Fully clothed in his battle regalia once more in the literal blink of an eye, Eric stared at his mother for long moments, sensing the tension beneath her gaze.

It was all he could do to swallow the torrent of accusations he wanted to sling at her, focusing only on what mattered.

Because of course, he instantly understood.

“They’re ready to meet.”

His mother flashed a tight smile. “Correct.” She gazed at him for long moments, her eyes not even lingering on the disheveled girl Eric had been kissing so fiercely, so passionately, making such a lie of his earlier declarations of heartfelt friendship and the strongest of working relationships.

“Just how much are you willing to sacrifice for the sake of children that are not your own?”

Eric felt his cheeks heat up, his heart now pounding with his mother’s words ringing like an awful gong of foreboding inside his soul.

Because at that moment, he knew.

“Shit.”

His mother dipped her head, her eyes pleading with his own. “Twenty Thousand.”

He swallowed. “And what will they demand?”

“Everything they can.”

Eric flashed a tight, desperate smile, thoughts racing for a solution to the trap he sensed closing in, before his eyes widened, knowing what the solution must be.

Four Suits of pristine mithril chain mail hauberks. Three Mithril blades of Wind, one linked to his soul, and one of Fire.

Eric held his mother’s gaze as he deposited one priceless treasure after another, knowing that this was how it had to be. Because sure, he could secure it all in a massive chest of necromantically enhanced scales and bone with multiple layers of fiery runes and place that container in the back of his Tier 2 Ascension facility that absolutely no one was breaking into, unless Earth’s unelected and utterly illegitimate Council forwent even a final pretense of fairness and legitimacy and acted as the predatory thieves he knew them to be. Yet even that would require them bringing in Silver Tier help, his Tier 2 ascension facility perhaps the most secure building in this corner of the globe, equal to Blue Quarter’s own secure vaults.

But Eric was far less concerned with not getting his treasures back than he was denying his enemies deadly weapons of war that could make all the difference. Weapons of war he had made sure all three girls he had spent what were now two precious weeks training besides knew how to use. And both Jinni and Sufia were utterly attuned to the very element those Wind aligned Dachi had been made for. And he just knew that Elonia would be perfect for Fire. So best he leave those treasures in the hands of those who could use them, should the fates decree that he would not return.

He heard the gasps all three girls made behind him, solemnly turning to face them, flashing a bemused smile.

“Congratulations. You’ve all passed an absolutely kick-ass couple weeks of training, and I already know how strong you all are.” He locked gazes with Jinni and winked. “I have no doubt that you’ll be able to put this mithril blade to good use, channeling the essence of Wind the way you saw me projecting the elements with my mithril blade a dozen times before.”

He smirked at the massive arachnid corpse. “God knows you now got Super-Punch’s right hand cross down perfectly.” He then handed her both his own mithril hauberk and the blade he had bound to his soul.

“Of course, if any of you ever wanted to make me a future gift of a certain pair of treasures, that’s completely up to you. But make no mistake, these are now treasures for you to use as you see fit.”

Jinni’s expression flittered between exasperation, desire, awe, and deepest gratitude. She flashed him a smile so wide and sincere that Eric felt his cheeks heat up, knowing that if things had been at all different…

“Thank you, Eric. From the bottom of my heart, I swear to treasure these gifts, to keep them safe and secure.” Jinni swallowed, soft fingertips rising to touch his unresisting cheek. “And should you ever need a favor from a friend, you know I am here for you.” She bit her lip. “Always.”

Eric bowed, squeezing her hand. “Thank you, Jinni. That means more to me than...” He swallowed, surprised to find himself feeling choked up, before turning to a wickedly smiling Sufia.

“And I know just how incredibly badass you already are with Wind Step, and just how well you can use a bow. Your Imperial Blademastery skill needs some work, so how about you use this, and see just how far you can take it?” Eric turned to an awed Jinni, gazing with wonder at the slight draft of Wind Qi Eric could already sense projecting from its point.

“With Jinni as your instructor, Sufia, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the pair of you are unleashing badass Wind Strikes that can cut through steel within the week. Or you will, at least, once you forge peripheral channels able to carry a storm of Wind down to your fingertips, just like you did to the bottom of your feet.”

Sufia bowed her head, snarky grin turned serious and solemn as it so rarely did. “Thank you, Eric. I will treasure both mithril mail and blade. But most of all, I will treasure your wondrous gifts and insights that allowed me to unlock my full potential.” She winked at a flustered Jinni. “I will learn whatever lessons my Sifu would teach her first disciple, and when I hear the call, I will answer.” The last she said with a solemn bow to Aurelia, who deigned to acknowledge it with the faintest nod.

Eric then turned to Annika, who was now favoring him with a cheeky smile of her own.

“Priceless treasures? Dare I think maybe we were well on your way to winning your heart, after all?”

Eric chuckled ruefully. “Closer than I really want to admit. Now try it on. Tuck your hair under the mithril helm and Cinch the hauberk belt tight over your hips and you’re good to go.”

Annika’s hands betrayed a nervousness her bemused smile refused to reveal, her warm breath caressing his ear when he carefully fastened her sword belt and adjusted the handful of straps hanging off it that balanced the sheath and allowed for a smooth draw.

“There. I know a cultivator’s Wind Qi isn’t your element, but the sword is still yours to use as you see fit, and should work as an absolutely awesome channel for your own blossoming version of my runic arts that I hope you’ll teach all your favorite future students at our future academy, making you the perfect spell blade. And that armor should keep you safe against pretty much everything.”

“This five hundred pound armor,” Annika said with a teasing smile.

Eric grinned, pretending he didn’t see a tear in the corner of her eye. “That’s right, and if you sprint for an hour every day, you might even boost your absurd physical stats that I can tell are already in the 40s and 50s.”

“As opposed to your physical stats, in the high 200s and beyond.”

Eric grinned. “How do you think I got so strong?”

“Sure as hell not from running around in this thing, at least not exclusively.”

Eric swallowed, gently stroking Annika’s cheek, allowing himself to show just a bit of his budding warmth for her, for all of them… now that he was about to leave for what could well be for good.

“I think you’re going to be an absolutely kickass headmistress, Annika. Thank you for agreeing to run my Adventurer’s Academy.”

“You say that as if she’s actually been released from my service,” his mother said with a wry smirk of her own.

Annika paled and immediately curtseyed.

“Stop that, dear. You look absolutely ridiculous curtsying in 500 pounds of mithril armor with a 50 pound sword at your hip you’re clearly not used to.”

“My Queen...”

“Of course you may run your future husband’s school exactly as you see fit. We shall address your schedule and the needs of our faction after my son and I finish our business in Freetown.”

Aurelia’s eagle eyes then settled on a blushing Sufia. “And you, child, in addition to unlocking your potential as a cultivator, shall work on absolute mastery over your abomination of a hybridized Wind-Step ability until you can blink about the battlefield so fast that not even a goblin hit squad can take you down before you take them out with bow or blade, and you will do it while kitted up just as you are.”

Sufia immediately flowed into a bow, already wearing her mithril mail as effortlessly as a flowing silk dress. “It will be as you say, Your Eminence.”

“Good. My son has seen fit to gift all three of you with absolutely priceless knowledge and treasures. Best you be worthy of his regard...and my own.”

Eric forced a smile, knowing now was not the time to contradict and risk his mother losing face, or embarrassing the girls who, if he was honest with himself, had had him in their sights the entire time they had trained, fought, and killed together. Instead he focused on what mattered, presenting his mother with the last of his priceless prizes.

“I’d like to make a gift of these to Elonia,” he said, formally presenting his mother with the final set of hauberk, helm, and the only two handed mithril blade he had that was aligned to Fire, not Wind. Prizes of battle that were now freely given gifts that his mother claimed as if they weighed no more than air. Right before making them disappear in the blink of an eye.

She favored Eric with a solemn nod. “I will make sure she gets these gifts and treasures them, Eric. Rest assured, by the time her training is finally complete, she will be wearing them almost as comfortably as you do.”

“Thank you.”

His mother nodded. “Now get in the velimobile, children. A wild orange tier territory is no place for anyone below Bronze to casually linger. That my son would dare to use it as your training grounds for an entire week...” She favored the three flushing girls with an oddly probing stare. “Actually has merit. Especially with a thousand revenants cordoning off this tiny corner of a wild territory that would be open to all our foes’ spies, had it not proven such an enticing trap for them, the two that had survived this long presently being cocooned by web-builders as we speak”

She chuckled softly. “Fortunately, my son’s been wise enough only to cordon off the shallowest corner of this territory. But you dears do realize that this magnificent wonderland forest is home to multiple species of web builders and trapdoor spiders, in addition to the massive leaping hunters that so nearly spelled dear Jinni’s end, no?”

She smiled at the looks of surprise and consternation this observation earned her. “And I see that all three of your prospective partners have already begun to blossom in highly unorthodox ways, Eric. Very well. Here’s to hoping you haven’t bricked all their classes.”

All three girls winced at those words.

Aurelia’s smile grew. “Which is why both Sufia and Annika will be compressing their cores at Level 50, to make the most of the pathways you’ve opened for them, and to forge themselves opportunities that will actually see them well into Bronze. No matter how many years it will take. The very least of what you should expect from any future mate, my son.”

“It will be as you say, Your Majesty,” both girls said in unison as they climbed in the back seat,

Jinni cleared her throat. “Your Eminence, would you like to take a look at our universities before we head back?”

Aurelia frowned, Jinni paling under her gaze before winter abruptly thawed into a warm spring day. “I think that would be just lovely, dear. Now, why don’t you darlings tell me all about your plans for your academies while we make our way over there.”

An intensely animated Jinni and Annika did just that, Eric letting the words wash over him as his mother’s eyes slowly widened, her bemused smile becoming increasingly genuine.

“So you would dare to synergize System and Cultivation pathways in the hopes of forging uniquely powerful Middle Dantian Classers, taking full advantage of the relentless conflict between the two philosophies and the System’s own attempts at enticement to deliberately forge the unorthodox into as powerful a foundation as possible.”

For some reason all three girls paled at Aurelia’s concise summary, but Eric was positively beaming. “Damn right that’s the plan. And if we can unlock even more goodies with Annika’s attempts to master my Runic Spell Casting Class abilities with an arcane equivalent that would open up countless rune combinations for limitless slow-cast ritual combinations as well as fast-cast spell variations, that would open the path to countless magical possibilities, even for would-be adventurers with only a handful of nodes available to them.”

His mother snorted. “A child’s dreams. There’s a reason why few Classers invest in their Mana Pool when recovery is necessitated by rest and their multiplier is based on the number of nodes available to them. And as you know, even three nodes is a luxury only enjoyed by 2.5% of Earth’s population.”

Eric smirked at those words, his mother so subtly giving away a clue that solidified hunches long percolating in his mind. “And three is the key number. Isn’t it, Mother?”

His mother affected innocence. “I fear that I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Eric crossed his arms and leaned back, gazing intently Jinni’s way. “I’m guessing other races deal with similar node distribution probabilities, yet I see you’ve invested an entire territory into forging an arcane academy of your own. If I were a betting man… I’d put my last remaining gold bar on the gamble that there is at least one perk open to anyone with a standard tier arcane class or better that increases one’s Mana Pool significantly, perhaps mirroring the same amount of mana as anyone with a complete meridian configuration might enjoy.”

Jinni stiffened at those words.

Eric patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I am absolutely not asking you to break the edicts binding you all so tightly and actually explaining what perks might or might not be available to us newly-blooded Terrans.”

Eric exchanged a smirk with his mother.

“I can freely tell you that no known perk mimics a 12 node royal configuration,” his mother said.

Eric nodded. “Six or Seven, then. About what I figured.”

The car grew conspicuously silent, Eric damn well aware he was the only Terran in the car under multiple edicts restricting his access to so many things the others no doubt took for granted. Because the silence, as far as he was concerned, was deafening. Gloriously so.

“So, yeah, I have high hopes for Headmistress Annika transforming dozens of hopeful adventurers into genuine spell-casting badasses in the next six months or so, assuming everything goes according to plan. Same thing with Jinni and our cultivation academy. With the tomes she now has access to, anyone with any Wind Qi affinity whatsoever will have access to a badass movement skill in addition at least one, maybe two Qi attack skills that Jinni can now teach herself, without restriction. Most importantly, those that prove themselves to Jinni will be able to study the best cultivation manual they could possibly hope for, leading all the way to the cusp of Bronze. At the very least, her future core disciples who might spend the majority of the time with that cultivation manual will at least be able to pass on pristine techniques to all her outer disciples. And yes, I’m sure Wind specialization is probably a lot rarer among humans than it is among, well...”

“Your own race?” his mother said with a pointed look at her son.

Eric cleared his throat. “Anyway, Jinni assured me that even those with no particular elemental affinity who can still feel the flow of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy would still prosper mightily as general body cultivators. And if they were to then fuse that with a Classer’s gifts into a kickass hybrid class… I think all the elites eager to plunder our world like a pack of bloodthirsty conquistadors are going to get a very rude awakening.”

His mother’s intense gaze turned to a blink of surprise when she caught sight of the twin towers glittering like a pair of magnificent topaz jewels under the warming rays of the midday sun. Their size was deceptive, with no nearby buildings to compare it to, just lush, windswept plains. Which made it all too easy to be caught off guard when the towers seemed to grow ever larger as they approached.

“Impressive, my son. Almost as impressive as you actually managing to scrape together the necessary funds to rush construction of both academy and cultivation towers, when it was made clear, even to me, how badly Arlen Ort had drained Blue Corp’s cash reserves.”

Eric grinned. “Oh yes, it turns out Arlen really pulled a number on us in all sorts of ways. Not only did he tie up all our liquidity in goblin enterprises, slaver operations, and properties our enemies have done their utmost to make nearly impossible to sell, but our lovely friend even went so far as to take out an additional half billion in loans from the Terran branch of the Bloodtear Bank under the Blue Corp name. Capital we never saw, disappearing from existence the very day Arlen left our planet for good. Can you believe that guy? Total class act.”

Playful banter died in an instant. Aurelia’s gaze grew hard and cold as poor Jinni seemed to wilt in her seat with a whimper. Aurelia ignored Jinni’s furious blush, turning to peer right at Eric, whose arm was now protectively around the clearly frightened branch manager.

“Yet you have tied your fortunes to a faction whose local chapter is now not only in bed with, but in actual debt to the goblins, to the tune of half a billion credits.” Aurelia gazed Eric for long seconds as the tension grew painfully thick. “So tell me, Eric, where exactly did the funding for your rather impressive towers come from?”

Eric laughed and winked, tension instantly broken.

“Those towers are of solid Alutopaz! Blue Corp’s own patented top tier quality topaz alloy guaranteed to sparkle with a rich lustre and resist nearly all small-arms fire, no matter how questionable one’s air quality or common small-arms insurrections might be. Enough to captivate the senses but not so brilliantly as to blind, not even under the midday sun, for at least the next thousand years, and potentially for countless millennia. And seeing as our academy and cultivation towers are going to be catching the eyes of countless galactic elites and scions making their way from Ashland to Hope territory and any one of my 24 Towers of Zor for the foreseeable future, the central Blue Corp branch offered to underwrite the entirety of our construction costs, so long as we allow a highway to be built in close proximity to the towers.” Eric buffed his nails and smiled. “Of course Blue Corp wanted to put their best foot forward, so how could they resist a grand-tier construction project when, as every advertiser knows, visibility is absolutely everything? I, of course, consented, even if getting newly minted adventurers and disciples to efficiently make use of all fifty floors for future tutelage, training, and living quarters will be an organizational challenge in its own right.”

Aurelia gazed at Eric for long moments, her lips curving in a bemused smile. “Completely subsidized palaces no king would be ashamed of, and miles of Bronze-Tier quality roadwork construction, in return for free advertising.”

Eric nodded. “Once Alutopaz takes the galactic housing and construction market by storm, the profit potential will be limitless! Certainly worth investing in my little enterprise.”

His mother smirked. “Arlen Ort is allowed to scurry off without insult or injury to his clan or person despite his numerous crimes, and you find yourself the beneficiary of an extremely generous construction and advertising proposal worth at least as much as the man stole.”

Eric winked Jinny’s way. “And I owe it all to our wonderful bank manager who, when she’s not smashing the shit out of massive spiders or cultivating up a storm, is wheeling and dealing with the best of them. Turns she has the ear of all sorts of interesting people on the blue Corp totem pole.”

“Only because of Ashland and Hope territories,” Jinni quickly amended. “And for all that ethically dubious accords that are not at all in the native population’s interest has kept so much of Blue Corp’s interplanetary resources in firm check, the goblins themselves had insisted upon the most liberal funding options for individual business ventures, as that aligns with their own personal interests. And since both academies are Eric’s brainchildren, and he is, in fact, the major stakeholder in both...”

“Blue Corp could afford to offer insanely generous terms with their favorite all-star, rushing three months worth of Bronze Tier construction in just under two weeks.”

Jinni bowed her head. “Precisely, Your Grace.”

Aurelia’s eyes widened, hands gripping the wheel of her veli so tightly Eric heard a sharp retort, surprised it hadn’t broken completely off. Eric instantly understood why.

“I take it you cut through your own territory to intercept us.”

His mother gave a quick nod. “I did the moment I sensed Jinni’s absolutely unnecessary peril. She’s not a Classer, Eric!”

The entire veli seemed to freeze before his mother’s ire. Before thawing out seconds later as if they hadn’t all been frozen solid, when his mother shook her head and sighed. “Even if it did allow for her to forge an absolutely Pristine Wind Fist cultivation technique with a breakthrough she could only have accomplished along the Path of Peril. A breakthrough that will open the door to full comprehension of Wind Strike, given time. Vital skills to go along with Wind Step if you truly wish your academy to have any martial ability at all. Wind Ward is still lacking, of course, but Sufia’s made it damned clear just how well archery and Wind cultivation synergize with one another.”

Eric nodded, somehow not surprised that his Silver Tier mother offhandedly understood so much of what Eric had been doing and still aimed to do. Who cared if it didn’t touch upon her specialties at all? She was a brilliant woman with a thousand years of experience playing these games of conquest and power. Perhaps far more.

Yet Eric couldn’t quite hide the bemused quirk to his smile when he sensed what had truly thrown his mother for a loop.

“So you hadn’t actually swung through Hope territory.” Eric flashed a teasing smile. “You had no idea just how incredibly saturated it is with arcane, spiritual, and druidic energy.”

His mother shook her head, before scowling at her son. “Until today, with our meeting finally secured, it was less than advisable for my piece to show on any territory save those already well established. Our Blue friends have concurred with my counsel that we are best off sharing the significance of this territory to only a very small handful of select… clientele. This list will of course increase over time, I have no doubt, as Jinni herself knows. And Eric, there’s no such thing as ‘druidic’ energy.”

“There is now,” Eric declared, earning four wide-eyed stares. “Or at least, the soil here’s capable of growing Bronze Tier Spirit or arcane fruit, second only to Picksonville in quality.”

Aurelia’s eyes glittered with Fey brilliance, her lips curling in a hungry grin Eric knew all too well as she turned on her thousand megawatt smile. “Jinni, darling, I must commend you and Eric both for choosing an absolute gem of a location for your academies. The rich access to Arcane and Spiritual energies will allow even the most humble of cultivators to enjoy breakthroughs normally the province of gifted young masters.” She gave a delighted chuckle. “And I would not be at all surprised to find that even Terran mages find their mana pools filling almost as rapidly as our own kind does in far more humble environments.”

“That is correct, my lady,” Jinni conceded. “We have extremely high hopes for our future students and disciples.”

“As do I. It is my sincere hope that the Sylvan Alliance will still be able to secure crop rights within Hope territory as we have all others that have known the touch of my son’s… liberation.”

Jinni’s pleased smile immediately froze. Her countenance took on an unexpected pallor as she lowered her head before she who was, after all, the de facto head of the entire Sylvan Alliance.

“I am sorry, Your Grace, but in this issue, Blue Corp felt it best to reassure all other factions of our vaunted neutral status, assuring that ours is merely a... peripheral association.”

Aurelia’s eyes crackled with frigid heat.. before immediately thawing to a thoughtful nod.

“I see. So, Imperius and his associates have already staked their claim over Hope Territory.” She gave a frustrated sigh. “I had hoped that we would have more time before he started claiming Eric’s treasures.”

Eric frowned at this, never having heard the name before, but Jinni quickly patted his hand.

“Fear not, he will pay prime leasing rates, in addition to the agreed-upon shares of all profits earned on all the land his real estate trust is claiming. Blue Corp would have no business with him at all if he was not scrupulously honest in his dealings with us, as he himself well knows… regardless of his Deep Silver status.”

Eric furrowed his brow. “I see.”

His mother flashed a bemused smile. “And that explains why your academies are situated on the very outskirts of Hope Territory, just a mile from the still wild orange tier border.”

Jinni nodded. “Correct. We were able to claim a good four square mile strip of land reserved for Eric’s use as what amounts to a 1% Blue Corp courtesy that we will allow him to develop without contest. Imperius has claimed nearly 300 square miles of Hope territory, save for the square miles immediately surrounding each of the 24 towers, and the 20 mile long strips at the borders.”

“Which is still Blue Corp land, not mine. Let’s be clear here. I’m just glad they’re willing to let me use some of their land as our college campus,” Eric said in the same vain as he normally said ‘strictly free agent,’ lest the powers-that-be take exception.

Aurelia nodded to Jinni’s comment, completely ignoring Eric’s anxious clarification. “Imperius always was both prudent and cautious. If there were any territories that Blue Corp and the soon to be champions of Earth will make a concerted effort to save, should a beast tide actually manifest, it will be treasures like Hope, Ashland, and Picksonville. But that first mile in still risks catastrophic property damage.”

“True. Fortunately, the contrast between our northern neighbor’s wild mana and Hope’s highly potent and completely stabilized mana fields has made incursion issues virtually nonexistent,” Jinni said.

“In other words, those monster spiders we were leveling up on absolutely hate it here, so new-bloods should still be relatively safe,” Eric noted, before cracking a feral grin. “And that would be true even if I weren’t intent on clearing out that territory as soon as our little meeting with the goblin faction today is over.”

“I can only pray that you will be in a position to do just that, Eric, though I would counsel above all else that you take the time to clear it safely and carefully,” his mother warned. “For monstrous jungles filled with pit traps and web spinners to which you and your troops would be scurrying into like ants will be far more difficult to clear for you than the wide open plains of Hope territory.”

Eric sighed, gazing back at the absolutely massive jungle behind them, still clearly visible, even several miles away. “Yeah, I kind of gathered that. Still, clearing that territory is definitely on my bucket list.”

“Mine as well,” said Sufia, flashing Eric a hungry smile. “It’s good to meet a man who relishes the hunt as much as I do.”

Eric chuckled, unable to deny the connection he felt to this natural huntress, or that they’d make a solid team, never mind the way Jinni and Annika both prickled with momentary jealousy quickly hidden by their smiles.

“So Jinni and Annika will head your schools, and Sufia will serve as a core member of your future delving group. A simple enough solution. Now you only need 11 more members worthy to stand beside you as brothers and sisters in arms before you dare risk your life on any further orange tier delves.”

Eric smirked, carefully saying nothing until after they had returned to Ashland’s newly constructed city hall, where he gave final parting gifts and words of encouragement to all three of those girls who seemed so intent on twining their fates with his own. Madness in its own right that he had seen fit to reward with gifts of knowledge, wealth, and friendship as well.

Final quips, promises, and laughter were exchanged, and Eric was glad to see that, mild prickles of jealousy aside, all three seemed genuinely fond of one another, and Eric knew they were already more than just friends.

“Be safe, alright, Eric?” Jinni said a short while later, having quietly stepped out with Eric, after all of them had enjoyed a celebratory drink at their inn’s upscale bar. A soft hand clasped his own. “I know you’re probably going to save your mother’s entire alliance, and I can’t think of a more noble or heroic cause than being willing to give up so much of yourself for what will amount to giving your sister a fighing chance. But please… be careful, alright, Eric?”

She bit her lip, gazing so intently at him that he felt his cheeks flush. “Watch every word you say, and don’t for even a second let yourself get riled up into playing the fool.”

Eric forced a smile, though in truth he was now feeling more anxious about the meeting than ever, only now willing to admit to himself that he had pushed them all so hard as much to avoid having to think about what was about to go down, as for any other reason.

“Don’t worry, Jinni. That’s advice I will definitely be taking to heart.”

He grinned, tousling her hair and giving her a peck on the cheek that his now surprisingly strong cultivator deftly turned to a kiss deep enough to send his heart racing, cheeks flaring not with shame but… surprise.

She flashed a sad smile as his mother approached before stepping back and waving them off, Eric finding himself feeling unexpectedly melancholy as the picture perfect glimpse of a beautiful European city than never quite was quickly shrank in the distance.

Eric swallowed, turning around as his mother drove at a no-nonsense clip, feeling a sense of dream he thought might just be the equal of what Jinni had felt just a couple of hours ago. Because it was now just him and his mother driving through the semi wild white tier territory separating Ashland from Freetown Province.

And to think, just a season or two ago, Eric had been fleeing both Freetown and his mother in an impossible bid for freedom. Yet now here he was, sitting by his mother’s side, racing back to that very city where a tiny part of him was increasingly certain he was about to face the greatest peril of his life… and the chances of him escaping completely unscathed were laughingly close to zero.