“W-who are you? Why are you picking a fight with Eternal Flame!?”

Mary glanced at the person sitting on the ground with his back resting against the wall. Blood poured down from his head where he had collided against the stone material, and a sword and shield lay on either side of him. Mary turned her head away, glancing at the other group of people who had gathered to stop her. She jerked her arm to the side, flicking blood droplets off of her sword. The people in front of her flinched and clutched their weapons, some of them retreated backwards by a few steps. Mary narrowed her eyes. “Surrender or die.”

Weapons dropped to the ground as the members of Eternal Flame gave up, raising their empty arms to show they were no longer a threat. Their captain had been beaten in one move, and it’d be stupid to pick death for no reason.

Mary nodded her head at the sight and glanced behind herself. “Pack it up,” she said to the Virtuous Hand members following her. They were dressed in black robes, none of their physical features showing except for the very bottom of their chins.

“Yes, my liege!” the Virtuous Hand members said and walked past Mary. Some picked up the fallen weapons while others bound the Eternal Flame guild members with ropes. Then, they moved deeper into the residence while Mary sheathed her sword and took a seat on a nearby chair. The Virtuous Hand members worked efficiently, but there still was a minimum amount of time needed to clear a base.

The fallen captain coughed out a mouthful of blood and turned his head towards Mary. “You’re so strong. Why are you working for the Virtuous Hand?”

Mary raised an eyebrow. “I’m resting over here, and they’re hard at work over there,” she said. “Does it look like I’m working for them, or does it look like they’re working for me?”

“That’s not what I mean,” the captain said and exhaled, leaning back against the wall. “With your strength, you don’t have to join an unknown guild. If you joined a guild sponsored by a lord like ours, with the resources given to you, you’d become an explorer in no time at all. By joining with a small guild like the Virtuous Hand and attacking the large guilds’ resource centers, you’re setting yourself up for failure.”

Mary shrugged. “The Virtuous Hand has everything I need: information and henchmen for the tedious labor,” she said. She tapped on her root bracelet, and a black egg-shaped object appeared in her gauntleted hand. “If I joined one of your large guilds, wouldn’t I be forbidden from raiding other large guilds’ resource centers? I know they form alliances with one another like a herd of herbivores, always seeking safety in numbers. How am I supposed to grow this seed to its maximum potential if I’m not allowed to plunder the majority of the nutrients in this stage?”

“You’re crazy,” the captain said, a faint smile appearing on his lips. “I’ve seen people like you before. Shooting stars, we call you. You burn brightly at the start but disappear without a word in the end, leaving no lasting impact as you die in an unknown region without a grave.”

“Everyone dies,” Mary said and stood up. She shook her head. “Who cares if you have a grave after you’re dead?” The Virtuous Hand guild members came out of the inner recesses of the building and knelt before Mary. Their root bracelets flashed with amber lights, and chests containing green crystals the size of fingernails appeared by Mary’s feet. Under the captain’s watchful gaze, Mary raised the black seed and gave it a squeeze. “Absorb.”

The crystals within the chests melted and flowed upwards like green snakes, wrapping around the seed before sinking deep within. The volume of liquid was enough to fill a small pond, but the seed absorbed it all, and faint green markings appeared along its surface. When the chests were completely empty, Mary stowed the egg in her root bracelet and turned around. The Virtuous Hand members climbed to their feet and stowed the empty chests before shuffling behind the armored woman, following her as she left the Eternal Flame’s resource center. Mary turned her head to the side while walking, gesturing for the nearest Virtuous Hand member to come over.

“Yes, my liege?”

“Lead the way,” Mary said.

“Of course, my liege,” the robed man said. “Which guild would you like to attack next?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Mary said. “Pick the closest one. We’re going to raid them all, so chart a route where I don’t have to do any excessive walking.”

“Yes, my liege,” the robed man said. An amber light flashed from within his sleeve, and a map appeared in his hands. “Legion of Light is the next closest guild. May they be crushed by the Virtuous Hand.”

***

Stella turned her head to look Vur in the eyes. She was currently half-buried within Vur’s snout, only her torso sticking out from his scales. “You know she’s following us, right?”

“Who?” Tafel asked from her spot atop Vur’s head. “Ashley?” Tafel turned her torso around, but all she could see was the clouds rushing by. Attempts to look lower than the clouds were blocked by Vur’s massive body. “How do you know?”

“I installed some windows near Vur’s butt,” Stella said with a straight face. “It wouldn’t do for my mobile fortress to have a blind spot.”

Tafel’s eye twitched. “Don’t treat my husband like your fortress.”

“My birthflower was planted here first,” Stella said and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re the one who treated my fortress like a person and married it; you knew what you were getting into.”

Tafel lowered her gaze to meet Vur’s eyes. She was about to say something, but then she remembered how Vur had wished for a genie to grant him an extra pair of retractable arms. Windows that couldn’t even be seen by the naked eye were nothing in comparison; …at least, she hadn’t seen them.

“Where are you going?” Stella asked as Tafel stood up and walked down Vur’s head along his spine.

“I’m going to see what Ashley wants,” Tafel said. “While I’m there, I also want to check something.” Were Stella’s windows visible or not?