Kaius took a sip from his tumbler of brandy, grunting as the burning liquor slid down his throat.

  Along with his team, he was in yet another Guild meeting room, this one set up with a large war map on the far wall. Bronwyn was there with his team too, as were Rieker and Ro at the room's front. All they waited on was Arc’theros, the Gold out of Grandbrook.

  A runner had come from the governor's office, saying that Arc’theros would be a few minutes late, tied up as he was in a conversation with the governor.

  He wasn't in a particular rush, and it wasn't all that surprising either. In many senses, the Gold was here as a diplomatic envoy, and, according to Rieker, Governor Hanrick was attempting to make overtures at the man about further collaborations with Grandbrook, tightening their alliance during the tumultuous times that they faced.

  From what he'd heard from the others in the room, more in tune with the frontier's local politics, Ark couldn't exactly make decisions for the city's governor, but he'd been in Grandbrook longer than almost anyone in the power structure and was more than trusted enough to be able to speak of official matters and inform Hanrick of what was likely possible, as well relay the governours word back to Grandbrook official diplomatic offices.

  In the seats next to him, the giantess Yanira shot him a grin after the grimace he made at the burn of his brandy.

  “Heard you had your first meeting with Grandmaster Olmos, eh? I bet that was an experience. He's quite the character.”

  “You've with the man?” Ianmus asked next to him, his voice curious.

  Bronwyn grunted in his seat next to Yanira, throwing his arm over the back of his chair as he turned towards them. “We all have. Most Silvers have far more experience working in a Guild structure, considering most of us chip away at it over decades. I still can't believe that the lot of you managed it in a bloody year. Ridiculous.”

  Just behind Bronwyn, the ranger Dross rolled his eyes. “What my dear leader means to say is that the Guild's leadership is structured and segregated by area and rank. Olmos is the Grandmaster for both Deadacre and Grandbrook — so, all of the frontier, really. Silvers are rare enough that all of them are introduced to a Grandmaster, even if they don't speak with them regularly.”

  Kaius tilted his head. That was news to him. He'd known that the Guild was centered around Guild Halls, but he knew few details of how the upper echelons of their power worked, other than their nebulous link to the city of Wight’s End. Even that wasn’t saying much of anything — just about every major power on the continent had some presence there. It’s location deep in a high-mana zone full of rare materials and powerful beasts made it too valuable to the high-tiered to ignore.

  He supposed it made sense for the frontier to have an entire Grandmaster to itself. Even with its low population, it was large and sat as a key intersection separating many significant powers. There was Mystral to the east; the Arboreal Sea, with its elven conclaves, above that; the Green Sea Dukedoms to the west; and the Altair Steppe to the south, home of the Hiwiann, with the Drozags further south still.

  The Guild couldn't just let such a pivotal crossroads grow wild and untamed. Still, regardless of its position and how large the frontier was, it still only had two major cities. If the Guild had a Grandmaster to run just that, it implied that there were an awful lot of them. A surprising thing if all of them were Golds — or higher, as they had been told.

  “He was rather pleased to have met us,” Kaius said, replying to Yanira. “And, well, he wasn't too dissatisfied with the information we had to share,” he said with a grin.

  “Ha, I'll bet,” Yanira replied. “And I double down that you all made a pretty penny from something as invaluable as the information on honours and those skills.”

  Kaius only grinned. That they did. The conversation with Olmos had been fruitful indeed. The chance to upgrade their dynastic trait was a huge reward. With how rare and controlled the fruits were, that was no small move. Still, on the level of it, Kaius knew that what they had provided was in many senses more valuable. Honours alone could provide more stats than a simple upgraded trait. But, like the Grandmaster himself had said, it all becomes priceless in the end, and the difference had to be made up in goodwill.

  They didn't share their knowledge with the Guild because they thought the rewards would be worth more than what they would gain from secrecy. No, they'd done it because it was the right thing to do, because the world needed change. It was necessary if they were going to survive the changes that came with future steps in the integration.

  Before their idle chatter could continue, Kaius heard the deep clacking thumps of someone tall and heavy walking down the hall, followed quickly by a knock on the door. Arc’theros entered shortly after. Kaius marveled at how a man so physically intimidating, clad in natural armor like some terrifying beast from the hells, could manage to be so visually meek and apologetic. The Defender of Grandbrook’s head hung low.

  “This one apologizes for his delay and pleads for forgiveness. Hanrick was quite insistent that our meeting run its course.”

  At the head of the room, Rieker gave the man a casual wave of his hand. “Think nothing of it, Arc. Hanrick's an incorrigible blabbermouth. As soon as I found out you had a meeting with him before this, I expected a little delay. We haven't been waiting long.”

  Arc’theros only bowed his head and moved to take one of the many empty desks that were scattered around the room.

  “Right then,” Rieker said, clapping his hands to draw everyone's attention. “Let's get this show on the road.”

  The Guildmaster nodded to Ro, standing off to the side at the head of the room. “If you would.”

  Ro nodded and walked to the front and center, standing in front of a map that showed Deadacre and its surrounding lands. In front of her was a podium — one that Kaius could see the subtle glow of mana emanating from. He assumed it was some sort of illusion projection system, similar to others he had seen in the Guild, one that Ro would potentially be able to use to aid in their brief.

  “We have two major problems that have cropped up,” Ro started, “both of which carry the potential to be regional threats that could cause serious issues for not just Deadacre, but Grandbrook as well. We're all aware of what they are: our problem of missing beasts and unknown imperial ruins beneath the city. Bronwyn and his team will be handling scouting out the beast threat while Kaius and his will explore the ruins.”

  Ro waved her hand over the lectern in front of her, and a hazy glow spread out across the map behind her, covering a swathe of the territory southeast of Deadacre, stretching almost to the city walls.

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  “We'll start with the beasts. What you see on the map behind us is the extent of the affected area.”

  Kaius raised his eyebrows. It stretched far beyond the bounds of Deadacre’s influence, a region hundreds of leagues across.

  “The beast presence in these regions has decreased, falling to almost entirely absent. Towards the edges of the map, we know that they're still out there, and, thanks to the information Kaius and his team have brought us, that they are likely a controlled force. But we need to know more. Anything that can control that swathe of territory is a dangerous thing. It is potentially a threat that will require full mobilization inside the frontier and the introduction of external help to quell it. To do that, however, we need something more concrete than a hunch from a group that had been running for their life at the time and a simple absence of danger.”

  Kaius nodded. He knew it wasn't a comment on their trustworthiness, rather an observation on the realities of the situation. Even if higher-ups knew of his presence, the Guild couldn't force people to come to Deadacre. And his nebulous warnings wouldn't be enough.

  Ro stared at the lit-up swathe of the map. “We need a full scouting report from Bronwyn.” She nodded to the man. “You have the floor.”

  Bronwyn nodded, rising from his seat as he strode to the head of the room.

  “We've been working on this for a couple of months now, and what precious little we've been able to find has been concerning.”

  Moving to the map, he swept his hand across a stretch of space along its southeastern edge. His finger stopped in four places.

  “Here, here, and here, we've received word of hamlets going dark. They're too small to be marked, but they're still settlements. And they've all but vanished. There's only one thing in common: they're the four closest settlements to Strangspine.”

  Kaius cocked his head. Strangspine? He'd never heard of that. Though, judging by the serious tilt to Bronwyn's brow and the way that Ro tsked as she heard that, it was not exactly a pleasant location.

  Dross must have seen his confusion. “It's a small high-mana zone towards the center of the frontier. The Spine is a massive canyon filled with strange growths, floating islands of rock above it. The place is a fucking warren. There's few places to hide a force that large on the frontier other than Strangspine. They could be in the jungles that litter the canyon or, hells, even the cave networks beneath them.”

  That explained the distaste on people's faces. High-mana zones were bloody dangerous. Even with the progression of the integration having raised local mana levels to an equivalence elsewhere, those high-mana zones had had millennia to develop and change in strange ways. The beasts there were vicious and strong, with variants and species that grew naturally powerful. If there truly was something controlling those beasts and collecting them there, the Guild was right to be worried.

  At the front of the room, Bronwyn nodded. “Strangspine is our eventual goal, but we plan on visiting the nearby villages of Earnsdale, and a few others closer to the zone. The people who live that remotely are close-knit. If there have been any survivors, they will have made their way there.

  “At the very least, the local hunters might be able to tell us something more. From there, we'll visit the hamlets themselves. My hope is that we can gain enough concrete proof from that alone, and we can return to mobilize a greater expedition.”

  “And if you can't?” Kaius asked.

  He could only think of the size of the beast horde that had torn through a quasi-military bunker associated with the Onyx Temple. That place had been full of Steel and Iron classers — seasoned combatants, one and all. It had been smashed to kindling.

  Worse, from their flight through the city, through the forest, he knew that it had not been some concentrated force that had taken out Old Yon's fortress. It had merely been in the path of the migration. Those beasts had stretched out in a massive line. It had taken them hours to flee to the edges of their travel path. And even then, they had no way of knowing if they'd already been close to the edge.

  A determined and steely look settled on Bronwyn’s face. His jaw clenched, and a determined set to his brow furrowed. “If we cannot find what we need from the villagers, we push into Strangspine. From what you've told us, the vast majority of beasts are weak. Even if we run into them in numbers, we'll be able to flee, and that will be confirmation enough. If we're lucky, we might be able to find the controller and execute a decapitation strike.”

  Porkchop let out a low grumble, Kaius feeling his dissatisfaction at their plan.

  “Is that wise? Enough fleas can drain a patriarch dry.”

  Kaius couldn't help but agree. Plus, with how long it had been, there was no guarantee that the beasts would stay the same level. Not only had mana levels continued to rise up until they'd stabilized recently, but whatever was controlling them had dragged them into a high-mana zone. Who knew what that would do to them?

  “We must,” Bronwyn replied. “A threat like this is severe and is only suitable for people of our strengths. Me and my team have decades of experience under our belts. You can trust that we won't be taking unnecessary risks.”

  Arc’theros let out a low rumble, crossing his arms. “This one would like to suggest that your august selves remain on scouting duty. If there is a controller with the horde the size that it is, it will not be weak. That is a Gold threat — one that I can assist in removing.”

  That surprised Kaius. He'd thought that the defender of Grandbrook had mostly stuck around to engage in talks and overtures with the governor and the Guild. He had assumed that once the man had learned of what they planned for the beasts, he would have returned to Grandbrook to make his own preparations.

  “Are you sure, Defender Arc’theros?” Yanira said, clearly as surprised as Kaius was. “Our scouting of the horde could take multiple months.”

  The Gold turned back to the giantess and nodded. “This one has suitable duties to occupy his time. Governor Hanrick has asked for assistance in giving some guidance to the new glut of city guards. A month or two of my attentions will do much to shore up their lacking skill levels.”

  At the head of the room, Rieker raised an eyebrow. “Man's got a silver tongue. Your time is expensive.”

  Arctheros only shook his head. “It is no large thing. This one often gives similar assistance to the guards of Grandbrook. And this one sees the frontier as a whole as this one's home.”

  “So that's why Grandbrook has so many guards with heavy armor skills,” Kaius heard Iris, the mage of Bronwyn's team, whisper under her breath.

  At the head of the room, Ro stepped forward, back to the map.

  “I agree with Ark, for what it's worth. Proof of a mass gathering is enough, as will be a second sighting of so many beasts acting in unison. Find evidence of that and return. A controller, if it exists, is too risky to pursue if they can control that swathe of territory.

  “It will have you pulling double duty on your visits to those villages. Rieker and I are authorizing the use of additional Guild-owned storage artefacts, and Governor Hanrick will be supplying you with aid for them — common arms, medicines, alchemicals, and food. They'll need the boost, and our hope is that the supplies might help ingratiate you with the locals, potentially help you find out more.”

  “Good thinking,” Bronwyn replied.

  “What of evacuation plans?” Ianmus asked. “In Mystral, they are commonplace for seaside villages in the event of an ocean leviathan coming too close. I assume Deadacre has similar, considering how close you are to the Arboreal Sea.”

  In almost perfect unison, Rieker, Ro, Bronwyn, and his team let out a series of sighs and grumbles — something that drew an arched eyebrow from Kaius. It seemed Ianmus had stumbled into a little old problem.

  “We do, lad, but…” Rieker trailed off, scratching his beard, as if he was trying to think of how to tactfully say what was on his mind. “Most of the people who live in the frontier are stubborn fools. For those who are still living in small communities despite everything that has changed, there’d need to be an army on their doorstep to push them in our direction.”

  Bronwyn nodded. “We'll be sure to impress on them that they can, and should, evacuate if they see any sign of a beast horde. But, well, I fear if they do, it might already be too late. Regardless, that's mine and my team's plan. What of the ruins?” Bronwyn asked, looking to Ro.

  The guild administrator nodded and turned her attention to Kaius.

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