“I only slept a little last night, and none tonight. I miss it.”
Ruwen sat down near Sift’s head. “I’m headed back up to the temple, and then I think I’m going to jump over to Blapy for a while. You want to come?”
Sift turned his head enough to look at Ruwen. “Are you crazy?”
“What?”
“Since my parents last saw me, I’ve connected my Air Meridian to my center, created a Core, Refined Air Essence, and Fortified my body from Lead to Copper. Not to mention this Falcon Aspect I can’t get rid of.” Sift patted the floor. “Also, I’ve bonded with an amazing flying star turtle. It will be nonstop questions and prodding. No thank you. I’m putting that off as long as I can.”
“They will be overjoyed,” Ruwen said. “And as soon as they see me, they’ll want to know if you’re safe.”
“Tell them I’m okay, but leave out the details.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Lylan is sleeping or doing her Specialization thing. I don’t want to bother her, so I think Shelly and I will explore the lake while I try to reach Silver.”
“Okay. You want me to top off your Spirit before I go?”
Sift sighed. “Yes.”
Ruwen placed a hand on Sift’s chest and pushed Spirit into him.
“That’s good,” Sift said with a wince. He locked eyes with Ruwen. “Thanks, brother. I know I complain, but I have never been happier. Despite the pain, this is a dream come true.”
Ruwen stood. “So basically, you owe me everything, and I make you happier than Lylan.”
“No, that’s not what—”
“Got it,” Ruwen said, laughing as he dodged Sift’s attempt to grab his foot. He strode toward the exit. “If I see Lylan, I’ll let her know I made your dreams possible.”
Whiskers jumped through the exit and disappeared into the darkness. Ruwen brought his Core Velocity down to zero and stopped his Refinement flows. The Scarecrow Aspect disappeared and Ruwen exited Shelly, leaving Sift’s protests behind. Ruwen triggered Glow to make the walk down Shelly’s leg safer. The darkness hid the height, which Ruwen was thankful for.
As Ruwen stepped onto the beach, Shelly slid into the water, disappearing under the surface in a blink. Whiskers had already made it to the city gates and had doubled back, checking the route for danger. Ruwen strode toward New Eiru.
You there, Lir? Ruwen asked.
Where else would I be?
Good point. Have the Temple Guardians found anything? Ruwen asked and then hurriedly added a clarification. About the advancing armies.
Yes. I have prioritized them by category. The first three thousand categories—
Let me stop you right there, Lir. Rami?
Three seconds later, Rami responded. The summary is there are about ten thousand visible troops two weeks south of here. The underground Temple Guardian detected significant underground anomalies but did not investigate due to your safety directive. There are also forty-eight small scout teams that are spread all the way to the Cultivator camp to the north, the sea to the east, and deep into the mountains to the west.
Doesn’t ten thousand seem low?
It depends on what Naktos is responsible for. No one expects resistance from the south. And if the other gods are responsible for taking Deepwell and Stone Harbor, Naktos might only be here to catch those fleeing and secure the farmland.
Yes, that would be low risk and more in line with what I’ve read about him. He seems cautious.
The sudden doubling of Uru’s Blessing and the appearance of New Eiru on the map will definitely change their plans. If they’d intended to leave this place alone, they won’t now.
Naktos will be under some pressure. His easy victim just gained three Champions back, and the other gods will blame him. He must be having second thoughts.
Hard to know with the gods.
Okay, we can discuss strategy after we’ve revived a bunch of experts. Thank you, Rami. Ruwen switched his focus back to Lir. Lir, is anyone awake in the city?
Worker Bliz is overseeing the construction of his tavern, and Mage Tremine is reading a book in the dining hall.
Who can Bliz be overseeing?
He produced twelve golems from his Inventory and many prefabricated parts. Significant progress on the construction has already occurred.
Ruwen shook his head. Bliz continued to amaze him. Of course he would have golems in his Void Band, and the pieces for an entire tavern. Remembering the underground Naktos temple, Ruwen opened his Void Band and pulled the cool night air around him into his Inventory. He didn’t stop until he entered the temple, satisfied with the one hundred seventy-five thousand cubic feet of air he now had. Between the oil and the air, Blapy probably wasn’t happy with him.
Walking directly to the dining room, Ruwen found Tremine there, just as Lir had said. He sat down next to the librarian.
“Good morning,” Tremine said. “Did you find the carbon we need?”
“Yes, along with an underground Naktos temple.”
Tremine raised his eyebrows. “Interesting.”
“It blew up during my investigation.”
“That sounds like an exciting story.”
“I’ll tell everyone about it when we sit down to strategize. What are you reading?”
Tremine held up the silver-colored book. “Rune crafting: Novice to Master in Thirty Days.”
“Well, that seems a bit optimistic. Plus, isn’t it a little late to second guess your Specialization?” Ruwen asked.
“On the trip here, Bliz told me a theory he had regarding Rune Mages. He thinks they’re closet Stone Mages storing their spells in square rocks. That in reality, any Mage could store their Spells if they found the proper medium. It opened my eyes to some possibilities I’d never considered.”
“That is interesting. So, you’re researching Rune crafting to understand the basics.”
Tremine nodded. “Yes, once I have the fundamentals down, I plan on experimenting. Bliz always surprises me.”
Ruwen thought about the golems assembling a tavern as they spoke. “I know how you feel.” He took a moment to gather his thoughts. “My parents won’t finish reviving until eight tonight, and everyone else has things
