"We need more food. We cannot keep staying in the village."

Bells grandpa let out a sigh as he heard the village mayor's words. "We do not know if it is safe yet,"

"We have not seen them in two weeks now," the mayor countered quickly. It will take at least another two weeks for the guilds people to arrive if they even act on your message instantly, and in the meantime fall has begun and winter is approaching quickly. We need to gather enough food to prepare for the winter. We have enough break and vegetables, but we need more meat, and we won't be able to smoke or salt it in time if we do not acquire it soon. And that is not taking into consideration what food the adventurers of guilds people will need if they do not bring enough of their own!"

"I know that this is not the best situation, but we can do more fishing from the river. I do not believe we should tempt fate and wander to far from the village," Bells grandpa said in a measured tone as he looked at the mayor. "We do not know how close or far they are, or what their intentions are for us."

"They took back what is thought to have been theirs, and left us solid silver in return. If we sold those ingots we'd have enough Valis to pay for enough food for the winter.

"We do not know if those ingots are cursed or something similar. We must be careful."

"I understand that, but being careful is looking like it will lead to the village needing to ration food, or at worst starving!" The mayor snapped. "I know you are thinking of the village safety, but this much caution will lead to problems just as bad!"

"You do not know that. We do not know what those creatures are capable of. "

"Then we find out!" the mayor declared as he stood up from his seat and looked at Bells grandpa. "I will have some of our best hunters go looking for food, while also seeing if they can find those creatures to see just how close they are to us."

"Just sending the best will not make that much of a difference unless both of them find big animals very quickly."

"Yes, you are right, that is why I will allow everyone even somewhat decent at hunting to go hunting as well. I will not let the village go hungry."

"That will endanger everyone,"

"So will starvation," the mayor said in exasperation. "Maybe you have forgotten, but we need to food to survive, and adventurers, if they even come, eat a lot. We won't be able to feed then, let alone ourselves, if we do not have the food to do so!" The mayor then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but my choice in this matter if decided."

"And if the creatures are met and cause injury to one of our own?" Bells grandfather tried to press as the mayor stood up and moved toward the door.

"Then it happens. Losing one or two while horrid, is still better than losing the whole village to starvation and seeing everyone waste away," the mayor declared darkly as he opened the door and left the home, leaving Bells Grandpa alone in the main room in his chair.

"You can come in Bell."

A few seconds later a door on the back wall opened lowly and Bell peeked his head through. "Uh, I'm sorry grandpa, but I heard yelling. I didn't mean to listen in."

"Its fine Bell, we were not quiet," His grandpa said with a heavy sigh.

"Um, is it true? Is the village really that low on food?"

"It is. Some of the food stores were destroyed by the debris from the meteor, and we have not added to it from hunting over these past weeks. I do not want anyone possibly meeting those creatures until we have the guilds assistance in learning about their intentions."

"But, if there is no food-"

"Neither of us wants to see anyone suffer, but we do not see eye to eye on the matter. His reasons are sound, but I worry about what will happen if we encounter those creatures again."

Bell slowly walked into the room and sat down on a wooden chair beside the fireplace that was little more than smolders. "Grandpa, why can't we just meet them and talk to them? They didn't hurt anyone permanently, and they left that silver behind, so they didn't intend for their actions to be seen as stealing. I don't think they are monsters."

"They could be. We don't know what they are, and assuming they are friendly is foolish and could hurt the village."

"Couldn't treating them like criminals without knowing anything about them do the same? "They look kind of humanlike, even with that odd armor, and even that girl looked intelligent and humanoid, even if she did have that tail and scales. Couldn't they just be races that are less known?"

"No, there is no race like that upon the world, there is no race that looks so, draconic."

"I don't think we should think so badly of them though, they just came to take what was theirs, right?"

"We do not know that Bell."

"But you do," Bell said clearly, making his grandpa pause.

"What are you talking about Bell?"

"You understood them, didn't you? That's why you are so cautious of them, because they said something that worries you, right?"

"Bell, you heard them, they spoke a language no one understood, if it even was a language," Bells grandpa said simply before getting up out of his chair. "Enough, it's early, but since we are both up we may as well start the day."

"Okay, but uh. . . ." Bell paused for a moment before taking a breath and letting it out. "I'm going to volunteer to help hunt for the village."

"Bell, no!" His grandpa said as he turned around to face Bell, only to see his expression as one of determination.

"I may not be the best hunter in the village, but I am still decent at hunting and I want to help the village!"

"And I am telling you I am forbidding it. It is too dangerous when we know nothing about those creatures or what they can do. I am not losing you. I won't allow it, understand?"

Bell looked hut for a moment before nodding. "Alright. I'm going to go get some eggs and deliver them to the village, for the side of lamb we got a few days ago." He said as he moved to the door

"Alright, please hurry back," Bells grandpa said simply. "There's a good amount to do today."

"okay, I'll try," Bell said as he left the house and went around to the chicken coop, only to then go around it and circle around the house and began running down the hill toward the village at the edge of some tree's so he would not be seen immediately. It took him only a few minutes to reach the village, and when he did he found the mayor speaking too many of the villagers, the ones who were hunters.

Including Cadmus, who notice Bell coming over. "Hey Bell, coming to drop something off?"

"No, not quite," Bell said as he looked at Cadmus, and the mayor and other hunters. "I would like to go out hunting with you to help the village!"

Many of the hunters looked confused or wary. After all Bell was not technically a hunter, though he did join in on hunting in some cases. The mayor however simply smirked. "Your old man didn't want you to, no?"

"No, but I want to help the village," Bell declared again.

"Hehe, Bell's basically an adult already; it's only, what, a few months till you are fifteen?" Cadmus asked with a smile.

"Y-yes. Two actually."

"That's close enough, and Bell knows the basics for how to hunt anyway," Cadmus said as he grinned at a couple other hunters. "And he's quieter than most of us. I have no problem with him coming along or even hunting on his own."

Some of the hunters muttered to themselves, but said nothing against the idea. They couldn't really when Cadmus's words were truthful.

"Alright, but you will have to explain it to your old man when you return yourself," the mayor said with a nod as he looked Bell over. "You snuck out so you don't have any gear on you, huh?"

"I, I am sorry," Bell began to say before the mayor interrupted.

"that is fine, I have some old gear that I do not use you can use, just wait a moment and I'll get it."

"Go ahead boss man, I'll catch Bell up," Cadmus said with a smile as he tuned to bell, and the other hunters. "Alright everyone, to recap, we need to head into the mountain forests to go hunting for food to help the village stock up for the winter. Any animal if fair game, whether it be a small rabbit or a huge buck, just remember to try to go for the male animals if you can so the population next year doesn't thin too much. And ty to hunt it groups of two, it will make it easier to corner the smaller animals and carry the bigger ones. Head out when you're ready!"

"YES!" the hunters all called in agreement, giving Cadmus a chance to turn to Bell.

"you'll come with me when the mayor gets back. You ready?"

Bel looked at Cadmus and Nodded. "Yes!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bell stilled his breathing as he pressed his back against the trunk of a large oak. He was wearing a simple leather vest and vambraces and a short bow in his hands, though he was not sure it would be enough. He hand Cadmus had spent most of the day tracking an elk up the mountains, and now that it was almost sundown they had finally caught up to it eating ion a small clearing. They had split up to hit it from two sides, both to make sure they killed it, and to not prolong its suffering as any good hunter would.

And then it happened. They both had fired their arrows and struck the elk, causing it to fall to the ground, but just as Cadmus had moved to check the elk something had burst from the trees to Bells far right, crashing across the grass and burying long fangs into its flesh.

The creature was a massive thing easily as large as a full sized bear, but was anything but. It looked like an insect of some kind, with six massive chitin covered legs, a bulbous stinger tipped abdomen, and a long head with a mouth of multiple razor sharp mandibles. Its front legs as well were tipped with long scythe like blades that cut through the elks flesh and even bones with no visible resistance.

Cadmus had instantly signaled Bell to hide as he then did the same, and that had been almost half an hour beforehand. Now Bell was simply waiting, with every minute feeling longer than the last as he tried to understand what was going on.

He had never heard of a creature like that before, let alone seen one. No stories of adventurers and the monsters they slew had anything like it, and the way it sliced the elk apart and ravenously ate the pieces was, worrying.

After all, monsters with magic stones did not need to eat to survive, so did that mean that creature, that monster had no magic stone? Was it some kind of new and unknown monster that made the small goblins and occasional kobold in the mountains seem less dangerous than sparrows?

Bell swallowed, finding his throat felt oddly dry, as he slowly shifted over and tried to look around the tree. He could see the great monster still eating, though the elk was little more than bones and viscera upon the grass now. He also saw Cadmus upon the other side of the clearing, aiming his bow.

At the monster.

Bell wanted to scream, to yell, to do something to tell Cadmus to not risk it. He could somehow tell that the creature would be utterly unfazed by a mere arrow, but no matter how he waved his arms, Cadmus did not notice, too focused on aiming his bow.

Then he released the string with a barely audible twang and the arrow with its iron head soared through the air toward the creature's big black eye and stuck it head on.

And bounced off as if it had struck an angled shield.

The creature froze, the smaller black dots around the large one blinking and revealing the larger one to be a fake eye. Its head then snapped in Cadmus's direction and it let out a deafening screech the likes of which Bell had never heard.

And then it turned and began rushing toward Cadmus at a speed that seemed impossible with its size.

Cadmus called something out in shock and tried to move away, but quickly realized he would not be able to outrun the creature. So instead he fired another arrow at it as it approached, the arrow bouncing off its chitin hide, and then rolled to the side just as the creature arrived at his location, its front claws slamming into the ground and the tree it was at, and obliterating them with little issue.

Bells eyes went wide, almost bugging out of his skull at the scene before him. The old oaks of the mountains were thick and heavy tree's, a single one giving enough wood to make almost a half of a house it made into solid planks. They were so sturdy that merely cutting one down took hours, and even large bears running into them could not bring them down.

Yet that insectoid monstrosity's front claws tore into it with splintered the wood like it was nothing.

Cadmus, seeing this from far, far closer, understandably panicked and dashed out into the clearing. "Bell, run!" he called as he ran towards him, the monster behind him turning to face him and letting out another screech.

It chased him, and then Bell noticed that Cadmus was keeping his distance from it. It seemed like if he kept to the trees again he could outrun it maybe, but then the worst happened.

Cadmus tripped.

A loose stone hidden in the grass, or perhaps a piece of wood or timber, it didn't matter what it was, but he tripped and fell, crashing straight onto his face and chest.

It was all the monstrosity needed to catch up to him. And without pause it reached him and swung one of its massive talons own at him, the bladed appendage piercing Cadmus's back with nary a sound, but a substantial amount of blood.

"Cadmus!" Bell exclaimed in horror as he knocked an arrow on his bow and fired it at the creature, the simple arrow bouncing off of the creature's carapace despite seeming to strike one of its eyes.

The creature stopped and looked up at Bell, its eyes blinking at random before letting out a scream. It yanked its forelimb out of Cadmus's back, making him screaming in pain, and then it simply walked over him, charging right at Bell, its mandible clicking as growling as it went.

"Oh gods no," Bell said to himself as he knocked another arrow and aimed it at the charging creature. He knew he could not truly outrun it, not if it was capable of crushing the great trees of the mountain, so his only option was to wound it, grab Cadmus and run. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, aimed, and fired.

His arrow flew straight towards the creature's eye, but not the large one, but a small one, plunging dp into it and making the creature scream, falter, and ultimately swerve into a tree to Bells right as he broke from the tree's and tried to run toward Cadmus.

However, Bell did not realize the length of the creature's prominent claws, and as he tried to run past it flailing against the tree it had crashed headlong into its front claw flashed out. The blade did not connect, but instead the backside of it crashed into Bells backside, sending him tumbling down the shallow incline toward Cadmus's body.

"Ah, ow, that hurt and- Cadmus, Cadmus can you hear me!?" Bell called as he crawled over to Cadmus's body, finding that he was breathing, but that it was ragged and his backside was covered in blood. It seemed the leather armor that Cadmus was wearing was utterly useless.

The crash and crushing of wood drew Bells attention back to the monster to see that it had broken its head out of the tree it had been stuck in.

And had turned to face him with what Bell could only assume was an angry glare.

"Oh no," Was all bell could say as the creature began stomping toward him, its blade limbs held high in the air like some sort of perverted mantis. Greenish goop flowed out of its one wounded eye as the arrowhead moved and twitched as it tried to move its eye. Despite that however its head was face straight towards Bell, and he realized it was now dead se on going after him.

Then its head exploded.

It was sudden and shocking. One minute it is stomping toward Bell blades held high, the next there is a blueish colored blur that impacts its head and blow it apart into a mist of green goop, viscera and chitin. And a second later a strange noise echoed out across the clearing as the monsters body simply fell lifeless to the ground.

"What, what just-" Bell began saying right up until he heard a crunch and turned to the tree line down at the long end of the clearing.

There, standing between the tree's was one of the entities he had seen two weeks prior, this one in dark blue and black armor that covered it from head to toe. And in its hand was a massive long object of the same color as its armor, the open long end of it smoking slightly while the edge of the barrel glowed, and was pointe right at the monstrosity's body.

The entity then turned and began walking toward Bell, or more accurately, seemed to be waling straight towards Cadmus who was near Bell.

Bell instantly tried to get up and put himself in front of Cadmus, but flinched from pain in his back as he tried to get up.

" &*($*T#*(*(%$#$%^+" the entity spoke up in its strange unintelligible language as it approached while seeming to put its object on its back somehow. It then pointed towards Cadmus. "&#$&"

"I don't understand," Bell said carefully. "He can't hurt you, he needs help, he-"

The entity nodded its head and knelt down by Cadmus's body and took out a strange small box. From the box it took out a number of bottle and odd tools and began squirting the bottle contents onto Cadmus's wound, rolled him over, then did the same on that side. It then began removing his armor and took out what appeared to be bandaged made of an odd material and began wrapping their wounds, causing Cadmus to grimace even in his barely conscious state.

"He's, giving him first aid?" Bell asked himself in surprise as he watched the entity then spray the bandages with something, and begin wrapping another layer of bandage around Cadmus's torso. A bare minute later it seemed to finish and began putting its things back in the case. Then, much to Bells surprise, it lifted its hands to its helmet and removed it.

The things face was odd, humanoid in its looks, but with grey slightly blueish tinted skin. Its short hair was a dark black with a violet tint, while its eyes were an almost glowing blue in color. And perhaps most odd was the almost antenna like stalks on its head with almost glowing tips. It smiled at him for a second as it attached its helmet to something on its waist, and then used a finger to draw shapes on the dirt that very quickly looked like a house. It then pointed at ell, then to the house, and then gestured in many directions around them.

Bell looked at it for a second before it dawned on him. "You're, asking where our home is?"

The creature then pointed at Cadmus, then at the house symbol on the dirt.

"I – I can't, he's too big, I'd never be able to get him back!"

The entity pointed at the house symbol and then pointed in various directions around them again while looking at Bell, its eyes strangely calm despite their deepness.

"I'm telling you it's too far!" Bell exclaimed as he got up and pointed at the forest. "It's too far, and I can't bring him back, I'm not strong enough!"

The entity pointed in the direction Bell was, then pointed back down at the symbol it had drew.

Bell simply nodded, unable to speak as he could only think that he was going to have to leave Cadmus alone with the entity and hope he survived while he went for help.

Then, much to his surprise, the entity smiled at him and put its helmet back on before very carefully and gently picking up Cadmus as if he weighed nothing. It then began walking in the direction that Bell had pointed, with no visible difficulty whatsoever.

"Wait, you, you're, bringing him back!?" Bell asked in surprise as he moved to follow the entity. And as he did he noticed a mass of armor that hung down from the back of the entities armor. Did it have a tail?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Zeus knew that as soon as he had written the letter to the Guild of Orario, and to the Gods therein, that it would spell and end to his current life. His Familia had been destroyed, his children killed by a foe none of them had expected, other adventurers and their gods. In the wakes of their deaths he and Hera had been given barely any time to even mourn as the other gods came down upon them like vultures, destroying everything they had and even demanding their leave of the city. Most likely believed that he had returned to Tenkai like Hera had, and the information that he hadn't likely would make a number of them act in various less than reputable ways to insult or do anything to him to drive a nail Into the proverbial coffin.

Ultimately though, his own needs were secondary to the village and Bel's safety and chance for full lives, so he had been preparing himself. Mostly it was just coming to the understanding that he would have to finally tell Bell the truth, though the boy was showing signs of knowing it already, it he was also preparing for another, worse scenario.

One where one god or another that truly despised him came in response to his mail and tried to make demands of him or the village, or would straight up threaten them to get back at him. If any tried it though they would be reminded that Zeus's Familia had not been strongest in the past for no reason, and that he had personally trained many of his best.

Of course, there was still much time until such a thing occurred. It took two weeks to reach Orario from the village, so it would only have just arrived, leaving him still much time to prepare both himself, and Bell.

"Which reminds me, I need to ask where he went," Zeus said with a sigh as he finished his field work and began walking down the hill to the village. It wasn't uncommon for the villagers to rope Bell into helping with things, friendly and caring boy he was, but normally such things only took a few hours, not the morning and most of the afternoon. "Though it has happened before I suppose. Though that was also around the time the village was prepping for the winter, from . . . . Hunting."

Zeus stopped for a moment in a daze before suddenly rushing down the hill at a full sprint. Entering the village people moved out of his way, and he only stopped when he arrived at the mayors home and threw the door open to find the mayor and his wife in the kitchen, their heads turning to him in surprise. "Well, this is a surprise, what can we do for-"

"Where is Bell!?" Zeus demanded in an instant, not letting the mayor finish.

The mayor looked at him for a moment before lightly sighing. "He made the choice to join the village hunters out in the forest hunting for game to prepare for the winter."

"And you let him?! You know I would not allow it and you still let him do so regardless?!" Zeus nearly roared.

Neither the mayor nor his wife seemed concerned however as the mayor walked out of the kitchen and toward the door where Zeus was standing. "Yes, I did, because he I nearly a man on his own, and should be able to make his own choices. Especially if they are for the good of others."

"I had forbid him from doing so!"

"And he chose to ignore that command, clearly," The mayor said as he stood before Zeus. "He is after all, only a few weeks from being fifteen, from being an adult."

"He is far too innocent and naïve to-"

"And whose actions do you think have caused that? Who is the one telling him stories of adventurers without the horror, yet denying him the choice to do as he pleases?" the mayor said in a very confrontational tone that then turned into a whisper. "Are you so terrified of loss that you don't wish to push him away even a bit, even if it means crippling his growth?"

"You –" Zeus bean to say until the sounds of shouting caught both his and the mayors attention.

And a second later one of the hunters came running, stopping just shy of running into Zeus. "Sir, err sirs, sorry, Cadmus is Hurt!"

"What? What happened?" The mayor asked, his tone all business as he turned and walked over to a shelf before picking up a sealed crate in both his hands.

"Don't know. We just hear Bell calling from the forest as he and something were walking out of it. I ran here to get you without seeing anything else!"

"Understood, lead the way!" the mayor declared. The man nodded and did so, leading the mayor and Zeus through the village to the northern edge where a bunch of villagers were already waiting.

And once they arrived they almost froze upon the sight, for there at the village edge was Bell, looking like he was about to all over from exhaustion, while one of the entities from weeks before, one in dark black and blue full armor, was gently setting an already Bandaged Cadmus down on the grass.

"Bell get away from that thing!" Zeus roared, catching everyone's attention as he began stomping over, the mayor hot on his heels.

"G-grandpa," Bell said as he looked up, and upon seeing his grandpa's face, forced himself up to his feet. "its fine he not a danger, he save me and Healed Cadmus and killed the creature that hurt him. He even carried him all the way here!"

"I don't care get away from that thing!" Zeus said again, only for Bell to move between him and the entity as the mayor knelt downs beside Cadmus and began looking him over.

All the while as the entity slowly stepped back, its hands held to the side in a disarming stance, making it clear it intended no harm.

"Grandpa, listen it saved us from some kind of monster!" Bell said, much louder this time, making many of the villagers look at him in surprise while the mayor motioned at some to help him. "He is not an enemy!"

Zeus looked at bell in worry and fear. "He? Bell, what happened?" Explain everything."

"I, I went hunting with Cadmus to get food for the village. It took us along time, but we found a large buck in the woods up in the mountains and tracked it to a clearing. We planned to both fire at it at once, but before we could some kind of monster, like a massive bug larger than a bear, burst from the underbrush and attacked the buck. It sliced it to bits and ate it on the spot. We, we couldn't get ay so Cadmus tried to hit it with an arrow, it didn't work and it impaled him and then came after me. Before it reached me its head just burst apart and that person came out holding a weapon that was smoking like a fire. It then bandaged up Cadmus's wounds, and he hasn't bled through them since they were bandaged, and he even carried him back here, he- he," Bell stated as he began wobbling, and then falling forward to be caught by Zeus who immediately checked his forehead.

"He's exhausted and probably dehydrated, Martha, can you see to him for a short time?" Zeus asked as he picked up Bell and half turned to one of the older, but no less strong, village women. She looked hesitant for only a second before she realized that he was glancing at the entity, still standing nearby, but also far away, and took Bell with and, Hurrying off behind the mayor and some boys who were carrying off Cadmus.

"I apologize for the suddenness of my appearance, but the young lad needed medical attention more than what I could give In the field, and the younger boy seemed too small to carry a full grown man," The entity said, its voice both warbled by its helmet, and only understood by Zeus due to his divinity. Gods could understand any language after all.

"I don't know what you are, but get out of here you monster!" Zeus demanded as he took a step forward so he was between the entity and the remaining villagers.

"Huh, so I can understand just the one of you just as was reported," The creature said as its hands slowly lifted up and removed its helmet, causing many of the villagers to gasp or step back in fear. Though a few did stare in curiosity and wonder at how humanlike the creatures face was. I am no monster though; I am a Moyo, and a neighbor, if you can understand that."

"I do not know what madness you speak monster, leave before we make you regret being here!" Zeus declared acting as if he could not understand the creature. Its mere presence as concerning it acted so civil, so, human. And worse, he could sense a strange power from it, something he did not understand.

And anything a god could not understand was dangerous.

The Moyo let out very human sigh as it shook its head. "I am not a fool, and I can tell you understand me, just as I understand you, but if that is your position I will respect it," it stated before putting its helmet back on and taking a step back. "Please be aware however, that the Adamant Union is here to stay and we have no desire for conflict if there is no reason for it. We are not here to be your enemies. Good day."

Then, without another word the creature turned around, turning its back to the village, and began walking off, the great massive object on its back shaking around just as its armored tail like mass did.

"Zander, what did it, say?" one of the oldest ladies in the village said in a whisper as she stepped up behind Zeus and used his alias name. None but the mayor knew his true identity after all. Though some few villagers knew he was a god.

"Nothing. It said nothing coherent," Zeus said grimly in just as low a tone. "It is not a person, just a monster masquerading as one."

" . . . I see." She said as she turned around and began calling out orders.

Leaving Zeus to stare at the entity as it walked off into the distance, his worry about its existence even greater than before.

"I hope the guild and Familia's' send some strong adventurers with them. We might need them."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mactris Coralcairn let out a sigh as he walked down the dirt pathway that was slowly disappearing before removing his helmet and giving his antenna the freedom they needed. Helmets saved lives \in combat, but dam were they tight on the antenna.

With another sigh he brought a hand up to his right ear and tapped the small metallic piece inset into the edge. A second later it beeped.

"Nautilus, status report," Came a tone into his ear and making him cringe a bit.

"Mega Spider destroyed successfully. However it injured a local, so I gave treatment and brought them back to their settlement."

"Any issues?"

"No, nothing worth mentioning aside from the one man from before being able to understand us, and me him. He acted like he could not however, and seemed a bit, aggressive about it."

"Any worry of aggression? What did your psionics tell you?"

"That they were simply curious or fearful, but not outright hateful," Mactris stated as he stopped and stretched his neck side to side. "Most were more worried about the wounded one I brought back, and the younger boy that was with him. He had some trouble keeping up with me so he as probably exhausted."

"Not surprising there. Alright, head back to the base Nautilus. We'll see you soon."

"Understood command, Nautilus out," Mactris said as he tapped the earpiece again and closed the connection before looking up and seeing a Skip transport Shuttle silently skimming over the tree's toard him for pickup. He then let out a chuckle as it set down while opening its door. "Well, I shouldn't be surprised, but damn do you work fast," He said out loud as he climbed in to the small but still cozy shuttle.

The drivers chair spun around revealing an android man with short silvery hair shaped like a failing Mohawk. "What can I say Nautilus, I aim to please!"

Mactris scowled at the android as he closed the door behind him and then disconnected his Ballista from his back, letting it fall to the floor with a heavy thud. "You know I hate my nickname, Miles."

"Yep, and I do not care!" the android, named Miles, Said with a laugh as Mactris came up and sat down in the second chair, it sinking heavily due to the wright of his Moyo power armor.

"Yeah, clearly. What bought you out here though? I figured I'd need to walk back."

Miles seemed to go silent as he piloted the skip into the air and began flying it over the trees. ". . . well, long range scans are doing weird things, so the Commander wants everyone in the safety of the base for the foreseeable future I heard."

"Well, that's concerning. Let's hope nothing bad happens in the future."

"Yeah, let's hope. Not that it has helped us in the past."

"True, but optimism is still nice."

Miles merely nodded in agreement as the two of them fell into a comfortable silence as they headed home.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Ishtar stood before her mirror and tapped her foot waiting until finally the Form of Ares, god of War, appeared before her.

"About time you picked up, I do not have all evening you realize?" Ishtar stated haughtily.

"And I am just about to leave. Did you have more information for me perhaps Ishtar?" Ares asked in a hurried tone.

"I do yes. Unless you don't want to know what Adventurers will be with the convoy from the guild?"

"Haah, fine, but make it quick, my forces are preparing to leave, and if I time it right we should arrive at that valley just after the forces from Orario arrive there."

"Good. A variety of worthless level here adventurers from many Familia are going to act as defense for the village itself. As for Hestia and Hephaistos, there are only three adventurers going with them and the guilds people to protect them. Shakti Varma, captain of Ganehsa Familia, and Riveria of the Loki Familia are the two most important ones to watch out for."

"Hmm, they will certainly pose a problem. Who is the third?"

"Hephaistos is bringing along one of her children, but he is a mere level 1. Of more worry is that some of the guilds own guards appear to be old adventurers. Including a level four from the Zeus Familia of old."

"Ah, so some truly perfect trophies then, noted," Ares said before looking right at Ishtar. "What do you get out of this?"

"Revenge obviously. Did you think I wanted something else?" Ishtar asked in mock insult.

"No, I am just making sure. Now, is that all? I can hear my generals awaiting my presence for our march."

"No, I just figured you would need that information."

Ares simply nodded as he walked away from the mirror, its connection closing moments later and leaving Ishtar smiling to herself like a maniac, imagining how much Zeus would suffer at Ares hands.

Xxxxxx

Authors note: okay, I hope this chapter can tide you guys over for a bit, even if were still kind of in the prep stages. And if it wasn't obvious, the races used have increased a little bit. Should be find for the Orario people to meet an alliance of Humans, Androids, Moyo, Nyaron's, Dragonians and Rakkles.