A Vulpine Spanner in the Works

Chapter 43: Aftermath of the Temple War

[Platinum Dragon Lord]

Walking along the rows of rapidly erected housing, I couldn't help but find myself a bit impressed by the efficiency of everything. Part of this massive kitsune host, as I now knew them to be, were constructing these huts with creative applications of magic. Another of the host were busy preparing food or tending to the wounded with the Fox Princess' worshippers. And finally, the last group of the host was busy organizing and laying out the bodies of the dead.

The dead were being split into two groups. There was the pile for destruction which consisted of all the summoned corpses and abominations of the liches. Regardless of how waterlogged the bodies might've been from the rain, the blue fire that the kitsune conjured was able to quickly incinerate the undead with little hinderance. At this point, as the rain had finally let up and the sky grew darker from the sun slowly setting behind the clouds, only a fourth of the undead corpses were remaining. I'd bet that these bodies would be gone by the next hour or so.

Then there was the other group of bodies consisting of the living that had fought against the undead. Curiously enough, these bodies were treated with more care than one would expect for an operation this large as the bodies were laid out neatly across the ground. If I had to suspect, it was so that their living comrades would be able to pay their respects or take the bodies home if desired.

Yet, even with such an interesting distraction to watch, I was still waiting for the Player goddess to arrive from whatever task she had rushed off in the storm for. I needed to speak with her after everything I had witnessed. I have seen and fought Players for years, yet never have I seen a Player produce the amount of mana I had seen earlier without one of the impossibly powerful relics that they brought with them known as World Items.

Continuing my stride through the rows of huts, I ignored the numerous looks that my remote armor received alongside the weapons which floated tightly together behind me so as to not accidentally hit anyone nearby. My gaze flitted over to the temple where worshippers constantly poured in and out. It caused a curiosity to grow within myself as I wondered if there might be more information to be acquired from within that might tell me more about the mysterious Player?

Might as well.

Moving to the temple, I found myself unimpeded by anyone, kitsune guardians included. It was as I did so that I could feel the growing density of mana as I drew closer. It was really quite astounding, and it made me wonder exactly how this mana was being produced?

Stepping inside, I gazed around the interior of the temple, studying the heavily decorated walls filled with carvings of foxes and numerous other patterns. At the rear of the temple was a large statue of a fox with ten tails that gazed upon all those before it.

Stained glass windows on the walls depicted the Fox Princess in her humanoid or fox form. In the center of the temple, where many followers were gathered around, was a pool filled with golden water which a woman, dressed similarly to the Fox Princess, was scooping a goblet into before giving to a worshipper to drink.

Upon consumption, my senses felt the innate change in these people. As I could tell that almost all of them were mages, from the small sources of mana that I could feel within them, as soon as the golden water went down their throats, the density of the mana within their bodies greatly increased. It might not seem like much compared to powerful beings like myself, but among the average mages of this land, it was as if their mana pool doubled in size and strength.

That was immensely alarming for a good number of reasons. Aside from how much stronger it made these worshippers in the span of seconds, there was no telling if that was the limit to the quick growth of power. This then led to another worrying thought, what might happen were other nations or entities to discover this method of rapid growth and acquire it?

For just this territory alone, there was the Baharuth Empire that would likely rapidly hasten their goals to conquer all those around them. The Re-Estize, while lacking in power for their country's mages, would be able to close that gap to other countries in no time at all.

And then, there was the Slane Theocracy. Already a concern due to how many descendants of Players, better known as Godkin, that they contained, besides the ones that they intentionally were breeding, would turn into an immediate threat. There was just no telling what may happen were a Godkin to be exposed to this water. It may simply just increase their mana, or it could be the catalyst to return the strength that they had lost over multiple generations of Player blood being diluted.

All of this was from the chaos that just these three nations could enact, let alone all the others. If Decem Hougan were to learn of it, he might even be tempted from his slothful hedonism to actually act himself to acquire this water.

As that possibility crossed my mind, I almost thought to immediately destroy this place and ensure that none would be able to utilize this water. But I quickly stayed my hand. There was no telling if this was the source or just a receptacle. Additionally, I would earn an enemy with the Fox Princess who still showed signs of being open to an alliance.

I needed to learn more before I did anything rash.

Approaching one of these priestesses that appeared to be praying on her knees before the giant fox statue, I soon asked, "Excuse me for my interruption, priestess. Might I have a moment of your time?"

The woman ended her prayer before standing from the floor and turning to me, "There is no need to apologize, armored warrior. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have, especially to the one who came to aid us against the monstrous lich. I am Priestess Evelyn." The red-haired woman replied as my sight fixed itself on her eyes that were a mostly glowing gold.

Now that I noticed it; her, along with the two other priestesses in the temple, contained more concentrated amounts of mana within themselves compared to everyone else here. They were almost like walking repositories of mana.

"It was simply my duty, Priestess Evelyn. But I am most appreciative of you taking the time to hear my questions. For one, I've noticed the golden pool in the center of this temple that people seem to drink from. What is it, and where did it even come from?" I asked. Hopefully, this human wouldn't consider my question to be too imposing.

This question earned a smile from the priestess, "I see, you're interested in Her miracle. The pool that the faithful drink from is water blessed with my Lady's holy essence; Her blood."

I was unsure as to how I should feel about this revelation. On one paw, since this golden water came from the Fox Princess' blood, it meant that it was less likely to fall under control of any of the numerous countries around us. On the other paw, there came the problem that this Player goddess was in control of it and could give this power to anyone she saw fit.

And that was, gods and ancestors forbid, if she somehow didn't end up captured or enthralled by another, as unlikely as that was. There were many potential 'what if's' that I was concerned by. The biggest of these was what if the Fox Princess is actually controlling any who consumed this blood of hers in exchange for power?

While it wasn't that likely, considering what I read from her during our first conversation, that didn't make it impossible to write off. Every Player I've encountered has always been unique from each other. What's to say that mind-controlling blood wasn't within this woman's abilities? There were monsters I was aware of that had similar abilities.

"I see. And she simply gifts her blood to you without any cost? From what I've seen, it greatly increases one's mana." I replied.

"My Lady does offer Her gifts freely for She cares about all and wishes to see us live up to our potential. Though, if one were to consider a cost to Her gift, it would have to be Her wish for all believers to help and aid others as much as we can." This earned a look of amusement in Priestess Evelyn's mostly golden eyes, "But that is barely even a requirement, and if it was, would you truly call giving aid to those in need such a terrible price?"

That earned a short chuckle from me, "No, not unless one took disdain to altruism." I replied.

"I'm glad to see how understanding you are of this."

Giving her a nod, I said, "I've lived a long life and have seen a great many things. One tends to be a bit more open to the customs of others. Though, I hope it's not rude of me to ask, but do you know when the Fox Princess is to return as I have much that I must discuss with her?"

"There is no need to apologize, armored warrior. We all witnessed you speak with the Fox Princess before She left. As for when She would return? Us Maidens sensed our Lady's arrival to this temple short while ago. Since She has not yet chosen to reveal Her presence, then it simply means that another matter has taken precedence at the moment."

"Is there some method to contact her and inform the Fox Princess of my arrival?" I questioned.

"I can alert one of Her servants along with sending a prayer to my Lady, but it is Her decision on when She reveals Herself." She answered. It wasn't exactly the greatest answer, but it did have a chance of getting me somewhere.

Nodding at her answer, I asked, "Would you be able to do so? I'll just wait here until then."

Evelyn gave me a kind smile and nodded, "It will be no bother to me." She then walked off to one of the kitsune and spoke while I walked around the temple, continuing to examine everything as, even if it didn't provide much insight into the Fox Princess, it interesting to see the art for what it was.

Yet, that didn't mean I let my guard down in case my feelings were wrong and this woman was actually hostile. It was after some length of time that I noticed another's presence behind me, followed by her speaking.

"Hello, Riku Aganeia. Sorry to keep you waiting." The Fox Princess apologized as I turned around to face her. Something I noticed about her, now that there was no longer fury in her eyes, was how weary she looked. Something happened between when I last saw her and now that had just worn her down.

Just what could have done that to someone like her?

"It is no problem. The wait gave me time to look at the temple." I replied.

"And what are your opinions on it?" Some might assume that answering this question might be a test. But I could tell that she was just genuinely curious about my opinion.

"Your temple is a unique design compared to others I have seen before. Very masterfully made." I answered.

"You'll have to give appreciation to the servants of mine who made it for I had no hand in its creation." She replied humbly. At the same time that she said this, I noticed how all of the worshippers in the temple had stopped what they were doing and now looked our way. More specifically, they looked at the one they considered their goddess with love and zealous adoration in their eyes.

"Then, my compliments to your servants." I said with an honest tone.

It's true that I have seen many different structures and items that had been made purely from magic. But that didn't mean that every mage who could perform such feats were also accomplished in creating such detailed designs in the things they conjured.

This earned a smile on the Fox Princess' face, visible through her veil, "Trust me when I say that they are very appreciative of your compliments. Would you care to walk with me for a bit? There is something that needs to be taken care of which has been put off for far too long."

"Where to?" I asked, gesturing her to lead me along. She started walking, the sounds of her boots clicking against the floor with each step as they echoed throughout the temple due to how quiet it was. I followed at her side as my footsteps quickly joined hers.

"Outside. There were many innocent lives that were taken in this battle which didn't deserve to die. I plan to fix this." She replied, almost causing me to stumble for a moment.

The number of people that died in this battle possibly numbered in the hundreds. While there were spells to resurrect the dead, they were typically per individual, with wider ranged versions of these spells bringing back only small groupings at a time. There was also the cost of mana that was required to do so. Compared to necromancy which simply animated a corpse with mana, resurrection needed to pull the soul of the deceased back to their body, requiring a larger amount of mana.

But from what she has said before, she was a goddess of magic. It certainly was within the realm of possibility considering Players.

"Many people have died today. What you plan to do would require a lot of time considering how small of an area most resurrection spells can affect." I replied as we went out of the doors together, receiving more looks of awe from those who noticed us.

"Do you truly have so little faith in my abilities, Riku? I'm a little bit more than your average mage." The Fox Princess teased. I felt a smirk grow on my face at the cockiness.

But two can have it that way, "I'm sorry to tell you, but I'm not one of your worshippers. But we both know that you're more than the average mage of this world." I retorted, getting a giggle from the woman.

"You have to be correct about something at least once in your life." She countered, "So, is there anything that you'd like to ask me right now while we're still walking?"

There were a few questions that I wasn't worried about the people around us overhearing, "You've changed since last I saw you. You had nine tails and your hair was shorter. What happened?" I asked.

"Kitsune gain tails as they grow more powerful, with the highest amount normally being nine. Reaching a tenth tail can only be done by those of my mother's lineage. I'm currently the only one so far that has done so. But I guess one could say that any of my children also have the potential to do so now as well."

So, it is as I suspected that the more tails a kitsune has, the stronger they are.

"When I attained my tenth tail, it created that pillar of mana that you no doubt saw. Afterwards, my body required time to recover from the process and adjust. As for my hair, the process I underwent had something occur that I'd rather not speak of which has caused the length you see now to permanently be the shortest length I can cut it to." She replied with a slight look of annoyance.

"I'd assume that it's slightly inconvenient to adjust to." I mused.

"It is, but I'll learn to adapt. As consolation, at least two people whose opinions I care for like it." She added with a happy warmth in her tone.

"I see." I said back while wondering who these people might be. I had half a mind to investigate, and if necessary, determine if they were a weakness to be exploited against the Fox Princess. But for now, I'd hold myself back and learn what I could at the moment.

"So, Riku, one question going through my mind since I saw you here was what you originally planned to do when you saw the golden pillar I made?"

It would be best to be honest, namely because it didn't hurt for her to know my original intentions.

"I was going to take what I thought was a magical item and lock it away. That way, it would be out of the hands of any that planned to abuse it. Turns out, my assumption of it being a magic item was wrong." I replied

"It really was." The Fox Princess teased back before we both finally arrived in front of the neatly laid out dead. At the same time that we arrived, followed by a large entourage of observers, a purple-furred kitsune with five tails ran up to us.

"Greetings, your Highness. I'm happy to inform you that we collected all the bodies of the formerly living and set them out, as you requested." The kitsune reported with a bow of her head.

"Thank you, Ame." The Player goddess replied and stepped forwards before holding her hand out. Before my eyes, I watched a massive spell array of white light come to life around the Fox Princess' feet before expanding 20 feet away from her. "All those taken before your rightful time, I ask you to return to the land of the living!"

Upon saying these words, the spell's effect rippled out from the Player goddess like a wave towards the bodies. I watched as mana sunk deep into their bodies, repairing all prior damages to the bodies as it did. Then, one after the other, the former corpses became living once more. Each of the resurrected looked to one another and themselves in astonishment. In a sense, I also minorly shared that same astonishment. This woman decided to resurrect all of these fallen people on either a whim or some sense of duty.

"Why bring all of these people back? Not that I have a problem with it, but most wouldn't deign to perform the effort." I questioned while watching those familiar with the newly resurrected run over to check on them. Even though I already considered it to be a mostly altruistic intent, my innate…well, one could consider it paranoia, always made me wary of such grand displays.

This was a lot of power in the hands of a person that could theoretically become an enemy of mine in the future. The ability to mass-resurrect the dead, even those dead who had been heavily damaged, could heavily alter the state of warfare in the world as any army that this Player goddess supported wouldn't need to worry about casualties.

That wasn't to say that raising the dead for warfare wasn't unheard of. It's just, typically, such actions would be done with necromancy to create undead soldiers. And with said undead soldiers, they'd have the advantage of never tiring or questioning commands at the cost of being sometimes weaker and without thoughts compared to the living. But this also disregarded the other effect that such mass-resurrection would bring. Extreme loyalty and faith to the Fox Princess from all those who were highly appreciative of such an act.

This was just a start to creating a greater following under her than there already was.

"I do it because I have the power to aid others. There is already enough suffering in this world as is. I feel that it's only right to balance that out by bringing happiness to others." The Fox Princess replied as she turned to look at me. Already, I could hear people praising her name around us.

"Fair enough, I suppose." I conceded before looking around us and asking, "I hope it wouldn't be a bother if we went somewhere more private for further discussion along with a few questions that I have?"

The Fox Princess nodded, "I know a place that would be very private for a discussion if you would be open to me teleporting us there." She replied. There was a suspicion within me that it could be a potential trap, but that would only turn out to be a waste of both of our time were that to be true. The Fox Princess likely already knew as much.

"Certainly. Go ahead." I replied. She then put a hand on my shoulder and both of us appeared in a partially destroyed copse of trees. I couldn't help but wondered what had done this destruction since it appeared like the trees had been crushed by a great weight? Soon after this, a pair of golden chairs appeared next to us as a canopy of golden cloth appeared above us to block any minor droplets still dripping from the trees or falling from the sky.

At the same time, tall torches of blue fire appeared around us an illuminated the area.

The Fox Princess took a seat, and I sat my remote armor down in the created chair to be polite. "Before I answer any of your questions, there's one that I'd like to have answered for myself since it's bothered me after our first encounter."

"Fair enough. Go ahead." I said in agreement.

I watched her cross her legs as her eyes took a moment to study me, then she spoke once more, "When you teleported away that day after talking with me, I noticed something that heavily disturbed me. Are you aware of how your magic, known as Wild Magic, literally fuels itself by destroying souls?" That was…interesting and worrying to note.

From my prior experiences in observing Players, they'd never been able to notice anything different with Wild Magic aside from an inability to cast it themselves alongside how certain magics and items they used against Wild Magic users didn't seem to work. So, how does she know?

Additionally, what should I tell her? It seemed that she very much was displeased by this revelation, and there's no way I could claim ignorance of such knowledge. It seems that they only thing I could do, so as to try and avoid increasing her ire was to tell some portion of the truth. Depending on her reaction, I may tell her more. But then again, the last time I held the truth from my allies, it had caused a rift in our group that couldn't be repaired.

In a way, I felt certain that I'd like to have this woman as an ally for the future against the other Players that may have arrived or will arrive. The main reason for this stemmed from the amount of power that she appeared to have. Fighting against her would potentially be an annoying fight, while alienating her could cause the Fox Princess to withhold her aid to me, at best, or somehow be convinced by another Player to join forces against me, at worst.

It would be best to start out slowly.

"Yes," I answered, holding firm at the growing glare she gave me, "I've been aware for as long as I could cast Wild Magic about the source of its power."

"Yet, you still use it?"

"I must as it is the only method of magic that I can use. The Tier Magic that most across this world use today is impossible for me to utilize as I existed before it infected this world." I replied while the Fox Princess gave me a questioning look.

"Infected? Why do you say that Tier Magic has infected this world?"

I was silent for a moment in thought as how to explain this to her, then I answered, "Because it has. Before its arrival, the only methods of magic available was through either Wild Magic or Runecraft. After Tier Magic was brought here, it inherently changed and, in a sense, corrupted the very nature of this world."

"And why do you claim that it corrupted this world? By all accounts, the fact that there is a method of magic available to others that doesn't burn of the souls of the dead like tinder is something I'm appreciative of. If this is an infection, then I really see nothing wrong with it." There was a justifiable lack of sympathy from the woman, but it was also something that came from ignorance.

"Because of how little you know of the world before the introduction of Tier Magic, your ignorance of the corruption of this world's nature is understandable."

"Then tell me exactly how this corruption harms the world?"

"If I am to tell you, then we'll need to go back centuries prior." I began, "How much of this world's history are you aware of?" I asked, choosing to start with somewhere simple.

"I know of the basic outline to it, but exactly what part is it that you are asking for?" The Fox Princess questioned back.

"I'm questioning how much you know about the prior gods and monsters that came to these lands before your arrival." I answered.

The Fox Princess leaned back in her chair and gave me a thoughtful gaze, "There were the six gods that the Slane Theocracy worships, the Eight Greed Kings that followed after them, and then the Evil Deities which you and your friends defeated. Other than that, I'm in the dark." She replied.

"Thousands of years ago, before the Six Great Gods of the Slane Theocracy arrived, the world was ruled under the might of the Dragon Lords. As they were the only ones capable of performing Wild Magic, which was greater in effect than Runecraft, they held dominion over the lands and kept the world in a relative peace. If other races began to threaten this peace, the Dragon Lords would come in and stop it."

"That sounds more like propaganda supporting living under the rule of these Dragon Lords." The Fox Princess retorted, and in a way, she was correct. I was giving her a more abridged version of the actual Age of the Dragon Lords.

Though, I did find myself chuckling at her suspicion, "Even so, before Tier Magic infected the world, there weren't any of the great wars and conflicts that tear at this world apart now. Once others were capable of casting magic, that upended the peaceful status quo." I countered, before continuing, "Regardless, even with the immense strength of Wild Magic, there was also the innate downside to its usage. It does require souls in order to fuel itself, and the pool of souls that the Dragon Lords could draw from is finite.

It wasn't noticed at first, but as time went on and more offspring were born to the Dragon Lords capable of using Wild Magic…"

"They fell into the trap of complacency and growth. Like with food, there became too many mouths to feed, not enough food to go around." The Fox Princess summed up, earning a nod from me.

"All the Dragon Lords noticed this as the power of their spells began diminishing. They were left with only a few options on the table to fix this problem. They could begin a mass culling; kill all the superfluous offspring capable of using Wild Magic at the cost of mass infighting and civil war. Another option was to begin a mass harvesting of all the other races, yet that could lead to a slippery slope of over-harvesting the other races until none remained due to the tendencies of certain Dragon Lords. Finally, the Dragon Emperor came to an idea which could be a solution to the problem…"

I was silent for a few moments as I contemplated the actions of my father and how he had irrevocably harmed this world due to his controlling nature and greed for power. Personally, I was of the opinion that we should've learned to make due with lessened power in Wild Magic and tempered our usage of it. Instead, he broke the world and brought shame upon our family.

"The Dragon Emperor, though probing realities beyond this world, felt great power, similar to Wild Magic, that he believed could be used to reinvigorate the well of power that Wild Magic drew upon. So, he gathered together multiple Dragon Lords open to his idea and performed a great summoning ritual to bring these sources to this world. One of these sources, the impossibly largest of them all, could not be budged in the slightest, but there were multiple minor versions of this great source that could be pulled.

When they pulled, the ritual became overloaded from all the power coming through it all at once. Because of this, only some of these sources could come through at a time, and instead of it being simply power that might join with the pool of Wild Magic, it was objects which contained this power, followed by any who owned these objects." I then pointed to the glowing red jewel hanging from the Fox Princess' neck. "Like the jewel that you're wearing now." I said as example.

The jewel just radiated power similar to Wild Magic from itself that impossibly seemed to grow stronger as time passed. The Player goddess felt the jewel on her neck for a moment while her eyes flickered in thought. Then, those glowing eyes focused back upon me once again. "That's how I got here…" She said quietly to herself.

"What the Dragon Emperor didn't expect was that a group of these people, summoned with the sources that they were nearby to, would somehow change reality which introduced Tier Magic to this world. Once that happened, Wild Magic was fundamentally altered, and had weakened. At the same time, any offspring of the Dragon Lords would have a lessened ability to use Wild Magic until now, almost none are born with the ability, or if they can, then the process to use Wild Magic is too difficult for them."

"So then, Dragon Lord, why is it that I should feel some manner of sympathy for a monstrous method of magic slowly dying?" The Fox Princess asked, earning a chuckle from me.

"Too obvious, wasn't I?" I remarked.

"That, and there was the fact that I could tell your suit of armor was empty since we first met. At first, I assumed that you preferred interacting with others at a distance as a method to protect yourself. Now, I realize that it's your method of trying to 'blend in' and interact with humanoid races. That's something with which I can relate to." Saying this, her tails and ears disappeared while her eyes turned a mundane orange with rounded pupils.

Then, the disguise disappeared and her bestial features returned.

"Quite a convenient ability, I'll give you that. But you are correct, I've used this armor for a long time so that I could remain incognito which has been extremely useful throughout the years. As for why you should care, this world has been turned into something wrong. Where you see a benefit, I see a future harm as not all the aspects of this change are still known. If it was up to me, I'd have it undone."

This earned a laugh from the Fox Princess, slightly confusing me, "Sorry to tell you, but there is no undoing whatever change was made to this world, especially now that Yggdrasil has connected it as one of the realms." There was that name, one that I heard my old comrades speak of.

"What is this Yggdrasil? I've overheard talk of it before from those I was once partied with, but they only ever explained it as the land they came from."

The Fox Princess looked at me with interest as I said this, "Yggdrasil is better known as the World Tree. An incomprehensibly massive tree which carries on each of its nine, now ten, branches an entire world that all connect to one another through Yggdrasil. This world is the latest addition that will eventually be noticed by the other nine realms once the branch has grown larger."

My jaw dropped in shock and worry as the Fox Princess said this. Players arriving to this world every century or so has created so much chaos and upheaval. And this was from just a small scattering of these beings. Now I learn that entire worlds will soon be able to arrive here, potentially just as powerful as these Players, was a catastrophic nightmare!

"Let's cut to the chase, beings like yourself have caused so much chaos and death in the span of a few centuries. I have done my best to prevent them from creating further devastation, but I am a single dragon. This world is filled with inhabitants that won't be able to fight back from an invasion of worlds, like I assume will happen once this world is noticed. This connection between worlds needs to be ended." I stated.

What worried me was how…unbothered the Player seemed to be at what I said. My comrades had said nothing of any worldly invasion like the Fox Princess claimed. And a terrible thought came to me that she wanted this to happen… I've revealed too much!

"Before you start shitting a brick, let me explain that I'm well aware of this issue, and have already begun steps to prevent such an invasion from occurring. Since you've been so kind as to give me more insight into this world than I've ever had before, I'll return that kindness with some of mine by telling you a little about the other nine realms." As she said this, I slightly calmed myself so that I could hear what she said.

Potential enemy or not, any information that I might attain about a future threat was useful to know.

"Fine, I'm listening." I replied.

"To give you a little summary about the realms, deities are very much real, with me recently becoming a full goddess compared to the demigoddess I was before. This realm here, while the inhabitants give worship to their deities, none of them actually exist and they instead just give worship to a massive pool of power that lacks any claimants. Because of that, once word goes out to the other deities throughout the other realms, they will make a beeline to this world to claim it. In that ensuing rat race, a lot of people will die, and this world will undergo immense devastation until one of the deities claims the power and rebuilds this world into their preferred image."

That's even worse than I thought.

"And this isn't even considering all the mortal races that will come here to carve out a chunk of this land for themselves. While the gods fight amongst themselves, they'll be too occupied to even care about what any conflicts the mortals get up to. If I had to pick, the worst would probably be the dwarves who would turn this place into a quarry while working to death those they didn't take back to their realm as slaves."

"Dwarves?" I asked with confusion clear in my voice, "Why would dwarves be something to fear? They are barely surviving in this world as is."

"Because, the dwarves of Svartalfheim and Nidavellir are capable of crafting weapons and armor in mass quantities that would be considered powerful and legendary artifacts in this world, for one. Another reason is because their weakest are going to be stronger than the strongest of this kingdom. And that's just the dwarves. I could go on with other realms and their people, but I think you get the idea." The Fox Princess explained, making me feel a sense of strange dread.

I thought that I might be able to learn some answers from this Player when I decided to talk with her. And answers did I receive, yet the existential dread that these answers gave me would probably drive anyone else into madness or suicidal hopelessness. Even were I to somehow convince all of the other Dragon Lords to aid me in repelling these future invaders, there wouldn't be enough of us to fend against entire worlds.

"And there is no way that this connection between worlds can be broken?" I questioned.

The Fox Princess shook her head. "You'd need to be extremely powerful to even have a chance of cutting through an entire branch of Yggdrasil. And then, you'd need to contend with the might of a massively pissed off World Tree. Even with all of that, Yggdrasil would just regrow the branch most likely."

I felt my eyes glaring at the woman, even if she couldn't see it. Everything has a weakness. It felt like she might even be trying to hide more about this Yggdrasil than she had already let on. "And what of the World Items, like the one you wear, that are scattered around this world? Couldn't they be used to do this?"

That earned mocking laughter from the Player goddess, frustrating me further, "What you are suggesting is the equivalent of taking someone's severed finger and trying to fight them with it. World Items are the concentrated essence of realms that fell off Yggdrasil when she fought the dragon Nidhoggr. Besides, considering that Yggdrasil is essentially my grandmother, I'm inclined to neither aid, nor allow, someone to break off her limb like that."

Hearing the Fox Princess prove my inference correct on how she wanted this to happen was disheartening. It made me consider what I might need to do against her, potentially right now. "Then how do you possibly plan to try and prevent an invasion? How much time does my world even have left?" I asked while subtly spreading my weapons out from me in preparation for attack.

"Our world."

"What?"

"It's our world because I consider this to be my home just as much as you. It's been more than a month since I came here, but I like living on this imperfect world. I want to have kits with my mate on this world to give my daughters more siblings to dote on," She put a hand against a spot just below her stomach and smiled with a far-off gaze before continuing, "I want to see this world to prosper, and there are many people I care for and who depend on me from this world." The Fox Princess said passionately which paused all thoughts I had of attacking her.

"If this is the case, and you truly see this as your home as well, then tell me how you plan to protect it?" I demanded to hear from her.

Oddly, she then gave me a large smile, one that wasn't made to mock me or was filled with malice. It seemed to exude a maternal warmth, "I'm going to become this world's goddess and become owner to its unclaimed accumulated power of worship. Once I do that, I can keep the deities of the other nine realms out of this one while also protecting this realm from the mortal invaders. I have less than a decade to do this before the realms finally notice this one."

"Funny that it all leads to you becoming this world's goddess." I remarked. She claimed that she needed to attain this accumulated power, but why was it that no one else could? Why was it that I needed to rest my hopes on what the Fox Princess said, or even truly believe everything she said about this invasion?

"It's the only way that I can prevent our home from being ruined. Besides, what would be so wrong about me becoming this world's goddess anyway? I love the people of this world and want to keep them safe, happy, and prosperous." The Fox Princess stated with conviction.

I looked away from her for a moment and thought about it. True, she said that she wished to aid the people of this world, but what could be the future cost to this aid were it to be allowed? "Six of the ones known as Players came to this world over six centuries ago and allowed a religion to form around themselves. Now, the Slane Theocracy, while understandably xenophobic from the continual invasions of demi-humans, still uses their gospel as justification for the killing and enslavement of non-humans. What would be different from what they did in comparison to yourself?"

"The difference between me, and those six others, is that I'm actually a goddess, not a pretender with a great deal of power. I don't plan to leave the ones who worship me behind to flounder and misinterpret who I am and what I may teach for selfish and monstrous ends. That's what I can promise." The Player goddess replied.

"Promises are one thing. It's actions that typically say more than words."

"Then, how about we start somewhere simple?" As she said this, her clothing changed from a white dress to one of black edged in gold. Alongside this, her hat and veil disappeared, leaving her face completely exposed. "Trust needs to start somewhere, so how about here? My name is Kashia Blanc, the Fox Princess and daughter of Inari." She said while holding her hand out to me as her voice lost some of the power in it.

Thinking upon this open sign of trust, I wondered if I should return her trust with mine? If this was a ploy, then she had played a lot of her hand for me to see in a bit to trick me. At the same time, if this wasn't, then it would be the start to a powerful alliance. At the same time, there was also the risk that came from becoming an ally with Kashia Blanc. She knew the workings of Wild Magic, and would no doubt disapprove of its usage, even if it was one of the strongest weapons in my arsenal.

But there was also the pragmatic choice behind fully allying myself with her. I wasn't ignorant to ignore how Wild Magic has been diminishing in power as time goes on. There could eventually come a time when Wild Magic would be too weak to be useful, and because I was unable to cast Tier Magic, I would be put at a disadvantage against extraplanar invaders. Even with the growing arsenal I've collected over the years, none of it truly compared to the Wild Magic I had now.

I needed an edge against any other hostile Players here along with any future invaders.

Regardless on whether she was telling the truth, it would be best to fall back on my typical habit that has served me over the many centuries of living I've experienced. Buy time for myself and the world and prepare for the oncoming storm. I took her offered hand with that of my armor's, "I'm Tsaindorcus Vaision, the Platinum Dragon Lord and son of the former Dragon Emperor."

[Lukrut]

After everything that had happened today, I enjoyed the peaceful moment I had to just sit alone on a chair in this bedroom and just relax. I absent-mindedly twirled a root dagger in my right hand and thought of how hectic everything had been. We fought a group of liches and their undead minions, had to team up with prior undead to fight a new lich and his horde, Ninya was taken, Kashia woke up and killed the liches, fought some demon, and saved Ninya who had turned into a kitsune.

Flipping the root dagger, I reabsorbed it before recalling another event about today. We met another god. Too bad he was a perverted little bastard who gave me murderous urges beyond just wanting to strangle him.

For some reason, my right arm ended up spasming and it felt like my muscles were just twisted. I gripped my arm with my left hand to hold it steady while wondering what that was all about? Perhaps it was from the number of times I summoned roots from it along with fighting without break.

When the spasming ended, I let go of my arm and clenched my fist a few times before I noticed something off. Well, not exactly off in a bad way since my arm actually felt stronger, a lot stronger. Then, a strange idea came to mind.

Pulling out a spare hunting dagger from my nearby pack, I unsheathed the blade and gazed at the quality steel for a moment. Then, I put my thumb to the flat of the blade and pressed it forwards. Much to my utter shock and amazement, the blade began bending until I stopped putting force on it when I thought it might snap.

"Holy shit…" I whispered to myself before setting the knife down onto the table next to me. That was very different. It was actually pretty good, all things considered.

Before I had much longer to think on this weird change, the door to the room opened up and I saw Kashia enter the room while taking off her conical hat and veil before stuffing them into a black portal. Then, she closed the door behind her.

When she looked at me, I noticed how tired she just looked compared to the strong front she had put up. I was already up and out of my chair walking over to her at this point as she met me in the middle. Then we embraced as her tails enveloped me and she rested her head on my shoulder.

"Are you alright, my beautiful fox?" I asked softly into her ear.

Kashia was quiet for a few moments before she eventually answered, "It's been a really long day." Pulling her head away from my shoulder she then kissed me and we stayed that way for a wonderful amount of time before separating with my brown eyes meeting her beautiful gold. "Could you make me feel good right now?"

I could see in her gaze that she was desperate for something to take her mind off of the day. "Of course I will. And I'll always try to make you happy as well." I answered back before kissing her deeply as our legs began moving us to the bed…

…We remained in our warm embrace with one another on the bed as we caught our breaths. Our gazes met and I gave Kashia a smile as I brushed some of her golden hair out of her face. "How are you feeling now?" I asked my beautiful fox.

"Better than I was before. Thanks, Lukrut." Kashia replied as she snuggled closer into my chest.

"I'm happy to hear that. Did you want to talk about it?" I questioned while gently caressing her cheek, an action that she leaned into.

Then, Kashia leaned up and kissed me before pulling away, "Maybe later. I'd like to just rest for now." She answered. I gave her an understanding nod and kissed her forehead.

"As you wish, my beautiful fox." I replied and watched as she rested her head onto my chest and closed her eyes with a satisfied hum. I remained awake for a while longer, greedily taking in her resting appearance. Then, I finally closed my eyes and joined her in sleep.

My eyes opened and I found myself standing in the middle of a dark forest. The trees surrounding me seemed dead, barren of all leaves from their branches. The trees themselves were quite odd as they seemed to sway in a nonexistent wind. Unlike normal trees, each of these trees were strangely colored. Most were a stark white, but some were beginning to turn a blood red while some of these trees were fully blood red.

And then there was a single tree that was pitch-black, leaking a dark sap from openings across its bark onto the ground below. The earth around this leaking sap appeared to become a dark ooze from which black roots, the same color as the tree, spread out from the ground towards the others.

"Hello?!" I called out as I wondered where I even was. Last I knew, I had been in bed with Kashia, and I definitely hadn't been wearing clothes since my adventuring gear garbed my body. "Is anyone there?!"

I looked around this dead forest, yet I could find no one in sight. "Kashia?!" I called out, wondering if she had somehow ended up in this strange place that I had. That was when I began walking in any direction except towards that ominous dark tree.

At least, I was until I heard a familiar voice behind me. "Running away again, Lukrut?"

My voice…

Snapping around, I found myself staring at a being with my face. Yet, in comparison to me, this copy looked wrong. He looked pale, with dark veins under the skin of his face that twisted and writhed. His clothes looked dirty and ragged while black roots rippled across his chest.

The copy's entire right arm was a flawed reproduction of a human arm, with black roots twisted into an arm that ended with inhuman claws. But even with how horrid this copy of my form was, what truly terrified me was this fake's eyes.

Glowing crimson eyes with slitted pupils that seemed to constantly shift and move. I could feel a dark intent in those eyes as they bore into me, as if looking at my soul.

"What are you?" I demanded.

The creature grinned at me with a mocking amusement. "Don't you know? I'm you." I glared at the creature as he said this.

"Piss off. You're not me. You're barely even a decent copy of me." I spat back. "Now, start answering questions on who the hell you are and where the hell I am?"

I received mocking laughter in return, "But I am you. The better version of you. I'm not Lukrut the Coward, Lukrut the Weak, or Lukrut the Useless unlike you." I snarled in anger at the fake.

"Shut the fuck up!" I shouted back, earning more of that infuriating laughter with my own voice.

"Doesn't the truth hurt? Does it not just burn you to know how useless you really are?"

"I AM NOT USELESS!" I screamed in rage before the copy disappeared from my sight. I looked around for wherever it had gone to, but I could find nothing.

Then, something pushed me from behind, causing me to stumble forwards, "Then prove it and save them." The fake said as I looked over my shoulder to see him give me a mocking smile.

"What the hell are-" I stopped when I heard a pair of screams ahead of me. Looking forwards, I saw Kashia and Ninya wrapped up in black roots, with some piercing through non-vital areas of their bodies, that were quickly being dragged towards different pools of dark ooze.

Kashia looked so weak as she struggled to free one of her hands from the roots. When she finally did, she slammed her hand into the ground with her claws digging furrows into the ground as she was slowly dragged towards one of the pools. In comparison, Ninya didn't have the physical strength to even attempt that and was swiftly being dragged to the other pool while screaming.

Oh, gods, no!

I ran towards them before the copy called out behind me, "Time's ticking, Lukrut. You're probably only going to have enough time to save one of them. Hope you make a good choice."

Shut up. Just shut the fuck up.

"Mom, I can't free myself! I'm scared!" Ninya shouted.

"It's…going…to be okay…Ninya!" Kashia attempted to reassure the young mage as she struggled against the strength of the roots. Why wasn't she using any of her spells?! Kashia then looked over to me with fear in her golden eyes before she screamed, "Save Ninya, Lukrut!"

I was about to rush over to Ninya when she screamed, "Save mom!" That made me freeze in place as I looked between between the girl I saw as my little sister, and the woman that I loved. Both wanted me to save the other!

"Don't worry…about me! Ninya's…more important!" Kashia shouted over Ninya's protests. I made my choice as tears fell from my eyes and my feet took me to Ninya.

Catching up to her, I pulled out one of my daggers and began hacking at the black roots. "Lukrut! You need to save mom! I'm not worth the effort!" Ninya shouted at me as I continued to try cutting the roots that dragged her.

They were so tough, and any progress I made was hard fought. "Kashia disagrees!" I replied as I cut through another root and saw Kashia less than a foot away from the pitch-black pool that seemed to bubble in anticipation.

Cutting through a few more roots, and nearly freeing Ninya from their grasp I silently prayed for Kashia to hold on a little longer and I'd be right there. A few more precious seconds and I had finally freed Ninya as my heart pounded in my chest.

That was when I heard Kashia cry out, making me look over to her as I saw her legs had entered the pool, "Ninya! Lukrut! I love…you both!"

Then, her grip finally slipped and Kashia was pulled under the bubbling muck without any further ceremony. "NO!" I screamed along with Ninya before falling to my knees, the dagger slipping out of my fingers to the ground.

I found myself punching the ground in rage as tears clouded my vision. I failed to save Kashia. Why couldn't I have been faster? I should've been-

"I hate you." I heard Ninya's voice from behind me which felt like a knife to me heart. Turning to look to her, I saw Ninya glare at me with pure hate, "You really are useless."

"N-Ninya, please-" I tried to explain until she cut me off.

"You've always been nothing more than a failure. You should've let me die, but you didn't. Instead, you had to kill mom." Ninya began limping away from me after she said this.

"Wait, where are you going?!" I called after her as she approached the dark pool she had originally been pulled to.

"To where mom is, and away from you. Who knows, maybe I'll see your mom there as well and we can reminisce about how you killed us all." She replied. I knew what she was about to do and pushed myself to my feet, running after her, but I was too slow and she fell headfirst into the pool, sinking into it like a stone before disappearing beneath the surface.

I slowed to a stop and looked at the pool in shock and horror. Then, there came the rage from a slowly growing realization.

"Amazing. You let the woman you love die to save another, and then the girl you saved kills herself to be with the one you abandoned. Isn't that just poetic irony?" The fake taunted from behind me, making me seethe.

"Shut up. This isn't real. It has to be a bad dream." I growled out as my hands clenched into fists.

"Why would you ever say that? Kashia and Ninya are dead because you failed to save them. Just like the useless failure you usually are."

"Because I've never told anyone about my mother." I spat back, making the fake pause in thought before grinning.

"Seems that you're correct, Lukrut the Useless. You just had to ruin the fun." The fake replied before disappearing. Just as I was about to turn around to see if he had appeared behind me, I felt an immense pain in my chest and looked down to see a clawed hand of black roots piercing out from where my heart would be.

"Now, why would you have to go and do that?" The fake whispered in my ear before ripping his hand out.

I shot up from my bed breathing heavily in a cold sweat while clenching my chest where my heart was. It was still there. Looking around to regain my bearings, I realized that I was still in mine and Kashia's room. The only thing providing any light in the room was a lantern of blue flame against the wall.

At my side, I saw Kashia still sleeping peacefully with her arm wrapped around my waist. Her tails were splayed out around us with some covering parts of us like blankets and others trailing on the floor. Though, her tails weren't the only things hanging off the bed as part of her golden hair cascaded from the side of the bed and down to the floor.

Kashia looked wildly beautiful at that moment, and I was happy to note the smile on her face from whatever good dream she might be having.

She was safe. It was all just a bad nightmare.

With everything as it should be, I ended up laying back down on the bed before gently pulling her a little closer to me. This action was unconsciously aided by Kashia wriggling on my body until she was in a comfortable position.

Then, I slowly let myself drift back to sleep.

[Ninya]

Day 37:

Walking down the road to E-Rantel, I found it to be a very different experience compared to when I was human. One example of such was how my sense of balance has been slightly off since I still wasn't fully used to having a tail just yet. Mom said that I'd get used to it, but that felt a way off. In addition to this, the road seemed so much more animated compared to my human senses.

For instance, I could hear the movement of hares that were trying to avoid our group by hiding in the grass. A bit further away, a grouping of field mice were chewing on flower seeds, their teeth cracking into each seed with a constant gnawing sound. And those were just a few examples.

There were the smells from the road itself of many different people that had passed by it recently, likely in the past five hours. Combine that with the animals that had also done so, and the road seemed so much more active than whatever footprints I might've seen before.

It was honestly pretty amazing. I only wish that they could completely make up for some of the tradeoffs… For instance, I could just smell when mom and Lukrut were…making up for lost time, regardless of any silencing spells they used. Another downside was the stench that could come from things like droppings.

Then there were the startling sounds that could hurt my ears at time. I got to experience that pleasure when a raven or a crow let out a caw near us this morning.

It was when we passed by a sign that informed us of E-Rantel being less than seven miles from us that I worried how I might react to the sounds and smells of the city, just like mom had earlier. Thankfully, like mom had promised, I didn't need to worry about my appearance since she had cast an illusion over me to hide the bestial traits of my ears, eyes, and tail.

I did have to ensure that my tail avoided hitting anyone since the illusion wasn't like [Kitsune Illusion] which, as mom put it, essentially phased the tails and ears out of reality and replaced them with human features.

Aside from hitting anyone with my tail, I also had to minimize any movement it might cause with my cloak. My cloak was one of the things that I had kept of my original clothes alongside my belt, pouches, weapons, and staff. I had been very thankful that one of the kitsune had been kind enough to find it on the battlefield before a group of adventurers claimed it.

As for the rest of my original clothing, it had been soaked and ruined after being acquired from the men who had taken them. Not that I expected much to survive regardless. The spider women had been…rough when they stripped me before wrapping me up.

I haven't told mom or the others, but I've had nightmares for the past two nights because of it. I'd be brought back to the moment where I was unable to move or do anything as the monsters laughed. Then, they'd either open their split jaws and start biting chunks out of my flesh or wrap me in webbing so tightly that I began suffocating.

Soon after, I'd wake up breathing heavily while drenched in sweat. They were all dead, I was a full witness to it, yet, for some reason, I just couldn't let it go. Hopefully, these nightmares would eventually fade away.

But even if the clothes hadn't been turned to rags, they needed some slight adjustments involving a hole in the skirt for my tail to fit through at the back. I guess I could partially understand why mom favored her dresses to be cut high up on her hips. It more easily allowed her tails freedom of movement without needing to put a hole in the back of her clothes to fit her tails through.

Then, there was also the annoyance of fitting just my single tail through the tailored hole. By the gods, with ten tails, mom must have considered the hassle too annoying to deal with. I could only just imagine what it might be like when I grew another tail in the future. I only hoped that I'd be able to adjust to the change quickly enough.

Growing closer to the stench of the city made my nose scrunch up in disgust. This was what mom had to deal with every day in E-Rantel? How did she ever manage it?

"Kiddo, breathe through your mouth instead of your nose." Mom told me. I attempted to follow her advice, but the stench seemed like it was barely being held at bay. There was this instinctual urge I had to just sniff the air which I was doing my damnedest to ignore. And that also didn't compare to the growing cacophony of sounds in my ears.

"It's a little difficult." I admitted. "The noise doesn't help either." Mom wrapped an arm around me and gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

It seemed that the others noticed my discomfort as well. "You doing alright there, Ninya? It looks like something is bothering you." Lukrut asked in concern.

I shook my head in disagreement, "Unfortunately, not really. Unless you can somehow make an entire city not stink or be loud?" I joked back with a smirk, earning a few chuckles from the others.

"Don't know about Kashia," Peter began, which caused an amused look to appear on mom's face, "but I'm sorry to say that your request might be outside our capabilities."

"Anything you might be able to recommend to help out Ninya, Kashia? You are the one with experience in this area." Dyne asked.

Mom considered for a moment before looking down to me and saying, "A trick I've figured out is to just focus on one thing. It could be a specific smell from any of us, the noise of only our voices or footsteps, just something narrow enough that will allow you to ignore everything else because you're only focused on the one thing."

"Easier said than done." I replied while attempting what was recommended. I tried to first concentrate on just mom's smell, but it was so distracting to smell the city's stench as we grew closer and it got more pungent. Seeing E-Rantel on the horizon just reinforced this thought.

"We'll have a bit to go before we arrive at the city gates. That will give you come time to put Kashia's recommendation into practice." Dyne said in an attempt to lighten my spirits.

"Yeah. I hope so." I glumly replied.

[cut]

This was terrible.

It was 20 minutes of us just waiting in line to enter the city gates before we finally arrived at the gate. During that time, I originally tried to focus on the scents of mom, Dyne, Lukrut, and Peter. But when that just didn't work, I went to mom's first suggestion of only breathing from my mouth.

Unfortunately, while the smells could be slightly mitigated, the sounds couldn't. I was picking up so much conversation and activity, much more than when we had left the temple. At least there, the most of the groups there had either left, or were spread out far enough that it wasn't so overwhelming to my senses.

"Any of you have plans for what to do after we finish our business at the guild?" Lukrut asked curiously. At least this served as a helpful distraction.

"I'd like to say that we should celebrate, but I think we should put that on hold for the time being as Ninya adjusts." Peter replied before adding with a slightly fearful tone, "Besides, I think Helena might have a bit of an earful for me since the news of us fighting in a massive battle has probably reached her ears at this point."

Dyne patted Peter on the back with a smirk, "So, should we start making preparations for a funeral?" The large druid joked.

Peter gave Dyne a wry grin and replied, "Maybe?"

"Well, while our whipped leader gets murdered, what about you, Dyne?" Lukrut carried on with a grin etched on his face.

"Probably rest for a while in my own bed. Those last few days were certainly something." Dyne answered. "What about you, Lukrut?"

Our archer put a hand to his chin in thought before he replied, "Hmm, that's tricky now." He then looked over to mom, "Kashia, what are your future plans?"

"I'm planning to take Ninya on a training trip to get used to things for a few days. There are two places I'm thinking of taking her to that are a little far." Mom replied before slyly looking at Lukrut, "I'm not opposed if you wanted to come along."

My eyes narrowed as I heard what I was fairly certain was an innuendo, "Mom, can you try to keep the flirting down when we're all in earshot?"

Mom pretended to look taken aback, "What? I'm just inviting Lukrut along, is all." I could already see Lukrut snickering next to her.

"Right…" I replied unconvinced.

"And that's where I think that I'll be fine just taking it easy in E-Rantel for a few days instead of tagging along." Dyne remarked.

"Helena might kill me if I leave for an extremely long period of time just after I came back." Peter admitted.

"Reasonable enough, I suppose." Mom agreed, "Though, before we leave, we'll need to check on Tuare and see if she'll also want to come along." Yeah, mom did mention that Tuare would change within a few weeks or so.

It was probably for the best that we didn't let said news just get sprung upon her like it had with me.

"It will be nice to see her after being away for longer than expected." I mused.

Eventually, after making it through the gate and along the streets, the five of us hastily made our way to the guild, noticing that more soldiers were moving around the streets than usual. "Any idea on what all the activity of the guards is about?" I questioned.

"If I had to make a guess, it might be due to more than half the number of a small army of theirs being resurrected from the dead by a goddess after a battle alongside news of two entire undead armies being fought. Even if said armies are dead, it would still put any city on edge for a while after." Dyne replied.

"Hopefully, this won't be to our detriment." Peter remarked.

"Traveling rations! Come get fresh traveling rations for three copper!"

"-your positions on the wall! Orders from the captain!"

"Quality steel here! Can't go wrong without a good blade in hand!"

I tried my best to ignore all the conversations happening near me and attempted to focus on the sounds of our boots hitting the ground.

"Makes one wonder how the nobles of the city are to reacting to all of this?" Lukrut questioned. I'd have to guess that the nobles would be scared of mom's power. How that fear might be displayed was something unpredictable.

They might be too cowed to do anything, attempting to appease mom or avoid being noticed by her. Then, there was the other type, the ones that would lash out against anything that scared them and try to destroy it.

"If it's anything like I'd typically expect from them, probably diplomatic at best, extreme at worst." Dyne replied.

"Pray for diplomacy, I guess." Mom said, earning a snort from me before my eyes watered from accidentally smelling the air.

With a bit more haste, we finally arrived at the Adventurer's Guild and went inside. Thankfully, there were not as many people here today as expected. I could only hazard a guess that it was because a good number of adventurers were on the road to E-Rantel like we had been. I was appreciative that the musk of the Adventurer's Guild helped to cover up that of the stench of the city. While there was the stench of sweaty adventurers or those who seemed to abhor bathing, that was mixed in the scents of dirt, grass, and forest that had been tracked in.

Upon arriving to the familiar sight of the red-haired guild secretary, Helena, said woman responded to seeing Peter with a massive smile, "Peter!" Then, to our amazement, she actually climbed over the counter and tackled Peter into a hug before kissing him. When they finally broke apart, Peter grinned to the redhead.

"That's certainly a new way of greeting me, Helena. Not that I'm at all opposed to it." The blond swordsman said with a chuckle as Helena lightly punched him in the arm.

"I was worried sick about you! There was that pillar of light we all saw which seemed close to the area that you and your team were performing a mission. Then, after a bunch of adventuring teams went there, the first few teams that came back with the soldiers said that there was some battle with an undead army before a goddess got involved!" Helena said in chastisement.

Peter wrapped his arms around Helena and pulled her close, "I'm sorry about making you worry. I'll try to avoid that in the future." Then, he gave the, now flustered, red-haired secretary a kiss and grinned, "But the good news is that we accomplished our job, and I'm not going anywhere for a while."

Helena then gave Peter a grin, "Then I've got a few ideas on how to spend that time." That was when Lukrut coughed into his hand, grabbing the attention of the two while making them blush as they soon noticed the attention of everyone else in the area was now fixed on them. "Oh, uh, yes."

The pair separated and Helena smoothed out her uniform, "Guildmaster Ainzach should be in his office when you're ready to see him." Helena said and gave Peter a kiss on the cheek, "Good luck!"

Peter rejoined us, and Lukrut gave him a playful elbow in the side. "Looks like my prediction was accurate." That earned a roll of Peter's eyes.

"Hey, Kashia," Peter asked, "mind putting Lukrut in his place for a bit? He seems a bit too cocky at the moment." Mom didn't even say a word as she gave Lukrut a look. The blond archer tried to look away from mom in response and avoid her gaze.

It lasted less than ten seconds as he glanced over to mom once again, "Come on, Kashia." Mom's lips quirked up into an amused smile, "That's not going to work." A few more seconds passed as Lukrut's expression changed from cocky, to a stone-faced look, and then it became unconfident. A few more seconds and Lukrut finally broke, "What would you like me to do?"

"Nothing. I was just checking." Mom replied, making us all laugh as we reached Pluton's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Pluton called out from inside. We then entered to see the guildmaster sitting at his desk looking at a few papers before he finally set them down and looked up to us with a smile. "Ah, the Swords of Darkness. I'm pleased to see that all of you are doing well after everything I heard that happened nearby where the five of you went."

"Yeah, that battle was pretty hectic." Peter replied.

"The undead were unlike anything that we'd ever seen before. It was quite chaotic." Dyne added.

"At least we managed to deal with those barghests before then. Else, the monsters may have run off to get away from the conflict." Lukrut mentioned, earning a grin from Pluton as he looked over to mom.

"Well then, Kashia, how would you say your team fared against both the barghests and the undead?" Pluton questioned.

"Very well. They worked together and were able to bring down all the barghests with good skills and planning." Mom replied, earning a nod from Pluton as he reached under his desk and pulled out four gold plates that he slid over to us on his desk.

"That's good news to hear. Then I hope that you four aren't too overly attached to those silver plates of yours." A feeling of elation and joy came over us as we cheered before stepping up to take the offered plates. After taking off the silver plates and stacking them onto the table, we replaced them with the gold, signifying our next growth in rank.

"Thank you, Guildmaster Pluton!" Peter said for us as Pluton chuckled in amusement.

"You're all welcome. I hope that the four of you continue rising up through the ranks while bringing honor to the guild."

I gave Pluton a nod, "We will, sir."

"Good to hear, Ninya. Now," Pluton reached under his desk and pulled out a few pouches with the loud (to my ears) and distinct sound of metal coins jingling against each other, "take your well-earned reward and then," Pluton gave us all a shooing motion with his hand while a grin remained on his face, "get out of here because I have a lot of paperwork to go through."

Giving the guildmaster a bow, we took our reward and exited his office and looked to one another excitedly. "We did it!" Lukrut exclaimed.

"Sky's the limit at this point. Time for us to aim for platinum-plate as our next goal." Dyne replied.

"You're right about that, Dyne. But that'll have to be for a future date. For now, I want to just rest for a bit after everything that happened." Peter said while clapping Dyne on the shoulder.

"I guess we'll have to reconvene in… Kashia, how long do you think it will be before Ninya will be done with her training?" Dyne questioned as we all looked at mom. She seemed to take a moment to think before finally answering.

"Give it about a week or two. It's really all up to how quickly Ninya can adjust. If it really comes down to it, I'll let you and Peter know when we've finished by sending you a [Message]." Mom replied while looking down at me with a smile and wrapping her arm around my shoulders.

"I'll have to try and complete my training as fast as possible so that you guys don't have to wait too long." I said confidently.

Peter smirked before he said, "Try to not finish your training too quickly." We all noticed his eyes flicker over to Helena for a moment and quickly understood exactly why he was alright with me taking my time. All of us started laughing and Dyne patted Peter's back.

"Guess we all know which head Peter's thinking with right now." Dyne remarked, making Peter blush.

"Well, I guess now is a good time for us to separate. After all, we can't possibly keep Pete away from his lady-love any longer!" Lukrut teased.

The blush quickly died from Peter's face as he gave Lukrut a fake sigh of exasperation and shook his head, "I feel like I'm not going to, at all, miss hearing Lukrut's comments for the next couple of days."

"Love you too, Peter!" Lukrut shot back.

Well, we've finally hit half a million words. Thanks for the support. Time to see how much further this is going to go.