Theo's thoughts swirled. He had always been under the impression that Elrin was the leader of whatever that group was. Even if the man had revealed that he wasn't in charge, it was hard to believe. He was powerful to the point of ridiculousness and seemed to command people very well. But to learn that there was somebody above him was shocking enough to give the alchemist pause.

"We should have met sooner, and for that I apologize. But it's not exactly easy to move around when the system seeks to impede my every move," Meya said, spitting on the ground. "But my people are finally in position. To answer your earlier question, dragon, this world will be defended by my people for as long as it takes for the traitor Leon to establish his academy."

"And what, sweet Meya, will you do once I've established this world?" Leon asked.

She waved the thought away as though it was no concern to her. "Our fight is elsewhere. Once the Grand System comes into full effect, we'll be ejected from the sector anyway. My people are too strong, and a nascent sector like this can't support us."

Theo rubbed his face, trying to keep up. So Leon was creating an academy world, but for what purpose? If he extrapolated what he knew from the man, he could guess that his plan was to train people to defend the sector. He had some savior complex that made him atone for his perceived sins. Theo didn't have any problem with that, of course. If it meant they would actually have a chance at defending this place, he was all for it. But this was all news to him, and it was taking him longer than expected to adjust to it.

The problem was, he now had more questions than ever before and not enough time for answers.

“An academy world?” Theo asked. “What’s the plan there?”

Leon laughed, leaning heavily to one side. He released a sigh and looked up to the sky. "I made a deal a long time ago that I'd be able to atone for my sins. An entity made that possible, and here I am. The Academy World concept is simple enough. We understand that there are more worlds out there, worlds that are incorporated into the grand system by the day. Some of those people are sent off to train in Academy worlds just like this. The advantage is that we'll be able to attract powerful teachers to help defend the sector."

“Having a bunch of students in your debt doesn’t hurt either, does it?” Tresk asked.

“No, it doesn’t,” Leon said. “When the temporal barrier drops, we’ll be open to new souls reincarnating here.”

“I’ve done the calculations,” Meya interjected. “All the worlds in the sector will see an influx. A massive one to start. Each world is broken by sub-grade, so depending on the quality of the soul, they’ll be deposited to a different spot.”

Leon rubbed his chin. “My protocol will still work, right?”

“Like a charm. You’ll send up a flare that attracts the teachers you’re looking for, and the lodestone you’ve made will create the required environment.” Meya rolled her shoulders. “The gods will be ready for their fight. Foreign gods, probably minor ones, will try to usurp the thrones. Then, the mortals will assault Tal’vengar. Those that make it through are your responsibility.”

Theo pointed at himself. “Mine?”

“You and the other three Throne Holders.” Meya looked around. “Speaking of, where is Ivaran?”

“You mean Fenian?” Theo asked. “That guy vanished.”

Meya narrowed her eyes. “Dead?”

“The system would’ve told us, I think,” Theo said. “I suspect he dropped into a proto realm somewhere and got lost. But, good luck finding him.”

“Get a temporary replacement. After the reset, you’ll need to send a powerful defender to the mortal world to work in his place.” Meya clapped her hands. “Good. I’ve got some more help coming for you, Leon. But for now, you’ll have me and my people to help bolster your world. We can borrow some authority from the thrones for now. Especially since the Dreamwalker and the Dreamer saw fit to balance the energy in the sector. That’s going to help a lot, by the way.”

Theo felt like a child listening to an adult's conversation. He couldn't understand how this woman was so competent, and he had never seen her before. She was from the previous version of Earth. So he decided to ask. He wanted to know exactly how things had gone down.

“This might be out of turn,” Theo started. “I understand your time is short, but could you explain something to me?”

“What is it?” Meya asked, tilting her head to one side.

“What the hell happened on Earth? How and why are you here?”

Meya paused for a long moment before laughing. “Now that is a decent question. Help me infuse this planet with your conceptual power, and I’ll tell you while we work. Deal?”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Deal,” Theo said.

Leon had created a system Theo was very familiar with. There was the concept of lodestones which he had used in his golems. But that concept went further. It was also the scheme the planet used through the shard system. As Meya had promised, she explained what had happened in the simplest terms, although the alchemist was sure she was leaving details out. He listened intently.

A very long time ago, even by Meya’s accounting, there was magic on Earth. Real magic, like people were throwing around fireballs and stuff. At a point, that magic diminished and fell into myth and legend. In her time in the 2030s, Meya had experienced the arrival of the monoliths over the surface of Earth. Hundreds of thousands of jagged pieces of rock had sprung up from nowhere. Although this had caused an initial panic, things were quick to calm down. As everyone was busy mulling over the implications of those monoliths, no one seemed to notice how the old magic had returned.

“This was a mechanism of the Grand System returning to Earth. We were meant to experience a system apocalypse, which would have opened the planet up to what you call interdiction events. There was supposed to be an invasion, but something went wrong,” she explained. “I don’t know why the system’s influence left Earth. Best I can figure is it left somewhere in the 1200s, but it had been seriously weakened by then. The interesting part was the monoliths, though. I suspect someone was messing with magic before me, creating something that prevented the apocalypse.”

Theo was focused on siphoning some of his authority into the planet. Tresk was doing the same and having a much harder time with it. He wondered if she would remember any of this when it was over. “Those monoliths gave you access to Iaredin, right?”

“Exactly. I think the two worlds were merging, so the system had to come up with a way to stop it. Anyone who touched the monoliths was given a choice. They could give up their body on Earth and migrate there permanently or become a visitor. Visitors were allowed to pass between the two worlds, maintaining their life on Earth while defending the fantasy world that had sprung up overnight. At first, people treated it like a video game. The message boards were alive with that sentiment. Until the first death happened.” Meya paused for a few long moments, looking off into the middle-distance as though recalling the event. “We realized how serious it was. Almost everyone from Earth got a combat class on Iaredin, so we formed an army. Cults from Iaredin banded together, and we even got minor support from the nations. But they were so scared.”

“And you used real magic on Earth,” Theo said.

Meya smiled, shaking her head. “I was interfacing with the Grand System. Blood Magic was the easiest way back then, but eventually I figured out the Celestial Cultivation technique. You should’ve seen it. I brought the system from the fantasy world to Earth. It was amazing.”

“And in the end, you guys flipped a coin. You defended this world and flipped a coin to decide which ones would survive. Earth lost,” Theo said, shaking his head. “Do you know how long that dragged out for?”

“I can’t apologize for the guy who started this,” Meya said. “The only thing I can do is end it. We defended Iaredin against the hordes. I watched my friends die, both on Iaredin and Earth. You weren’t there on the walls, watching as King Leon snubbed our request for forces. When Franz disappeared, leaving Hallben undefended. You didn’t see the Great Spirits of Whisperwood crumble under the endless waves of chimeras or the Archduke’s betrayal. You didn’t watch Boston burn.”

Theo drew his lips into a tight line. He had seen Berlin crumble. He had seen people starving on what was left of the streets. No, he didn’t see the horrors of the old world unfurl. But he had watched their smouldering ashes linger for far too long. Yet this wasn’t a time to measure trauma.

“Continue,” Theo said.

“Despite all that, it worked. We didn’t save Earth, but we saved her people,” Meya said. “They’re still in Death’s Gate right now, waiting to be reincarnated. That’s the one good thing Leon did for us. He sucked up all the souls of the dead, even long after our mission was over. Everyone from the end of my time, to the end of yours was stowed away like cargo.”

Theo blinked a few times. “What?”

Meya cracked a broad smile. “When Leon murdered his wife to claim the Elderling Realm of Death, he configured Death’s Gate to absorb the souls of the dead. At first, we thought he was doing it to screw everyone over. But he was creating a vault to keep everyone safe. He understood he couldn’t save everyone the way we were trying to make it happen, so he took another route.”

“Everyone? Do you mean like… everyone that died?” Theo asked.

“Yup. They’re all safe and sound. He even maintained control of the Gate up until a few hundred years ago, from what I understand.” Meya sighed wistfully. “Say what you will, but that guy has some balls.”

Theo turned, spotting the old man resting on a large rock. It was almost impossible to hold back his emotions, and his concentration on the planet faltered. His mind went back to the people he had lost over his lifetime. It was a shallow consolation that their souls were still intact. He thought about his parents, friends, and his wife. Those people from his unit were still in Death’s Gate, waiting to come out.

“If you’re looking for some badass people to defend Tal’vengar, I know a few,” Theo said with a mirthless laugh.

“Oh?” Meya asked. “What kind of people were they? Death can bring them back after the reset.”

Theo had to think about that for a second. With some incredible willpower, he pushed down who he wanted from the gate to recommend who they needed. “I’m pretty sure we faced down a god with some rifles back on Earth. After marching through an irradiated wasteland for about a week, of course.”

Meya’s brows peaked. “Okay. They do sound pretty badass.”

The prospect of getting everybody back was too exciting. Theo could barely contain himself as he thought about it. As his thoughts spiraled, he realized that he didn't really know those people. He didn't know them as well as he had come to know the people of Broken Tusk. It might be important to scoop several important individuals out of Death's Gate, but one thing was for certain. They were never truly his family. They were accomplices or acquaintances at best. The way things were on old Earth could never be brought back. That level of desperation was too much for one man to bear through two lifetimes.

For now, Theo focused all his efforts on getting this planet ready. Leon was indeed a bastard, but at least he had a purpose. Defending an entire sector was a noteworthy cause.