Eventually, with a little help from Slan, June accepted our offer and has since started working on the project, organising the development of our own personnel management, or PM for short, organisation. They’ll be rounding up people for interviews and I handed off my list of disgruntled Gremlins for them to peruse.

I’m not sure how long it will take them to develop the necessary institutions for our growing empire, but I know that it will be much faster than I can manage it. I’ve also given them strict instructions that any immediate issues that they can’t deal with, they are to throw right at me.

“So, what do we do now?” Red asks, slumping down as she walks beside me, “Arduelle shot me down when I tried to get our soldiers up into the ruins for hunting, and if we can’t visit the neighbouring caverns we’ll to have nothing to fight.”

“And not enough food coming in.” I add, walking beside her. “I’m already working hard to get us a way off this world. That way we can hunt more reliably and maybe even build some outposts on foreign worlds. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help us right now.

“We can’t just fight the Grand Council and reinstate our rights, either.”

“I hate this.” Red says. “ I feel cornered here like this. There’s no way out if the dungeons come down on us, and the other enemies are too strong for us to beat.”

“Yes.” I agree nodding slowly. “We do have a nice temporary peace though. A good chance to train everyone’s Skills without getting murdered.”

“It’s unsettling.” Red grumbles. I know her fairly well with all that we’ve been through, her honesty and simplicity certainly make it easy.

She’s a beast.

Not even by the twisted rules and judgements of the welfare officers, but by her own world view.

“Why do you want to return to fighting?” I ask her, as we pass by a smithy, blazing hot and loud with the pounding of metal. The man is working hard at the task, likely exercising Skills and developing himself. Something he couldn’t do quite so easily with all the anxiety of war resting on the horizon.

“I want to return to an honest world.” Red declares. “Where we fight for our place, and struggle to defend it. I despise all these political games that disguise that omnipresent truth. I despise being treated like a toy in someone else’s game.”

“Would you say that that’s what I’m doing to my people?” I ask, watching the strangers pass by. “Keeping them from violence and ensuring they treat each other like actual people.”

“They’re not treating each other like people.” Red declares, “People respect each other only by their own decisions and measure, not because they’re forced to. All you’re doing is keeping the weak alive by wasting your own strength on them. Making them reliant on you.

“I don’t believe you should be defending the weak. Not unless you are currently training them to reach their full potential. Like I was doing for you and the other students after the crash.”

“You don’t like this peace?” I ask. “Have you watched any of the plays? Listened to the musicians? Do you hate those who are focusing their lives around that?”

“No, I just want them to be strong enough to defend themselves when the time comes. If you waste all your strength protecting them from each other, coddling them, then you’ll be too weak to fight the threats that come from outside your own empire. I want the singers, the carpenters, and the farmers to survive when something bad comes along when you’re too busy fighting off something more dangerous, or just distracted and on a world far away.”

“You don’t think we can hold onto this peace?” I ask.

“Nothing lasts forever. Nature and chaos will always return to destroy everything we’ve built. Peace is a momentary thing, a pause between the struggles that define the universe.

“Living is struggling and fighting for resources. No matter how you slice it, there is not enough for everyone to survive, and those you would have die for the sake of your peace will not simply accept your decisions. They will fight to for the privilege of living.

“More than even that, the longer you let people live in peace, the more it twists their nature. They adapt to it. They learn that to thrive within your world, they need to please you. Rather than learning to fight for themselves, they learn how to best suckle off your tit. I despise that sort of life.”

“Don’t you think we can be better than the wild beasts fighting over every scrap of mana? Don’t you think we can make a better world than that?”

“We are all beasts, Kyra. Each of us struggling to get ahead. The only difference is that we form larger groups, combining our strength to achieve greater power, but ultimately, it’s all for the sake of gaining more resources and winning in this violent game of life.

“Do not fall for the delusions that we are better than, or even different to, the wild beasts. That’s the most dangerous delusion of all.”

“Can’t we work towards being something better?” I ask, my own conclusion already settled on the matter. I will try to make something better, and something kinder, but I want her to question her own conclusions. I want her to have hope that there can be more to life than what she sees of it.

Eve since I’ve brought her in, she’s behaved herself. She’s even been relatively more lax on those who want to live peacefully, without violence. She didn’t slaughter those others because she’s evil or cruel, but because she sees herself as just another animal in the wilds. I can’t blame a lion for hunting, even less if she’s trying to teach others to survive in this violent world.

“You want something like the Unified States? You want to create another flavour of the same monster?”

“I... I want options.” I say firmly. “One world where you would feel most comfortable, where you can live as you’d like. Another where peace is a given but where people lack the freedoms that you and I can’t live without. I want people to decide for themselves what sort of life they want to live, and in what world.”

“Not as bad as the Unified States, then.” Red says. “There is a reason why I supported you after all. I still think that it’s a waste of your strength, but then there are some people who think that sex is just a waste of time and energy, so what do I know. Do what you want, just let me be me, and stay honest. I hate liars more than even idiots.”

We discuss for a while longer her thoughts on training and other developments, but my mind is already wondering.

Every cruel thing that Red has done has been because of that world view. That we are all just animals and that a peaceful civilisation is just a way for the powerful to express their ego, and to force those weaker to their will. I can’t even fully say that she’s wrong.

The largest reason why I want to create a peaceful and pleasant society is because I’m a social animal. I want to be surrounded by kindness and happiness, and forcing others to be a part of that is just my own ego.

But, so what?

The wild world is full of cruelty and violence. Nature, and the rule of survival of the fittest, do not punish us for any of it. Cruelty can be a winning tactic in this world, and unless I can rewrite fundamental physics ensuring an over abundance of resources for every living being, then this delusional society, as Red sees it, is the best that I can make.

So I’ll make myself a comfortable home and share it with those I want as neighbours. I’ll be selfish in what I share, and I’ll try to be something better, but within my power.

“Sedena is getting up to something.” Adler says, walking with me as I separate from Red. She’s not overly fond of the violent woman, but I can understand why. Her training, and her entire culture raised her to believe that people like Red need ‘fixing’. I can’t deny that there’s a sense to it, but I just despise that level of manipulative control over a person’s identity.

“Let’s take a look.” I say, looking through the tracker that we put on the welfare officer. The woman was able to bypass her collar so that she could get back to murdering people, because that’s her hobby apparently, but she hasn’t removed my tag. Our truce has held so far, but she’s still out there hunting beasts in the ruins, and her methods have been decidedly… disturbing.

She’s not in it for the mana, she’s actually an interesting comparison to Red, who is violent just to compete in a violent world. Sedena isn’t competing, she’s taking pleasure from the act, and explicitly hunting beings far weaker than her.

Right now, she’s stalking a group of students in the ruins. The students are a violent sort, acting something like a gang by the look of it. They’ve beaten up a few other students adventuring in the ruins and they’re currently dragging those students away somewhere.

“Well, let’s see how long it takes for us to get there.” I say, taking a few fast steps to get moving. “I’ll call for Vice and Alo, maybe they know something that we can talk about. Arduelle shouldn’t find issue with that… right?”

The walls remain silent, and my inbox empty. I assume everything is fine.

“What should we do about this?” Adler asks. “I’m not sure killing them would really be necessary as things stand. They haven’t done anything too cruel yet. I mean you’ve pardoned Red of all people, so…”

“We’ll see when we get there.” I say, calling up a few other reinforcements that might be interested in joining us for this excursion.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Is this really okay?” Vice asks, “We were told that we can’t come back up here.”

“It’s fine so long as you’re with me.” I say, “I’ll take responsibility for you, okay. If the dungeon throws a tantrum over it, I’ll talk her down.”

“Can we try and meet with some of our friends?” Alo asks. “We can’t really reach them through our support devices anymore.”

“Only if we stumble across them, or you want to recruit them to permanently join us.” I say, “The dungeons do bend a few rules for me, but we have to be careful how we use this privilege.”

Vii and Eshya eagerly joined the hunt, but Nel stayed back at home, watching over business.

“So, we can’t kill them?” Eshya asks. “I’ll hit them with the dull side of my blade.”

“I know you can kill with the dull edge just as easy. Hit them lightly.” I warn her. Vii giggles at the conversation, floating up to the ceiling, swirling a few winds around her as she comes with us.

It doesn’t take too long to find the troubling little students, and the few beasts we come across get stomped into paste. Vii helps in navigating, and I notice a few new Skills that are really making a big difference. It’s still a little troubling getting them all working what with the library we have to raid for the abilities.

“Sedena, thanks for tracking these guys down. It really does seem like they’re up to something, doesn’t it?” I say, walking up to the woman in the midst of her stalking.

“So, you really are watching all the time.” She grumbles. “Not that I was testing you, I just stumbled onto this. I can be patient and follow the rules you set, until I eventually leave this place.”

“Good, ‘cause it’ll be a whole thing if I have to kill you. I’ll have like dozens of people on my back about it, and it’s just a pain. I’ll still do it, though.”

“I understand.” She says chuckling lightly and following as we make ourselves known to the troublesome students. “Your situation is much like my own. I can’t kill this person, or that person, or else I’ll have all sorts of trouble at my door.”

“You say that knowing that I won’t like the comparison between us?” I ask, the group of students come to a stop and turn to face us with surprise written on their faces.

“Of course, I wouldn’t have said it otherwise.” Sedena replies.

“Who are you?” The leader of the little group asks.

“I’m the Empress of the underworld, and these are my lovers and servants.” I say, “These ones are lovers, and these are servants, I should clarify. This one is a welfare officer and a psychotic murderer who is tentatively a servant of mine. I’d advise against bringing her to your bedroom.”

“Help us!” One of the beaten students begs, looking up at us as she shivers slightly, her scales shifting about and shining in the low light.

“Sure, sure, but first.” I step up to the leader. “Take us to your leader.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stats and Skills

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 30,092 / 60,892 units

Current mana volume: 14,957 / 30,266 shards

Mana volume at crystallisation density (Max. mana volume):

Kyra: 30,266 shards

Kyra’s armour: 20,777 shards

Kyra’s throne: 1,109,298 shards

~Forms

Mana Canon

-Annihilation Heart (Adapted)

-Blood Fuel (20,000 mana shards)

-Bone Magic Storage (40,000 mana shards)

-Nail Shifters (50,000 mana shards)

Dancer

-Flash Nerves (8,000 mana shards)

-Quick Perception Mind (Adapted)

-Burst Reflex Muscles (35,000 mana shards)

-Layered space Muscles (80,000 mana shards)

Turtle

-Rebinding Tissue (Adapted)

-Catalyst Sweat Glands (140,000 mana shards)

-Repulsive Skin (80,000 mana shards)

-Prehensile hair (10,000 mana shards)

-Fatty Tissue Blood Storage (100,000 mana shards)

Investigator

-Wide eyes (5,000 mana shards)

-Wide ears (5,000 mana shards)

-Sharp nose (5,000 mana shards)

Misc.

-Clean bowels (Adapted)

~Favourited Skills:

-Tag and Film

-Trapping

-Stealth

-Mana surge movement

-Annihilation defence

-Annihilation flame burst

-Annihilation net

-Eyes of an Empire