Chapter 12 – Time Flies

"Wow. Whoever they stole this nipeigh from certainly trained it well. I don't even need to hold the reins!" Maria said, leaning back against her seat.

The bandits had a wagon with a nipeigh already attached to it, ready to pull their stolen goods whenever they were ready. There weren't any such items in the back, as far as Reina was aware. Mostly provisions for the day for the whole group, plus some tools should the wagon break down and a small gathering of supplies. The three of them were likely the first group the bandits came across.

"It's a good thing they didn't try bringing it into the forest. Reason I got left behind was because so many spiders tried to eat the damn things and they ran off scared. Really, I'm surprised the bigger ones didn't come out from all the commotion back then. I hear they only go out for big meals."

Reina didn't want to think about the bandits. They weren't in the back and they weren't being pulled along by a rope. She knew what happened to them. She saw what remained of them. She had proof of that from her newest weapon form.

Voodoo Doll
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: Forge "Death Pact"

The name of the ability didn't inspire confidence in her. The 13 human tokens she also got from them increased her magic stat, and not by a small amount. Nothing about the situation was good.

They were bandits. They very likely deserved what they got. They would have ended up as slaves to the state—Ablos, in this case—for quite a long time. That didn't change how she felt about it.

"Soldi for your thoughts, Boss?" Maria gave her a smile.

How could she be so easygoing about this? It'd barely been 15 minutes since they left. A little before that, she and Vyrdrun finished putting those…people…into Reina's weapon. She did so without a problem.

"It's nothing…" Reina murmured.

"Oh, I know that's not true." With an elbow on the backrest, Maria held her head up with her arm. "Come on, what's the problem? They would have killed us if they could. Well, you anyway. They had other plans for Vyrdrun and me."

Reina glanced up at the Gromnar. He was walking ahead and to the side of them, not on the trail the nipeigh pulled the cart on. Less likely to spook the animal, most likely.

"I know." Her voice was barely louder than the clacking of the wheels.

People died all the time. In earlier periods of history, it was just more common. That's how it was here, too. She'd just have to…

"Reina."

Startled by the hand on her shoulder, Reina looked over at Maria. Her smile wasn't as happy as before.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"…Will we make it to Lespax before the Wave?"

Maria already knew their destination and she was more than familiar with the land. She hummed in thought before responding.

"We should make it there with a day or two to spare. That's if we don't do a lot of monster fighting, just some light foraging." She said.

"I see…" Reina nodded at her words.

It seemed like going through the forest didn't add or subtract any time, only allowing Reina and Vyrdrun to gain some levels. All the weapon forms certainly helped, along with the tokens and bodies for the Gacha rolls. She'd need to use those a bit.

An arm snaked around Reina's shoulder, pulling her into Maria's chest.

"H-Hey!" Reina called out. "What're you—"

"You can talk to me whenever, Boss." The wizard said, holding her close. "We can talk about more than magic and monsters and countries. You clearly aren't used to fighting people, let alone killing them."

Reina didn't think she was being particularly discrete about it.

"And you can especially talk to Vyrdrun. It's in his nature to help."

"What do you mean?" Reina tilted her head to look at her.

"He's a shaman. It's part of his job."

"Shaman?"

Maria nodded. "They're the Gromnar that can use magic. Well, the male ones. You know how Vyrdrun is a little less than twice your height? Normal Gromnar are more than twice mine."

The Gromnar slave from the last town came to mind. Vyrdrun asked what his height was. This must have been the reason.

"Their faces also look different, mostly little nodules that circle their heads like a crown. Women are thinner, both in body and face, and are slightly taller." Maria added.

…And the reason Vyrdrun didn't ask about those was because she said he was horribly burned. She certainly didn't notice those on his burned face.

"He doesn't talk that much." Reina pointed out.

Maria smiled at her. "Heh, well, if he's from Savia or more east, it would also be in his nature not to interact much with humans."

The reason why was apparent. Just another thing Reina didn't like about this world. But she was here now, and she would adapt. But still, she had to ask.

"How do you not care about killing people?" She didn't mean in a general sense, being able to slit the throat of anyone they came across.

"I've come across too many bandits to treat them like people." Maria answered, understanding her intent. "The way I see it, if they're out here looking to rob or kill people, they're little better than those vermin from the forest. And you saw how I deal with those~."

It really was that simple. Back home, if someone attacked her on the street, she really wouldn't care what it took to stay alive. If they had to die for that to happen, that's their fault. She knew that, but she supposed she just needed to hear it out loud.

"Thanks." She said, still looking up at Maria. "I'll talk to either of you more if I need it."

"Good to hear, Boss!" Maria gave her body a quick squeeze. "Just let Big Sis Maria take care of you now."

Reina let out a sigh. "You ruined it."

"You love it!" Maria beamed at her. It was hard to suppress her own smile.

Reina idly wondered if this was what having an older sister would be like. As she pulled back, the amulet around Maria's neck bumped against her head.

"Hey, could I hold that for a second?" She asked wizard.

"Sure, Boss." Maria turned slightly, puffing out her chest to the shorter hero.

With another sigh, Reina carefully pulled it up by the small chain and held it in her hands. It didn't look like anything special, but she couldn't tell what the circular amulet was made out of. She waited, but nothing popped up in her status.

"Hm. Maybe it needs to be from a church or something? Otherwise, it's just a normal accessory." She mused.

"Nope. Couldn't copy it." She let it drop and bounce off the wizard's chest.

"Hey, you have to be more gentle with me~." Maria placed a hand against her cheek while the other patted her chest.

"That…what about the ring?" Reina really didn't want to continue that topic anyway.

"Well…As long as you don't take it off. Unless you were thinking of putting it on yours~." Maria gave her a wink.

Reina was pretty sure she knew what the flirty wizard meant. The ring was on the right finger, after all. Instead of responding, she simply held Maria's hand, fingers pressed against the ring. Again, nothing popped up in her status.

"Nope." Reina shook her head. When she looked at Maria again, she saw a face that looked so smug and confident.

The wizard leaned forward and whispered. "If you wanted to hold my hand, you could have just said so~."

Reina instantly pulled her hand back. There was certainly not a blush forming on her face.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" She was also sure her voice was loud enough and not a whisper. The laughter of her companion meant nothing.

~Forging Legends~

Reina awoke from her dreams. They were about what she expected: the bandit looking at her right as he died. It wasn't as vivid as she thought it would be, so that was a small blessing.

The previous day passed by smoothly after the bandits. They ended it with a small hunt for food, Reina got a couple weapon forms with stats, and then it was time to rest.

The hut was quiet as she stretched, leading her to realize she was the first one up. Since she was going to make breakfast this morning from yesterday's hunting, that worked out fine. Nothing extravagant, especially since she and Maria could flavor the food slightly with their magic.

Speaking of the wizard, Reina didn't see her right away. She was supposed to be sleeping on a spare pelt that Vyrdrun had next to Reina. A soft snore pulled her attention to the giant. Reina walked over, her eye beginning to twitch.

It wasn't Vyrdrun that was snoring, but the party wizard. She was curled up on Vyrdrun's bare chest, happily snoring away without a care in the world. This was emphasized by the fact that she was in the same state of dress she was yesterday morning.

Vyrdrun was awake and looking at Reina. He slowly held a finger to his mouth.

"Unbelievable." Reina just turned around and went to start making breakfast. "No, it's completely believable. Neither one of them cares about that sort of thing."

She approached the dead monster, which was hung up to let the blood out of it overnight. She switched to an athame form and began cutting off bits to cook with the pan Vyrdrun prepared already.

"What's it matter, anyway? If I don't look, it doesn't bother me all that much. So what if my two party members are comfortable being that close with one another? It doesn't bother me in the slight—" Reina's head jerked up from the pit she was about to light up. A burst of self-awareness entered her mind, and she was not pleased by it.

"Oh, hell no! I am not going to turn into a tsundere! That's not what's happening here! Who am I even jealous of? What, is a little skinship all that's needed for me to fall for someone? So what if sleeping on Vyrdrun was the safest I felt? So what if Maria is a little fun and holding me possibly kept me from having a worse nightmare—brain, stop it!"

She racked her head back and forth, trying to banish the thought. Prince Johan had a certain charm to him that made her feel nice, and that turned out horribly. There was no way Reina was going to consider doing anything about any of that for a while. And besides, Vyrdrun was nearly twice her size and Maria was a woman.

Well, size difference aside, Vyrdrun had helped her out quite a bit with no promise of reward. Him apparently being a shaman played into that, but his actions remained. And Maria…well, Reina was pretty sure she wasn't attracted to women, but that implied she had a crush on a boy before, which she hadn't; that was aside from whatever she felt for Johan, and that wasn't even for that long. So maybe…

"Pft!" There was a noise behind her. Because of that, Reina realized she no longer heard the light snoring of Maria.

When she turned around, she saw the wizard and the giant looking at her. Maria held a hand to her mouth as she sat up, eyes dancing with amusement. Vyrdrun's flat look didn't help at all.

"Are you doing a dance over there?" Maria held back a laugh as she asked.

"Get dressed!" Reina turned back around, ignoring the blush on her face.

"I'll sort myself out later!"

Breakfast was a quick affair, then it was back on the road again. They still had a little over a week before they reached where the Dragon Hourglass was in Lespax, that being the capital. The city was designated as such to better secure the structure, according to the history lesson Maria was giving her.

That was the next thing they were taking care of: Reina's knowledge of this world. Maria previously offered and was now all too willing to share what she knew about her world. Since Lespax was their destination, she started with that.

"It was the only Dragon Hourglass not under the control of the Keston Empire during that dynasty. That was due to a number of factors, namely being the mountainous terrain that separated much of that part of the world from the empire. The Gromnar living on them prevented imperial forces from marching through even the hilly areas that dotted the long mountain range. Fireball!"

A small gaggle of dolls that wandered just a bit too close to the cart quickly found themselves on fire. With the small bits of XP gained, Reina sent out her spirit to pick up the remains. She'd found that her range with the spirit had gradually been increasing as she leveled up, as has the SP consumption gone down somewhat. The latter was partially perceived due to her increased SP with the bar indicating the amount looking the same.

Reina also noticed that most monsters they encountered on the roads weren't too strong. If she thought this world was a game, she'd say it's a given or by design. Of course, that was likely close to the truth and not a coincidence. The dirt road was made through areas of weak monsters, as was likely the locations of villages and towns, which there were plenty of.

"Now, where was I? Or right! So, the imperial forces would need to go through Boshil to reach Lespax, just like we will. Instead of mountains, Boshil is separated by thick forests. The monsters there are stronger than in the forest we met in, but there is a path cut through them. That path comes to a fort that was constructed in anticipation of foreign armies attempting to…"

Maria went on and on like that, passing what information she could to Reina. It was appreciated, really, but it was a lot to take in.

Thankfully, they took a break when they neared another somewhat large town. While the sparingly few people they came across didn't outright cower in Vyrdrun's presence, they agreed it'd be best for him to wait outside the walls.

Thus, Reina and Maria went in by themselves, along with the nipeigh and cart.

"Okay, I'm thinking we stock up on bread." Maria suggested. "It's one of the cheapest and most filling foods we can get and we won't have to cook it."

"Sounds good." Reina nodded in response.

Originally, they were going to hunt most of their food, but that would require them to stop more. As appealing as that was, they needed to get to Lespax with enough time to prepare, even if they couldn't go out and level as much. The king would most likely fund Reina for fighting in the Wave, so better equipment awaited them there.

Additionally, Maria had informed Reina of one of her 'restrictions'. She needed to eat much more than someone her size normally would. The plus side was it wasn't one that could be broken accidentally by not eating enough, and she could discard it if she was without food. The downside was, of course, the cost. Luckily, Reina continued to make potions to sell.

Finding the appropriate merchants was easy. The wagon was soon filled with loaves and loaves of bread. They also picked up a long spear for Vyrdrun to use and get used to, since he agreed to it. He could practice before they slept for the night, though the durability of the weapon was questionable, given the price. They were able to come out making a profit from their visit, so it was another plus.

The only other thing they had to do here was a small bit of information gathering, which was easily done passively.

"I heard Savia's capital got hit hard by the Demon Lord."

"What are the heroes doing? Shouldn't they be stopping him?"

"The whole royal family died, from what I heard."

"No, no, the queen was down south to expand their borders. She'll probably try to take back the capital."

That did make Reina wonder what would happen. Since she was no longer in Savia, would the Demon Lord simply leave? She didn't know how big his forces were, but the knights and guards were able to fight some of the weaker monsters. If he left, maybe the queen could take back the city.

"Ugh." Reina looked over at Maria when she made that noise.

"What's wrong?" She asked the wizard.

"I know about her, the queen." Maria said. "She'll probably marshal her lords and march on the capital."

"What's wrong with that?" Reina asked. It seemed entirely reasonable.

"I'll have to tell you more about Savia." A shudder went through Reina at her words, though she couldn't place why. "The queen is friendlier with the churches than her husband. She'll probably have them expand, assuming she can even take back the city."

"Is that…bad?"

"It's not good. Churches are a sign of the empire. You'll find that the further we go west, the less churches we'll see."

That sounded like a double-edged sword. Less churches meant fewer weapon forms Reina could copy. She didn't dare try to do so here, still so close to Savia. It wasn't like they'd let some random adventurer start picking up different religious items for no discernable reason.

With their business in town concluded, they left and met back up with Vyrdrun. It was time to really get on their way toward Lespax, hopefully with no more stops.

~Forging Legends~

"Eight days. Eight…whole…days…"

She regretted it. She regretted everything.

For eight days, Maria bombarded Reina with countless facts, opinions, magical theories, and anything else she could think of. Which countries were favorable to each other. Which countries hated each other. The various royal families with blood ties to others. Why certain spirits interacted with each other the way they did. The prices and uses of golems and constructs in different countries, and their rarity and legality. What countries had the best foods and their meals of choice.

Some of the information was more useful than others. But as Maria said, "Knowledge is power. Therefore, I'm unstoppable!" At a certain point, Reina stopped wondering which bits of information would have the most application. Certainly krindar meat being soaked in milk would be delicious, after all.

Reina learned something else important. Nipeigh are strong, durable creatures. They can travel much longer than humans can, and horses too, which is in part why they were able to get to Lespax in time for the Wave. And, of course, why they had little time to hunt monsters.

Maria also needed to sleep more, another restriction, which mitigated the nipeigh's durability somewhat. Only merchants really went that long; others would still break to make food or stop in towns, which is likely what that merchant thought of when he gave the timeframe for travel.

Oh, the sleeping! More often than not, Reina found herself in the role of a body pillow for the party wizard. The woman had another 'restriction' that sapped part of her body heat. It begged the question of why she wore such an outfit, or why she wore next to nothing when she slept, but the long days of learning sapped the will to ask. Besides, if it wasn't her, then Maria would have used Vyrdrun as a bed. In the end, Reina chose this.

"Come on, Boss, you had fun~!" Maria called out as they were pulled into town. This far west, she assured them Vyrdrun had almost nothing to worry about, so he stayed with them.

"No…" Reina whimpered out.

She was a good student. She knew she was. Good grades didn't just fall from the sky. That, of course, assumed she was able to take notes on whatever she was learning. As things stood, she'd be lucky if she retained even a quarter of what she was taught.

Reina didn't know what she didn't know, but she knew she didn't know. She let Maria talk and talk and talk some more. The woman might be some sort of genius, or at least a savant with the few broad topics discussed.

When the cart came to a stop, Reina never felt so thankful in her life. She was in Lespax, the country that would have a Wave in a couple days. It wasn't the capital, but it was close.

"…What're you looking at?" Reina gave a leery eye to the creature that was in part responsible for her suffering. The nipeigh just looked back at her, uncaring of her plight. No, that's not true. It blinked.

"There durability really makes up for their appearance. Seriously, a bulldog-like face on a skinny-necked horse is just wrong." Reina gave one last look to their transportation animal before taking in her surroundings.

Before them was the market of the town, people busy selling and buying what they had. A monster part shop was close to the start of the area, likely for adventurers to quickly sell their loot and go back out.

"Hm. Trade. That's likely a bonus for attacking Savia. It seems that country is a big trade hub, considering its eastern coast connects to the largest sea connecting the former empire. A much smaller sea north of Savia allowed traders to go a bit west, with Savia itself also able to trade west and south on land. The eastern coast goes up north and east to what used to be the capital and southeast to other lands either conquered or absorbed into it. With effectively an ocean between the two areas, coastal ships would need to go around, trading all along the way. There's also a few island nations east of the old imperial capital that are…"

"Whatever gods dwell in these lands, please save me from myself."

If Reina didn't know better, she'd say Maria kept feeding her history and such in her sleep.

"I know that look, Boss." A pair of arms wrapped themselves around Reina, comforting the back of her head in softness. "That's the look of someone who's learned a whole~ bunch of stuff. Such a good girl, listening to Big Sis the whole way." She stroked the top of Reina's head.

"Yes, I'm a good girl. Good girls don't need to learn more about geography and advanced magical theories." A day of rest from being in an advanced course of the world would do her a lot of good. She'd be better able to form an appropriate response to Maria's action then.

"What do you want to do, Boss?" Maria asked, keeping her close. "A hearty meal would be nice. Maybe see if there's anything you can absorb here for cheap?"

"Yeah…" Reina nodded numbly. "Food sounds…"

The lasts words rang a bell for Reina. Blinking a few times, she started to look around. While not in the market district, she spotted the right type of building. It looked like some sort of church, an emblem of a red sword over the door.

"Churches are a sign of the empire. It's the reason why, this far west, they will be small, few, and far between. Most spirits don't congregate like the ones present in churches do, which is why the pantheon…breathe, Reina, just breathe." Even after resting, Reina knew she'd be randomly recalling bits of information like that for days, if not forever.

"There." Reina pointed to the building. "A church of the Crimson Saber."

"Ooh, yeah!" Maria released her and stepped forward. "You can copy some weapon forms in there."

"Yeah." Reina nodded before turning to her other companion. "Vyrdrun?"

"I'll wait out here." He said without missing a beat.

Reina wasn't surprised at all. Even this far away—and never actually absorbed into the Keston Empire—those inside might still hold certain views about Gromnar.

"We'll be back soon, Vyrdrun." Maria said, giving him a smile.

Vyrdrun plucked the hat from her head, gave her a quick pat, and placed it back on, earning a larger smile from her. He'd been doing that a lot recently, much to Reina's confusion and not at all to her annoyance. Maria said it was a giant thing, and Reina decided not to pursue another subject of learning for now.

The two women went alone to the building. As small as it was, the place was still open to the public, so they went in with ease.

"Welcome." The friendly face of a priest greeted them at the altar. His robes were red with a short, grey mantle across his upper back and chest. "How can I help you today?"

"I have a bit of an odd request." Reina said, pulling her totem from her hip. She quickly changed its form to another, earning a gasp from the priest.

"The Spirit Forger!" He all but shouted, clasping his hands together. "It's an honor to meet you."

"Thank you." Reina smiled nervously. She wasn't this shy around strangers like this before, but spending a week with Maria may have messed with her ability to have normal conversations.

"What can this humble priest do to aid you?" The man asked.

"If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to hold your amulet for a moment." Reina said.

"Hm?" The priest cocked his head to the side but removed it all the same.

Reina approached and took it in her hand. A popup she hadn't seen in a while appeared, making her smile.

Weapon Copied!

Crimson Blade Amulet
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: Forge "Flaming Fists"
Equip Effect: minor fire resistance

The theme was about what she expected, but the bonus was much greater. She only hoped the 'fists' part of it didn't mean literal fists, or she'd have to go back to the Doll Template. Then again, that one was weak to fire, so maybe not. Something to test out later.

"Thank you." Reina gave the man a light bow and returned the amulet.

"Of course, Spirit Forger." The man looked confused but pleased all the same.

She looked around the small church. Reina wasn't sure what she expected before coming in, but it seemed like any other church she'd seen pictures of before. Her eyes settled on the altar, where a small stone carving of a man with a sword stood. That was the patron of the church, if her understanding was correct.

What she got from Maria was that the spirits that were present in established churches didn't have a physical body or actual appearance. Instead, the higher ranked members could feel a sort of shared vision of what the cooperative spirits would look like. Reina didn't really understand it, but that wasn't an issue.

"Would I be able to hold that?" She asked, pointing to the foot-tall statue.

"I…suppose that can be allowed." The priest offered. "Is it necessary?"

Reina nodded. "It'll give me more weapon forms to use."

"Ah! Then most certainly, Spirit Forger." He was much more enthusiastic about it.

Reina did the same thing and was pleased at the result.

Weapon Copied!

Lesser Crimson Blade Idol
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: spirit attack 3

"Hm. If this were a bigger church, there'd probably be more for me to copy. But, of course…" She already understood the issue with that.

"Thank you for your time." Reina gave the man a slight bow. "We'll be…"

A thought occurred to her. This far out, there was a chance it might work.

"Actually, would I be able to receive a blessing?" She asked.

"Why, certainly!" The priest nearly shouted with joy.

"Boss…" Maria gave a weak word of opposition, but Reina still wanted to try.

"Stand here and let me place my hand on your shoulder." The priest ignored Maria and instructed Reina. She did so without pause and waited for the priest to continue. He closed his eyes and spoke. "Great Crimson Blade, please bestow upon your follower this blessing."

Reina waited. It didn't take long for the priest to open his eyes back up.

"I'm sorry, Spirit Forger, but you appear to have other spirit contracts on you. You will need to dismiss them before receiving a blessing." The priest informed her sadly.

"You can't make an exception?" She asked, only for him to shake his head.

"I'm afraid not." He said.

"I see. Well, again, thank you for your time." She gave one final statement and made her way out with Maria.

"May your journey be a safe one, Spirit Forger." The priest called out as they left.

The pair would return to Vyrdrun and the cart before moving on.

"You knew that wouldn't work." Maria told her.

"Just wanted to test it." Reina responded.

It was one of the things she learned over the last week, as well as a partial understanding from around her summoning. The spirits that belonged in the various churches in this world didn't get along with each other, and that extended to the more individual spirits. A group that had a church devoted to it would work only with the ones in that group.

What's more, church initiates didn't interact directly with the spirits. Priests, priestesses, and other clergy acted as intermediaries. They were the ones who decided who could receive a contract, or a 'blessing' as they called it. Higher ranked members could give additional blessings, with the high priests and priestesses having the most.

Of course, normal people wouldn't just be able to walk in like Reina did. They'd have to go through a more formal process and actually join, with some exceptions for town guards. The Spirit Forger was another exception, though it seemed the spirits were unwilling to make a further exception for her.

It seem ridiculous, given that these Waves were apparently world threatening. With a Demon Lord also running around, they should make an exception for the hero who has to deal with both.

"Then again, Johan tried to sell me out right away. If the people in charge are willing to do that, why would these spirits be any different?" Reina thought. A bit cynical, but evidence supported that. It didn't really matter. Once time wasn't as big a factor, Reina would be able to find more spirits to contract with outside of the churches.

It wasn't as if she'd have to run all around the world or anything, right?

~Forging Legends~

"Sire, I bring reports."

Derdir turned to the sound of wood clacking on the stone ground. His oldest imp walked with his staff in hand, two parchments held in the other.

"What news do you have?" He asked his servant.

With a quick bow, the old imp Krell held up the papers to read. "It seems Savia's queen has amassed a larger army and is preparing to march on her former capital."

"That is of no consequence." Derdir waved his hand. "I have no use for the woman. If she can make it through the ruined city, it is hers to keep."

"Very well, Sire." Krell bowed and shuffled the papers. "In that case, the Spirit Forger has made it into Lespax."

"Hm." Derdir nodded. "She made good time. I was beginning to wonder if she wouldn't make it before the next Wave."

"She is as resilient and resourceful as the legends claim, Sire." The imp said evenly. "Despite keeping her presence low, she has acquired a mage in addition to the Gromnar to aid her."

"Truly?" Derdir raised an eyebrow at that. While it was surprising to hear a Gromnar of all people aiding a hero, young Reina was even able to find a magic user join her. After losing her trail in the Vermin Forest, Derdir thought he might soon need to coerce some mage into summoning a new Spirit Forger. Not only did she survive but her party had grown as well.

"Yes, Sire. I'm afraid we don't have much information on who this mage is. All that was reported is her name and a short description."

"Let me see." Derdir told him, holding out his clawed hand to read for himself.

Maria, a traveling wizard. Early twenties with long, violet hair. Her spell of choice was Fireball and she sometimes made multiple at once. That didn't provide much. Depending on her skill level, she could have made the necessary spirit contracts at any number of locations.

Still, it was a start.

"Give this to Darvon. He will begin making inquiries." Derdir ordered.

"Yes, Sire." Krell bowed and took the sheet back.

"Oh, and the Cleaver Hero?" Derdir asked.

"She should be making port in her home country today, Sire." Krell answered.

"Excellent. You are dismissed, Krell."

With one final bow, the old imp turned and left his master.

Now the mainland of the dead empire only had the constructs created by the idle Chisel Hero. If luck was on Derdir's side, they'd suffer a few Waves without a hero's direct support. If not, well, it was merely a small bonus anyway.

Author's Notes:

Not a very exciting chapter, but I wanted to speed over to about when the Wave will be. If anyone's read my other fic "The Wrong Hero", you'll know I like doing the teasing thing with Sadeena. Maria is clearly her disciple in that.

Somewhat related, I just realized where I got the inspiration for Maria's design from. It's the Sorceress from a game called "Dragon's Crown". I remember seeing her a bunch from years ago and I guess her design just came up from the depths of my mind. But, I mean, look at her! It's hard for her to not be memorable! I never even played the game!

FanFiction seems to not be doing so well. Just a reminder, this story is cross-posted on AO3 (Archive of our Own) and on Wattpad.