Three Months Later...

~~~~~~~

Alejandro

~~~~~~~

"Daddy, daddy!" Alejandro looked up from his desk just in time to catch the small girl flying straight for him.

"Oof! Anita, what did I say about tackling daddy?"

"But you're big and strong!" She hugged him, and Alejandro hid his wince when something cracked.

She had grown so fast… but more than that, his little girl was D Rank already, and her Attributes were higher than his own. His own fault, that. Not being able to absorb Cores anymore was something he hadn't spread beyond the inner circle. But he still took his share of the hunts, only now he gave them to Anita and Gabriel.

Neither he nor Maria knew if it was a good idea to Rank up a child… but they wanted her to be safe or strong enough to protect herself if it came to that… And from the sensations coming from his body, she was well on her way.

Alejandro didn't feel pain the same way anymore. He knew when he'd been damaged but in a more clinical way rather than the previous urgency of pained nerves.

"Anita!" Maria came in behind the girl, and her tone sent the child scrambling off him. "What did I say about…"

"I was careful!" Anita protested immediately, "I didn't hurt daddy! Right?" She looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Very gentle," Alejandro nodded, and her beaming smile filled his cold heart with warmth.

Maria wasn't buying it. "Out. Your father and I need to speak." She pointed back out the door. "Go with Uncle Jackson and find Martin. You still need your lessons today."

The little girl left with a bounce in her step and paused just outside the door. "Hi, Uncle Bradley! Where's… Oh, Hi, Aunty Mar! Can you teach me how to do…"

"Anita!"

"Bye!" There was a rapid patter of footsteps, a crashing door, "Hi Jacks!" and silence.

"My Heart," Alejandro smiled up at her…

"You worked all night again," Maria stated, interrupting him as she walked around the desk.

"I… yes, my love," he surrendered, "I can't sleep, so I might as well…"

"And your assistant, who is sleeping on her desk out there?"

"Ah…" Alejandro winced. Ever since he had become technically not alive, he could no longer sleep. Martin had taught him a meditation technique that helped when the nights grew too long, but he sometimes forgot that other people needed to sleep. Not as much sleep as before the System, but most people still needed at least four to six hours.

Maria touched him, and Alejandro felt her Mana quest through him. "She cracked both of your arms and three ribs," Maria sighed and started Stitching the damaged areas back together, an ability that was a godsend considering that he also could no longer be healed. "You need to tell her that she is stronger than you," Maria said softly while she worked.

"How…" Alejandro struggled for the right words, "How do I tell my little girl that daddy can't protect her? That she needs to protect me!"

"I am stronger than you as well," Maria said, twisting him around in his chair to reach his other rib, "does that bother you?"

"You have always been stronger than me, My Heart," Alejandro said seriously but with a small smile.

Maria snorted and finished her 'healing.' "Speaking of our children, your son needs his father to talk to him."

"I don't…"

"He will listen to you," Maria interrupted, "please, talk to him."

Alejandro sighed and rubbed his face. "I will."

Maria pulled him to his feet and wrapped her arms around him. She didn't say anything else, just held him. Her skin felt feverishly hot on his, but he knew it was only because his own temperature was lower, basically room temperature. One of the many things he needed to find an answer for… She kissed him briefly and headed back out. "Thank you for waiting," she said to someone out of sight.

"No problem, Ma'am," Bradley said, then stepped through the door into the office. Mar shimmered into view as she followed behind. Both of them looked tired.

Alejandro pushed his personal worries aside and focused on the matter at hand. "So, what's the verdict?" he asked the duo as they sat down.

"The… scout was right," Mar's mouth twisted in distaste at the mention of the scout, but she continued, "a lot of humans in there, and every adult I saw had a collar."

"Damn," Alejandro clenched his fists to avoid fingering the collar around his own neck, "is it more elves?"

Mar shook her head. "No, some weird tall freaks with blue skin and big heads. Only some are wearing the control bands that I saw." She glanced at Bradley. "I say we go back tonight and finally test our collars on one of the prisoners."

Alejandro nodded. He wouldn't let anyone go through that nightmare when they had the means to prevent it readily available. "I agree, but," he held up a hand, "I want all of team one to go with you."

"That'll slow us down…" Mar started to protest.

"I am sure that it will require some charge from your collar to subvert another," Alejandro cut her off, "and we don't know how much, or how fast it will be, or if it will alert the enemy, or if it will break your stealth." He counted each point off on his fingers. "Do you know the Skills and Abilities of the enemy? We can't afford to risk going in unprepared."

"I agree," Bradley said, "we didn't get close enough to have hard numbers on anything."

"You are the General," Alejandro told him, "I'll leave the details up to you. Just tell me what you need."

"I want Maria and Jackson in our team," Bradley said, "and teams two and three on standby tonight. Saira will need to stay behind, just in case the mole things attack again."

"Done," Alejandro said, "set it up."

Bradley pulled out his communication disc and started tapping on the Runes. Alejandro stood upright just as a woman poked her head around the door jam. "Ah, Janice. Where is Melissa?" he asked her.

"Good morning, Commander," she said with a glance down the hall, "I sent her to get some rest…"

"Excellent," Alejandro picked up a pile of papers from his desk and handed them off. "These are all ready to go out, and do you know if we have any extra chairs for the…"

…

It took a bit for everyone to gather, but they all trickled in, and Alejandro looked over the best fighters they had in the Fort. It got increasingly crowded in the small conference room until one of their number was relegated to standing outside and participating through a window. Mainly because the man had accepted a rather strange Evolution option and was now a centaur… not something everyone was comfortable with, but he was freaking fast and made a damned good scout.

Bradley laid out the Intel they had gathered so far, including the horse-man's first report. He then handed out assignments and sent most off with instructions to get some rest before they headed out. Alejandro didn't even have to chime in once. The young man was growing into his role very well, with only a few rough spots. A far cry from the timid youth that he had been…

"What about me?" Saira asked as the others left, "I noticed that you didn't include me in any of that…" The baby in her arms stirred at the sound of her voice, and she started gently rocking him.

"I need you to stay behind," Bradley said nervously.

"Oh?"

"You are one of our strongest," Bradley said quickly, "I don't want to leave the Fort too vulnerable, and I swear those moles know when I leave. So you're the best option to keep them out and defend the Fort if anything else shows up… is that okay?"

Saira's stern expression blossomed into a wide smile. "Of course, I even have some surprises ready if they do try again, plus my Apprentices could use some combat experience!"

Despite everything Bradley had been through, he was still nervous around Saira. It probably had to do with the fact that he was dating her daughter… and that Saira seemed to be competing with Maria on who could be the most terrifying.

Alejandro found a queue of people waiting for him back at his office. "Always more to do…" A glance at the Charge on his collar gave him a good reason to delay the inevitable, and he apologized for the delay before ducking outside. Alejandro left them and the piles of paperwork on his desk behind. Why anyone ever wanted to be in charge was a mystery to him… there was soo much paperwork!

His Collar of Freedom could sustain his Mana needs, but not if he was active. If he sat in a corner and did nothing, the Charge would very slowly tick upwards. Luckily, he didn't have to do that.

He found Gabriel already in Lee's apartment… former apartment. Not too surprising, given that the Mana Well was in there.

Alejandro opened the door softly, just in case Gabriel was working on anything delicate at the moment, and found him hunched over the desk with a pencil in hand, furiously scribbling on a piece of paper one moment and scratching it out the next.

"No, that won't work, dammit! What if I… no, that will get blocked here… fuck, it's impossible!"

"Gabe!" Alejandro couldn't help himself upon hearing the language his son was using.

Gabriel jumped and spun around. "Uh, dad! Um… I didn't…"

He looked as exhausted as Mar and Bradley had, with bloodshot eyes and rumpled clothes. Obviously, he'd spent the whole night in here, working on something… "What's the project?" Alejandro let him off the hook and walked to the desk to look at the papers spread across it.

"I… uh, it's nothing!"

Alejandro sighed, "Gabe, you need to…"

"I won't give up!" Gabriel exclaimed, fists clenched, "I know he's here!"

"And you know I agree with you," Alejandro said, and his words took the wind out of Gabriel's sails. "But obsessing over it isn't helping."

"But he is right here!" Gabriel exclaimed, once again fired up as he knelt and placed his hand on the patch of bare concrete in the living room. "I can find a way to help him!"

"I know," Alejandro said and reached a hand down. "Stand up." Gabriel reluctantly accepted the hand up, and Alejandro pulled him into a hug. His little boy wasn't so little anymore… coming up past his shoulders now, almost as tall as his father already.

"He saved us," Gabriel's voice cracked, "saved you and mom, Anita… everyone!"

"He did," Alejandro nodded and rubbed the boy's back.

"But everyone just wants to forget about him!"

"We aren't forgetting," Alejandro said, "we know the Tethers are still there, you are still his Apprentice, and the Runes in the floor…"

He held Gabriel out at arm's length, hands on his shoulders. "It has been months," Gabriel opened his mouth to say something, and Alejandro continued before he could, "are you any closer to a solution now than you were in the beginning?"

"I can…" Gabriel wilted under his gaze and finally shook his head with a soft, "maybe… If I could just See the Runes! Then…"

"Gabe," Alejandro cut him off before he could start up an often repeated argument, "you said that you felt Runes outside when he vanished. You said it was Three, right?" The boy nodded reluctantly. "I didn't see him at the end." Alejandro suppressed a shiver at the memory of being dead. "But you agreed with your mother that he looked bad, right?" Another nod. "We assumed that the building did something to help, and we have no idea what."

"I want to help him…" Gabriel said quietly.

Alejandro took them to the couch and pulled his son down next to him. "I do too, and I am!"

"I know, dad." Gabriel sighed at the argument he'd heard before, "By keeping his home standing. But I can't even do that! All I can create are useless trinkets…"

"You're kidding, right?" Alejandro pulled his communication disc from a pocket. "These are invaluable! Plus, you've created weapons and…"

"Look at this!" Gabriel exclaimed and pulled the collar from around his neck. The metal band seemed to stretch and move easily over his head. "It's two Runes, two! And look what it can do!" He slumped back onto the couch, turning the collar over and over in his hands. "I don't have any idea how he did it… I'm terrible at this!"

"I am terrible at being a father…" Alejandro thought. This was obviously something that had been eating at his son for a while now, and he'd been too busy to notice how bad it was.

"You are amazing," Alejandro pulled him close with an arm around his shoulders, "don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Plus, you know that Lee is a cheater, don't you?"

"What?"

"Remember that first night?"

Gabriel frowned. "Not very well… It seems like so long ago."

"Yes, it does… but that night he used a power that I still haven’t seen matched. Not even our most dangerous enemies could hold a candle to it."

"I felt it when he made these," Gabriel said as he idly played with his collar, "but why didn’t he just kill them all if he is so strong?"

Hearing his little boy talk so casually about killing broke Alejandro’s heart a little bit, but that was their world now. "Because using it hurts him," Alejandro continued, "I only caught a brief glimpse that first night, but Lee was younger than me before he created Three, and your mother said that Lee looked really bad after he saved us from the collars."

"He looked like a mummy…" Gabriel said very quietly, as if afraid to criticize him.

"So yes," Alejandro said, "he saved us, and it almost killed him, but I believe he will come back."

"It’s been so long…"

"That’s the hard part," Alejandro agreed, "we have no way of knowing how long it will take or how to help him, if we even can help…"

"I want to help…"

"Me too, Gabe, me too… but I think you were right about Three saving him. Remember how excited he was, talking about how the building was alive?"

"I couldn’t feel anything different…" Gabriel whispered, "but I tried to be nicer to it… and always say thank you when it filled up my Mana…"

"That’s very polite," Alejandro smiled at his boy, "I’ll have to remember to do that as well when they come back."

Alejandro changed the subject slightly to try and cheer Gabriel up, "Remember when he first tried to fly with his hovering shoes?"

Gabriel laughed softly, "Yea, that was funny, but he got a little better…" So they talked for a short while until the exhausted boy finally drifted asleep on the couch. Alejandro waited there, holding him and ignoring the responsibilities of leadership, at least for now.

Eventually, though, he had to get up, and he carefully extricated himself before going to the new addition to the apartment, a metal sphere atop a pipe running into the floor, and May’s solution to the absence of Three. She hadn’t liked the idea of going without the Mana Well, and trekking up to the third floor every time she needed to recharge had been out as well. So, she had devised a way to send the Mana through the building using pipes. It wasn’t as efficient as when Three handled things, but it was good enough.

Alejandro placed a hand against the ball and let the Mana rush through him, most of it going straight to the collar. This was a process he’d done many times now while Gabriel was working here, and then always rushing back immediately to deal with another problem. But not today. Today he wanted to stay with Gabriel and be here when he woke up. Maybe bring him along to work later… let him see how much his ‘useless trinkets’ helped everyone. On that note, he muted his communication disc. He was only the Commander, they could function without him for one afternoon.

Blood no longer flowed in his veins, and his heart was gone, replaced by the broken Core. Now Mana flowed through his veins and into the Core, and then from there, out to the rest of his body, presumably performing the necessary functions to keep the flesh from deteriorating. The Core itself didn’t hold much Mana, instead acting as a conduit for whatever his ‘constant Mana supply’ was supposed to be. Which, in his case, was the collar.

Alejandro still wasn’t sure whether the cracked Core in his chest was actually his Soul or something else. However, mana did flow throughout his body, including up to his brain. He hadn’t paid enough attention in biology class but guessed that the lack of body heat meant something important… but he didn’t know what exactly. Also, magic was a thing now, and who knew how that changed things?

The collar’s charge filled quickly, and the incoming flow of Mana tapered off but didn’t entirely stop. Alejandro stayed in place with his hand on the Well. It felt nice, almost warm, and he didn’t have anywhere else to be right now.

Gabriel stirred in his sleep and mumbled something before settling back down. Alejandro watched him for a while as he tried to think of a way to help his son deal with the situation they had found themselves in… maybe Maria would know what to do. He’d have to talk with her about…

His hand wasn’t feeling warm anymore. Instead, it was feeling hot, burning hot!

Alejandro’s muscles twitched from the shockingly intense and painful sensation, and the metal under his hand groaned.

+1 Strength

The burning subsided almost immediately after the notification, and Alejandro pulled his hand back to see the imprint it had left in the metal sphere. "What just happened?" He hadn’t seen any stat gains since becoming a golem, not even after doing Martin’s training courses. All he’d gotten for the effort was a faster drain on the collar’s charge.

But this… Alejandro placed his hand back on the Well, and this time he paid attention.

A trickle of Mana ran to the collar, and the flow halted again. Alejandro focused inside himself on the Mana moving through his body and eventually found it pooling in his hand that was touching the sphere. It felt warm, the same as before, and he watched closely as the density increased. He wasn’t sure how long it took, but the heat returned. Only now, he saw why.

His veins, or Mana channels, he wasn’t sure what he was looking at exactly, were full and overflowing. The Mana appeared to permeate through the walls of said channels, and the increasingly unbearable heat seemed to be caused by that leakage. Alejandro endured the pain this time, observing the effect as it spread further up his arm. He lasted until the pain hit his chest, and then he had to pull away. As he did so, the contracting muscles seemed to suck up the Mana that had spread through and around them.

+1 Strength

"This… this changes everything!" He might have just discovered a way to get stronger, literally. Though he wasn’t sure if it would work for his other attributes or how to go about testing, it was a start.

"Dad?" Gabriel had woken up and was looking at him, "are you okay? Did something happen?"

"Yes! Something did happen!" A glance outside told him he’d been at this for longer than expected. "You helped me figure something out!" Alejandro was smiling as he pulled Gabriel to his feet. "Come, you can help send off the others and see if they need any last-minute Runes."

~~~~~

Mar

~~~~~

"I am nothing more than a passing breeze," Mar told herself, each foot placed carefully and precisely as she walked closer to the enemy Fort.

They had decided against digging their way inside. The potential for things to go wrong was too high. However, Bradley was still ready and waiting underground, poised to strike into the enemy Fort or extract her if it became necessary.

Mar resisted the urge to touch the collar around her neck, a habit that she'd seen too many people affected by. She was better than them! Some of the cowards had even refused to wear the things! Mar could somewhat understand the reluctance, as she occasionally woke in a cold sweat after dreaming of that horrible day. But the collar was literally designed to prevent that very thing from ever happening again! Still… its weight was sometimes a hard thing to ignore.

Despite all that, Mar trusted the thing to keep her safe. Even Bradley couldn't immobilize her in stone while she was wearing the collar. Rocks would shatter into dust the instant he tried, though the collar would lose charge from each reaction. Also, he could still drop her in a larger space underground and trap her that way. But, of course, that was where the best part came into play… It had a damn teleport home function! Who the hell wouldn't want that? Although to be fair, most people refusing to wear it also refused to leave the Fort. "Cowards."

She reached the walls.

This Fort was much less impressive than their own. The walls were little more than a dirt hill, with logs pounded into the top. A small walkway ran atop the inside, and enslaved human patrols moved like clockwork back and forth, all around the large perimeter. Magical lights were spaced evenly around the wall, and a few rickety-looking watchtowers could be seen peeking above the wall.

Mar spent long minutes creeping the last few feet up the dirt and standing still with a hand almost, but not quite touching, the wooden wall. Still, she felt no trace of magical enchantment or active spells. But, then again, with Lee gone, their Fort no longer had magic walls either…

Climbing over the wall was a cakewalk. Her fingers were strong enough to grip the slightest edge of the logs, and she was on the other side a few moments later.

Mar crouched in a shadow and let her Mana Regenerate. Leveling her Skills had paid off, and now the cost to be a ghost was below her regen rate. So long as she wasn't moving… it was even better if she was in the dark. Basically, anything she did to move more quietly or stay out of the light, even staying out of anyone’s direct line of sight, all reduced the cost of her Skill.

While she waited, Mar tapped at the disc on her belt. Courtesy of Gabriel, their only resident enchanter now, she had gotten a modified version of the communication discs. Hers did not glow and emitted no sounds. Instead, it used a series of vibrations in prearranged patterns. Okay, it was Morse Code. Still, it worked, and Bradley carried the twin to hers. "Inside," she tapped out, "No Alert." It was better to keep Bradley in the loop. Otherwise, he might get worried and go on a rampage. It had happened before when she was too distracted to feel the incoming messages or too busy to respond. Not that she didn't enjoy seeing him kick ass, but this was supposed to be a stealth mission…

Mar had carefully picked her entry point, being sure to stay at least ten meters from any collared humans. Now she just needed to isolate one of them somewhere and find out how the subversion worked.

The buildings inside the walls were not any better looking, at least all of the added ones. The former hospital was the main building and looked a bit rundown, but it still loomed impressively in the dark at five stories tall. Going inside wouldn't work for this test because there would be no way to keep her distance from the floors above or below and pick a single target. So that left finding someone outside.

It didn't take long before a perfect opportunity presented itself. A woman walked out one of the hospital doors and trudged stiffly across the crumbling remains of the parking lot, carrying a metal bucket.

Mar crept closer, one eye on her collar’s Charge as she did so. It dropped to 99%, and Mar matched the woman’s pace while watching the drain rate. They made it across the street, and the woman went up to one of the more haphazard-looking structures before it dropped to 98%, and still, the woman showed no reaction.

Mar closed the gap as the woman put down the bucket and pulled up a heavy bar set across the door. The charge started draining faster as Mar followed behind the woman through the door.

The smell hit her as she spotted the single dim light overhead. Then she saw the pit filling most of the floor space inside… The woman she'd followed in was pouring something out of the bucket and into the pit. Voices echoed up, some crying for help, others cursing, along with a few cries of pain.

Mar crept off to one side and peeked over the edge. Humans filled the bottom of the pit maybe forty feet below. Details were hard to make out in the dim light from that distance, but there had to be over one hundred of them down there. She could see some varying states of health, with some looking emaciated, while others looked perfectly healthy. "How long have they been grabbing people?"

She was already tapping on her communication disc, telling Bradley about the people here. None of them were wearing collars, which she assumed was the reason they were trapped in the pit, but it should be easy enough for Bradley to…

Mar jumped in surprise when the bucket clattered to the floor, and the woman started screaming. "Damn, the collar!" Mar looked up in time to see the woman dash back out the door, her hands clawing at the collar around her neck.

"It used up 20% charge," Mar noted as she sprinted after the woman. Luckily the woman must have been barely D Rank if that because Mar caught her only a few paces past the door. Unfortunately, the moment her hand grabbed on the woman suddenly felt like greased jello and slipped free instantly. "Damn collar!" So Mar changed tacts and kicked one of the running woman's feet out from under her.

Her screaming cut off abruptly as she went sprawling. "I'll apologize later," Mar thought as she reached for the downed woman. The collars made them pretty much immune to being grappled but did nothing to prevent someone from tripping them. Then the woman tore off her collar… "Idiot." But Mar wouldn't complain this time. It made things easier for her.

Before the hysterical woman could finish drawing a breath, Mar slapped a hand over her mouth and pinned her arms and legs on the ground. A heartbeat later, she'd pushed her cloak out over the woman. "This is a rescue!" Mar hissed in her ear as her eyes scanned the area, "Stop moving and shut up!" It was a heavy drain on her Mana to cloak more than herself, and every sound and movement only made it worse.

The woman stiffened, and Mar was surprised to see and hear nothing happening in response to the screams. Some of the guards on the walls were well within hearing range, and it was impossible that they'd missed it. But they were still walking the same patrols and staring out over the walls. "Were they only ordered to watch outside?" That was lucky if so…

Her disc vibrated in its pocket, and Mar felt out the message, "E x t r a c t…" Bradley must have found the pit.

Mar got slowly to her feet, the weight of her captive negligible. "We're going back to the pit, quietly." The woman didn't like that and tried to struggle, but Mar restrained her easily enough. "My team is pulling them out right now, so… shit!" She started moving faster.

One of the blue-headed monsters had come out of the main hospital building and was looking around.

Mar burned more Mana, bringing herself down to 50%, to get back into the pit room. It was eerily quiet compared to before, and even more so when she looked down. The formerly docile captives were moving around and being herded into a new tunnel in the side of the pit.

Bradley was down there, and it looked like he was giving orders, but she still heard no sound. Then she saw their resident sound mage, "What was his name? Arthur, something?" It only took a moment after seeing that before Mar sensed the Magic near her feet covering the top of the hole. "Neat trick." She didn't think that the man had made it into one of the top teams, so Bradley must have called him in specifically for this mission.

Mar pulled her now less reluctant captive away from the entrance and then knelt to stick her head through the sound barrier, dropping her cloak in the process. A cacophony of noise reached her ears, and Mar shouted over it all, "Bradley, one more up here!"

Bradley immediately looked up, and the woman at her side yelped loudly as the ground dropped away beneath her. "Shit!" Mar recloaked and poked her head around the door to check on the alien.

It was looking her way but standing still over the dropped collar in the street outside. "Oops." This close, she could see that it stood at least seven feet tall with a bulbous and hairless head. All the exposed skin was a deep blue, with a tiny nose beneath small black eyes. Far too similar in structure to a human for her liking… but creepier.

The alien didn't seem concerned about the yelp. Maybe they were used to the prisoners making noise. It bent down, one hand reaching for the collar… Mar jumped from the doorway as soon as it looked away. Her leap landed her directly next to the lowered bluehead, and she very gently touched its scalp with one finger.

[Peaceful Touch] Activated.

Mar hated the name of the Skill she'd claimed from those nightmare-fueled, four-armed, and invisible life-leaching monsters. A peaceful touch while your life was sucked out of you… disgusting. But as much as she hated it, the Skill complimented her style. She'd tested it with Bradley, with his permission, of course, and so knew the most effective way to use it.

"Just a rock," Mar sent calm and non-urgent thoughts into the creature's head, "a trick of the light." As she did that, her foot reached over and touched the dropped collar. Her cloak covered it, and Mar eased up her mind trickery. Unfortunately, the Skill was a Mana hog and dropped her to 25%.

Nevertheless, it worked, and the alien stood up straight again. It looked around as Mar ducked down to grab the collar and then slipped behind it to reduce the cost of her cloak. Her Mana stopped draining but the monster must have had good hearing because she wasn't regenerating any Mana either. She couldn't see any ears… though she did get a good look at what it was wearing. None of it looked like armor, and she saw no visible weapons.

You have found [Echo of Freedom].

Curious, Mar called the information from the collar while lurking directly behind the upsettingly tall creature. "Why are they always bigger than us?"

[Echo of Freedom]

A former Tool of Enslavement, this Collar has been Subverted by a [Collar of Freedom] and is becoming Anathema to Its former Purpose.

Charge: 1%

Equipped Effects:

Extreme Resistance to All Movement Impairing Effects.

Extreme Resistance to All Mental Impairing Effects.

(Fill Charge to Increase Effects)

"So a weaker version… for now?" Her musing was interrupted when the bluehead started walking towards the pit room. Mar started rapidly tapping on the communication disc as she followed behind. "Incom. Blue. Hurry." She could clearly see the control band around one of the thing's wrists and wasn't ready to risk killing it yet. They still had no idea what would happen to anyone in a collar if the controller died. Though they might have to find out…

If it came to that, she had one of Gabriel's Runed blades. They didn't last as well as Lee's had but it was guaranteed to do maximum damage at least once. Every team had at least one for emergencies or if they ran into something too tough for the standard weapons to penetrate.

Mar touched the back of its blue head right as it looked into the pit. She had to reach a bit, but it was doable. "Just a bunch of weak humans down there. Not at all interesting." Her Mana ticked steadily down.

Maria appeared next to her and immediately placed a hand on the bluehead. Magic flashed, and Mar felt her control slipping. "I can't hold…" Maria tapped a finger to the back of its neck, and the monster collapsed bonelessly onto the ground. "Not dead," Maria said and jumped back into the pit.

Every time she saw that, Mar was glad Maria was on their side… She was a healer, and she dropped enemies better than anyone. Flesh and Blood enemies, at least. Mar dropped into a seated position and activated her [Meditation] ability to Regenerate her Mana.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long before sounds of shouting started up in the distance, and then quickly got louder. Mar couldn't move much while Meditating, but she could tap a finger… "Alarm. Know we here."

Fort Warfare. [Greenfield Village Fort] has Attacked [Apoigeth Trading Fort].

Fight for Supremacy!

Or that. Mar was curious, though. Did it only count as an attack once they were discovered? If they had slipped out with the prisoners, would the aliens not get a Notification? Then she remembered the invisible monsters she'd gotten her mind control Skill from… "Oh, right." They hadn't gotten a notification until one of the defenders spotted the attackers, and cut it in half. So either the bluehead had slipped from her control before going down, or whatever Maria did to it had caused consequences elsewhere. Likely related to whatever collars were linked to its band…

Bradley rose clear of the pit on a wide platform of earth, a large number of people alongside him. Mostly their own people, but a few of the healthier prisoners came along as well. "Team three, guard this building. We'll send freed prisoners here." The team saluted, and Bradley turned to the others. "Team two, get to the walls first and free the Humans. They have weapons and may be able to fight, then join team one. Team one, you're going into the main building. Maria, find and disable any with the bands. Kill the rest." Jackson loomed over Maria's shoulder as she nodded in affirmation, crimson pinpricks of light shone from his eyes, and he was panting… "Go!"

They all squeezed out the single door at a surprisingly fast clip. "Where are you going?" Mar asked as the flood dwindled.

"I will be a big, loud target," Bradley said, stone already shrouding more and more of his body as he stomped outside. "You are on overwatch, Mar. Look out for surprises."

Mar vanished but skipped the sound and smell dampeners to save Mana as she followed. She immediately jumped onto the roof above the pit. Bradley might be trying to keep her from the fighting, but to be fair, being invisible in the midst of a chaotic battle was not a good idea, and that was kind of her whole deal. Whereas from the roof, she could watch over the fight without worrying about defending herself.

The guards on the walls had finally turned toward the inside, likely having received new orders, but it didn't matter. Already they were being freed from the slave-collar's controls in rapid succession by team two.

Miller charged at the front of team one, Maria directly behind him. Ahead and above them, Mar could see shapes moving in the windows and on the roof. Then the wide double doors at the front of the hospital burst open, and blueheads charged out. All of the monsters were armored and carrying shields and spears.

Mar was holding a regular communication disc and touched a Rune when she saw another force incoming. "On your left, Maria. A few dozen more!" She saw Maria glance to the side but knew the woman couldn't see the enemies coming around the building yet. Then Maria pointed, and Jackson darted away from team one right before they slammed into the phalanx of shields and spears. Miller's shield flashed on collision, and a wide swath of enemies was thrown back before him. The rest of the team followed him through the gap, and then a bloody battle was joined as blades met armor and flesh.

Meanwhile, Jackson's whole body was glowing red as he stopped in the path of the other charging blue-head squad. Then immediately pounced straight into the midst of them, screaming a horrible mix of glee and rage… Mar was glad to look away when the glow from the roof drew her attention. "Bradley, roof!"

The man, covered in stone and surrounded by floating boulders, looked up at the large spread of magic preparing to rain down over the Humans. One of his boulders shattered as it shot toward them, and stone bullets sprayed in a scattershot over the entire stretch of the roof line. Mar saw shields flicker and block most of the rocks, but a few bodies did fall back, and most of the spells were disrupted before they could be launched. The few that still went out were met with slabs of stone that leaped from the ground to intercept them.

Booming explosions and deafening cracks rang out, but Bradley didn't move as another stone rose from the ground. It joined the orbiting rocks around him and started to condense into a smaller size as he sent more scattershot over the front of the building. Mar could tell that Bradley was trying to limit his firepower, going for attacks more likely to maim or distract rather than going for the kill.

She scanned briefly over Jackson and didn't linger. It was a gory mess, but the berserker was winning. There was a reason that people called him the nuclear option. Luckily, Maria could still control him somehow, even when he went full tilt, just as he was now.

Team one and two were all inside the hospital now, and a trickle of collared humans were running out in bursts. Flashes of light accompanied the sound of battle inside the building. It looked like they had this well in…

Mar saw a flicker of something on the rooftop of a smaller building next to the hospital and halfway behind it, but it vanished before she could see what exactly. Bradley was focused on the hospital and shutting down every caster or other ranged attacker that tried to start something. A few attacks got through regardless, but the occasional arrow, spear or spell, all failed to penetrate his stoney armor. He'd picked a good spot, acting as an immovable barrier between the enemy and the building full of rescued humans behind him.

Mar left him to it, and headed to investigate. She did tap out a quick message though, partly to help him avoid throwing any rocks her way, and also to give him a heads up in case it was a threat. On a positive note, it was the opposite side from where Jackson was… fighting? Eating? Whatever it was, and however disgusting it was, it was good. Fuck anyone and anything that would put those nightmare collars on people.

She reached the building and activated her entire suite of Skills before quickly scrambling up the outside. All those videos of people doing parkour didn't hold a candle to what she could do now. One fingertip on a window ledge could propel Mar to the next. It was practically child's play and she reached the flat rooftop in moments. There was nothing to be seen… but there was… something.

Mar closed her eyes and focused wholly on her Magic detecting abilities. She still didn't have a Skill for it, which was a shame. But the training Jake had given her, combined with months of practice, had paid off. There was definitely magic up here!

She walked slowly forward, eyes straining to see even the slightest hint as her hands reached out ahead. The feeling of magic grew as she went, until her searching fingertips touched something. Mar froze, fingers resting on what felt like a solid wall, even as her eyes still saw nothing in front of her.

She moved both hands along the obstacle, trying to find a gap. She didn't find one, but could tell that it was spherical in shape, and the sense of magic was growing stronger even as the drain on her cloak increased… Mar tapped her disc, "Found it, watch for." Then drew the Runed blade from her belt. She wasn't going to find a better use for it than this.

Mar braced herself and slashed the blade in a horizontal strike, into and then through the invisible wall.

A blast of skin-searing power blasted into her and drove her back a couple feet. But Mar was already kicking off with her back foot as the bluehead became abruptly visible. This one had to be the leader, or Commander… Its clothes looked fancy, adorned with some pieces of ornate armor, including a helmet as well. The metal armor glittered prettily in the light of a dozen glowing magic circles hovering in a half-circle before the creature…

Mar jumped into the air as its head turned slightly in her direction. The Runes on the knife had not survived and she wasn't sure what other protection the creature might have… and she could see a control band on its wrist… "This might hurt," she thought, and then landed with both feet planted in the middle of its back.

Mar kicked as hard as she could, trying to gain every inch of distance before… The magic circles all exploded, and Mar's leap away turned into a soaring flight. "I really miss those air jumping shoes…" Then she crashed through a window and fetched up against a wall with jarring abruptness. "Ow."

Mar wasn't sure if she lost some time, but when she opened her eyes she was alone in an empty room. "Bradley can't have missed that…" she thought as she struggled to her feet and checked her status. Her health was still over half, but her Mana was at 1%. The formerly Runed blade was no longer in her hand… not that it mattered now. Though, she should probably try to find it… She staggered through a doorway and into the hall. "May will be pissed if I lose another knife."

Her dazed thoughts cleared when another bluehead charged her from down the hallway, shield up and short spear stabbing at her heart! Mar stepped left and activated her invisibility, only for a second but that was enough. She shifted back to the right as the bluehead attacked where she had been going, and ran out of Mana just as her remaining knife slashed through the side of its neck.

"No armored skin," she noted, as hot, green blood gushed over her hand and sprinkled across her face.

Mar didn't like this part, the killing. Moreso when the opponent was humanoid, at least in general shape. But she only needed to recall the feeling of being enslaved, and she could do this all day. Mar only belatedly remembered to check if it had a control band. It didn't.

She shook her head and went back to the room. A quick look out the shattered window told her that she had landed in the hospital. Meanwhile the building that she had been on was missing its top floor…

Mar jumped the two stories to the ground, immediately sprinting towards the sound of rocks smashing together. She rounded the corner in time to see Bradley kick the leader bluehead through a building and then pounce after it. "He probably doesn't need any help with that…"

Another squad of spear toting enemies emerged from between two buildings and charged toward her, only this group was all human and her collar wouldn't be able to subvert all of them…

Mar jumped up and to the side, toward the hospital next to her, and vanished. She really did enjoy jumping around like this. Maybe Gabriel could make her some air-jumping shoes once he got a higher Rune Capacity… She hit the wall feet first, and jumped toward, and over, the charging humans. "There you are!" A single bluehead was at the back of the group and Mar landed behind it, right as her Mana bottomed out again… before she could strike though, lightning arc'd from the control band and up the monster's arm.

Mar hopped back in surprise as the monster fell screaming to the ground. All of the Humans fell as well… then the lightning abruptly stopped, and the bluehead ripped the band from its now blackened arm. Mar didn't hesitate at the opportunity and stepped forward, blade plunging down through one of its black eyes. An easier death than it deserved…

To her relief, the Humans were not dead, only unconscious. The Charge in her collar drained only a few percent before stopping at half. A good thing, considering that it needed that much to teleport… Instead she got the attention of team three and helped carry the soon to be freed slaves over with the others.

Another useful trick of their collars was that the wearer could push his or her own Mana into them. Something Gabriel had discovered while constantly using the teleport function during his experiments. The exchange rate was abysmal, especially without the Mana Well, but every little bit would count today. A lot of people didn't even use Mana, relying mainly on Stamina. Mostly people without actual combat classes, though some of them were gaining Class Evolutions as they fought. At least the lucky ones.

The battle wound down after that. Bradley beat the leader around the Fort as it repeatedly tried and failed to stop him. Until Maria arrived and did her thing, disabling it while they searched the grounds more thoroughly for any hidden prisoners. It kept recovering though and Mar eventually stepped in to let Maria meditate.

Jackson came growling back, absolutely drenched in the green blood, as he usually did after a fight. Maria said some quiet words to him, and the man sat down, still growling, before passing out a few moments later.

Maria killed the leader when it came time for it.

Fort Warfare Ended. [Greenfield Village Fort] Destroyed [Apoigeth Trading Fort]

Rewards Granted to Interim Fort Commander:

Random Attribute Cores.

Random Skill Shard.

Random D Rank Dungeon Key.

The system did like it when they were violent…

The walk back to Greenfield took a lot longer. The hundreds of former slaves were mostly still in E Rank and between that, and protecting such a large group, it was slow.

Mar walked with Bradley, mostly visible, though it still felt more natural to hide from the world. Bradley spent most of the trip trying to entertain the children that had been among those in the pit. Mar was so angry that she had to disappear for a while when she saw them.

Then she stayed invisible while watching Bradley interact with the children. He was so gentle… the violence and brutality that he unleashed during battle was nowhere to be seen. He instead exuded an aura of indomitable protection and safety.

It was comforting, but forced Mar to think terrifying thoughts about the future, and when she might want children of her own. A subject they had talked about, and while Bradley expressed his own worries at bringing life into this oftentimes horrible world, he did want kids. He didn't pressure her at all, which Mar appreciated, merely stated that if she ever wanted to, he was in.

Having children had never been easier either. With the Lair Buff it was all but guaranteed. Which meant that they hadn't ever actually done… that. "Everything else," Mar thought, blushing furiously but safe behind her cloak. It was just too risky, evident by the fact that her mother was already pregnant again… But someday she did want to…

Mar sighed and rejoined Bradley in the land of the visible. Watching him here gave her a glimpse of the future. "He will be a good dad." It also nudged her timetable from someday, to… someday sooner. Mar took Bradley's hand in her own and he smiled at her. It was a good night, they had fought for their lives and emerged victorious…

"...husband through some kind of portal!" the woman's voice in the crowd dragged her back to reality, "I think they were selling him! Can't you do something to find him?"

Mar squeezed Bradley's hand, while her other hand lifted to touch the collar around her neck. "Bastards…"