Before Cassius was defeated by Bree, Jake had been working with Avalara, Jasmina, Ophelia, Sati and Tanda to finish off the respawned mercenaries. With the enemy essentially having their back against the wall and forced to face the buffed up battle avatar, she took down more than a dozen enemies by herself. And she did that while building up her auril and nethril, preparing her flames of Conflict. The rest were easy pickings for Jake and the rest up on the plateau, as the Ravenwolf Clan killed those chasing after the flag.

After defeating those near the resurrection shrine, they healed Ava’s damaged body and helped her with Rampant Growth, to rebuild and grow out her plant and tree body, to make it as large and as buffed up as before.

Berri whined, [I liked carrying the flag the first time, but Ava’s getting the best job!]

Bree’s duel had been moving on in earnest, and Jake wasn’t worried about her success one bit. He could feel the truth–Cassius was not his family’s match, even if he used his nascent Divine Energy. The man was not disciplined, and while he had lived a long time and had reached the third Tier, he had not maxed out his potential.

Jake went ahead and used Call Summon on Bloodberri and the Garuda, bringing them to the plateau near the resurrection shrine. The latter had, with the Ravenwolves help, hunted down five that had split off to try to steal the flag.

Ophelia roamed on Valora, ready to join just as soon as the mercenaries respawned.

They were doing their best to recover and drink mana water, and Fhesiah was about to finish capturing the flag. It took just under five minutes in total, even with her decent pace, and it would happen right after the respawn.

Jake had taken on the State of the Sage, and Tanda had built up a formidable swarm of ravens, his other girls preparing their runes in their hearths for some rapid-cast spells.

They were up on the plateau near the keep’s flag room, with the shrine over to their left, their backs facing the hill leading to the battlefield. The pavilion-like shrine had a barrier over it, and they weren’t able to enter it until a few seconds after the enemy respawned.

The barrier was eventually removed, and Jake could see that over half of the enemy mercenaries respawned, about thirty people were spread out within the structure. These enemies were the ones killed by Avalara in her blitz of the respawn area–along with Avaron, and about ten of those killed during the chase of Fhesiah across the battlefield.

Jake and the girls each released their prepared runic area of effect spells. Bloodberri with her eclipsing sun, Tanda used a Runic Spell that added an improved deathly explosion to her arrow, Jake’s two prepared dragons’ breath attacks, and Ophelia had prepared her flaming lightning orb which scattered across the enemies within the building.

Ava went released the flames of conflict with a deep roar from right to left. The golden breath of flames washed over the entire crowd within the shrine, devastating prepared barriers and setting them on fire, as Bloodberri charged in with her howling axe, her huge form barreling into a centaur and sending him flying.

The enemy clergy did what they could to dampen the effect of the flames of conflict and heal the numerous area attacks, one of them shouting out some protection of Apollo. But Avalara’s flames were a higher-tiered, Divine Trait-enhanced energy. It could not be blocked, dispelled or removed easily.

And Sati had built up an orb of flames, and launched it into one of the groupings of enemies. She then stoked Ava’s golden flames with a prayer, a vortex of flames forming from all the fiery attacks adding together. Controlling and enhancing the golden flames, much like Fhesiah could accomplish, they scorched and burned the numerous enemies, overwhelming what scant protections the warriors and mages provided.

Ophelia blitzed to the center of the crowd and released her Vajrafire Conscration as she lanced through the runic mage in the middle, using her Vajrafire Blast as she did. The cone of flames contained the righteous lightning of Guan Yu and the holy flames of Hestia, washing over part of the thirty enemies.

Several of the area of effect attacks had caught Avaron in the flames, even as he tried to escape with his light movement ability. Wounded, the man would try getting away to steal the flag, and Jake wasn’t going to allow it.

He released a third Dragon’s Breath spell, using Nessa’s Frostfire as the basis, and combined it with his Dao, the weight of his family and bonds. The apparition of a blue dragon head breathed out a burst of flames containing the powerful spirituality, and it washed over Avaron and a quarter of the people there, freezing and burning them, and overwhelming them despite their protection from Apollo.

Avaron’s cloak of light was overpowered by the flames as they engulfed him, and then Jake wrapped a Runic Shackle around him from his Runic Bubbles within his Hearth, restricting his magic usage.

Then, Tanda was ready with a charged arrow drawn. The deathly arrow blasted him in the chest, the explosive wolf bite shredding his body. Her flock of ravens had also swarmed over the enemies on fire, damaging most of them with their deathly energies and lowering their health like a contagion.

Jake threw Pyros at Avaron, and while it looked like he wanted to do something, it struck him in the chest through the heart. He dispersed into motes of light, with a rather pissed off look on his face–though, Jake was sure part of that was the pain from being burned so heavily. Odds were, he decided against using his nascent Divine Energy, as even if he escaped, he still couldn’t beat Ruby and Nessa by himself.

Avalara had leaped toward the shrine after releasing her flames of conflict, and slammed her tree club down on a group of enemies, her vines storming outward and piercing into other warriors. Enemies started dispersing into motes of light, and it didn’t take long for them to clean up the enemy.

They finished just a bit after Fhesiah captured the flag, and Bree finished off Cassius.

[Capture Complete! Hearthtribe leads 2-0.]

“Good job, Bree.”

[Heheh, it was nothing. I do think I gained something from his childish flailing–since it was at least partially powered by a god of war. I’ll need some time in the Refuge or some llight combat, perhaps to realize it.]

It took a moment for the flag to respawn, but when it did, Bloodberri rushed through the top entrance of the flag room, and grabbed the flag again, making it the final carry. The team joined her to escort her across the field, realizing they didn’t need to face the enemy a final time. Part of them wanted to, but they would rather not help the enemy learn more about themselves.

The Ravenwolf Clan joined them for the carry, but their victory was already a foregone conclusion.

Bloodberri raced across the field, her undulating body speeding her through it rapidly. It had taken them around a whole minute to slay the thirty mercenaries and finish capturing the flag, so she had four minutes to cross it before the respawn.

She was already just about to enter Hearthtribe team’s tunnel when the enemy respawned, and even though they raced across the battlefield on their mounts the moment they did, they could not catch up in time.

Bloodberri touched the flag before they could even reach the tunnel’s entrance, claiming the victory. Cassius and Avaron could be seen on their mounts, Loki riding a sort of shining white horse that reminded Jake of a unicorn or pegasus with six legs and a pair of wings. It was fast, but not fast enough to matter.

[Capture Complete! Hearthtribe Wins with score: 3-0.]

After they received a victory Menu prompt, everything froze for a moment, and an explosion of light occurred before everything dissolved around them.

Jake’s party was transported into the waiting and recovery area for their other teams to finish their matches and join them. As usual, recovery within the waiting area was enhanced, and Jake felt his mana being recovered at a rapid pace, and his weariness being removed.

The death timers of the entire losing team triggered. They would spend several days in stasis, unable to even send or receive messages through their Menu. This would be the case for all the teams that lost, even his own, despite winning the Prime Instance.

Bree said, “They are definitely up to no good. Even though we crushed them badly here, Cassius was still confident that we will regret facing them.”

Nessa nodded. “I got that feeling from Avaron too, he didn’t seem to be too worried about this victory, though he couldn’t imagine that Ruby would beat him.”

Berri clapped. “Ruby did great! But, poor little Nessa, you didn’t get to do anything cool. We’ll have to let you get the better fights next time.” She nodded to herself, and hugged the smaller snake girl to her chest.

Nessa blushed as she was squeezed by Bloodberri’s massive chest–the girl making her armor soft using its ability. “It was fine! I was satisfied with this way because this meant Avaron’s ego was crushed further. He has not only suffered a loss against me, but Ruby now too. I just care most that they are brought to justice…though I would enjoy a good fight next time.”

Over time, each of their allies appeared as they found victory and awaited the final report. However, not all the teams arrived. With the groups that showed up, Jake discussed what was next. Most likely, they would be ambushed by much of the Obsidian Blade’s spare forces, their Subguilds, and Alliance members, who were also at war with Hearthtribe.

And they would be true spares in the sense that they likely had enough for the landing events of Warrior Brotherhood and the Sons of Rome, as well as Love and Justice. They were only the second string people arriving on The Burning Steps when it came to their alliance members, but their numbers would help push forward the Conquest. They would also reduce the overall burden of PvP, matching numbers with numbers.

Avina and Dave’s Battlegroup eventually appeared.

Fhesiah smiled at them. “Good work finding victory, Davonious and Avina.”

Avina and Davonious beamed. “Goddess! Thank you. That was…too close for comfort.”

“What happened?”

Dave grimaced. “It’s just…they were too strong, their levels clearly higher than ours, and they focused on offense. If it weren’t for my ability to sneak into the flag room and steal the flag to buy us some more time, we’d have lost.”

Avina added, “They also used many consumables. While we had some too, the number we had prepared was too few for everyone. They spent a mountain of money for a chance to win.”

Fhesiah tapped her lips. “Hmm, it seems we need to expend a little more effort on making sure everyone has more. Good job winning in spite of the unfair matchup.”

It was a difficult problem for them to overcome. It seemed that the advantage wasn’t insurmountable, but when combined with their level advantage, it was just too much. Hearthtribe did get benefits thanks to their own magical research and following the Framework’s metagame, granting them bonuses to spell-casting and even the effectiveness of their enchantments or the consumables they made.

However, a big disadvantage was that for PvP purposes, the Obsidian Blades would have plenty of money. Using those items would harm them in the battle against Tartarus, but in PvP there were zero downsides apart from their people becoming overly reliant on them.

Eventually, the prompt arrived.

[Battleground Victory Report]

[18/25 Games Won]

[Bet: 5M CP for Prime, 300,000 per instance.]

[Earned: 9M CP for Hearthtribe from Obsidian Blades, plus 256,204 For Bounties.]

It seemed seven of his teams had lost. Judging by what happened with Dave and Avina’s team, it was likely that his middle to lower-strength teams were easily outclassed, or were simply outplayed. Knowing that their enemy had a large percentage of their people over level 40, outclassing his people somewhat, it made sense to Jake that they couldn’t all overcome the level difference or their tactics and experience in PvP.

For a weekly challenge, the CP earned was a significant amount. It was difficult to know exactly how much his guild would earn now, but the entire earnings of Hearthtribe throughout the Sector was less. Within the Dungeon, it was primarily the events and claiming more gate contents that earned anything, and his people still spent plenty of time doing incursions and similar to earn some here and there.

He knew that would change now that they were focused on Conquest rather than the inside of the Dungeon, and Valtor’s projections were in the ballpark of about twenty million per week without the weekly PvP challenges for his ten-thousand Hearthtribe, and more for his entire alliance.

This one event was nearly enough to pay for the Ankhmar merger from before, though that was a Tier 1 world into their Tier 2 world. To dismantle a Tier 2 world and inject it into Highlands was even more costly, ranging anywhere from two to ten times the cost depending on numerous factors, including location, size, energy density and type, compatibility, and many more.

If Jake’s Guild continued to make bets like this and won, especially on each world, they could more than double their guild’s normal weekly earnings and steal it from the enemy. He wasn’t sure how long it would take to drain their enemy’s earnings to claim the Prime Instance as their own, but essentially, those bounties of roughly 256,000 were from those defeated earned in the past week.

Some of them might have managed to turn in their weekly or monthly earnings prior to the battle. Adventurers involved in War Games either had to return to a HQ every week to turn in their earnings, or return to a Nexus Node weekly and extend their outing, up to a single month. Essentially, they had to enter PvP-enabled areas to realize their CP gain weekly, no matter what, or lose the guild’s benefits for earning them.

Still, that roughly 256,000 represented the 900 people’s earnings, and from Jake’s napkin math, each of them only participated in on average a single Rift closure in the past week or less. Perhaps, some of them had only cleared a few Monster Dens. He hoped that his people would be much more diligent, able to close around a single Rift per day and then some. His one thousand plus people should be earning around two million a week on The Burning Steps.

Their enemy might reduce the bets allowed in the future–the challenged could do this to an extent, and they could also push back the date of the challenges by a few days. However, given that the Obsidian Blades were the ones who declared war, they would be forced to retract the War Game if they did this too much.

There was the option to just not do a weekly PvP Event, but any side who was winning would certainly push the advantage and continue their challenges. These were good training for his people, to train in facing off against other soldiers with similar limitations and in a fair contest. When Tartarus brought invading races in like the Bloodwrought, his people would be experienced in facing them. Then, the Battlegrounds could actually be a means for them to face Tartarus enemies, helping them prepare for the nuances of the strange battlefields.

The possibility of Avaron and Cassius having some means to turn things around on their family and Hearthtribe was alarming. They had beaten the enemy so soundly, and yet Avaron was still confident, saving his special energy away for a confrontation, and so did Cassius. Because they likely worked with Tartarus in some way, they were extremely dangerous to the safety of the entire world. Their sandbagging and other evil tactics could likely accomplish terrible things, and they needed to be on the lookout.

In addition to losing millions of natives’ lives if the war was lost, Jake’s people still on it would be trapped in the void if they failed to evacuate. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ ɴo(v)elFɪre.ɴet

Paying the ransom for him and his people if they were trapped on The Burning Steps when it was lost would be costly. It was based on level and battle power, and the average person in the second Tier could be over a hundred thousand each. Over a hundred million CP was no small expense to recover all of his people, and Jake and his wives would certainly be expensive as well.

So Clan Hart and Hearthtribe would need to get to the bottom of their plot, before they could carry it out. Not only for his guild, but for the people of this world.

Moments after the victory report, Hearthtribe was teleported from the recovery area and out into the PvP area, arriving near the turn-in spot with a barrier around them. Interestingly, more bubbles were scattered throughout the battlefield, his people split up.

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A countdown timer appeared, giving them just long enough to get their bearings for thirty seconds. It was to prevent campers from landing powerful attacks before giving them a chance to defend, much like with the resurrection shrine. And so his people had just enough time to either buff up or cast protective spells or use abilities.

Hundreds of enemies were waiting there, ready to assault them with various attacks, scattered across the battlefield as well. Then, a few bubbles belonged to the Obsidian Mercenaries, their seven teams that had won the battles.

However, they now all looked completely shocked as Hearthribe not only won, but actually outnumbered them. Perhaps, they thought the battle would be close, which Jake found humorous. While Cassius and Avaron were strong, they were not nearly at any of his wives’ levels, let alone all of them.

And Hearthtribe had performed amazingly. They still lost seven of the matches, which meant hundreds of his people would be sitting out of conquest for a few days. But they still had nearly a thousand remaining. Jake wasn’t sure exactly how many warriors in total the enemy had on this world, but they were not prepared for this outcome.

Once again, Jake brought out Jasmina and Zephyr, and they buffed up Avalara to prepare for the bubbles to pop. Spells were prepared in everyone’s runic bubbles within their hearths, and they got ready.

The bubbles eventually rescinded, and all hell broke loose as the huge battle commenced. Jake pushed his Aura out and covered a large percentage of his brethren, and Nessa’s lake spread out in a wave, covering nearby enemies in freezing cold. Ruby rushed out with her claws, and Bree laughed as she lashed out with her claws and a storm of vines and dashed off.

Jake decided to open up by focusing on a shower of his hearth-powered manabolts. He shredded several enemies in quick succession as his wives rushed out in all directions, their polearms or claws flashing as they tore enemies apart, and protected their allies.

The people camping in the room and hoping to finish off what was left of Hearthtribe were not nearly at the level of Avaron and his allies, and they fell rapidly to the beastkin, tamed beasts, Elysians and more. Thanks to Jake and Bloodberri’s Auras, Hearthtribe quickly slayed many of their opponents, and some of their enemies actually attempted to retreat.

Ophelia blitzed into the battlefield on Valora, and sent out her Hearth Guardian to aid and protect allies. She activated her Sentinel ability on a nearby warrior who was surrounded by a few Nordic warriors, and she lanced an enemy as she blitzed through them, and the protective barrier blocked other attacks, allowing the Hearthtribe beastkin to recover with his healing. Once again, the PvP area did not allow for constructions, so only a haze of green auril spread out from Avalara, Tanda, and Timone’s Sublimations.

Dahlia and Timone both howled as they slayed their enemies, the two enjoying their impromptu massive battle. The number of enemies was significant, and their hunt with their brethren as their auril hearts sang filled them with excitement.

Defeating the enemies when they had no CP to return didn’t earn Hearthtribe very much, but they still stole some from the enemy’s stores with every kill, based on their level. They also obtained various equipment items and things from the defeated’s storage equipment or their person, which turned out to be a random assortment of items.

Jake supposed they probably staged random stuff within, and the Framework just chose a certain amount of value to grant them randomly. Some weapons and armor were also recovered, but they appeared to be rare based on how many they killed.

Despite their efforts and their protections, a few Hearthtribe did fall, but taking the enemy down by over seven hundred more meant that they were much more ahead. With their alliance members landing soon, Jake doubted they would be outnumbered for much longer, at least until their defeated enemies respawned.

Within the PvP grounds, Jake called out to Timone, “Go ahead and hunt down any last targets within the city, but be watchful of the Menu for any orders. Likely, we’ll have you moving out soon.”

The many Hearthtribe exited out the PvP area and into the city, to chase down any stray targets. Jake dispelled Jasmina and Zephyr as they entered the main HQ area through the main entrance.

His party headed to the War Room, minus Avalara–she was too large to fit inside, and was forced to wait at the doorway. They gathered around the War Map–a large table with a hologram of the world floating above it. But also a 2-D map projection–a map in which the spherical world was represented in a flat manner.

Jake smiled as all the girls surrounded the war table, each looking over and reviewing the items on it. Sati floated in the back, and Bree just looked over with casual interest. Ruby’s tail and ears flicked, the beast girl frowning at the map, looking a little lost.

The rest of his wives had stern, focused faces, each taking in the map for every detail. Just as he was going to take a look at it and he felt some alarm from a few of his wives, he saw that a message arrived from Valtor.

[Valtor: It looks like there’s trouble, Lord Jake. It seems several Rifts have been ignored near Stonewatch and Tempestia, and a Fortress Assault and a Greater Rift will form rapidly. Not only that, but the pace of Rifts spawning near Firewake has increased significantly, as if they want to establish one there too. Sincerely, Valtor.]

[Jake: Thanks, Valtor. We’ll look into it and decide on our people’s orders.]

The guild had a chat and messaging feature that would enable them to easily communicate whenever in the cities or near a Nexus Node. Updating the guild on any activities they spotted would be paramount to making sure they didn’t get outnumbered and killed by PvP enemies.

The headsets had an extended range in this Tier, but were still only useful for coordinating with a handful of nearby Battlegroups in the nearby area–not across entire continents. Still, his people would use them as it was important for PvP purposes, to know about potential issues as they headed into any city or place with a Nexus Node.

Valtor’s ever-watchful gaze was on the War Map and the guild chat, ready to change plans and deploy people at a moment’s notice, like just now.

Blood frowned at the Conquest Table. “This seems a clear plan from our enemy to slow us down in our investigation. We’re being attacked from both sides.”

Jake cupped his chin. “Nessa is about to question the people we fought near Firewake. I think it’s important to try to figure out their goal if at all possible, preferably, before we make big moves.”

Nessa nodded. “I’ll do my best. We know things won’t be all that straightforward, and my time for questioning them is limited. As it stands now, I have a few questions planned for each person, giving me just a few minutes with each one.”

Ophelia spoke up as she looked over the map, “It looks like they’re targeting all three cities near the Grand Temples about equally, but we had focused our personal efforts near Firewake. This is why there wasn’t a third event already.”

The HQ’s were mostly arranged relatively near the four Grand Temples, and cities still existed near the previous Water Temple. However, the Rifts were a rather normal spread there. “The water temple area is definitely being ignored, but they lack population outside of their few worshipers at the temple itself. The question is, how do we want to handle this with what resources we have now?”

Blood noted, “We only have eighteen Battlegroups of people, at about fifty each for Nine-hundred warriors at the moment. Allies and more should be landing and have events within the next twenty-four hours. That will nearly double our available manpower, depending on how well they perform in their landing events.”

Jake reviewed the map, considering the other Battlegroups arriving soon. The Fortress Assault and Greater Rift were a significant threat.

The Ravenwolf Tribe’s’ goal should be to close as many Rifts as possible within the next week, and earn the most possible Conquest Points while maximizing their rescuing of the natives.

The rest of Hearthtribe and their allies would head out as usual parties, and the parties including treants or large tamed beasts would make use of Jake’s improved airships to get there.

The airships were much speedier and reliable now in the second Tier, having improved ballistas and the ability to carry even large allies like the treants and larger auril beasts. He still chose a blimp configuration for his smaller airships, which were able to fit within a single Storage Ring. These would be able to fly even to the wind temples or floating islands, which could still contain Rifts.

The ships were made of auril wood with carved and enchanted Celtic runes, and the ship portion did not look that much different from a boat or a galleon. The balloon or blimp portion of the airship was made of auril beast hide. Small holes could be healed with enough auril energy, making the construction relatively safe even for aerial combat.

Larger magic motors were allowed in the second Tier, and so they could move rather rapidly. They were still powered by their riders, and Jake had worked out a method that auril or mana users could use to do so.

He would call his people back when they had a much more direct target to focus on. Odds were, this evil plot wouldn’t be found out and solved in a single day. Nessa would now be able to go interrogate the prisoners, and meanwhile, they would investigate more thoroughly, and the war would begin in earnest.

Having defeated the largest groupings of enemies outside of those participating in the upcoming landing events, his people only needed to stick together for a time before heading out of any city.

Since it was this world’s second Conquest, a vast majority of the natives had moved into fortified cities. Some sought to form villages as often between wars, there were usually decades at a minimum and up to centuries between, but many had the potential threat of Tartarus looming kept in mind.

These people were the first that would be consumed by a Monster Tide from the dungeon entrances too, and so people became a lot more mindful of where they colonized and how they focused on defenses.

So Hearthtribe’s work of rescue and rebuild was a lot more focused than Highlands could have been. Highlands had many beastkin randomly living within the wilds in small clans, and that would be less rampant in a world like this one.

Despite it being this world’s second Conquest, much like Ariminum, ownership had been abandoned. A large portion of their people were against joining the Framework, and many people worshiped the old gods–the moons, refusing the Framework’s. Then, they opted out of the previous War Trial, and were likely a detriment to a guild’s ownership. Rather than be required to defend the world, they had given it up.

That was a part of the detriment of owning worlds. If and when Tartarus decided to Contest any of his worlds, if Jake didn’t immediately drop much of what his guild was doing and defend it, he would be forced to give up the world to allow other guilds to protect and rescue it from Tartarus’ clutches.

There were actually several ways to defend his world, and allowing it to face war was only one of them. If Jake wanted, it was possible for them to face a special Battleground, such as the one Fhesiah participated in, to decide on Highland’s safety and earn potential for it.

”So now we need to figure out what their plot might be. In addition to Conquest, we’re going to need to investigate. The biggest thing of note is the temples and shrines, right?”

Nessa nodded. “Around the equator of this world, there are four grand shrines. Each one corresponds to one of the moons that orbits their world.”

There were special marked locations for these shrines. The map didn’t show the leylines like what Avalara had shown him about Highlands, but he imagined that underneath the surface there were special energies that gathered within these shrines.

Looking close, it seemed the shrines were not a big target by Tartarus, as no Rifts came anywhere near them. In fact, they were marked as outside of the conflict.

“The legend says the shrines are not part of the conflict. That means Tartarus cannot attack them, right?”

“It should

mean that, yes. And its machinations that could cause a place to get attacked by monsters are heavily penalized–to the point where it can be considered a loss by Tartarus. It definitely wouldn’t be so egregious–the Divine won’t allow it to get away with anything so overt. So maybe this is where our Obsidian Blade enemies might try to sabotage the world in some way, instead.”

Ophelia asked, “How did they lose a temple the last war?”

Blood said, “Because they were a part of the Conquest that time. It turned out that Tartarus didn’t just capture the water temple, however. Some kind of ritual had begun, but a special event was created near it–a Fortress Assault. When the Alliance lost, this was what destroyed the moon and set everything askew. It was a miracle that the natives actually pulled together and won in spite of all of that–even without joining the Framework.”

Nessa nodded. “The loss of the moon was a wake-up call to the others, and they desperately worked together to win. And it’s why they didn’t trust the Framework and only shut themselves down.”

“They’re just as good a place as any to check. But these grand shrines aren’t the only ones, are they? Maybe we should check with the local ones before we head out.”

“Might not be a bad idea.”

Blood was still focused on the map. “I wonder. What about these moons?” Blood said.

Nessa frowned. “What about them?”

“Are they not a part of this world’s magic? The water grand shrine was destroyed, along with its moon weakened. Could the enemy target them instead? They do not appear to be excluded.”

Nessa replied, “I…don’t think so? There are not much many magical methods of flight that work to traverse the stars while remaining protected from the void of space at this Tier. Even cultivators below Nascent Soul level cannot normally accomplish it. And even if they had a creature who could do it, what would they do when they get there?”

Jake had learned that Earth having a near-zero mana level had numerous side effects, and one was that the surrounding space was not nearly as turbulent as it was on other worlds. The cosmic energies, the leylines of the Yggdrasil actually made traversing the cosmos quite challenging, the Refuge and their teleportation protecting them from these energies.

Even if a cultivator could fly through space by pushing themselves with their own Qi, they would need to protect themselves from what was effectively cosmic radiation–a cocktail of energies, much like what resided in the actual void. Most creatures would fall prey to them, starved of resources as they attempted to travel to a place like the moon. Very few existed that could actually manage it.

Ira’s emotions suddenly swelled with pride. Of course, Ira had zero trouble traveling through the void of space, and it could also protect him if they traveled through it. Jake chuckled at the creature. “Not a problem for us, aside from the time sink. Fhesiah can manage it too, with her Draconic Flight.”

Berri nodded excitedly. “We should definitely go to the moon, and check it out. I call dibs on going there!”

Tanda laughed at that, her tail wagging. “That does sound kinda fun!”

Jake frowned at Berri. “Why do you want to go to the moon?”

“Because! I can’t wait to tell our lovelies the story. How I flew to the moon, and then we blew it up! Or whatever.”

Jake groaned. “It shouldn’t be blowing it up, but defeating whatever plot they are planning. But we’ll go for the low-hanging fruit: the temples and Grand Shrines, to see if we can maybe learn more first. And for that, our team will need to split up.”

Ophelia asked, “What if this is their plot? To split us up and then for the enemy to slay us?”

Bree shrugged, chuckling as she cracked her knuckles. “Then we just have to slay them instead. They better send someone strong, or they will not stand a chance against us.”

Jake frowned in thought, that was a legitimate concern. “We’ll have Aisling to take some more naps and check her visions, but let’s keep our allies up to date. Our people should speak with the natives as much as possible, and uncover anything they can find about the Obsidian Mercenaries. With the Fortress Assault near Stonewatch and the Greater Rift near Tempestia, I think that–”

“Wait, Milord.” Sati interrupted, suddenly opened her eyes wide. She floated over to the map.

He asked, “What is it?”

“I can feel it once more. The pull of fate. It beckons me.”

Jake arched his brow. “Beckons you to where?”

Sati closed her eyes in concentration just in front of the map, and Jake could feel her golden flame within her, her inner fire, flickering. She spun, feeling which direction pulled her the most.

“It is to the Southwest of us. Given that we are here,” she gestured to the HQ on the map, “That means it should be there. The Fire Grand Temple. However, it is strange. It seems to be beckoning me upwards.”

Berri cheered. “I knew it! We’re going to the moon!”

Blood groaned. “You just wanted to go to the moon. You didn’t know anything.”

Jake ignored Berri, and thought about their situation. “We had chosen to close Rifts near Firewake because they were more concentrated there. We had checked the other HQ’s in our PvP activities, and we had only heard rumors about the mercenaries and their deeds near Firewake. Perhaps by chance, but it could also be because it was the worst there. Like the Obsidian Blades wanted it weakest.”

Fhesiah chuckled. “But then we halted their advance by clearing so many Rifts. It could be fate indeed that we caught our enemies unawares, and then uncovered significant parts of their plots. It could also be that there is more than just one plot, however.”

Jake nodded. “I was going to have us go to the Wind and Earth Grand Temples, to push both toward assaulting the special events quickly. Then, have our Ravenwolf Tribe hit all three, until we had reinforcements arrive tomorrow to push harder in the different locations. But now, we should send the Ravenwolf Tribe mainly to the Wind and Earth shrines, while we split our own efforts between Fire and Wind.”

Ophelia said, “That covers all three in a way, I’m assuming our people are hitting Wind because the Ravenwolves are best for them, and Earth since we won’t be hitting it? But why Wind and Fire for us?”

He replied, “That’s right, the Ravenwolf are ultimately going to be necessary for closing Rifts near Tempestia because their flight is a significant advantage. While our blimps can manage somewhat, I’d rather send our less mobile members to handle the grounded Rifts near Stonewatch once they arrive. As for us, the information about this world had said that the shrines will be difficult to work with, and so these are definitely our best bets to gain information about their plots. This is a hedging of our bets. While I do trust in Sati’s feelings, there may be more than one plot to uncover.”

Blood nodded. “That is right. And we have the best hope of accomplishing something meaningful at these two. The shrines and temples are insular, and dislike the Framework Divine. But we are uniquely suited to handle the fire temples, and as for the wind temple…let’s just hope that maybe Valora, Ophelia, and Zephyr can garner us some favor with them to at least open a dialogue. I know Sati, Bree, Jake, or Faye can accomplish the same at the fire temple.”

Jake added, “As for the earth temples, maybe Ava can work with them, but it’ll only be if it comes to that.” He looked at the time. “It’s almost time for Nessa to interrogate the slain mercenaries, so this plan will have to do for now. I’ll have Valtor signal their orders.”

While Jake did that, Ophelia looked over at Nessa, “What’s that going to be like, anyway?”

“Within the HQ in a special area, their spirits will be brought to me. I will ask them the questions, and they will be forced to answer.”

Fhesiah was a bit surprised about this. “You can force them to answer?”

Nessa shook her head. “Abstaining from answering questions will increase their sentences, up to and including true death and creating immediate sanctions on their guild. Administrator Kintrel set it that the current charges are the betrayal of the Alliance, a step up from their discovered crimes. It is up to the interrogation to determine the depth of their betrayals, and alleviate the new sentencing. If they refuse to answer any of my questions and in a reasonable amount of time, then my father shall be the one to deal with them. They cannot stall or will be heavily penalized.”

Jake finished sending the message to Valtor and said, “Interesting. Can any of us come?”

“Unfortunately, no. However, I can stay connected with you as I am. I would like your help some, Blood.”

Blood smiled. “Yes, it does sound like we’ll need to ask some clever questions. They are not simply going to offer up their misdeeds or their bosses on a silver platter for us. And with a hundred people to question and get through, we don’t want to miss out on anything.”

Ophelia and Tanda were both satisfied with this. Tanda’s claws were out, and her wings fluttered. “The next few days are going to be busy. But if we want to find vengeance, we’ll have to move fast.”

Jake gave her a grim smile. “We’ll have to find what they are cooking up, and to do that, we have to beat their expectations. Let’s move.”