The soul beasts returned with their furious families, and one after the other, we made them yield. There was a one-to-three ratio of beasts that fought to those that submitted, and with each rejection, I obtained more meat, cores, and soul beasts for my army. That happened for five days before Aiden had enough pacts with loyal beasts to ensure that we could protect the fortress from those we missed.

  That’s what mattered.

  Once we finished, we led thirty massive beasts that made guardian pacts outside Rall’s Fort as we entered the fortress for the first time since we came to the area.

  “I can’t believe we actually made it,” Mort said, sitting on the ground as soon as he walked through the gates. He took off his hat, taking deep breaths with the others who shared his sentiments.

  Darna nodded, scanning the machinery with awe in her eyes. “I almost forgot this is why we came here, but… now that we’re here… it feels like we were always here.”

  Tyler examined the emotional engineers. “You said we were creepy…”

  I smacked his shoulder.

  “What?” he cried.

  “Don’t be rude.”

  “What? They were rude.”

  “So? These are the people that you’ll be relying upon for the next… forever. Now… ask questions or something.”

  Tyler pouted and then looked at the engineers and coughed.

  They looked at him.

  “Uh… this is an ignorant question, but like… is anything here salvageable?”

  Darna chuckled distantly. “Uh… not really.”

  Tyler blinked a few times. “That’s it. Just… not really?”

  “Uh… yeah. Everything impressive relies upon servers that have been shut down, and the rest of the technology is useless here. Our job here will be to dismantle weapon systems and preserve rooms. Aside from that, you’re walking into a museum. Or… a private collection. Even basic receivers here are worth… trillions.”

  My eyes widened. “Excuse me, what?”

  Darna looked at me sheepishly, donning a wry smile. “Areswood is one of the most captivating locations in the entire multiverse. There’s prominent theories suggesting that Areswood holds the secret to the Domain system, which is the reason that so many empires have sacrificed everything trying to conquer it. The Jacksmore empire did what so many failed to do, so everything in here is a legendary collector’s item.”

  Tyler’s eyes flickered with excitement, but his eyes dimmed when he saw my face. I’m sure it was quite the expression to look at.

  “What?” he asked.

  I turned to Darna. “Restore everything for use.”

  “Wait, what?” Mort cried. “Did you just say use?”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  Darna winced. “You understand that the second you use anything here, its historical and monetary value will plummet, right?”

  I chuckled darkly. “I disagree. Lithco, what would it cost to send a message across the multiverse? Make sure everyone here hears this.”

  Lithco materialized before me in a dramatic cloud of smoke. “It depends on how you spread the information. What do you want to say?”

  “I want to say that Wraithwood is allowing competent Jacksmore enthusiasts to live in the most iconic fortress ever built,” I said. “Is that a good idea?”

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  “I’d save the significant equipment to trade for military aid and interuniversal diplomacy, but as for the… living quarters… yeah. You’d have five hundred thousand applicants at least, and you could get more simply by announcing Wraithwood. The cream of that crop would be as competent as Trigan or as powerful as Malo. If you’re serious about creating a settlement of guardians, it’s a great option. That said, you’re practically advertising Areswood’s status to the multiverse.”

  “As opposed to what? A minuscule ten thousand gods and empires with the resources to wage war, knowing about us?” I scoffed. “At least this way, we’ll get something out of it. Plus, the more people know about my auction, the better. We’re going to need the legendary reward.”

  My and Elana’s multiversal auction was connected to my legendary alchemy chain request. If the auction was significant enough, I could earn a legendary reward that was capable of moving tenth evolution gods and their empires. I would need that because, for the first time in recorded history, someone was going to announce that the reason no one survived Areswood was because there was a finite number of guardians. Once that information went out, every massive empire and god with ambition was going to level a concerted effort to conquer the forest—and the Areswood Guardians and the brambles were the weakest they had been in a hundred thousand years. It wasn’t an exaggeration that this war was going to determine the fate of Areswood.

  “Look at you, acting with pragmatism,” Lithco said.

  “I’ve discussed this with the other guardians; you missed it,” I said sarcastically. “Now tell me. What’s it gonna cost?”

  “Depends on how you send the information,” Lithco said. “You can send a notice to this universe’s infobroker’s nexus for a gold, and the information would spread to everyone with the resources to reach here. If you do the same multiverse-wide, you could get a small placement on the infobroker’s list for a platinum. Or, you can reach the major networks directly for a diamond. Or…”

  “Or what?” I asked dryly.

  “For an epic, you can push the message to everyone—and facilitate the multiversal teleportation of a hundred thousand people. Those people, naturally, would be part of your epic chain quest.”

  The number sounded extravagant, but it made sense. My original epic request to obtain people gave out twelve hundred gold requests to convince people to start Wraithwood. Now that we had built it and had power, we didn’t need to split its power. All we needed was to get people to Dronami to join us.

  Still, it was ridiculous sounding.

  Tyler rolled his eyes when he heard it. “Oh, just another epic. I’ll get right on that…” He paused when he saw my face. “Wait. Do you have another epic request?”

  I smiled thinly. “I’ll think about it.” I turned to Darna and Mort. “Prep this place for use, and restore collector’s items for interuniversal diplomacy. Do a good job, and I’ll give you small artifacts, and hear you out for items to donate to a museum.”

  Their eyes widened and then sparkled.

  Mort laughed nervously. “I’m sorry I called you a witch.”

  “I don’t recall you doing that, but… thanks, I guess.” I looked west and then at Aiden. “You got this?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I got this.”

  Tyler looked between us. “Wait, you’re leaving already?”

  “Yeah. I don’t have long before summer training, and I…” I shook a large jar with almost a hundred third-evolution cores. “Have an army to build.”

  2.

  Kline and I stood on a freshly built stage in a meadow, surrounded by the whole of Wraithwood Village. In front of me were ten people whom Tyler, Malo, and Trigan recommended for promotion.

  “For your service and excellence, I’m proud to bestow upon you the means and resources to ascend to the third-evolution,” I announced. “Speak now your vow to this forest.”

  “I, Alcion Roata, solemnly vow to protect Areswood Forest, its inhabitants, and Wraiths with my life,” he said. “And I will do so until the day I breathe my last.”

  “Now rise.”

  He stood, and I presented him with two peak third-evolution cores, right below sunrise. He bowed to the sound of roaring applause. I then called another nine people before making another announcement.

  “And now for the loyalists of Wraithwood, who signed a loyalty pact to protect this forest in exchange for power—today I will fulfill my promise. Eighty of you will obtain a third-evolution core, and all of you will have access to Saali Rorra, a renowned teacher whom I have gifted an evolution skill to teach each and every one of you the peak evolution chant. Now let’s begin.”

  For the next ten hours, I shook hands with soldiers as I presented them with cores. Once we finished, I held a grand feast of third-evolution meat from my private storehouse.

  In just a week, Wraithwood established power comparable to the strongest armies in the Second Domain—but it wasn’t enough. So once I finished, I left command with Trigan and the promoted soldiers and returned to Rall’s Fort, set up my teleportation array, and teleported to Helfine, where Reta and Tinus awaited with a small army force of Drokai.

  “Are you ready?” Tinus asked when we arrived.

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  Tinus led the way north of Hellfine, leaving the barrier and entering the dangerous wilderness known as the Fifth Ring. It was time to hunt fourth-evolution beasts.

  I wrote as much as I could today. I hope you're enjoying the story!