Deathly silence reigned as the last wisp of power flowed into the tattooed man’s mouth. For several seconds, nothing happened. Then, the man’s eyes flickered with life.

“Welcome to Land.” Skadi said crisply, just as he had previously. “For your service, all of-”

“I’m Umbra.” The tattooed man cut him off.

Skadi looked at Umbra for a moment. A smirk appeared on his face. “What a peculiar experience. This is nothing like Sky.”

Umbra ignored Skadi to examine his surroundings. His eyes flickered over the crowd, resting for a short moment on Solera before moving on.

“You have not been informed of the latest plans.” Umbra spoke.

Skadi nodded, turning to the human soldiers. “Everyone, you are all dismissed for now. We will have a meeting in a few hours about what to do.”

Solera joined Chianti and Guinness as they filed into the tunnels. Chianti had a dark look on her face, while Guinness was out of it, as usual.

“Only the Ancients know what a storm Skadi kicked up just now. The Halo cult will be sending immortals to kill us all the moment they find out about these summonings. And that’s not even mentioning how mad the United Duchies will be. Nobody can hide what happened to the guy that’s now calling himself Umbra. If he was actually the son of Duke Aloysius, then holy shit.” Chianti shook her head.

“The Halo cult.” Solera scratched his head. “They’re all the way in the southern continent, a million kilometers away. What would they do to us?”

“Don’t underestimate the Halo cult.” Chianti said grimly. “They control the entire southern continent, and control the greatest amount of immortals in Land. They have five hundred and they get a new one every few years. If they want to send fifty of them, that would already outnumber our immortals five to one.”

She gnashed her teeth in frustration. “What’s an extra Throne or two on our side going to do against that? Pissing off the Halo cult is a big, big mistake. But it’s too late.”

Solera had no response. Every immortal was an incredible force. He had seen firsthand how Skadi and that Jeboro from the United Duchies destroyed an entire section of forest in their fight, and how Skadi was completely unaffected by miasma that would have turned Solera into liquid. Five hundred Skadis… too many! It was over half the immortals in all of Land! To Solera, organizations like the Halo cult and the Pantheon which controlled entire continents were just too big to wrap his head around.

The Halo cult had declared holy war against spirits. By extension, it was also at war with summoners. But the western continent was too far away for them to exert their influence, and if they wanted to do something, then they would need the approval of the Pantheon, which controlled Land’s only navy. Thus, the Halo cult didn’t care about small time demons. But Thrones and Seraphs… there was no way the Halo cult would remain idle.

No matter how Solera looked at it, Eden was screwed. But he couldn’t leave his own country! Behind him were countless innocents, and his crippled father, Vinoh. Vinoh had given up immortality for Eden; was Solera going to let his father’s sacrifice be in vain?

“Well, with luck, the Pantheon won’t let the southerners ship fifty immortals over to here.” Chianti shook her head. “But I still don’t trust these spirits. What if they use us for summoning? If one man gets turned to summoning dust, a captured King becomes a Throne. Two men makes a third a Seraph. Do that for every eligible body in this camp, and you got a force that can rival the Verdant Empire. The only thing stopping Skadi is his word. And spirits aren’t trustworthy.”

Solera scratched his head again. He remembered what that regular had said. Only truth in Sky. Spirits seemed to be overly straightforward, but everyone always cursed spirits for their deceit. He didn’t really know what to believe.

Chianti dropped them off at their room. Chip wasn’t back yet; after Solera had blown the horn, Chip was nowhere to be seen.

“You guys sit tight. I’m going to talk to some others, see what we’re going to do.” Chianti left in a hurry.

Several hours later, Chianti was pounding the table with her fist.

“Fucking Skadi!” Chianti growled, her face red with anger. “He’s always stubborn about the littlest things! He refuses to have us vacate these shitty trees because of some nonreal tactical value they have!”

Solera nodded as sympathetically as he could. In situations like these, it was the only thing he knew to do.

“Umbra said that the Klora garrison is a hundred kilometers away, preparing to siege Fortress Hickory. Fuck Umbra! How would he know what’s going on over there? He just came from Sky! He said some bullshit, but he’s full of it.” Chianti flopped onto Guinness’s bed. “How can you not care about these things, Guinness? Damn it all. Damn it damn it dammit dammit damn it. All.” Chianti began punching Guinness’s pillow. A light blush came onto Solera’s face as he watched.

“So, uh, what did you want Skadi to do?” Solera asked when Chianti finished venting her frustrations.

Chianti rolled over onto her back and sighed. “We’re in a bad spot right now. The United Duchies are able to send a thousand soldiers past us everyday, mainly through a gap in our tunnel system near Fortress Hickory. They’re fighting the Klora garrison right now while we sit on our asses. All of us wanted to go evacuate this spot to rejoin the Klora garrison, but Skadi is refusing.”

“Ten thousand every day!” Solera said in shock. “That’s more than everyone here!”

“Uh, no.” Chianti shook her head. “We actually have around fifty thousand in this base. The tunnel system is very large, and has several hideouts going several hundred kilometers north of here. Those men are also sitting on their ass, waiting for the United Duchies to pass into Eden from the Verdant Empire.”

Solera nodded slowly. The United Duchies were to Eden’s southeast, but the Verdant Empire was to their east. If the United Duchies wanted to flank them, then they would have to pass into the Verdant Empire.

“Lord Azurejade was friends with the late king, though. He probably won’t let the United Duchies in. Then again, we were on good terms with the United Duchies. Who knows?” Chianti shrugged. “But the fact remains that all we are doing is slowing the United Duchies down. Within a month, half a UD army will be between us and Eden.”

Chianti’s misgivings were resolved the next day, and not in a good way. A messenger came out from the forward tunnel systems, bringing news that another four armies had arrived. Including the Airborne, the number of armies they were dealing with now was eight.

“This is well over half the United Duchies forces! What kind of offensive is this?” Verreaux gawked at the banners. “Thats half a million people and tens of thousands of tigers, crammed into an area of several thousand square kilometers! Do they want to annex the entire country?”

Chianti was already over her shock, a resigned expression on her face. “We have no choice but to stay put now. If we let all these people through, Eden would stand no chance.”

From then on, the fighting only intensified. Solera never saw any up close, but he saw the wounded soldiers being brought back to be treated; mawed by tigers, burned by fire, crushed by rocks. He heard about the pitched battles in the underground tunnels. He smelled the smoke of the forest being burned to ash by the United Duchies as they tried to root out the tunnels. All across the border, they were desperately trying to hold back the advancing enemy. Hundreds of kilometers to the north, the Klora garrison was doing battle with UD forces which had passed through their filter.

Chianti, Verreaux, and Macaw were constantly away on combat missions. They were experienced mercenaries, and they always came back without severe injuries. Chip continued to make pills and explosives for the base. The army itself had enlisted him as a certified creator, whatever that meant. Solera didn’t pay much attention to it. Chip’s affairs were his own.

Solera felt useless. Most of his days were spent meditating and channeling the power crystal into his body for cultivation. He knew he was getting stronger, but he had no way to measure it, and he didn’t want to bother any doctors for a mere cultivation check up. He was jealous of Chip; at least he was doing something. Although Chip seemed to be intent on keeping his strange oily black armor a secret; Solera was sure Chip would be extremely useful in the tunnels. He said nothing, though; he didn’t want to lose his power crystal.

After a week had passed with Solera agonizing over what to do, an idea popped into his mind. He could go enlist as a medical assistant! The doctors were always in a shortage of power, and though Solera was an atrocious channeler, he had the power crystal. It had healed his injuries at phenomenal speed, so it stood to reason that others would too.

He was right. The moment he had offered his services, he had been whisked off to one of the many operating rooms. The doctor was a scruffy, brown-skinned man with a permanent frown, and his assistant was a short girl with blood all over her goggles. Upon learning that Solera could channel healing power, the doctor tasked Solera with pain relief.

“Insert the seed properly, damn fool!” The doctor shouted at the assistant as he sewed the man’s stomach shut. Solera had his eyes shut tightly, telling himself he had made the right choice. He had no idea that a doctor’s profession could be so… ghastly. In the thirty minutes Solera had been there, they had performed just as many amputations.

“It’s done, sir.” The assistant said. The sound of the tweezers clattering onto the metal tray ringed in Solera’s ear.

“Good!” The doctor said as he burned the wound closed. “Give it half a year, soldier, and your limbs will grow back. But sorry about the cultivation.”

Solera felt it was safe to open his eyes. The soldier’s face appeared into view. It was a young man, perhaps only a few years older than Solera. He had an arm and a foot crushed by a collapsing tunnel.

“It wasn’t a lot to begin with.” The soldier cracked a smile. He nodded to Solera. “You can stop now. Save your power for someone who needs it more.”

Solera shrugged and let go of the boy’s uninjured arm. Apparently he was being used as no more than pain relief; the doctors simply didn’t have time to put each soldier to sleep for each operation, because there were too many. Solera had the power crystal wrapped around his palm so that he could draw power from it unobtrusively. So far, nobody seemed to even notice it; after all, it was just a translucent object with a leaf inside. It looked like a trinket someone could buy anywhere.

“Take it easy, kid.” The doctor said as he loaded the boy into a wheelchair. “You’ve earned it.”

Fifteen seconds later, the next soldier was brought in. He had severe burns, and his face was disfigured, like molten cheese. Solera averted his gaze the moment his eyes fell on the soldier’s face. The sight was too horrible.

“Too ugly for you, huh.” The soldier rasped. “Fuck you.”

Solera blinked in shock. As he struggled to find the words to say, the doctor laughed. “Take it easy on the kid. It’s his first day here.”

“First hour.” The assistant corrected as she prepared the tools for the next operation.

“It’s only been an hour? Heavens.” The doctor sighed. “Good kid, this boy is. One of the Fortress Hickory students who made it out alive.”

“Fortress Hickory student? No wonder he’s such a pussy.” The soldier tried to laugh, but his throat only made some croaking noises. “Who’s your daddy? Maybe we all know him. He must have pulled a lot of strings to keep you out of the fighting.”

Solera trembled in anger. He opened his mouth to retort when he made eye contact with the soldier. The soldier’s eyes were listless and vacant, as if he wasn’t actually looking at Solera. Perhaps he was seeing the fire which had nearly killed him.

Solera closed his mouth. He grabbed onto the soldier’s arm, which was also covered in burns, and channeled the verdant power of the power crystal out of his hand. Instantly, some light returned to the boy’s eyes.

“Hmph.” The boy looked away from him. But Solera kept his eyes riveted onto his ravaged face. He wouldn’t look away. He wouldn’t close his eyes out of revulsion. It was an act of disservice to the wounded, and it had been his mistake to do so before. From then on, he no longer looked away from the wounded, no matter how horrible it appeared.

Solera returned to his bed the next morning, too sleepy to say anything. His channels were screaming with pain, but he was satisfied. He had helped hundreds of people through their operations under four different doctors. Even the doctors’ astonishment at his ability to endlessly channel without his Lake draining itself completely didn’t feel as good as it did to help. He still remembered the young female controller who had been sheared nearly in half by a wind blade, asking him to tell her “it’s okay.”

Yeah, Solera felt pretty good. He went back soon after he woke up that night.

“Me name Donuts.” The regular grunted as the doctor stitched his furry flesh up. “Me chose it meself.”

Solera laughed. Regulars always looked fearsome and monstrous until they opened their mouths. Most of them seemed to have trouble pronouncing words, and couldn’t speak the language properly either. The regulars always amused him. It was the same with that first one he had spoken to.

“Me name not funny.” The regular glared at Solera. “Me name sound good.”

“Sorry.” Solera apologized, immediately stopping his laugh. “Is the name something special?”

“Me name?” The regular bristled with anger. “Of course me name special! Name always special! If me have name, me is important! Otherwise, me is weakling! Not important!”

“Oh.” Solera blinked. He did remember when Skadi had allowed all the spirits to get a name. They had cheered as if it was something special. Perhaps he hadn’t caught on to something until now.

“Me name Donuts! You better remember!” The regular grumbled as he walked out of the room.

“Monsters. Heavens, they’re so crazy.” The doctor, the same one from when Solera had first started working, sighed as he dumped the sewing needle into the jar of bloodied water reserved for spirits. “Donuts just sounds stupid, if you ask me.”

Solera shrugged. He had never thought about it before, but names were very meaningful. Every single name on Land was unique to the person who had it. Names were chosen from various codexes, and only reappeared when the person died or ascended. He could see why the regular was proud of getting a name, when it didn’t have one before.

“I don’t actually know your name, doctor.” Solera said. He had just realized that the time had been so hectic, he had never learned either the names of any doctors or their assistants. If names were important, then wasn’t not knowing their names also a disservice?

“Jogujo. Stupid name as well.” The doctor grumbled. “But that’s the name they picked, so what do you know.”

“I’m Alda.” The assistant said as she brought in the next patient. “It’s a name from a northern codex, I think. There was no Namer where I was born, so my parents had to go with that codex I was born with.”

“I’m Solera.” Solera said. “It’s a name from the Grove’s codex.”

“Jogujo is a southern name, I think.” Jogujo shrugged as he looked over the patient’s leg, which was only attached by a small sliver of flesh. “Southern names and eastern names all sound stupid, if you ask me. Still better than Donuts, though.”

“Hey! Fix me already!” The soldier shouted, annoyed with their idle chitchat. “Don’t you all have a job to do?”

“Okay, okay, heavens.” The doctor bent down to take a look at the soldier’s legs. They started working again, but Solera found that despite the endless stream of wounded being brought in, the atmosphere was a lot lighter than before.