Hector stumbled once more as they raced down another street. Splitting his attention was proving a challenge. It wasn’t a lack of mental strength or bandwidth. He wasn’t even slightly strained by tracking everything happening. The problem was how his new sense demanded his attention. It was like being tickled by a cattle prod.

  His retinue reacted like a well oiled machine. Conrad, Captain Devin, Ajax, Darius, and Riley each faced a different direction and laid down covering fire using the means at their disposal. Isabel caught Hector’s arm to prevent him from falling. Esther watched the sky, her huge sword a hovering menace.

  Piercing, though absent, was doing important work by watching the back of Conflagration, who didn’t follow orders or consider his own safety. The two questing Sages were on a rampage, burning and stabbing every enemy they encountered. Hopefully they would survive their side adventure.

  Meanwhile, Hector struggled with basic locomotion every time something resisted his resonant influence. Whatever it was this time had a strong presence. The tug of war wasn’t always in his favor. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the ability to shut off the connection. His realm existed, therefore he participated in the conceptual fight. There was never a choice.

  Isabel turned him a bit, then grabbed his chin to point his eyes. “Rift there. Can you close it or do we need to retreat?”

  Hector flexed his will in response.

  “Hector! Stop that!”

  The yell from Darius caused him to flinch. Right. He needed to exclude chaos from his effect. Sometimes it was easier to tense up his entire realm, but when he wasn’t selective there was a consequence that he’d not anticipated – which in other circumstances could be a huge boon. But given the current situation, it was wildly inappropriate to prevent the chaos bolts of his allies from functioning.

  After a few moments of fumbling, he found the right tensions to hold in his realm to target miasma only. The problem, as he understood it, was that everything had been packed so tight when he built the thing inside the belly of a Dragon. The compression methods he’d used meant that doing some of anything did a little of everything. With a delicate touch, he could focus more in certain directions. Easier said than done when he was straining to put some oomph behind his efforts.

  As the proper resonance pattern took effect, Hector extended his domain to begin tearing apart things the more familiar way. The combination of methods was nothing short of miraculous. The gate glared with fierce energies as it shrank, the miasma still beyond the envelope of the world being destroyed just as easily as what had already seeped through.

  Then the rift was gone and Hector’s realm relaxed. Suddenly he could think again.

  A quick survey of his team proved everyone was doing fine. Indeed, his Xian followers had higher reserves now than when they began the fight. He’d been less fortunate himself. The benefits usually swung in the other direction, but he’d not been mindful enough to draw in the free energy in the air. There would be much to consider during the after action review.

  The foremost issue to discuss: who would be taking over as battle leader? If Hector struggled to walk in a straight line around miasma, he certainly couldn’t be the one making decisions. This time the team self organized to handle issues as they came up. He couldn’t expect that to work every time – certainly not if Piercing stayed with the rest and threw off the cooperative atmosphere. Someone had to be delegated command authority.

  Conflagration appeared from nowhere, dropping from the sky to land beside Hector. Esther flinched just as much as he did, which suggested the fall had been quite sudden for her not to notice his approach. A flare of flame slowed the Sage’s descent enough that he took no harm from landing. He studied Hector with some degree of concern.

  “Cosmic? No, that is ridiculous.”

  “Excuse me, Sage?”

  Conflagration didn’t acknowledge the question. “Your transformation is nothing like burning.”

  Hector swayed as a group of monsters rushed their position. He placed a hand to his head. “Whatever the transformation is, I’m struggling to use it in combat.”

  “Your realm is weak,” Conflagration said.

  The calm assertion annoyed him. “I slayed a Dragon with it.”

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  “Because it’s effective.”

  His frustration continued to grow. “Which is it, then? Effective or weak?”

  “Both.” The Sage jabbed a finger at Hector. “You formed your realm just a few weeks ago. Do you believe it is fully infused with energy? Does that match how you know your other apertures operate? The pattern you inscribed is powerful, but the medium is weak.”

  And suddenly his irritation faded. There wasn’t some deep flaw in his realm that would make him permanently crippled when performing the task only he could do. He was every bit as weak as he was potent. He just needed to train his realm. Which brought up an excellent question.

  “How do I improve my realm?”

  Conflagration shrugged. “Arahant Sages convince their illusory energy to enhance their realms by using them in ways that society values. Such will not be the case for you. You are a Xian. Probably you force cosmic energy to go into your realm.”

  That made a lot of sense. He needed to develop a cultivation technique for realms. Though as he thought of it, that would be a real challenge. The threads of a realm weren’t nearly so supple as those of other apertures. He couldn’t use rhythmic motions to achieve his goal. What did that leave him? Pushing cosmic energy to his realm and holding it there until it passively absorbed? He couldn’t see any other option. Realms were halfway to being a solid soul wall, making them entirely different than the other five apertures.

  They wandered around the city until a group of locals dressed as armored knights bearing muskets appeared. They yelled forceful commands at them in a foreign language that sounded like continental Spanish. The standoff ended when their shuttle descended nearby. The knights retreated from the metal contraption far enough that the retinue could board safely.

  Then they were heading back towards Cruiser Erin.

  Esther watched images of the city below on the screen. “Are the locals able to handle the rest on their own? I hate to abandon them like this.”

  Despite all his concerns about his performance and his realm, Hector’s lips curled up in a smile. His mercantile friend might not realize it, but she was changing. It wasn’t so long ago that she considered helping complete strangers an unusual thing to do. Seeing how helpless normal folk were against the monsters tended to inspire a protective impulse. The unempowered people were like children in their impotence.

  Isabel shifted into Hector’s line of sight. For a time, she studied him with a critical eye. “Are you able to enter combat again this day?”

  “Yes. Though I plan to appoint someone else as battle leader. I’m not experienced enough with my realm yet. I’ll just be the team’s Sage when we’re around miasma.”

  Isabel nodded. “Very well. I will take on the duty of being your protector.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I am the best choice. The others are more suited for long range attacks.”

  Hector turned to consider his team. The two Arahants were temperamentally unsuitable for leadership. The same was true of Darius. Riley was far too uncertain of herself. Ajax still grieved for his brother and was perpetually withdrawn. Captain Devin, for all his competence, felt like an outsider. Isabel had volunteered to be his babysitter. That left Esther and Conrad. One he trusted absolutely to do what she believed best for the team. The other he knew would have sound tactical judgment.

  “Conrad. I’m appointing you as battle leader. Your second is Esther. Prioritize keeping the team safe over performance. Everyone here is more valuable than any objective on these unempowered worlds.”

  The cyborg had been a background presence ever since Hector awoke on Cruiser Erin, hardly interacting with the others. Upon suddenly being handed command, Conrad snapped a crisp salute. “I promise to execute your will to the best of my ability, Lord Dragonbane.”

  Esther blinked at Hector a few times before looking away. He couldn’t tell how she felt about being appointed the number two spot. In retrospect, he should have discussed this with each candidate before making a public announcement. He’d keep that in mind for the future. And also apologize to Esther and Conrad for putting them on the spot when he got a chance.

  His earpiece came alive with the voice of Cruiser Erin. “I’ve withdrawn the drones and the shuttle is about to dock. Do you want us to immediately head for the next city?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “We will arrive in approximately forty minutes.”

  Everyone returned to the dining room, where the unrated crew member Amy ensured everyone received water to drink and a small snack. Hector ran through the standard questions to make sure they were fit to fight. Then he pulled aside Conrad to make sure the man was comfortable with his new position.

  “I was surprised to be offered authority,” Conrad admitted. “It is good to know where I rank in the group, though. I assumed I was just to be a bodyguard.”

  Esther was more ambiguous when he took her aside. “I’m not sure why you didn’t appoint Captain Devin.”

  “Because none of us know him. He might be the best of the best from Mercom, but I can’t trust that he values your lives. For all I know, he might decide to sacrifice a couple of the retinue so that he can get me out of a tight spot with ten percent less risk.”

  She nodded. “Then why Conrad?”

  “I understand he isn’t the most social person, but he is someone who cares. And I appointed you his second so you have a platform if you object to one of his decisions. I’m sure the others will back you if the situation calls for it.”

  “You seem to have a lot of faith in me, Mister Dragonbane.”

  “Of course I do. You always take care of your community.”

  They returned to the rest of the group, finished their cookies, and loaded back up in the shuttle to attack another rift.