"The Inquisition!?" Roana thundered.

Alistar was taken aback; he was not someone easily surprised, or maybe he hid it really well, but now he sincerely didn't expect Aisha to say something of the like.

"Yeah, the Inquisition. That's some of what it deals with. Also, it could work with the plan Loke and I have… come up with," the Flow-blessed Sundoorian explained.

"The plan? Now I'm curious, do explain," said Alistar.

Aisha was happy to go to great lengths to tell the others what we had decided upon.

"I don't know…" Roana said, "We killed people in front of you, your people. Why would you cover for us? I... don't understand..."

"First thing first, I'm not a judge nor a jury, I don't get to decide who and how should be punished; second, I don't consider Sundoorian to be my people; I'm Half-Elf, you know? I consider every single one of those living in the Wastelands as my people. And third, all considering, you are not exactly bad guys. Maybe a bit extreme, but then again… Sundoor has shed your blood aplenty. I could understand if you wanted to take revenge," she emphasized the next words. "Although I don't consider you bad people, by no means do I consider what you've done the way things should be handled. What Loke has done could have been avoided yes... you might have all gotten killed at the hands of those group of fanatics. Still… there could have been better roads to take," she sighed. "I don't want you to get arrested or executed. I want you guys to live, no matter how you see me."

Roana studied her for long, "What's in it for you? And don't tell me there's nothing you get from this."

Aisha smiled meekly, "I get that I will have fostered peace between us; I could enforce closeness from the people of Sundoor and the villagers, maybe even the nomads if we play our cards right. I get that I'll be on the news, I'll be one step ahead on my objective of acquiring what I desire: oneness for Sundoor's Wastelands… then maybe, one day, peace between the Humans and the Elves."

A moment of silence ensued.

“It wasn't a bad thing that you got a plan, although a very noble ambition… it’s quite unlikely,” Alistar was serious.

I already knew Aisha was not doing it only for our sakes, but that still made her objective a noble quest.

If anything, she was the first person from Sundoor that I had known and that I could define as such. Not a Flow-blessed, not just a Sundoorian citizen, not a bastard. A person.

"I'm okay with it," I decided.

"Loke! Really?" Roana cried out.

Alistar laughed, "I agree!"

"You too!? What in the Abyss has gotten over you!?"

"Ro, listen, this person is a boon for us. If she does really manage to reach somewhere high... if the damn Sun Emperor pays her ear, we might have the first chance in the Wasteland’s history to change things. To make things right! If she reaches her objective, we all win. We all prosper!"

"He's right, and you know it," Alistar said to Roana.

She tsked, "I know… I know, it's just that… look at her! She a Flow-blessed, she's a Sundoorian; they lie, and cheat, and kill, and buy us, and fucking rape us, they enslave us and have us killed when we don't fit their agendas. How can you trust her!?" She was raging by the end of her outburst.

"You are describing Sundoorians perfectly. But I'm not trusting just a Sundoorian. I'm trusting a person," I said, "She could have killed me down there, enclosed in that little space where we hid, inside of the tunnel. She could have vaporized me, got out from the cave on the other side, and returned to Sundoor, bypassing you entirely. She didn't. Nor did she do it now. Why do you think that is?"

Roana choked on whatever word she was about to say, so I answered my own questions.

"Because she's a better person than I am, that's for sure. We can't paint everyone with the same brush, Ro. There are people from Sundoor that might be better than us; others just like us. But in the end, what distinguishes us, is just the place where we are born, the people we have around…” once, those same words had been said to me by my grandfather, “nothing else..."

Roana cried silently after that. I did not understand why she did that. However, Aisha got close to her and took her into a hug; she shrugged it off at first; she fought to push her away, but, in the end, she gripped tight to her and cried her heart out.

Alistar looked like he was about to cry too, but then he sobered up.

We had to fight a couple of packs of wolves because of Ro’s outburst, but Loki and I swiftly took care of them. It was night; after all, it was my reign, and being on the Wastelands' region side of the Wide Peaks, the wolves' levels were relatively low.

It was only soon later, at the first hours of dawn, when we woke up, that we finalized Aisha's plan. We would have to get her to somewhere the Inquisition would easily find her, or more precisely, somewhere from which we could find the Inquisition. But before that, I was already a wanted man. I had to take care of my appearance, and to do that; I wanted to test something out. Something that my new Technomantic Body Perk had made me think was possible.

The others prepared for our trip in the desert; we would have to fix Aisha's boots, and the only option to do that was by using wolves pelts. So I let Ro borrow my Spectre's Dignity for working the hides while I dove into the realm of my Perception.

"I just need to try something out," I sat down then, closing my eyes.

Before I did that, I briefly checked on my new in-Promotion Skill's experience.

Skill points for Animal Instincts Skill Promotion:

- Animal Instincts Major Perk: 16/2000

- Animal Instincts Minor Perk: 137/1000

Being the Passive Perk already maxed, I wasn't interested in it.

The Major perk had made plodding progress, likely because my friend or my pet hadn’t really been in danger, which was weird since Aisha and I had saved each other from the Titan Sand-Wyrm then again, I noticed at that moment why it hadn't really increased much.

A few hours prior, I did not really consider Aisha a friend, while now I did. I smiled to myself, happy with that revelation.

Finally free of other thoughts, I focused on feeling the Shade binding my implants.

My first concern was the implant by my temple. It was only a metal plaque, but did I need it? Was it incurable? I knew that given time, bones regenerated. It wasn't like I had lost an eye or anything.

I could try.

I started pulling at the thread of Shade connected to my head. It did not hurt.

I realized it was doable.

So, ever gently, I kept pulling; slowly, cautiously, I pulled on the Shade bond.

When there was nothing left to pull, I focused on something else.

I tested and tried them all, all my implants.

If it hurt, I decided that it could not be fixed.

The fingers hurt; they could not regrow, period. The two implants in my back did not hurt, fixable. So I did it.

The knee that hurt, I had to stick with it, damn.

Moving on to my ribs, they hurt; because I had lost them entirely, they did not grow back, not fixable.

My femur… it did not hurt. Out with it. I focused on the string of Shade, pulling at it slowly until it disappeared entirely, and I felt my thigh in perfect conditions. Although weaker for now.

What else was there? Nothing. I had tried them all; how many remained still?

My left arm, two fingers, three ribs, knee. Seven, seven implants, four down from the eleven I had before. My Bonus Constitution might have dropped because of that, but who cared?

I was happy with the results, and when I opened my eyes, dawn had turned into the morning; it was at least eighth bell, and everyone was looking at me.

"What in the Abyss did you do, hummie?" Alistar asked. Roana was as wide-eyed as him, and so was Aisha.

"What? I healed a few things, see?" I touched my face, it felt very smooth, like fresh skin.

I got up, feeling a little faint, but with everything working correctly.

"You were so weird; your face was like… eating the metal plaque from the inside out, and growing over it, it was… disgustingly appealing," Alistar said.

"Well, thank you. I like being disgustingly appealing."

"Come on, don't kid yourself now. You are charming at best, and that's in your best days. You are not prince stunning," he hit back, causing the two girls amused laughter.

I grinned, "It's not like you are a spectacle to look at, Star."

"Oh, I'll let you know that I'm very fascinating for a Kobold, like very. Mom always says I'm a Koboldizer."

I couldn't help but laugh at his stupid joke, but anyway, it was high time we got on with our plan; we had wasted enough time, well, I had.

Yet, at least now, even those that had seen this so-called wanted poster could not say who I was at first glance. Ideally, the identity that the nun had shared of me would not look exactly like me now.

My eye was back to normal, and so was my head, and although I did not believe she had noticed my backbone implants or the one on my femur, the difference between the man on the picture and me would be remarkable.

The now absent left arm could give me away, and so would Tracing if someone actually stopped and analyzed my case. Still, it was better than looking exactly like the picture displayed.

We ventured back in the Wasteland region, cutting through the Drylands, making a turnabout on the south side of the western region's borders.

We would reach Fallen Kingdom's territory in a couple of days at the pace we were going and likely stopped at Logan’s.

I did not know if we should have pulled him into the situation. Logan was likely going to kill me for having put his daughter in danger all the same. However, borrowing his Flow-cart was the fastest way to get Aisha back to Sundoor, without having to pass through Sand-Dragon's territory or meeting opportunistic nomads that might go crazy seeing Aisha's appearance.

There was enough blood on my hands; spilling that of my own people, as well, was something I just didn't want to do; I would really go crazy if I were forced to.

The only problem would be the water; there were plants from which we could squeeze some as long as we stayed on the border with the Wide Peak's region.

We could definitely do it.

And so it was that without imposing problems, we got back to our territory; it took us three days, but we managed it.

"There it is," I called, pointing into the distance.

The morning sky was clear, and overall the weather was really too warm for my new standards, "That's the clock-engineer's house. He's a good person."

"Though he can be kind of an ass at times, he's doing it on purpose. He seems to like it that way," Alistar added.

"He lives there with her daughter, Harlow. My Harlow."

I did not know if Aisha understood what I meant by that, but if she did, she didn't give notice.

I stopped after a second, my hair stood on end, and my Perception significantly spiked. It could only mean one thing: we were in trouble.

My eyesight wandered toward the lower level of the net, where a Flow-cart, a massive Flow-cart, was parked.

Given its colors and since it was the middle of the day, time in which delvers were actively hunting in the Dungeon, that type of Flow-cart could only belong to one group. Sunguards, or even more likely, the Inquisition.

"Somebody's there," I said, "there's a Flow-cart down the hill."

"You're right," Roana answered; there was anxiety in her voice.

"Don't panic," Aisha intervened, "We already know what we are going to say. Just let me handle it. You be nice and act dumb."

"I'm good at acting dumb," Alistar joined in.

"Oh, you are too good at acting dumb, you should actually tone it down a little, or you might get people confused," she answered.

"Damn… hit and sunk, lady…"

"Alright, then, I'll lead the way," Aisha said.

"Well, no, you actually can't unless you want to get zapped. Just follow my steps, okay?"

"Oh right, the net," Roana said. "Almost forgot about it."

"What net?" Aisha asked.

"A net planted in the ground to zap intruders senseless. Once, Alistar pissed himself when he got caught in it."

"Hey, I did not get caught in the net when I soiled myself! It was… well, maybe getting caught in the net would have been more honorable now that I think about it."

Joking around to relieve the tension, we made our way through the plains and reached the hill; we climbed it, deciding that it was better to get in contact with the engineer and fake that we had not seen the Inquisition's Flow-cart.

When we neared the house, what we found by the table outside in the open, was… weird, at best.

Logan drinking lightly with a Flow-blessed man, a Sunguard; no. Judging from his burgundy and amber tunic interwoven with Sunguard armor said that the man belonged to the Inquisition.

I Traced him, knowing I wouldn't be discovered.

Cyrus Mustafa, Flow Vanguard Level 70 (Max/7.000.000), General Level 70 (Max/7.000.000)

Health: 300%

Stamina: 295%

Flow Capacity: 100%

Agility: 30

Constitution: 40

Strength: 45

Focus: 25

Perception: 20

Willpower: 45

Strengths: Combat Experience, Combat Forms, Constitution, Flow Metal Body, Solar Sword, Strength, Thermodynamics, Willpower, Inquisitor, Rank

Weaknesses: Family

Class Skills: Light Draw (Agility), Flow Metal Body V (Constitution), Solar Sword (Strength), Thermodynamics V (Focus), Flow Control V (Willpower),

Sub-Class Skills: Your Body, Our Body V (Constitution), One for All V (Strength), Planning V (Focus), Of one Mind V (Perception), Speech V (Willpower),

Race: Human

Sex: Male

Height: 184 cm

Weight: 102 kg

Age: 54

Origins: Sundoor

Family: Aryawin Szariella, Aisha Mustafa

What stood in front of me was nothing else but a monster.

That man was a bastion of power. If I ever had to face such a being, all that I would be able to do was just would be nothing else but cower in fear or beg for my life.

He exuded might; sheer power perspired from his skin. And with that Skill level he had, he must have had more Flow Stars than Nova did.

If that wasn’t enough, he had somehow unlocked the ability to Store Flow inside of his body, like Magicians, and his Health and Stamina were above the threshold; I had never seen something like that; it was just an unbelievable display of might.

"So, that's how strong a Sunguard really is…" I whispered to myself. How, for all the depths of the Abyss, did I manage to kill one? Or was he special even among them?

"That's… my father," Aisha realized; she was as surprised as we were, if not more.

Her father was amiably talking with a man we knew as if they were long-time friends.

He was giving us his back. However, Logan could see us, and he reacted once he noticed our approach.

"What in the Sun's name..." He said, slowly getting up, but likely understanding what was going on, he continued.

"Loke? What are you doing here?" Logan managed to add to his swearing just in the nick of time.

But when the other man turned our way, he let go of his drink and dashed at us, sweeping Aisha from her feet into a hug.

It was an emotional moment, and the shouting summoned even Harlow, likely working on her tech and dressed in her usual white shirt, exposing her arms entirely.

She looked like a mess, there were bags under her eyes, and she was covered in oil. I could feel the smell of metal from here.

She had likely been working on something up until now.

But seeing the situation and my eyes that pleaded for her understanding, she did not act out of character.

It was a long shot to arrive at the following conclusion, but it was likely that the Inquisition had not acquired any information on us and was likely scouting for everything that could help them find Aisha.

So… we were saved, for now.

We just needed to play our cards right and have faith in Aisha.

After their minute of family intimacy, Cyrus turned his attention to us, "Isha, are these people your friends?"

That was the crucial moment. I knew that at that point, we were all trembling like leaves on a branch on a windy day, all of us.

I could see Aisha having a second of doubt.

Her eyes shadowed by some calculation, and for a moment, just for a moment, I thought we were done for.

But then, she answered, "Yes, father. They saved me from my kidnappers. When they luckily found me, I was about to…" she shook her head, "But they found me. And got… rid of them."

"A young man, a young woman, and a Kobold… what a peculiar coincidence…" he said.

"What coincidence?" Aisha asked.

"The same composition of the team that made that massacre, that's what most of the reports say," he answered. His voice was not big and heavy like that of a General would sound like in my imagination. Instead, it was soft, even sweet, one might say.

"I don't know about the reports, but the people that took me were two young men, although one looking rather feminine and a very big Koboldess. I understand how it might look at first glance, but it wasn't so," she said, shaking her head.

She was very convincing, if that was a perk of having a Politician Sub-Class, then she could likely have me fooled whenever she wanted.

"They brought me to Cyclopses' territory; I doubt you'll find any remains in there, but that's where my friends got rid of them. These people were on a quest to scout some weird nomads' activity when they found me; they've even got to report these weird activities."

"Really? I shall hear them, then just… not now, I still need to hug you a little more," he said, taking her into another suffocating hug.

"I can vouch for them if it helps," Logan added. "These children are good people; they want to become delvers. They might even do it at the rate they are going."

"Oh, really? God knows we need more delvers. But tell me, where do you come from? One of the villages by the Murk mountains?"

I was the first to answer, following the script.

"I'm Loke, sir. I come from Murkstall; son of war veterans. My little sister lives there too. This one is my best friend, Alistar; he comes from Murkstall, as well."

"Alistar!" Said the General, "that's a huge name! Are you sure you can live up to your parent's expectations, Alistar?"

Star pumped his arm in the air, "I'll become the new Juggernaut, you'll see. Although I won't hail from the south," he added with a smile.

"And who is the young lady?"

"I'm Roana sir; I live in Little Bush. Pleased to make your acquaintance." She bowed slightly, and he followed her moves.

"From Little Bush, eh?" He asked, then scratching his chin, he spoke in Elvish to her, to which Roana was taken aback but answered, surprising Aisha as well.

"Then I guessed right; you must be that Lady of the Forest's daughter? I've… You see, I read a report a few months ago. A young woman is making herself a name on the war front, a certain Leafy, they called her the Daughter of the Forest, but the reports don't say why. I know about her origins though, she’s a daughter of the Half-Elf called Jane Varriel. Which should make her your... acquired sister?."

Roana shook but then nodded, "Leafy? Is she okay? She's thriving? Oh, Sun be praised!" she said excitedly.

The General smiled at her. "She's doing very well; although the state of the war is not part of my workload any longer, I like being always updated on it."

It hit me like a bolt from the blue, "Do you have… do you have any knowledge about Eleanor and Faris Nightfold!?" I almost shouted at him.

The General seemed taken aback; he turned toward Logan, "That was, actually, why I've come here to speak with Logan. Who are you, son?"

"He's their child," Logan answered, sternly.

He had come here to speak about them to Logan? Why, for what reason? And why did a General come in person?

"Oh, that explains the knife."

The knife! I hadn't even thought about it! How could I have forgotten? And he had noticed it!

"Anyway, I'm sorry to say, kid, but your parents have gone missing in action. We did not know the state of things, but they disappeared during an important mission roughly six months ago. Their bodies have not been found. Again, I'm sorry."

That statement brought all my hopes up, then violently sent them crashing down, sending me straight in the Abyss with them.

My parents had been alive until six months ago, they never came back, and then they died…?

What the fuck...