Gary's slow laborious breaths filled the room. The damage he had taken was severe. The folk who had graciously carried the heavily injured young man weren't sure if he was even going to survive. It seemed that now he was quickly approaching stable health. This was a welcome surprise to the dragonfly clan. They didn't help the boy out of sheer goodwill. They were hoping they could recruit him into their clan. His strong, youthful body would likely be quite good for learning martial arts. The clan was sorely lacking disciples. Most had been killed off during the various resource wars. The few that still lived were only enough to protect the little they had, and train the few mortals that came to their clan.

Gary woke a mere two weeks after having been shot. His new body had likely come with accelerated healing, as well as the above average strength. Of course he wouldn't have survived without the help of the clan. He decided that in this case it would be in his best interests to join them. He owed them a debt of gratitude, and also lacked any knowledge of where he was. He quickly realized the floating islands were not hallucinations. How and why he ended up here, he didn't know, but he was glad that at least he wasn't dead again. He still had the cube on him. The clan had torn open his jumpsuit in order to treat him. They had given him a clan uniform, as set of dark clothes, and a cloak, and he'd managed to retrieve the cube, and make a necklace out of it. The cube was actually a small solid cube in the center of a slightly larger hollow cube. The smaller cube was simply floating within it. He wondered how that worked, and why he hadn't found it interesting when he first saw it.

Gary took to training like a fish did to water. He'd been itching to get his hands on real techniques, and spells. They trained him in the immortal way of the dragonfly. A martial art that prioritised stealth, and sudden violent strikes meant to kill. Despite their current state, the clan had a long history of being infamous assassins. Things were different for them now ever since the collapse. Once the islands weren't separated. The clans all once lived on a larger floating island left by the ancients. This realm had apparently acted as a nexus of worlds. Beings from all realms would stop here before traveling to other worlds. For reasons unknown the realm was cut-off from other worlds, The devil's heart, the core of the giant island, went haywire, and the descendants of those that remained eventually formed the 20 clans. Before the collapse the clans weren't ever on friendly terms, but the situation had remained relatively stable. The general chaos of the collapse radically shifted the power dynamics, and left only humankind within the realm. Some clans fared better than others.

The islands weren't wholly separated. There were smaller islands that a skilled martial artist could hop between. However the easiest method of travel for both mortals, and martials were flying artifacts. As a once wealthy land, there were plenty of those around. However, as with any resource, the stronger clans had more than the smaller ones. When the collapse had begun the dragonfly clan had dealt with the situation well. Eventually as they reclaimed islands into their territory they met up with the hyena, ape, and boar clans. These clans did not have the best of luck in dealing with the situation, as they had been smaller clans before. They formed a coalition and began to collectively strike down the dragonfly clan. They eventually managed to push it to its final island. This had all happened a long time before the current clan leader had been born. Their clan had only managed to survive on their most recently reclaimed island. One that was too far afield, and too small to be worth the trouble. The island only had enough room for a small town, some farms, and the clan proper. They only had a handful of flying artifacts to use in reclaiming their glory.

Gary progressed quickly, and became quite proficient in hiding, and sneak attacks. OF course his shooting skills transferred to the usage of crossbows. Gary had behaved well, and shown diligence. The clan leader felt that he was ready to be made useful. Gary was handed a large flying quartz, and pointed in the direction of the clan's old island. His task was to retrieve a secret art hidden underground. Of course he was told that he too could read the secret art if he recovered it. It couldn't be helped, otherwise there would be very little to stop him from keeping it and running off to join another clan. Gary had considered joining another clan after leaving the island, but decided that even though he wasn't particularly a paragon of virtue, he wasn't ungrateful either.

Gary flew in the direction of the island at an altitude below where it ought to be. He didn't want to get spotted. As he got closer he could see a massive citadel standing atop the rather large island. He had a feeling that this mission wasn't going to be as quick and easy as he was hoping for.