“That could be fun. You want to go check out a portal?” Dwayne laughed at his friend’s expression. He clearly knew that he had Josh’s attention.
“Sure! It’s been awhile since I’ve fought something from another realm. Which one are you thinking?” Josh asked.
“Well, there’s one to the west of Devil’s Crater. It’s undiscovered right now. The DCA scouts saw that there was a heavy concentration of mobs in the area. They didn’t confirm that it was a portal, but in my heart, I have a feeling.”
Josh felt the conversations dim around him, all of the people in the elevator listening in. “How long would it take to reach?” Josh asked.
“About a week or two of traveling. It’s past the Ashal River and near the Northwood,” Dwayne said.
“Florence was saying something about getting heavenly falcons. If she can get them, then we can keep supplies coming in as we move. See if the Aleph would be interested in scouting for us. If they find a portal there, we’ll give it a go. Think of the amount of people who would be going through Devil’s Crater to check out a new portal? Also, if it’s a good enough realm, we could put an ono down.” Josh’s thoughts had quickly devolved into excited ideas.
They could try to send teams out to put down the ono and file out; however, the scouting party would be under a lot of pressure from the creatures in the wilderness and their chances of making it were slim. Also, if there was an ono down, they would have to rush people through it to establish a base. If they couldn’t get control of the area then they would lose an ono.
“Maybe it will connect to a realm other than the Alturarans!” Dwayne said, his own excitement building.
The two of them grinned at each other, their sense of adventure making them visibly excited.
“Scouts first and then confirm with Florence and Lucy. If so, then we can put out a guild-wide raid,” Josh said, trying to be realistic, but the possibilities, they were just too exciting!
They continued through Terra, quickly sending out messages and making plans.
Within the hour, every Stone Raider heard about the possibility of a portal raid.
There were only a handful of portals open: three to the Alturaran’s lands, one to the Ooinfa realm, and one to the Ikiul realm.
In no time, they were at the greenhouses.
Josh and Dwayne’s tones were less excited as they entered. There were groups of people all over the place. Most wore simple clothes with a necklace and a simple bracelet. They were the prisoners from Esamael’s armies.
They looked around in amazement. Even being so close to the Per’ush islands, few had even seen the islands. Most saw the lower islands, not the magical higher islands that were filled with all manner of magical devices.
When they came to Terra, they had been scared. Now, they looked around in amazement. They might not be geniuses, but Gudalo had a long history of mages who had failed to make it into the mage’s college and instead stayed in Gudalo in hopes of gaining more insight into the world of magic.
The machines and items of Terra wouldn’t be out of place in the higher Per’ush islands. Sure, many of them were going to be working simple jobs, but they couldn’t believe the amenities within their homes: Hot water on demand, no need to have a Fire mage or a fire—just turn a knob. Also, toilets that flushed, not a simple hole dug in the ground away from camp.
Josh and Dwayne walked through. There were people being shown what their apartments could do. Others were being taken around the greenhouses to become acquainted with them. The various farmers and gardeners who had tested out the greenhouses first were now on hand to teach these prisoners how to manage them and use them to grow food throughout the year.
Josh and Dwayne left the growing towers feeling better. The prisoners didn’t look to be too happy with their situation, but they seemed interested enough and it was clear that they wouldn’t be treated badly.
They moved to the refinery, finding again more people being shown the different facets of the refining equipment. The same happened with those who were in charge of keeping the gardens and streets in their best conditions. Down with the miners, it was again more lessons on different types of equipment after they’d been shown their homes within Terra.
It seemed that they had been ready to accept the worst. Now, the prisoners were still hesitant, but it seemed that a ray of hope had crawled into their hearts.
Josh was surprised by a prompt that jumped into his vision.
With your accommodations and leniency toward the prisoners, their efforts will increase by 5%.
Josh looked at the interface in shock.
“I wonder if there is any way to increase that?” Josh looked over Terra. With the help of the prisoners, their allies, and the vendors they traded with, Josh felt more positive for the future.
He had been scared of it all coming apart, failing miserably. Although there still was a chance of it, he felt that the immediate pressure and stress of failure had lessened greatly.
“Well, we should probably hurry to the meeting with Lucy or else she’s liable to kick our asses,” Dwayne said.
“Crap, I totally forgot about that,” Josh complained. He’d just escaped his office!
***
“While we’re all here, I should also let you know that the first round of the onos have been placed.” Lucy looked to the various Stone Raiders leaders.
“Cliff-Hill, Devil’s Crater as well as Per’ush’s highest island have all received one. We have also placed one in Verlun and Haugr in Gudalo. Nadorf, Asha-moor, Kufo’tel, Xen’ur and Sel’heam in Opheir and every major Dwarven mountain have also received theirs. Mostly, we’ve got a ton of sea-going people using them. Now that Melhoun is out, he’s been causing problems. Convoys have gone missing so the onos come at a much-needed time. In Heval, So-Durn, Veloria, Cout’sah, Zol’Ord, Ber’dar, Zolari, Isefret, and Tawre have also joined the network. Ashal has the most onos distributed, with every kingdom, nation, and state having at least one ono in the same city as their normal teleport pad. It looks to me like they’re going to be purchasing onos just to make an interlinking network of their own to pass through their kingdom when they’re being attacked or are in times of need. However, we still have primary rights on the onos as Dave and Steve worked with Ela-Dorn to create them. We were also able to leverage some resources and money from most of the places that we put the onos. It will pay for the next fifty onos, nearly two months of production. The Aleph are stepping up another two factories to deal with the demand. I have also ordered another ten teleport pads. Right now, they’re on credit, but I hope that by the time we receive them, we will be able to pay for them ourselves.”
Everyone in the room looked shocked with all the progress that had been made.
“What about Markolm?” Josh asked.
“I’ve talked to them. They’re really isolationist, so it doesn’t seem that they’ll be interested in the onos even if it does open up other trade routes,” Lucy said.
“I think that they might come around once they realize the trade opportunities that come with the onos. Most of the port cities have joined us as they see how goods are already passing through Terra at a crazy rate. For them, they’re staying alive by investing into them.”
Josh tapped his finger on the table. “As you might know, there is a possible portal location near Devil’s Crater. I was wondering—how viable would it be to connect an ono to the location?”
“Well, I would say that it would be worth it if we can control the portal. I know that the resources that are reported to be in the Ashal wilderness are some of the best in Emerilia. I haven’t seen them and I don’t know the value of them so I’m not sure how viable it would be to put an ono there.” Lucy glanced to Florence.
“If there is an expedition, I can have a look over the kinds of goods that are being moved out of the area. With our own guild members getting reduced fees, I can figure out the loss for travel against what they will make selling these items through the g
uild. If the Ashal wilderness is as resource-rich as I’ve heard, then I think it might be a good plan for us to put an ono there,” Florence added.
“Better than say, putting an ono next to the portal in Opheir? As long as it’s next to a portal, we’ll make a lot of gold back,” Lucy rebutted.
“If it’s in Ashal, then we would be getting gold from not only the portal but also the surrounding area. Also, Ashal is supposed to have the best of everything, so that portal has a high chance of having something incredible on the other side of it,” Florence said.
Dwayne, Josh, and Kim grinned to one another at this. They were already excited for what they might find on the other side of the portal, thinking that it might have some kind of extremely powerful place on the other side of it. It made their fighting spirit rise.
“We can spare an ono for it, but only if the Ashal wilderness is as rich as it’s supposed to be and the portal is something great,” Lucy said, being the cold logic that the group needed.
“Very well,” Josh agreed. He wasn’t able to hide his excited smile. He lived to raid!
Chapter 14: A Memory of the Past
Light smiled to herself. Since Khanundra had come back, she had been filled with inner excitement. With the leader of her angels returning, it confirmed that her legions of angels would also return. They numbered in the millions and were the strongest force on Emerilia when they had been imprisoned.
She had sent out her messengers and brought the few champions she had back into the fold. Khanundra was training the champions and assuring their loyalties as well as visiting the different loyal followers of Light.
She was seeing an upsurge in the Mana pool that was created by the devotions of her supporters. Her champions were growing stronger than ever and Khanundra’s contribution was also not slim.
Dark might be an idiot in most manners, but I will have to thank him for the power he showed me with his second Demon Horde.
“You called for me, my lady?” Khanundra’s voice flowed through the room. It was pleasant as it was respectful toward Light as she bowed before her goddess.
“For too long, you have been away from my side. You have remained loyal throughout the years. It is time that I rewarded you for your undying loyalty.” Light seemed to float from her chair, coming to stand before Khanundra’s bowed figure.
Although Khanundra was nine feet tall, Light was nearly sixteen. She looked like an immortal statue, filled with beauty, every inch of her glowing perfection.
“Khanundra, will you become my champion? Will you be my sword and shield in Emerilia?” Light’s voice carried through the room, her very skin radiating light, making the rest of the room seem dark.
“I will give my life to you, my lady. My sword and shield are already yours,” Khanundra said, without even a quiver in her voice.
Light touched Khanundra.
Khanundra let out a slight gasp as power flowed through the room. She was raised up, gritting her teeth as her wings spread out, surrounding her in pristine glowing white light. Threads of golden light reached toward Khanundra, coming from every direction; they surrounded Khanundra, making a golden aura that slowly seeped into her body, her strength increasing rapidly.
Khanundra pulled in a cold breath and opened her eyes. They were filled with golden light, making her look like a divine warrior.
The light seemed to dim after some time. Khanundra’s aura stretched out across the room, making a few quiver at its strength. It had to be said that these people lived with the Lady of Light’s aura daily.
Khanundra’s wings seemed to be lit with a golden glow from within. Her eyes were a bright golden color, her skin like porcelain that had been blended with a golden essence.
Khanundra came back to the ground. She tried to prostrate herself and instead left a crater in the floor as she flew through the hall. She used her wings to steady herself; the wind in the room seemed to be from a tornado with just a single flap of her wings.
“My lady, I am sorry!” Khanundra tried to show her respect but found herself being tossed about with her massive increase in strength. It had more than doubled!
“Khanundra, stop.” Light smiled. She is stronger than I had ever hoped! What will happen when I turn the rest of my angels into my champions? No one will stand in their way. They will kill everything that dares to make devotions to another god! I will pull the other gods from their seats! I will make them beg for the end, for me to end their reign!
None of her inner maliciousness made it to the surface as she gave Khanundra a motherly smile. “Child, your strength has greatly increased. This is not a blessing that I have given easily. Take your time to see that you learn to control it.”
“Yes, my lady! I will learn to command this new strength and I will use it in order to spread your teachings, words, and ways to the entirety of Emerilia!” Khanundra passionately declared.
“Good. Once your brothers and sisters arrive, we will once again be able to show the people of Emerilia the way of Light.” Light smiled softly. They’ll rue the day that they ever thought to bow to another god, and forget the power that us gods have! Take their devotions from me, will they? I will bathe in their blood for their insolence! An old and terrifying anger ran through her veins as she remembered the many insolences that the people of Emerilia had committed against her.
Chapter 15: Bringing in Some Extra Firepower
Malsour looked at the recording that Louna, his sister, had sent him. It showed several Dragons attacking the ice palace with everything they had. It was an incredible sight and the ice palace was clearly reducing in size.
It was slow work, telling of how strong Akatol’s magic and abilities were, but the Dragons were driven and they were not going to be deterred.
He closed the recording and walked through the Aleph power station. It didn’t take him long to access the secret laboratory hidden within the power station’s structure.
He heard more than saw Dave working in one of the isolated rooms off to the side. Malsour moved closer; before, the door to the room had been closed and Dave hadn’t let anyone in.
“Come on in,” Dave said. The sound of a carver came from the room he was in.
“What are you doing in there?” Malsour moved to the room where Dave was.
Steve, also interested, moved toward the room, too.
Malsour’s eyes went round at the sheer number of runes that littered the inside of the room. There were also soul gems in the four corners of the room. It looked like the inside of a cell where a crazy person had been staying for the last ten years. When Malsour looked closer at the runes, he saw that they were grouped together into coded pages.
The number of these pages just had to be seen to be believed. He moved to a few of them. He touched one. It gave slightly before clicking. It wasn’t just a page, but a rack of them on top of one another.
“Well, it’s not completed just yet, but it’s a teleportation array. I’ve been messing around with gravitational and teleportation magic. Needed somewhere to do it and I didn’t want to do it on myself. It was over-engineered, so that I could change out different parts easily. Also, so it doesn’t blow up.” Dave sounded frustrated at the last part, mostly muttering to himself.
“Blow up?” Malsour asked, just as Steve made it to the room.
“This is kickass!” Steve declared as he walked into the room.
“Thanks! I haven’t finished with it yet and it’s still not online fully, but I can use it as an anchor point easily enough.” Dave grinned.
“You were saying about something blowing up?” Malsour asked.
“Well, there were some heat transfer issues.” Dave shrugged. “I tested out a much smaller design that was based off the same principles in a lab in the Mirror of Communication.” Dave waved his hand as if it was a non-issue.
“You want us to use this thing that you haven’t even tested out yet in reality?” Malsour asked. “Suzy was right—sometimes you’re blind to reality!”
“He is right. This isn’t anywhere close to finished; the runes haven’t been filled in and most of those metal plates haven’t been engraved,” Steve said.
“When the hell did you turn into the responsible one?” Dave shook a metal sheet at Steve before he headed back into his workshop to deal with the teleportation array.
“Says just how crazy this plan is,” Malsour muttered under his breath. Leaving to work on his own projects, he saw Steve head over to a table where the bags of holding and other spatial holding items were spread out.
“So, he’s finally roped you into this as well?” Malsour waved to the storage items.
“Well, after learning about coding from Dave, I’ve been looking into it. I’m made up of magical coding so it would make sense if I knew how everything works and try to figure out a few upgrades.” Steve looked up from his work with a grin.
Malsour shook his head. Steve was already an incredibly powerful creation. Dave and Malsour had worked with the Aleph and Shard to make his body as strong as possible, to increase the amount of power he could store. “You been working on any upgrades?” Malsour asked.
“Get in there! I know you fit—I made you!” Dave could be heard yelling from inside the room that housed the teleportation array.
“I’ve been trying something out, but it’s a surprise. You’re not allowed to go into the fifth test room!” Steve said.
Malsour’s eyes thinned, looking at Steve as if trying to find out what he was keeping a secret.
“All right, but I’m interested now!” Malsour said. Every inventor or builder usually wanted to keep the full scale of their projects a bit secret just to wow and impress others. Malsour knew this from his own experience. He was fine with letting Steve show off his work when he wanted to.
“What are you up to?” Malsour looked into the crazy room—as he liked to call it.
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