Metropolis has recently vassalized with Elway. This alliance will cause a significant impact on the landscape of Aetheria. This will put more pressure on Idil to expand further north, where the Silver Mountains and the Highland occupy copious amounts of territory. Ailach is facing the beginning of the end and may strike preemptively at the growing kingdom to gain more resources. The exponential and tireless growth of the new entities called Scrap Bots has garnered some concern from other kingdoms, citing their natural abilities to be far above any other race previously shown in both intelligence and adaptability. Rumors of an infamous mercenary brigade being exterminated by a group of the Scrap Bots led by a Named variant have spread, although it is yet to be confirmed. The leader of the newly found kingdom has shown a high level of innovation and fighting ability. Establishing a favorable contract with the kingdom in its current state is highly advised.

~The Guardian of Faith, an excerpt from the August XXXX issue

Archbishop Romero was fully human. With dull, brown eyes and a pair of thick-framed glasses, Damien didn't expect the highest-ranking member of the church to look so humble. The vampire could see that his attire was relatively simple; a white, long-sleeve hooded garment. The man was busy with two piles of paperwork, not even stopping to address the two who entered his office.

"Brigatin, what's the occasion?"

"I wanted to introduce you to Damien, scion of the Rose clan. He wished to speak with you, Your Grace." The boy in question turned and bowed his head in greeting, remembering the etiquette lessons his father had forced upon him at a young age.

The man gave a firm nod, and the Major General took that as a sign to leave. Bowing slightly to the shorter vampire, he exited and closed the doors behind him gently. The scratches of quill on parchment were significant in the quiet space and were only broken after Archbishop Romero spoke.

"Sir Rose, what can I help you with? I would love to chat, but as you can see, the paperwork I receive is quite...significant."

Damien looked on hesitantly. "I sought advice regarding my anxieties. General Drake and Lieutenant General Jensen are occupied at the moment, and I figured that a man of your caliber would be able to help me with my worries."

He believed that whole-heartedly. The boy could remember his great-grandfather and father's opinion about the organization and how upstanding they were despite their size, with scant scandals involving corruption or abuse of power. Raised from a young age, he knew he could count on those from the holy organization whenever he needed, as they had close ties with each other for many centuries dating back to their founding.

"Which is? I firmly believe that my experiences aren't as all-encompassing as they seem despite my status, but I could try my best to help."

"With the rumors of an invasion, I can't help but worry about my upcoming role. I want to play an active part in the defense of the kingdom, but I know that the potential of me being used against our forces is significant." Damien said, doing his best not to stutter as the cleric quietly listened, showing that he was listening by the slower pace of his writing. "My primary worry is being held hostage and causing more casualties. But I know that my abilities would be of significant contribution in the case of a siege. What do you think I should do?"

The silence permeated once more, with even the sound of scratchy writing on parchment slowing to a halt. Romero hummed to himself and asked the troubled boy a question.

"Where do you think your efforts will shine the most? Staying back and making a minimal contribution to avoid being held hostage, or the frontlines where you have the most effect, but running the risk of capture? I cannot say I can help you come to the proper conclusion, but I will give you my input."

Damien looked down in his seat, thinking hard about the options. "I believe that my skills and experiences can help. But the thought of being used in such a way, and causing further damage to our forces makes me anxious. I have experienced losses and near-death experiences before. Although I try to stay strong and attain more power to avoid it happening again, I can't be certain that it will be enough for the next time trouble comes along. I am not as reckless to just lay my life down for the sake of defense. I recognize my life has value and many will be negatively affected by my death, but the thought of not doing my absolute best is...nauseating. When I know lives could've been saved, but I put mine over others."

"That's a natural feeling, sir Rose. That's called preservation. Almost all beings have it. Even the ones who crave death will seek air if they're drowning in the ocean." The Archbishop replied. He took his glasses off and made eye contact with the smaller boy clad in armor. Despite all the weapons and equipment, Damien was a child. Something that people forgot when interacting with the incredibly mature and selfless vampire. "You're putting yourself in a box with these choices. If you want to make contributions to the defense of Welton, help with preparations. In battle, exert yourself in times when you need it and fall back when you require rest. There are many ways to maintain aggressiveness on a battlefield without compromising yourself."

The vampire scratched his head. He knew there were many ways to help in and out of an active battlefield. Rescuing the injured and maintaining equipment. He overlooked these factors when thinking about how prioritizing his own safety led to him not contributing enough.

"I may only know a fraction of your activities since entering the kingdom, but I do recognize that you and your companion...what was his name...Chester Everheart? Have already gotten recognized for solving the adamantium shortage. That in and of itself is an incredible help. Look at it from another angle, would you disparage Jensen and Drake for not helping with the shortage before you came along?"

Damien shook his head. "Of course not. They're already responsible for the defenses of the kingdom and work hard to maintain them. Expecting them to do any...Oh. I see what you're trying to make me understand."

Romero seemed pleased by the boy's quick thinking, giving him a small smile. "Believe it or not, our forces are well-equipped even without your help. Perhaps I need to reassure you about the quality of our defenses?"

The boy couldn't even say no before a glowing, golden barrier of light surrounded him.

You are within the confines of the Improved Dispersion Barrier.

Within this area, lower-tier status ailments are negated completely and HP is healed at a rate of 1% per second (to a maximum of 100HP/sec).

All members affiliated with 'Church of Pernatia' will receive significant bonuses to their stats and skill effects.

Cooldowns of all skills are reduced slightly in this area, and beings listed as enemies inside of the premises will suffer from 'Holy Burn' status effect.

He remembered the spell, Dispersion Barrier. From the choker that Natalie had lent him, it had gone unused because no conflict occurred against the Scrap Bots. Seeing it activate was completely different. It was as though he basked in the most comforting sunlight he had experienced. Without anything to heal, it merely provided a feeling of fullness.

"This spell is what makes our forces so strong. I know that our soldiers aren't as skilled or physically capable as Wisperium's, but those under my command will have power reminiscent of the vampires."

"Incredible..." Damien breathed. The strength of the supporting skill was immense, and he knew that the effects of the skill weren't to be taken lightly. He could see how deploying the skill could change the tides of a losing battle in an instant, on a complete magnitude above anything Priest Engel had shown.

"You see? Even though I am primarily on the backlines of a battlefield, that does not undermine the importance of my contributions. We all have our role to play, you need to find your niche and stick to it, rather than making yourself responsible for everything. Expecting a blacksmith to pick up a sword and fight is ridiculous, no?"

The vampire smiled at him and nodded, showing that he understood what the Archbishop was trying to say. With that in mind, the Dispersion Barrier disappeared.

"Well, if that's all you need, I'll be focusing on my work. If you want a less precarious career, our arms are always open. I can give you a personal letter of recommendation if you'd like."

"That's quite alright, thank you for the offer." Damien bowed politely, heading for the door. "I'd like to see my journey out before I conclude what I want to do next for my future."

Archbishop Romero sighed and smiled regardless. He gave the boy a small wave as he shut the door quietly behind him, and Damien exited the cathedral of Pernatia with a lighter heart. The vampire noble decided that doing whatever preparations before the war could only help him, and decided to see if there was anything he could help with around the kingdom. He decided against summoning Maxwell, knowing that the canine's outgoing personality (which made him question just how alive his skill was) would scare some citizens. Deciding to go to a nearby restaurant before he did anything else, he came across a familiar face eating a hearty meal of bread and meat.

"Chester? I haven't seen you in a while. You look...rough."

That was an understatement. His hair looked like a mess, tangled and matted like a wild dog's, and he could see several bruises around the man's neck which hadn't healed yet, a surprise considering the illusionist's abnormally high endurance for a human.

"She didn't let go of me until two hours ago. I didn't even think I could go that long..." Chester seemed as though he was talking more to himself than the vampire, who slipped into the seat in front of him. Damien got a dwarven waitress's attention and ordered some food.

"She...? Do you mean Alda? Oh. On second thought, don't tell me. I can already guess what happened." Damien tried to make the image of the curly-haired human making love disappear but he couldn't help but make a face of mild disgust. The man in question barely noticed, looking down and eating his food with gusto. He mumbled in between mouthfuls of food, stealing a glance at the boy's newly improved armor.

"Well, yeah. Your armor looks great. Seems like the dwarves had a similar idea for how they'd upgrade our suits."

Damien nodded. He looked at the man once more. The vampire had gotten accustomed to the man running around and causing all sorts of trouble, but he had been oddly tame for the past week. He had expected an international incident at minimum when Arber Fistpig had ridiculed him in the palace. But without any of the Royal Family being kidnapped, Arber being choked to death in his sleep, or missing heirlooms, Damien had assumed the man was content to let things be.

Although he reassured the illusionist that the chance of an invasion was unlikely, he didn't want to leave the man fully unprepared and subtly asked how his training was going.

Chester raised his brow, before pointing down under the table. The boy looked and could see that the man's arm was shifting appearances rapidly. From a hairy and muscular forearm to a metallic one and then switching back all in the span of a few seconds. The boy noticed how the size of the transformations varied heavily. He perked his head up and noticed a miniature version of Chester dancing along the table.

"I haven't been completely slacking, y'know. Multi-tasking's always been hard, but now I'm able to use Alter Self and Improved Minor Illusion at the same time. It's hard to do much else, but it's progress. Even in the tiny amount of sleep I get, I train in my Dream state. Just saying, in an all-out fight, no-holds-barred, I'd take you out. Easily, as a matter of fact."

Damien's voice changed and a competitive gleam was visible in his eyes. "Oh? Is that a challenge?"

"Hmmm...Screw it. Let's fight in the palace training grounds. I'll ask Alda. I don't want people to see my skills. When's the last time we fought for real? Elway?"

"Yep. Let's get to it then."

Far from the kingdom of Welton's Furnace, where the area was nothing but plain grasslands, the scouting task force which consisted of Wisperium's bloodhounds was investigating the plains for any signs of the enemy. From several hundred meters away, the massive figure of General Drake's familiar was seen lumbering around. The vampiress was vigilant and kept a stern expression throughout, completely unaware of the group situated closer to the walls and observing the massive group that was trying to find them.

All wearing hooded cloaks with faces obscured, it was clear that magic was being used to conceal themselves. Five figures, all standing deathly still without their presence leaking out to the especially sensitive bloodhounds. One of them opened their mouth to speak, letting out a raspy voice that was rarely used.

"Polybius, do you bring any information?"

Another entity came into existence in front of them as though he had been there all along. The air felt muted in its presence, but none of the five reacted to the mysterious effect of Polybius' existence.

"The defenses are as expected. There are no additional reinforcements aside from Damien Rose and his companion, but they are not as significant as the previous threats."

"Good. We will proceed as planned. Thank you for your cooperation."

"I must warn you. I cannot directly intervene under orders from the Lord himself." Polybius said with a hint of caution in his voice. Unlike the others, his hood showed nothing. It was enveloped in artificial darkness, making it hard to tell if there was even a humanoid inside the hooded robe.

"Not to worry. With the resources we have, the invasion will succeed. The five of us are more than enough." They said in a matter-of-fact tone. It wasn't tinged with arrogance, but a calculated assuredness that understood they possessed the ability to occupy one of the most well-defended kingdoms on the continent. "Witness our success and report it to the Lord. Welton will fall."