Phoenix Phire

by Stayrr

Nicholas Phire was sentenced to life in prison without any possibility of parole. Because of the mercy of a lonely prison guard, a new world is presented to him. Nix finds himself in the Virtual World of Colonial with a hundred-year assignment as Lifestyle player in the Gladis Hub. Will Nix stay in the remote village located on the polar Ice Cap? Or does adventure await for the man

2. 33

Phoenix Phire #Chapter 33 - Assault On Berma (part Two) - Read Phoenix Phire Chapter 33 - Assault On Berma (part Two) Online - All Page - Novel Next

The door led to another half flight of stairs and ended in a storage room. Crates and containers were all stacked neatly in sturdy-looking wood shelves. There were a few torches lit in the room, Nix snuffed them out before moving to the next door which opened into a huge cellar. This room was kept dark but Nix had no issues seeing as he ducked and weaved his way around the hanging vegetables to the exit.

There were two men working in the kitchen when he stepped in. Neither one of them seemed to mind his sudden appearance, they had both been beaten badly, bruises and cuts covered their swollen faces. Nix understood immediately and slid his mask off. "I'm not with them."

The larger of the two men had cuts and scrapes on both knuckles so it was obvious that he had put up a fight. He had brown hair and pockmarks could be seen through the bruises. "Are you with the army sir?"

Nix shoot his head, "I'm with the Alliance. Tell me everything you can about the wolf-masks on this floor."

"I'm Topper, the cook here and this is my assistant. What alliance are you talking about?"

"The Inferno Guild and the Souza Accord. How many wolf-masks on this level?"

"This level is primarily for staff. It has the laundry, kitchens and the servant's quarters." Topper took a quick look down the hall, "you'll want to head up to the next level. That's where most of them are."

"What's in this thing?" Nix opened the top of a steel barrel next to the stove. "Cooking grease?"

Topper nodded, "Lard sir."

"Throw that barrel on the stove, I want it all melted. "Where are the exits?"

Topper and his assistant lifted the heavy barrel onto the top of the stove. "There are two exits, two men are guarding each."

"They inside or out?"

"Outside in the courtyard, along with their beasts."

"Need you to help me, Topper. Is there a way for the help to leave without alerting the men outside the door?"

Topper glanced at his assistant and then nodded, "we've been told that if we leave, all of us will be hunted down by their beasts and eaten."

Nix laughed at the lame threat. "There won't be a single person or beast left to carry out that threat. Get everyone out of here now."

Nix spent the next ten minutes dragging every piece of wood furniture he could find into the two rooms with the exits. It was quiet and not many people were moving about. He was just finishing when Topper found him.

"I'm the last one sir." Topper handed him a small metal device. "You might need this."

Fire Starter

Description: Common

household item used to

start fires, Refillable. 44/100

Nix grinned, "thanks Topper, make sure you get out of here."

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Mina and her team landed on the roof, as soon as they did they stowed their mounts. The main raid force was waiting next to a small steel door.

Jun Li checked her hud when she noticed Mina landing. They were late and no sign of Nix. She noticed immediately that Chael was with them. "Something happen to Nix?"

Mina shook her head. "No idea. They had some hidden reinforcements at the gates. We had to make adjustments."

"Don't worry about Nix." Pon grabbed the knob on the steel door.

[Hands of Fire]

The steel knob melted in his grasp and he pushed the door open smoothly.

Jun Li moved down the stairs and waited at the floor exit. "Wind and Semmi scout the floor and then report back."

Mina summoned one of her beasts and set it in Defend Mode. "We could use our Manta to start evacuating."

Jun Li stared at the Aquarion, she hadn't really talked to her much. "Good idea, if we can nab the royal family, then the army can rush this place."

Ronnie put her bow away, "I can help with evac, my bows going to be nearly useless for this kind of fight."

A few minutes later the scouts returned. Semmi came up to report while Wind kept a lookout in the hall. "The fourth floor has the King's daughters, and their maids. Besides that it's clear."

Jun Li checked the sky one last time for any sign of Nix. "Ronnie, you and Chael start getting those people out. The rest of us will head down a floor to the next exit."

"Never actually used lard before, but at least it smells nicer than gasoline." Nix started both fires and then quickly moved to the stairs where he summoned his beasts.

[Command: Defend Me]

He sprinted up the stairs and slammed into the closed wooden door. There were four men in the room, all of them had wolf-masks on. He put four fire strands around the two closest, pinning their arms to their sides.

The two men further away immediately summoned their beasts, suddenly there were forty wolfmen in the room.

Nix's Vila charged in and formed a barrier in front of him, for a moment the two groups stared at each other.

The smell of burning flesh coupled with the painful screams of the two restrained wolf-masks, broke the temporary lull in the action.

Nix and his beasts were slowly being pushed back toward the door. The wolf-masks had given their beasts the generic attack order. He changed the order for four of his beasts and sent them toward the two beastmasters.

[Command: Attack Primary Target]

[Command: Attack Secondary Target]

Nix held the flame strands and focused on heating them up, slowly his vision changed as if a thin red veil was placed over his eyes. The two beastmasters died one after another. Nix dropped his strands then pulled out his rifle and started firing at the remaining beastmasters who were trying to defend themselves against the Vila.

Jun Li was on the fourth floor, waiting next to the stairs that led down. Half of her team was busy bringing the princesses and their maids to safety. "As soon as Wind and..."

The sound of gunfire from below them interrupted her sentence. A moment later Wind and Semmi appeared in the doorway.

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An out of breath Wind reported. "The rest of the royal family is on the third floor, there were three beastmasters with them. Two of them went down to check out the disturbance."

Pon closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply.

[Sense Fire]

His eyes reopened, flames could be seen flickering within. "The first floor is in flames, we need to move fast."

Jun Li swore quietly. "The army jumped the gun?"

The old fire mage smiled and shook his head, "seems we've found Nix."

Mina pushed her way past them and immediately summoned the rest of her Vila. Jun Li watched in disbelief as the Aquarion charged down the stairway.

Wind pulled his blades and immediately stealthed. "Time to fight then."

The rest of the raid force followed them, Jun Li was silently cursing Nix beneath her breath. He wasn't following her plan!

He unsummoned his Vila, noting that three of them were no longer available to fight. They hadn't received mortal injuries, but they'd be out of commission for a while.

Nix quickly looted all four bracers and sprinted for the stairway, he was halfway up when the door opened and two beastmasters ran through. He stopped and then pointed behind him. "Quickly brothers, the army is coming, all my beasts have been killed."

The one on the left cursed, "F*ck... Head upstairs and wait with Philo, we'll take care of the army."

Nix smiled beneath his wolf-mask and slowed to a walk. He shut the door and resummoned his beasts.

He entered the next room to the sound of fighting, Vilas and Wolfmen were tearing into each other. He spotted Mina right away and split his forces.

[Command: Protect Filamina]

[Command: Attack my Target]

He opened fire on Philo, Wind appeared behind the beastmaster and cut him down with a backstab. As quick as it began it was over.

Nix turned back toward the door, "We need to move now, the two downstairs will be coming back."

Jun Li slipped her Wolfmask off and faced the King, "We aren't with them your Majesty, we are here to free you. Your daughters are already safe!"

Nix watched as she quickly organized the retreat, within a minute the room was empty with the exception of Mina and Nix. He smiled at the Aquarion rebel. "We finish these two and then follow."

Mina frowned at him, "you had me worried."

Jun Li was circling her Manta above the castle, she had coordinated with the army and released the King into their care. The army immediately sent its Knights into the courtyard to deal with the beastmasters that had been trapped outside. She breathed a sigh of relief when Mina and Nix came out the roof access door and summoned their manta.

An hour later the small raid force was back in the courtyard. The city had been retaken and the fire set on the first floor and burned itself out. Nix had made sure to loot the bracers from the beastmasters killed in the courtyard.

"How many does that make Nix?" Semmi coughed and squinted her eyes, the smoke from the fire was still lingering.

"Nearly twenty." He walked with her back to the raid force that was waiting for him. He could see that Jun Li had a big smile on her face. "What did you get?"

Jun Li held up a bottle with a ship in it. "It's a Navy Frigate !"

Nix could see that she was happy about it, so he didn't say anything else. "Let's head back to Safarza and plan the next raid."

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Although they had rested before the raid, by the time they arrived back at their base in Safarza, everyone was exhausted. Nix had just started to drowse off when his cot was jarred suddenly. He opened his eyes to an apologetic Ronnie who was pushing their cots together.

"Don't get any ideas, I've no interest in making a public spectacle of myself." She pulled a huge blanket out of her inventory and snuggled up next to him.

"Right..." Nix pulled the blanket over himself and pulled her closer. He smiled and remembered the prison guard who had changed his life. "Thanks, Glory," he mumbled just before he drifted off to sleep.

A few hours later Nix slowly drifted back to consciousness, Ronnie had already left and moved her cot away. A quick scan of the tent showed him that he was the only one still sleeping.

Colonial System Message: The Kingdom of Berma has been liberated by the Alliance of the Inferno Guild and the Souza Accord.

Quest: Sea Farer Faction

Description: You have raised

your rating to ally level with

one of the Kingdoms of Broyan.

Achieve this with two other Broyan

Kingdoms.

He shielded his eyes from the glare of the mid-day sun and headed toward the mess tent. Shouts and cheers of encouragement came from the area behind it so Nix walked around the back to check it out. "The f*ck is going on?" Ronnie and Semmi were fighting inside of a roughly drawn circle. He moved to break it up, but Tess stopped him with a hand.

"It's fine Nix, it's just an unarmed match game." The normally very pretty cleric was nursing some serious bruises on her face. "No real damage can be done and the bruises heal within an hour."

"Oh god... you're fighting for fun? You look like you got your ass kicked."

Tess smiled and shook her head, "it only looks that way. I knocked out Gypsy, although it was a close fight."

Nix looked around the crowd, both Wind and Chael had obviously taken part. He cringed slightly when Semmi knocked Ronnie to the ground with a straight right hand. It's obvious that she knew how to punch. "It doesn't look good for Ronnie."

"She's taking on a 'doesn't look good' match.'" Tess shook her head, "that girl is stubborn."

"What is a 'doesn't look good' match?" Nix had to hold himself back from running into the circle and pulling Ronnie out.

"It's a game option that compares the likelihood of you winning against your opponent. It's based on strength, agility and stamina scores. No talents or special gear is allowed. Based on how you match up, you get one of three messages. [Could go either way] [Doesn't look good] and [Don't even think about it.]

"Doesn't look good means she will probably lose?" Nix felt sympathy for his archer friend as Semmi drove a knee into her stomach. Ronnie fell to one knee gasping for air.

"Yep." Tess nodded in agreement, "this is the end for Ronnie."

Unexpectedly when Semmi moved in for the finish, Ronnie dived forward and gripped her around the waist before rising up and slamming her onto the hard ground. A quick-mount and Ronnie finished her off with punches. The dark archer staggered to her feet and raised her hands in victory.

Tess clapped, "nice comeback." She glanced at her friend who was still unconscious on the ground. "Match games only allow you to get knocked out for a few seconds, except for a bruised ego, she'll be fine."

"That's dumb." Nix pulled a piece of cloth out of his inventory and handed it to Ronnie when she approached. "What the hell are you doing?"

Ronnie smiled and wiped her face, "did you see me kick her ass?"

Nix shook his head, "I saw you get beat up and then get lucky."

Ronnie flexed her arm and then whistled. "Damn Nix, what's your strength rating at?"

"I'm wondering the same thing." Tess brought up her stats, her strength was listed as twenty. "There's no difference in Colonial between the stats of genders, but I'm getting a 'don't even think about it' message from you."

"More than double yours." Nix didn't want to say that his strength and stamina were both over sixty. He looked around the group, there were several disappointed faces looking at him. Apparently, there were some people who wanted to punch him in the face. He laughed and pulled Ronnie away, "let's go eat."

Ronnie was all smiles when they sat down to eat some of the boxed lunches Jun Li had prepared for the raid. Semmi sat down with them, she was all smiles and even shared a bottle of apple cider with them. Nix glanced around the tent, he had thought there would be some hurt feelings or anger issues, but it was the exact opposite.

An hour later they were back at the TOC (Tactical Operations Center) and were zoomed in on the small kingdom of Trifelez. Jun Li had highlighted an area in western Berma that was close to the border. "Originally I wanted to keep our base here, but looking at it objectively we may be better suited by continuing to move it."

Pon nodded in agreement, "the longer we stay in one place, the more likely our enemies will find us."

"I think we should move." Nix studied the hud map, it was storming in Trifelez even though it was clear skies in Berma.

Two hours later, the camp had been moved and reset in a small valley bordering Trifelez. Wind and Semmy had scouted the area thoroughly and reported no hidden dangers. The storms in the neighboring kingdom were expected to blow through in a day or two. According to the scouts, there were a few natural pools in the area so most of the group filtered off in small groups to enjoy a day off.

Nix opened up his stable menu, it showed the three Vila that were wounded had fully recovered. Mina approached him just as he was closing his hud.

"There are some very interesting water creatures in the area Nix." Mina had scolded him after the raid for making her worry, "you may want to consider training them."

"Show me." He followed her out of the camp to a small grove of trees surrounding a pool. She held up a finger to her lips, "Water Nymphs are illusionists, try not to alert them."

Nix nodded and then ducked lower, he could hear the soft sounds of moaning. Silently the two of them crept closer to the pool. "Of course it would be Ronnie," he muttered under his breath.

The Water Nymphs were transparent like clear water, their general image was that of a slender female with long hair and full breasts. They were laughing as they teased the human that was wrapped in their illusion.

[Scan Surrounding Areas?]

"Yes."

[Scanning, Stand By...]

[8 Sea-Beasts have been Located.]

[Type 1: Water Nymphs: 5]

[Type 2: Grass snake: 3]

[Do you wish to train the available Sea-Beasts?]

"Yes."

Four of the Nymphs were holding her down, each on a limb. They had dragged her half out of the pond. The two holding her arms were kissing her breasts and nibbling at them with soft water lips, the fifth one had her head buried between Ronnie's legs. She was raising her hips off the ground and arching her back.

He was about to stop it when Mina placed a hand on her shoulders. "Wait Nix, this is a rare opportunity. It's nearly impossible to find Water Nymphs. They never hurt females anyway."

The training completed shortly after Ronnie climaxed against the Water Nymphs wet lips, immediately they stopped and faced him. Their smiles were gone, but their faces showed curiosity.

Nix looked at the menu options for them. "They are CC pets?" (Crowd Control)

Mina nodded, "men are especially susceptible to them, although as you can tell they prefer women when they are playing."

Ronnie sat up at the sound of voices, her dark nipples were fully erect and she was completely out of breath. She didn't cover up when she saw Nix and Mina. "What the hell happened?"

Nix had to bite down on the laugh that threatened to escape. "What do you think happened?"

Ronnie pursed her lips as if trying to remember. "I was bathing when you and Semmi joined me." She looked around for the woman she had been fighting earlier in the day. "I don't see Semmi."

He could no longer stop the laughter, he pointed at the Water Nymphs. "I'm afraid my new girls had their way with you."

Ronnie stared at the Water Nymphs, "real Water Nymphs?" Unmindful that she was still naked she stood up and approached them. A dark hand reached out to touch the watery skin of the nearest.

Nix nodded, "really good at weaving illusions apparently."

Ronnie wrinkled her nose at them and then walked to the side of the pool to get dressed. She definitely didn't look angry. "Make sure you bring them to the Sea-World."

Nix nodded, "without a doubt."

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A day went by and the storms in Trifelez started to subside, the skies were still filled with dark clouds but the leadership of the raid group agreed that it was in their best interest to attack. It was late afternoon and the group had just eaten and were now discussing the plans for the evening raid.

"We should try and use the Aquarions more in this raid." Nix had been studying the map and had a good understanding of the target. "We really can't plan anything until Wind and Semmi gets back."

Jun Li checked her hud, "they are an hour overdue."

"I'll give them another hour." Nix turned at a commotion near the tent entrance, both Wind and Semmi came in with big smiles on their faces.

Jun Li didn't return their smiles. "Where have you two been?"

Semmi stepped forward and started talking. "We've been doing required quests for the 'Defending Trifelez' Instance."

The first thing that went through Nix's mind was 'what the hell is an instance?'

Apparently, Jun Li already knew. "What is it and how does that benefit us?"

Semmi zoomed in on the map of Zier, the capital city of Trifelez. "This instance is set up as part of a staged Aquarion Assault in which the object is to fight through to the signal tower located in the city. This summons five thousand knights to fight under your banner."

Mina listened to the conversation, she was only slightly less confused than Nix. "It's like Mermaid City? Where the fighters are copies?"

"Very similar." Jun Li frowned at her best friend. "How does getting five thousand knights in the instance help us?"

Semmi grinned and closed the map. "After the instance is won, the knights exit and reinforce the barracks for a brief amount of time. There will be World Events like bandit raids or monster stampedes that take place after the Aquarion Assault."

Nix understood the basic gist. "How many are required to do the raid?"

Wind brought up the Instance Quest.

Defend Trifelez

Description: Zier has come under

Aquarion assault. Signal the Knights

of Colonial to your cause.

15 person Raid.

Jun Li glanced at Nix, although inexperienced, he often assumed the role of leadership. "Getting those knights before we take on the Wolf-masks will really help our cause. What do you think?"

"I'll head into the instance with Mina and her people. My fire strands are way more effective against water creatures."

Wind brought up the map again and downloaded his new information. "We were able to do a quick scouting of the city itself. They must have spoken to their fallen comrades, the gates are locked up tight and every beastmaster has his animals summoned."

Semmi pointed to the west gate, "they did make a mistake though. This gate has four melee-based beastmasters. We could quickly overwhelm them from the air and open the path for the Knights."

Jun Li nodded in agreement, "What about the city guard and the regular army?"

Semmi shook her head, "the city guard have all been killed. Yesterday they hung every officer in the army with the exception of one captain who was able to escape into the woods with her platoon."

"How did they get the jump on these cities?" Nix had never even heard of coordination on this level.

"Impressive planning for sure." Jun Li checked the time on her hud, "it's 1900, start the instance in an hour and we'll start hitting them shortly after that."

Nearly an hour later Nix, Mina, and thirteen of Aquarions stood at the entrance of the 'Defend Trifelez' instance. The group was very caster heavy with four healers, five caster dps, one melee dps, and three tanks.

Nix faced the members of the Souza Accord, "No map is available, so we'll have to go in blind. Be ready to fight."

Mina summoned two of her Vila, "tanks in front. Let's head in."

Nix summoned four Vila and followed them.

They were jumped as soon as they entered. Four Aquarions hit them hard, the tanks just managed to get their shields up.

"Leave the two near ones to me!" Nix raised his hands and eight strands flashed toward the two nearest Aquarions. Both Aquarions were casters, they screamed soundlessly as the flaming strands dug into their flesh.

[Command: Protect Filamina]

He set his Vila to guard while the raid force quickly dispatched the two other attackers. Nix glanced at Mina just as a presence appeared behind her and stabbed her with a dagger. He drew his rifle and opened fire while their Vilas brought the stealth fighter down.

Nix knelt next to her, Aquarions ranged from a very light blue all the way to a nearly snow-white color. The Rebel faction leader was somewhere in between. "You okay Min?"

Mina sat quietly while the healers looked after her. It didn't escape her notice that Nix usually called her Min instead of Mina like everyone else. "Was that a human?"

Nix shook his head, "Aquarion." He could tell from the startled glances that something was up. "Not many Aquarions have stealth?"

Mina was helped to her feet by one of the healers. "Aquarions don't have any stealth capabilities."

Nix looked at the dead Aquarion and removed a bracer. They only had one melee dps in the party. A tall Aquarion male named Milat, "you want this bracer?"

Shadow Bracer [Aquarion]

Description: This bracer

provides the user with

the ability to detect and use

invisibility.

Milat nodded and took the bracer with a calm smile before slipping it on. "Thank you, Nix."

Nix summoned the rest of his Vila along with Water Nymphs. "Perhaps this gear is specific to the instance. That should have been a useless drop since Aquarions wouldn't normally be doing this raid."

Mina didn't bother to hide her excitement. "We could really benefit if we pick up a few more of them."

He checked the menu on his Water Nymphs, they had a scout option, so used the map to give them assignments.

[Command: Scout Checkpoints]

Mina and Nix continued to study the instance map. Slowly red dots were being filled in as the Water Nymphs continued their assignments.

Mina pointed out the six dots on the map that were much lighter than the rest. "These are stealthed fighters?"

Nix shrugged in reply. "One way to find out. Milat, why don't you check him out. Be sure to stay out of his aggro range, remember he can see you also if he has the bracer."

"Be careful," Mina warned. "We'll advance to the first group of red dots, so rendezvous with us there.

They were sizing up the next group of Aquarions when Milat came back, he had affirmed that the lighter red dots meant they were stealthed. Both Nix and Mina were in agreement, they needed to get those stealth bracers.

Nix had noticed one of the Water Nymphs looking at him. She seemed less shy than the rest. He nudged Mina who was standing beside him. "Hey, what's a good name for a Water Nymph?"

Her pale eyes studied him for a moment, "you are very odd Nix."

Nix clicked his fingers together. "Ducky...I haven't seen any ducks in Colonial."

"Waterfowl are found mostly in the north at this time of the year." A smile crept on her alien face. "It's not a bad name though."

"It's decided then." He placed a hand on the Water Nymphs head. It was cool and wet to the touch but it had more substance then he would have thought. "Keep those other girls in line Ducky."

Mina watched the Water Nymph for a moment, it showed none of the nervousness that was characteristic of her kind. "Can I see your stats Nix?"

"Sure, but don't tell anyone."

Nix

Level 50

Strength 65

Endurance 63

Intelligence 25

Dexterity 25

Perception 25

Cold Resistance 100 [Ice Blessing]

Fire Resistance 100 [Burning Aura]

Weapon Skills:

Rifle 100

Whip 100

Support Skill:

Flame Strands 0 [22]

Swimming 2 [100]

Sea-Beast Master 8 [Lvl 1]

[Level 2 Stable has 24/25 Beasts]

[Spirit Animal 2/4]

1: Soup [Elite Black Sea Turtle]

2: Ducky [Water Nymph, Special]

Skills:

Hunter 100

Leather Making 100

Tailor 100

She nodded to herself. "In the future, be careful when you name Water Creatures."

He shrugged and patted the Water Nymph on the head again. "Welcome to the family Ducky."

Mina laughed, a few of the Aquarions that were standing close by joined in.

"Time to try them out." There were three Aquarions in the next group, Nix looked at the options menu for the Water Nymphs and saw the 'Befuddle' skill. He chose the nearest one.

[Command: Befuddle My Target]

The Nymphs approached him at the same time, stopping just outside their range. A moment later the Aquarion started to sway gently back and forth like he had fallen asleep with his eyes open. Nix nodded in satisfaction and then put eight flame strands on the second Aquarion. It collapsed to the ground immediately, a quivering, smoldering mass.

The third Aquarion drew her sword and flashed toward him, Mina's Vila intercepted her and brought her down quickly. She then turned half of them on the befuddled Aquarion and the other half on Nix's.

He jumped back when the flame strands broke and opened fire with his rifle. He only managed to fire twice before the Aquarion fell to the ground.

Over the next hour, they eliminated the Aquarion groups one by one, to include all six stealthed Aquarions. They approached the final courtyard where the signal fire needed to be lit. It was guarded by three Aquarions.

Nix whistled softly. "That's a Matriarch, right?"

Mina nodded, "and two healers."

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"Salt-Water Crocs, gotta love em." Nix counted thirty in all and quickly unsummoned his Water Nymphs, they'd be useless in this fight. The crocodiles were scattered all over the cobblestone courtyard, there was even one lounging in the small fountain at the center.

Mina was studying the mini-map and the layout of the Courtyard. "No matter how you look at it, she could be a tough fight. We can win, but those crocs are going to kill some Vilas."

Nix nodded in agreement, "I'd just as soon not lose them at this point. Leave the two healers to me, and we'll put our Vilas on the Matriarch."

He summoned Shadow and jumped on its back. Without another word, he flashed toward the two healers that were standing guard. He targeted the Matriarch quickly and sent his Vila in.

[Command: Attack my Target]

Mina sent her Vilas in also, when Nix moved above the healers eight flame strands shot out before Nix pulled back and started pulling them away.

Milat was stealthed beside Mina, his mission in this fight was to protect her in case things went badly. He stared in disbelief as the human struggled to get two Aquarian healers off the ground. The healers were screaming in agony while the flame strands dug deep into their flesh. Slowly they rose off the ground, only managing about fifteen feet; but Nix quickly turned his Manta and flew over the buildings they had gone around earlier.

With the healers gone, the fight was one-sided, the Vila tore the Matriarch apart, however several of them were seriously wounded by the crocs during this time.

As soon as the Matriarch fell, Mina ran back the way they had come. "Help Nix with the healers!"

Nix was on his Manta firing off shots with his rifle, both his arms had been injured carrying the healers. When he noticed Mina running toward him with her Vila, he stopped firing and let them finish the job. His own Vila remained in the courtyard. He grimaced when he checked the menu. Eight of his Vila were wounded to the point where they couldn't be summoned for a day.

An Aquarion healer named Saji healed his arms, while Mina started scolding him. "That was a bit wreckless Nix! You need to be more careful and let others take some risks."

A few minutes later they returned to the Courtyard. Mina hadn't lost any Vila, but four of hers were down for a day also. Nix grabbed a torch from the bonfire that appeared after the death of the Matriarch and handed it to Milat. He pointed to the top of the signal tower. "Light it please."

The group watched as Milat took a manta to the top and quickly lit the signal fire there. He hadn't even returned before the galloping of horses were heard coming toward them.

Colonial System Message: You have managed to light the signal fire. Captain Firebrand and his Stormriders will reinforce the City militia for the next two weeks.

The street was suddenly crowded with endless black horses carrying heavily armored men. The woman leading them wore intricately designed, red cloth armor, one of her hands glowing with fire.

The Knights stopped a few yards away, the leader's smile quickly faded when she noticed their race. "Aquarions? Kill them all!" Both of her hands rose over her head and flashed with a brilliant light before sending a raging fireball at them.

Nix grabbed Mina and pushed her to one side before crossing his arms in front of his face.

[Burning Aura]

The fireball slammed into Nix, sending him skidding across the courtyard. A moment later he rose from the ground, with the flames around him his raging, the burning man walked back toward the group. Yellow orbs that burned like the sun stared at the Captain. "I am the ranking Knight here, you will stand down!" A dozen flame strands shot out of his body in all directions, waving in the air like mad tentacles.

Mina couldn't help but shrink back, the heat coming off him was melting the stones under his bare feet.

The Knight Captain's face went deathly pale, she quickly extinguished her flames and ordered her troops to stand down. "Forgive me, sir, I didn't realize that a Commander had been sent here."

Nix scowled at her, he hadn't put on his Salamander bodysuit, so his gear had been turned to ashes again. It hadn't occurred to him to check his own rank until he saw them riding up. He was awarded the 'Knight of Colonial' title when he had solved the Aquarion mystery. It read, [Knight of Colonial, Commander]. "These Aquarions are members of a Rebel Faction called the Souza Accord, they have allied themselves with us and will be treated appropriately."

"Of course sir. My apologies Commander."

Nix turned back toward the Aquarions, his flames abruptly burning out. "We should exit the instance, Junie will be expecting these reinforcements."

Min watched him with a small smile on her face. "Of course. Are you planning on putting clothes on first?"

Nix looked down and sighed heavily. "Right..."

"F*ck they are strong!" Ronnie fired arrow after arrow from her Manta into the wolfmen swarming below. Chael and Gypsy had been killed when they had moved too close to a building that had a pack of them hiding in it.

Pon pulled up beside her, both of his hands glowing with a white flame.

[Balefire]

Two of the beasts were instantly incinerated, the others screamed in agony as they fled from the fire mage. He slumped slightly on his manta, nearly falling off. "Let's head back, the gate is clear."

The group had set up a small HQ in a back alley in the middle of town. The surviving militia were guarding both entrances to the alley. Jun Li was studying a map of the town. "If Nix doesn't get here with those Knights, we are going to have to retreat back to camp."

Semmi frowned at group just returning. "Looks like we lost Gypsy and Chael, with Tess being down, we are out two healers."

Since all the Broyan portals were still closed, dying meant spending a few hours flying back on manta. Everyone had been briefed to return to camp in the event of their death.

Colonial System Message: The city of Zier is under siege by a foreign power, the Knights of Colonial have responded.

Jun Li closed her hud quickly and summoned her manta. "F*ck yeah Nix! Everyone rally, we're heading toward the castle."

A moment later the sound of thunder shook the city as the Knights of Colonial galloped down the cobblestone streets. Five thousand of them charging toward the castle, Nix and his band of Aquarions following them from the sky.

There were a dozen beastmen wearing their wolf-masks in the courtyard. The heavily armored Knights slammed into them, Nix and his group bypassed the open fighting and landed at the entrance.

Two beastmen moved to intercept, the area suddenly filled with swarming wolves. Nix summoned his Vila and set two of them to protect Mina while the rest defended against the wolfmen.

[Command: Protect Filamina]

[Command: Defend Area]

Nix put all eight strands on one of the beastmasters, while an Aquarion tank smashed the other against the stone wall of the castle. A sickening thump could be heard as the beastmaster slumped to the ground.

"Nix!" Ronnie's shout could be heard from the air as the small raid force was once again reunited. She jumped down from her manta and landed near him. Jun Li and the rest had landed in the courtyard and quickly ran up the steps.

The castle was nearly empty as the group ran through the hallways toward the throne room. Nix skidded to a halt when he saw a woman flanked by two beastmasters.

He stared at her from the doorway. She was wearing an orange jumpsuit that he was very familiar with. The room went quiet while they watched each other. "You're the jeweler, making the beastmaster artifacts."

She had pale blond hair, tied in a ponytail. Her blue eyes held no malice toward him, she looked like a college girl. "Artificer, actually. It's nice to meet you finally, Trip-Seven."

Artificer wasn't one of the choices he was given during character generation, perhaps the choices were based on the current needs of the Gladis Hub. "My name is Nix."

[Command: Attack my Target]

Nix pulled his rifle and opened fire on her, he scored a few hits before she managed to port out, her face smiling while it faded away. Immediately he put eight strands on the closest beastmaster.

[Command: Defend Me]

It was over within a minute, they quickly overwhelmed the remaining forces and then looted their bracers.

Ronnie approached him after the last invader fell. "Who was she Nix?"

Nix pursed his lips as he considered the question. "We use to members of the same lifestyle group."

Jun Li and Semmi joined them, both of their faces were unreadable. The former Salamander Guild leader knew they were dealing with a very powerful group. "Thanks for the reinforcements Nix."

Nix gave her a smile and then turned toward the King, he was the only other person in the room. "We are missing something, but what is it?"

The king stared at them and then shook his head. "I can't think." He speech was slurred and nearly unrecognizable.

Semmi moved closer and examined him. "He's drugged. Let's get a healer over here."

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An Aquarion healer named Meera cast a cleanse on the Trifelez King. Within a few seconds, his lucidity returned.

King Gormick was a young ruler, at twenty-five he was a decade younger than the rest of the Broyan rulers. His pale face and shock of curly black hair made him appear even younger. He shook the healer's hand and thanked her without any prejudices. "The Souza Accord has aided us in a time of great need. We shall never forget."

Nix was standing between Jun Li and Mina. "The woman with the orange clothes... What was she after?"

The Trifelez King studied him for a moment, he knew that this man stood at the heart of his rescue. The Monarch removed his crown and showed them an empty setting before handing the crown to Nix. "She took the Durilium Diamond from its place setting."

Nix held the crown in his hand, "it's heavier than it looks. Why not just take the crown?"

King Gormick shook his head and accepted the crown back. "The crown is an artifact, a massive penalty is laid upon anyone removing it from Broyan."

Nix noticed that the rest of the stones were all diamonds. "Is there anything special about the Durilium Diamonds?"

The King nodded, "there are only five in existence."

Nix cursed under his breath. "The other four wouldn't happen to be stones set into the other Crowns of Berma?

Gormick nodded again, "The Nations of Berma, Safarza, Trifelez, Neptia, and Valis, were all gifted with these rare black diamonds."

Nix turned to Wind who was standing to one side, "return to Berma and check to see if their stone is missing."

Jun Li watched the scout leave. "Is that what is behind everything? They want those black diamonds?"

Semmi brought up her hud and accessed the forums. "We need an expert opinion. She said she was an artificer right? Those are exceedingly rare, you have to have mining and jeweler maxed out before you can even start."

The young King considered her words for a moment. "There's an old Artificer in Safarza, you'll need permission from their monarchy to see him. He's the sitting King's uncle."

Darsi untied her ponytail and let her blonde hair fall over her shoulders. Her small one-bedroom apartment at the Lifestyle village had a breathtaking view of the Snowcapped peaks that topped the surrounding mountains. She opened her hand and stared at the glittering black stone.

She left her small apartment and exited into the hallway. It was set up like her old college dorm. Across the hall was an empty room with a picture of a man on it. Above the picture were the numbers 777. "You are way more handsome than your picture Trip-Seven."

"How did it go?" A masculine voice spoke from the floor exit. He was a short man bald man, with brown eyes and thick brows. He probably weighed no more than a hundred pounds.

Darsi held out her hand and displayed the stone. "Two down and two to go." She tapped the picture on the door. "Guess who I saw today?"

The short man grinned, "so he did escape?" The small man's name was Dalton Moore, he was a computer engineer that was caught hacking corporate secrets. He turned states evidence for a lighter five-year sentence.

Darsi nodded, she wasn't pale like many natural blondes, her skin had a nice olive color, courtesy of the character generation interface. "He's not just a Tailor anymore, he's become a strong player. Somehow he's figured something out, half of the damn beastmaster bracers I made are now missing."

"Nothing can be done about that. Did you bring some news?" Dalton looked like a little kid at Christmas. Gladis controlled all the information at the hub since they had the ability to deactivate any part of your hud that they wished. However, that wasn't the case when you left the facility.

Darsi handed him a thick pile of papers. "Those are forum downloads, national news, financials, and sports."

Dalton took the papers and paged to the forum information first. "How are the beastmasters behaving?"

Darsi scowled, her pretty face looking angry. "They are a bunch of idiots, the sooner we wash our hands of them the better."

Jun Li had moved camp from Burma to the Western edge of Trifeleza. With Wind still investigating the Berma Crown, she had decided to send Semmi to Safarza to warn them of what was occurring regarding the black diamonds. She was sitting in the TOC with Tess.

"You look a bit cross, Junie." Tess smiled at her former guild leader. They had become closer since leaving Salamander.

Jun Li nodded, "soon as he found out that the Trifeleza portal opened up, he left without saying anything."

"You're talking about Nix, right? Remember he needs to check up on the Sea-World. They've been there with no access to the rest of Colonial for a few days now."

Jun Li made a face but didn't comment. He had taken Chael, Mina, and Ronnie. No one had even bothered to ask her if she wanted to go also.

Nix dropped off Chael and Mina at the Sea-World. Nansu had been very happy to see him, apparently, they didn't separate very often.

Fajii waited until everyone had greeted them before she handed Nix a piece of paper. "Could you pick me up a few things in Jenzi Nix?"

"Sure, as soon as I drop off some things at Shana's." He had given her a few days worth of product before leaving for Broyan, more than likely it was all gone by now.

Nix emptied his stable and watched as the Water Nymphs started to explore their new surroundings.

He started to activate Deep Blue.

"Can I get a ride into Jenzi? I'll be meeting Sharl and some of the Daybreakers later today.

"You meeting up with big sister?" He hadn't spoken much with the Daybreaker guild leader since they had parted ways. "Tell her I said hi." He activated Deep Blue and then chose Jenza.

The dark-haired archer flashed a smile at him. "I'll make my own way back to camp, so don't wait up."

Nix handed her the list of items that Fajii had given him. "You've been drafted, pick these things up for Fajii before you run off."

Ronnie made a face at the list. "FIne, I expect some new clothes as compensation."

"Sure, because running errands for a few minutes is work a few hundred thousand credits worth of clothes." Nix's face told her that he wasn't going to comply with her wishes.

"Time is money Nix!"

Nix walked down the Main street of Jenzi toward the boutique. From the outside, it seemed like another shop entirely. New signs, some fresh paint and some minor repairs to the sidewalk had changed everything. The shop had a dozen customers in it when he entered.

"Nix!" Shana spotted him as soon as he entered. She bowled into him with her arms spread wide, hugging him tightly.

He picked her up and sat her on the counter. "Did you make me something nice?" Shana had been learning some tailoring from her grandma.

Shana shook her head, "everything I make ends up looking like someone's old sock!"

Nix took out a few boxes and placed them on the counter. "Keep working hard."

Maye walked in from the back room and sat down her ledger. "Nice to see you Nix, we should settle accounts before you run off."

He nodded and watched when the zeroes were added to his account. "The swimsuits are a big hit?"

The old woman turned the ledger around and showed him the numbers. "Bring a bunch more next time, word of mouth is spreading. We can sell however many you make."

A few minutes later he left the shop and headed back toward the portal. There were several people flying overhead on their mantas. Originally when the artifact was given to the Provost Office, they were obligated to split the proceeds with Salamander and the Daybreakers. The actual wording of the contract awarded Salamander's thirty percent to the guild treasurer, which was Tess. The healer was splitting it with those that had left Salamander with them.

Nix took the portal to Cyphix and walked toward the Kindled Spirit. It was nearly dinner time and he had missed Hyai's cooking.

The buxom innkeeper smiled when he walked in. "Just head up Nix, I'll bring your dinner when it's ready."

"Any kind of stew is fine with me," Nix hummed to himself as he dredged up the stairs. Whenever he walked into the Kindled Spirit, it felt like he was returning home.

He tossed his clothes in a pile and ran some hot water in the enormous porcelain tub. As soon as it was filled, he sunk up to his chin and leaned back with a contented sigh.

He must have drifted off to sleep, he woke a while later when a soft body moved into the tub with him. Nix opened one eye to see the smiling redhead's voluptuous body just before it sank beneath the surface. He pulled her toward him until she lay on top of him.

"Not going to eat first Nix?" Hyai kissed him lightly, the tips of her loose red hair dangling in the water.

"Hmmm..." He cupped her large breasts in both hands and held them gently. "Sometimes dessert before dinner is nice."

Hyai moved her legs up until she was straddling his waist. "We can always reheat it," she agreed.

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A few hours later Nix arrived at the Trifelez platform, from there it was only a short ride to camp. An unexpected dark beauty was waiting, her full lips curved in a smile when she saw him.

"Sharl!" Nix offered her a hug and then stepped back to greet the rest of the Daybreakers, most of them he already knew.

Sharl responded to his big smile. "Missed you too, Nix."

He pointed to tent city. "That's where we sleep, the mess tent is right next to it."

"Ronnie tells me you guys are really kicking ass."

He favored the younger sister with a nod, "for once she isn't exaggerating. Follow me to the TOC."

Sharl followed him into the TOC after directing the rest of her people to stand fast. Wind, Jun Li, Semmi and Mina were sitting around a table talking.

Nix noticed that Wind had come back. "The stone is gone isn't it?"

Wind nodded, "no one had even noticed until I asked about it."

Nix pulled a chair out for Sharl and then sat down himself. "The Daybreakers are going to join us for the next two raids."

Jun Li smiled at Sharl, she had seen the Daybreaker in action before. "Welcome back."

"I think we should hit Neptia right now, and consider a joint mission into Valis." Nix figured that the statement would meet with some resistance.

Instead, Semmi nodded in agreement. "We spoke to the jeweler that mounted the black diamonds onto the crowns. Removing them takes some time, Neptia is without a doubt the most difficult to steal."

Nix brought up a map of Rhatia, the capital city of Neptia. "We airstrike it hard, hit the castle with everything from the roof and ground at the same time."

Wind pointed at the channel that ran the length of the walled city. "The ground team can come in here, me and Semmi with stealth directly to the Throne room and attempt to stall any removal action."

Sharl stared hard at her scout. The usually quiet Wind was thriving in this small raid group. "I can lead the ground assault. I brought a half dozen fighters with me, four of them are mages."

Pon and Banzi chose that time to enter the TOC, both of them had come to see their guild leader. The old fire mage took a seat on the other side of her while Banzi stood behind Wind's chair.

Nix considered their last mission where they were able to pick up several stealth bracers for Aquarions. "Mina... you should take a stealth team directly into the throne room of Valis and attempt to secure the crown."

Jun Li didn't bother to hide her surprise. "You want to hit Neptia and Valis at the same time?

"We can put six stealthed Aquarions in the Throne room, with their combat strength they will be able to hold it." Nix glanced at the Aquarion leader, "I'll come with you to reinforce your Vila."

An hour later Nix was in tent city, surrounded by members of the Souza Accord. He had friended each of them and was attempting to customizing one of the enhanced wolf masks for Aquarions to use.

Mina watched him as he worked. "Are you sure this can even be done?"

Nix nodded, "I think so." The beastmaster artifacts have to be a version of the Ricoli artifact that was customized for human use." After several attempts at creating a new recipe, he met with success. He placed several more in the crafting queue. Within a few minutes, he handed the first one to Filamina.

Enhanced Wolfman Mask [Aquarion]

Enables Nightvision, enhanced

hearing and 5 to all stats.

Custom Made for Filamina.

Crafted by Nix.

Mina slipped the mask on, immediately gasping in surprise. "I feel strength surging through me." She removed it a moment later. "So if the crafter's skill is high enough, they can use the customize option to switch from one race to another."

"You should keep the mask on Min, it's a good look for you."

Shortly after Midnight, the first group's ground assault team, consisting of Pon, Sharl and the mages from the Daybreakers guild, closed in on the castle. They were flying low through the channel and had managed to enter the city without alerting anyone. They came up out of the channel quickly and hovered above the Courtyard.

There were three beastmasters in the courtyard, outside of the castle entrance. Sixty wolfmen prowled the courtyard, the musty smell, and growls of canines lingering in the air.

Pon came in hard and leaped from his manta to the doorway of the castle.

[Fireball Mass AE]

The rest of the mage-heavy group landed and started laying down AE effects, the stench of scorched hair was pungent enough for Sharl to pull off her wolf mask before equipping her shield. She moved to the front and protected the mages behind her.

[Shield Wall]

Jun Li led her group from the top floor, they weren't bothering with to hide their arrival. Semmi and Wind were stealthed in the middle as group members continually peeled off to defend, leaving the two scouts to continue their route to the throne room.

Wind was the first to enter, the King was sitting on his throne, his face as white as snow. "You seek the crown of Neptia? There is nowhere you can hide if you leave this room with that crown."

Darsi scowled, "Oh shut up you idiot. I just need to remove this damn jewel." There were three beastmasters in the room, two of them had summoned their beasts.

Semmi was stunned when Wind decided to unstealth in the middle of them, for a moment the entire room seemed frozen in time. A small movement on the scout's shoulder announced the arrival of the tiny gecko.

[Fear the King]

Wind grabbed the crown from the woman in the orange jumpsuit a moment before she screamed in terror. Semmi followed him the way they had come, both sprinting as hysteria spread in all directions.

Jun Li and Tess were holding the second-floor exit when they saw the two scouts running toward them. Semmi wacked Jun Li's butt as she ran by, "Time to go Junie!"

Darsi sat on the floor, a sheen of sweat covering her skin while she gasped for air. "The hell was that?"

Two of the beastmasters that had been in the throne room were dead, killed when their beasts went crazy. The third was leaning against the wall. "Some kind of mass fear." He shuddered when he said it, he had never felt such overwhelming terror in his life.

"It's over." She looked at the artifact in her hand and then stowed it away. Nix was at the heart of this, she couldn't bring herself to resent him, but that doesn't mean she was going to let him off. Without saying anything, she vanished from the throne room.

Nix and Min put their Manta down in the empty courtyard in front of the Valis castle. They both summoned a few of their beasts before entering.

Mina followed Nix through the empty first level to the stairs, "Where is everyone?" The stealth group was coming from the roof, they were told to avoid any unnecessary fighting.

"I don't like it." He ran up the stairs to the second floor and a few seconds later arrived in the throne room. A man and woman sat on the throne, both of them looked relieved.

"I guess we have you to thank for the sudden retreat?" The crowned man stood up and walked toward them.

Nix nodded, "we are a strike force from the Souza Accord, sent to break the beastmaster's hold on this castle."

"The entire group left a few minutes ago." The woman on the throne spoke softly. She was a stunningly beautiful person, wavy red hair and smooth pale skin made it seem like the goddess of fire had come to life. Nix thought she looked a bit like Shae.

The roof assault team chose that moment to enter the room from the upper level. The royal couple looked alarmed when the raid group appeared out of thin air. Milat slipped off his wolfmask and bowed. "We are from the Souza Accord your Majesty."

[Sea-Farer Faction Quest Completed]

Quest: Sea Farer Faction

Description: You have raised

your rating to ally level with

one of the Kingdoms of Broyan.

Achieve this with two other Broyan

Kingdoms.

Colonial System Message: You have raised your rating to ally level with four Kingdoms of Broyan. A newly discovered Island has been located North of the Broyan Continent. This small island has been awarded to the Inferno Guild.

[Sea-Farer Faction has been raised]

[Navy Shipyard can be built]

[Naval Officers may be recruited]

By dawn, the fragmented raid group reunited next to the Rhatia city portal platform. Jun Li looked particularly happy, she received two more Navy Frigate bottles from the Kingdoms of Neptia and Valis. This brought their total to four.

They had been talking about the sudden unexpected retreat of the beastmasters. Nix had made his best guess. "I believe they retreated because the artifact they are trying to build requires four black diamonds. Losing even one of them makes their cause useless."

Ronnie was smiling from ear to ear, she had talked her sister into taking a leave of absence from the Daybreakers in order to join them. "So now what?"

"We head back to the Sea World and start planning our path to Naval power." Jun Li caressed one of the Navy Frigate bottles she had pulled out of her inventory.

"Let's head back then." Nix glanced around the group, a sense of danger suddenly overcoming him. "Aquarions first, I'll meet you guys back at our camp in a bit."

Without asking anyone he activated Deep Blue and waited while the members of the Souza Accord joined hands. After dropping them off, he delayed a few minutes before returning. Something was bothering him, but he couldn't quite place it.

The trip to camp was quite short, but the entire place had been packed up by the time Nix arrived.

Ronnie waved to him when he circled the camp before landing.

One of the mages that had accompanied Sharl was smiling at him. He was an average looking man with brown hair and a small goatee. "We didn't get a chance to talk earlier. I'm Severon Kosk, one of the Daybreaker mages."

Nix shook his hand when he offered it. "Nice to meet you Severon, and thanks for the assist."

The group quickly finished cleaning up the area and gathered in a small circle. Nix examined the group for a moment, not reaching for Deep Blue.

Ronnie was standing next to him, she squeezed his hand, "let's get going Nix!"

The yellow-eyed man shook his head, "you four will have to find your own way back." He pointed to the four mages that had accompanied Sharl from the Daybreakers.

"Nix?" Sharl's eyes showed confusion, the area around him was warming up as if he was getting ready to fight. She sensed the same build-up from Pon.

"I'm not bring four unknown Water Mages back." Nix stepped away from Ronnie suddenly.

Severon's smile turned into a smirk, "I'm afraid I must insist Mr. Nix."

Pon cursed under his breathe. "Damn it Sharl, Water Mages!"

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Nix watched the four mages, his face was expressionless. "You four are new to the Daybreakers right? How did you hear about Shae?"

Severon shrugged, "does it matter? We'll take her back to where she belongs."

Both Sharl and Jun Li paled suddenly. The former Salamander leader armed herself with a sword. "You think you can take her with just the four of you?"

Nix sensed the sudden building of power from the four mages, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up at the sign of imminent danger.

Sharl also sensed their increase in power. "You've let yourself be bribed into using your bank levels?"

Severon only laughed as his strength suddenly skyrocketed, his level shooting up from fifty all the way to seventy-nine. "You have something that brings you to a special world right? Take us voluntarily and we won't have to remove it from your corpse."

Nix was carrying one of the bracelets in his inventory and the other he was wearing. Deep Blue would definitely drop if he were to be killed here. He felt his anger starting to bubble up. "You want to steal from me and hurt my friends?"

[Aura Ignition]

Flames exploded outward from Nix, his aura burning like a sun while a dozen thick fire tentacles dangled in the air. The entire group stepped back as waves of sun-like heat pulsed from him, instantly all the tentacles latched on to each of the water mages, screams of misery and the stench of burnt flesh permeated the air.

Pon's eyes widened at the water mages dangling several feet off the ground, Daybreakers or not, he would burn them to ash.

[Bale Fire]

Three separate balls of white flame shot towards each of the mages.

Ronnie and Chael opened fire, the rest of the range fighters aided them. Within a minute, the four high-level water mages were slain.

Nix collapsed to his hands and knees, his aura finally burning out. Ronnie helped him to his feet, while he pulled new clothes from his inventory.

Sharl searched the bodies of the mages who were killed. She hadn't hesitated to attack them either. "Nix... I didn't realize their motives."

Jun Li was still speechless from seeing Nix's true strength, she lay a hand on Sharl's shoulder, both of them waiting for him to speak.

He smiled his thanks to Ronnie and looked toward his friends. "The temptation that a Fire Lord brings is too much for a guild. I would not hold you responsible Sharl."

Sharl's pretty face showed her relief, a moment later her hud lit up and she received a message from Guild Leader of the Daybreaker Advanced levels. She closed it after a few seconds and left the guild. "I will not betray my friends."

Pon, Wind, and Ronnie left the guild immediately.

Nix shook his head, "I'm sorry that it came to this. I know how much the guild meant to you guys."

Wind shrugged it off like it was nothing, "it's not the name itself, but the people in it. I will stay with my friends."

The remaining Daybreakers in the group deguilded and once again everyone joined hands in a circle. Nix activated Deep Blue and chose the Sea-World.

The Aquarions were all waiting when the group ported in. Mina had sensed Nix's urgency in getting her people out, so she hadn't said anything. She was speechless when she found out what happened.

A few minutes later Nix stood in the surf, greeting Soup who he hadn't seen much of in the past few days. Ducky was sitting comfortably on his shell, a happy smile on her water face. "I'm glad to see that you two are getting along so well."

Everyone seemed tired, so it was decided that they'd discuss the recent events and their upcoming plans in the morning after everyone was able to rest.

"Party on the marina in one hour Nix. Try not to miss it." Semmi gave him a big smile while she pulled Jun Li toward their houseboat.

"Wouldn't miss it." Nix felt a strong hand grab his hand. he turned to see Sharl's serious face.

"I'm sorry Nix." Even though she had been played by her own guild, they couldn't have realized how difficult getting Shae would have been. Even had the water mages been able to kill everyone, once they entered the Sea-World there were hundreds of Aquarions to deal with. It would have been a slaughter.

Nix guilded her and the rest of the former Daybreakers that had joined them. "There's nothing to be sorry for Sharl. Welcome to Inferno."

Sharl stared at the marina. "I don't have a houseboat."

Ronnie threw an arm around her sister's shoulders. "Live with me sis, just until you get your own."

Nix considered issuing the same invitation but held back since she already had an offer. "I need to run a quick errand to Cyphix."

A few minutes later he was walking toward the Kindled Spirit, a movement from one of the side street caught his attention in the darkness. A woman stood there, she was flanked by a half-dozen beastmasters.

"Good evening Trip-Seven." She nonchalantly pointed something at him, "four stones would have made this artifact reusable, instead of the one-time use that it is now."

Nix summoned his Vilas immediately.

[Command: Defend Me]

A flash of light emerged from the blonde woman's hand.

[Your binding point has been changed to the Gladis Hub: Lifestyle Village.]

Nix turned and fled on foot. He sprinted down an alley and moved toward the Town gate. He didn't trust the Wolfmen not to attack the people of Cyphix so he wanted to lead them away. He quickly summoned his Black Manta and took to the air.

All of the beastmasters were range fighters. Shots rang out and his Manta veered drastically toward the rooftops. Nix leaped to a nearby roof and ran in the opposite direction.

The beastmasters continued to chase Shadow, Nix cursed them when they finally brought the black manta down. He attempted to activate Deep Blue.

[Deep Blue has been disabled for the next 24 hours and may not be activated at this time.]

"F*cking shit..." He moved toward the town gate while looking at the debuff he had been hit with. He ducked down behind a chimney and opened his inventory. He heard the clawing of wolfmen as they attempted to claw their way up to his location.

Darsi walked down the middle of the street, she had bought range fighters with her, there were now more than a hundred wolfmen hunting him. His beasts had been overwhelmed by sheer numbers, there was no way he'd escape. "There he is!" She spotted him running through the front gate. He only made it a dozen yards before he was brought down by the wolfmen.

Nix tried to ignite his aura but it was grayed out from being used against the water mages.

Inmate 777, welcome to the LifeStyle village. Please follow me to your room, where you will be briefed on your duties as a Tailor here.

Nix looked up from where he lay on the respawning platform. He stood and looked around the enormous complex he was in. There appeared to be restaurants, assorted clubs and even something that might be a gym. He felt exactly like he had stepped onto the campus of a huge corporation. He scowled at the familiar ball of light as it moved away.

The ball of light led him down the sidewalk. It was evening time and most of the streetlights were off. He checked his inventory while he walked, it was completely empty except for the default Tailor items. It was at this time when he noticed that he was wearing an orange jumpsuit with the numbers 777 across the right breast pocket.

"Where are we going?"

The ball of light didn't slow down, but it did answer. "We are going to your dormitory where you will be briefed by your Floor Director, Dalton Moore."

Nix followed him into a four-story dormitory and up two flights of stairs. He tried to activate his hud, but most of the choices had been grayed out. Finally, the ball of light stopped outside a door with his picture on it.

A voice from behind him spoke. "I will take him from here." A smaller man approached him but didn't say anything until the ball of light disappeared. "Use your hand to activate the door, only you can open it."

Nix ignored the man and checked out his stats.

Nix

Level 50

Strength 65

Endurance 63

Intelligence 25

Dexterity 25

Perception 25

Cold Resistance 100 [Ice Blessing]

Fire Resistance 100 [Burning Aura]

Flame Strands 24

Weapon Skills:

N/A

Support Skills:

N/A

[Spirit Animal 2/4]

1: Soup [Elite Black Sea Turtle]

2: Ducky [Water Nymph, Special]

Skills:

Hunter 100

Leather Making 100

Tailor 100

Nix clenched his teeth in anger. All of his weapon and support skills had been erased. He still possessed his Flame Strand skill, but it had been removed from the support list.

"If you would open the door Trip-Seven."

Nix was tempted to wipe the hallway with the little man but decided to get information first. He swiped his hand over the sensor and stepped inside.

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Nix walked inside his new place, the door opened into a small galley kitchen and a tidy dining room. Through a small archway was a living room that exited into a short hallway that led to a bedroom and a bathroom. "I've seen worse."

The small man had followed him to the living room but stopped there while he checked out the rest of the apartment. "I'm Dalton Moore, the Floor Director. Do you have any questions before we get started?"

Nix walked back into the room, gazing out his living room window. "This place seems quite large.

"How am I supposed to get around?"

Dalton tapped his hud bracelet and downloaded a map directly to Nix's hud. "This should help you quite a bit."

"We came up two flights of stairs, right? So I'm on the third floor."

"That is correct." Dalton Moore smiled pleasantly.

"I hope you have a good reason for bringing me here. I went through hell to escape here the first time."

The small man shrugged, "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Don't come back here without the artificer." He grabbed Dalton Moore by the front of his shirt and tossed him through the living room window. The shattering of glass, followed by a surprised scream that ended in a sickening crunch put a smile back on Nix's face.

He walked back into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Someone had stocked it for him, he grabbed a bottle of milk and poured himself a glass. "Damn... That's really good."

Half an hour later he heard a knock on his door, he opened it to see the frowning face of Dalton Moore. A nervous-looking blonde was standing behind him. "Come in."

He left the door open and walked into the living room, after a moment they entered and shut the door behind him. "This is as patient as someone like me gets. You better have a hell of a reason for bringing me here."

Darsi held up her hand to placate him. "We were attempting to assemble an artifact that would enable us to change the binding point of anyone we wish."

"Towards what end?" Nix shook his head at the idiocy, "Gladis might ignore one or two strays, but what do you think will happen if a few dozen or more escape?"

Darsi tried not to stare at the broken window. "Gladis has nearly fifty thousand lifestyle employees working across dozens of different VR games."

"Why am I here then?" Nix stared at the woman who was responsible for his revisiting the Gladis Hub. "If it's merely for revenge, you should start screaming in agony right now."

Dalton Moore didn't have to pretend to be scared, although dieing had no real effect for him, there was still a moment of terror and a bit of pain. He had found the experience very disconcerting. "We want to know the method you used to escape originally."

Darsi nodded patiently, "we'll pay you. One hundred thousand credits."

Nix kept a straight face when he heard the amount, he could sell a pair of custom underwear for that much money. He regularly transferred his credits to the Colonial Banking system, his current balance was just a bit over 3 billion credits. "Pay me? How are you going to compensate me for losing the Sea-Beast Master skill? Do you realize how many hundreds of millions that was worth?"

Darsi slowly went pale, she felt an overwhelming desire to flee. "What are you talking about?"

"When I respawned here. All of the skills I attained in Colonial were erased, as well as several priceless artifacts." Nix kept his voice calm, he only needed one thing.

"I'll make you a Beast-Master Artifact." Darsi had been the one supplying the Wolf-masks with beastmaster skill.

This time Nix laughed loudly. "The beastmaster skill? Want to know how many humans had the Sea-Beast Master Skill? None... Compared to the dozens who have your artifact, which would you say is more valuable?"

Darsi glanced at Dalton and licked her lips nervously. "We are just trying to free a few people, it wasn't our intent to inconvenience anyone."

"Why not just take them with you? You can already leave whenever you like."

Darsi held up an artifact. "This artifact can only transfer one person."

Nix glanced at the artifact and instantly two flame strands wrapped around her neck, he sent two more at Dalton who was frozen in shock. They both screamed soundlessly and flailed their limbs. He watched them for a moment, pinching his nose at the stench of burnt flesh in the small room. "Inconvenience? That's funny."

He released them right as they died. Quickly he searched their corpses before they were recovered to the spawning platform. "Bingo."

Phelinomia Bracer

Description: This bracer can

transfer the wearer to the

Phelinomia portal.

Ricoli Artifact [Aquarion]

Description: Enables the

training of the Sea-Beast Master Skill.

"I'll take all of these." Nix activated the Phelinomia Bracer just as he heard steps running in the hallway. He waved at the shocked faces of Dalton and Darsi.

He took the portal from Phelinomia back to Cyphix. He trotted through the streets under the light of the stars. In less than a minute he found the building he had jumped down from. Scaling the wood building as quietly as he could, he walked softly to the chimney and pulled out the bag he had stashed earlier. As they were closing in, his biggest worry was losing Deep Blue and his other valuables. He reequipped it and hopped down.

He activated Deep Blue and chose his binding point, which was still the Gladis Hub: LifeStyle Village. A moment later he appeared in the lifestyle village, he took a moment to save the location to one of his empty slots. Then he ported directly to the Sea-World.

Soup and Ducky came to greet him when he stepped into the surf. He patted them both affectionately before heading towards his Houseboat. Fatigue started to seep into his bones while he was climbing the steep steps to the third level deck.

Fajii and Mina were both in his hot tub. He gave them a smile and walked into his bedroom to put on some shorts. "Looks like I missed the party."

Mina watched as he eased into the hot water. "Fajii said you wouldn't mind if a few of us use your hot tub."

Nix nodded in agreement, "Fajii is right. This many is okay."

"You look tired Nix. I thought you said you'd be right back." Mina was wearing the yellow bikini he had made her.

"I was captured by the leader of the beastmasters and taken back to their lair." Nix opened one eye and displayed his stats for them.

Nix

Level 50

Strength 65

Endurance 63

Intelligence 25

Dexterity 25

Perception 25

Cold Resistance 100 [Ice Blessing]

Fire Resistance 100 [Burning Aura]

Flame Strands 24

Weapon Skills:

N/A

Support Skills:

N/A

[Spirit Animal 2/4]

1: Soup [Elite Black Sea Turtle]

2: Ducky [Water Nymph, Special]

Skills:

Hunter 100

Leather Making 100

Tailor 100

Mina's pale face stared at him. "Nix! Where are your skills?"

"They are gone, taken from me. I did, however, get one of these."

Ricoli Artifact [Aquarion]

Description: Enables the

training of the Sea-Beast Master Skill.

Mina sighed in relief. "Thank goodness, it's a small setback, but you can retrain the skill and get everything back."

Nix shook his head, "you will pick an Aquarion from the Souza Accord to train this skill. I will walk another path."

Mina took the artifact from his hand. "The path of fire?"

Nix nodded, "Yes. All my paths seem to lead to the flame."

Fajii moved closer to him until her leg brushed against his. "I talked to Nansu, she told me all about kissing. You were joking with me right?"

Nix laughed at the look on her face. He had told her that Chael and Nansu were feeding each other. "Yes, that was a joke."

Fajii laughed softly. "It's really very funny now that I know you were joking with me."

Mina looked from Nix to Fajii. "What's with the two of you?"

Fajii shrugged, "we exchanged pointers regarding the mating habits of Humans and Aquarions."

Nix laughed at the explanation. "Pointers..."

The Aquarion leader looked surprised. "Fajii, you and Nix engaged in..."

Fajii nodded, "I couldn't help myself. He said I was beautiful."

Mina frowned at her alchemist friend. "You are beautiful."

Nix yawned and nodded in agreement. "See? I told you so."

All of them sensed the sudden build-up of power and turned toward Shae's lair. A flash of blinding light and wave of power swept outward in all directions. A moment later a huge explosion rocked the Sea-World.

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Nix jumped from the third level of his houseboat to the dock, a quick roll and he was back on his feet running toward Shae's Lair. The two Aquarions were much more tentative since they were water creatures and the Lair had become a glowing mass of molten rock.

[Aura Ignition]

His aura lit up without him willing it to, Nix used the dozen tentacles spreading out of his body to stab into the rock and pull himself upward. He could tell something was wrong. He ran toward the back room of Shae's lair, the rock splashing under his feet like spring water. He skidded to a stop when he saw her.

Shae was arching her back in pain, there were three different color flames coming from her, yellow, red and dark blue. Her red flaming hair hung toward the ground, her teeth gritted with determination. "Nix! Only the red flames sustain elemental metamorphosis."

He sensed the absolute anguish in her voice, he had felt such pain before. "Don't worry, I will help."

He grabbed her hands tightly, although most of her body was engulfed in the red flames, the yellow and blue was concentrated at her hands.

Nix moved around Shae and wrapped all twelve of his strands around her arms, not really sure what he was doing.

Shae screamed in pain, her breath ragged. "You can do it Nix! Focus on the absorbing the hotter flames, the yellow and blue!"

He closed his eyes and tried to absorb the heat, he stopped immediately when he sensed he was sucking dry the lifeline. He concentrated on the flames, the detailed movement, the pressure each type emitted and finally the temperature. It was there, the slightest difference. The red was warm and pleasant, he let it gently ease pass without offering it any resistance. The yellow and blue slowly started to advance toward him.

All of Nix's strands were wrapped around her body, he had looped them around several times taking up the slack until he was face to face with the elemental. An unbending will surfaced within him to fight the yellow and blue progress, he knew without a doubt that if he failed here, Shae would most certainly perish.

Slowly the pleasant warmth of his own flame began to heat up and change colors. The absorption of the yellow and blue flames turned his into an eerie green color. Grimly he held on, his body expanding as it absorbed passed his filling point. "I.. I can't hold it Shae!"

Shae screamed in frustration, her anger waking everyone in the Sea-World. Her flaming eyes looked at him in anguish, "It's fine Nix, just let go."

Nix gripped her hands tighter, he smelled his own flesh burning while he pulled the blue and yellow flames away from Shae. Even when he reached his limit somehow he was able to persevere. His own form was unrecognizable as the green flames increased his size by several times.

Ronnie was the third person on the scene, both Fajii and Mina had retreated to the surf, their eyes wide with numbing fear. "What's going on here?

Mina didn't take her eyes off the steadily growing green light coming from the Salamander's cave. "Something is wrong with Shae, Nix went to help her."

"Nix is in there?" Ronnie advanced several feet closer to the caves, the heat stopping her progress. "Where's Pon?" She looked around for the old fire mage.

Sharl and Pon ran down the beach at the same time. Sharl was forced to stop next to Ronnie, but the old fire mage could advance almost to the rock walls. He stared up at the green light coming from the cave. He could feel that it was building up.

Pon stepped back as molten rock ran down walls. He turned back toward the beach and retreated. "Everyone get back! All the way into the water!"

As one, everyone turned and ran into the surf. The Aquarions swam under the water several hundred feet. A dark piercing flash of green light blasted outward like an emerald wave. Ronnie and Sharl were tossed further into the depths.

Ronnie surfaced a moment later and pulled her sister up. Most of the rock wall had been destroyed by the blast.

In the aftermath, everyone advanced toward the epicenter cautiously, old Pon leading the way. The old mage's eyes looked wary. A warm red light started to ebb, its gentle warmth seeped out of the destroyed cave. In the darkness, the red glow floated into the air and landed gently on the beach.

Shae's flames stopped the moment she stepped on the sand. Her appearance had changed drastically. She seemed taller and a bit thinner. Her cheekbones seemed more pronounced as she walked toward them, her long red hair brushing the back of her legs. Her movements were beyond graceful, she emanated with power.

Pon looked excited, being a fire mage he knew what metamorphosis for a Salamander entailed. It meant the birth of a Fire Nemesis.

The group stared at the young woman, although she had taken human form, it was still elemental of course.

Ronnie was smiling at her before she remembered something. "Hey... Where is Nix?"

A movement from the shattered caves drew their attention once again. A man wearing only a Salamander bodysuit slowly climbed down the rocky wall. He stumbled once he stepped onto the sand but continued toward the group.

Nix seemed tired beyond reasoning, he stared at the elemental. There was something oddly off about him, but no one could immediately place it. "You are okay?" His voice was raspy with fatigue.

Shae embraced him and kissed his forehead. "Thank you, Nix."

He shrugged slightly, even that seemed to take effort. "I don't like to lose people close to me." He staggered slightly before she caught him and eased him to the ground.

"Going to take a look, okay Nix?" Shae stroked his head gently and inspected him.

Nix

Level 50

Strength 65

Endurance 63

Intelligence 25

Dexterity 25

Perception 25

Mana 12000/12000

Cold Resistance 100 [Ice Blessing]

Fire Resistance 100 [Burning Aura]

Emerald Flame Strands 71

Fire Seed [Emerald]

Weapon Skills:

Primary: Path of Fire [Salamander]

Support Skills:

N/A

Primary Path Skills

Balefire

Meteor Storm

Combustion

Comet Strike

[Spirit Animal 2/4]

1: Soup [Elite Black Sea Turtle]

2: Ducky [Water Nymph, Special]

Skills:

Hunter 100

Leather Making 100

Tailor 100

Shae pursed her lips as she considered his skills, she glanced at Pon whose mouth had dropped open. "That's my Path of Fire."

The old fire mage nodded, "Of those four, I only recognize Balefire."

She helped him to his feet, "Combustion is a self-heal. Meteor Storm is an Area Effect damage spell. Comet strike is a single target attack spell with really good range."

Fajii pushed gently through the crowd and grabbed Nix's other arm. "Let's get him back to his bed, so he can rest."

Shae nodded and the two of them walked him slowly back to the marina, he was swaying back and forth between them like a drunk person.

A few minutes later he was reclining in bed while Fajii mixed him up something to drink, she smiled when she handed it to him. "This should restore your energy and help you sleep, although you probably don't need help sleeping."

Shae had made everyone else leave, she watched Nix drink down the concoction, "You are always there when I need you Nix. I've never had a truer friend."

Nix nodded in agreement, his yellow eyes already closed. "I'm awesome," he mumbled softly.

Morning came and Nix woke up feeling refreshed. Pon and Ronnie were sitting at the rail of his back deck. They both smiled when he slid open the door. He gave them a quick wave, "Hey guys."

There were dolphins playing in the water just off the rear deck. They had once been his beasts, although that was no longer the case, they were still very friendly toward him.

"Let's gather all the members of Inferno and then meet up at the beach." Nix slid his Salamander suit on and then put the Malu Aquatic over it. He wasn't planning on an undersea excursion, but it paid to be ready.

A few minutes later, Inferno was gathered in a small circle on the beach. They were studying the map Nix had brought up on his hud.

Semmi seemed a bit confused. "So... there's no guards?"

"None," Nix affirmed. He handed everyone bags that he had tailored. "It's like Christmas, fill everything up with items from your assigned area. Just in case there are some security surprises I don't know about, in and out in five minutes."

They held hands, each of them still looking a bit confused. Was this a raid or a shopping trip? "Semmi you are with me."

He activated Deep Blue and then chose Gladis Hub: LifeStyle Village.

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The courtyard around the platform was empty in the mid-morning hours. Generally speaking, the crafters of the LifeStyle Village were working hard to finish their daily quotas. Semmi stopped and stared with the rest of the Inferno Guild.

She glanced at Nix who seemed more amused than anything else. "Is this a mall? Holy Shit Nix."

"Come on, let's get going." He grabbed her hand and left the main courtyard and headed upstairs to the second level west wing where the Artificers were located. "Stealth here and take everything from Darsi's work station while she is talking to me."

Semmi pinched his side, "do your best Nix."

Nix entered the room, there was only one artificer working. According to his map, she shared this work station with two alchemists. None of them looked up when he walked in, He smiled at the ponytailed girl. "Really good concentration guys."

Darsi stared at him, her blue eyes wide with shock. "Trip-Seven..."

The two male alchemists in the room glanced at him, neither paying much attention. Semmi snatched everything out of Darsi's finished bin while she stared at Nix.

"This is a hold-up, please step away from your work-stations." Three green strands shot from Nix's outstretched hand, they waved threateningly in front of the three crafters. Each of them felt the intense heat pulsing from the emerald flames.

Semmi couldn't help but snort at his expression, she finished all three bins and headed toward the door. She tapped Nix's shoulder on the way out.

Darsi slammed her hand on the counter, just before she noticed the empty bin. "God in heaven... You are robbing us?"

Nix nodded in affirmation "Yes, I said that already."

Darsi sighed heavily, "Can you give me back my Phelinomia bracer?"

Nix shook his head, "No way... What time do you finish your daily quotas?"

"My companions and I are done by 1400 every day." Darsi stared at the smiling Nix. "I messed up, I wish I had done things differently."

"Have all your friends on the platform tomorrow at 1500." He turned and trotted out the door. By the time he arrived back at the entry point, the rest of the raid group had already returned. He activated Deep Blue and chose Sea-World.

Nix walked down dock carefully inspecting the bounty they had picked up, there were several different kinds of melee and ranged weapons. Walking a bit further he ran into the armor section, it started at cloth armor and ended with some enhanced plating. At the end of the dock, there was a combination of potions, artifacts, and jewelry.

Not many things impressed Jun Li, but this was a haul bigger than anything she had seen in any raid. She was looking through the jewelry very carefully, everything they brought back was high end.

Nix leaned back against the dock post and waited for everyone to assemble. All of Inferno finally finished picking through the loot, no one had asked for anything yet.

"How is this sort of haul possible Nix?" Jun Li had walked into the weapons area and had literally taken everything, no one lifted a finger to stop her.

"Who here has heard of the Gladis Corporation?"

Semmi considered her answer before answering, "they are a massive VR corporation, recently they've been delving more into games like Colonial."

Nix nodded, he figured Semmi would definitely have heard of them. "The Gladis Corporation recently purchased the contracts of non-violent felons to work as lifestyle players. The place we just visited is called the Gladis Hub."

"Holy shit Nix!" Ronnie had been standing next to her sister, her dark face wore a huge smile. "We just stuck it to Gladis Corp?"

Semmi watched him carefully. "That woman called you Trip-Seven."

"Inmate 777, that was my designator while I was at the Gladis reception area. I escaped before being assigned to the Lifestyle Village."

Semmi clapped her hands together. "An escaped felon? How does she know you if you escaped from reception?"

"Oddly enough there's an empty room across the hall from her that has my designator and picture on it."

Semmi raised an eyebrow, "For real?"

"Yes, they used an artifact to change my binding point back to the Gladis Hub. I died and was respawned at the LifeStyle Village."

Jun Li cussed loudly, "those black diamonds were used to make that artifact?"

"Yes," Nix answered truthfully. "However, without all the stones it became a one-time use item."

"There it is." Wind pointed to a large drafting table a hundred feet from shore. A few moments later the three of them landed and approached.

Nix placed his hand on the table and instantly a menu popped up in his hud.

[Guild Leader Nix of the Inferno Guild: Please name your guild's island.]

Nix smiled to himself. "Glory."

[Do you wish to start a settlement on Glory Island?]

"Yes."

[There are two types of settlement options for this island.]

1) Coastal Settlement.

2) Inland Settlement.

"Coastal Settlement."

[Use the overhead view of your map to choose a site.]

Nix maneuvered the map over the island's natural cove and chose the site.

[Coastal Settlements come with a dock feature. Build Docks for Glory Island?]

"Yes."

[You can currently choose one of three support buildings to be built on Glory Island.]

1) Guild Hall

2) Shipyard

3) Guild Portal

Pon pointed to the third option. "Best to go with Portal."

Wind nodded in agreement. "We already have four ships, so building a shipyard at this point isn't reasonable.

[Glory Island]

1) Guild Portal

2) Coastal Settlement

3) Dock option

4) Natural Feature Site.

[Total cost: 734,454,040 credits] Keep all options and build Glory Island?

Pon laughed at Nix's face. "Holy shit."

Wind whistled softly, "yeah... that sucks."

"Yes. Build Glory Island." Nix started paging through the available settlement options, there were dozens of different stores and shops that could be constructed. Each of them carried hefty charges.

[Guild Structures have been built. Inferno has been promoted to level two. Guild chat has been enabled.]

/Guildchat: Ronnie: I have a Guild portal icon on my hud! Incoming!

A moment later Ronnie ported to Glory Island, she was quickly followed by the rest of Inferno.

Nix took a seat on a nearby rock and watched while the docks were being built. As a coastal settlement, they would receive ten initial small shop plots to be given or sold. Additionally, there were two large plots available also.

"Anyone know a good Innkeeper we could talk into moving here?" Jun Li was smiling at Nix for once, usually, she was serious when he was around. Everyone knew that he had a close relationship with Hyai from the Kindled Spirit.

Nix returned her smile. "How's that work, Junie?"

She didn't seem to notice that he used her nickname. "The Inn goes with the Innkeeper. She could pay a fee and the KIndled Spirit would be moved from the plot in Cyphix to one here in Glory Island."

"Hmmm... I'll consider asking her. Pon, I need you to find me a reliable Fire Acolyte for our temple."

The old fire mage nodded, "I know of several, but Fire Temples require a flame spirit."

Nix shook his head, "no it doesn't."

Jun Li pursed her lips slightly, Nix hardly ever said things that were wrong. "In this case Nix... I believe he is right. To receive all the benefits of having an elemental temple, a spirit is required. Or else it would just be a building."

Nix shook his head again. "Flame spirits are fairly low-level elementals. We don't need one of those, because we have a Fire Nemesis."

Pon, "oh god."

Jun Li, "you can't be serious."

"Why not? Temple Spirits are given their own elemental worlds." He had already discussed it with Shae, it would give her a secure place that she could call her own.

Jun Li glanced between Pon and Nix. "No one has a Nemesis Elemental as their Temple Spirit. How would that even work?"

Pon scratched his old face as he considered it. "Temple benefits are directly related to the strength of the Elementals residing within its core world. Honestly, I have no idea what would happen if Shae had her own temple."

"Bring me an acolyte, Pon. You know what Shae is like, so try to find someone who can get along with her."

Semmi had been listening in on the conversation, she nudged Nix over slightly and sat down next to him on his boulder. "You'll use one of the large plots to build a Temple?"

"Yes, we are going to need the benefits of a Fire Temple if we intend to make further progress in Mermaid City."

Nix accessed the settlement menu from his hud and checked the Temple prices. He whistled and closed it immediately. It was nearly five billion credits, he didn't have that kind of money. "How can we land a temple without paying for it?"

Semmi laughed at the comment. "You want to take someone's temple?

Nansu chose this moment to approach, she was holding hands with Chael. "I'd like an alchemist shop, please. I know it will probably have to wait until a later time, but just keep it in mind."

Nix brought up the menu interface and showed the plot locations for small shops. "See a location you like?"

Nansu pointed to one that was close to the docks. She was never certain when Nix was serious or joking.

Nix highlighted the area and then chose the Alchemy shop from a long list of possibilities. He smiled at the look on Nansu's face. All businesses would automatically donate fifteen percent of their profits to the guild. "All done."

The build options Nix chose only took a few hours to complete. Jun Li volunteered to recruit Ship captains for them, while Semmi would look for a Settlement manager. Nix had a general idea of what he wanted, but he had no idea the best way to get it done. A manager was definitely needed.

A familiar face approached him, Nix was surprised until he remembered that he had given her back the second Deep Blue bracer.

Mina smiled at him, "I hear you are looking for a Temple?"

Nix nodded, "you know of one?"

Mina brought up a map and zoomed in on a large building. "The Arcadic Temple."

"Oh god..." Pon stared at her like she had three heads.

Jun Li stared at the map. "That's an Aquarion Temple from Mermaid City, it isn't even part of the raids."

Nix looked at the map then back at the Aquarion. "I like the way you think Min."

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A day later at 1500, Nix ported back into the Lifestyle Village. Darsi, Dalton and five others were waiting next to the platform.

Nix held out a hand. "Everyone please join hands." He waited patiently until everyone complied, then he activated Deep Blue and chose Jenzi.

Darsi stepped off the platform, she had been to Jenzi many times, so she wasn't standing there gawking like the rest of her group. Her eyes were watching Nix. "This entire time, you have an artifact that can do what I spent the last few months trying to accomplish."

"I suppose so, it's not like I could just tell you that." He glanced at the rest of the group, "tomorrow morning I'll pick you up here at 0700 and bring you back to the hub."

"Can I copy the artifact that you use for travel?"

"I'll consider it, but first you need to show that you can make the daily commute work."

One of the men who were in the group stepped forward. He was a thin Asian man with close-cropped hair. "So we treat the hub like a regular job, 0700-1500, and we can live anywhere in this world?"

Dalton Moore's face showed that he was still nervous being around, but he could see the sense in the plan. "We meet our quotas and there are no issues from the Gladis Hub."

Nix nodded, "you can make a lot of credits in Colonial while you are here. You can arrange to keep that so you have something put aside when you are done. It's something to think about."

Darsi smiled at him, her pretty face finally relaxing. "What about the island you mentioned?"

"We are building our own town, there is room for crafters." Nix knew that most of this group would probably be done with their sentences in the next few years. Any shop you started, would still be yours after you are released."

They were all still staring at him when he activated the Deep Blue and chose Cyphix. He couldn't keep the smile off his face when he noticed the empty lot that had once been the Kindled Spirit. All he had done was mention moving to Glory Island and Hyai had jumped at the chance. Apparently she was tired of the cold and had been wanting to relocate to someplace warmer.

"Nix!" Hyai was walking down the street with Kyla, both of them were carrying glowing deeds in their hands.

Nix smiled at the pair, although Hyai's hair was a shade lighter red, the two could have passed for mother and daughter very easily. The gunsmith was well known in Cyphix for doing quality work. "Did you recruit us a gunsmith?"

"Yep." Hyai held up the deed in her hand. To complete the transfer, all Nix needed to do was to assign her a plot large enough on Glory Island and the Inn would construct. The build time was about four hours.

"Is someone going to come looking for me since I'm stealing all the business owners in Cyphix?"

Kyla nodded, "the entire town will be missing Hyai's cooking."

Hyai smiled at the compliment. "Are we going to be the only two business owners in town?"

Nix held out his hands, "let me show you the site."

The Inn Site was overlooking the cove, Hyai's eyes lit up the moment she saw it. Nix assigned her the plot and she activated her Inn Deed. The small grouped walked along the dock, most of the ten shops would be facing seaward, Nansu and Fajii were already setting up the Alchemy shop which was nearly in the middle of the dock area.

Nix pointed to plot just to the right of Nansu's. "That's where my Tailor shop is going, all you have to do is choose one that you like."

He activated the town menu and assigned himself the plot after paying a hefty price. Kyla pointed to the one on the other side of him. "That one works for me."

He nodded and assigned her the plot, Fajii and Nansu walked out of their shop when they noticed the newcomers.

"Nansu and Fajii, this is our new Inn Keeper, Hyai and our Gunsmith shop owner, Kyla."

Neither Hyai nor Kyla seemed to mind Fajii being an Aquarion, they were both aware that Inferno was allied with the Souza Accord. Nix had already told them, that this would be an Aquarion friendly island.

By the time Nix made it back to the Sea-World, most of Inferno was lounging on the third deck of his houseboat.

Shae smiled when she saw him. "Ready for action Nix?"

He leaned against the rail next to her and nodded at Mina who had been waiting for him so she could start her brief.

"Arcadia is the biggest Temple in Colonia. Capturing a Temple in Colonial is straightforward. Eliminate the temple spirit and kill the acolytes. You can then capture the Temple deed. Once you do that the Temple will automatically deconstruct within a few hours."

Pon was looking at a map on his hud. "How many acolytes and what sort of spirit?"

"There will be six Aquarion Water mages serving as acolytes. The water spirit is a Lord class spirit. She is currently the highest spirit controlling a Temple in Colonial." Mina shot a glance toward Shae, "at least for now."

The old fire mage wrinkled his face, "Aquarion water mages are much stronger than their human counterpart."

"Which is why you, Nix and Sharl will form a team of three to kill each of them." Jun Li had taken on the role of Raid Leader since Nix had asked her. "The rest of us will ensure that you aren't overrun by reinforcements."

Mina nodded, "initially we can expect that there won't be much reaction, but if they figure out what we are trying to do, we can expect to face an army."

Shae had been listening to the raid brief. "The Water Lord there is quite old and very strong, we are each other's weakness. If we can successfully take this temple, Mermaid City will be substantially weakened."

Jun Li zoomed in on Pon's map. "Mina has a portal point saved relatively close by. We shouldn't run into any issues before we get to Arcadia. The Main raid group will hit the Courtyard next to the entrance. Here the Temple group of Shae, Nix, Pon, and Sharl will push in. Shae will directly access the elemental world anchored to the temple while the others move on the Acolytes. We will set up in the doorway to create a bottleneck defense. If we can't win this fight in fifteen minutes, everyone will retreat back to Glory. Questions?"

Ronnie was studying the map, she had wanted to fight with her sister, but her lack of fire gear meant that she would have to be part of the defense. "What sort of benefits will the Temple bring Glory?"

Semmi had the most Colonial knowledge so she fielded the question. "We can expect a huge fire damage buff, probably thirty percent. Shae will be given an elemental world that is anchored to the temple, this will draw fire mages from all over Colonial. We will also be able to anchor a seed-world to the temple."

Nix looked up when she said the last part. "Can we anchor the Sea-World to the temple?"

Semmi nodded, "In a round-about way. Temples come with a tiny speck of a seed world, this is meant for the Acolytes to reside in. Seed worlds all have one thing in common, no matter what their size is. They can be combined."

"That's going to be a fire seed world right," Nix asked? "Won't that be bad if we combine it with a water-world?"

"That's something no one knows, but if we can manage it then the temple portal will become a private access to the Sea-World."

The small raid group was gathered together on Glory island. In attendance were the members of Inferno with the addition of Mina, Milat, and Shae. A few last-minute changes meant that Semmi would accompany the fire team. There had been some fire gear mixed in with the loot from the Gladis hub, Jun Li had decided that Semmi would give them some much-needed scout abilities.

Mina squeezed Nix's hand, she had argued with Jun Li over not being part of the Acolyte team. In the end, it was decided that her Vilas would be more effective in the temple courtyard helping to hold back the reinforcements. "I can send a few Vila to protect you."

Nix shook his head, "I want you to use them to protect yourself." He was wearing turtle under armor underneath his Salamander suit. He had found an Aquatic ring that had the same qualities as his aquatic gear, thanks once again to the crafters of the Gladis Hub.

The small group joined hands and instantly ported to Mermaid City. This was not part of the raiding levels, but if you were to look carefully, the Arcadic Temple was on the 8th floor. Nix immediately summoned Soup and Ducky. He patted Soup's head gently. As agreed, Mina led the way through a mostly abandoned city. They ran into a few aquatic sub-species, but nothing that wished to pick a fight with them. They pulled up just before they entered a dense seaweed forest.

The weeds and sea plants extended twenty feet from the bottom. In the distance, you could see a pyramid-shaped structure surrounded by vast open space.

Nix whistled softly and glanced at Shae who probably would have been drooling had they not been underwater. "That's way bigger than I imagined."

"It's wonderful Nix, please work hard for me." Shae had changed slightly since undergoing her nemesis metamorphosis. Her long red hair floated around her in the water, she wore the body-hugging salamander suit and held a flaming staff.

Sharl, Semmi, Pon, Shae, and Nix moved away from the rest, they would move in fast and get into the temple ahead of the pursuit. It would be vital that the main group managed to block the entrance until they had completed the mission.

Sharl, Semmi, and Pon all latched on to Soup's shell. Even pulling three people, the Sea Turtle was much faster than them. Shae and Ducky would lead the way with Nix bringing up the rear guard.

Jun Li made sure everyone was ready, then she gave Shae the thumbs up. Instantly Shae flashed into the Seaweed forest, the small group trailing behind. Jun Li gave them a five-count and then nodded for Mina to lead the way in.

The entry into the Arcadia Temple was a huge archway that was closed up by white silver doors. The advance group was halfway across the courtyard when they were first spotted. There wasn't a normal guard on the grounds since this was deep into Aquarion territory.

Nix followed his group closely, he estimated the distance to the pursuit and decided that Aquarion 's would arrive before the raid's main body. Both his hands glowed with green flames.

[Meteor Storm]

A targeting array formed on the ground covering a space that was 50x50 meters, Nix centered it on the Aquarion guards and the continued toward the door.

Mina noticed the guards heading to cut them off, "we may have to fight our way to the door!" A moment later green flames rained down on the courtyard, everything it touched screamed in mortal agony, although the flames only did normal damage, it seemed to have a hidden pain modifier attached to it.

Jun Li was rear guard for the main body, she shook her head at the emerald meteor storm. One spell halted the group of five guards in their tracks and enabled them to make it to the doorway. The massive doors had been opened by the advanced team. "Stealth fighters leave the group and pick TOAs, (Targets of Opportunity) tanks in the doorway, healers to the back."

Mina set loose her Vilas in the area in front. "Keep an eye on the time, this raid becomes unwinnable in fifteen minutes."

Shae pushed through the door and didn't bother to even look at the Acolytes, above the altar was a shimmering blue light that hovered peacefully. The red-head darted through it without looking back.

Three Acolytes came at them just after they entered. Nix immediately targeted the nearest.

[Befuddle: My Target]

Ducky weaved her hands gently, the Aquarion responded by stopping in her tracks while slowly swaying back and forth. Six strands shot from his Nix's hands and wrapped around the second, completely immobilizing him. The green flames bit into the Acolytes cloth armor, only a strand wrapped around his throat kept him from screaming.

Pon targeted the third Acolyte.

[Wall of Flames]

The flames forced the Aquarion Acolyte back, Sharl ignored the wall and leaped through it with her spear thrust outward, she swept her spear at the Acolytes feet, knocking her to the ground before she skewered her through the abdomen.

Nix held the strands in place and assisted Sharl by targeting her opponent.

[Comet Strike]

Three balls of green flame burst from his hand, the first two missed but the third took the downed opponent in the chest hurting her badly.

Semmi appeared an instant later and slashed her daggers across the Acolytes throat, finishing her off. "I'll go find the other Acolytes!" She faded from view, her voice trailing after her.

Sharl turned back toward the other two, shaking her head in amazement. The one Nix held in his green flame strands was nearly dead already. She slashed it once across the back and stepped back when it crumbled to the floor.

Pon targeted the third one with his strongest spell.

[Balefire]

A white flash of brilliant flame knocked the befuddled Aquarion to the ground. Nix quickly targeted her again with his version of the spell.

[Balefire]

The green flame flashed at the Aquarion, a moment later she disenigrated into nothing. Nix fell to his knees, his head spinning.

Pon helped him to his feet. "Oh... Shae said that you shouldn't use Balefire yet, the Salamander version uses all your remaining mana. It's meant for last resorts."

Nix frowned at he old mage, "you did that on purpose."

Pon nodded, "can't have a young runt showing me up!" The old mage cackled and then moved behind Sharl.

Sharl didn't hide the smile on her face. "Read the spell description noob, it says that right?"

"Damn it... Aren't we on the same team?"

Sharl nodded, "sure."

Pon grinned wickedly at him. "Yep."

Shae paused when she arrived in the elemental world, she immediately felt the weakening effects of being in a Water Lord's Elemental domain.

WHO DARES ENTER MY WATER WORLD?

Shae frowned at the voice, such arrogance in front of an Elemental Nemesis was mind-boggling. "Enough of the posturing old fool. Show yourself and we'll talk this over properly."

An old-looking man appeared in front of her. His ocean blue eyes throbbed with the power of a Water Lord. "A Nemesis comes to my temple? Why?"

Two swords made of flame appeared in Shae's hands, her flaming aura lit up around her driving the Water Lord back a step. "I'm taking this temple for my own. Leave now and you will escape with your life."

The old man laughed at the sight of her. "You think too much of yourself. If this was neutral ground you'd stand a chance." A shield made of shimmering blue water appeared on one arm while he pulled a blue trident out of the water surrounding them.

Nix held the fourth Acolyte with all of his strands while Pon, Semmi, and Sharl fought the fifth one. Ducky had the last of them befuddled off to one side. Since all of Nix's mana was gone, there wasn't much he could do. He hadn't brought mana potions and so was relegated to strictly crowd control. He cursed the laughing fire mage in his head.

Sharl finished off the fourth Acolyte and targeted Ducky's mob. This would give Nix's strands more time to weaken the last Acolyte.

Pon assisted Sharl and hit her target with his Balefire spell, he felt a bit guilty when he glanced at his frowning guild leader. He tossed him a mana potion after the fifth Acolyte died.

Nix opened the bottle and downed it without even looking. Instantly he felt the warm presence of his fire mana flowing through him again. "Thanks, Pon."

The old mage nodded, "don't use it all at one time noob."

"This is what you get when you invade my world, little salamander." The old man looked exhausted, but his smile was triumphant. The Nemesis knelt on the ground with a spear thrust through her side.

"Stupid tricks..." Shae's eyes blazed with red flames, she had the old man beaten to a standstill when they sprang the trap on her. There were two Water Lords in this domain.

A blue-haired woman laughed from behind her. "I'm his mate, so of course my strength is his."

Shae spit some of her flaming blood on the ground in disgust, she stared at the old man who was still laughing. "All you've done is cause her death. Do you think I have no one?"

[Summon: Spirit Bond]

A moment later a yellow-eyed human appeared beside her. Right away his intelligent eyes read the situation. "You okay Shae?"

Shae nodded toward the female elemental as she painfully removed the spear from her side. "Stall her."

[Aura Ignition]

A green flame pulse outward from him, causing both Water Lords to scream in pain. A dozen green tentacles waved madly around him. All of them instantly wrapped around the female.

The old Water Lord had scoffed when his opponent summoned a human. He wasn't sure how he could enter the elemental world, but he had done so. The green flames coming off him were horrifyingly painful. His mate screamed loud enough to shake the water world. He flashed toward her without a second thought, unbelievably he had forgotten Shae's presence for a split second.

Shae thrust both swords through his chest, impaling him as he sped past her. He collapsed on the ground just before he got to Nix. He watched powerlessly while the Nemesis walked past him and beheaded his mate.

Nix released his aura, not bothering to watch as Shae killed the remaining Water Lord. "We need to go now Shae."

Shae nodded and took the Temple Deed that had appeared over his corpse. "I can always count on you Nix."

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A half-hour later the Inferno guild was discussing the Arcadia Raid. Mina hadn't lost any of her Vilas, but several of them would be down for a few days.

"You vanished just as we finished off the last Acolyte." Sharl had thought Nix had ported out, he was using both hands to hold strands when he disappeared.

"I summoned him." Shae was still holding the glowing deed in her hands. "There were two Water Lords in the temple. They sprang a trap on me that caught me by surprise."

Pon whistled softly, "two of them?" He stared at Nix, if his emerald fire strands could hold a Water Lord, then Nix was the strongest fire mage on Colonial. "A Water Lord should have tossed him around like a toy."

Shae pushed an errant strand of red hair behind her ear. "He held her without assistance, even I am not sure what those flame strands are."

Nix stood up and stretched his tired body. The depletion of his mana had completely worn him out. He would have to be more careful in the future. "Let's head to the temple site."

The group walked toward the middle of the Island. There was a small hill with a level area on top. This was the temple site. Nix activated the Island menu and chose the temple site. He nodded to Shae who walked toward the middle of the plot.

[You have a Temple Deed and an Elemental being. Do you wish to construct a Fire Temple?]

"Yes."

Both Shae and the deed she held vanished. The entire hill became a whirling cloud of smoke and flame. The Inferno guild quickly retreated back to town. The Temple was a 12-hour build.

Nix noticed that the Inn had been completed, so he led the group there. Hyai had kept the name, it was still the Kindled Spirit. The Inn had been upgraded automatically when it was built, the tables, booths, and chairs were all new again. He took a seat at the bar and waited while the rest of Inferno did the same.

Surprisingly Sila walked in from the backroom and moved behind the bar to serve. "Heya Nix!" She served him a pint first and then started filling up mugs for everyone else.

Nix grinned at her, he hadn't seen much of her since the raid on Cyphix. Her short brown hair had grown to shoulder length. Her baggy clothes still did nothing to hide her impressive curves. "What are you doing here Sila?"

She hesitated in front of Mina, not sure if Aquarions liked to drink. She poured when Mina nodded.

"Mina this is Sila, a friend of mine from Cyphix. Sila this is Mina, she is the leader of the Souza Accord."

To her credit, Sila smiled pleasantly, even though it was her first time meeting an Aquarion. "I'm here helping Hyai for a few days, Nezbit and Donri are here also. "

Nix had grouped with the three of them shortly after his arrival in Colonial. Nezbit was also one of the clerics that had been captured during the Cyphix raid. "Is this a coincidence?"

Sila grinned at him but didn't answer right away as she continued to pour. When she was finally done she walked back to the middle of the bar and leaned her elbows on the smooth wood. The act caused her large breasts to squeeze together, Nix did his best not to stare. "We've left our guild and want to join Inferno. If you'll have us."

Nix didn't really have to think about it. The three of them were all in the mid-30s, with a small push they could make 50 and start gearing up. "We'd love to have you."

A few minutes later Nix left by himself and walked down the short path to the docks. His tailor shop had been completed. He walked in and opened the small double doors to let some of the sea air in. He had used the Shop menu to have Nix's Tailor Shop painted on the window. Inside were several rows of hangers, followed by a few large flat tables and some bins. There was a workstation in an attached backroom. The backroom had stairs leading up to a second floor that could serve as storage or a living area. He used his inventory from Gladis Hub to stock the workstation and was just wrapping up when he heard footsteps in the store.

Nix peeked through the curtain leading to the back room and smiled at the young woman who had walked in. "Hey, Kyla."

Kyla was wearing the red dress that Nix had made her, for once her hair was down. She had always reminded him of his sister Lisa. It was her smile, it turned a normal face into a stunning beauty.

"I 'm going to head over to the Inn to eat." Her shop was set up like Nix's, she had been unpacking her personal things in the living area.

"I'm heading that way also." Nix locked up his shop and then walked back toward the Kindled Spirit. There was a group of people standing outside watching the sunset. Nix had to admit, Colonial sunsets could be breath-taking.

Kyla stopped outside to mingle a bit, she had made friends with Nansu during the day and decided to chat with her.

The Kindled Spirit had the same warm feeling he remembered. He headed up the stairs, Hyai continued to insist that the luxury suite was his. Halfway up the stairs, he heard her voice.

"I made some beef stew if you feel like eating something." Hyai had just walked out of the kitchen with a tray for one of the nearby tables.

Nix nodded, "that would be great. Going to get cleaned up a bit, then I'll be down."

Hyai shook her head, "get some rest Nix, I'll bring it up when things slow down."

A few minutes later Nix was submerged up to his chin in hot water. His clothes were tossed in a pile next to the bed.

Nix was shaken awake several hours later, landing on the hard floor woke him up. The entire room seemed to be tilting as he stumbled to the door and down the steps. He managed to make it outside without further mishap, all of Glory island was rumbling. He headed to the back of the inn toward the Temple site.

"Holy Shit." Molten rock was flowing down a steep volcano that seemed to sprout from nowhere. It continued to rise skyward with small eruptions sending rock and lava into the air. By the time the rumbling stopped, all of Inferno had joined him.

Smoke clouds swirled around the site for several more minutes before finally clearing. The base of the volcano had become a serene white marble temple with huge stone columns and a large courtyard. There were dozens of fountains that flowed with flaming liquid, Nix felt a huge surge of strength when started walking toward the entrance.

Colonial System Message: A Fire Palace has been constructed on Glory Island. All Inferno Guild members receive a 50 percent to fire-based damage. All Inferno Fire mages receive a mana boost of 30 percent. The Fire Palace may be chosen as a binding point. All weapons made in the Fire Temple smithy are automatically fire-based weapons.

Nix felt someone grab his arm, he turned to see an excited Pon. He had a half dozen robed women with him. "These your daughters Pon?"

The old mage made a face at him but didn't reply. "These are all fire mages who volunteered to become Acolytes."

"So many?" Nix glanced back at the temple, there was no sign of Shae yet. "Suppose I'll go get her."

The group let him get several yards ahead before they followed him. Nix walked across the courtyard to the intricate red gold doors. They were quite warm to the touch and opened easily when he pushed against them.

Inside were more columns and white marble floors, in the distance he could see an altar. He stopped for a moment and turned back to Pon. "Six isn't going to be enough Acolytes Pon."

The old fire mage nodded, "I wasn't expecting this."

Above the altar was a swirling mass of fire. Nix couldn't feel any heat emanating from it when he approached. There was also a set of green leather armor folded neatly along with a wooden staff, a rifle, a spear, a shield, a sword, and two daggers.

Shae stepped from the fire a moment later. Her red hair seemed to be in flames as it floated casually in the air behind her. She wore a suit of red mail and held flaming swords in each hand. When she saw Nix, the swords faded into nothing and she stepped toward him.

Nix returned the smile that she gave him. "These are pretty nice digs Shae. I wonder if my.." He was interrupted when she grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him.

She released him but latched onto his hand. "It seems like meeting you has been one benefit after another for me. I've named you the Fire Palace Champion."

Nix let himself get pulled closer to the altar, where Shae handed him the green leather armor. He slipped it on without a second thought. It was warm and comfortable.

[Aura Ignitition]

Green flames crackled and swirled around him, the fire mages nearby all stepped closer when they noticed they had received a fire-based attack buff.

Pon read the buff out loud. "Emerald Champion 100 to Attack, stacks with all attack based buffs. Four-hour duration."

Nix looked at the stats on the leather armor.

Emerald Armor [Growth Type]

Unique: Elemental

All stats increased by ten.

Fire-based attacks use thirty percent

less mana.

"My aura ignition causes an ATK buff?" Nix dropped his aura and watched as Shae handed out the weapons on the altar. Pon received the Fire Staff, Banzi received the spear and shield, Chael received the rifle, Jun Li received the sword and the two daggers went to Semmi and Wind.

Shae smiled and thanked everyone. "Once a month I can make armor and weapons in the Temple Smithy. Within a few months, everyone will have a set of fire-based weapons."

Pon motioned for the Acolytes to move forward. "Shae these fire mages volunteered to serve here. I will find more when I can."

Nix moved away from the group and accessed Deep Blue, he chose the Sea World and right away received a system message.

[You are accessing a personal seed world in the vicinity of your temple's seed world. As the Temple Lord, you may combine the two seed worlds. Do you wish to combine them?]

"Yes." He glanced at Shae, she was talking with the Acolytes. Why wasn't she the Temple Lord?

[Please wait an additional four hours for the seed melding to take place.]

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Nix arrived at Jenzi platform a few minutes before 0700. All seven members of the Gladis Hub were waiting for him. He offered them membership in Inferno.

Darsi seemed surprised by the offer. "What brought this on Nix?" She liked calling him Trip-Seven, but she didn't want to antagonize him further.

"It's for ease of travel. By joining Inferno, you will receive a Guild portal icon on your hud. That means you can leave the Gladis Hub unassisted."

Darsi smiled at him, "I can make us all 'return to binding point' bracers. They aren't complicated at all. As long as our binding point is the Hub, we'll be able to go back and forth easily."

Nix nodded, "that's what I'm thinking also." He held out his hand and Darsi grabbed it. A few moments later he dropped them off at the Gladis Hub and then returned to Glory Island.

He covered a yawn when he stepped off the Glory platform.

/Guildchat: Nix: Going to check out the Sea-World now.

/Guildchat: Ronnie: If my houseboat is damaged, I'm going to want compensation!

/Guildchat: Nix: Sure, just ask Shae for reimbursement.

The Palace courtyard was empty as he walked through it. The beautiful Red Gold doors were open, Nix could hear the sound of voices coming from within. Pon was there with three additional Acolytes, bringing the total to nine. They were all huddled around the old mage, hanging on his every word.

Nix held up a hand and waved. "Hey guys, don't let me interrupt." He guilded all of the Acolytes as he passed through. To his surprise, each of them bowed low to him.

Off to one side of the altar was a small platform. The temple in Cyphix had a similar one, it was where he had respawned after freezing to death the last time.

[Initial Set up of the Fire Palace portal, please choose permissions from the following choices.]

1: Inferno Members only.

2: Access on individual Basis.

3: Unlimited Access.

"Inferno Members only."

[Access to Temple Seed World has been established. Please choose permissions from the following choices.]

1: Inferno Members only.

2: Access on individual Basis.

3: Unlimited Access.

"Access on individual Basis."

[Initial Set up has been completed. Please return to the platform menu to change any choices.]

Nix opened the guild roster and gave the original Inferno members access, then he stepped on the platform and chose the Sea-World.

His feet stepped directly onto the beach. He breathed a sigh of relief to see that the marina was still intact. The small cottage on the beach had grown again. He turned to see acres and acres of rolling plains, covered in knee-high grass. The Seed World seemed to have doubled in size, with just about all of that being land.

/Guildchat: Nix: Everything is fine, none of the houseboats were damaged.

Most of the Aquarions had remained on the Sea-World during the melding, they walked out of the water when they saw him.

"I can't believe this is the same tiny world I use to play in as a child." Mina walked up behind him, she had used the Deep Blue bracer to access the world.

Nix gave her portal access to the Sea-World and started adding Aquarions one by one. When she noticed what he was doing, She had them come up and present themselves. Adding six-hundred Aquarions to the portal permissions only took a few minutes. "Now each of you may come and go as you please."

Fajii was one of the last ones to receive permission. "Thank you, Nix." She knew that he was giving up something quite valuable so that her people would have a safe haven.

"Yes. Thank you." Mina placed a hand on his shoulder, they had been fighting alongside each other for weeks now and had developed a good sense of camaraderie.

Nix used his guild portal icon again and walked toward his Tailor shop.

/Guildchat: Darsi: Can we chat later Nix? I'll meet you at the docks at 1500.

/Guildchat: Nix: Sounds good. It' would be nice if each of your co-workers introduced themselves to the guild.

/Guilchat: Darsi: Sure Nix. I'm Darsi, I'm an Artificer.

/Guildchat: Dalton: I'm Dalton, a cobbler.

/Guildchat: Ronnie: You make desserts?

/Guildchat: Sharl: Oh god..

/Guildchat: Dalton: Shoes and boots.

/Guildchat: Pinwall: I'm Pin, I'm a Chef.

/Guildchat: Lena: Lena here, I'm a Carpenter.

/Guildchat: Sorbie: I'm Sorbie, I make jewelry.

/Guildchat: Blitz: I'm Blitz, I make bladed weapons.

/Guildchat: Moki: I'm Moki, I am an armorer.

Nansu and Fajii were standing in front of the Alchemy shop when Nix arrived at his door. Nansu offered him a smile, "Are those people from Gladis going to open shops here?"

Nix shrugged, "Not really sure, but I hope so." He knew from experience that the Gladis Hub possessed the best crafters.

He spent a few hours working in the backroom. He made a few bins of both male and female undergarments, then moved on to swimsuits. Finally, he made a custom black suit for himself and slipped it on. He made two more generic versions for the mannequins.

He stretched his arms over his head, it had been a long time since he had dressed up. Most of Inferno was at the Kindled Spirit when he walked in. The sudden silence pulled Hyai out of the kitchen. Nix waved and took a seat at the bar.

Wind had been sitting with Banzi across the room, they instantly made a bee-line for him. King Lubo was sitting comfortably on his shoulder. He jumped nimbly to Nix's shoulder and patted his cheek.

"Hail the King." Nix used a finger to rub his smooth stomach, the King half-closed his eyelids and enjoyed the attention for a moment before jumping back to Wind.

Wind sat down next to him, "you make that suit Nix?"

Nix nodded, "Yes. A hundred thousand credits. Currently, I can make blue, black and gray."

Wind gave him a rare smile. "I'll take three, one of each color."

Banzi nodded in agreement, "Same for me boss."

"Pick them up at the shop tomorrow." He caught Hyai's eye and motioned for her to join him. She finished serving the table and walked over.

"Looking great Nix! What's the occasion?" She was just finishing up with the lunch crowd.

"Just advertising my product. Want to head to Rhatia? It has a nice river-walk down by the channels."

"I don't have anything fancy to wear Nix."

He handed her a white box, "There are a few different colors, I'll wait."

A half-hour later, they were walking down the boardwalk that bordered the channels. The trees overhanging the walkway were blooming with yellow flowers. Hyai had chosen a simple white dress with spaghetti straps. She wore matching white sandals. They relaxed and enjoyed the night air while taking in the parade of boats that traveled the channel-way.

Hyai leaned her head against him, a smile on her freckled face. "Been a while since someone has treated this old woman so nicely Nix."

"For an old woman, you are getting a lot of looks from the men walking by. I may have to fight my way out of here to keep you."

Hyai laughed at the comment, she was aware that several men had stopped to stare openly at them.

By the time they had walked the length of the channel, they had a dozen people keeping tabs on them, both male and female.

"Where did you get those clothes?"

A man and woman were pulling a small cart down the walk on the opposite side of the channel, they had noticed them and had stopped to watch. It was the man who spoke loud enough to carry across the water.

"I made them. I have a small Tailor shop on Glory Island." Nix pulled Hyai back toward the Rhatia platform, it was still early enough to meet up with Darsi.

"I enjoyed the stroll Nix. Thanks for inviting me."

Darsi and her group were standing on the docks when Nix returned. They were talking with Nansu, Kyla and Fajii. They seemed curious about Fajii, but since they were from the Gladis Hub, they had no real understanding of the ongoing conflict between the two races.

"Are these shop plots still available for sale?" Darsi was nearly done with a three-year sentence, if she could establish a business in Colonial, she could have something nice to fall back on when she got out.

Nix understood the concerns of these crafters. "Yes. Not only that, when you leave Colonial, we will hold them for you until you are able to return."

Darsi glanced at her companions. "We would like the remaining plots. Would that be acceptable?"

Nix hid his smile, he had been hoping these crafters would start shops on the dock. Crafter made items were in high demand and in some cases were better then the equipment that dropped in raids.

"Nix!" Jun Li called his name, much louder then she meant to. She was with a small group, two men and three women.

Nix used the Island menu to assign the Crafters their own shops and then walked toward Jun Li. All four of the people with her looked like pirates. "What can I do for you Juni?"

Jun Li didn't mind him using her nickname, they had become good friends in recent weeks. "These are the captains I've hired for our ships." He had specifically asked her to hire five captains, she still wasn't sure what the last one was for.

Nix bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you. I"m Nix, the guild leader of Inferno." He glanced at the ship berths and noticed they were still empty. "Where are the frigates?"

"Semmi has them in Espana. It's possible to upgrade them with certain features before launch. Waiting until after increases the cost quite a bit." (Launch refers to removing them from their bottle)

/Guildchat: Nix: Can you check out ferry shuttles while you are in Espana, Sem?"

/Guildchat: Semmi: Sure, how big are you thinking.

/Guildchat: As big as they come. Once people realize what we have here, we should get a pretty big daily crowd.

/Guildchat: Semmi: The biggest is a thousand passenger, just under 500 million.

/Guildchat: Nix: Get it for me.

/Guildchat: Semmi: Um... you're paying me back right?

/Guildchat: Nix: Sorry, you're breaking up.

"Nice to meet you guys." Nix waved at them and headed toward the palace. He hadn't checked out Shae's Elemental world yet.

Halfway to the Temple, Nix slipped his green armor back on. As he approached the altar, Pon and a few of the Acolytes watched him. "Something on my face Pon?"

The old fire mage shook his head. "What you doing Nix?"

Nix pointed at the ball of flame hovering above the altar. "Right there. I"m going in."

Pon shook his head, "Unless Shae brings you in personally, you'll probably be incinerated."

Nix shrugged at them, "We'll see."

[Aura Ignition]

Bright emerald-colored flames swirled around Nix and then pulsed outward. He leaped toward the swirling ball of flame above the altar and disappeared from sight.

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Nix had been expected a world of flame and molten rock, however, the reality was quite different. The air was a bit heavier, and it bore the faintest hint of brimstone. There were dozens of pools with steam coming out of them. The entire area was lightly forested.

"Nice of you to finally show up." A voice spoke to him from close by. He turned to see Shae floating casually on the surface of one of the pools. Her red hair was slicked back on her head, she beckoned him with a finger.

He removed his armor while he walked toward her. "This is way more water than I was expecting Shae."

He placed a barefoot in and right away pulled it out. "Trying to cook me?"

Shae nodded, "That coincides with my plans to eat you... so yes."

Nix laughed and ignited his aura. This time when he stepped in he felt only the pleasant warmth of his own flames. The bottom of the pond was a spongy porous stone that he had never seen before. "Is that brimstone?"

"Yes..." She moved closer, not hesitating to embrace him despite his flames. She placed a hand on his shoulder and closed her eyes in pleasure. "Did you know that your emerald flames have an extreme pain modifier attached to them?"

"I figured it was something like that. Doesn't seem to bother you though."

Shae laughed softly, "just the opposite actually. For me, there is a pleasure modifier. I dare say you could be very popular with fire creatures."

"Is that right?" Nix sent a dozen strands to her limbs, while he wrapped his arms around her waist. She could have easily broken free, instead, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.

Shae let her arms and legs be spread apart, her breathing was labored from the pleasure. His warm hands gripped her hips tightly before he entered her causing her to arch her back and moan loudly.

Her body glowed with red flames that mixed together with his green ones. The colors fused together, making a brown flame both participants seemed to become frantic with need as they pushed against each other.

"Nix! The flames are brown!" Shae thrust her hips against him while she let the brown flames envelop her, her entire body vibrated as her moans grew louder.

Afterward, they lay in companionable silence on the grassy banks. Nix had his hands behind his head while he stared up at the reddish sky. Shae had her head on his chest and had decided to entertain herself by tickling him with a blade of grass.

"Going to scorch that piece of grass in a bit."

Shae laughed at him, "such scary threats Nix."

"I've been told I'm scary, it's the eyes."

She moved over him and planted a kiss on his forehead, "those lovely yellow eyes? Not scary at all."

"What's the significance of brown flames?"

Shae sat up slowly, her hand caressing his face. "Brown flames are a very high ranking flame, to advance further than Nemesis, I must cultivate a brown flame."

"Oh... How are you supposed to do that?"

Shae gave him a sly look, "until a few minutes ago, I had no idea."

Nix grinned at her, "so we need more practice then?"

"Undoubtedly."

Nix stepped onto the altar and then hopped onto the marble floor of the Fire Palace. He suspected that time flowed differently within the Elemental World, he could see the rising sun through the open doors of the Fire Palace.

He used the platform to access the Sea-World and stepped onto the soft sand. On a whim, he decided to check out the cottage. The home had increased in size, adding a second story, two more bedrooms, and a bathroom. The kitchen was now separated from the living room by a large island that had a half dozen stools around it.

Mina walked in while he was checking out the space, she had been living in the home ever since Nix moved into the houseboat. "Going to move back in Nix? There's plenty of room."

Nix shook his head. "Maybe when I get tired of the houseboat. I kinda like the gentle sway of the water."

"We can attempt an advancement in Mermaid City after Shae distributes some more fire gear."

/Guildchat : Semmi: I hired a dozen shop workers in Espana today, one for each shop and two for the inn.

/Guildchat: Nix: Nice job Sem.

/Guildchat: Semmi: And one huge ferry. Come down to the dock and see the fleet, the frigates have been launched.

/Guildchat: Nix: Be there in a bit.

/Guildchat: Semmi: Bring my 500 mil.

/Guildchat: Nix: No idea what you are talking about.

"Come on Min, you're going to be with me anyway."

Mina followed him out the door to the new Sea-World platform that accessed the Temple. "What do you mean?"

They walked through the Temple together, Nix could have used his guild icon to bring him to the dock area, but since Mina was with him he decided to walk with her. "It means I want you to pick a dozen of your best melee fighters, some of the new stealth ones would be great. You and I are going to do some privateering."

Mina looked confused but quickly changed the subject. "I've chosen another person for the spare Ricoli artifact."

Nix enjoyed having pets, they made the sticky situations more survivable. "Who'd you pick?"

"Fajii." Mina watched his expression turn into a frown. "You don't like the choice?"

"It's up to you, but no I don't like the choice."

Mina considered his words while they walked. "May I ask why?"

"She's an Alchemist, in the event of her death you would lose two valuable assets."

"She has high compatibility with magic, but you present a valid point. I will reconsider."

Nix nodded, "And I like her. That shouldn't be a reason probably. I like you also, yet I gave you one."

"It's nice that you want to protect us Nix. We want to protect you also."

He stopped when he stepped onto the docks. The Navy Frigates were like nothing he had ever seen. Three Main masts and two additional smaller sails fore and aft. The cannons had been drawn out, he counted 56 of them. "That is what I call a ship."

The nearest berth was occupied by the Ferry that Semmi had brought back, starting tomorrow he'd have it make a daily trip to the coastal city of Balta, which was part of Rhatia. The next four ships were identical except for the names. The Venture, the Scimitar, the Crane and the Phoenix. He smiled and stopped at the last one.

"This one is mine!" Nix said it out loud, he had just noticed that Semmi and Jun Li were onboard the Crane.

Semmi leaned on the rail of the Crane. "You like that one Nix?"

Nix nodded and headed up the gangplank. A woman with short dark hair stood on the deck. Nix stopped abruptly. "Permission to come aboard Captain?"

The woman nodded and Nix stepped onto the deck. "Welcome Sir, I'm Captain Delphi. I take it the Phoenix is to be your FlagShip?"

"Without a doubt, tell me about the ship Captain."

"She's a 56er with 24-pound cannons, dual deepwater rudders that can turn this girl on the head of a pin. Sturdy hardwood construction with berths for 130 sailors."

"Hmm... Can you pull those sails off for me? The smaller ones too, I just need them for a bit."

"Er... You want to detach the sails, sir?"

"Will that take a long time?" Nix examined the closest sail, there appeared to be dozens of attachment points.

"Well, strictly speaking the crew is loafing a bit since we're a new crew." Delphi considered it for a moment and then a smile spread to her face, "it'll be good for them. All crewmembers on deck, detach the three mains immediately as well as the fore and aft assists."

He had the first sail next to his feet within five minutes, his inventory was opened while he considered his choices. Tailors had all sorts of choices when it came to changing cloth. They could color it, strengthen it, make it lighter and even choose from hundreds of patterns or images to be transferred onto it. He chose to make the cloth white, it was already an off-white, but the color difference was several shades. He cycled through his choices of images until he found a red phoenix that was covered in beautiful orange flames. He chose the sail to be modified and then combined it with white silk for lightness. The end result cost him 200 thousand credits.

Phoenix Sail

Description: A beautiful white sail

emblazoned with the image of a majestic

Phoenix. 20 to Sail Speed. 10 to turn radius.

The grumbling crew watched while Nix changed the huge canvas sail. Within a few minutes, the replacement left them speechless.

"Reattach it and bring us the rest!" Delphi barked at them, her eyes staring at the sail.

Within an hour, the Phoenix Sails were in place, Nix was standing with Mina who hadn't taken her eyes off them. "You like them Min?"

"I think so." Mina had only seen the briefest flash of red, but she did notice the sails seemed much whiter Only Nix knew exactly what the design was. Since they were quickly furled, no one could see them.

Nix gave her thumbs up and then turned to the captain. "I want to see the crew below deck please."

Captain Delphi nodded. "Right away Nix."

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Although the Phoenix was equipped for 130 berths, there were currently only 115 sailors on board. That was more than enough for a Shake-out Run. Pon, Sharl and Jun Li had each taken a ship out while Nix was below deck.

"How can you do that so fast Sir?" Captain Delphi was wearing a sharp-looking red overcoat with red pants and a white shirt. In a relatively short period of time, he had made the crews uniforms as well. They wore red pants that stopped at the knee with a white shirt. He had added a swim component to the pants and an AC (Armor Class) component to the shirt.

Phoenix Uniform

Shirt: Common

Description: 100 to

Cooling Effect. 5

to AC.

Phoenix Uniform

Pants: Common

Description: 100 to

Cooling Effect. Underwater

breathing.

One by one the crew put on their new uniforms, the cooling effect was immediately popular. Nix had put the same effect on Delphi's uniform.

Nix smiled at the three empty berths, "looks like they got the jump on us. How about you show me what the Phoenix can do?"

Captain Delphi smile, she wore a red bandanna over her short hair instead of a hat. Her perfect smile was marred by a slight chip on her front tooth. "I'd love to Sir."

"Just Nix is fine Captain."

Jun Li and Semmi were at the front of the ship, enjoying the sea breeze as the Crane cut through the waves. To the right, they were kept pace by both the Scimitar and the Venture.

Jun Li was watching the competition since the ships were the same they weren't able to gain much ground. Pon was the closest on the Venture while Sharl seemed content to bring up the rear on the Scimitar.

"Maam! A ship has appeared behind us, it's gaining fast." Captain Hoki's deep voice carried from mid-ship.

"Gaining on us? Are we being attacked?" Jun Li and Semmi both trotted to the stern of the ship, one of the crewman handed them an eyeglass.

"Bastard." Semmi cursed under her breath and handed it to Jun Li.

Jun Li couldn't quite make out the ship. "Looks like a frigate. Why is it so fast?"

Semmi shook her head, "She couldn't be in our wind yet could she?"

Captain Hoki was a rail-thin man with a bald head. His skin was dark brown from a life spent at sea. "No. She's not in our wind, she's just faster."

The trailing ship started snaking in the water, quickly gaining on the Crane. Semmi watched as it continued to close, after a moment she scowled. "That's the Phoenix!"

Jun Li stomped her foot on the hardwood deck. "What kind of f*cking sails are those? How come we don't have them?"

Captain Hoki was staring at the Phoenix Sails, snow-white with a bright Phoenix emblazoned on it. "Custom sails, I have no idea where they would have got them."

Semmi shared a look with Jun Li. "I know exactly where they came from."

The Phoenix moved into their wind, effectively putting the brakes on them before coming broad-side to them. Most of the Phoenix crew had moved to the rail to wave.

Captain Delphi nodded her head to Hoki, before shooting a smile at Nix. "Permission to give them a proper greeting Sir."

Nix shrugged, "Whatever you like."

Captain Delphi yelled to her first mate. "Have the men greet them, Louie!"

Nearly a hundred sailors who had been at the rail waving turned around and gave them a half-moon. Nix roared with laughter when he saw them.

Semmi sighed heavily from the deck of the Crane, "not even a full moon."

Jun Li's face had turned bright red, "that's kinda rude! Even for Nix."

Captain Hoki took it in stride, "those uniforms are very sharp."

Just before sunset, all four frigates returned to Glory Island. Nix grabbed Mina and walked quickly toward his shop. "We should move fast before Junie pesters me about uniforms or sails."

When he arrived at his shop, there was a middle-aged woman waiting for him. She stepped forward and introduced herself. "I'm Nova. Would you be Mr. Nix?"

Nix nodded, "Are you the shopkeeper hired by Semmi?" As Nix recalled, Nova had been one of the names on the list of people she had hired.

"Yes, Sir." She looked relieved to finally meet him. All the people who she had been hired with were already assigned to a shop.

"Just call me Nix, please. Do you have a place to stay?"

Nova nodded, "I'll be commuting from my daughter's house in Espana."

"That's going to get expensive. You may stay above the shop whenever you like, to cut down on the portal prices." Nix gave her one of the keys and then unlocked the door to show her in.

"Oh my..." Nova glanced around at the products on display. "These are amazing Nix. You made all of this?"

"Yep. I'll make you some comfortable work clothes." He glanced over at Mina, "Could you see if Kyla has a minute? I'd like to talk to her."

Nix walked in back and started making a comfortable work uniform for Nova, while he was at it he made a few dresses and several sets of cotton undergarments. He was just finishing up when Mina came back with Kyla.

"Making me a new dress Nix?"

Nix returned her smile, "I'll make you a dozen nice dresses if you can take on an ultra-secret mission for me."

Kyla raised an eyebrow. "Ultra-Secret? Is there danger involved?"

He chuckled at her, "sure, you could drop something on your foot if you weren't careful. I want to hire you to customize my guns."

Kyla nodded, "Sure Nix. Another rifle then?"

Nix shook his head and walked toward the front door of his shop. He opened the door slightly and peeked out. "Follow me, Kyla, be quick."

A moment later he trotted down the dock toward the Phoenix, both Kyla and Mina followed him closely. He stopped at the gangplank and walked carefully toward the deck.

The first mate was standing nearby watching him, he was a short muscular man covered in interesting tattoos. "You only need to ask permission once a day sir."

"Oh okay. Could you ask Captain Delphi if she has a moment to talk?"

Louie nodded and then walked off. Nix brought them closer to the hold door. A few moments later Louie returned with the captain.

Delphi still wore the bright red uniform he had made for her. "Got something else up your sleeve Nix?" She was already getting a good understanding of his personality.

"Yep, take me to one of the 20-pounders, I need a standard firing crew also." They followed the captain below deck and exited into the cannon alley.

Nix was looking at 28 cannons, each of them was on a rail and mounted on a pivot. They could fire in either direction merely by flipping them. One deck lower was a mirror image of this one, bringing the total to 56 guns. "Two-person crews for a cannon?"

Delphi had two sailors with her. "That's correct, a loader and the fuser."

"In a fight, are the cannons assigned? Or do they just grab the first one they come to?"

"They aren't assigned to a specific cannon."

Nix glanced at Kyla then back at the Captain. "What if they were?" He stepped closer and inspected the cannon.

Steel Cannon: Twenty-pounder

Description: Fires twenty pound

projectiles. Max Range: 250 meters.

Effective Range: 100 meters.

Accuracy 3/10, reload 15 seconds.

Kyla admired the cannon, she liked the smell of new guns. "Why am I here Nix?"

"Could you customize this cannon to the fuser?"

Kyla's freckled face showed her surprise. "Customize a cannon?"

Nix nodded, " it's really just a big gun right?"

Kyla looked doubtful, "I'm not sure Nix." A small smile crept on her lips, "I really want to try though."

She spent several minutes inspecting the cannon after she was done she had a list of items she needed. Most of them were basic metals. "I have all of these in stock Nix. You're a crafter so I don't need to tell you how spendy experimenting can be."

"That's only for the first one, after that we'll be home free. Go get what you need, I will cover the credits." Nix waited, sometimes the cost of crafting new items bordered on ridiculous.

Kyla returned a few minutes later and set up the first cannon. "Every attempt is 51 thousand credits."

"Twenty attempts to start then." Nix crossed his fingers as she began to work. Too soon she glanced up at him.

"That's twenty Nix." She smiled when he transferred more credits to her.

"Twenty more."

Halfway through the attempts, her face broke into a big smile. She looked up at him, "Take a look!"

Steel Cannon: Twenty-pounder

Customized to Fedor.

Description: Fires twenty pound

projectiles. Max Range: 450 meters.

Effective Range: 200 meters.

Accuracy 5/10, reload 9 seconds.

Captain Delphi stared at the specs. "Holy Shit..."

Kyla laughed at their expression. "I never even thought to do heavy armaments."

Delphi glanced at Fedor, "from now on this is your cannon. Go roust the other fusers."

"So..." Kyla gave Nix a sly smile. "That's a dozen dresses. Don't be afraid to mix up the colors and patterns. I like orange, but nothing pink, please. Oh, matching underwear too."

He nodded at her, "I'll get to work on it, you stay here and finish up. Remember... Ultra-secret."

The next morning Nix sat on the rear deck of his Houseboat with Sharl, Pon, Jun Li, and Semmi. They were all reading the Sea-Farer Quest interface options. Since they had come to the aid of Broyan, the Inferno guild had aligned themselves with the Sea-Farer Faction. There were dozens of Quest options to advance through.

Jun Li had read through all of the options the night before and had stayed up late discussing them with Semmi. "I think we should take on the Bellator Quest Line. It eventually offers additional ships and the option to upgrade our Guild Town."

Nix had seen the quest, although it was unreasonable, he refused to touch anything with the Bellator name on it. Madrid Bellator had been one of the primary companies responsible for dumping toxins into water tables and burying barrels without proper insulation. "Sorry Juni, Inferno won't be doing the Bellator Quests."

Semmi was watching him carefully, Nix didn't wear his emotions on his sleeve. "Which one then?"

Nix pointed to a singular Quest. "This one." He activated the Quest and displayed in on his Guild Hud.

Quest: Onion

Duration: Unknown

Description: Take 3-5 ships and scout

the small island of Veshu.

Reward: 5000 Sea-Farer faction points.

Jun Li read the question description, "it might be a good place to start. I like the choice."

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"Where's the quest start?" Mina was looking over his shoulder at the map.

"We'll enter an instance at these coordinates," Nix pointed to an area in the middle of the ocean. He glanced casually at the rest of the fleet, they were keeping pace but only because Delphi was running at three-quarter sails.

"Contact Captain! Off the port bow!" Louie's deep voice yelled out, "Land-lubbers."

Captain Delphi glanced at Nix, "Up to you Nix."

/Guildchat: Nix: Small detour, we'll catch up.

"Go get her Captain." Nix grabbed Mina and walked toward the bow where the Aquarion Assault team was waiting. They seemed more nervous than they should be, "relax everyone and work in teams.

Mina summoned her Vila and assigned one to each of the two-person teams. There were five Aquarion pairs, her and Nix were the odd ones out, they would fight solo where needed.

The ship they were chasing looked to be slightly larger than theirs, it turned toward the Phoenix and very quickly the distance began to shrink rapidly.

"Hard to Port!" Captain yelled out the command at three hundred meters, the other boat was still closing the distance.

Nix watched as the Phoenix turned sharply, by the time they were perpendicular to the closing ship, they were at two hundred meters. "Perfect timing."

"Fire!" Delphi watched as both mains of the larger ship were shredded by the accuracy of the Phoenix's twenty pounders. "Hard to Starboard!"

The Phoenix turned again, this time running parallel to the enemy ship, they were at three hundred meters.

"Let's try our luck, Fire top cannons!" Captain Delphi had her eyeglass out as the top 28 cannons fired. Half of them hit the ship, three of them at the waterline.

Nix grinned at Mina, "They're dead in the water."

"Bring us around!" Delphi was about to give the command for fire order when the opposing ship ran up their white flag. She smiled at looked at Nix, "what do you want to do?"

Nix took out his eyeglass and examined the ship, she was taking on water. The ship was called the Alabaster and belonged to the Nottingham Guild. "Loot it and leave it." Being too heavy-handed would paint a bigger target on them.

The Phoenix pulled up broadside and a half dozen grappling hooks sailed over, a minute later the two ships were secured. The opposing crew opened their hold and stepped back. Nix was expecting angry faces, but the sailors actually looked relieved.

"Thanks for the mercy." A voice from beside him called out. She was leaning against the rail also, only a few feet away. "There are too many ships at the bottom of the sea out here."

Nix eyed the woman, she wore the tradition eyepatch of a pirate. He could see a bad scar that ran the length of her face, so he guessed the patch wasn't a gimmick. "You the captain?"

"Yes, Captain Faryn, well-fought today." She extended her hand over the rail and they shook cordially.

Nix noticed that the pinkie finger on her right hand was missing. "Will you be able to make it back to port?"

She pulled off her bandanna and wiped her forehead with it, she had deep red hair that was tied up in a complicated braid. "It'll be close, we've only materials for half the low hits."

Nix turned his head and looked at Delphi was had been monitoring her crew. Sometimes crewmen would be overaggressive and start fights with the losers, she didn't want this win to turn into a deck melee. "Can we spare some repair material?"

Captain Delphi considered it for a moment before nodding, "I'll send what we can spare over."

"Thank you, Captain." Taryn smiled at Nix and bowed low before turning. "Let's fight another day!"

Less than half an hour later the Phoenix had resumed its route to the quest coordinates. They were at full sail while Nix and the Captain examined the loot. They had come away with six chests.

Captain Delphi was all smiles, "it was a good win Nix. What's the split?"

"Call it a bonus and split it up between you and the crew." Nix patted her on the back and walked away. He wasn't an expert, but he liked what he saw. A new crew had easily taken down the Alabaster. They would only get better.

/Guildchat: Nix: Dalton you around?

/Guildchat: Dalton: I'm at the Hub if that's what you mean.

/Guildchat: Nix: I'd like to put an order in for 120 pairs of deck shoes.

/Guildchat: Semmi: You guys done already?

/Guildchat: Nix: Yes, we are enroute.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: How much damage did you take?

/Guildchat: Nix: None.

/Guildchat: Dalton: No problem.

The entrance to the instance was a huge transparent arch in the middle of the ocean. It was a few hundred feet across and perhaps five hundred feet high. More than enough for the ships to enter side by side.

Colonial System Quest Message: You have entered the Onion Instance.

Quest: Onion

Duration: Unknown

Description: Take 3-5 ships and scout

the small island of Veshu.

Reward: 5000 Sea-Farer faction points.

As soon as they entered, a map popped up on everyone's hud. The island of Veshu was shaped like a boot, almost all of it appeared to be densely forested.

/Guidchat: Jun Li: Pon, you go east with Nix. I'll go west with Sharl and we'll meet on the Northside.

The Phoenix took the lead, with the Venture close behind. Delphi lowered sail so that the slower boat could keep up.

"It's a very nice beach." Nix had an eyeglass and was scanning the shore. It was nothing but pristine white sands as far as you could see.

Mina was close by, she had her eyes on the water. The Aquarion assault team was still looking nervous. "Relax, we will be able to handle this."

Nix summoned Ducky and Soup and put them both in scout mode. They kept pace with the Phoenix for a few moments before rushing ahead.

There were several minutes of quiet, as the seconds ticked by the tension seemed to grow. Suddenly there was an explosion in the water, about a hundred meters off the bow. Nix could tell instantly that it had been triggered by Soup's sonic attack.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Mines in the water!!

Captain Delphi was already moving. "Hard to starboard, quarter sail. Free hands to the rail!"

The Phoenix slowed to a crawl, both Soup and Ducky returned to the ship. Nix slipped his armor off, and dived overboard.

"We'll scout it out, Captain." Nix latched on to Soup's shell and moved her forward. A splash next to him announced the arrival of MIna. She had two of her Vilas with her.

They submerged about twenty feet and slowly moved forward, within fifty meters they ran into the first mine. They were circular steel balls that were lined with spikes, someone had lined up hundreds of them. They were anchored to the sea-floor by a long tether that allowed them enough slack to drift a few feet in all directions.

Nix returned to the side of the ship to talk with Delphi. "Spiked mines that are tethered to the ocean floor, just below the surface. You know anything about these?"

The captain nodded, "cutting the tether sets them off, best if we find a route through them."

Nix glanced at Soup, "How about if we just start blowing them up?"

Delphi shook her head, "might set off a chain reaction. That's the last thing you want in an instance like this."

Mina motioned for the rest of her team to join them in the water. "Let's leave the ship and scout as a group. We can easily avoid the mines."

Nix nodded, "Anchor here, we'll be back."

/Guildchat: Jun LI: What's your status Nix? The Scimitar is hit hard and we have no place to go.

/Guildchat: Nix: We were able to discover the minefield before we entered it. Continuing to scout the island without the ships.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Should we do the same?

/Guildchat: Nix: If you're bored, take a team and head to the island.

They had only swum for a few minutes before most of the Vila started acting up. Mina had them all stop. "The Vilas are scared Nix."

/Guildchat: Nix: Get in the water Pon.

/Guildchat: Pon: On my way.

The mines seemed to have cleared away, Nix swam to the surface and sat on Soup's shell while he waited for Pon.

The fire mage arrived a minute later, his eyes were grim. "Something feels off Nix."

A moment later the ocean exploded upward in a titanic mass of blackness. Pon barely had time to curse before a tentacle slapped him into a blood mist.

[Pon has been slain]

Nix summoned his white manta and leapt onto his back while ordering Soup to flee. "The f*ck is that?"

A triangular shaped black head covered in bumps lay rose up from the water. It had a massive beak that sounded like cell door slamming when he chomped down the Vilas that lay stunned on the surface.

/Guildchat: Wind: Pon was just killed by a f* king squid!

"Bring us about, full sails!" Captain Delphi spared a glance at Nix who had gained altitude quickly on his white manta.

"Return to the ship Min!"

[Meteor Storm]

The sky took on a green tint for a moment, then emerald fire rained down upon the Kraken.

A deafening screech of pain filled the air as the Kraken slammed its tentacles into the water.

[You have been stunned]

Nix felt both himself and his manta falling toward the ocean. He slapped onto the surface and lay there gasping for air.

Mina flashed toward Nix, "Everyone retreat back to the ship!" She was almost to him when she was plucked out of the water by one of the smaller tentacles.

Nix coughed once, holding his ribs.

[Combustion]

A faint green glow surrounded Nix, he caught a glimpse of Mina's flailing legs. "Bastard!"

The snapping beak echoed in his ears as he raced toward her, without a doubt, he wasn't going to make it. A flash of black announced the arrival of his ally, he jumped on Soups back and a moment later was flung into the air. Eight strands flew from his hands and grabbed the tentacle holding Mina. Another screech of pain from the monster and Nix was grabbed, he twisted enough to ensure that Mina had been dropped.

The huge maw closed down on him, Nix tried to make himself as small as possible as he was tossed into its mouth. A bit of pain in his legs and then blackness.

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Nix retched, the sour taste of bile was exactly the same as he remembered. An unbelievably bad stench made him regret his keen sense of smell. He propped himself up against a wet, sloppy wall. The darkness confused him for a moment before realization set it.

"That f*cking squid ate me!" Nix focused for a moment.

[Combustion]

A green light glowed around him as his wounds were healed. In the few moments of light, Nix could see foot-long cilia lining the creatures gullet. He gripped one with each hand. "Choke on me dumbass!"

[Aura Ignition]

Captain Delphi had moved a good distance from the Kraken, she watched the giant creature, her entire countenance was gloomy. Her crew had pulled the injured Aquarion leader from the water. The other Aquarions were holding her down to keep her from going back in.

/Guildchat: Wind: Shit. The Kraken just ate Nix.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Damn...

/Guildchat: Pon: I respawned at the temple platform, Nix is not here.

The Kraken gave another deafening screech, rearing almost completely out of the water, in its panic it wandered into the nearby mines. Dozens of mines exploded together setting off a chain reaction as the creature flailed in the water. It went on for nearly a minute, bright explosions followed by the maddeningly loud screeching.

Delphi watched from a two hundred meters away, the waves from the struggle would have capsized them had they not been facing the Kraken. She watched the creature rear up one last time, nearly every mine in the area had been detonated, finally, it collapsed with a long wail.

Nix was thrown face down in the regurgitation once again, he spat in distaste and calmly extracted his tentacles from where he had anchored himself. His aura burned out finally, exhausted he staggered back to his feet. "Apparently, you're only tough on the outside."

[You have slain a legendary creature]

[A new Title has been awarded: Beast Slayer]

[You have received a promotion in the Knights of Colonial]

[The inferno Guild has received 200 thousand Sea Farer faction points]

Nix stumbled out of the beast's mouth and plopped down.

[Do you wish to skin the Kraken?]

Nix grinned and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Yes!"

[1 Titanic Kraken skin has been added to your inventory]

[Do you wish to process the Kraken meat?]

"Yes."

[All of your available cans have been filled, 1668 cans of Kraken meat]

Nix noticed the loot icon, so he activated it.

You have received a City Upgrade Token.

You have received an Air Wisp companion.

421 thousand credits have been deposited in your inventory.

You have received the Kraken Armor. [Water Mage Only]

Soup Surfaced nearby and Nix climbed on his back. "What a good girl you are Soup." He rubbed its head fondly as they closed on the Phoenix.

When Nix finally stepped back on deck, he was immediately accosted by Mina. The Aquarion leader hugged him tightly for several moments before letting go. "Thank you, Nix!"

Nix placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'm glad you are okay Min."

/Guildchat: Wind: Nix is out and the Kraken is dead...

/Guildchat: Ronnie: Of course, who'd eat that sourpuss!

/Guildchat: Nix; Let's continue scouting.

Captain Delphi went to quarter sails and moved ahead slowly, four Aquarions swam in front of the stern.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Found some abandoned buildings, with some documents, most of the progress bar on this instance has been filled.

Nix brought up the quest, they were a hair from completing it. Progress bars started out red, then advanced to blue when the minimum standards were met, finally they would turn green when full marks were received.

/Guildchat: Nix: Let's keep at it, Hyai will be cooking us some Kraken for lunch.

/Guildchat: Sharl: I want to try it.

/Guildchat: Pon: Count me in, I'm going to eat the hell out of that bitch.

After another hour, the Scimitar and the Crane came into view. Jun Li had returned to her ship and just when the ships came together, the progress bar on the Onion Quest turned green.

[Onion Quest Completed: Inferno Guild is awarded five thousand Sea-Farer Faction points.]

[Inferno Guild has attained Sea-Farer Faction Tier 3 and is promoted to a Level Three Guild.]

[Video Hud Guild Chat is now enabled]

Onion Quest: The Second Layer

Description: You have discovered

proof that marooned inhabitant of

the island was from Safarza, continue

your search.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Looks like we have to ask around Safarza for a bit to get the next part.

/Guildchat: Semmi: How did we get to Tier Three Faction already?

/Guildchat: Wind: Nix killed the Kraken.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Nix killed the Kraken?

/Guildchat: Nix: Technically it probably blew itself up. We also got an upgrade Town Upgrade Token.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Link it, please!

/Guilchat: Nix: Sure.

Town Token

Description: Upgrades

a town by one level.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Don't use it Nix, that's the really good one. Most tokens say upgrade from level one to two. Save it for when we are already level two.

/Guildchat: Nix: Sound good Juni.

The four ships were going to wait until the Scimitar finished repairs before exiting the instance, but Semmi was sure the damage would disappear when they left.

An hour later all four ships were heading back to Glory. Nix and Mina were leaning against the port rail in companionable silence.

Captain Delphi found them there. "Shall we open it up Nix?"

Nix looked at the three ships trailing them and then nodded. "Show them our wake Captain."

A short while later, they came within sight of the dock, "Looks like the Ferry has brought us some business."

Mina gathered the Aquarions and activated her Deep Blue. "I'll catch up with you in the Sea-World Nix."

Nix nodded and waved, the close call that Mina had still made his stomach upset. He walked down to the Kindled Spirit. The warm atmosphere of the Inn always made him feel better. For once, it was very crowded. He noticed Hyai walking into the kitchen so he followed her. "Got something for you Hyai."

Hyai watched as he placed a few dozen cans of Kraken meat on her table. "Kraken? Hmm... Great Idea Nix." She pulled a big stand from behind the door and wrote Lunch Special: Kraken Stew on it.

"I'll put this out front hun." Nix grabbed the sign and headed back into the dining area.

"Nix! Make sure to take a quick bath, you must have stepped in something."

He laughed all the way to the door and placed the sign in its place. "You aren't wrong Hyai."

A half-hour later Nix had cleaned up and returned to the dining room. He found an empty seat at the bar in between Ronnie and Sharl. The two sisters smiled fondly at him. "You guys here for the Kraken?"

Ronnie nodded, "Everyone is Nix. I wanna get me some Kraken!"

"I picked you up something nice today Ronnie."

Sharl cleared her throat, "just the younger?"

"She is my favorite." Nix gave them his best leer. "Want to compete for it?" He only laughed when they both nodded.

"When and where Nix?" Sharl leaned forward, her large breasts brushing against Nix's arm.

Nix shook his head, "I'm only joking, this will definitely help an archer." He handed Ronnie a small glowing ball.

Wilo'Wisp

Description: An

air spirit, the best companion

for range fighters.

Ronnie stared at the ball in her hand and then back at Nix. A moment later she activated it, the immediate area was covered in a warm white light. A small creature appeared hovering next to her, she was no larger than Ronnie's hand.

Wilo: Air Spirit

Description: An immortal Spirit

Companion. While Wilo is active all

ranged damage is increased by thirty percent.

Critical damage to range attacks has doubled.

Featherfall is in effect.

Sharl whistled at the little creature who hovered in front of her sister's face. "Nix this isn't a low-level air spirit."

"It came off the Kraken, so I didn't figure it was." He tried to pet the creature but it vanished quickly into Ronnie's hair.

"Hungry Nix?" Hyai was holding a tray with several steaming bowls of Kraken stew, when he nodded she sat one down in front of him.

"Thanks, Hyai." Nix dug in without saying anything else, having been eaten by the Kraken, it only seemed fair to return the favor. He chewed with his eyes closed, surprisingly it had a very delicate flavor and tasted more like mammal then sea creature. "I wish I had more cans."

Sharl was still watching the air spirit while she ate. "We should take them hunting Nix, so she can get used to fighting with the wisp."

"Great idea, however first we need to bring her to see Shae." Nix smiled at the alarmed expression on Ronnie's face.

"Why do we need to do that?" Ronnie stroked the wisps tiny head, it was standing on her shoulder next to a dark ear.

"She's an Elemental spirit Ronnie, this is Shae's domain." Nix finished off his bowl and was scraping the sides with his spoon when Hyai sat another one in front of him. "Thanks hun."

Sharl nodded at her sister. "She looks cute, but we did get her from a Kraken."

Ronnie sighed heavily, "fine, we'll go see Shae."

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Nix leaned back in his chair and rubbed his stomach. "How can Kraken taste so good?"

Pon nodded in agreement, he had also eaten his fill. "We should have just fed you to it right away. Saved us some trouble."

Semmi laughed from the other side of Pon. "New tactic when facing Krakens. I like it."

Nix left the Kindled Spirit with Sharl and Ronnie a few minutes later. The ferry would return to Broyan at 1800hrs. "Not bad for a first haul, the captain said there were nearly 100 passengers."

Sharl glanced at the dock shops, they were still crowded with customers. "Those Hub crafters have already filled their shops with their product."

"Once word gets out, the ferry will be full every day." Nix led the sisters to the Temple, there were near twice as many acolytes as the day before.

They entered the temple, the only acolyte dressed in white greeted them near the altar. "How may I help you today?"

The acolyte was a young fire mage with long wavy hair. She seemed too thin to stand up in a strong wind.

"I'm going in to talk with Shae, my companions will wait here."

The acolyte shook her head. "I'm sorry sir that isn't..."

Nix interrupted the woman by wrapping a half-dozen emerald strands around her. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she moaned softly.

Ronnie stepped forward, "don't hurt her Nix."

Sharl grabbed her sister before she did something stupid. "That woman isn't in pain Ronnie."

"Tsk, tsk." Shae stepped onto the altar and floated slowly to the white marble floors. "Playing with my Head Acolyte Nix?"

Nix released her, trying not to smile when she collapsed in a shuddering groan. "I wanted to come to see you. She was blocking my path."

Shae frowned and spoke in a soft voice, without a doubt all of her acolytes heard her words. "Never stop Nix from seeing me. He is the Lord of this temple, and I will deal harshly with anyone who thinks otherwise."

"Not too harshly Shae." Nix smiled and helped the acolyte off the ground, she leaned on him for a moment before straightening up.

"I'm Dervi," she bowed slightly. "Excuse my earlier actions."

"Hmmm, there is something different about you Nix." Shae studied him for a moment. "Show me please."

Nix nodded, Shae had incredible perception.

Beast Slayer [Legendary Creature 1/6]

Description: You have slain one of the legendary

beasts in single combat. 5 to all Stats. Your enemy's

first attack will be reflected back upon them.

"Basically he ate me and I ignited him from the inside. Then it wandered into an active minefield."

Shae raised an eyebrow at him, "Emerald flames inside of a legendary Water Beast, it must have gone crazy with pain."

"It did seem to forget all about the mines." Nix smiled at her, "I'm here because it dropped something very interesting."

Ronnie stepped forward, the wisp was hiding in her hair.

Shae pursed her lips, "oh I see... An air spirit. Come out please."

Regardless of being shy, the Air Spirit immediately presented itself in front of Shae. It hovered and bowed low. "Greetings benevolent Nemesis, I am Wilo." The tiniest voice you could imagine squeaked forth from the wisp.

"You are closer to Lord rank than I would have imagined." Shae extended a finger, a moment later a tiny ball of flame floated toward the wisp.

Wilo swirled her hands together and the ball expanded dramatically before flying across the temple and slamming against the far wall.

Shael smiled, "Air and Fire are very compatible little Wilo. (pronounced willow) If you wish to reside on this isle, however, you must make a vow, nothing that would conflict with your companion relationship.

Wilo nodded and bent down again. "I will defend this temple and your territory to the best of my ability whenever you have need of me."

Shae bowed slightly in return. "Very well done, in return I shall lend you the use of my elemental world when it comes time for you to advance. I will also defend you while you are in my territory."

After visiting the Temple, Nix returned to his shop to make product for the next few days. His shopkeeper Nova notified him that the day had been a resounding success. He focused more on formal wear since the suits and the dresses had been very popular. It was late in the evening by the time he activated Deep Blue.

Most of Inferno were socializing in the marina, Nix took a few minutes to play with Ducky and Soup in the waves. He played with the other turtles and a few of the dolphins as well. Once tamed, they seemed to always possess goodwill toward the Beast Master.

He rinsed off in his houseboats shower and then walked up the stairs to his bed. A familiar face through the sliding doors caused him to put off sleep for a bit. Nix changed into a swimsuit and opened the door to the third deck.

Surprisingly, the Aquarion in his hot-tub was not Fajii, but rather Mina. She smiled at him when he opened the door. "Fajii said she will be around later."

"Min..." Nix slid into the hot-tub and closed his eyes, he had been thinking about his Aquarion friend all day.

Her pale eyes stared at him and she moved closer until their hips were touching. She put an arm through his and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I was very scared today Nix."

"Same here, unlike me you won't automatically get rezzed if something happens."

She nodded, "I know. I couldn't leave you laying there though."

Nix grinned when she moved closer. "You here to exchange pointers?"

Mina laughed at the thought and shook her head. "Your hair is much too dark, and there are no webbings on your fingers."

"So, I'm hideous?"

"Just a bit." She kissed his cheek as if experimenting. "Did I do that right?"

Nix nodded, "Yep. Did Fajii show you how?"

"She did." A small smile curved her lips. "You are very important Nix, I hope to be standing next to you when we destroy the Artifact."

"I insist on it." Nix leaned his head back and closed his eyes. A moment later he felt a hand stroke his head gently. He opened one eye, "this kind of thing leads to exchanging pointers Min."

Mina shrugged and ignored his words. "What did you feel when I was grabbed by the Kraken?"

Nix thought for a moment, it was an old feeling and very unpleasant. "Panic... Like someone grabbed my heart and squeezed."

Min nodded in agreement, "I felt the same when it grabbed you. I was very angry when they pulled me from the water."

"We will have to be more careful."

"You're very brave Nix."

Mina stayed a while longer, they talked quietly about moving forward in the Mermaid Trials. Everything they were currently doing seemed to be in preparation for that.

Nix woke the next morning to someone sitting on his bed. He opened an eye to see the smiling face of Ronnie. "Hey... Bit early I think."

Ronnie shook his legs, making the entire bed shake. "Come on Nix! Me and Wilo want to hunt!"

He rolled out of bed and quickly dressed, "let's hunt in Safarza, maybe we'll find a lead for the Onion Quest."

"Yep, Wind thought the same thing." Ronnie was using a piece of her hair to tease Wilo, the sound of tiny laughter brought a smile to Nix's face.

Wind was waiting on the beach, King Lubo was sitting on his shoulder. "Jun Li downloaded the information she received from the island, we'll be able to access it and search for clues."

An hour later the three of them were riding Manta toward Safaraza. It was only a short flight and no one was in a hurry to get started.

Nix pointed at the beach on the south side of Safarza, several Saltwater Crocs were sunning themselves in the morning sun. "Let's do some hunting and test out Ronnie's wisp."

As soon as they landed, his hud vibrated, he opened it to see Jun Li's pretty face. "Hey, Nix."

Wind and Ronnie walked away to give them room to talk, neither wanted to hear about guild business.

Ronnie couldn't keep the smile off her face when she saw King Lubo. "You brought the little guy today?"

Wind nodded, while the tiny lizard stared at the wisp. The two of them seemed to be involved in a staring contest.

Wilo hovered in the air, moving closer to the tiny creature. Suddenly she shook her tiny fist at Lubo and started scolding it.

[Fear the King]

Wilo screeched loudly and buried herself in Ronnie's hair causing her to frown at Wind. "Hey... keep that gecko in line!"

A nearby laugh told them that Nix had seen the interaction. "Now she knows... Don't f*ck with the King."

The shaking wisp refused to untangle herself from Ronnie's thick hair. Ronnie scowled at the two men who were not even bothering to hide their amusement. "I think she piddled on my neck."

Wind turned inland, staring at the high rocks. "Someone's coming Nix." Immediately he stealthed and moved away.

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Nix waited patiently, he could sense someone closing on them, but they had stealthed. "Going to show yourself?"

[Meteor Storm]

Nix placed the AE spell a few yards in front of them, Instantly a handful of fighters appeared, each of them screaming in pain while they tried to put out the flames. Ronnie had her speargun pointing at them.

The group looked frazzled when the effect finally wore off. They all wore the same light blue uniforms. "What is the meaning of this?" The only archer in the group gripped his bow while staring down an arrow at Nix.

"You approached us in stealth when we asked you to show yourselves; our words were ignored. What should we have done in that situation? Wait for an unknown group to attack us?" Nix felt his patience fading fast. Why were there always idiots?

The man sneered at them. "Disarm yourselves and follow me for questioning. Safarza isn't a place where riffraff like you can wander around."

Nix raised his hand, and eight strands of emerald fire shot out, four men of the men were instantly immobilized, their screams filling the air.

Wind appeared behind the speaker, his dagger at the leader's throat. Wind nodded, and the strands were released.

"Please wait." A voice spoke from the distance; she stepped carefully down the rocky slope. The woman had long silver hair and eyes that were nearly the same color. She wore green robes and was holding a plain wood staff. "Please release the militia captain; he's completely harmless other than being a moron."

Nix nodded in agreement, and Wind stepped away from him and lowered his blade. "We aren't here to cause trouble. I'm Nix, the leader of Inferno."

The woman's face seemed to pale. "Colonel Nix! I'm Captain Wylie Solm, You've saved me the trip to Glory Island. I've been assigned to you, sir." She stepped closer and handed him a scroll.

Nix glanced at the scroll and then handed back, "It says you have fifty men."

"Yes sir, we were previously attached to the Safarza militia to supplement the trade city of Garwiq."

"I see. And now you were reassigned to me?" Nix eyed her garb; she looked more like an acolyte than a knight. "Aren't knights suppose to be armored?"

Wylie glanced at his green leather armor; she had never seen anything so intricate. "I have been lucky to walk the path of the Nature healer. Too many of my abilities are inactivate if I don't wear cloth robes."

"I see...Why would you be assigned to me? I'm not undertaking any missions on behalf of the Order."

"All officers above the rank of Commander are required to have a protection detail assigned to them."

Nix stared hard, like Hyai, he wasn't sure if she was an NPC or a player. Some players chose to become ordinary workers or butlers in a castle. Not everyone came to Colonial with the intent of adventure and danger.

/Guildchat: Nix: Hey Juni, was a barracks one of the new build options for Inferno after we were promoted?

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Yes, but it's a waste of resources until we hire some troops.

/Guildchat: Nix: I've been assigned fifty men by the Knight of Colonial.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: I'll use the Guild menu to build one next to the Temple.

/Guildchat: Nix: Ok, but not too close.

"Fine captain, we are in the process of building a barracks on Glory Island, your people will have to put up a tent city until that happens."

"Sounds good sir." Wylie glared at the militia captain, "get back to the city."

Nix's hud buzzed at him a moment later, he opened it to see both Semmi and Jun Li watching him. "What's up, guys?"

Jun Li smiled at him. "We've been reviewing the documents left behind in the Onion quest. There was the mention of a Dunham several times. We assumed it was a person, but now we believe it to be a place."

Wylie had been close enough to hear their conversation, "there's a Dunham Cove on the Northside of Safarza."

Jun Li's face lit up, "that could be worth checking out Nix!"

Nix brought up his map and let Wylie mark the spot where the cove was located. "We'll check it out Juni."

"I would like to come also. I'll contact my men and have them continue onward to Glory." Wylie smiled at Nix while he considered her words.

Nix nodded, "that's fine. Juni, have Min prep the Phoenix for immediate departure."

Nix returned with his group to Glory Island, by the time they arrived Mina had the Phoenix ready to depart with her Aquarion assault team on deck.

Ronnie, Wylie, and Wind were talking near the stern while Nix sat comfortably with the Aquarions. The north coast of Safarza was just as unapproachable as the rest of it. However, lost in those caves and hidden nooks, lay all sorts of smuggler caves and stashes. Wylie had told them to expect three or four small pirate ships, but nothing big enough to threaten them.

"Man the cannons, prepare for action." Captain Delphi received the brief from Nix, but she decided to be ready.

Mina summoned a half dozen of her Vilas, "I didn't give the Ricoli artifact to Fajii, you were right in your assessment. She's a valuable alchemist and we can't risk losing her."

Nix kept his face expressionless, Fajii was someone who visited him often. She had taught him a great deal about the Aquarion culture. "Can you wear this Min?" He handed her the Kraken armor that had dropped from the legendary beast.

Mina touched it with one hand and then slipped in on. On her it turned a shimmering blue, she gasped in surprise at the effect.

Kraken Armor [Water Mage only]

Description: This thick but surprising light

armor grants its wearer the boon of the sea.

100 to Water abilities. Immunity to range damage.

All damage is reduced by thirty percent.

Nix nodded in satisfaction. The armor fit her perfectly, there was a definite sense that her power had increased. "Looks good on you Min."

Mina smiled at him, "This armor is amazing Nix." She was checking out her abilities. "The number of Sea-Beasts that I can train has doubled."

"I was hoping that would happen." Nix walked to the rail and watched the coastline. "I feel better now that you are wearing it."

"Coming around the point, all hands prepare." Delphi was standing at the rudder, she had her first mate standing at the bow.

"Contact Captain! Three ships!" Louie was the first to see them, "all three are Galleons!"

The range was less than a hundred meters, all three ships were coming at them. Captain Delphi made an instant decision. "Hard left, top cannons fire!"

The Phoenix turned sharply, it took a few moments for the ships to notice them. The middle ship took heavy damage. The two outside ships both turned toward shore.

"Hard Right, bring us about!" Captain Delphi chose a sharp turn in the opposite direction, a moment later the near ship fired.

"Clean Miss Captain!" Louie shouted out while drawing his cutlass.

"Bottom cannons fire!" Captain Delphi waited until the barrage was complete, then he turned directly into the third ship. The second ship had been hit hard at the water-line by a half salvo, she was in danger of going down.

"Incoming! Get Down!" Louie shouted again and dived to the deck as the forward assist mast was destroyed. Two rounds blasted into mainsail while a third bounced off the deck and into the captain's cabin.

Nix moved toward the bow and kept low. "Prepare to board them!" Nix summoned his Manta along with the Aquarions and instantly they were flying toward the third Galleon.

[Meteor Storm]

He targeted the ship and green fire rained down on their deck and sails, ignited everything. Something impacted his shoulder and knocked him from his mount. He slammed face-first into the deck. He rolled over and then climbed to his feet, just as the assault team joined him.

[Combustion]

Nix healed himself and looked for a target. Ronnie moved beside him a moment later, a group of five charged toward them.

[Whirlwind Shot]

She raised her speargun and opened fire, all five sailors were scattered, two of them going over the rail. "Nice!" She continued to fire while Wind jumped into melee to help the Aquarions.

Nix dodged through the oncoming fighters, using his strands to drag them and hold them down while his companions chopped them like firewood. He spotted the Captain, trying to fight off two of Mina's Vilas.

[Comet Strike]

A three-round burst of green fire struck him full in the chest and knocked him to the deck. He was instantly torn apart by the beasts. Within a minute of the captain dying, the entire crew surrendered. The other two ships had waited for the results of the boarding before they ran up the white flags.

The two surviving Captains were onboard the Phoenix. Delphi was watching them angrily, she was very unhappy that they had damaged her ship. "What do you want me to do with them Nix?"

"Those Galleons are nice, put the crews ashore and keep the captains for questioning." Nix waited patiently while Wylie ensured he was unharmed. "We'll try to use the Manta to find Dunham's cove. Start making repairs on all ships. "

An hour later, Nix and the assault team arrived at Dunham's cove. Wylie was riding with him since she didn't have her own Manta.

"You're a CC class Nix?" Wylie sat comfortably next to him while they flew a few hundred feet off the water.

"Fire Mage actually, but I do have some CC abilities." He had noticed during the melee that she was quite vicious with her staff. "Is that it?" He pointed to a small lagoon lined with steep rocks.

Wylie nodded, "I've never been there myself, nor is it mapped since it isn't an official name."

The group landed on the shore near the entrance to the cove. Wylie was the only one who wasn't equipped with Aquatic gear, so everyone waited while Nix made her one. He summoned Soup and waded into the water.

They explored the cove for half an hour before one of the Aquarions located a small entrance hidden near the ocean floor. Surprisingly the cave ended up being quite long, it took nearly an hour of swimming before they surfaced in a dark underground cavern. As soon as they surfaced, the entire area lit up.

Colonial System Message: You have entered the Rite of Passage. Here you will undertake an individual combat trial, there are great rewards for those that do well.

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Nix stepped onto the suddenly hot sand. They had been transported to an instance, both human and Aquarions were still together. Before them stood a huge sand-colored pyramid. A glance overhead showed the sun to be in the noon position, the group was already starting to suffer in the stifling heat.

"You guys okay Min?" Nix was worried about the Aquarions, a water race would definitely not be equipped for this kind of temperature.

Mina nodded, her pale face seemed unconcerned. "We will be fine for now Nix."

There were four entrances ahead with signs above each. The first door had a fist sign, the second a water sign, the third an air sign and the fourth a fire sign. Nix eyed the fire sign, "if this is an individual trial then you can go in whatever entrance you wish."

Ronnie was smiling at him, "I have a wind elemental with me, should I try the wind trial?"

Nix shrugged but Wind nodded in reply. "Most likely those are the benefits you will receive if you do well. I think I would take the chance."

Mina moved in front of the water sign. "Not sure if Aquarions are accepted in the trial, but I am going to attempt it." Without another word, she entered the trial. Three of the Aquarions entered the water entrance while the rest went into the Fist entrance.

"Yep, times wasting." Nix glanced at Wylie, "which trial are you going to attempt?"

"Water, that has the highest compatibility with my path." She motioned toward the Fire Entrance, "you going in there?"

Nix nodded and waved at Ronnie before she trotted into Wind Entrance. "Good luck!"

He stepped through the fire door, smiling as his ring engaged his aquatic capabilities. "Of course they send a fire mage to a water world." Immediately Nix summoned Ducky and Soup.

He slowly turned in a circle. The door had taken him to a large room with a large raised platform in the middle. There were no other people besides himself. A few torches located on the walls were the only decorations.

[Meteor Storm]

Nix aimed his only AE attack at the platform and then quickly stepped on. As soon as he did, three water beasts appeared and started to move toward him. Instantly all three were covered in green flame, their screeches made his ears ring. The beasts looked like hybrid Leopard Seals, he put four strands on each of them and held them in place. Within a few minutes, all three of them had breathed their last.

"Guess the first level is supposed to be easy." Nix checked his surrounding, there was no change in the room. A moment later the platform started to slowly rise as the ceiling above him parted. "Oh, I see."

The platform he was standing on inserted itself in the second-floor platform, effectively doubling its size in an even bigger room. This room had two of the Leopard Seals in each corner, these looked much stronger than the previous floor. Nix sent Ducky into the NW corner.

[Command: Befuddle My Target]

Both mobs in the NW corner started gently swaying back and forth, unfortunately, the action aggroed the NE corner. Nix sent Soup in.

[Command: Attack My Target]

Soup swooshed in toward one of the mobs while eight green strands of fire encircled the other. the sizzling of meat could be heard as the creature writhed in pain.

An image of a hand flashed in front of his eyes, he hadn't seen the 'spell assist' since the first time he used the Fire Strands. He copied the motion and all eight strands combined and then broke off from his hand, they remained bound around the creature.

[Core ability discovered, Fire Root.]

Fire Root [Emerald Flame]

Description: A painful root binds

your enemy in place for thirty seconds.

Creature takes on fire damage every second for

the duration of the spell. Any outside damage

breaks root completely.

Soup took only a few moments before it crushed the other creature in its powerful beak, it expired with a pitiful wail.

/Guildchat: Ronnie: Nix there's a pet trial on the fourth level, Wilo just completed it and was upgraded!

/Guildchat: Nix: I'm only on the second level, but if I see something like that I'll let Soup and Ducky give it a try.

/Guildchat: Ronnie: You're only on the second level? Heh... I'm on the fifth.

/Guildchat: Wind: Sixth. :P

Nix moved toward Ducky and was about to try out root when another image from the 'spell assist' popped up. This showed a single strand being used with the same technique as root. He focused a single strand and followed the image.

A single strand of green flame entwined itself around the creature's limbs, immediately breaking Ducky's befuddlement. Wrapped in green flame, it screeched in agony and started making its way toward Nix.

[Core ability discovered, Flame Snare.]

Flame Snare [Emerald Flame]

Description: A painful flame binding impedes

the target's progress by sixty percent. Creature

takes on fire damage for

the duration of the spell. Outside damage

does not break snare.

"Hmm... I love an upgrade." NIx moved toward the southern section of the room and sent Ducky and Soup into the western corner.

[Command: Befuddlement]

[Command: Attack My Target]

Ducky and Soup split the targets, with the water nymph mezzing one while the elite turtle attacking the second. Nix faced the eastern corner.

[Fire Root]

Eight strands of green flame wrapped itself around the nearest target, effectively sealing it to the floor. The second creature immediately came after nix.

[Flame Snare]

The legs of the charging creature were bound by a single strand, causing it to slow considerably.

Nix targeted the snared mob again.

[Comet Strike]

[Comet Strike]

Nix hit it with two straight range attacks and then retreated toward Soup who was just finishing off his target.

[Command: Attack My Target]

He sent Soup after the snared mob that was still chasing him before sending a dozen strands onto Ducky's befuddled target. He held the creature in place until it died. At his command, Soup finished off the last target, and the floor was cleared..

A moment later the platform started moving upward, signaling their advancement to the next level.

There was no companion trial on the fourth floor, as Nix progressed steadily he found the trial on the ninth floor. Through guild chat, he head learned that Ronnie and Wind both were stopped at the 8th floor. All of the Aquarions except for Mina were back and reported that they had made it to the ninth level.

Nix also directed Soup and Ducky to start the companion trial. "You two better not be shown up by that little gecko, even or worse the wisp!"

As soon as they entered the small door, it slammed shut behind them and an Aquarion Mage was summoned.

The mage immediately raised an arm and summoned a companion.

[Meteor Storm]

Nix centered the spell on them and let it loose while he moved forward.

[Fire Root]

He cast flame root at a reptilian creature with large bat-like wings, it stopped in place. The intelligent head turning to one side. A moment later it bathed Nix in flames.

Reflexively he jumped out of the way, even though flames really couldn't harm him. He cast snare on the mage while he cursed him.

[Flame Snare]

"Why does a f*cking Aquarion Water Mage have a Fire pet?"

The mage was too busy writhing in pain to cast another spell. The green strands dug into him. "Let's really make your day!"

[Aura Ignition]

His aura exploded outward and instantly a half dozen large tentacles gripped the Aquarion. He held it in place while it screeched, the companion finally broke the root and charged Nix. He put the rest of his aura tentacles on the pet, freezing it in place. "Immune to fire damage right? Too bad your master isn't."

A minute later the Aquarion died with a pitiful scream, He put the rest of the tentacles on the pet, but it had no effect other than to immobilize it. They stared at each other, surprisingly the creature didn't seem aggressive any longer. Nix decided to inspect it.

Fey [Fire Drake]

Description: A rare

creature companion of

unknown rank. Can be used

to fight or as a flying mount.

Nix dropped the tentacles and the two stared at one another. He knew that since they were both immune to fire, he would either get torn apart or fight to a stalemate by holding it indefinitely. Unexpectedly the drake bowed its head.

[Fey the Fire Drake has requested a companion bond. Do you accept?]

"Yes."

Fey [Fire Drake]

Abilities

[Fire Breathe]

[Stealth]

[Carpet Bomb]

Nix stepped forward and extended a hand," You can stealth? Damn... you are awesome." He glanced at the closed companion gate. "Too bad you can't go through it now."

Thank you for freeing me from this pitiful Water Mage" Fey pushed its muzzle into Nix's Chest as if speaking was normal.

Nix stared at the Drake, before stroking its finely scaled head. "Why can you speak?"

"Better question... Why is a Salamander pretending to be human?"

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Nix patted Fey's head gently, "Shae's going to love you." Nix waited for a short while before Ducky exited. Evidently she had passed, she had evolved into a higher tiered water elemental. He approached her and checked out her new stats.

Ducky: Siren

Description: A siren has the ability

to command up to three subordinates.

Abilities:

[Appear Human]

[Advanced Befuddle]

[Charm]

Ducky's transparent form solidified and within a few seconds took on the form of a young woman. Her eyes were completely blue, with no pupils or white visible. Her long hair was pale blue and hung down her back covering her shapely bottom. She held her arms out and spun slowly. "Do you like this Master?"

Nix nodded, her flawless pale skin and blue nipples were very interesting. "Just call me Nix. Is speech a new ability now?"

Ducky shook her head. "It comes with the human form. I can only wear it for a short time, It drains my energy."

"What's charm do?"

"I can persuade enemies to temporarily fight for our cause." Ducky 's face was starting to show some strain.

"Very well done, please change back at your leisure."

Ducky sighed in relief and changed back to her water form. A moment later Soup exited the trial. Her appearance had also evolved drastically. She had doubled in size, her shell surface looked like it had been coated with green armored scales. Her overall color had changed to green.

Soup: Royal Sea Turtle

Description: High resistance to all

types of damage. Immune to

control effects.

[Sonic Blast]

[Shield Ally]

[Battering Ram]

Nix rubbed the turtles head fondly. "Looking good Soup, now let's continue." He moved with his three companions back to the center platform. Slowly he was lifted to the tenth floor.

[Your companions have been bound and cannot fight]

Nix shrugged when all three companions vanished. He glanced curiously at the robed man standing alone. A moment later Mina appeared also, she smiled at him.

"Two of you making it this far at the same time, it is uncommon." The man spoke with a deep voice that sounded like a foghorn. "It's is fitting that you fight each other for the final victory."

Mina shook her head, "I could never bring myself to harm him."

Nix stared at the man, "I concede. It's her win."

The man nodded in approval. "Staunch allies I see." He moved forward and handed them each a small ring.

Allied Spirit

Ring: [Trial of Strength]

Description: Call Filamina

To your side in times of need.

Allied Spirit

Ring: [Trial of Strength]

Description: Call Nix

To your side in times of need.

"I cannot reward a victory here, but perhaps this is more important."

"We are looking for clues to a person named Dunham." Nix figured since the cove had an instance, then Dunham probably would have completed it also.

"Dunham? Miki Dunham?" The dark-haired man seemed to think about the name for a few moments. "You should check Phelinomia, a small island called Lapu." He vanished suddenly without saying anything further.

A few minutes later Mina and Nix exited the Trial. Their group was waiting patiently for them to finish.

"Let's get out of this heat." Nix could tell that the Aquarions were suffering so they quickly exited and made the long swim out. Captain Delphi was waiting with the Phoenix when they surfaced.

That captain greeted the assault team and welcomed them aboard. "I sent the Galleons back with just enough men to sail them."

"Great thinking captain." Nix glanced up at the sails that had been damaged during the last fight. "Take those sails down and I'll do a proper repair."

Ronnie walked up while Nix was sitting on the deck working. "Little Wilo is ready to advance to Lord class."

Nix smiled at the tiny wisp sitting on her shoulder. "Want to help me Wilo?"

When the wisp nodded, he targeted her and used her wind abilities as an enhancement. "Not sure if this will even work."

Phoenix Sail

Epic Enhancement[Strong Wind]

Description: A beautiful white sail

emblazoned with the image of a majestic

Phoenix. 50 to Sail Speed. 15 to turn radius.

Delphi whistled when she saw the new sail, "she's already the fastest ship I've ever sailed."

Nix laughed and accepted a hand up. Then he walked over to the rail and used a small fire strand to burn four notches in the smooth wood. "We should start keeping track."

Ronnie was still watching the sail when the crew took it away. "Okay Nix, let's talk compensation."

[Summon Fey]

The entire group jumped back when the Fire Drake happily flapped its wings. It was only slightly bigger than a warhorse. Nix jumped nimbly on its back, using a few fire strands to hold himself in place since they were harmless to Fey. "I'll meet you at the Inn Wylie!"

The group stared as Nix flew away. Ronnie seemed the most surprised. "When did he get a dragon?"

"Why are you separating from your group?" Fey spoke softly as she effortlessly glided through the air. She was much faster than any Manta Nix had ever seen.

"You're a Fire Creature, you have to meet Shae before anything else happens."

"Shae? Who is Shae?"

"Shae is a Salamander Nemesis."

"Your mate is a Nemesis?"

"Shae is my friend, not my mate." Nix wanted to rap the drake between the ears, but since they were several hundred feet in the air, he refrained himself.

As they got closer to the island Fey sped up. "Such power, I can feel the flames from here!"

"Don't embarrass me in front of Shae, or I'll eat you." Nix had Fey land in the Temple courtyard.

"Goodness... You gave your mate a Palace? Are you trying to make her Overlord of Colonial?"

Nix clicked the drake on the back of one ear. "Follow me."

As soon as they approached the altar, Shae exited. She was equipped in armor and had a flaming sword in each hand. She frowned at the drake that was trailing Nix. "What's this little fire lizard doing in my domain?"

Nix felt Shae extended her aura over the pair of them, he was left unharmed but the drake had fallen to its knees.

"Great Nemesis! I've sworn companionship to your mate, I have no ill intentions here."

Shae raised an eyebrow at Nix, "you want this little thing?"

Nix nodded, "anything we can do about the constant chatter?"

Shae clucked her tongue at it, "I can remove its head."

Nix considered the idea for a moment, "let me think about it."

She moved closer and kissed his forehead. "I'm glad your back, follow me and bring the drake."

Nix grabbed her offered hand and entered through the altar flame. A moment later he stepped onto the soft grass of her world. Fey immediately dived into the nearest pool.

Shae undressed with a wave of her hand and she slowly made her way into the scalding water. "How did your quest go?"

[Aura Ignition]

Nix waded in behind her and took a seat next to her. "A clue has pointed us to Phelinomia."

Fey watched from a few pools away. "Stupid Nix... Not mates? Then what do you call that?" The drake cocked its head to one side when the flames turned brown. "No way..."

The drake extended itself in the pool and relaxed. The elemental fire of this place was extraordinary. "This is better than sleeping in a volcano."

Semmi was waiting at the dock when Delphi returned with the Phoenix. Juni had increased the dock size to include four more berths. This was the max Glory could hold until they were upgraded to 2nd level City Guild. She noticed a silver-haired woman walking with Ronnie and Wind. "I'm Semmi. Are you the Knight-Captain?"

Wylie smiled and bowed slightly. "Captain Wylie at your service."

"We were going to place your barracks next to the temple, but opted for the North shore." Semmi could sense that she was a healer. "What sort of training do your men have??"

Wylie frowned at the question, "they are quite green actually. This is my first command."

Semmi clapped her hands together as if pleased. "Ever heard of Mariners?"

Wylie nodded, "a force trained specifically for fighting at sea."

"Let me show you to your barracks first, then we'll head to the Inn to discuss specialized training.' Semmi turned and started walking away. Wylie paused for a moment to wave goodbye to her group and then hurried behind her.

"You could just stop all this exploring and spend your days here." Shae lay half over him at the edge of the pool.

Nix laughed at the serious look on her face. "That sounds like a good retirement plan."

"Nix... this is very odd you know? I'm a new Nemesis, it should be decades before I even begin to cultivate a brown flame."

"Are you able to cultivate it already?"

"Just the most rudimentary flame, but the timeline is about fifty years too soon."

Nix stepped out of the pool and started getting dressed. "Does this present any problems for you?"

Shae shook her head, "It isn't harmful to me if that's what you mean." She smiled when he bent down for a kiss. "Fey can stay here until you need her, my domain will strengthen her over time."

"Sounds good." Nix waved to Fey and then vanished into the warm air.

Fey waited until she was sure he had left. "Why doesn't he know he's a salamander?"

Shae scowled at her, "he's human, not a salamander."

Fey bowed to Shae, she definitely wasn't interested in upsetting someone so powerful. She closed her eyes and remembered something she had heard once. Salamanders are the only creatures who can possess fire seeds. "Why aren't your eyes yellow? I thought that was a salamander trait."

Shae eased herself into the water, "silly lizard. We are born with yellow eyes, but that changes when we get older."

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Nix sat with Sharl and Ronnie at a corner booth in the Kindled Spirit. Hyai was busy with the dinner crowd so he decided to eat with the sisters. "Shae said to bring Wilo to the Temple, elemental advancements are very dangerous. She will make sure nothing happens."

Ronnie nodded, her bright smile flashing. "Thanks, Nix."

He glanced at Hyai who was serving customers. "Hey, Sharl... How can you tell the players from the NPCs?"

Sharl followed his gaze, she had often wondered herself. "Outside of asking them, I'm not sure if you can. Colonial is an open-world game if you choose to become an innkeeper..."

Ronnie leaned forward and lowered her voice. "I read something interesting on the forums a while back."

Sharl rolled her eyes at her younger sister. "Not this again."

Ronnie nodded, "listen... suppose Colonial got rid of all the computer NPCs. Your someone looking for employment, hey come work as a palace maid or even a King."

Sharl had to sit on her hands to keep from wacking her sister on the head. "You couldn't keep something like that quiet Ronnie. Role-playing an entire life span? From the birth of a character until their death?"

Nix listened with interest, "what about someone like Shae then?"

Ronnie grinned, at least Nix listened. "She'd be a person too. What we call a deep-stay."

Nix took a long drink and then sat the mug down. "What's a deep-stay"?"

Sharl had nearly forgotten that his game knowledge was very limited. "Some people stay in stasis for years longer than the standard 3-5 years. A deep-stay would be anything longer than ten years."

"I see." Nix waved at Pon who walked in the door with Wind. "Scoot so they can sit with us."

Wind and Pon squeezed into the booth. Right away Wilo hopped onto the table and stared at Wind.

Ronnie covered a laugh. "She wants to see the gecko."

Wilo stood patiently waiting while King Lubo was summoned. The gecko noticed her right away and hopped off of Wind's shoulder onto the table.

Nix shook his head, "let's not fight in Hyai's inn."

Instead of picking a fight, Wilo smiled sweetly and stroked the tiny gecko's head. Ronnie nodded in approval, "Nice job Wilo."

After a few seconds, the King had enough and hopped back on Wind's shoulder before disappearing. The wisp tried to follow him but he had disappeared.

Pon had been watching the interaction with interest. "Was he able to pass the companion trial?"

Wind nodded, "of course, he's the King. Although I can't tell what his new abilities are yet."

Nix sat comfortably at his workbench, he was examing the Titanic Kraken skin he had received after the Sea-Beasts death.

[Do you wish to process the Kraken Skin?]

"Yes."

[14,721 Kraken Leather have been sent to your inventory.]

"Hmm... that's a lot. Let's see what it looks like."

Kraken Leather: Legendary

Description: Made from the

skin of a legendary beast. Anything

made with this leather is given a

100 AC rating and 50 to Strength

"That's a game-changer..."

/Guildchat: Nix: Moki are you still around?

/Guildchat: Moki: I'm in my shop working on tomorrow's product.

/Guildchat: Nix: Could you come see me? I'm in my shop."

/Guildchat: Moki: Right away Nix.

A minute later he heard the front door open and footsteps walking toward his shop. Moki was an average looking man, his only standout feature was the enormous afro he wore. "What's up boss?"

Moki liked to call everyone boss, so Nix didn't say anything about it. "You're the armorer in the guild, I want you to take a look at this."

Moki picked it up and immediately almost dropped it. "Are you kidding me?" He was examining the leather in detail, "I could make the best leather armor in the game with this. Not only that, by adhering metallic scales to the leather, I could make a scale armor that would rival the best plate armor in Colonial"

Nix nodded, scale armor was a hybrid between leather and plate armor. "Could you use any scales for adhering? Or does it have to be metallic?"

"Anything that has appropriate hardness and strength." He handed Nix back the Kraken leather, "do you have something in mind?"

"Not yet, but we'll look for an appropriate scale, until then could you concentrate on making leather armor for us? Two hundred sets ought to do for starters."

Moki grinned when he was handed 400 Kraken leather. "I'll design something really nice Nix!" Without another word, he walked rapidly out the door.

A short while later Nix was looking at his crafting setup. He was experimenting with different enhancement techniques. He discovered he could shorten sleeves or robe lengths without affecting the characteristics of the outfit.

[Custom: Wylie] Shirt, [Qty] 1, Material [Kraken leather] Tool [Titanium Needle] Thread [Composite] Enhancements [Salamander Skin, Green Silk] Additional characteristics [Sleeveless]

[Custom: Wylie] Pants, [Qty] 1, Material [Kraken leather] Tool [Titanium Needle] Thread [Composite] Enhancements [Salamander Skin, Green Silk]

Unexpectedly both recipes were successful on the first try. He had never experienced that before, perhaps because of the legendary material? He held up the shirt, "Woah... that's really nice."

Chrysanthemum Shirt: Legendary [Set 1 of 2]

Description: Beautiful green shirt blended

with the smoothness of silk, the fire resistance

of a salamander and the power of a Kraken.

100 to AC. 50 to Strength. Mana Increased by

20 percent. 5 to all Stats. If both sets are worn

then the enhancements combine to 130 AC, 65 Strength

and 8 to all Stats and Mana increased by 30 percent.

Chrysanthemum Pants: Legendary [Set 2 of 2]

Description: Beautiful green pants blended

with the smoothness of silk, the fire resistance

of a salamander and the power of a Kraken.

100 to AC. 50 to Strength. Mana Increased by

20 percent. 5 to all Stats. If both sets are worn

then the enhancements combine to 130 AC, 65 Strength

and 8 to all Stats and Mana increased by 30 percent.

"Heh... too bad they don't stack." Nix cleaned up his area and left the shop, instead of heading to the inn he entered the Cobbler shop. A light on in the back told him that Dalton was still working.

Dalton looked up when Nix entered, he was just cleaning up his shop for the day. "Need something Nix?"

"A quick order." He placed four Kraken Leather on the counter. "One pair of caster boots, please. make then green if you can."

Dalton nodded and picked up the leather. "Nix... this is legendary material."

"Yep..."

He sat the leathers back down. "Know what crafters use legendary material for?"

Nix shrugged, "making legendary gear?"

Dalton shook his head, "making difficult recipes that would normally be impossible."

"Huh? Wait, you put it in in the enhancement block?"

"Yes, legendary enhancements are very rare Nix."

"Doesn't seem very rare. I've got nearly 15 thousand of them." Nix laughed at Dalton's expression.

"These can be reused over and over as enhancement items. If every crafter in Glory had one, we could make a lot of really nice things."

/Guildchat: Nix: All crafters report to Dalton's shop, please. If anyone sees Kyla, have her come too.

A few minutes later all of the crafters in Glory were crowded into Dalton's shop. Nix had Dalton explain the benefits of legendary enhancements and then he handed one out to everyone. Moki didn't need one since he was already aware of the benefits.

"I want 200 complete sets of boots, armor, weapons, rings, bracelets. Whatever you can make. High defense against Water Magic is a must. When Shae makes more fire weapons in a few weeks, we'll be heading back into Mermaid City. Your payment for this order is the legendary enhancement you just received. If you feel it isn't enough, then hand it back and forget about what I just said."

Dalton waited a few moments, no one was handing back the Kraken leather. "I know it's troublesome, but if you have our guildmates come by the shops, we can make custom gear."

Nix nodded, "good point. Custom is always a bit better."

/Guildchat: Nix: I need everyone in the guild to report to the shops' area sometime in the next few days to put in their equipment orders. We now have the ability to make some legendary gear.

/Guildchat: Sharl: Cost?

/Guildchat: Nix: Our crafters have already been paid, so feel free to gear up.

/Guildchat: Nix: Also, tomorrow morning I'm taking a team into Lapu, this is a great opportunity for those without Manta mounts to get one.

/Guildchat: Ronnie: I'll come.

/Guildchat: Semmi: Me too!

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Let's make it a guild event then.

Finally, Nix crawled into his bed on his houseboat. He hadn't been able to meet up with Wylie, but he passed her a message through Wind. She would join them for the Lapu raid. Footsteps on his deck made him sit up in bed. Fajii usually walked in whenever she liked, so most likely it was her.

"Nix!" It was Fajii, but she was accompanied by Mina. The Aquarion Alchemist was being held up, her color was a deep blue.

"What's the matter?" Nix jumped up and gave Mina a hand, they carefully set Fajii down on the bed.

"She's very sick Nix." Mina covered her friend with blankets and stroked her head.

"Sick?" Nix didn't even realize that you could get sick in Colonial. "Like a curse? Or maybe poison?"

"I've no idea, I was wondering if perhaps since she spends so much time here..."

Nix frowned, "perhaps I got her sick?"

/Guildchat: Nix: Nansu, report to my houseboat immediately.

/Guildchat: Semmi: Very bold Nix... but Chael is going to flip out.

/Guidchat: Nix: Tess and Rose come also. Wind, could you get Wylie for me?

/Guildchat: Jun Li: That's all the healers Nix. Is something wrong?

/Guildchat: Nix: Yes. Please hurry.

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An hour later all the healers from the guild were crowded onto Nix's houseboat. No one was able to figure out the issue with Fajii.

Wylie shook her head, "it's some sort of infection. Like a poisoning..."

A glowing presence on the outside deck announced the arrival of Shae. The surrounding water creatures knew her well, but their instincts still told them to flee. She was wearing a red dress with her salamander suit underneath. Her bare feet padded silently toward the sliding door.

Shae smiled the moment she glanced at Fajii. "Well... that's interesting."

Mina stared at the salamander, her perception was far beyond anyone else in the Sea-World. "Do you know what's wrong with her?"

Shae knelt beside the patient and placed a hand on her abdomen, her hand glowed for a moment before she removed it. "Nothings wrong with her, she has a fire essence." She glanced at Nix and clucked her tongue.

The room went quiet, Mina squeezed Fajii's hand slightly. "What did you do Shae? Her color is already improving."

"Hmm? Oh, I absorbed a bit of the girl's fire essence, it's building up too fast for a water creature." Shae was smiling at Nix, her expression unreadable.

"Fire essence?" Mina placed her hand on her friend's stomach, trying to sense something. "Why would Fajii have fire essence?"

Shae shook her head and stood up. "Fajii having a fire essence does raise a lot of questions."

"Is it related to me having the Salamander's Path of fire?" Nix had been standing next to the wall while everyone examined Fajii, he moved closer and sat on the foot of the bed.

"Perhaps it had something to do with Nix and I exchanging pointers?" Fajii was already looking stronger, a relieved smile on her face.

"Pointers?" Jun Li looked confused, she had been following the conversation while working on the next day's raid.

"They've been intimate." Mina cleared it up for everyone since Nix was oddly quiet for once.

"Oh god..." Ronnie started chuckling at the door. Wind and Pon were struggling to keep a straight face.

Jun Li's face had turned red, but she spoke anyway. "I've never heard of sex causing fire poisoning in Colonial. How many times are we talking about?"

Fajii shrugged, "many times. We are very good friends."

Shae patted Nix's head gently, "You've been so busy."

Mina still looked worried for her friend, "is she going to be okay? Will you be able to remove the essence?"

"Not sure, but I will take good care of her." Shae picked up the Aquarion effortlessly and vanished a moment later.

Shae leaving with Fajii caused the room to go suddenly quiet. One by one they started to filter out.

Everyone had left except for Mina, Nix crawled back in bed. "I'm tired Min. Something else you need?"

Mina shook her head, nothing that happened today was a surprise for her. "Are Aquarions ugly?"

Nix pounded his pillow a few times, trying to find a comfortable position in bed. "Some are. Your brother was for sure."

Mina smiled, "my brother was known to be extremely handsome by our standards."

"What would the Aquarion males here say if they were asked about Fajii?" Nix already knew the answer.

Mina looked at the floor, her face gloomy. "Fajii is beautiful, no matter what my people say."

"No argument." Nix stared at Mina, being an Aquarion she didn't understand that she was supposed to leave now.

She made a face at Nix, "you aren't very handsome. Sometimes it's hard to look at you."

Nix laughed, "thank you Min."

She bent down and kissed the top of his head. "Good Night." She stopped at the door and turned toward him, "that doesn't mean you aren't very important to me."

"Right... I'm your ugly buddy."

Mina nodded in agreement and then left with a quick wave.

/Guildchat: Semmi: Does this mean that Nix is Fire Mage trainer now?

/Guildchat: Pon: Nix, you should make a list, we'll have to check everyone.

/Guildchat: Nix: You two are hilarious.

/Guildchat: Ronnie: Sis does this mean we can't have sex with Nix anymore?

/Guildchat: Sharl: Are you a complete idiot?

/Guildchat: Tess: Oh my... I didn't realize.

/Guildchat: Wind: Nix is boss.

/Guildchat: Ronnie: So... Is that a no Sis?

/Guildchat: Semmi: hahahahahaha

Nix woke bright and early, his back deck was empty for once. In the past Fajii would sit out there in the sun. "I'll go check on her when we get back from Lapu."

/Guildchat: Jun Li: We taking the ships today?

/Guildchat: Nix: Yes. We get faction points whenever we win a sea battle.

/Guildchat: Semmi: I'm already interviewing captains for the Galleons.

/Guildchat: Nix: Meet at the docks in two hours.

He slipped on his armor and ported to the dock area. His store was already open and doing business. Some of the ferry passengers from the day before had stayed the night in Glory.

The Kindled Spirit was busy for once, Nix grabbed a table in the corner, ignoring the invitations of his guildmates. Hyai smiled at him when she came to get his order.

"What can I get you, hun?"

"Eggs with anything." Nix noticed that was she was hiding a smile. "Someone told you."

Hyai grinned, "I use to be a Fire Mage you know. Nowhere near as strong as you though"

"Let me know if you suddenly become super-powerful." He sipped the coffee that she had sat down in front of him.

Hyai laughed at his expression. "Go burn something Nix, it'll make you feel better."

"Great idea."

Lapu was one of the Phelinomia Islands, Nix had visited it twice before. All four Inferno ships anchored in the small bay, Pon, Chael and Mina's Assault team were left to guard them while the rest of the guild went ashore. Mina accompanied Wylie and Nix as they joined up with the rest of Inferno.

They stood onshore for a moment, while the utility boats returned to the ships. Wylie was admiring the new gear Nix had given her. The green leather shirt and pants were much snugger than Nix had intended, it hugged the Knight Captain's curved figure. The kicker was the boots that Dalton had made, they were knee-high boots that matched the outfit.

Wind watched as Wylie showed Jun Li and Semmi her outfit. They were all interested in its impressive stats. "You did that on purpose, right? "

"No... but she does look good, " Nix admitted.

Wind nodded in agreement. "Can I have one of the Galleons as a flagship?"

"Sure. You'll have to form an assault team."

/Guildchat: Nix: How are the applications for members looking?

/Guildchat: Jun Li: We have about three hundred applicants.

/Guildchat: Nix: Bring in about three dozen. No one gets in without knowing one of us personally.

Nix led the group through the shallows area, slowly they started clearing manta. "There should be way more manta here."

Wind was sitting the fight out while getting patched up by Tess. "You took a lot of manta from here before right?"

Nix nodded, "they should have respawned to normal populations. Scout out the crater, I don't like it."

The scout vanished and Nix started cleaning up the manta. Skinning and harvesting their meat.

"Thanks again Nix, the gear you made is amazing. Finally, something I can move around in." She thumped her wooden staff on the ground drawing his attention. "Those are my kills you are skinning. What's my split?"

"Eighty/twenty." Nix smiled pleasantly at her. "Of course when I charge for processing, storage, and transportation..." He did the math in his head, "you actually owe me a few credits, but I'll take your share as payment."

Wylie shot him a gloomy look, "I was only teasing Sir."

/Guildchat: Wind: Was there an Aquarion city here last time you visited?

/Guildchat: Nix: A few Aquarions, but definitely no settlement.

/Guildchat: Wind: Then I have a nice surprise for you.

Guild vidchat opened up and the entire guild watched as Wind zoomed in on the city that had been built right in the middle of the nesting grounds. Mina was leaning over Nix's shoulder so she could see.

Mina squeezed his shoulder with a pale hand. "Why are all the mantas white Nix?"

/Guildchat: Wind: Aren't white manta very rare?

/Guildchat: Nix: Yep, only a couple in ten thousand.

/Guildchat: Pon: Boss, we are about to have company.

/Guildchat: Nix: Who and how much?

/Guildchat: Pon: Looks to be about twenty ships, two guild IDs-Nottingham and Marauder. You have an hour tops, so hurry it up.

/Guildchat: Nix: You and Chael mount up and slow them down a bit, stay out of their range.

/Guildchat: Pon: Got it Nix, we'll buy you some time.

Jun Li brought up a map of the bay. "Why would that many ships be heading this way?"

Semmi shook her head, "they show up after we arrive? My guess is that we are being hunted."

Nix scowled at the map. "We leave anyone back at Glory Juni?"

Jun Li nodded, "Tyrant is back there, he isn't quite high enough to join in yet."

/Guildchat: Nix: Tyrant, has the afternoon ferry come in yet?

/Guildchat: Tyrant: No sir.

/Guildchat: Nix: Conduct a quick search of all non-guild members. Find someone with a Nottingham or Marauder guild tag.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: they could be anonymous Nix.

/Guildchat: Nix: Right, until I change the settings in the Island menu.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: F*ck yeah! Do it Nix.

/Guildchat: Nix: Calm down Junie... Start the search now Tyrant, I'll change the settings.

Nix brought up the guild leader menu and accessed Guild properties. He wouldn't have known that it existed if he hadn't been messing with it earlier. Under Island Access, there was an option to disallow anonymous visitors. He quickly selected it.

/Guildchat: Nix: Okay, find them for us.

Nix waited while keeping up the game menu. It only took a few minutes for Tyrant to get back to them.

/Guildchat: Tyrant: There are two of them sir. A Marauder and a Nottingham person.

/Guildchat: Pon: Have the Acolytes grab them and bring them to the temple.

/Guildchat: Nix: Great idea. Do it.

Nix summoned Ducky and eased himself over the edge of the crater. The water was much cooler than he remembered. "Semmi, find us the best route in."

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"We are awfully close to human territory. Doesn't this seem a bit off?" Nix couldn't shake the feeling that this city shouldn't be here. He was camouflaged by the weedy jungle growing up from the crater floor, Mina was so close that she occasionally brushed against him. Aquarions didn't understand personal space.

The entire raid was waiting in the seaweed, spread out over several yards. Semmi was looking for a way in, while Wind had snuck into the city looking for anything they might want.

"I don't like it Nix," Mina whispered in his ear. "This city makes no sense. It only has housing."

"What's your estimate of their population based on the housing?"

Mina considered the numbers while she counted the buildings. "Four thousand."

"Ducky..." Nix had her change forms for a moment and gave her specific directions. "There's an underground cave entrance along the north wall. Check it out please, do not be seen."

[Command: Scout Area]

Nix summoned Soup and had him stand by.

/Guildchat: Wind: Honestly there's nothing here worth taking.

/Guilchat: Semmi: We can take a direct route Nix, there a few stragglers but no guards at all.

/Guildchat: Nix: Min says that there's housing here for four thousand.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: I recommend we retreat Nix.

/Guildchat: Nix: Wind and Semmi return to our staging area.

Banza sat on the crater floor, his fire spear and shield in hand. He was studying the replay of the video Wind had taken. "This looks like a construction camp Nix."

Jun Li had moved over beside him, "See those cages? What's normally in them?" She pointed out a half dozen large metal crates.

Nix was looking at his own map when red dots started appearing from nowhere. They extended toward Phelinomia in a dense display of activity. "The F*ck is that?"

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Nix! My entire map is flooded with enemy!

/Guildchat: Nix: We found our missing Aquarions, they are in the tunnels.

[Guild Event: Onion Quest Updated] You have discovered a plot to destroy the Phelinomia capital city of Lohai. You will be awarded points based on the actions you take from this moment.

/Guildchat: Nix: Shit... Wind and Semmi head to Lohai immediately and warn them!

"Those cages are for Rock Worms Nix!" Mina wasn't following all of the conversations, but her map had been updated also.

"Rock worms? Let me guess, they excavate?" Nix cussed under his breath.

Mina nodded, "we use them to build tunnels."

/Guildchat: Nix: Fall back to the ship and prepare for a fight.

Nix waited while Inferno started moving out. It was Mina who had noticed that he wasn't moving. "Nix? Why aren't you following us?"

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Nix?

"Follow them Min, I'm heading into the tunnels." Nix started moving toward the cavern entrance, he stopped with both Mina and Jun Li followed.

Mina's alien eyes stared at him, "if you are going, then so am I."

Jun Li moved closer and grabbed his arm, the normally stoic woman looked angry. "Hey! What do you expect to do by yourself?"

"Those of you with complete fire immunity can stay. Everyone else should go." Nix started toward the cavern, both of his arms were being held. "This is a dormant volcano, I'm going to see if there's a chance to create some problems for our tunnel rats."

He flashed away before they could respond. Jun Li grabbed Mina's hand when she started to follow him. "Mina, trust your friends."

Mina stared in the direction Nix had taken, "I... okay. Let's go back."

Nix resummoned Ducky and headed to the entrance. They both clung to Soup's shell as they plunged into the darkness. He slipped on his wolf mask and instantly the darkness faded. The main cave had been straightened and widened by quite a bit since the last time he had been here. The trio swam near the ceiling and in a straight line, not bothering with the side passages.

They stopped after about five minutes of swimming. Nix could sense the flickering of flame in the ground deep beneath them. "Ducky... take us to one of the rock worms." He watched her face for a moment, to make sure she understood. She retreated to the last side passage and took a right, a few meters from the entrance were three Aquarions and A long metal cage.

[Command: Charm My Target]

Immediately the largest Aquarion grabbed one of the others and slammed him against the wall. Green strands shot out of Nix's hand as a half dozen of them encircled the third Aquarion. Nix put Soup on defense mode, having her protect Ducky.

The charmed Aquarion pulled a dagger and plunged it repeatedly into the other. When the smaller Aquarion died, his killer stood motionless, awaiting further orders. The third Aquarion had been paralyzed from the pain of six emerald strands, it died a few seconds after the first.

[Command: Attack My Target]

Nix sent Soup after the last one. Soup's strength was far greater than a single Aquarion, she crushed its head in his enormous beak and with a powerful wrench removed the head.

After searching all three bodies, he peaked in the cage, there was a single creature about fifteen feet in length. Its enormous teeth reminded Nix of a shrew, short powerful looking arms mounted right behind the head. Five rather sharp-looking talons hung from its paws. There were no back legs.

[Command: Charm My Target]

Nix watched the animal's eyes, right after Ducky charmed him they took on a blank expression. He opened the cage door and headed back toward the main tunnel. After arriving at the spot he had decided upon, he turned back toward his companions. "Ducky, have the creature dig here, straight down. Recast Charm as many times as you need to."

Ducky nodded and pointed to the solid rock floor. A moment later the creature started digging.

/Guildchat: Nix: Ask Mina where to get Rock Worms at, these things are amazing.

/Guildchat: Ronnie: You okay Nix?

/Guildchat: Nix: Yes, don't wait for me if I'm late. Get ready to take on that armada.

/Guildchat: Semmi: We got this.

/Guildchat: Pon: We've disabled three of their ships by burning their sails. Now they have sharpshooters on the decks.

/Guildchat: Nix: Good job, watch yourself!

Nix hovered and descended slowly, the creature dug through solid rock about as fast as a person could walk. He couldn't see the front of the worm, but its teeth and claws cut through stone like it was cheese. A lumpy paste streamed out of its tail end, creating a passageway about three feet in diameter. He had been forced to unsummon Soup because she couldn't fit.

They traveled steadily downward for several minutes, Ducky had to stop and recast charm a half dozen times.

Finally, they punched through to a large open area.

[Your charmed creature has been slain]

[Ducky has been slain]

A blast of intense heat washed over Nix, instantly sending the water around him into a boil.

[Aura Ignition]

Nix's green flame erupted outward, his face relaxing as the pain went away. He had come out in a large open cavern, the surface of the floor was magma, although it had cooled to the point where it seemed like mud to Nix's feet.

"Who are you that comes to this old Lord's crater?"

Nix turned at the voice, an old woman lay half in the lava and half out. Her hair had once been red but was now streaked with white. "A Salamander Lord?"

The old woman struggled to sit up, but couldn't quite manage it. "Perhaps I once was, it has been years since I wielded that sort of power."

A skeleton figure lay next to her, "I'm Nix. I mean you no harm Lord."

The old woman gave up her effort and caressed the skull next to her. "It's not fair... living on when the one you love dies."

Nix nodded, unexpectedly his own memories surfaced and turned his thoughts dark. "No. That isn't fair." He moved closer and wrapped all of the green tentacles around her, slowly pulling her out of the lava.

The old woman moaned with pleasure, her eyes opening wider. "What are you trying to do young man?"

Nix sighed with embarrassment , "sorry... I can't control that part." Shae had told him that his flame was very pleasant for salamanders. He closed his eyes and tried to sense her flame, it was the barest flicker. "Please excuse me further!"

He wrapped her up tightly and pulled her closer, Shae had used her mouth to transplant the fire seed to him initially so he tried to imitate the process. The old woman's eyes looked angry when his mouth covered hers, she struggled slightly and then arched against him, moaning as a large part of his fire essence sheared off from the Emerald Fire Seed.

She screamed in protest, her voice growing louder and stronger. She glowed with green flames for a moment and abruptly they turned blue. Nix continued to feed the flames until finally she grabbed him and cast him aside.

"Boy... You dare take advantage of this old Lord?" The Salamander's appearance grew stronger, her body seeming to reverse age until a middle-aged woman stood before him. Her white-streaked red-hair had turned to blue.

"Forgive me, I was trying to strengthen you." Nix aura faded to nothing and he collapsed on the molten rock.

"Foolish little salamander." She approached him and picked him up gently. "I chose my time already, this isn't what I wanted."

Nix smiled weakly. "I apologize, I meddled in your affairs."

The woman stared at him, her nostrils flaring. "Summon her now. Or I will most certainly destroy you."

"Summon who?"

"Your mate..." Her old eyes watched him while he only stared back.

"Sorry... I don't have a mate, even if I did there's no way I could summon her."

"Place your hand on your chest, and concentrate on your need." She watched while he did what she asked.

A moment later there was a flash of light and Shae appeared out of thin air. Her eyes glanced around and found Nix, then she gazed upon the old Salamander. If you've harmed him..." Shae left the sentence unfinished, the threat hanging in the air.

"A Nemesis?" The woman bowed reverently, " He is unharmed great one, I am Severance."

Nix staggered to his feet, his strength slowly returning. "I'm fine Shae." He glanced up toward the surface. "Above us there are Aquarions digging a tunnel that leads to Phelinomia. How could we ruin their day?"

"Water creatures in my territory?" Severance scowled at the thought, "with help I could give them something unpleasant."

Nix nodded, his thoughts still lingering on dark thoughts. "Let's burn them all!"

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"You ready Nix?" Shae was holding his hand, her long red hair brushing his arm.

Nix nodded, the set-up reminded him of jumper cables on a car battery. He would ignite his aura and then place six tentacles on each of them. Shae would provide the juice while he relayed it directly to Severance. "Can't you just do it directly? What's the need for the middle-man?"

Shae leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Because of our prior fire bonds, you can conduct my flames easily. I'm worried that without you here, it would be too much for her."

Severance frowned, "don't look down on this old Lord!"

Shae kept her face expressionless, "Then defend your territory properly. It's infested with water creatures."

"Okay... Who's ready to start?" Nix pulled Shae closer to Severance.

Severance had changed her ragged clothes and tied up her dark blue hair. "This isn't my natural flame Nix, it's a combination of my dieing seed and the essence you gave me. I've no experience with blue flames."

Shae stared at the old Lord, "Let's start. If this goes badly. I will kill you if it means keeping him safe."

Severance glanced at the skeleton still lodged in the molten rock, "I understand the sentiment."

Nix felt the need to remind Shae that he could easily be respawned at his binding point, but he refrained. She was just making sure Severance knew what her priorities were.

[Aura Ignition]

A wave of Emerald flame burst outward from Nix, causing both Salamanders to jump. He put all twelve tentacles on Shae, slowly their two aura's combined.

Severance waited, a slight smile on her face. More than anything she liked cooking water creatures. She gasped in surprise when her two companions flames merged. "It's brown! You have formed a brown flame... Amazing.

Nix gritted his teeth and faced Severance. Normally he would only merge the flames while he and Shae were having sex. The pools in her elemental world served to help him bleed off what he couldn't handle. Quickly he moved half of his tentacles to the fire lord.

Severance was lit up in blue flame, the brown flame coming from Nix immediately overpowered her borrowed flame causing the old Lord to scream in misery. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she dangled from the brown flaming tentacles.

Shae calmly watched her two companions, of the three she was the most comfortable. All she needed to do was meld with Nix's green flame. It was something she enjoyed doing anyway. She slowly cultivated the brown flame while the other two struggled.

Nix felt blood running down his chin from where he bit through his lip. Even protected by his aura, his skin felt like it was being cooked and then peeled off. He concentrated on moving the flame toward Severance, who had filled the cavern with deafening screams since they started.

The old Lord put up with it for several minutes before finally breaking free. "That's enough... protect him now!" Her voice brimmed with raw power, her bare feet causing the rock to splash like water. The brown flames swirled around her, "I shall burn them all!"

Shae pulled Nix close and enclosed him in her flames. Even without his aura, this flame felt warm and gentle. She watched as the old salamander dived straight down into the rock and disappeared from sight. A few moments later, the ground started shaking while the lava quickly filled the room and moved into the tunnels above.

Mina waited patiently on the deck of the Phoenix. The rest of the Aquarions were wide-eyed with fear. They could feel the build-up of their elemental opposite. An explosion caused the ship to shift suddenly throwing everyone to the deck, the ocean itself starting to churn. The entire top of the crater exploded, sending a wave of pure power in all directions. Immediately afterward, a fountain of molten rock erupted upward sending smoke and ash high into the air.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Holy shit...

/Guildchat: Semmi: That's got Nix written all over it.

/Guildchat: Pon: I'm so jealous right now I can't stand it.

/Guildchat: Wind: He just got blown up... you fire mages are crazy.

[Guild Event: Onion Quest Updated] You have been summoned to the capital city of Lohai.

"I shouldn't have left him." Wylie was standing next to Mina, she kept thumping her staff loudly on the deck. A blur of movement caught her eyes, she pointed upward. "There!" A winged creature blurred through the cloud of ash moving toward the ships.

/Guildchat: Nix: Time to burn things!"

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Have at them guys!

Fey banked hard and dived toward the sea. Nix quickly summoned Soup and let him free fall into the water. The drake climbed quickly and turned back toward the armada while Nix targeted the nearest ship.

[Command: Ram My Target]

Jun Li and Semmi were at the rails of their ship, waiting to come within boarding range when they noticed the object in the water moving toward the enemy at a fast speed. A few moments later it crashed into the side of the ship and the waterline. Soup turned away and dived, immediately he was unsummoned.

Nix frowned at the unsummoned notice, "so that's one and done skill? He aimed for a second ship and then banked Fey into them.

[Command: Carpet Bombing]

A long narrow swath imposed itself on Nix's target. A moment later dozens of tiny explosions blasted the ship at deck level, Nix felt something slam into his shoulder but he kept his seat.

Fey climbed without being told, "their shooting at us Nix."

He placed a hand on her back, "you get hit, Fey?"

"Just nicked, nothing bad."

Nix grinned and dived for the next ship, "pick me up on the other side!"

"What?" Fey banked again when she felt her rider jump off.

Nix landed hard on the deck and rolled quickly to his feet.

[Aura Ignition]

Nix ran down the length of the ship, slamming sailors with his tentacles, tossing them in the water, the smelling of singed flesh filling his nostrils. He slammed into the door to the cannoneer's top row. "Hiya guys!"

He targeted the stack of powder charges.

[Comet Strike]

He quickly exited and ran for the stern just as the first explosion hit. "Holy F*ck!" The rail appeared before him and he jumped from it and leaped into the air. Fey dived hard and just managed to move beneath him as more explosions rocked the ship.

With her rider safe, Fey climbed steadily and moved back toward the Phoenix. "I've taken a few hits Nix, nothing serious but I must land."

They landed a moment later, just as the Phoenix turned back toward the armada, she had rushed out to sea to get out of range. Nix patted Fey's head and unsummoned her.

[Combustion]

Nix felt his wounds disappear as the air around him glowed.

"Nix!" An out of breath Wylie finally caught up with him. "No more running off on your own."

Mina had caught up also, she gripped his shoulder firmly with her hand but didn't say anything.

Captain Delphi noticed his arrival and bowed slightly. "We'll strafe the fleet a few times and then move into boarding range!"

The Phoenix closed on the fleet quickly. The ships that had broken off to pursue them suddenly found themselves within their enemies range. Captain Delphi had lured them away. "Hard to port! Ready cannons!"

At four hundred meters the Phonix turned broadside and lined up the pursuit. Both ships were still chasing since they were out of range.

Captain Delphi wait a few seconds longer. "Top cannons fire!"

The nearest ship was hit hard, the main mast had fallen and the deck was in shambles. The second ship decided to turn.

Delphi's smiled, "thanks for the bigger target. Fire bottom cannons!"

The second ship was hit harder, a large portion of its hull was damaged causing it to take in water.

Nix waited with the assault team. "That's the Alabaster, she's taking on water so they'll be desperate!"

"Let them wait then!" Delphi steered the Phonix towards the first ship. "Prepare to board!"

Grappling hooks flew from the Phoenix, holding the enemy ship in place. Nix targeted their deck.

[Meteor Storm]

The assault team waited while the green flames damaged both sailor and ship. Screams of pain filled the air while some of the sailors jumped overboard trying to put out the flames.

Wylie was the first to arrive. She landed in the middle of a group of smoldering crewmen, one wide swing put the lot of them on the deck.

Within an hour the sea battle was over. The four remaining ships from the Nottingham/Marauder coalition had retreated. The ships from Inferno had taken too much damage to chase. Repairs were already underway even before the looting was finished.

Jun Li and Semmi flew their manta to the deck of the Phoenix, Sharl, and Pon had already arrived. Jun Li shook her head at the lack of damage, did they even touch you guys?"

Captain Delphi shrugged at the new arrivals. "We were hit lightly a few times." She had to bite her lip to keep from grinning like a fool. The Phoenix was fast and furious, Nix and the Aquarion assault crew were a complete nightmare.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Well done everyone. We starched them.

/Guildchat: Sharl: That was very satisfying.

/Guidchat: Ronnie: Where did your dragon go Nix?

[Inferno Guild has attained Sea-Farer Faction Tier-4. New Guild options are available]

Nix spotted a familiar face sitting on the deck among the captured crew. She had her hands tied behind her back and her eyepatch had been lost. He approached her and cut her bindings before helping her up. "Captain Faryn... sorry for the rough treatment." He handed her his canteen.

/Guildchat: Nix: Let's make sure we are treating the enemy captains respectfully.

"Thank you, sir." Faryn took a long drink and then handed it back. The Alabaster was sunk and she was out of a job.

Nix took the canteen back. "It was a good battle."

Faryn sighed unhappily, "it was good for you guys. We outnumbered you and were still put on our heels."

"Sorry about the Alabaster, but I'm glad to see that you are okay." Nix pointed to the rail. "Please wait here while Inferno discusses our options."

Faryn bowed again, "Thank you." She watched as he walked toward his guild members. She silently vowed that in the future, she would avoid missions that involved going against the Phoenix.

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Nix leaned comfortably against the rail. Jun Li, Sharl, Pon, Semmi, Wind, and Tess were all gathered in a circle as they discussed the ransom prices for crew and officers of the ships. He wasn't giving them his full attention because he was looking at the new guild options for Tier 4 Sea-Farer factions.

"Hmm. So that's interesting and very nice." Nix realized that most of the new options were cosmetic, but there was one addition he liked. NPCs could be invited into the guild.

Filamina has joined Inferno.

Hyai has joined Inferno.

Kyla has joined Inferno.

Shae has joined Inferno.

Fajii has joined Inferno.

Delphi has joined Inferno.

/Guildchat: Nix: Welcome to Inferno.

[Create a Raid Channel?]

"Yes." Nix decided that communication with the inhabitants of Glory Island would be important to future growth. However, he also realized that people doing missions should use a different channel. He assigned Mina as a 'Recruitment Officer' so she could add the Aquarion Assault teams to the roster.

[Please name new raid Channel.]

"Inferno" Nix closed the guild menu and turned his attention back to the group in front of him.

/Inferno: Nix: From this point forward, this will be our mission and vital information channel. Guildchat will be used for all non-essential communication.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Our Aquarion allies will need access to both.

/Inferno: Nix: I already included them.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: You still want me to open up recruitment for three dozen people?

/Guildchat: Nix: Yes, today's additions were already part of our community, them joining didn't increase our capability.

/Guildchat: Tyrant: The Temple Acolytes are holding the two prisoners for us.

/Guildchat: Nix: Great thanks. We'll have a chat with them later.

Jun Li shook her head at the numbers. "Initial count was seventeen ships, right? Four were able to retreat, six were sunk, seven more were disabled."

Semmi nodded, "repairs on the disabled ships have already started. We are just a bit under-manned when it comes to repairs."

Sharl was standing closest to Nix, she noticed that his thoughts were wandering. "Everything okay Nix?"

He nodded and addressed Mina who was talking with a few members of her team. "How are Aquarions at ship repair?"

Mina smiled at him, "I can direct repairs, there are a few others who can do the same."

"Start repairs on the six ships that were sunk. With those, you can start your own fleet." Nix had given the matter a bit of thought. The American Pacific fleet had been completely destroyed at Pearl Harbor. What many didn't know was that with two exceptions, those ships were returned to service before the end of the war.

Jun Li had caught the tail-end of the conversation, "you want to return those ships to service?"

Nix nodded, "after repairs are made, we should be able to do it with a little help from Ronnie."

Sharl looked skeptical, "this I gotta see."

/Guildchat: Nix: What's the lunch special at the Kindled Spirit today?

/Guildchat: Hyai: Kraken stew or fresh Cod.

/Guildchat: Semmi: Lunchbreak?

/Guildchat: Nix: Yep, we'll go in shifts. Things busy Hyai?

/Guildchat: Hyai: Very busy. The ferry arrived a while ago, this time it was nearly full.

An hour later Nix was having lunch with Ronnie, Banzi and Wind. He had chosen the Kraken special since there was no room in the main room, the four of them were eating in Nix's room.

Wind glanced around the luxury suite in appreciation. "Nice place Nix."

Ronnie was playing with Wilo while she shared her cod with the tiny elemental. "She's read for promotion Nix, when are we going to do that?"

"Tonight after the two of you bring the ships up." Nix leaned back in his chair, there was something very satisfying in eating a creature that had eaten you.

Wilo walked across the table, refusing to look at Nix's plate. She was scared to death of even trying the Kraken. Wind put out his hand and she stepped nimbly on it. "You're going to batten down the hatches and then have Wilo expand air into the hull?"

Nix nodded, he knew that the quite scout had a sharp intellect. "All the hatches but one. If she can displace enough water, and if the repairs hold. Then that should be enough to bring them up."

Wind considered the plan, "lets use manpower too. We can put a few dozen hands on the hulls and ease them up slowly."

"I hadn't thought of that, good idea. I'll leave that to Mina and her people, they're the strongest in the water."

Ronnie finished off the last of her lunch, her dark eyes staring at Nix. "Are you really giving them those ships?"

"Yes. As we strengthen ourselves, we also need to look to our allies strength."

Ronnie flashed him a smile. "You've changed a lot since we first met Nix."

He returned her smile, "you mean when I carried you through those Elite Turtles?"

She nodded in agreement, "my arrows just bounced off those things."

The Alabaster was the first ship they attempted to bring up. Mina thought it fitting that this would be the first ship to be part of the Souza Accord's new fleet. The hull repairs were completed and the Aquarions were in place ready to guide the ship to the surface. Ronnie and Nix had swum inside the hull.

Ronnie glanced at him, "So... Wilo just pushes out all the air she can. Why are you here then?"

"I'm going to heat the air, causing it to expand further." Nix had left one of the lower hatches open so that the water could escape.

Wilo hovered in the middle of the hull and started pushing air outward.

[Aura Ignition]

Nix focused on his own flame, causing the air to immediately become super-heated. The water level slowly dropped in the main hull, when it had dropped to waist high, the entire ship shifted and started to raise up.

Mina and the Aquarions guided the ship upward, slowly it rose to the surface. After a few minutes, the Alabaster sat on low on water. Nix sloshed through the knee-deep water in the base of the hull. "Get the pumps down here and lets clear this hull!"

More Aquarions started showing up as Inferno worked hard through the late afternoon. By dinner time, they had completed the operation.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: That's all of them, great job Nix!

/Guildchat: Nix: Well done guys.

/Guildchat: Filamina: I'll be assigning assault teams to each of those ships, they will need captains and crews.

/Guildchat: Semmi: That's my thing Mina, I've been interviewing captains for weeks. I'll give you the list and you can choose.

/Guildchat: Filamina: Thank you Semmi.

Mina climbed on deck, taking a look at the broken mast and shredded sails. "I wonder if my tailor friend can repair these sails... maybe even make them better?"

Nix laughed at her expression, somehow coy didn't fit the Aquarion face very well. "Of course I will do my best Min, this going to be your flagship?"

Mina shook her head, "I'm not leaving your side, my team and I are staying on the Phoenix with you."

/Guildchat: Nix: Want to take a trip with me, Junie?

/Guildchat: Jun Li: We heading to Lohai?

/Guidchat; Wind: Me and Banzi are coming too.

/Guildchat: Nix: Meet at the Phelinomia platform in an hour.

A few minutes later Nix was walking on the temple grounds, as soon as he entered the temple Acolyte Dervi approached him.

The thin fire mage bowed deeply, her jet-black hair nearly touching the ground. "Temple Lord Nix, welcome back."

Nix smiled at the reception. "Bring me the two prisoners, also a few healers."

A few minutes later Dervi returned with two the two prisoners and a handful of Acolytes. Two of them were obviously healers that walked the path of air. The Head Acolyte motioned toward the two healers. "These two are Boola and Chakali."

Nix nodded pleasantly at the two acolyte healers. They were both males who shaved their heads. "Keep these two prisoners alive please."

Boola and Chakali glanced at the two men in irons, both of them were a bit scuffed up but neither had taken any damage.

Two emerald strands shot out from Nix's hands, encircling the necks of the two prisoners. They immediately started screaming. A sound like sizzling bacon filled the air, the two men had fallen to their knees.

The Acolytes watched wordlessly while Nix burned them. His yellow eyes showing no concern for their blood-curdling screams. Suddenly one of the prisoners died and Nix dropped his strands.

[Balefire]

Boola has been slain.

Chakali has been slain.

Since they were standing next to each other, they were both caught in Nix's balefire. Both acolytes respawned a moment later next to the platform.

Nix ignored the dizziness from using all his mana, wordlessly he drank a mana potion. He shook his head while looking at the single prisoner, the other having died and respawned safely at his binding point. "So... these are the healers of Shae's temple?"

/Guildchat: Nix: Tess and Rose, please come to the Temple at once.

/Guildchat: Tess: Right away Nix!

/Guildchat: Rose: On my way.

The two men had recovered and were standing next to Dervi. Nix gestured toward the temple door. "Find another place to practice healing. Leave now and never come back."

Dervi's face turned pale as the healers walked toward the door. "Those are the only two healers in the temple my lord."

"Acolytes in the only Fire Palace in Colonial aren't allowed to fail. You serve a Nemesis, not some common Fire Lord."

Dervi shuddered when he turned his yellow eyes on her, she bowed deeply again. "As you say my lord!"

The surviving prisoner was still on his knees gasping for breath. "What are you doing? This kind of thing isn't allowed!"

Nix turned his gaze toward the man. He was from the Nottingham guild. "My guild is comprised of NPCs whose death is permanent, please bear with me while I ask you a few questions."

"Questions?" The man's voice was hysterical, the emerald flames were worse than anything he had ever felt. "You haven't asked anything yet!"

"Right...first I have to put you in the right mindset." Nix smiled pleasantly, "call it motivational."

"Y-Your crazy." The man looked like he wanted to cry, he stayed on the floor not daring to stand.

"Crazy?" Nix shook his head, "it would be better for you if I was."

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"Are you sure Nix?" Jun Li had felt sick to her stomach when he relayed what the prisoner had said. The Salamander guild had paid Nottingham and Marauder to come after them.

Banzi scowled at the words, "they think we are easy pickings? We should teach them a lesson."

Wind nodded in agreement, "the fact that these two guilds accepted means they have no respect for us. They should have stayed out of it."

Wylie was holding the prisoner, special shackles were attached to his ankles and feet. He was also gagged so that he couldn't speak. "Why are we bringing this person? There has been a ransom offer for him already."

Nix was finding it hard not to stare at his Knight Captain. Since they were meeting the Royal family of Phelinomia, they were all wearing formal attire which Nix had made. Her silver hair was worn up, she looked stunning in pale blue.

"Is there something on my face?" Wylie was smiling at Banzi, his red face was evidence that he had been caught staring. Wind laughed at his discomfort.

"I'm sorry Captain Wylie, " Banzi's deep voice made her smile, everything about the Inferno tank was oversized and exaggerated. "You look like a princess."

The Knight didn't seem bothered by the comment, "thank you Banzi. You look very nice also."

Wind and Nix exchanged glances, but neither commented. Did those two like each other?

"I have my reasons for having him accompany us." Nix led them away from the Lohai platform. Lohai was one of the most beautiful cities in all of Colonial. White spires rose up on every block. The streets were made from large brown stones that had been buffed until they were smooth. There were well-armored guards on every corner. As they continued to walk down the main street toward the Palace, they eventually arrived at a cordoned-off area that was heavily guarded.

A fully armored knight held out a hand when they approached. "Halt. This area is off-limits."

Wylie stepped forward, "this is your superior officer, Colonel Nix. It was his people who stopped the invasion attempt."

The Knight quickly saluted and stood to one side. "Colonel! I am Captain Haven. I will escort you to the site."

Nix nodded and followed the knight while the rest of the group fell in behind. They walked half a block before they came upon a massive crater that had destroyed the street and part of two buildings. There were still Aquarion bodies littered about. "No one has tampered with anything?"

The Knight shook his head, "we were ordered to maintain security until you arrived to search the bodies."

Wind moved to the side of the crater, he kicked a dead Rock Work into the hole. " You can see where they stopped digging. They were within fifty feet of breaking through." He pointed to where the smoothly dug sides ended.

Jun Li knelt and examined one of the Aquarions, "they were boiled Nix. The water super-heated and eventually the pressure broke through the surface here."

Banzi stepped toward the edge and peered down, "so there are thousands of Aquarions down there? All of them were boiled alive?"

The Knight nodded, "we would have been caught by surprise. The Palace is one block from here, a few thousand Aquarions would have overrun the guard quickly."

Nix spotted an object the size of a pineapple and picked it up. It was metallic and covered in squares that had been adhered to each other. He held it up for the others to see. "What is this?"

Jun Li shook her head, "there are a few laying around. I've never seen anything like them."

Wind held out his hand and Nix handed it to him. "You can bet its a weapon of some sort."

"A bomb maybe?" Banzi refused to touch it, "put it down carefully until we know for sure."

Wind smiled at his best friend, "nervous Banz?"

The big man nodded his head and backed up a few steps.

"We should continue to the Palace. Captain Haven, I want you to clear up this site. Have a team enter this tunnel and remove everything that could be deemed useful. Then fill it in."

"Right away sir. We will send it directly to Glory Island." Haven saluted crisply and turned to one of his men. "Escort Colonel Nix and his group to the Palace immediately."

The Inferno group followed the guard and within a few minutes were sitting comfortably in a waiting area outside of the Royal Court.

A Royal page approached them. "I will be escorting you into the Court. Please follow me."

Nix stepped into the Royal Court to the sound of loud shouting. "Introducing Colonel Nix from the Knights of Colonial and his trusted companions.

/Guildchat: Jun LI: F*ck! When did I become a trusted companion?

/Guildchat: Semmi: Hmm?

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Never mind.

Phelinomia was ruled jointly by a King and Queen. They had a son and daughter that were standing next to the Queen's throne. Each of them had the same dark hair and tanned skin that were prevalent in the Phelinomia archipelago. The King was dressed in rich red colors and wore a large golden crown. The queen was wearing a lighter red dress with a simple silver circlet on her head. Her dark beauty immediately made Nix think of Sharl and Ronnie. She could have been their older sister.

Nix stopped next to the page and bowed deeply. "I am Nix and these people are Banzi, Wind, Jun Li and Captain Wylie of the Colonial Knights. Each of his friends bowed when they were introduced.

Neither the King nor Queen spoke, but their daughter did. "Well met Nix. I am Princess Festa. Would you please describe the events of this Aquarion invasion?"

"Of course. While we were hunting for mounts at the Lapu crater we became aware of an Aquarion Assault force inside. At this time we declared a guild emergency and used all of our available resources to ascertain their mission. We were able to uncover a plot between the Aquarions and two human guilds to invade and capture the city of Lohai."

/Guildchat: Jun Li: What the f*ck?

/Guildchat: Wind: Oh... you're good Nix.

Nix paused until the Princess motioned for him to continue. "We sent a brave team into the heart of the volcano to ignite the inner core. Sadly everyone on that team was killed while carrying out their mission. Their efforts superheated the water in the tunnels that the Aquarions were digging."

"How many of your people died saving us?" The King finally spoke, his manner was calm but there was anger burning in his eyes.

"Twelve Sire. We lost many more during the naval battle."

The King nodded gravely, he had heard of the great battle. "Explain please."

"While our team was heading into the volcano, we discovered the enemy invasion fleet moving toward Lohai. We intercepted them with our four frigates and destroyed most of their fleet. A few of them managed to limp away because our ships were too heavily damaged to pursue."

The Queen lay her hand on the King's arm and then stood up. "This prisoner is a member of the invasion force?"

Nix nodded, "The Nottingham and Marauder guilds thought they could rule Lohai, their ships were loaded with soldiers. The Aquarions were tunneling toward your Palace, while their ships were poised to take your docks to make you fight on two fronts."

The Queen made a gesture and two guards grabbed the prisoner and dragged him away. "You've suffered loss because you chose to defend us. We shall not forget this."

Colonial System Message: The Kingdom of Phelinomia has entered into an alliance with the Inferno Guild.

Colonial System Message: The Kingdom of Phelinomia has declared war on the Nottingham Guild. No members of Nottingham are allowed entry into Phelinomia. [Limit 120 Days]

Colonial System Message: The Kingdom of Phelinomia has declared war on the Marauder Guild. No members of Marauder are allowed entry into Phelinomia. [Limit 120 Days]

/Guildchat: Semmi: What's going on over there? Both of those guilds have their headquarters in Phelinomia.

/Guildchat: Wind: They've just been Nixed.

[All members of Inferno have been given the title of 'Knight of Phelinomia.']

[The Inferno Navy has been given a Legendary Shipyard to upgrade their fleet]

[For halting the invasion before it reached Lohai, you've been given a special gift.]

[New Guild Options available]

Onion Quest Part III

Dunham's trail led you to discover a plot to invade Lohai. You discovered a mysterious map that he left behind.

[Onion Quest Updated]

Onion Quest part III, Investigate the mysterious map.

A few hours later the group from Inferno returned to through the dock portal. There were dozen of crates full of gear and objects stacked neatly. Jun Li opened one of the crates. "Captain Haven works fast, it's the loot from the Aquarions."

/Guildchat: Nix: Could you come to the docks Min? There's some Aquarion gear here.

/Guildchat: Filamina: Right away Nix.

/Guildchat: Ronnie: When we going to see Shae?

/Guildchat: Nix: Tomorrow morning, sorry I'm a bit tired.

Nix was looking at the new options for the guild. They could build a shipyard and there was an option to build a Phelinomia embassy. The embassy came with a hundred Knights.

Jun Li had been hovering close to him since they got back. "We can put that shipyard on the West side of the island."

Nix nodded, "I was thinking the same thing. The embassy can wait until we advance our town."

Jun Li smiled, "let's see what the special gift is Nix."

Nix held up the small wooden box he had received. "You mean this?"

She tried to grab it but he moved it way. "Open it Nix!"

"Fine." Nix opened the box, it was completely empty.

[New Quest Available: Help Lionel out at the Phelinomia Quarry]

Jun Li sighed heavily. "It's a quest?"

Nix shrugged, "guess so."

Nix was by himself on the docks by the time Mina arrived. She was wearing her traditional black gear that she used to travel about freely in the human cities.

Mina offered him a polite smile and opened the crate he was standing next to. "This is from one of the elite Aquarion Assault forces, we can really use this gear Nix."

Nix nodded, "it's all yours. Can't have your people undergeared when we are fighting the same war."

She picked up one of the pineapple sized objects that had been found with the invasion force, right away she gasped in surprise. "Nix... Do you know what this is?"

"No, but I'd assume it's some sort of bomb."

"Yes. There is a tiny air sprite enclosed within. When you throw it at something the liquid fire inside breaks the compartment and destroys the sprite. This causes a massive explosion of air."

"So it sends shrapnel blasting everywhere?" Nix shook his head, it was the magical version of a hand grenade.

"These are very lethal but extremely hard to build because of the rarity of air sprites." Mina did a quick count, "There's fifteen of them, I'm surprised they were able to make so many."

/Guildchat: Semmi: Nix have you read the forums?

/Guildchat: Nix: No. Something I should know?

/Guildchat: Semmi: Just that the guild HQs for Nottingham and Marauder have been reclaimed by the Phelinomia government.

/Guildchat: Nix: Serves them right.

/Guildchat: Semmi: Not just that. All the businesses owned by the guild and its members in Phelinomia have been confiscated by the crown.

/Guildchat: Wind: The forum is eating it up too. With all the announcements from Phelinomia, everyone is convinced that they colluded with the invasion force.

/Guildchat: Nix: Taking a bite out of us needs to hurt. Are you still around Lena?

/Guildchat: Lena: Yes. Do you need anything?

/Guildchat: NIx: Coming to see you.

"Grab one of those Min and come with me." Nix walked with her toward the shops' area.

Mina was holding the bomb like it was an egg, but she didn't look scared. "Lena is the guild carpenter?"

Nix nodded, "yep."

Of all the people from the Gladis hub, Lena was the one who looked most like a criminal. She had a shaved head and was covered in tattoos and piercings. That was just on the outside however, Lena had been a social worker for inner-city youths. Nix wasn't sure what landed her in prison.

Nix held the door for Mina as they walked into Lena's store. "Hey, Lena. Have you met Min yet?"

Lena shook her head. "Not officially. Nice to meet you, Mina."

"Nice to meet you also Lena."

Nix smiled when he noticed all the carvings on the shelves. "What are the prerequisites for a carpenter?"

"Construction and Wood carving," Lena replied.

"I want to commission a figurehead for the Phoenix."

Lena smiled at the request. "I haven't done one of those yet. I'm assuming you want a Phoenix figurehead?"

Nix nodded, "I want you to add two enhancements, Air and Fire."

"You a crafter Nix so you know I'll need something to base those enhancements on."

Mina handed her the Aquarion bomb. "Careful this is an explosive."

Lena carefully set it in her enhancement block, instantly her face lit up. "It has a strong Air enchantment, the fire part is much weaker but I can strengthen that a bit."

Nix couldn't stop smiling. "What kind of final result can we expect?"

"Not really sure, stop back tomorrow after 1500 and I'll have something for you." Lena covered a yawn, she had been working all day.

A few minutes later Nix watched as Mina and her team removed most of the crates from the dock. They left the ones that were filled with the explosives. They had given Lena a good idea of what they wanted and then left her to her business. Finally, Nix head to the Kindled Spirit for some rest.

Hyai was cleaning up the dining hall when he walked in. She offered him a smile, "want some company Nix?"

Nix nodded as he trudged slowly up the stairs. "No matter what I'm sleeping in tomorrow."

When she opened the door to his suite a half-hour later, Nix was sleeping soundly in the bath. She clucked her tongue at him and placed a gentle hand on his head. "Sleeping in the bath Nix?"

"No." Nix denied it even though it was obvious he'd been sleeping. "I only closed my eyes for a bit."

Hyai held out a towel, "climb out of there Nix. Let's get you in bed."

The warmth of thick blankets combined with the innkeeper's soft skin made Nix fall asleep instantly, even though he had entertained other ideas. His eyes opened for the first time when the morning light started to come in from the windows. He smiled sleepily, he felt as comfortable as he had ever been.

Hyai moved slightly, propping herself on one elbow. "I have to get up in a bit Nix."

"Hmm... in that case." He pulled the warm and very willing Hyai on top of him. "I must apologize properly for falling asleep before my work was done."

The second time Nix woke up it was already mid-morning. Hyai was working when he finally made it downstairs he waved and headed outside. Ronnie and Jun Li were already waiting for him when he left the Kindled Spirit.

Jun Li had her island map open and was looking at the best options for the shipyard placement. The legendary shipyard came with twelve berths for ships. More than enough to hold its rapidly growing fleet. "We decided on the west side of the island right?"

Nix nodded, "you get that built and I will head over to the temple to see Shae."

Colonial System Message: The Inferno Guild has constructed the first Legendary Shipyard.

/Guildchat: Semmi: Go us!

/Guildchat: Pon: I hear if your ship is upgraded and you bring it to a legendary shipyard, it enhances it even further.

/Guildchat: Sharl: Nix come fix my sails! I know you did something to the Phoenix to make it faster!

/Guildchat: Nix: Fine. All interested personnel head over to the dock and talk to Captain Delphi. She will let you know how to upgrade the sails and weapons.

/Guildchat: Pon: You upgraded the weapons too?

/Guildchat: Nix: Can't have an old bastard like you showing me up.

Ronnie and Nix entered the temple a few minutes later. Shae was leaning against her altar, her acolytes were close by, hanging on her every word.

"Giving them some pointers Shae?" Nix noticed that her hair was braided, it was definitely Fajii's work. She had learned that braiding style from Nansu.

Shae nodded, "can't have them continuing to disappoint the Temple lord." She gave him a kiss on the cheek before glancing at Wilo who was perched on Ronnie's shoulder. "Ready to promote? I'll take care of everything."

Ronnie looked like she wanted to cry when Wilo entered Shae's world. Her gloomy face stared at the altar where she had disappeared. "She didn't even say goodbye."

Nix threw an arm around her shoulders and squeezed gently. "She's focused Ronnie, this is a dangerous time for her."

"Right... I'm being silly."

Nix felt Shae's eyes on him, he waited until Ronnie left the temple before speaking. "Can I see Fajii?"

Shae shook her head. "Give it a few days Nix, she's at a very dangerous time." She handed him a small bag. "She made some potions for you."

Nix smiled and accepted the bag. "Hey, what happened to Severance after she ignited the volcanic core?"

Shae shrugged and moved closer to him before grabbing one of his hands. "More than likely she is starting a new reign as a Salamander lord."

Nix had seen first hand what the brown flames had done to her. Her age had quickly moved backward from a middle-aged woman to a younger version that looked to be about Shae's age. "You seem different Shae."

"I'm progressing towards my next promotion decades ahead of schedule. We will have to stop cultivating the brown flame so often. No more than once every few weeks. Otherwise, my foundation will weaken."

Nix nodded, "I have a few things to do Shae. Let me know if you need anything."

Shae leaned closer and hugged him for a moment. "I will Nix." She smiled at his back when he started walking toward the exit. "Hey, Nix!"

He stopped and looked back. "Hmm?"

"If you start feeling really bad sometime in the next few weeks. Come find me immediately." Shae waved and disappeared from sight.

/Guildchat: Nix: Who wants to investigate the Quarry quest with me?

/Guildchat; Wind: I'll go.

/Guildchat: Chael: Me too.

/Guildchat: Pon: I'm in.

/Guildchat: Nix: Meet at the Phoenix in fifteen minutes.

/Guildchat: Wylie need me to come Sir?

/Guildchat: Nix: No, I'm setting up the Mariner training for the knights. You'll need to oversee it.

/Guildchat: Wylie: Yes sir.

While walking back to the Phoenix, Nix used the barracks menu to bring up the Mariner training for Captain Wylie and her knights. There was also a Marine Commander training available, so he quickly lined that up for her.

/Guildchat: Nix: I'll come by the barracks tomorrow and check your progress.

/Guilchat: Wylie: Look forward to being impressed, Sir.

Nix received permission to come aboard and shook Delphi's hand. She was standing at the notched rail where they kept unofficial track of their kills. "You're counting my two individual kills as part of the Phoenix's record?"

Delphi nodded with a sly smile. "You are part of her crew."

Pon, Wind, and Chael arrived a few minutes later. They were a group that leaned heavily toward fire damage. Exactly the type of teammates you wanted if you ran into trouble.

A few minutes later they left port, waving at the Ferry that was arriving just as they were leaving.

/Guildchat: Wind: That Ferry is packed today. Standing room only.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Make sure to upgrade the fleets sails as soon as possible Nix.

/Guildchat: Nix: Bring all the sails to my shop tonight. I'll take care of it.

Nix opened the bag he had received from Shae. There were four small bottles in it.

Transparency

Potion: Invisibility

Description: Offers an hour

of invisibility. Effect may be turned

on or off repeatedly for the duration.

Chael noticed the potion bottles right away. "Fajii make those?"

Nix nodded, Chael recognized them right away, Nansu made something similar for him. "She is still with Shae."

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Pon was frowning at the Inferno guild leader. Mostly because he was angry with himself for not thinking outside the box. "You had the weaponsmith upgrade the cannons on the Phoenix?"

Nix nodded, "Lena is making us a figurehead for the ship, I'm hoping to add more enhancements before I bring it to the shipyard."

"Nansu has been asking about Fajii." Chael didn't mention how shocked he had been to find out the Aquarion and Nix were very close.

Wind and Pon smiled at each other knowingly. Pon's old face wrinkled up in his version of a smile, "She's pushing you to find out the scoop right?"

Chael sighed and nodded, "Nansu thought she was Fajii's best friend among the humans.

Wind laughed at the comment, "apparently not."

"Fajii and I are friends." Nix couldn't hide the smile from forming on his lips. The Aquarion alchemist was someone he liked being around.

Pon made a face at him, "I'm surprised Shae hasn't scorched you."

"Hmm? Why would she do that?"

Pon shook his head in defeat. "You don't know women Nix."

"Probably not," Nix admitted.

Chael glanced over his shoulder to where Captain Delphi was standing, deliberately he lowered his voice. "So... Sharl and Ronnie?"

Nix didn't answer. "You guys ask a lot of questions."

Chael shook his head, "you should settle down with one person."

Nix nodded in agreement. "Who says I won't?"

Wind was leaning against the rail, listening to the conversation. "Just haven't found the right person?"

NIx laughed at his serious expression, "maybe I have and haven't realized it yet."

Chael ran a hand through his blonde hair, when he had met Nansu, he had realized right away. "I've been researching the Onion Quest. Do you know that no one has made it past the first leg of that quest?"

Pon laughed, "that damned Kraken probably is the reason."

Wind nodded, "it seems like a high tier quest. First a legendary beast and then a major invasion force. We should strengthen ourselves before we attempt the next part."

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Let us know if you need help with that Quarry quest Nix.

/Guildchat: Semmi: I'm interested in seeing what sort of quest it is, considering it was part of a reward.

/Guildchat: Ronnie: I miss Wilo Nix!

/Guildchat: Nix: Few days and she'll be back.

Pon was staring at the armor that Nix had received from Shae. "Is that growth armor Nix?"

Nix nodded, "yep. 10 to all stats and mana boosts"

"I thought so, that's the Temple Lord armor." Pon understood more about the topic than anyone else. "She named you Temple Lord Champion right? Do you understand the significance?"

Wind was listening to the two fire mages talk, everyone knew that Nix was the strongest noob around. "Let's see the stats Nix, we won't tell anyone."

Chael nodded in agreement, "yep, I want to see them too. Show us the boss stats!"

When Pon looked at him expectantly Nix only shrugged. "Fine, it's not a secret or anything."

Nix

Level 50 [Locked: Actual Level 84]

Strength 80

Endurance 78

Intelligence 40

Dexterity 40

Perception 40

Mana 12000/12000

Cold Resistance 115 [Ice Blessing]

Fire Resistance 115 [Burning Aura]

Emerald Flame Strands 75 [Flame Snare] [Fire Root]

Fire Seed [Emerald]

Weapon Skills:

Primary: Path of Fire [Salamander]

Support Skills:

N/A

Primary Path Skills

Balefire

Meteor Storm

Combustion

Comet Strike

[Spirit Animal 3/4]

1: Soup [Royal Sea Turtle]

2: Ducky [Siren]

3: Fey [Fire Drake]

Skills:

Hunter 100

Leather Making 100

Tailor 100

"The f*ck is that?" Pon looked like he wanted to cry.

Wind stared at the stats, "you need to train a secondary path Nix. With that strength, you should take up a martial path also."

"Your strength is 80? That's stronger than Aquarions." Chael had seen Fajii strength stat once, hers was at 55."

"Some of it is from the Beast Slayer title and the armor." Nix hadn't looked at his stats lately, he decided he was going to start looking for a good support skill.

"The significance of being Temple Lord is that you will defend the Palace in the event of a challenge." Pon old face looked worried, "That means if Shae chose not to step in, you could be taking on a Lord level elemental."

"I'm not worried." Nix closed his stat screen.

Wind had noticed the locked level. "How did your locked get so high?"

"It went up 15 levels with the death of the Kraken." Nix noticed the Phoenix was slowing."

"We'll anchor here Nix, you can take the Utility boat to the shore." Delphi had marked the island that the Quarry quest was on. It was one of the larger islands in the archipelago."

"This is Tsani Island?" Nix shook his head at Delphi, "we'll take mounts in, keep the boat on deck."

"Yes sir. " Delphi watched as the team summoned their mounts.

"Feel free to target any non-Sea Farer ships while we are gone." Nix climbed up on Fey and a moment later was airborne.

"About time you let me fly!" Fey stretched her wings and easily pulled away from the Mantas.

"Right... you just sit around all day soaking in Shae's ponds." Nix patted the scales on her neck. "Are your wounds healed?"

"Yes."

"I wonder if you can wear armor. We could shore up your underside a bit so we don't have to worry about range damage." Nix hadn't known before the last fight that most of the drakes protection was on the top, her underside was very vulnerable.

"I'm not a dragon Nix. Weigh me down with armor and I probably won't be able to fly at all."

"Hmm... I'll look into it. Just keep an open mind." Nix spotted the Quarry in the middle of the island and banked Fey toward it.

"Keep the mounts out?" Wind always liked to plan an exit strategy.

"Sure, won't hurt to be ready." Nix walked toward the only building on the site. It was a small one-roomed hut.

A tall thin man wearing a black mohawk exited the building when they approached. "Hello, friends. Welcome to the Phelinomia Quarry. I'm Foreman Lionel."

Nix glanced at his companions, none of them seemed to know how they should progress. "We were sent here by Lohai city to help you out."

"Help me?" Lionel shook his head, "I don't see how you can help me unless you can make seven trillion tons of quartz disappear."

"Seven trillion tons?" Nix looked at Pon, the old mage was deliberately avoiding eye contact. "This is a rock quarry right?"

Lionel shook his head, "No, it's a black marble quarry. Somehow we've run into a large strain of black quartz. We have to get rid of it since it's useless to us."

Guildchat: Nix: What do we do with seven trillion tons of black quartz?

Guildchat: Semmi: There's no market for quartz. Why do you have seven trillion tons of it?

Guildchat: Nansu: It can be crushed and used to make roads. Does that help?

"We can take the quartz off your hands. Is there a reward?" Nix knew the island was still kinda small, the need for roads was minimal.

Lionel nodded, "of course. The reward is seven trillion tons of black quartz."

Colonial System Message: You have successfully completed the Quarry quest.

"..." Nix.

"..." Pon.

"Wow... that was easy." Wind kept the smile off his face, but it took effort. This quest had turned into a duck.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Um... You guys finished the quest right?"

/Guildchat: Nix: Yep. How'd you know.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: The entire eastern part of Glory is now buried in black rock.

An hour later the group had returned to Glory island. Like everyone else they went to look at the mountain of black quartz. Jun Li and Semmi were already there.

Nix sighed when he saw the size of it. "Somehow it was a lot smaller in my head."

"I've been checking the possible uses of quartz. This pile isn't going anywhere." Semmi picked up a piece and tossed it to Nix.

Jun Li brought her map up, "I'm more worried about the space it is taking up. This could seriously hamper our development."

Nix caught the quartz in his hand and immediately the guild menu on his hud came up.

[Suitable expansion material acquired. Seven trillion tons of Black Quartz.]

[Do you wish to expand Glory island?]

"Yes." The hud map came up. Nix was suddenly grinning from ear to ear. He moved the highlighted area on the map to the eastern shoreline.

Instantly the mountain of quartz disappeared, it could be seen shimmering above the water just off of the eastern shoreline.

[Glory Expansion in progress 6 hours]

"What the hell just happened Nix?" Jun Li was staring at the empty spot where the quartz had been.

"The quartz is filler for island expansion. Looks like we'll gain quite a bit." Nix couldn't tell from his map how big the island would grow, but he estimated it at close to double.

Semmi was clapping her hands. "This is awesome Nix! I thought it was odd that the reward on such an important quest would be a complete dud."

/Inferno: Filamina: Nix! Look to the North!

/Inferno: Wylie: ALERT! All Knights establish defensive positions on the North Shore!

"The f*ck is going on?" Nix turned toward the north. There were hundreds of Manta coming toward them. They were still several hundred meters away.

/Inferno: Filamina: I count at least five Matriarchs Nix! They have a Water Lord with them!

/Inferno: Nix: Water Creatures invading a Fire Island? Ballsy... All available hands deploy the dock area.

/Guildchat: Nix: Noncombat Personnel evacuate to the Sea World Immediately.

/Glory Island General chat: Nix: All guest please evacuate to the Fire Palace Immediately. An Aquarion invasion force is heading our way.

/Inferno: Shae: I'll get rid of the Water Lord Nix.

/Inferno: Nix: No. Leave it to me.

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/Guildchat: Nix: Hyai, please check the guild roster against the noncombatants currently in Sea World.

Nix summoned Fey, then immediately drank his invisibility potion, and activated the icon before climbing on her back.

/Inferno: Nix: Junie I'll leave coordination of fighters to you. Remember that those five Matriarchs probably have at least 20 Sea-beasts they can summon.

Fey leaped into the air and started climbing rapidly.

[Command: Stealth]

Fey disappeared from sight.

/Inferno: Pon: Shit, a stealthed mount?

/Inferno: Filamina: The Souza Accord will hold the center, Junie.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Captain Wylie, I want you to shift west so you can protect the town if they decide to start destroying things.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Sharl, Banzi and I will hold the right side. DPS and casters will provide us with fire and heal support.

Nix was already high into the clouds when the first Aquarions were approaching the shore.

/Guildchat: Hyai: All non-combatants are accounted for Nix.

/Inferno: Pon: Sweet heavens. What is that thing?

/Inferno: Filamina: Careful Nix, that's a Manta Prime! It almost certainly has an ice attack.

The Manta in question was three times bigger than the standard white mantas. The Water Lord was standing majestically on its back. There were also two other passengers, both Matriarchs.

Nix leaned closer Fey's back and whispered. "Dive right at it, when we get close, show them your fire breath!"

Fey extended her wings and then banked into a dive. "What then?"

"Carpet bomb the enemy whenever you get the chance," Nix pulled his legs under him and crouched on his knees.

Shonie moved from her hiding spot behind the Kindled Spirit. When she heard the alert go off, she decided it was a good chance to complete her mission. Her guild master had sent her to Glory Island to scout out Inferno. No one really knew anything about them. Salamander regularly flamed them in the forums, but they couldn't be trusted. The Resolute Guild was looking for a strong, reliable ally, and the upstart Inferno guild was growing fast.

Shonie stealthed and climbed her way up to the roof of the inn, then she turned on 'Live Stream.'

At the same time in the Fire Palace, Shae sat unconcernedly on her Throne. Her acolytes were huddled around her looking worried. Dervi stood away from the rest, her Fire Staff was ready in her hand. "Highness... shouldn't we help them?"

Shae's light brown eyes stared at her Acolytes. "You aren't ready. I want you to move to the door and watch. You should have a nice view."

Fey steepened her dive, moving impossibly fast while Nix used his strands to anchor himself in place. The Prime never saw them coming. Thirty feet from their target she let the Manta have her flames at point-blank range.

[Fire Breathe]

Nix leaped from her back, hiding in the flames as he slung himself at the Water Lord.

[Aura Ignition]

The Water Lord used an instant shield to protect himself and the riders, but the Prime was heavily damaged. There was a flash of green just before Nix slammed into the trio. He wrapped his arms and legs around the stunned Lord as a half dozen emerald tentacles encircled each of the Matriarchs. The four of them bounced off the Manta and plummeted toward the ground. The painful shrieks of the Water Lord and his companions rose above the din of battle.

Fey banked away and immediately stealthed again. Nix had told her to stay at range with her AE attack, but first, she wanted to kill the Prime. She banked hard towards the wounded Manta. A near-deafening sound silenced the battlefield as Nix and the water creatures slammed into the ground, throwing a huge cloud of dust into the air.

Water Lord Azure has been stunned*

Matriach Sorba has been stunned*

Matriarch Vel has been stunned*

Unseen in the dust-filled air, Nix locked a death grip on the Water Lord, using all of his strength he pulled and twisted the water creature's head while his legs were anchored around its waist. The Lord was not trying to fight back, his only concern was escaping. The two matriarchs were trapped in the emerald tentacles the smell of burnt flesh permeated the air as the Emerald flames continued to swirl around Nix. Finally, after several seconds Nix's aura finally burned out and he staggered to his feet.

[Combustion]

Nix's wounds began to heal, while the dust finally settled. The two matriarchs were charred to a crisp.

"Nix!" Filamina had run toward him after dealing with the last Matriarch. She came up short when he tossed something on the ground.

Nix smiled and drank a mana potion while kicking the object he had dropped. The Water Lord's head and several inches of vertebrae had been torn from its body. He booted the head toward the enemy line. "Fey!" He looked toward the air for his mount. "How many matriarchs are still alive Min?"

"None." Mina called one of her Vila and jumped nimbly on its back before riding back to her people.

/Inferno: Nix: They are retreating toward the eastern shore. Do not pursue.

/Inferno: Jun Li: We have them on the run Nix.

The Glory defenders had first taken out the manta mounts of the invaders, leaving them on foot. The Aquarions were in full retreat as they ran for the eastern coastline.

/Inferno: Nix: Now Delphi! FIRE!!

/Inferno: Jun Li: Fire?

A moment later the roar of hundreds of cannons brought everyone's attention to the east bay. The entire Glory fleet was present as their 56ers roared to life. They fleeing Aquarions had run straight into the lion's den. Cannon fire tore through the line, blasting through flesh and landscape while causing the ground to shake like thunder.

/Inferno: Wind: Holy shit...

/Inferno: Nix: One more round, then pursue and wipe out everything.

In the aftermath of the battle, Nix walked toward his Aquarion allies. They had taken much of the load during the fight. He could see that several of them were down. One of Mina's Vila was following him, "Did Mina assign you to protect me?" The vila just stared at him while shadowing his every step.

Mina was kneeling on the ground next to two of her allies, they had both died from their wounds. She stroked their pale faces while murmuring something quietly. Nix waited off to one side until she had finished.

"How many Min?"

Mina turned at his voice, "we lost two." Her pale features looked impossibly sad, she took a quick look around the battlefield before unsummoning her beasts.

Nix grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. "What happened to the other three Matriarchs?"

"I killed them." Mina clung to his hand for a moment before stepping closer and embracing him.

Nix stroked her head softly, taking down three matriarchs by herself was impressive. "I'm glad you are okay."

/Inferno: Ronnie: Gross Wind... what is that thing?

/Inferno: Wind: It's the Water Lord's head. Going to have it made into a totem for the dock!

/Inferno: Jun Li: Casualty report, please.

/Inferno: Tess: All guild members have been rezzed. Two of our Aquarions friends have been killed.

/Inferno: Wylie: I lost four knights.

/Inferno: Rose: I rezzed Pon three times.

/Inferno: Pon: Why mention that?

/Guildchat: Nix: Non-combatants may return to Glory.

/Glory Island General chat: Nix: All visitors may return to the town area. Because of clean-up requirements, the Ferry will be leaving for the mainland in thirty minutes. No overnight guests will be allowed tonight. Thank you.

An hour later the members of Inferno and the Souza Accord were gathered on the beach in the Sea-World. Nix was sitting on the warm sand between Pon and Mina. Jun Li and Wind were seated across from them.

The old mage had wounded two of the matriarchs badly before their creatures had torn him apart. "Why are your Vilas so strong now Mina?"

"I put all of them through the companion trials at Dunham's Cove." Mina's voice was soft and low, it had been a while since she had lost anyone.

Nix had noticed that her Vila seemed heavily armored and quite a bit larger then he remembered. "That was good thinking Min."

"Why did an Aquarion force single us out?" Jun Li had been thinking about it since the battle ended. "We had just stopped a major offensive in Lohai and suddenly we are attacked?"

"Good question. Seems like it shouldn't be a coincidence." Nix opened the Island menu, the expansion had another hour left.

"It's because of us." Mina knew that sooner or later her people would come after them. Breaking off from established traditions wasn't allowed. The Souza Accord was the number one enemy of the Aquarion race. "I'm worried, next time the force could be much greater."

Nix nodded in agreement, "they didn't send enough. We should prepare a suitable reply."

Shonie stood at the rail of the ferry as it left Glory island. She had wanted to stay and speak with the Inferno leaders, but she understood the need for recovery. She had streamed the entire event, the forums were lighting up in response to the short but very decisive battle. The Aquarion assault force should have been more than enough to pillage Glory island, the reality was something completely different. Glory was a haven for hidden powerhouses, the Nemesis that protects the island didn't even bother to come out.

Over the next four weeks, Glory would continue to grow. The guild city had been upgraded shortly after the eastern expansion had finished. A few days after that, Nix had used his upgrade token to upgrade it to level three. Level three Cities came with wall options and cannon emplacements. More shops applied to come to the island, these were carefully perused by Semmi before being handpicked.

Inferno would continue to make small excursions into Mermaid City. Shae would finish another month of Fire-based gear, with this it was decided that it was time to advance their Mermaid City mission.

The officers of Inferno had set up two important appointments. One was to meet with the leadership of a guild called Resolute. The other was a highly secretive meeting with the Kingdoms of Neptia, Valis, Trifelez, and Berma. Only Nix and Jun Li knew what their agenda was.

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The black-cloaked figure turned down the dark alley and sprinted along the city wall, both of the warehouses he had targeted were already in flames. He slowed to a walk and checked his backtrail, suddenly the sound of footsteps echoed in the quiet evening, he had been found.

"He's up ahead Vera, close on him!" The one who spoke was holding her side while she ran, a bad fall from the rooftop had injured her.

"Damn it Tula, be more careful!"

Vera stopped at the wall, their prey was slowly scaling it. She pulled her pistol and pointed it at the arsonist. "Bastard ass! Making me run all this way." She was tempted to shoot him, but she had strict orders to bring him in. A quick death would mean his escape to his binding point.

"My side hurts!" Tula finally caught up to her twin sister. That's when she saw the man on the wall. "Got you at last dumbass!"

"Do you?" The dark figure showed no sign of fear, he smiled when they approached the bottom of the rope.

[Fire Trap]

A shaped charge exploded and tore through the legs of the twins putting them both down. Tula had been hunched over holding her side, so the trap had killed her. Vera was not so lucky, one of her legs was gone from the knee down and the other was burnt beyond use.

"F*ck..." Vera picked up the pistol she had dropped and pointed it toward the wall but the man had disappeared. She looked down at her legs before cursing loudly and pointing the pistol at herself.

A half-hour later Nix returned to the house in the Sea World. He had emptied one of the spare rooms and brought in shelves and a large workbench. Trap making was part of the hunting craft. Nix hadn't paid much attention to it in the past, but recently he discovered that it was quite handy. He changed his clothes and returned to Glory Island.

Glory had undergone extensive changes. A stone wall completely enclosed most of the city, only the dock area had been left unwalled, but there was a heavily guarded gated entrance. The dock shops and Inns had become thriving businesses but slowly a main street was developing as new shops continued to open. Semmi had some experience with city planning, so she was taking care of everything.

He walked over to the Kindled Spirit and tiptoed up the stairs to his room. It was 0300 and just about everyone was sleeping. After undressing he slid into bed, magically the person who had been there when he left was now two people. Apparently Sila had made a late-night visit and had been welcomed by Hyai. Nix felt that it was worth noting that both of Sila's wrists were still tied to the bedpost.

"Damn it... The hell did I miss?" He moved closer to his favorite innkeeper and closed his tired eyes.

Nix smiled in his sleep a few hours later, feeling a soft hand encircle his shaft before it was enclosed in the warm wetness of a mouth.

Propping his head upon the pillow he watched while Hyai's head slowly bobbed up and down. "Is this how the Kindled Spirit keeps its guests returning?"

Hyai let him slide out of her mouth before moving up to straddle his waist. "Complaining?" She was still holding him in her hand, with a soft moan she slid onto him.

A while later Nix woke up for the second time. He noticed the time and gently shook Hyai awake. "It's morning hun, maybe you can get the help to open some mornings?"

Hyai opened one eye, she often woke up next to Nix so it came as no surprise. "Hmm... I like opening the Inn for breakfast." She turned her face into his neck, kissing his skin. "You smell like smoke again Nix."

He kept his face expressionless. "Do I?"

Hyai shrugged, "I love the smell of smoke."

Nix nodded. "Me too."

She rolled out of bed and headed toward the dresser. "Are you still taking me to Jenza today?"

Yep, sometime before dinner." Nix watched as she casually opened a drawer in his dresser and took out a change of work clothes. She kept a lot of stuff in his room for moments like this. He watched with interest as the curvy innkeeper dressed. Hyai wasn't beautiful in the traditional sense, it was her warmth that was attractive.

"Going to want something to eat Nix?" She finished putting on her uniform, well aware that her companion was watching her.

"Yes please, but not for a few hours. Junie and I are heading to Neptia for a meeting this afternoon, so maybe I'll grab brunch after I get up."

"Okay hun, I'll put something aside for you." Hyai waved and left the room quietly.

/Guildchat: Jun Li: Hey Nix, let's meet up at your houseboat before we head to Neptia.

/Guildchat: Nix: Sure, was just heading there anyway.

Nix gated to the Sea-World. The warm sun of late-morning was very pleasant. He took the outside ladder up to the third level of his houseboat, the fact that he had the biggest boat in their marina still made him smile. A familiar face brought him up short.

"Hello, Nix!" Fajii smiled sweetly at him and stood up in the hot tub. Without any hesitation, she embraced him tightly. "I really missed you!"

"Same here." He didn't mind the fact that she was wet. "Has Shae finally set you loose?"

Fajii shook her head. "Only for a few hours, until my training is complete, she has to monitor me constantly."

"Er... I'm scared to ask." Nix stared at her, there was something slightly different.

Fajii nodded and held out her hand, the smallest flame appeared in her hand. It was a warm yellow flame.

"Oh god..." Nix put his hand over it to test it, it was pleasant to his touch. "An Aquarion Fire Mage? Is that even possible?"

"Shae said that my people are strong mages, it's just that normally we have a complete intolerance to any kind of fire."

"This sounds very dangerous Fajii. I don't like it at all."

"Shae said she will explain everything and asks that you come to visit us tomorrow in her world." Fajii hugged him again and placed her head on his shoulder for a long moment before finally stepping away. "Now that I've delivered the message I must return." She waved at him and quickly left.

Nix watched her walk away. He understood the constant monitoring, Fajii would be killed by flame poisoning if left by herself before her own fire seed was fully developed.

"Permission to come aboard?" Semmi stood next to his gangplank, her normal bright smile was in place, Jun Li was with her.

"Why start asking now?" Nix leaned over the rail, "come on up."

"Was that Fajii I saw leaving?" Semmi liked to tease Nix, they shared an easy sibling-like relationship.

Nix didn't answer, instead he took a seat and waited for them to come up.

Jun Li took the seat across from him while Semmi chose to lean against the rail. "Salamander was hit again last night, this time it was two warehouses that were burned to the ground."

Nix didn't hide his smile. "Good, let's find the guy and give him something nice."

Semmi nodded in agreement, "Like what though?"

"I was thinking we'd give him you."

Semmi laughed at the comment. "What if it's a woman?"

"Then we'll give her Junie."

Jun Li turned slightly red. "What's that supposed to mean Jackass?"

Semmi winked at him. "I think it means women find you attractive."

"The f*ck! A man would be more than happy with me!"

Nix gave her a defeated look. " Fine Junie, we'll give him you once we establish his identity."

"Yep," Semmi agreed with a quick nod.

Jun Li scowled at her two friends. "That makes six different Salamander targets."

"Seven," Semmi corrected. "The guild hall was torched twice."

"Right, seven then." Jun Li had been reading a first hand account of the incident written by Tula. "Seems like they nearly caught him this time."

Semmi fixed a stray lock of blonde hair. "The forums love this guy. Shank has been shitting on everyone since he took over leadership of Salamander."

Nix gave them both an unreadable smile. "If he's smart, he will lay low for a while."

Jun Li open her hud and transferred a document to Nix. "This is the contract that I wrote up for the establishment of an Independent City State that will be allied with the Kingdoms of Broyan."

Semmi clapped her hands in excitement. "Do you think they'll sign?"

Both Nix and Jun Li nodded. Safarza was the only Broyan Kingdom against it, but thankfully under the rules of the Broyan alliance, only 4 out of 5 votes were required.

Nix stood up and stretched his arms overhead. "Let's get on with it, we'll take the Phoenix."

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