Synexus and Gene made their way through the mansion while waiting for the effects of the lychee to begin. Loud noises of battle were taking place outside and he could sense a powerful entity launching spells quicker than his Mana Sense could keep up with.

  Heat radiated from outside and when they looked out the window to see a giant fire tornado they found out why. Slowly, they made their way outside and around the vortex to find their friends surrounding a sphinx of all things. Synexus had read stories of them while in the Branch Settlement and absolutely became obsessed. They were symbols of the search for knowledge, one that he had felt ever since he was born. He had even asked the Elder if he could meet one someday, but they said the sphinxes had disappeared several hundred years ago. Now there was one right in front of him, but it was their enemy.

  Gene was following him, but neither of them could see each other or hear each other, which was a major flaw in the legendary fruit. They could feel each other however, and Gene placed a wing on his arm to let him know not to kill the sphinx. He wasn’t even sure he knew that was what his friend meant, but it made sense.

  Quickly his mind went to his Progress Garden, and he edited the genome of Titan tree seeds so they would grow into the mana battery stone. Then he edited his razor binding vine to grow into the living steel he had picked up from the trial. His skill to do this in his mind made the process much quicker and it was a good thing because the sphinx’s trap had been sprung.

  Fire lashes had shot out of nowhere to wrap around his friends and pull them into the vortex of death followed by a burst of wind magic that would rival Kumo’s own. Synexus held to a piece of the mansion and was able to not get blasted away. Gene held onto him.

  Luckily, his friends were still in his range, and he used Extreme Growth to grow a wall of the stone Titan trees. His mana pool was still not replenished fully, but the achievement helped to give him more than he needed.

  Once the trees had sprang up and saved his friends, a downpour of water came out of nowhere to put out the flames and sever the fire lashes. That let Synexus refocus on the sphinx which he was glad for because she was about to make a move. Quickly, he grew way more razorsteel binding vines than he needed to trap the sphinx mid-jump. With her immobilized, it was time for a calm conversation.

  The invisibility fell and he was face to face with a creature of legend except instead of the intelligence he had read about, this one had rage and hatred in her eyes. Clearly, this sphinx was suffering in some way which had led to the attack on his friends. He did enjoy helping anyone in need though.

  “Hello, I’m Synexus. I know you’re in pain right now with dozens of my vines inside you, but we will get you fixed up once you calm down a bit.”

  A hiss of hatred was all he got in return.

  “Okay, you’ve obviously been through a lot, but I assure you, none of us here would want to end the life of such an amazing being. Can we please converse in a peaceful manner?”

  Another, more violent hiss came from the sphinx as it tried to burn away the vines. Then music came from behind him and the fire coming from the vines died. Turning towards the music, he saw Shell.

  “Hey Shell, good timing with that wave of water.”

  She nodded before mentally connecting with him so her song could continue.

  “Good timing, yourself. Those trees and these vines were perfect. I also wish to help this sphinx. This song is the Song of Mana Control. While I play it, she won’t be able to manipulate mana.”

  “That’s good to know. Any ideas on how to get through to her?”

  “No. She seems lost deep within herself. Rage and hatred have consumed her. We need to find a way to remind her of who she was before.”

  That gave him the idea he needed to make it work. Focusing on the sphinx he was able to see the beginning of a plan.

  Name: Yu, Seventh Sister of the Knowledge Twelve

  Race: High Blood Phoenix Sphinx

  Class: Keeper of Knowledge LV 68, Wind of Embers LV 62

  Skills: Control Flame, Control Wind, Concussive Blast, Devouring Vortex of Unending Flame, Fire Whip, Tail Lash, Wind Pecks, Wing Teleport, Phoenix Rebirth, Flare of Speed, Flare of Strength, Telepathy, Flight (Locked), Spray of Embers, Forge Bellow, Healing Through Fire, Breeze, Perfect Memory, Enhanced Thought, Fast Thinking, Mind Library

  That was more than he was expecting to get, but any amount of knowledge would help. This was clearly how he could read will pathways. He could now see the skills of anyone he focused on. To his surprise, Yu had two classes which he didn’t think was possible.

  She was just staring at him as he read over the information he had gotten and now it was time to see if he could break through the rage.

  “So, your name is Yu?”

  A flicker of recognition and annoyance flared in her eyes.

  “Oh sorry, Yu the Seventh Sister of the Knowledge Twelve? What is the Knowledge Twelve?”

  Another flicker of recognition except this one stayed in her eyes a little longer. Her struggle calmed a little. Gene was the one to answer after dropping the invisibility.

  “The Knowledge Twelve are the royalty of the sphinx. Their leadership if you will, but they didn’t necessarily lead in the traditional sense. They gained their spot depending on how much knowledge they held. Being the Seventh Sister, she must have been extremely diligent in absorbing knowledge.”

  Her eyes flicked to Gene with a little surprise at how much the owl knew. His answer must have broken through the rage a bit because instead of a hiss, words started to form.

  “Ho…w?”

  “Good, you’re coming back. Gene here is also a keeper of knowledge in a way. I have a skill that allows me to obtain knowledge about any being I focus on.”

  Yu calmed down a little more before answering. “No, how long?”

  Synexus looked to Gene. “Ah, now that is an interesting question with a complex answer. If I had to guess, I would say four-hundred years. That was when the sphinx started to go into hiding. No one has seen one of your kind since. It would make sense that your disappearance caused that due to how close Sisters of the Knowledge Twelve are.”

  This made Yu sad, and her head dropped a little. “Are they still alive?”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “That I don’t know and I apologize for that. Last I knew they simply went into hiding and no one was foolish enough to hunt a sphinx in their domain. I would say it is likely they are still alive.”

  “Thank you for that, owl.” She turned her gaze back to Synexus. “Why did your people imprison me? I cooperated even with the obscene torture.” Anger started to burn in her eyes again, but she seemed to push it down.

  “I’m sorry, but we really don’t know what happened here. It wasn’t my people that imprisoned you. We were lost at sea after a battle with Abyss and we washed up here. To our surprise we found a mansion with a dungeon in the basement and figured it would be a good opportunity. We just finished when you showed up.”

  “She came out of the gemstone mountain.” Prith managed to yell out while tending to his wounds.

  “Ah, now it’s coming together.” Gene said. “The books were not referring to the dungeon. They were referring to Yu here. For some reason, The Mana Weavers turned the lock into protection for the dungeon while also being the lock to Yu’s cell.”

  Another angry hiss came from Yu. “Yes, those damned Mana Weavers. They approached the sphinx domain and asked for help with forgotten knowledge of this dungeon. It interested us and the Twelve sent me with them. They betrayed me. Imprisoned me in enchanted shackles. Abused me in ways I will never forget. Then used me as a mana source for their lock. I remember now. Where are they?”

  “We don’t know. We have no affiliation with them. Gene are they even still active after so long?”

  “They are or at least I have heard their name in recent years, but they are much smaller now. I’m not sure where they call home.”

  “I will find them! I will end them!” Anger flared up but was quickly subdued.

  “That’s understandable after what they did to you, Yu. Can I pull my vines back now and get you healed? I assure you none of us want to hurt you.”

  “Yes. Thank you. Apologies for my enraged state. My mind has been trapped for a long time.”

  “No apologies are necessary. Nothing permanent was done.” He said as he pulled the vines back into the Progress Garden and pulled out a pear for her. “Here eat this, it will completely fill up your resource pools. Can you regrow your tail?”

  “Yes.” Fire spat out of her tail and instantly there was a new one. Her leg that she burned to eradicate plague started to rapidly heal. “This pear is amazing. Where did you get it?”

  “I actually made it myself by combining a few different plants.”

  “Interesting. A class I have never seen before. I must have your knowledge.” She bowed her head slightly. “I supposed there is a lot in this world that I don’t know after four-hundred years.”

  “Well, we can get you caught up! Right, everyone?”

  Everyone nodded as Shell started helping them with their burns.

  “I need to get to my sisters. Those goblins locked my Flight skill. Can you unlock it?”

  Synexus once again looked to Gene to answer that one. “Hmm, I’m not sure if he can or not. It would take some practice. Do you know what enchantment they used to lock it?”

  “I do not. I was unconscious at the time.”

  “Without that knowledge some research is required. We have a ship. Why don’t you come with us as we are preparing to leave the island momentarily. I believe our route is heading toward the domain of the sphinx anyways. Well, as long as they still reside at the peak of the Shadow Labyrinth Mountain that is.”

  “They should. That is the birthplace of the sphinx. Our ancestral home and deep within ancestral magic burns with our collective knowledge. I accept your invitation.”

  Synexus smiled at the peaceful ending to an otherwise intense situation. He really hadn’t wanted to kill such a magnificent being, but to protect his friends, he would have done anything. After checking that Yu was good with her healing, he left her with Gene so they could chat some more while he went to sit down a moment before heading to the ship.

  Kumo was the first to come over and chat after her burns were treated. He hadn’t realized how much he would miss her during the trial. Ten years is a long time to go without seeing someone that you normally see every day. A conversation was long overdue.

  “So, did you manage to get to level 20 like me?”

  “I actually made it to level 21. I wasn’t going to rub it in though.”

  “I’d be impressed if you weren’t in there for double the time I was. What were you doing in there that it took that long anyways?”

  Synexus thought about something witty to say back to his best friend, but instead he decided to go with something a little deeper.

  “I visited my family.”

  “Woah, wait Synexus, what?! You can’t just say that! Tell me more!”

  He started to recount his trial to Kumo, but before long all the class chosen and Yu joined her to listen. Gene jumped in to clarify things here and there. Naturally, he left out things about System and Gene’s history. They were all amazed by his home world and the technologies he described. Shell was extremely interested when he spoke about the video fictions, so he said he would try to make something to play them for the group.

  Hours passed and the tale came to an end with him talking about his parents in more detail. Support from his friends was welcome and he was glad to have people to share his memories with even if they weren’t all good. Kumo almost made him get up so they could test the sword and armor he had made, but Vorin suggested that he get some rest before any sparring to which Synexus couldn’t agree more.

  When he was done telling everyone about his trial, he disclosed that an organization might be coming after him. His friends were likely in danger as well and it was only fair for them to know. Tears were brought to his eyes for the second time that day as all of them played it off like it didn’t matter and promised they would stand next to him against anyone who showed up.

  Prith helped him up and they all started walking towards to the ship. Shell had went back some time into the story to check on them, but no alarms had been sound, so they didn’t feel a need to rush.

  When it came into view. Synexus was filled with pride. Seeing it finally completed when he had grown it from seeds only weeks before was a sight to behold. Massive dark blue sails cascaded down the masts. Someone had even taken the time to paint clouds on them. Looking at the hull, it was the night sky bamboo variant color with a deep black at the bottom, but gradually becoming a dark blue near the top. All over it were tiny specs of white glowing spots that looked like stars. He knew the inside would look the same, however, when creating the ship, he had come to the conclusion that the deck needed to be a lighter color to contrast the dark hull. He had decided on a sky blue, so the ship looked like the sky at every part of the day.

  They reached the ladder and while they were climbing up, Synexus decided that after the time in his home world, he would have to change some of the railings and fixtures to a gleaming silver which wasn’t a problem for a Progress Architect.

  Final preparations were being made to make sure they had everything they needed for their voyage, and it was decided they would leave at first light. While that was being done, Synexus made the final adjustments to the sails that were finished while he was in his trial and then went to his room to sleep.

  Yu barely fit through the doorways, but she made it work. She felt more comfortable when she leaned that they gave her a room to herself and once onboard they left her alone to process what happened. Gene checked up on her to make sure she didn’t need anything before they departed, but everyone else stayed clear. This trip, however, would prove beneficial to her in terms of gaining knowledge and forging a relationship with potential allies.

  Zuls went to her room to check on the Hydragon egg. Every day she would pour half her mana pool in every time it got hungry to make sure it had enough to grow and eventually hatch. Its scaled eggshell always glowed when it was consuming mana which she found to be comforting when lying in bed at night.

  Vorin, Drackenn, and Gene all went to the captains’ quarters to finalize destination plans even though it had been done for weeks now. Drackenn said he would sail with them to Port Palm since he needed a crew for his ship anyways to make it back to the pirate cities, but Vorin felt like he really just didn’t want to be alone after Minily left. Having him along could only be beneficial with his sailing experience and his high level, so it didn’t matter to anyone either way.

  Shell checked in with the class expected and was excited for a couple of them that would be getting their class while onboard the ship since the trip would take roughly two weeks. She sat with them all and played beautiful music while a couple of them prepared dinner. Most were just glad to have survived this whole situation and would probably tell this story for the rest of their lives.

  Prith sat on the stairs of the ship that led up to the wheel and held his Scrying Diamond in his hand while mana slowly trickled into it. An image appeared above the diamond of his family sitting around the table having dinner while making conversation about the day each of them had. He was happy to see they were fine, but sad to know that it had been so long. Secretly, he wanted to go down there for a visit once they reached Port Palm, but it was a long trip and one he didn’t want to take alone. He had been struggling with asking others to make a selfish trip even though he knew none of them would care. After all, they were adventurers.

  Kumo, like always, stood atop the crow’s nest and looked out to the vast sea. Clouds rolled over the endless blue and somehow, she knew that the two weeks on the ocean to port would be easy sailing. She would finally get to see a new city on a new continent and have plenty of freedom to explore. Daybreak couldn’t come soon enough.