Kliss noticed that I was staring at her while talking to Delta.

“Yes?” She inquired with a grim look.

“We should take a break and relax for the rest of the day,” I said. “I’ve had enough near-death experiences for one day.”

“Right… relax.” Kliss looked at her mud-splattered dress. “What does this ‘relax’ entail, Sir Almighty Wizard? Got any more Inian artefacts you plan to poke? Or maybe you’re going to ask me to wrestle with a dragon? Any more genius ideas to torment or plans to horribly injure me?”

“No,” I sighed at her brutal sarcasm. “We’re done work for the day.”

She looked at me suspiciously, probably expecting this to be some sort of a trick.

“How about you pick something?” I said. “I don’t really know what you like. What would you like to do to relax?”

“A drink at the Fox & Fiddle would be nice right about now,” she muttered.

“Excellent,” I said. “Then how about I buy you dinner?”

“What?” Kliss choked.

“What?!” Delta buzzed from above indignantly.

“You… just died because of me. I’d like to make it up to you,” I said, trying to ignore two annoyed glares.

“I feel very offended right now, just so you know.” Delta commented.

“Why?” I looked up at the beehive.

“She died for a minute once and you’re already pampering her! Do you know how many times I almost died saving your ass? DO YOU?!” The beehive vibrated ominously.

“Urm, no I don’t… I’m sure that it was a lot,” I gulped. “What would you like to do to relax, Delta?”

“I’d like to sting you right about now, is what I’d like to do!” She huffed.

I sighed. “Delta, I’m sorry… Look, I know I can get… rather over-focused at times. Far too often, I see you as an extension of myself, as my right arm or my right brain hemisphere… and not as a separate person with needs.”

Kliss looked at our conversation with interested, albeit tired eyes. I could see her mental-gears turning. She was undoubtedly trying very hard to figure out what Delta was and who I was based on the various clues.

“Pack up a piece of the hive, the bees are coming too,” Delta growled.

“You still don’t trust her?” I asked. “Think she’s going to stab me again?”

“I don’t trust YOU, Dante,” she replied. [You somehow managed to kill Kliss in six minutes!]

[It was an accident,] I sighed.

[I also feel that this was an excessive waste of a Rewind.] She remarked. [That was more than a decade of mana. The Astral Engine underneath the Alan house gathers approximately five thousand mana per year into the last two functional batteries. We only have ONE more chance left with the second battery, if we dig it out that is. If we waste it, we’ll be out of restarts for a VERY long time!]

[Not if we can fix the Obelisk under the house… or get the huge batteries under this tower to acknowledge us.] I sent back.

[You and I both know that we lack the necessary data to fix the Obelisk under the cottage. It might take us months or even years to fix it,] Delta sighed. [You still behave as if you’re this unstoppable Soviet man who can do anything without consequences. Well, you can’t. There are consequences. You keep dying and I’m the one who keeps bringing you back at the cost of my own life. I’m not a deus ex machina from the French play Andromeda that can magically solve all of your problems. I’m hurting in ways you can’t even comprehend because you’re not a homomagicus! I am running ragged, losing my intelligence, memories and strength. You’re not in the USSR anymore, Dante! The local Empire isn't on your side!]

[I know,] I replied.

[Do you really?! Tell me - what the hell kind of a scientist are you?]

[Um? A magical-researcher?] I raised an eyebrow.

[A magical idiot is what you are! You're behaving like a child! Activating an unknown artifact and grabbing it! A proper scientist mitigates dangerous factors, protects themselves and others around them! You're playing with fire while relying on the limited use "get out of jail" card of the Rewind. Did you touch viruses in your lab with bare hands? DID YOU?!] She yelled exasperatedly.

I frowned. She was right. I was behaving… carelessly, taking unnecessary risks. I didn’t think that the hex-beacon core would hurt me, pull my soul apart. I didn't even consider Kliss' words about the dangers of necro-mage tech.

[Are you acting like this because you’ve suffered no consequences for blowing yourself up? Omniscience won’t save you again!] She growled.

[I... I get it. I'll be more careful next time,] I replied with a sigh.

“Are you talking to Delta?” Kliss inquired. “Is she berating you for being an idiot?”

I nodded.

“Good,” the redhead noted. “What did you even gain by poking that old necromag core? Did you perchance get stronger? Smarter, maybe? Was it worth it?”

I sighed.

“See, even the idiot Overseer agrees with me,” Delta buzzed from the small piece of the honeycomb beehive that I broke off the large hive above the tent.

I stuffed the honeycombs into my dad’s backpack. Delta seemed to have found some common ground with Kliss. Unfortunately for me, this common ground was berating me.

“Delta, do you mind talking out loud more, so I can feel less like a third wheel?” Kliss inquired.

“Not sure if I want to reveal more of our terrible secrets to you,” Delta said. “You might have proven yourself by sacrificing yourself to heal my very dumb brother… but that doesn’t mean you won’t try to call the Empire and fess everything up one day in the future.”

“I swear to never reveal your terrible secrets to anyone,” Kliss replied.

“A promise like that is not going to stop you from blabbing.” Delta pointed out.

“The Friendship Vow will stop me from blabbing!” Kliss insisted. “You do understand how fractured my soul is at this point? If the Vow pulls it enough in the right direction, I WILL die. Even if I wasn’t under the Vow to the Alan family, I’ve made a conscious choice, a decision to be with you… because you’re the only people offering me any hope. So, I’m going to stand against an Empire one hundred million Citizens strong. I’m going to stick with it, even if the odds are not in my favor. I’m done being bound!”

“Reeeeeeally?”

“Really, damn it! At this point I’d rather die than keep going as Equality's little puppet!” Kliss spat, glaring at the hive.

“Fair enough,” Delta fell silent.

“I’m going to stop at the Church to… change and also to get a charged battery for my armacus,” Kliss said as we left the tower.

“Sure,” I said. I had already changed in the tent, but my face undoubtedly still looked grimy.

“We’ll wait in your office,” Delta insisted.

“Still think I’m going to call the Empire?” Kliss sighed.

“Better be safe than sorry!” Delta announced. “Also, assign us to the ward so we don’t get zapped.”

“Don’t you have a Master-Key you took from me twelve years ago?” Kliss inquired, looking at the amulet hanging from my neck.

“It’s hard to wear a necklace when you’re bees, idiot.” Delta shot back.

“Right… you’re bees… of course,” Kliss squinted at the backpack on my shoulders.

Kliss emerged out of her bedroom looking spotless and wearing a long red and black dress. Her curly, red hair shined in evening light falling from the stained glass windows of the church office. I had no idea how she got so clean so quickly, since I didn't even hear any sound of running water. She looked me over.

“I’m not going to the Fox with you looking like a dirty mutt,” she said. “Raise your arms.”

I raised my arms, looking at her curiously. She aimed the armacus at my chest. “I’m going to fire a cleaning spell at you, okay?”

“Ah, yeah, go ahead,” I nodded. “That reminds me - I have no idea what’s in your armacus. Would be handy to know exactly what spells it contains.”

Kliss pressed the trigger, a hexagram ignited at the front of the device and a brilliant, pink spell slammed into me. I felt as if a thousand microscopic, invisible explosions detonated on me. My skin became pristine, exfoliated as bits of dirt turned into ashes and flew off me. My clothes became spotless and the muddy streaks vanished from my fingers.

“That was pretty neat,” I commented.

“That was... a cleaning spell based on a modified Destruction spell,” Delta noted.

As we walked to the Fox and Fiddle, the only pub in Skyisle, Kliss listed the spells on her armacus 99.

The magitek tool contained active spells such as: [Identify], [Detect Adversaries], [Clean], [Unlock], [Destruction], [Sword], [Knife], [Shield], [Heal], [Water], [Fire], [Ice], [Lethargy], [Soul-repair], [Calm], [Message], [Mana-Sight], [Levitation] and [Truth-Sense]. It also had a passive, constantly active rune [Phantom-Sight], which allowed her to see big, dangerous Phantoms and [Anti-Spy] which made the armacus and its wearer un-scannable.

Basically, it held everything that an Imperial Legionnaire like her might require.

"The Armacus is bound to my soul," she explained as we walked to the pub. "Even if I wanted to, I am unable to gift or resell it. It comes with two batteries - each one designed to work for the Armacus and nothing else. The Artificers that make them are only allowed to sell them to Overseers or other type of Legionnaires."

"How high level do the spells on this tech go?" I asked. "If you had more money would you be able to purchase an armacus 200 for example?"

"I do not know how high they can go," Kliss shook her head. "The Artificers do not share their secrets. I was only allowed to purchase this model because of ten years of noble service I performed for the Empire. Artificers have a Vow on their soul not to sell an armacus to someone who hasn't proven themselves."

"An interesting model of fairness," I nodded. "The peasantry isn't allowed guns."

"What's a gun?" Kliss asked.

"Never mind that," I replied. "How much mana is in each battery?"

"Nine hundred mana," Kliss replied.

So, the Armacus contained nearly the equivalent amount to the ultimate LV 20 Insect-Destruction spell cast by my mom. Since all of the spells in it were LV 99 and used less than a single mana, Kliss could fire Destruction or Healing spells from it for a while. That was how the Empire took over Skyisle so quickly… we didn't seem to have such excellent magitek. Skyisle was probably just a tiny Alanian outpost which was heavily devastated a thousand years ago by... a Basque warship, whoever the Basque were.

"How were you able to cast such a potent wide-area Rewind?" Kliss inquired.

"Runestones," I said. "Powered by a big mana container."

"Hrmmm," she mulled, looking impressed.

We arrived at the Fox and Fiddle pub. The old building buried halfway in the ground emerged in front of us as we turned a corner on a lantern-doted path leading from Longwoods Road. Round doors and windows peered from the mossy cliffside, surrounded by lush arboreal forest. A large wooden sign hung from the front depicting a jolly fox playing a fiddle and dancing.

We came inside and sat at an empty booth. The pub was mostly empty, save for a couple of patrons in a distant corner. It was a bit too early for dinner and the laborers and farmers of Skyisle preferred to dine at home, unless it was a special occasion or a celebration. The wide, rotund room dotted with round windows had held many weddings and Soul-Song parties in its past, the wooden planks of the floor worn out by dancing feet.

"Heeey folks, what can I getcha?" A purple-haired, pink-eyed girl inquired as she bounced to our table. I knew her name, just as I knew the names of many people in Skyisle. Magenta Novika Skyisle was the third cousin of Kovac twice removed. She was fourteen and worked at the pub owned by her family.

"Eyyy Dante!" She winked. "And who's that you're wi…"

Her smile faltered momentarily and her words failed her as she looked at my companion.

"O-overseer… always a pleasure to have you in the F-Fox!" Magenta stammered out with a deep bow.

She glanced back at me, curiosity dancing in her pink eyes. She obviously had no idea what I was doing with the Overseer and why. I wondered if she suspected that I was a turncoat like Wiklogg, a little mouse that was whispering information to our Imperial Overlords about everything in Skyisle.

"What'll it be?" She asked with a crooked smile.

"A bottle of wine, at least five years old," Kliss muttered. "And a Blood Elk steak… medium rare with some mashed potatoes."

"With pleasure!" Magenta nodded. "...and for your companion?" She didn't even spare me a glance as she asked the question, believing the Overseer to be my boss.

"I'll take your finest wine," I said. "Also, a steak and some fried potatoes."

Magenta froze. She blinked at me and then looked at the Overseer.

"She's with me," I said. "Not the other way around. I'm paying. I owe her one."

Magenta's mouth opened wide. "Whaaa…" She blinked rapidly as if she was concussed.

Kliss nodded tiredly. I winked at Magenta.

"Alriiiiighty then," the barmaid curtsied. "I'll be back with your wine."

She retreated into the kitchen, firing bewildered glances back at me.

"Who are you trying to impress?" Delta asked from the backpack.

"Nobody," I replied. "What's wrong with a good time with my friends? You don't think I deserve to try some Ishikarian wine for once?"

"I'm not impressed for one, because that's probably my money you are spending." Kliss frowned.

"Nope," I showed her four gold coins in a small pouch.

"Hm?" she blinked at the shiny coins. "Did you spend the Imperial I gave you and get change?"

"Nope. Here is what I borrowed," I poured the twelve coins that she gave me a week ago into her hand from another cloth bag.

She glanced at the coins in her hand and then at my four gold. "What?"

"Money makes money," I said sagely without explaining anything.

Her left eye started to twitch.