almost alien design Guard had. His taste for style and his observant nature came into play.

And they didn't seem electric, Ace would've said something. These were mechanical, yet they were powered by something else. The gems he saw earlier? It was likely and not completely implausible.

He tried to move. They weren't in range of his Earth magic and Nature magic provided no ranged attacking spells. Not yet at least. He grunted softly, only managing to flip over. There was an unpleasant grinding in his broken leg and he stopped moving. He breathed slowly. Deep breaths.

Thunder again. Flashes of light. The hard thumping smash of Erok's hammer. The roken was relentless, advancing on the machines that were twice his size. He was just within Luck's view, fighting among the scrap yard of sphere-blades that the keid had crushed under their feet. Pieces of metal were the arena. Luck twisted, unable to do anything. He grimaced.

Luck craned his neck, feeling for his mana. Cold. The second he felt for that layer of possibility, ice mana surrounded him. Ace and Maxworth came now. They darted around Erok, an endless onslaught of sphere-blades now. Their method of propulsion, still unknown, sent them zipping around and darting in, out and between. Luck likened it to a hurricane of knives, a storm of steel. And in the eye, Maxworth sent sparks flying while Ace blasted three or four away at a time. Erok stood unbothered by the sphere-blades, themselves unable to harm him, or even nick him like they could Maxworth.

Erok bent out of the way of an incoming strike, using the inertia of his great hammer to pull himself away, before swinging back around. The motion was unwieldy, difficult and irregular. Erok had executed it with a master's grace. The gorilla bot was sent to its knees. It's back shattered as Erok spun around, his hammer not even stopping as it collided with another advancing gorilla bot before shattering the downed one.

"You challenge the mightiest, fools!" He roared, shifting his hands lower on the grip, spinning it without loss of momentum.

Still out of range. Luck grimaced again. He hated feeling useless. But... Luck knew the value in waiting. In sitting back and having patience.

He searched himself internally. They had no use for a liability in this fight. Luck knew the dangers, the difficulty of when someone had to be protected during a skirmish. Innocents, usually. At least, in the city it was. It had never been him though. He latched onto what he sought in his internal search. No less than a few seconds now. He had much practice over the course of the trip through the Hydr Dunes.

Saga, are there any eyes on me?

He could feel Saga growl in approval, knowing instinctually Luck's intent. I see nothing, Amber Eyes. Hurry back.

He looked to the fighting once more, they would tire eventually. Luck had to help somehow, but he couldn't do it in his current state. The enemies they fought were endless, relentless. They had minutes.

Luck had at least triple that to heal and recoup.

A portal opened on the ground beside Luck, a soothing green mist hovering above a tiled pool of undisturbed crystal water was visible through it.

Luck rolled over, flopping into the water of his healing spring.

"Welcome back, Master Luck." Evodim's voice came immediately, as smooth as the water Luck fell into. "There are changes to the dimensional room I would like to address."