The following day after Wec stabilized was a flurry of activity that could barely be called restful. Weirdians flipped positions with the Wild Guard, freshened up from their time off the wall. In the town proper, however, we rushed from one preparation to the next. The abilities of the Life attuned were used to the utmost, supplementing the town's food supplies so that the hunters manning the walls could focus on bringing the town from their scattered spread of Quotients to a more respectable force. Thanks to the efforts of the Wild Guard, that was exactly what they were turning into: a force.

Using all the methods tested by Sarah, and enhanced by Ava, back in Wildwood, the demoness laid out a proper training regimen for the hunters of Lake Weir. The few Earth Attuned got a crash course at the hands of Godfrey, myself and one of the Guard trainee dwarves named Craig. With our collective help, and many many breaks to avoid relapsing into the exhaustion Afflictions we'd cleared with the sleep from the night before, the inner portion of the car wall was much reinforced. Godfrey focused on making huge dune bunkers to protect the defenders atop the wall from any spray from the bile crows. The rest of the Attunements focused on cleaning up the town with a combination of wind, fire and water when they weren't supplementing our other efforts.

While everyone still clung to some of their exhaustion, many were happy with the improvements and morale in Lake Weir was at an all time high. One of the biggest contributors to this was the nearly tripled-in-size pyramid near the school building. Wec had grown in size to to be on the cusp of Category 3, albeit the low end. The sheer amount of Dregs that had been accumulated by the town, not to mention those dancing dangerously close to Dreg Poisoning, had provided the Entity Cluster with almost non-stop energy.

It was at the base of the twelve foot structure that the New Hopers, squad leaders, and Weirdian leadership gathered. A trio of old, surviving cafeteria folding tables had been brought out to simplify the gathering, all facing towards Wec.

"This isn't awkward at all," Dennis said, pulling at his goatee and adjusting his rear on the small plastic circles that acted as chairs.

"Not really an official meeting place in town, and Wec isn't really big enough for an audience like with Tec, Dennis. No need to point it out," Godfrey whispered from beside him.

The whispering would have been effective, had the group not been seated so close together. Lilly was sitting with Rommel, both quiet and attentive of the gathering crowd, while Clara shook her head and Devon whittled at a hunk of wood. The creation in his hands looked remarkably like one of the cannons we were developing back in Wildwood. As much as I found the man grating, I would have asked since it was something we both actually worked more or less well on. This particular time, however, I didn't ask because seated between us was a still fuming Daniela, and an attempting-mediator Samuel. Of course, we were seated on the far right table, while the New Hopers took the middle, and the Weirdians took the other table closest to Wec.

"This is awkward," Maurice said from his side of the table the moment he walked up. That got Godfrey a slap to the shoulder and a pointed gesture that said 'I told you so' before the stand in leader of the town got the meeting started. "But it will have to do."

Ian, always moving in to smooth out his son's rough edges, stepped up beside him. "We want to extend a thanks to the people of Wildwood, and to the Bunker folk, who have aided us in this very difficult time. Already Wec has made a difference for our defenders, and none have fallen to the changes with his overwatch.

"I know there is yet more to do, even before this protection there was an endless number of tasks," Ian said, producing a round of light chuckles from the gathered group. "However, I asked for this meeting to formalize our joining of your effort. Clara and Ronan have explained, at length, what these creatures attacking us represent. Who they represent. I will not say that we can stand up to the strength of Wildwood, or the craftiness of Stonecrest, but I hope to add our perseverance to the fight."

The man made a gentle nod in the direction of Clara and then towards us three Bunkerites. The four other leaders of the town smiled and nodded behind the old man, making a show of their standing. Maurice threw a pair of thumbs up, which was in character.

"You wanna slog through this, or you want me to take it?" Clara sent me through the comm-plant as Ian took back his seat.

"Floor is yours, miss," I sent back, wiggling in my chair and trying not to look at either of my friends. After the way our last encounter had gone, I opted to keep my mouth shut. Intermingling my frustrations with an important meeting just sounded like a recipe for disaster.

"Our current plan is to send out our best scouts to Summerfield. If all goes well, they should be back by end-of-day tomorrow and we will be better informed about the state of things there after the people evacuated. Part of the New Hopers will remain here, strengthening our position and helping to relieve the strain off the Weirdians. As many of you know, except for our Bunker allies, monster waves like this aren't uncommon. The brutality and consistency with which they are crashing against a fortified position is the issue," Clara explained.

The demoness went on to explain some of the most prominent instances of monster waves, which happened to correspond with the spring season. It was almost surprising, until I realized that if spring was the best time for animals to give birth before the Fall, why wouldn't it be after. Said animals --enhanced by the mana now integrated into their bodies and augmented by collected Pith-- would produce more or stronger offspring. The image of a swarm of magically enhanced rabbits almost sent shivers down my spine.

"--Ronan will work to pass on his knowledge, along with Rommel while we are in town." I blinked back to attention at the mention of my name. Sam almost got a message asking why I was being brought up, but all I needed to do was keep listening. "With access to , the people of Lake Weir can start to produce their own enhanced equipment. Unfortunately, transporting stuff from Wildwood will still be limited, even without the press of creatures Wec attracted."

"Current energy expenditures have Category 3 growth projected to within two weeks. Three, if the rate of encounters continues to decrease as we've seen since my stabilizing," the Entity added.

"Right. Once that happens, Wec should be able to initiate communication with Tec. With that, coordination between Lake Weir and Stonecrest should jump up significantly, and Wildwood will do its best to support you all," Clara finished.

Ian let out a breath he'd apparently been holding. Even Maurice looked particularly serious. The other advisors looked distinctly out of their depths. It was time for me to step in.

"Ian, I told you before. All we want for you all is to survive and thrive. Meeting these goals? That's just the first step. Once we can get the Dreg off our backs, the infrastructure we are laying down will let trade happen between the towns. Families and friends made across distances often thought insurmountable by any but the bravest!" My voice tinged with fervor as the memories of Patrick Patrick and his departing love flitted through my mind. If the world hadn't gone to crap the moment we arrived at Lake Weir I might have tried to ask around about her, but I'd hardly seen anything but a bunk and the pockmarked fields around the old school.

The brief speech seemed to do the trick of bringing the Weirdians back. Maurice met my eyes and nodded. "It is like you said. I'll be happy not to have those Tendril bastards looming over us like they have for so many years. Plus, it’s not like we haven't already thrown our lot in with you guys."

"Ha! We could always leave," I said, lightly. The flash of horror in the Weirdian's eyes was worth it, but I quickly reassured them I was kidding.

The rest of the meeting went quickly. Status of resources --food, Materials and Infusions -- was at an all time high, even with the jump in population the combined squads of Wild Guard gave Lake Weir. We agreed to take most of the creature drops back with us to turn into equipment or weapons to outfit our growing alliance. Plans were made and smaller meetings were arranged for the farmers with Samuel, the Crafters with me and the hunters with Clara.

While everyone made small talk upon being dismissed, Daniela excused herself to prepare for the scouting mission. Devon left his half-whittled cannon right on the table as he followed after her. She didn't look back at me, or say anything. Not wanting to leave things like that between us, I opted to ping her via the comm-plant.

"Please stay safe," I said quietly.

"I will. Be back in a flash," she replied a few minutes later. It was more than I expected, but it was a first step. Once I grew a big enough pair of pants, I would have to apologize to her about the whole Devon situation. And probably to Devon too...

For the rest of the afternoon, I spoke with Maurice and a handful of other people in town. They acted more as handymen than the Stoneshapers or the various tradesmen in Wildwood, but they picked up the knack for Infusions quicker than any of the other townsmen; I even managed to only add two mildly unpleasant memories to the growing catalogue was making in my brain. All in all it was an extremely productive way of burning off the nervous energy coursing through my body as we waited for news from Daniela.

The minutes quickly turned into hours and when the sun started to turn orange in the sky, I was once again ready to rush north into the Wilds. Just before Samuel had to bodily restrain me, a ping showed up in the minimap I'd been looking at incessantly. The call on the comm-plant came in only a few seconds later.

"It's not great," Danny said in a weary whisper. "We need to talk."

---+---

"The whole town?" Clara asked, barely keeping to a whisper.

"Far as we can tell," Devon said, flexing his fingers in a gesture I recognized as manipulating his air-whisper Gift. "The Tendrils are digging in. There weren't as many as we've seen before, but none of the ones we were able to identify were lower than Q3 and most were at Q4, not to mention the critters they got as muscle."

"Bunch of fodder, and what seems to be creature leaders. Like 'Boss' monsters from those old RPGs, but much more terrifying because they are actually trying to eat your face," Daniela added, unhelpfully.

"Does this change anything?" Samuel asked. "I've been observing the wildlife for a while and I think the Tendrils are running out of gas. Why would they need to dig in? Why don't they just attack us with the Appendage and get it out of the way?"

"What do you mean?" Dennis asked. "Sure the waves have eased out, but Lake Weir isn't what I would call safe."

"Think of it like this," Sam started. "The creatures here hold a tenuous number of territories. They only have so many creatures they can afford to send out without compromising the base of their power. If they don't have hunters to bring them food, they will starve just the same as us. The Tendrils have to keep all of their corrupted creatures fed and retain their hold over their territory. This is where their weakness lies."

"That's why they needed tribute from the towns," Clara said, snapping her fingers.

"They were subsidizing their population," I finished, nodding as the pieces fell into place.

"So... What? We've been cleaning out their surplus, is that it?" Daniela asked with a frown. It was quickly matched by the others around.

"I don't think we should view it like that. Each fight we've had with the Tendrils has been hard won. The relentless assault against the town was just another aspect of that. Wec's presence probably drove them into a panic. They overreacted and they had a costly exchange of resources," I said.

"A dangerous assumption," Rommel rumbled.

"Nothing we can do about them. We can only work on us," Devon said, waving his hands through the air.

"Tenderly," Clara added. "If we let our attention drift too much, we will get surprised. During our whole time defending Lake Weir, there weren't any humanoid Tendrils. Something intelligent is still directing them."

We fell into silence at the reminder of the Corrupted Entity. It was impossible to know just what extent of control it had and just how far the support network of the Tendrils reached. Those two questions put any future plans in a tenuous light at best. However, as much as it pained me to agree with the elf, Devon was right. Stagnating was a sure fire way of just losing to the Dreg. The slow choking death Kirby had subjected Wildwood to was proof enough of that.

With the scouting report done, the group spent several minutes discussing how it affected our original plans. Other than deciding to leave a larger presence of the Guard in Lake Weir, nothing really changed. Even the people of the town or the Implanted Wild Guard remaining who were climbing up in Dregs wouldn't have to worry about Afflictions now that Wec could purge and process the Traits. The only detriment to being in Lake Weir was the type of creatures they encountered, which for many of the recent trainees were brand new compared to the more uniform threat of the ants, spiders and occasional predator that ambled near Wildwood.

We decided on the assignments before calling it a night. Samuel and I would take the lead on the return, taking Dennis with us. Devon and Daniela would act as rotating scouts, spending time across all of the towns as information relays via the comm-plants. It was an imperfect system, but it saved the energy of the Entities and provided a sort of roving patrol in the tenuous territory between the human controlled towns. Clara promised to supplement their efforts with people from Lake Weir as soon as she could get them trained up. The rest of the New Hopers would remain in Lake Weir, helping to solidify their gains and doing their own 'digging in' like the Dregs.

Since the situation timewise was uncertain, the group remaining in Lake Weir would pass messages to Wildwood every two days. The pressure to act was higher than ever and I couldn't shake the feeling that time was running out. It was entirely possible that the Tendrils wouldn't remain content to just fortify and launch an attack on Lake Weir. If that happened, even with the New Hopers remaining in their ranks it would be an exercise in futility to hold the town.

That particular thought gave my and Samuel's dream of interconnected travel much more weight. A straight shot road from town to town would make it safer and faster to travel. So, when we set out back to Wildwood the next morning we let the ox set the pace. Igor, the intense one armed orc was left in charge of the fledgling squads as Sam and I led the way. With Amplified Skills, we singlehandedly cleared a path south to US 441 and right into the north of Stonecrest.

It had only taken a brief, but still tense, discussion between Sam and I to get up to date on how our Skills operated after adding the Amplitude items. For the first time, I used a quarter powered in conjunction with his Amplified . My augmented Skill transformed into , which seemed like a marginally stronger but directional version of . The first cast cleared a twenty by twenty swath of land by pushing it away from me like a crashing wave of soil. The utility, even accounting for the fact that it took a literal quarter of my mana, felt more immediately useful than . I was the first to admit, however, that I was still very much unfamiliar with the Skill other than with its soil 'melting' capabilities.

I'd never asked what Sam's augmented Skill was called and all I could do was nod at the impressive name: . The Skill worked like a souped up version of his vines, pulling bark covered lengths of wood instead of the more generic plant matter his vines seemed to be made from. The key point of the augment, however, had been the fact that it let Samuel take control of existing trees and bend them to his will. Literally. He mentioned it was a mana hog both with creating and taking over a new lifeform, but it made clearing a path easy as the blonde walked the trees out of the way with his Amplified Skill.

Even with the synergy between our Skills it was an incredible slog, but the ease of travel the wagon experienced on the return trip couldn't be compared -- lack of nonstop attacks notwithstanding. By late afternoon we'd arrived in Stonecrest to a much warmer welcome. I'd taken the time in between working on the road to update Rachael through the comm-plant. Even if the woman wasn't much of a talker through the device, she'd somehow cooked up a small feast for our returning expedition the whole while talking to me.

The squads ate heartily, morale high as we were closer to home and the mission as a whole had gone well. The mood was somber between Sam and I, but we were at least able to exchange some lighthearted jokes. His mostly about me having 'constipation face' and mine about him being a raging alcoholic.

The younger members of the squads looked at our interactions with a funny face, but they always seemed to want to engage us in conversation. It was a good way of passing the time, keeping our thoughts on the small positive changes we'd already made instead of the looming threat.

With that brief break, and a surprise Infusion lesson when Patrick Patrick and his Stoneshaper goons assaulted me on my way to our camp, we resumed our trip back to Wildwood.

Instead of trying to clear cut our way south like from Lake Weir, we assisted the small team of lumberjacks working towards Wildwood by focusing on the thickest stretches of wood. The demoness in charge raised her axe in thanks when we shoved a four foot live oak out of the projected path they'd been working. After that, we only cleared the path where it was roughest, making sure to keep over half our mana pools available.

The trip once again went much faster and the walls of Wildwood came into view just after lunch. A weight dropped off my shoulders and a small cheer went up amidst the expedition. Dennis was particularly enthused to be back. While we still had a long way to go, at least the gears had been put in motion for something bigger than just our Bunker.