With some input from Hayla regarding the logistics of trading with Cerus and its surrounding villages, my ideas around the establishment of the Guild quickly took shape. I knew what we needed and I had an idea how to get it, all that was left was to put it into practice. It was very unfortunate that I couldn’t start right away.

“The moderators are supposed to arrive tomorrow, and we can’t really start until they are dealt with,” I lamented as I gathered and sorted the papers on my bed.

“We could at least send someone to Alarna again, so we don’t miss anything,” Hayla noted. “Getting to Cerus before them might prove important.”

“Yea, sounds good.”

Just as we finished up, my stomach began complaining audibly about a lack of sustenance. Over my excitement, I hadn’t even noticed how hungry I was, and I wondered if Berla had found anything edible. Hayla of course heard the rumbling as well and posed a question that answered mine.

“Shall we go outside? Hati brought back a deer and two boars today, we have plenty of food for now.”

“You got Hati to go hunting?” I asked. “Color me impressed.”

“I was a little surprised as well, but he’s unexpectedly receptive to clear commands.”

Figures, I thought. He was really acting more like a dog than a wolf. Though I didn’t expect him to listen to just anyone. Then again, Hayla certainly had an authoritative touch that he might’ve responded well to.

“Yea, I should probably be more strict with him,” I said, “but I have a soft spot for animals that enjoy lazing around.”

“You don’t mind if I’m having him do his part though?”

“Not at all, knock yourself out.”

“Will do,” she said through a smirk.

We left the house and I looked around the area in fascination. It seemed like our camp, or rather our prospective settlement, was now changing even without my involvement whenever I dared to look away for a few hours. When we left to deal with Orthur, the entire clearing was still full of lumber, sawdust, and failed wooden experiments. You had to run in ziczac to even make it to the building. Most of these items were now gone, either used up or cleared away.

There appeared to be a dedicated work area in one corner of the area, and a campfire had taken over the square I had primarily worked in previously. The fireplace had gotten quite the upgrade from the rudimentary ones we had before. Simple wooden benches surrounded it, so nobody had to sit on the ground, and an odd-looking contraption hung over the fire, roasted pieces of meat dangling from it. Reurig, Berla, and Aelene sat around the fire, waiting in anticipation.

Glancing at our “neighbors” to my right, the second house was taking shape as well. Fae was currently putting the finishing touches on the roof, and she would presumably be able to complete it today. At least to the same state as our house. I was curious to see how far she had deviated from my design, but something else took priority in my mind at that moment. Hayla and I made a beeline for the campfire, my stomach announcing our approach to the others.

Grumble.

Berla turned around and chuckled at me. “Did you finally get hungry as well?”

I smiled wryly. “More like I finally noticed that I’m hungry.”

Sitting down next to her, I joined them in staring at the sizzling meat, my mouth watering. It was a happy little moment before Hayla sat down right next to me—closely. Sandwiched between my girlfriend and my fiance, I was left only with thoughts of awkwardness and worries about whether this would make Berla uncomfortable. At the same time, I would’ve felt silly sending Hayla away to sit somewhere else, as long as there wasn’t more to her actions. I quickly decided to do my best not to pay it any mind.

She’ll realize this won’t go anywhere if I simply ignore any potential advances, right? Yea. Definitely.

I was happy when Berla addressed me in a neutral voice, seemingly of the same mind. “How is your plan coming along?” she asked.

“It’s looking pretty good,” I said. “We still need a few key ingredients, but it’s almost good to go.”

“What is this plan?” Reurig asked. “Berla didn’t give us any details yet.”

“I’ll tell everyone when the others are back,” I said. “They’re still at the mana wall, right?”

“They’re probably on their way back by now, it shouldn’t be long.”

Seconds later, noises coming from between the trees made it seem like the Fighters had heard his remark and came back on cue, but it ended up being a large wolf instead, dragging a deer by its neck. Hati walked out of the trees’ shadows in our direction. Noticing this, Aelene jumped up and held up a hand to stop him.

“No! Over there!” she commanded, pointing in the direction of the work area.

I had never seen an animal express exasperation, but the way Hati hung his head appeared to say “Ugh. Whatever,” before he dragged the deer back into the woods on the other side of the clearing.

“Good job,” Hayla said, complementing her strictness.

“Thanks.”

As Aelene said back down, I looked after Hati in confusion. “Where is he bringing it?”

“Aelene gets a little squeamish if we take apart the animals next to the campfire,” Reurig explained, followed by a hushed, “Even though that’s much more convenient.”

“Squeamish?” Aelene hissed. “It’s disgusting and unsanitary to do that right here!” She turned towards me. “There’s a small open space behind those trees over there. We made that the butcher area for now.”

“I see.” Now that she mentions it, I should’ve noticed the lack of dead animals and traces of blood. “That’s probably for the best. At the very least it’s visually more appealing.”

“Thank you,” Aelene said with emphasis.

Having dropped off his price, Hati walked back over to the campfire. He came to a stop a few meters in front of it, huffed, and stared westwards at the tree tops. I followed his gaze, wondering what he was looking at, while Hayla piped up.

“Hati. There’s still some daylight left. See if you can find any more.”

The wolf didn’t react, standing defiantly.

“Hati?” Hayla asked.

Suddenly, he let himself fall to the ground and rolled over onto his back, unmoving. “Evening. I’m done,” he proclaimed.

Looking at the tree tops again, I realized the sun had just disappeared behind them. He was told that he had to work during the afternoon, and it was arguably over now.

“I say when the evening begins,” Hayla said.

Hati stayed strong though. “No! Evening is now!”

Annoyed that he would stop listening on the spot like that, Hayla squinted at him, but eventually relented, sighing, “Alright, I’ll allow it. But we’re going to reevaluate your work times.”

“Meh...”

I quietly chuckled to myself. “Hey, Hati. Come over here,” I said, gesturing behind myself.

He happily got to his feet, prepared himself, and jumped in a large arc over our heads, just to roll right back over behind me. I started scratching his belly and he stretched contendly. “Good job today,” I said.

“Hm, hm!”

“It was good,” Hayla agreed. “Though I’d wish we already had some bear pelts to sleep on.”

“I’m not fighting bears alone!” Hati said adamantly.

“Yes, I understand that,” she said.

For some reason I found listening to them highly entertaining. Hati was willing to obey Hayla to a degree, but if she made unreasonable requests or went against what he thought was fair, he shut her down very quickly. Rightfully so, as soloing a bear would be a very bad idea for him.

We engaged in some light smalltalk after this, and when the food was done, we called Fae and Riala over, who had been so engrossed in their work that they didn’t notice me and Hayla joining the group.

“Miles!” Riala yelled happily as she hopped out of the house and sprinted in my direction. “Finally! Can I show you what I learned now?”

A warm smile spread across my lips. She had been waiting for what must’ve felt like an eternity, eager to show me her new move. It was endearing how thrilled she was about it, and of course I was also interested to see what it was. Given her patience, I doubted that it would be a crucial skill for our survival, but her enthusiasm suggested that it would be intriguing.

"Of course. Show me what you got," I said with a grin, giving her my full attention.

Riala’s eyes lit up and she began explaining that she had been thinking about our auras and how we manipulated them. Before she could get to the point, however, a voice called out from behind us.

“Miles!”

I turned to see Bren and the others, back from their scouting mission and jogging towards us. Their expressions were grave. I put a hand on Riala’s shoulder and said “Sorry, we’ll continue in a second.”

She nodded, a disappointed pout on her face.

“Hey, what happened?” I asked them.

The Fighters approached us and stopped to catch their breath. Fixing his eyes on me, Bren detailed how they had gone to investigate the mana wall and the beast situation past it. To their dismay, the findings weren’t favorable.

“I don’t know what these trees are supposed to look like,” he said as he described black trunks that appeared more like coal than wood, “but I can’t imagine that to be normal... If I had to say, I doubt the trees can take this much longer.”

His description reminded me of the first tree we ever felt with a script, which had also blackened and then crumbled. This was arguably a heavy blow. Without the mana wall, it would once more be life threatening to set foot outside the town’s walls. We would have to renew the scripts regularly to keep up a safe zone, and we’d be killing quite a few trees over time.

This was only the beginning though, as he continued to describe a beast fight they witnessed, and how a wolf triumphed over a bear by spewing fire at it. My eyes widened as Riala and I stared at each other in disbelief. It seemed that she wasn’t as unique as we thought.

“We decided to retreat at that point,” Bren said. “Beasts alone are dangerous enough, but this... I don’t know how we’re supposed to deal with it.”

As he spoke, the rest of our group exchanged worried glances. None of us had ever heard of wolves with such abilities. It was a new and unprecedented threat. The implications of this cascade of problems were terrifying. If the wall fell, such monsters might make their way towards Alarna, and they would most likely not be ready to handle them.

I studied Grym’s face. Even he, a hardened Fighter with decades of experience, was nervous. At the other end of the scale was Taul, who was pale over the never before seen horrors. It was not difficult to picture how helpless most of the guards of Alarna would feel.

Their report soon came to an end, and I sat in silence as I contemplated it all. There were a lot of angles to consider. It could go so many ways, and a lot of people could get hurt.

“This is...” I began, searching for the right words.

“Amazing,” Hayla finished for me, her eyes meeting mine in a moment of understanding.

I smiled, a spark of excitement passing between us. “Right? We could’ve hardly asked for a better opportunity.”

“We need to act fast though,” Hayla said, her voice urgent. “Tonight?”

“It will be a rush job, but the sooner the better...”

For a moment, we were lost in our own little world as we planned and strategized, ready to take full advantage of this situation. When we looked up again, the others’ looks were full of confusion. They stared at us like we were crazy.

“I think we might need to explain this to them first...” I said.