Mana Soul: Chapter 44 - The Friend - Aela

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When the chimaeras of both clans began discreetly making inquiries as to the price or exchange for fertility treatments, Markus had surprised them by candidly informing them that the exact price would vary depending on the amount of dungeon mana he had in reserve. So the responsibility was on the Chimaeras to make sure future dungeon clears were performed honestly in order to maximise the reserve and drive down the cost in credits. Aela also noticed that this meant Markus had to make the price affordable enough at its peak that destroying a dungeon core ‘accidentally’ wouldn’t become a viable option for desperate chimaeras either.

Markus’s choice and insistence on using credit to pay for the fertility treatments had admittedly taken a little bit of explaining for Aela to understand. Markus insisted that he was just trying to make sure chimaeras who did not have hunters in their family unit or were not well suited to clearing dungeons, could still purchase fertility treatments by contributing to the overall colonisation effort.

Visiting the nursery, they were both pleasantly surprised to find that most of the buildings were completed. As they were only one story and the walls were not nearly as thick as the tower, the masons had been able to make solid progress by erecting awnings to shield the bricks from the rain.

Two child-sized golems were playing with the children inside of the playpen. While one golem played with the more aggressive children, the other golem was snuggled up with the more timid children in a corner and was telling them stories of a warrior princess named Mujina from a faraway land, and her adventures as she tried to find her way home.

Seemingly just as enthralled as the children, Markus hadn’t noticed the repeated chimes from the tablet in his pocket until Aela gave him a solid nudge.

Sheepishly retrieving his tablet, Markus’s expression quickly turned serious, “She’s awake.”

Aela didn’t require further explanation, there was only one ‘she’ Markus could be referring to in such a serious tone.

Returning to their lodgings and making their way to the top floor, they arrived outside of the prisoner’s room and only had to wait a moment before Leona unlocked and opened the door for them.

True enough, the small woman was sitting up in the bed, her wrists bound and tied with lengths of rope which were tied off to the feet of the bed on either side. Her bright acid green eyes glared balefully at Markus as they both entered the room and closed the door behind them.

“You said she was speaking before?” Markus asked Leona, “But you didn’t quite make out the words?”

Leona nodded, “The prisoner would repeatedly gesture to herself and repeat the word friend, or I am a friend, let me go. Please, friend, let me go.”

The prisoner looked at Leona with shock and confusion, perhaps unsettled by hearing her own words repeated by the golem.

“What language is that?” Aela asked, she had never heard anything like it before.

Markus seemed just as lost as Aela, “I don’t know, although…It seems familiar…” He approached the bed but stopped a short distance away, “Do you speak any other languages? Do you understand me?”

The prisoner remained silent, staring back at them uncomprehendingly.

A chime from Markus’s tablet broke the stalemate.

Reading the message, Markus seemed both annoyed and intrigued. “Leona, fetch three communication circlets.”

“As you command, Creator,” Leona obediently unlocked the door, opened it, stepped through and then locked it from the other side.

When Leona returned, Markus and Aela helped each other fit the circlets securely and then each adjusted them for comfort. It was possible to put one on by yourself, but the fit could be a little off and require a great deal more adjusting to make it comfortable.

In the meantime, Leona had restrained the prisoner with one hand gently yet firmly locked around her throat while deftly fitting the circlet about her head.

“One moment,” Markus muttered, the telltale sign of his eyes turning black and silver making it clear that he was manipulating mana. “There, that should do it,” Markus declared determinedly.

The prisoner’s eyes grew wide and she attempted to raise a hand towards her ear. Unfortunately, her wrists could only lift a foot off the bed, but the attempt made it obvious that the artifice was at least working as intended.

“What now?” Aela asked curiously.

The prisoner’s attention shifted to Aela as she spoke and wore a mixed look of confusion and comprehension of her own.

“We wait for her to speak,” Markus replied, directing as much of his attention to the prisoner as Aela.

“You need to let me go,” the small redhead demanded, her dry smoky voice echoing her native tongue while a louder retelling passed into Aela’s ears from the small sound emitters hovering over her ears. “I am Cara and I mean you no harm. Just let me go and I will seek no vengeance against you.”

“Likewise, we mean you no harm, Cara? But there are answers I need before I can risk releasing you. Do you understand?” Markus asked somewhat sternly.

The prisoner, Cara, looked like she very much wanted to argue, but relented and nodded.

“Good. It has not been our intention to mistreat you, but your origins are sufficient to make us wary, so I hope you can understand,” Markus explained in a calm, even tone.

Cara seemed confused for a moment, “The rift…” She muttered quietly.

Markus nodded, although a quick glance towards Aela clued her in on his own uncertainty. “What can you tell me about the rift?”

Cara’s expression turned bitter, “I was the only one to survive…Half our Guardians sacrificed themselves to get us inside, the rest…The others…” Her fists clenched and she momentarily strained against the ropes binding her arms, her tattoos flaring with mana before rapidly subsiding. “The Alpha Reaper slaughtered them…”

“Alpha Reaper?” Markus pressed.

“It had gone insane…Kept me alive as someone to talk to…to try and kill it…” Cara whispered hoarsely, “And there were Others, he kept them as hostages to lure more Others in…” She remained quiet for a while before returning her attention to Markus, “Why did you rescue me from the Alpha Reaper?!” Cara demanded with a definitively manic edge to her voice.

“Our intention was to rescue the Adventurers taken prisoner in the ‘rift’ and defeat the Alpha Reaper to close the ‘rift’. We didn’t know you would be in there,” Markus explained patiently.

Markus’s response only seemed to confuse Cara further, “Rescue? Why would you rescue Others? Are they your servants? But why kill the Alpha Reaper?!”

Now it was Markus’s turn to be confused, “What do you mean? Who exactly do you think we are?”

Cara just stared at Markus incredulously for a few moments in silence before seemingly coming to a decision. “You are one of the invaders, the God Eaters,” she stated quietly, ”Architects of the rifts and masters of the Reapers.”

“So there is someone responsible for making the dungeons and monsters,” Markus muttered to himself, apparently unfazed by the intended insults, “Why do you think I am one of them?” Markus asked curiously, “The Alpha Reaper, as you call it, it called me something as well.”

“Because you are one, anyone with eyes can see it,” Cara insisted, “Dense Shaping Mana courses through your veins and you make no attempts at hiding it. You command an Altered and Animated-Vessel, what other proof is needed?!”

“Being an Artificer makes me a God Eater? An Overlord?” Markus asked uncertainly.

Aela could see Markus quietly coming to his own conclusions while asking each question. Too smart to just take the things their prisoner was saying at face value, he still seemed to be arriving at a number of interesting conclusions.

“Artificer? Overlord?” Cara just stared at Markus, her manic intensity gradually building with each passing moment.

Markus nodded to himself and Aela could tell he was quite proud of himself. “You called Aela Altered, why is that?”

Cara balked incredulously before rallying, “You combine an Other with Reaper mana and ask why we call them Altered? Are you insane? Senile?”

“I did not make Aela, although I suppose if you are telling the truth, that maybe one of these ‘God Eaters’ may have made her great great great great great grandparents,” Markus was behaving flippantly on purpose, presumably to throw the prisoner further off balance and get more information.

Cara looked intensely sceptical, “The Altered can’t breed,” she insisted, “The transformation sterilizes them…”

Aela and Markus shared a momentary glance with one another.

“How can you be sure?” Markus asked, masking his blatant curiosity with improvised incredulity.

Cara seemed to have noticed and determinedly pressed her lips together.

“Destroying a Rift…core? The power source that fuels the Rift, it restores an Altered’ fertility,” Markus insisted conversationally, “There are even several pregnant Altered within walking distance if you don’t believe me.”

Cara looked horrified, “You’re lying…” She hissed.

Markus chuckled to himself and withdrew his tablet, “Have one of the nursery golems provide us a visual,” he ordered Leona while channeling his mana.

“It is done,” Leona replied a few moments later.

Grinning, Markus turned his tablet so Cara could see.

“Impossible…” Cara’s already pale skin managed to eke one final shade. After a few moments, a spark of defiance returned to her eyes, “Why would you allow them to breed?! The whole point was to maintain psychological conditioning. Do you want them to betray you?”

“Interesting…” Markus muttered, briefly glancing at Aela and then nodding his head, “That isn’t too far off the chimaera creation stories…”

Aela nodded in agreement. Privy to stories not shared with outsiders, a number of things could be explained by the interference of the ‘God Eaters’. Markus had been told some of the less important stories, but until he and Aela officially became Life-Mates, it was forbidden for anyone in the clan to share the most secret stories with him, including the knowledge that they even exist.

“I think that is exactly what her ancestors did,” Markus explained slowly, “They rebelled and afterwards, they would be slowly drawn to the rifts again and eventually someone realised that destroying the core restored fertility. Although Chimaeras would have probably numbered in the hundreds of thousands back then…”

“Why do you keep talking like this doesn’t affect you?!” Clara demanded exasperatedly, “You aren’t behaving like a God Eater at all!”

“Because Markus isn’t a God Eater,” Aela sniggered antagonistically, “He is just a very talented Artificer.”

Cara just stared at Aela for a whole minute of protracted silence.

“An Artificer is someone who uses mana to generate magical effects in otherwise mundane items,” Markus explained helpfully, “Like keeping a sword sharp, making impenetrable armour or creating a remote viewing screen like this tablet.”

Cara’s eyes widened in shock, her acid green irises staring so determinedly at Markus that it made Aela feel profoundly uncomfortable, “A Forge Master?” She whispered breathlessly, “It can’t be…Those are just stories…” Cara blinked, returning her eyes to their original size as she stared blankly at each of her hands in turn, “In twilight's hour, Salvation will be found in the heart of shadow…” She slowly took in the room again, her attention lingering on Aela and Leona before drifting to Markus. “Da was right…They didn’t die for nothing…” Thick tears ran down Cara’s face as she slumped her head forwards and cried. Far from sounding upset, as Aela had expected her to be, Cara sounded profoundly relieved, crying like she was a child reunited with her mother.

Obviously feeling uncomfortable, Markus removed his communication circlet and set it down on a small table by the door. Since Markus was obviously intended to leave, Aela did the same and followed him out.

“That got a little intense,” Markus observed, “And confirmed a fear of mine.”

“What’s that?” Aela asked, concerned by Markus’s dour expression.

“The dungeons, they are gateways to other worlds already infested by monsters. If we had chosen to walk out into that forest in the last dungeon, I bet we would have eventually entered another dungeon. And it lines up with what the boss monster was talking about, and how the Adventurers Guild can keep such accurate notes for ‘recurring’ dungeons,” Markus had begun pacing, “When a dungeon core is destroyed, and the gateway collapses, these God Eaters or Overlords, whoever they are, just return to the site and activate a new one. But it isn’t just our world that they are attacking either. Who knows how many worlds exist beyond those gateways, and how many have been stripped bare by the monsters?”

Aela could tell Markus was working himself up into a fit, so she deliberately stepped in his way and hugged him reassuringly. Although he resisted initially, Markus quickly leaned into the embrace and began taking steadying breaths. While Markus had his moments of brilliance, Aela had learned that he was also prone to working himself up to the point of giving himself migraines if left to follow his own prerogative.

Guiding Markus back to their own room, Aela helped him get undressed and then they had an early night.

Aela woke up to the sounds of Markus pacing and harshly whispering to himself. Shaking off her lingering torpor, Aela was about to get out of bed and drag Markus back under the covers, but she stopped as she realised that Markus was actually arguing with his most belligerent golem, the one that named itself Mark.

“-don’t care. You have been coasting under Peabody’s watch, and your last contribution was the chimaeras’ fertility treatment!” Markus hissed angrily.

“I deciphered your prisoner's language, didn’t I?” Mark replied snarkily, making no attempts at lowering its voice, “That should leave us settled for another month at least!”

Markus was so annoyed by the wilful golem that he was grinding his teeth, “Final warning,” Markus hissed, “Your collaboration with Peabody has a week to show results-”

“Or what?” Mark interrupted rudely, demonstrating a complete lack of social tact and survival instinct.

“Or I will erase you…” Markus replied quietly before tossing the tablet onto the nightstand. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he rubbed irritably at his face with his bare hands before deciding to use the washcloth instead. Heading back to bed, Markus remained unaware that Aela was awake.

Aela didn’t blame him: human senses were incredibly dull and ill-suited to the dark.

After a few minutes, Markus fell asleep, and Aela drifted off shortly afterwards.

More mercenaries had arrived during the night and their commanders were receiving instructions on the Monster Hunting Artifices from one of the recently created golems and a senior officer who attended the instructional demonstration the day before.

Like Markus, Aela was very nervous about the monster hunt scheduled to begin in the next few hours. Partly because of the risks her clanmates would be undertaking, but mostly because of the temptation the dungeons presented for all chimaeras involved. Aela knew Markus well enough to know that the threat of cutting everyone off of the fertility treatments was mostly hollow. Assuming the perpetrators were adequately punished without his involvement, Markus would very likely make concessions like the treatments being available for rewards or a higher price than originally intended.

Shadowing Markus, Aela watched with keen interest as one of the inner bailey buildings was converted to a command headquarters for coordinating the monster hunt. Large panes of quartzite were mounted on the walls, and a particularly large slab of quartzite was fitted and anchored to a large sturdy table in the middle of the room.

Once fully enchanted, the slab of quartzite on the table began displaying a simplified map of the general area. Under Markus’s manipulations, the map of the immediate area contracted to display hordes of red markers and ten solitary silvery-blue markers to the east. The map was far more detailed in the presence of the silver markers due to the information provided by the golems already deployed in the field, but outside of their line of sight seemed to be limited to terrain elevation and the presence of a sparse forest. Markus then tested each of the panes mounted on the walls, briefly activating them one by one and cycling through the vision provided by the golems observing the monsters.

The arrival of a slim-bodied golem dressed in a military uniform matching the black and white color scheme of Markus’s de facto house colours signalled the end of the preparations. After a brief test run of the golem’s ability to follow commands and link the visual feeds to the panes mounted on the walls, Markus seemed satisfied.

“What is the golem’s name?” Aela asked curiously while inspecting its uniform more closely.

“This one is designated F dash two three nine,” the golem replied obediently, surprising Aela with its strikingly unique feminine voice.

“Its voice is different!” Aela exclaimed excitedly.

Markus nodded, “The golems have been collecting voices in order to better differentiate from one another and fit in with the workers.”

“Oh, right,” Aela nodded in understanding but paused as she reconsidered the golem’s name, “Why is its name a letter and a bunch of numbers?”

“It’s not so much a name as a unique code to differentiate the golem from the others,” Markus explained somewhat hesitantly, eyeing the mercenaries in the room warily, “The F means the golem has a female body type like you asked, and the numbers are sequential. Basically, this golem is the two hundred and thirty-ninth female body-type created and activated.”

Aela frowned a little at that. Not that she didn’t understand Markus’s explanation, but because she disagreed with breaking from his existing naming system. Remembering a string of numbers was going to be far more difficult than remembering a name. “Why not give them a name as well?” Aela suggested, “They are meant to be fitting in right? Well, a number for a name probably makes everything else a little pointless.”

“I know,” Markus agreed, “That’s why they are allowed to take on unofficial names. F two three nine just hasn’t chosen one yet.”

“Oh…” Aela returned to looking at the golem. Carefully considering the role the golem would play in monitoring the monsters and hunting teams, and connecting the display screens and sound feeds from the hunting teams, Aela felt like she had found a rather appropriate name. “Ragna,” she declared confidently, “Your name is Ragna.”

The golem bowed its head deferentially, “As you command. This one will now operate under the designation of Ragna.” Although already speaking the northern tongue, Ragna’s inflection and pronunciation had altered in such a way that it was almost indistinguishable from the accent of the Skalisberg natives. This was surprising because Aela didn’t know the golems could do that.

To better coordinate the hunting effort, it was agreed that each faction would provide a commander to remain behind in the HQ. Unsurprisingly, Gerard volunteered himself. As Grand Master, he held supreme authority and could ensure the compliance of all commanders and their men. In a similar vein, Ivar elected his life-mate Sylvi. Although on the smaller side, Aela could tell it would be a mistake to underestimate the black-maned beauty. The biggest surprise came from Magnus electing Beowulf. It really shouldn’t have been, considering most in the clan didn’t hold much respect for Magnus in the slightest, but Aela would have thought Magnus would want Beowulf engaged in the hunt to bring home more mana for fertility treatments. Treatments Magnus could then ‘borrow’ or otherwise leverage Svala into taking for Thyra.

However, Beowulf made no complaints as Markus helped fit him with a Communication Circlet Artifice and explained how the golem Ragna could assign and alternate the viewing screens and communications between the hunting teams at his command. By default, only the team leader of each team would be able to hear Beowulf, while Beowulf would be able to hear all communications from the team he was currently connected to.

Ragna and a team of golems would be monitoring all communications simultaneously and connect team leaders as it deemed necessary independently of Gerard’s, Sylvi’s and Beowulf’s requests. According to Markus, this was intended to account for sudden changes in circumstances and ensure the hunting teams were not left without support because the higher-ups were otherwise occupied.

Although Markus didn’t tell them, it was actually Markus’s intention for golems to facilitate most of the hunting teams’ support. As they were already naturally fluent in the use of all the artifices, and could access them at will, it meant that once the golems had a better handle on military tactics, they could be introduced as a buffer between the hunting teams and the high command.

It made sense to Aela. The golems didn’t need to eat, drink, shit or sleep, so they could provide tactical support indefinitely and without disruption. Furthermore, so long as there was technically a higher authority for the hunters to defer to or make requests from, it was entirely likely that the golems' role would just be accepted without resistance.

Leaving the HQ, Aela and Markus wandered through the recently combined camps of the two chimaera clans. Although Aela could make out a clear boundary between the clans' tents, it was not nearly as pronounced as she would have thought it would be. Then again, Aela had to consider that it might be because of the much larger encampment of the humans on the far side of town. There was always safety in numbers, and despite their differences in appearance, the chimaera clans had far more in common with one another than the humans.

It felt strange to think such things while wandering a chimaera encampment holding hands with Markus, but there was little to be done about it that Markus wasn’t encouraging already.

“Four of the smithing apprenticeships have been taken by chimaeras,” Markus commented conversationally.

“Really?” Aela was somewhat surprised, “Didn’t you say those positions would be expensive?”

Markus nodded, “I did and they were. But some families saw the limited opportunity and pooled resources. It was definitely the smart play considering the value of the profession.”

Aela smiled and gave Markus’s hand a light squeeze. While he had promised to provide the opportunities, Aela knew Markus had no intention of forcing anyone to take them. So it was nice to see how happy this piece of news made him.

“The number of chimaera workers is going up each day too,” Markus stated proudly and made a point of focusing his attention on a large cooking pot as they passed.

“Are there really enough jobs to go around?” Aela asked curiously.

“Of course!” Markus answered with a grin, “Arngier is just the first step. There are still the fortifications to be built at the mouth of the Great Valley, and once the valley itself is cleared, another set of fortifications on the far side. Once they are both complete, colonising the valley itself will begin in earnest.”

Aela smiled supportively but still had her doubts, “But what about in the meantime? What if the jobs are all filled before then?”

Markus’s grin grew broader, “That’s what the brick and tile making industries are for. The more we stockpile now, the faster the work gets done later. The jobs themselves are relatively simple and take little training, so just about anyone can do it. The same goes for the lumber industry, although that is generally more in favour of those with the physical build for it. Mana-fuelled kilns dry the bricks and tiles, while powerful bellows drive that hot air into drying sheds to mature planks of lumber for construction projects and the carpentry industry. So long as the nobles continue paying to have their artifices recharged, I can sustain this preparation business model near indefinitely.”

Aela had forgotten about that.

“Peabody informed me yesterday that negotiations are almost complete for establishing recharge stations in the capital. Although we will be out of pocket for the station ‘gifted’ to the royal family,” despite his earlier excitement, Markus spoke the last with no small amount of bitterness.

Aela did her best not to smile. It was funny for someone so objectively generous to behave so miserly, although she had to admit that Markus had good enough reasons to be in this instance.

As the appointed hour of the hunt drew closer, more and more chimaeras could be seen headed for the inner bailey wearing what armour they could scrounge together and the best weapons they could beg or borrow from family members and friends.

For Markus, it was something of a belated reveal on the internal wealth disparity in even the chimaera clans. As head of the clan, and independently wealthy, Svala had accrued weapons and armour enough to provide for all her children. Others were not so lucky.

Withdrawing his tablet, Markus fiddled with it for a moment before holding it up in front of his face, “Ragna, I want you to offer gambesons and spears on loan for the chimaeras participating in the hunt. Also, see if any of the hunters would like to try the experimental bolas.”

“As you command, Creator,” Ragna replied dutifully through the tablet.

‘They will remember this,” Aela commented with a smile, “But what is so experimental about those bolas?”

Markus chuckled and scratched his nose in embarrassment, “The fact that I didn’t know they existed?” He replied with a smirk.

Aela snorted in amusement, “Really? Are you being serious right now?”

Markus smiled sheepishly and nodded.

“I assume the bolas are enchanted then?” Aela pressed.

Markus nodded and took a moment to clear his throat. “Yeah, they are. They have the mana draining enchantment on them as well as an enchantment for added durability.”

“Did you try throwing one?” Aela asked with a knowing smirk, confident she already knew the answer.

“Maybe…” Markus lied, his cheeks flushing slightly as he avoided eye contact.

“I could show you how?” Aela offered cheekily.

“Maybe another day,” Markus agreed hastily.

Quite aware that Markus wanted the conversation to be over, Aela smiled and nodded in agreement. Even though bolas were traditionally non-lethal, the addition of the mana draining enchantment made them a potentially important weapon to better ensure Markus could defend himself.

Returning to the inner bailey, Aela was a little surprised to find that the kennels Markus had requested looked just about finished. “When were you going to attempt making a wolfhound?” Aela asked quietly, making sure that none of the nearby labourers or the more distant chimaeras gathering outside of the HQ would hear her.

Markus quietly considered the question for a few minutes. “I could make the attempt now,” he suggested a little uncertainly, “But I feel like there are important aspects of the enchantments I don’t quite understand yet. I think I could make a fake lesser core that could project a monster that is something like a wolfhound…But that isn’t the same thing and could cause a lot of problems…”

“You could make your own monsters, like those from the dungeons?” Aela asked, uncertain if she had understood him correctly.

Markus nodded thoughtfully, “I think so…But I am not sure whether I would be able to control the monster the core creates…So I don't really think it would be particularly useful.”

“But you made the slimes, and there hasn’t been any problem with them,” Aela pressed curiously.

Markus chuckled a little and leaned on the fence, “Slimes are simple, and they still took me more than a few tries to get right, remember?”

Aela nodded, she remembered the large number of beads Markus had prepared and how relatively lucky they had been in choosing one that worked.

“Imagine how wrong things could go attempting to bring life to a wolf,” Markus insisted with a grimace, “I am not sure I have the heart to handle the failures necessary to arrive at the desired result… Not without being absolutely sure I have eliminated as many potential failures through research as possible anyway.”

Finding the idea of melted or deformed puppies thoroughly distasteful, Aela could understand Markus’s reluctance in moving forward with his project. Although Aela had few hang-ups over killing animals, especially if it meant ending their suffering, she was profoundly uncomfortable with the thought of creating a creature knowing that it was likely to exist in a state of protracted suffering.

“I have considered ordering the golems to capture a monster for study,” Markus continued with a more upbeat attitude, “If the core that created it can be secured and the monster imprisoned for study, it should prove to be a great help to my research.”

“Really?” Aela asked curiously, “Then shouldn’t you let the hunters know?”

Markus disappointedly shook his head, “I still need to test the mana draining prototypes to determine which would be best for subduing, but not killing a monster. I would rather conduct that test when the stakes aren’t nearly so high, you know?”

Aela nodded supportively. Markus not wanting to potentially endanger the hunters with his experiments was the right mindset to have, especially considering the potential success or failure that stood to profoundly influence the clans’ ability to work alongside the mercenaries on future hunts.

“There’s something else,” Markus shifted his weight and paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. “I have been thinking about a new line of research that might help us.”

“Help with wh-oh…Really?” Aela was a little surprised by Markus’s persistence, after her rather tactless refusal to indulge his previous line of research.

Markus nodded and smiled a little, “It’s the nature of chimaeras themselves. The bloodlines don’t seem to matter. Boar, bear, wolf, otter, whatever, they are all compatible partners after receiving a fertility treatment or destroying a dungeon core.”

Aela nodded to show she understood and waited for Markus to continue.

“Well, it’s pretty safe to say that those animals aren’t compatible, with very few exceptions that create sterile offspring. Which leaves the common ground of the chimaeras' shared human ancestry and the mana that altered them.” Markus's eyes flashed with excitement, “So that raises the question. Is it the mana that creates life? Or is it the chimaeras’ humanity? Considering countering chimaeras infertility can be achieved by destroying a dungeon core, I am inclined to think the former. It is also reinforced by how the unborn offspring drain mana from the mother in order to grow. If Cara was telling the truth, then the infertility is a deliberate flaw, which means I might be able to correct it. Which means our, ahem, problem, might be just a mana incompatibility issue.”

“And you can fix that!” Aela exclaimed excitedly. She still vividly remembered Markus channelling mana into her body to stave off her degeneration in the wake of being ambushed outside of Endem.

Markus’s enthusiasm dampened somewhat, “This could take a long time to figure out,” he warned her, “If that previous incident is any indicator, our mana might be close to being diametrically opposed,” Markus shivered but did his best to quickly shrug it off.

“I understand…” Aela tried to keep her expectations in check and even felt a little guilty for the potential pain Markus was going to go through while testing his theories.

“In either case, I think Cara’s mana tattoos might be part of the answer. I didn’t see any form of scarring or skin blemishes consistently aligning with the tattoos, did you?” Markus asked curiously.

Aela took a few moments to think about the instances where she had seen the prisoner’s exposed skin, “I don’t think so.”

“Her people might have artifices or other methods for injecting mana into a person long-term, and if they do, it might prove invaluable as a reference for my research,” Markus explained while they headed back to their shared home.

There was still a rather obvious problem that Aela felt Markus was overlooking, “What if she doesn’t want to talk with you, let alone share what she knows?”

“Then I will try to be convincing, see if there is anything she wants in exchange,” Markus replied determinedly.

While waiting for Leona to unlock the door, Aela heard the muted warcries of her clan filtering the shuttered windows and knew that it signalled the departure of the hunters. As confirmation, a long harmonizing howl belonging to the Shadow-Maw was then followed by a short speech too quiet for Aela to make out and ragged cheering. Aela could feel the departure of the hunters through the tremors in the floorboards and wondered how much of a shock the labourers would feel at the sight of the motley host leaving the town and heading towards the periphery of the deadlands.

Aela was pulled from her musings as Leona opened the door and allowed them inside.

Unlike their last visit, their prisoner Cara now only had one arm bound to the bed.

Markus seemed curious upon noticing but clearly had other priorities. “Has the food been to your liking?” He asked diplomatically while pulling up a chair to sit on and adjusting his communication circlet.

Cara remained silent, intensely watching Markus as if he was a poisonous snake.

“If there is something you would prefer, you need only tell Leona and it will be arranged if it is within our means to do so,” Markus continued.

“I have been hearing noises on the other side of the door,” Cara stated bluntly, ignoring Markus’s overtures at diplomacy.

“Noises?” Markus looked to Leona for answers.

“Arlee has attempted entry three dozen times since the door was first locked,” Leona replied dutifully, “Dolly’s only meaningful deterrence was convincing Arlee not to attempt access through a window.”

Cara watched the exchange like a hawk, apparently trying to gather as much information as possible. “I heard a young voice,” she added and then waited to see if any of them would bite.

Aela could tell by the look in Markus’s eyes that he wasn’t fooled, but he was weighing up a decision all the same. “Send for Dolly and Arlee,” Markus ordered quietly.

“I obey,” Leona replied obediently in her gravelly monotone.

Markus leaned forward in his chair and matched Cara’s intense stare with one of his own, “If you try to harm her in any way whatsoever, your life is forfeit. Do you understand me?”

Clearly taken aback by Markus’s sudden shift in demeanour, it took Cara a few moments to react, stiffly nodding her head to show she understood.

“Good,” Markus sat back in his chair again and relaxed.

After a minute of complete silence, Arlee’s excited giggling filtered under the door.

As Leona unlocked the door and began to open it, Arlee set her prosthetic arm into the widening gap and half pushed, half pried, the door wide enough for herself and Dolly to slip through.

Grinning and looking thoroughly pleased with herself, Arlee got a short run up and then leapt at Markus, “Mithter!” As a consequence of having lost one of her front teeth from who knows what adventure, she had a heavy lisp Aela found adorable and completely at odds with the serious expressions on everyone’s faces.

“Arlee,” Markus’s expression softened and he gave her a light squeeze, “Have you been spying outside the door?”

Arlee fidgetted and did a poor job of trying to look innocent.

“She is…An Other?” Cara looked shocked and blinked repeatedly before staring fixedly at Arlee again.

Making the most of Markus’s distraction, Arlee wriggled to reposition herself so she could see who was talking, “Whothe that?” Arlee demanded inquisitively, “Why ith thhe in bed? The thoundth funny. Ith thhe thick?”

“She was, but we are helping her get better,” Markus explained quietly, “She is from a place far away, but once she is better, she will be allowed to leave.”

“You will let me leave?” Cara looked shocked.

“Once I am sure you are not a threat,” Markus agreed.

“I…I don’t think you are a God Eater…” Cara stated with only a hint of uncertainty, “But you aren't an Other either…”

Markus nodded, “I am an Artificer, I gained my ability to manipulate mana from a crystal inside of a rift. Do you know of them?”

Cara’s eyes grew wide, “How?...” She breathed with a horrid expression on her face.

Aware that Markus had no recollection of his own experience in becoming an artificer, it came as no surprise to Aela when Markus shrugged. “I don’t remember.”

Cara narrowed her eyes suspiciously for a moment before quickly glancing away settling her nerves, “You claimed before that you can strengthen arms and armour?” She asked quietly.

“I did and I can,” Markus agreed.

“Could you show me?” Cara asked determinedly.

Markus raised an eyebrow and readjusted his hold on Arlee. She seemed to be growing bored with being ignored and looked like she wanted to go play.

“Maybe let Arlee go play outside?” Aela suggested helpfully.

“Hrm? Oh, sure,” Markus had been distracted but gently let Arlee go, “We can play later, but why don’t you and Dolly go see if your mama needs help in the kitchen?”

“Kay!” Arlee agreed happily. Hopping off Markus’s lap, she dragged Dolly over to the door, fumbled a moment trying to unlock it one-handed, opened the door and then left.

Without being asked, Leona closed and locked the door again.

Standing up, Markus pulled a small knife from his belt and carved a few quick strokes into the seat of his chair, “I mean, it’s not really a weapon or piece of armour, but it should be sufficient.” After briefly channelling his mana, Markus stepped back and turned his attention to Leona, “Strike it once with your sword,” he commanded.

Leona drew the sword from the scabbard on its hip and struck the seat of the chair in one smooth motion.

The chair was undamaged by the attack, but Aela could see fresh shallow dents in the floorboards beneath it.

Cara’s eyes had grown wide in surprise as the golem sprang into action, but now she was straining against the tether on her arm in order to take a closer look at the potential damage.

Markus pushed the chair closer and waited.

Aela leaned against the wall and tried to suppress a smile. It was always entertaining to see the surprised expressions of people that underestimated Markus.

“Then…You are a Forge Master…” Cara breathed quietly, “I thought I was just giving in to wishful thinking…But it’s true.”

“What’s a Forge Master?” Markus asked curiously.

Aela thought it was pretty obvious that just like Cala’s people seemed to have a different name for everything else, Forge Master had to be their alternate name for Artificer. All the same, Aela was curious to see how the strange foreigner would answer.

Cara took a deep breath to steady herself before answering and seemed to be confronting lingering doubts. “The ancient records claimed they could craft weapons and armour capable of empowering those who wear them with the power to defeat the High Court themselves…”

“High Court?” Markus interjected, “Who or what are they?”

Cara began to sweat nervously, “They are the Divinities of my world…”

Aware of the human religious practises involving worshipping supposedly all-powerful beings collectively referred to as the divines or divinities, Aela was actually rather glad Markus had never demonstrated any signs of being a believer. This was in no small part due to the bloody history between the chimaeras and different religious authorities that liked using the chimaeras as scapegoats for bad harvests, famines and plagues. All the while, their supposedly all-powerful divinities seemed perfectly content remaining silent and watching their worshipers suffer.

“You are not a believer?” Cara guessed nervously.

Markus snorted derisively and shook his head, “I have not seen, nor heard of a credible instance of divine intervention. The Divinities may exist, but they are either blind to the suffering of the world or content to ignore it. In either case, I see no need to waste breath on them.”

Cara was truly taken aback and was pressing her free hand against a particularly complex labyrinthine tattoo on her chest. It was strikingly similar to how the human clergy would cower and clutch at their holy symbols of the Divinities. “How can you not believe?” Cara demanded weakly, “Have they not called their champion to fight the God Eaters’ Reapers?”

Markus’s eyes twitched, flickering black and silver several times in the space of two heartbeats. Judging by his calm and composed appearance, Aela began to doubt she had seen it at all. “Champion?” Markus asked curiously, his eyes flickering just as they had done a few moments before.

Cara nodded somewhat hesitantly, apparently having noticed Markus’s reaction as well. “In times of great peril, the High Court always summoned a Champion to lead our people to victory.”

Markus’s right cheek twitched badly for a few seconds as his eye turned black and the silver iris rapidly expanded and contracted. Apparently aware of the spasm this time, Markus pressed his palm to the spasming muscles and held it there until they stopped a few seconds later. “How…How do you know your Divinities are responsible for bringing you your champion?” Markus demanded as he all but collapsed onto a nearby chair. “For all you know, they could have come through the rifts, been found, just like I found you.”

Aela hastily knelt by Markus’s side and took hold of his hand. Feeling his pulse beating erratically, Aela turned to the golem. “Open the door!” She demanded and hooked Markus’s arm over her shoulder.

“The Divinities mark them, so we recognise their coming,” Cara replied somewhat hastily, visibly confused by what was taking place in front of her.

Leona obediently and hastily moved to the door, unlocking and opening it wide to allow Aela as much room as possible.

Markus was growing weaker by the second, growing deathly pale as a familiar wet rattle began accompanying his breathing. Unsure of what to do, Aela dragged him into their room and hurriedly laid him out on the bed. Snatching a canteen from inside the dresser, Aela furiously clawed through her pack for medicinal herbs.

Hearing Markus release a particularly disturbing loud, wet, barking cough, Aela was horrified to see him curled up on his side and spattering the blankets of their bed with thick black mucus.

“I…I won’t…tell you…where….she is…” Markus wheezed incomprehensibly between coughs, his eyes nearly completely black with only pinpricks of silver. Then, just like that, Markus’s shivering stopped, the blackness faded from his eyes, and colour slowly began returning to his skin.

Still not sure what was happening, Aela dropped one of Markus’s beads normally used for heating the bath into her canteen and filled it with water from the washbowl on the bedside table. Adding a medley of herbs used to help clear phlegm and mucus from the lungs, Aela then plugged the mouth of the canteen tight and gave it a damned vigorous shaking before allowing it to settle.

Removing the circlet from her head, Aela then gently did the same for Markus. Throwing them both in a drawer, she waited impatiently for the herbs to infuse into the hot water.

“Ugh, uhn…” Markus groaned and slowly opened his eyes, “Wha? Ugh! My head is killing me…” He gently raised his left hand to his temple but stopped partway.

Still incredibly concerned, Aela hastily hopped onto the bed next to Markus and moved to check him over. However, besides the diluted black mucus in his mouth and general muscle weakness, Markus seemed completely healthy. Faced with the black stains on the bedsheets and Markus's near-miraculous recovery, Aela still forced Markus to drink the bitter herbal medley from her canteen, just to be safe.

“Summoned champions…” Markus muttered hoarsely to himself while staring at his left wrist.

Doing the same, Aela winced as her eyes were drawn to the large silver scar on the inner side of Markus’s wrist. Roughly shaped like a ragged oval, it had the unmistakable signs of teeth marks around the edges. Judging by the angle and size, Aela knew that the original injury was most likely self-inflicted. She had seen this particular scar many times and generally avoided looking at it whenever possible. The thought of Markus trying to kill himself was just too painful to bear.

So far as Aela knew, Markus avoided looking at it as well, perhaps for similar reasons. With that in mind, it was extremely strange for him to be so focused on it now.

“Markus?” Aela nudged him gently, “Are you alright? Is something wrong?”

“Mh?” Markus blinked hurriedly and lowered his arm, “It’s nothing, I was just…It’s nothing…”

Aela could tell Markus was lying but didn’t have the heart to press the issue. After the scare he had given her earlier, she was just happy he was alive.

“I feel fine. Just need to get something to eat and rest for a bit,” Markus insisted reassuringly.

“Alright…” Aela agreed reluctantly. Short of bringing him to a Priest, she didn’t think there was much anyone could do for him anyway. All the same, Aela wasn’t planning on getting much sleep for the next couple of nights, not until she was certain Markus wasn’t in any lingering danger.