Life went on, back at the fleet. Karl had set our itinerary to take us toward Anna’s fleet and flagship, the Golden Chain. It was a special type of anti-Kinetice vessel known as a Lure Bomber with strong weapons but weak shields. It was a ship designed, as its name said, to lure Kinetice into boarding it, where they would find a custom-designed meat grinder of a Combat Deck waiting for them. Combined with strong offense which included tractor beams, any force engaging it would be caught in a dilemma of either risking the meat grinder or leaving it alone to pick off enemy ships anyway.

Prior to our next entry to the 7th Floor, I wasn't spending as much time with Mewi as before. He'd redoubled his training, determined to master using all three of his elements in battle as well as take other measures to be fully ready for the Water Sanctuary. Anna had done the same, stating an intention to be the next of us to restore a Sanctuary—which was one reason why we were rendezvousing with her in particular. The other, of course, being that her fleet was relatively nearby.

Bruzigan ended up being slated to use the totem before her, though. The previous battle at Magnos had dealt heavy casualties to the armada, and it would take time for Varstithon to marshal an even larger force. Even with the Firebrand fleet added to the mix, he wanted to bring even more ships than last time, with a High Admiral assisting him in the overall command. According to him, the force would be barely ready in time once Anna had undergone evolution.

Not that I was truly taking it easy myself, of course. Mewi's words impressed upon me that this was no time to be resting on my laurels. I kept up my own training, shifting focus from combat and experimentation to Unlimited Spell study grinding.

In place of Mewi, I found myself spending a great deal of time with Serayne in virtual space. At first I wasn’t sure how she’d accompany me, but it turned out she was able to assume a disguised form that could pass for a young, blue-skinned humanoid, which while not terribly common in Area 1, there were a decent handful of such races which existed. She was able to use a virtual space pod in that form, of course.

Not long before the fifth return trip to the 7th Floor was slated to commence, my studies were interrupted when a video message came from Marshal Varstithon. It came not through the virtual realm, or even over a communication network in Area 1, but via a Federation stealth ship used for conveying the most secret of messages. In my quarters, I viewed it:

“Lheticus, I have good news regarding one of the unaccounted for Sanctuaries. One of the most problematic ones, even. As a matter of fact, I believe it was you at the time who first floated the idea in the meeting of sharing information on the Sanctuary’s rewards with the Rainbow Mage, to finally get him to agree to help.”

Actually, it had been Anna, as the member of the faction which had the most contact with them before the Constant Competition. Although I had seconded the idea before anyone else did.

“The rewards, it seems, have succeeded at garnering his interest. In particular, he has expressed a desire to confirm that the highly unusual and difficult spell book you acquired is real. He stated that he will be satisfied with a chance to examine its copy in the virtual realm.

To that end, a neutral virtual chat location, with the highest degree of privacy the Federation can ensure, has been reserved for a meeting between the two of you. The meetup has been scheduled to begin around the time the Rainbow Mage’s personal ship will reach sufficient proximity to connect the two of you in the same portion of virtual space. A text file has been appended to this message with the details.

You are to treat the Rainbow Mage with all courtesy, and address his concerns in regard to restoring the Mana Sanctuary, including, if at all possible and applicable, any he mentions to you not to do with the lack of incentive for him.

I’m aware you’ve had contact with them before, so I know you’re not likely to cause a diplomatic incident. However, I must caution you to be wary of the Rainbow Mage’s words. He is an inveterate schemer, and may attempt to squeeze more information out of you than it would be prudent to discuss with him.

That concludes this mission briefing. With any luck, this will be nothing more than a simple exchange. I’ll see you again when the Firebrand fleet joins the armada for the assault on Luuxis.”

He’s acting pretty normal, I guess. Maybe I’d been worrying a little too much. Maybe it was simply the classified purview of the president and certain prominent High Admirals to know the Syndicate’s reach was beyond what they knew of the Vagabonds. In any case, I needed to be ready for another encounter with the Rainbow Mage. However, as it turned out it wouldn't happen until the day before the next entry to the 7th Floor, since they would need to travel until they were in the same Zone as the Firebrand, or at least very close to it, before we could connect. I debated telling Bruzigan and Mewi about the meeting—but of course, we still didn't know how or how often any of us were spied upon. Telling them would require the virtual realm again.

So, I prepared—or in this case, more like braced myself—in secret, much like I had once conducted experiments on my Power of Imagination ability. Unfortunately, there wasn't really a way to not be nervous about meeting with someone so powerful and mysterious, when the time came.