A shimmering surface grew from the inner ring of the portal, meeting in the center. Ela-Dorn watched as an image solidified on the other side of the portal.
It showed a cargo bay filled with various items.
Ela-Dorn walked around the portal.
“Portal is stable. Activating shield,” Dave said.
A faint blue covering seemed to go over the portal from the four clamps.
“Looks like it’s taking a good draw from the portal’s power output. Okay, we can hold this for a few hours, but after that, the portal here is going to be out of power,” Dave said.
She released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
“We just got a portal to work!” she yelled before jumping around. “Hell, yes! Who is the master of portals!” She laughed, unable to get all of her excitement out with a wide smile on her face as she looked at the grinning Dave and Bob.
“We can power it up from my ship—be a bit of a power draw, but if you’d be willing to give me some hydrogen, it won’t be a problem. Oh, and I’ve been working on your fusion reactor and I think that the AI has finally found the right inputs you’d need for it to be stable,” Bob said to Dave.
“How can you have something that generates that much power, and what is a reactor?” Ela-Dorn asked.
“Well, I think I have a few things to show you. First of all, Bob, could you teleport us and one of these portals back to my lab?” Dave asked.
“Can do,” Bob said.
They disappeared from the seeder and reappeared back in Dave’s lab. Bob used magic to hold a portal, moving it into one of the labs.
“Seems someone’s been in here a bit,” Dave yelled as he walked off to a different lab.
“Been awhile since I had my own place to run experiments!” Bob said, floating off with the portal.
“What are you showing me?” Ela-Dorn asked.
“How we’re going to fix that power problem with portals and teleport pads and not be reliant on the ley lines for all our power,” Dave said. “Oh, and now that we have the clamps working, I think it’s time we started working on our own portals. The Jukal might be able to sense theirs that we’re using if they’re on the planet’s surface or in somewhere not properly protected. If we have our own, they’ll have a different energy signature and we can trick their sensors.”
“We just figured out how to get a portal to dial another—now you want to make your own!” Ela-Dorn waved her hands around in an exasperated manner.
“Don’t tell me you’re not excited.” Dave looked back with a grin.
“Of course, I am!” Ela-Dorn said. “You know my weaknesses just a little too well, though. Also, it means I’m going to need to catch up on all those lessons you’ve been giving.”
“Don’t worry. I recorded them all so that people can listen to them even when I’m not there. I think I’m going to have to get someone to teach people in my place. I’ve got too much going on still. Maybe Matt,” Dave said, talking to himself in the end.
***
“Well, this is different,” Dwayne said.
Josh, Lucy, Kim, and Florence were all sitting in one of the tallest towers that came together to create a central support for the city.
“It’s kind of hard to believe all of this belongs to our guild,” Kim said, as they looked out at the city. Day by day, the city was changing.
Dave had finally finished with the growing tower soul gems. The first growing tower was extending up into the skyline, structural supports strengthening the tower. The soul gem buildings looked similar to the metal and glass skyscrapers on Earth.
There were a number of buildings that had been made from reinforced stone and simple steel. Like the power station that was now operating at one hundred percent and the refinery that was working overtime to try to deal with the massive backlog of stored materials that hadn’t been processed yet.
“I just hope that we have somewhere near the capital that we would need to implement Dave’s plan,” Josh said.
“We’ve got Selhi bent over our knee. In the last couple of months, they have not been having a good time. We just need to make sure that we get rid of Esamael and his forces. Once that’s done, then we’ll have nearly half of the country and their leadership locked up. We trade them to the king as well as control of the different cities for what we still need—perfect,” Lucy said.
“Are you sure it will work? It sounds messy,” Josh said.
“They fucked us, or are looking to fuck us over. I agree with Lucy. It’s about time we showed them what happens if someone crosses the Stone Raiders.” Dwayne held Josh’s eyes for a minute.
“Also, coming out stronger than ever and with a growing empire, it’s going to be really hard for anyone to challenge us ever again,” Florence said.
“Am I the only one who remembers that there are going to be things coming back from wherever they were hiding in just a few months?” Kim said.
“Everything we have now—Terra, the teleport pads, our allies and our new members—everything is so that we can come out of the end of these events stronger than ever,” Josh said.
“I know, but damn, I don’t want to wait two months before we fight Esamael. Isn’t there anything else we could do?” Kim sighed.
“Well, we have large groups who could move outside Devil’s Crater to go and have a look at what’s living out there. Try to track down some dungeons. I think it’s time that we went looking for some nice-sized raids,” Dwayne said.
“There are always people who prefer big raids instead of just party-sized dungeons,” Josh agreed, a grin on his face. He held out his fist and Dwayne punched it.
“Okay, though, we do have a lot of people who are training, or working on different things. I’ll try to make sure that everyone is ready for when Esamael comes with his forces. I’ve also decreased our speed of recruiting. We’re nearly double our size after Devil’s Crater and I want to make sure that the veterans aren’t outnumbered by the new incoming people,” Lucy said.
“Yeah, I haven’t had many people arguing that we should do things differently. Though there are a few here and there. Most are just looking out for the guild; others are trying to change it from the inside, so I showed them the door,” Josh said.
“Ah, is that why our guild is getting such bad reviews?” Kim asked.
“Bad reviews?” Josh asked, confused.
“Well, some people have been saying things about the Stone Raiders. Turned into a thing where people were saying that it was a terrible guild, unorganized, and all of this. Thankfully none of them seem to have got much clearance to know things. Also, seems like there’s a whole bunch of trolls just trying to make us sound like ingrates.” Kim shook her head.
“Well, they were asking for things like having the guild together at all times, to only let people do their own thing at certain times and have set training with the entire guild. Some of the more military-like guilds, that’s fine, but we’re all E-heads here. Most people cycle through sooner or later.” Josh shrugged.
“I think that we should pull back some of them who are around Gudalo and in other places that we can’t be sure of. When Esamael attacks, we might look weak and not have much reach to look after our guild members. The other guilds won’t attack us, but the POEs might if they see a weakness. They might also hold people hostage or prisoner,” Lucy said.
“Damn, you’re thinking pretty far ahead. I haven’t heard of a hostage situation with Players yet, just guards extorting us for gold.” Josh snorted.
“Best to be ready for any eventuality,” Lucy said.
“Oh, before I forget, Dave told me that he had something he wanted to show us tomorrow. He’s been working on it for the last four weeks he’s been back,” Kim said.
“Okay, but how the hell is Deia pregnant?” Josh asked.
Everyone gave him looks.
“What? I know you’ve all been thinking it. This is a video game! She’s pregnant here though! Does she know who
Dave is in real life?”
“I’ve already had a talk with her. It’s odd, but looks like they got a custom patch,” Lucy said.
“Okay.” Josh scratched his head. Why the two of them would want to have a kid in a video game, and why they would deem to have it right before all the fighting started, he had no idea. “Well, I guess that we should go and see what Dave has come up with.”
Chapter 16: From Another Land
Alkao looked out of his office and down at the training area for the DCA.
Snow flurries drifted down from the skies, winter in full swing. The heated roads quickly melted the snow, draining it into the large heated moat.
The fields had been shut down, the greenhouses now working through the winter. Still, with the winter, Devil’s Crater hadn’t slowed down at all. More people came through the teleport pad every day: Adventurers trying their luck. Traders looking for new markets.
His home was growing, and with them, his forces were as well.
Anna had been making a training schedule with the other officers who had the best handle over their flying spells or natural flying abilities. It had mixed results so far.
Finally, the two groups were starting to separate out. Three brigades specialized in aerial combat and two based on the ground.
Quindar and Anna were having the trouble of getting people out of their bad habits when flying and fighting and then building up new habits. The DCA soldiers were ready and eager to learn but it was still going to take some time before they were ready to take to the skies to fight other airborne creatures. First, Quindar and Anna were going to teach them how to properly support forces on the ground and bomb targets of opportunity.
When Quindar had started teaching them all how to use their armor and their abilities properly, everything had changed. She had them flying in formations, moving through the skies in groups, training on how to fly as a group. She’d also made it clear that the forces on the ground were needed as much as the ones in the sky. Krenua had taken over on working with the people who were supposed to be on the ground with General Kala. The rest and all of Alkao’s brothers were working to fight primarily in the air, with training to fight on the ground if they needed to.
The ground forces had moved from their original training to fighting with their new weapons and armor. The aerial brigades were each forty thousand strong, while the ground forces were at fifty thousand each.
Alkao and Kala were the official leaders of the ground forces while Malkur and Vrexu led the aerial forces.
Alkao was proud of his ground forces. They might not be learning a new skill, but they were taking what they knew and building on it regularly. None of them were slacking, always pushing themselves to grow stronger. They were not just training with fighting in formation either. The focus had turned from large group fighting to smaller group skills. Learning to fight in a party of ten or less. Doing as much damage as possible to the enemy in the shortest time.
They were specializing in ambushes, trap making, and scouting. They had learned from their fight with the Demon Horde; they didn’t have the weapons and training of the Dwarves, who acted like a mobile mountain on the field of battle. They were quick and strong; they could hit hard and fast, making them great for supporting troops and advanced scouts. They could slow an advance and make an army’s morale plummet.
Against the Demon Horde, it had turned them from a raging army of nearly ten million to a fighting force of less than two. Without their forward attacks, they would have been torn apart wholesale. They nearly were when they went into a head-on fight with the Horde.
Alkao’s jaw worked, remembering the deaths of so many soldiers. He had still been thinking with old tactics. He had tried to be smart, but he’d gone in with heavy-handed tactics. When it reached a straight-up fight, he wanted his enemy to be tired, ready to make mistakes, low on morale and anything they needed to fight with.
Alkao watched as a flight came in against a group of ground forces, firing their training bombs. The ground forces harassed them with bows and arrows, and various spells. Few, if any, of the bombs got on target.
Alkao smiled as Quindar lectured the different flights. She might be a new mother, but she was a fierce lady. A few had challenged her, and she had quickly and easily put them down. Her strength with Air was nearly unmatched; she was only weaker than Anna in her Human form, who still showed deference to Quindar. In her Dragon form, she was unmatched.
Alkao looked proudly down at his forces. His ground troops moved through fighting exercises. The aerial forces, above the different keeps, watched over the crater.
With every day, his people and his forces grew in strength. They were becoming a force to be reckoned with once again.
Alkao rolled his shoulders, eager to be back down with his ground troops and fighting. He was decent at fighting in the air, but he knew how to fight on the ground better. That wasn’t saying he wouldn’t use his wings or a few aerial tricks here and there.
The new armor was highly effective. Combined with the armbands and the chest piece, it was bringing in a whole new level of tactics never seen before. Every soldier could run in, nailing down an enemy force with overwhelming Mana bombs and spears before fleeing.
***
“Okay, so, what is that?” Josh pointed to the box sitting in the middle of the room.
“That is a Mana well.” Dave grinned.
“Like a well that gives off Mana all the time?” Kim said, getting excited as she moved to the box.
“Yep.” Dave grinned.
“I thought that the ley lines were the closest thing that this world had to a Mana well?” Josh asked.
“Yeah, it was, but then I changed it.” Dave grinned.
“How?” Dwayne asked.
“It’s all pretty nerdy and technical, but I made a diamond that will give off energy for the next few million years,” Dave said.
“We just built a power facility and then you built this? Why didn’t you make it before?” Josh asked.
“Well, you might have noticed that the power facility had a large power draw recently. That was for me to make the containment box and the Mana well diamond,” Dave said.
“We’ve already got a lot of power from other places. What do we need this for?” Josh asked.
“Well, we could use it to power shields at our other guild halls. Also, we can use these to power our teleport pads indefinitely and give us a ready access to power if we need it across the world. Make it a guild secret,” Dave said.
“Huh, that is pretty smart and conniving,” Josh said.
“Just doing what I can to help.” Dave smiled, thinking of the soul gem factory he had in his lab, cranking out coded soul gems that he’d place with every Mana well and basic teleport pad.
Chapter 17: Resolutions
Queen Selhi woke up to a private message from Guildmaster Giles. She read through it. Her eyes became large as she very carefully re-read it.
She sighed. The amount of money that Josh was asking for was incredible. But if she didn’t pay it, then her country was going to go from a recession into a depression. Tension was already high. Much longer and she might have civil war on her hands.
“Well, looks like I’m going to need to take a trip to the treasury. Thankfully, he made it into a payment plan and I can trade goods with them,” Queen Selhi said.
Her magistrate’s betrayal of the Stone Raiders’ trust and their goodwill had come at a great cost. Queen Selhi knew that they were using it as an example to others of what they would do if they were screwed with.
She hated it and wished it wasn’t true, but she had messed up with appointing the magistrate of Selhi Capital. It might have been the stress from the job or making sure that they didn’t spend too much of the treasury, but it had come back on them in a big way.
“I wonder what he means that they would be interested in entertaining ambassadors from other kingdoms and countries,” Queen Selhi thought out loud as she got up from her bed
.
***
Dave yawned as he sat down at his chair as the leader of the Council of Anvil and Fire.
It was his third week in the position. He would have one more week and then it would be passed onto someone else. The position mostly ran itself; he told people where materials were going according to agreements already written up. Then, he talked over matters with the council. People brought him their issues if they had any, as well as items for the meeting.
“Sorry.” Dave’s yawn faded away as he looked at everyone in the meeting. Over the last two months, he had found out he was becoming a dad, broken down most of the teleportation secrets that were to be had, helped to get Terra up and running, and was working on his fusion reactor. Bob had done the heavy mental lifting with his AI. Now, Dave was just figuring out outputs and scaling it all up.
His smithies were producing armor around the clock and were now a few months ahead of schedule. In two more months, it looked as if they would have all of the DCA’s armor contract completed and they could turn to doing repairs, making new weapons and armor as well as working on the skills that they had gained through their time in training with the smiths.
“All right, let’s get this thing started.” Dave banged a hammer against the table.
Dwarves grumbled and made their way to the table.
“Anyone have any issues or concerns?” Dave looked around the table. No one raised their hands as they looked around.
“Good. Materials will be distributed according to the treaties. There will be no materials sent to those who are working outside of Dwarven mountains,” Dave said.
A few of the Dwarves grumbled, but Dave and Kol shared a grin.
If only they knew how much Mithril and other high-level materials we have saved up. Be a good surprise for when they move into the new smithy in Terra.
“Okay, we have the tournaments starting in just three days. All of the Dwarven mountains that are hosting the celebrations are prepared and ready. We already have people who have finished and qualified in their own tournaments heading for the mountains. Mithsia Mountain has around twenty percent of our Warclans waiting and ready to be deployed to any Dwarven mountain in case of emergency.” Dave looked over his speaking points on his interface.
Stone Raiders' Return (Emerilia Book 6) Page 19
