Octavius yawned as he sat up slightly, bracing himself on his right elbow. With a grimace, he shook out his left hand, trying to dispel the pins and needles that came as a result of sleeping on it. Cracking his neck, he peered into the pink and blue sky and judged it to be within an hour of sunset.

Sighing, he levered himself up to a sitting position and looked out over the alien landscape below. The forest was a nearly blinding mass of whites and greys that reflected the local star’s rays directly into his eyes. Well, I guess it’s not late enough for the leaves to come out, he noted.

Wiping away the sweat that coated his brow, he slowly funneled mana into the huntsman’s cloak. A smile crept onto his face as the pricks of hunger from his stomach faded before vanishing entirely. Maybe the cloak was the best option out of the three.

As soon as he situated himself in a more comfortable position, he began to plan his next move. The one conversation that he’d overheard the previous night had given him a possible lead on getting back to Earth. With little more than a theory, however, he knew that he needed more information before he could come up with a real plan of action.

Alright, so that’s what I’ll do, he decided, The two Ulindre… Ulindres? The two aliens said that three of ‘them’ had been found on the lower levels and they are planning to search ‘The Great Below,’ whatever that is. I know that I merely appeared in the middle of nowhere. So, assuming the thralls did appear in a similar manner, they could be spread across the plant. Still, I don’t have the ability to just search the forest for the chance of finding a specific thrall. The means that this Great Below will likely be my best chance.

The way he saw things, the lower levels and the Great Below could fit into two groups of places. The first one was that the lower levels that the aliens spoke of were merely the bottom floors of the spire and that the Great Below was whatever was carved into the mountain. That, however, didn’t fit with the fact that finding thralls in the lower levels would prompt a search of the Great Below.

By his reckoning, the second pairing made much more sense. The lower levels were part of the mountains, and the Great Below was something even deeper than that. Either way, he needed more information. It was a good thing, then, that he knew where to get it. The alien lord had ordered a group formed to search the Great Below, and Octavius knew when they would meet. All that he needed to do was figure out where.

Looking out over the alien forest as it was illuminated by the setting sun, he tried to puzzle out where it would be. Even though the spire was large, he had inspected a significant portion of its surface during his search for shelter the previous night.

It’s likely safe to assume that this group will require transport back down to the surface, he noted, Beyond that, if the group is larger than a mere handful of members, they’ll need more than a single hovercraft to carry them all.

Thinking back on his explorations, he marked off three places on his mental map of the spire. Each was one of the large hovercraft bays that he’d encountered. There was one on the lower half of the spire, the one he’d seen when he was sneaking up to the spire the previous night. The other two were each placed at the middle and the upper half of the spire, respectively.

While he hadn’t been able to survey the entire spire, he’d circumnavigated it enough times that he doubted that he missed any large hovercraft bays. Now he just needed to guess which bay the meeting would be in.

The lord’s residence was closest to the bay in the middle of the tower, so that’s probably the most likely bet, he decided, but it could be in either of the other bays…

A frown creased his features as he did some quick mental calculations. If he moved quickly, he could travel from the lower bay to the middle one in a dozen and a half minutes. Moving back down, however, would take significantly longer. That meant that if he were to be lucky, he could investigate two of the bays. The problem with that was the ambiguity that came with the time of the meeting.

The alien had said that it would be at local midnight, which would be difficult to approximate without any experience with the planet’s astronomy. The lack of any timer in the system to help him with it only added to his troubles. After a moment’s consideration, he realized that he would just need to pick the bay that was most likely and stake it out.

Well, I may as well get moving as soon as darkness falls, he thought as he began to gather what little supplies he had that weren’t affixed to his person. Soon, the black leaves sprouted from the trees below, and the last vestiges of pink left the sky.

Moving nimbly, he began to climb up toward the docking bay in the middle of the spire. As he climbed, he took care to test each handhold before trusting it with his weight. His superhuman strength made the physical aspect of the climb incredibly simple. Even so, he knew that one unexpectedly loose handhold could send him plummeting to the ground far below. Then, even with his superhuman abilities, he would, in all likelihood, die alone, a universe away from the nearest other human.

Soon, his climb was guided by the stars above. Hand over hand, he quickly approached the docking bay. After listening for a long moment to confirm its lack of occupants, he peeked his head over the ledge.

Inside, he found three hovercrafts floating listlessly two feet above the ground. A large closed door marked the singular entrance to the docking bay. Beyond that, the alcove was bare of anything of interest beyond a series of stone stairs that led to each of the magical hovering disks.

Concentrating, he reached into the surrounding area with his mana manipulation skill. Even though he couldn’t see a visible force field, that didn’t mean that there wasn’t some type of magical alarm. Frowning, he followed the lines of mana as they were revealed to him. Many lined the walls and the floor, but there was no sign of any in the air.

Satisfied that there wasn’t an alarm that he could detect, he lifted himself into the docking bay. With a broad smile, he took a couple of steps forward and began to stretch. He hadn’t had the opportunity to simply stand up for nearly an entire alien day.

After a few moments, he frowned and approached the nearest hovercraft. There was no way that he could get off of the spire on his own, meaning that he’d have to stow away again. On the other hand, things would be considerably easier for him if he could learn how to operate one of them.

Kneeling in front of it, he swept his hands over it. It was thin, only a quarter of a foot thick, and made of some type of dull metal. Now that he had at least a good while before midnight, he could take some time to inspect it.

Hovercraft (Rare) - An enchanted disk of hemitalia, a soft, light metal with above-average magical conductivity. It can ferry passengers to and from designated locations.

With a frown, Octavius read and reread the text. Designated locations, he noted, that probably means that it can’t be flown like one would drive a car. I wonder where it gets its power from? I mean, it’s just hovering in place.

Adding the thought to his long list of questions regarding magic, he searched for anything that stood out as somewhere to input a destination. After going over it both visually and through his mana manipulation skill multiple times, he discovered nothing. With a frown, he peered under it.

The only light in the room came from the magical orb on the ceiling that glowed with a soft blue light. That, however, meant that the areas underneath the hovercrafts were hidden in pitch-black shadows. A brief glimpse with his shadow sense revealed that there was nothing but air underneath the smooth underside of the alien hovercraft.

With a sigh, he realized that he was within the calm before the storm, so to speak. While he was in the bay to gather information, he’d also use the opportunity to return to the planet’s surface below. From there, he’d have to play it by ear.

He worried at his lower lip as he came to the conclusion. Every bit of special operations training he had screamed at him that he needed more intel and a plan of action with multiple fail-safes and contingencies. Unfortunately, he was a lone operator on a hostile planet. He could only do his best to keep up with his ever-changing circumstances and stay alive.

As he eyed the hovercraft nearest to him, the one on the left, he tried to think up a way for him to get down to the surface without being noticed. Just hanging from its edge as he’d done previously would hardly work with an inhabited hovercraft. Inwardly, he cursed the designer of the hovercraft for making it so difficult to stow away on.

He discarded idea after idea over the course of five minutes before he came up with something. The identify window said that the metal is soft and light, he realized, maybe that means that I can deform it.

Climbing under the hovercraft where his test wouldn’t be noticed, he activated his mana manipulation skill and felt the lines of mana flowing through the hovercraft in complex patterns. Finding a small section that was bare of all mana, he jabbed at it with a finger. Not feeling any give, he tried to dig his finger into the metal surface and gouge at it.

With a grin, he realized that his action had left a now insignificant ridge in the metal. I can work with this, he decided, There are enough spots without mana that I can make some handholds without disrupting it. That solves my problem of how to get down. Now I need to figure out how to get inside the mountain without being noticed.

For half an hour, he quietly worked to gouge small handholds into the bottom of the hovercraft. Soon, he completed his work to his satisfaction. In the pitch-black shadows beneath the hovercraft, he wouldn’t be seen unless from below. I hope that your ‘substantial passive stealth bonus’ will pull through here, he muttered as he ran his hands through his new magical cloak.

Pinching the two small handholds he made, he strained his superhuman muscles and lifted himself into the air. His boots silently scraped against the bottom of the hovercraft until they caught on the thin raised lip he’d created for them.

He hung horizontally, flush with the bottom of the hovercraft, for five minutes before he lowered himself back down to the stone floor. A smile made its way onto his face; even if he’d guessed the wrong docking bay that the aliens would use, he now had a solid way to get back down to the surface.

Now he had nothing to do except wait for local midnight, which was most likely still multiple hours away. Normally, he’d take the opportunity to train with his spear, but anyone could enter the docking bay without warning, leaving him voluntarily trapped under the hovercraft for the time being. That left practicing magic, but without any mana potions, he needed to preserve every single point of mana.

With nothing else to do, he once more activated his mana manipulation skill. The lines of mana that covered the hovercraft sprang to life in the mind’s eye. Keeping the skill active cost him nothing but a bit of mental strain when he wasn’t actively using it to influence the outside world.

With hours to kill and what he deemed to be a good opportunity, he began to study the enchantment in depth. After a while, he began to notice a few patterns that stood out to him. The lines of mana coiled around each other three times every few feet at irregular intervals. Other similar patterns became apparent, but their meanings and uses remained stubbornly unknown to him.

After what he estimated to be just two hours, he decided that he needed to take a break from the mental strain of the skill if he wanted to remain in peak condition. Lying in the dry heat, he tried to meditate. Every few minutes, however, he was distracted by a bead of sweat or an itch on his blood-caked arm.

Even so, he stuck with the practice in mental discipline until a sudden noise drew his attention. His head snapped to the now open door. Five separate pairs of legs entered the docking bay before moving to stand against the wall. Their speech echoed slightly in the enclosed alcove, but the way that they spoke marked them as Ulindre.

“I’m telling you, it’s a pain to work with him. He’s far too low a level for such a mission,” one of the aliens said with even spacing between each syllable.

“Eh, it was bound to happen eventually,” responded another in its lilting voice, “He’ll eventually become the Lord of House Niolae. I’ve heard that he’s rather good with flames.”

The first alien made a strange sound and was quickly joined by the others. Octavius got the impression that they were all laughing. Suddenly, his attention was drawn by movement out of the corner of his eye. Squinting, he saw a slight ripple in the air to the side of one of the hovercraft.

His eyes suddenly widened as he realized what he was seeing; it was a thrall. Worried that it could be of a similar level to the stone shaper that he’d seen, he used identify on the distortion in the air.

Xezfi - Thrall (F) (Lvl 22) (Mage)

An inaudible sigh of relief escaped him as he read that his fears were for naught. Suddenly, the idea of having an illusion ring popped into his mind. He had stopped carrying his with him when he found out that they could be tracked when in use and within a certain range of some sort of device. That, unfortunately, meant that he did not have one of the magically rings with him on Cadila.

If he was able to get his hands on one, however, it had a solid chance of being extremely useful. Even so, for all that he knew, the thralls’ masters had an even more precise way of tracking the rings while they were being worn. With a frown, he considered trying to steal one sometime soon.

Considering that they could be tracked, though, he decided that if he were to use one, he’d have to be more than judicious in its use. Perhaps if he had a few that he could rotate through, he could use them effectively.

Tossing the idea to the back of his mind, he focused on the here and now as the door opened again and another small group of aliens walked smoothly into the docking bay. They walked over to the previous group, and they began to converse.

Octavius listened in on their idle conversation, noticing that it was some form of small talk. Still, he paid attention in case one of them let some piece of information slip. His lips twitched into a smirk when he decided that he was more than well-hidden enough for the time being.

I guess that these two groups are the Kilne and the Djicae that the lord mentioned last night, he decided, Maybe those are the names of their noble houses or something? That just leaves the lord’s son. I doubt that it’ll be very long.

The conversation suddenly went silent as the door swung open for a third time. Three beings walked into the silent room. The one of them that wore an intricate robe that brushed its ankles walked over to the group of aliens by the wall as the other two continued forward toward the hovercrafts and toward Octavius.