Chapter 44

  “How much longer do we have to just sit here?” Wes asked Phony over Party Chat.

  Phony and Dozel were standing a few paces away, down the steps in front of Wes’s grandiose seat. Just before Nia opened her own private space for Wes, Argyros teleported in with Mordune and Raegar. The five of them were ushered into a relatively small chamber off the main atrium. The entrance to the back of the chamber was no more than 25 feet long. But it seemed to be decorated with extravagance. The girls ushered Wes to a seat that was made out of solid gold, gemstones the size of Wes’s fist dotted key areas along the legs and back rest. The chair utterly dwarfed Wes’s sparse frame.

  Phony called back over chat, “Says the guy who is sitting there like some local lord. We are the ones down here greeting all our guests.”

  Phony hadn’t been lying since Nia opened her own personal space; people teleported in with their own agendas. Some wished to form partnerships with the newlyweds in the hope of somehow tying themselves to Phony’s mom. Others chose to try to gather information about the young man whom no one had heard of. The last type were Seers, all sent from different powerful families. They would always come up and announce that they wished to use one of their abilities on Wes. To do so without permission was a rather quick way to start a war with Nia and her family.

  That was what the girl's main job was: to negotiate terms for the ability to be used. If the girls asked for too much, the seer would decline and walk away, but if they asked too little and a powerful seer stepped forward, they would have a good sense of Wes and report back to their masters.

  This is where Argyros came in. Anyone whom he could clock as important, he would greet personally. Often negotiating in place of the girls. The last two people who shared the space that were introduced to Wes and the girls were the single most powerful seer in Nia's family, named Orbsolen. And a girl named Latreia, who was personally introduced to Wes by Argyros. Phony immediately placed herself in front of Latreia and directed her to the edge toward the wall on the bottom steps.

  As the time ticked by, the line started to dwindle. Dozel and Phony would occasionally check in over chat and tell Wes what they had secured. After a while, he tuned out most of it.

  It wasn’t until the newest member of Party Chat called, “The big ones are starting to make their move. Careful now.”

  Nia had been a late addition after their time spent discussing his abilities. And as they discussed previously, she should be included on their special day.

  Nia called out after no one responded, “You hear me?”

  “Yup, we hear ya. Anyone in particular we should worry about?” Wes called back through Chat.”

  “The Assistant General Scholar is coming to you now. His seer ability is in the top 100 in all of the Republic. My advice is to turn down whatever he offers.” Nia warned.

  As the man they had to be wary of stepped forward, Orbsolen stepped forward as well. “It is an honor to have you with us, Nemon.”

  “Awwe, Orbsolen, how long has it been. I almost didn’t recognize you. Glad to see you are recovering nicely.” Nemon smiled.

  Wes looked at Orbsolen closer and noticed that he could see crow's feet around her eyes and creases from her frown. She looked plain old to Wes’s eyes. Compared to everyone else in Argyros’ Family.

  “Yes, and how is your master?” Orbsolen asked.

  “Almost healed, almost healed. Forgive me, I have to move on. It was nice seeing you.”

  Nodding while throwing Wes a look, Orbsolen nodded and went back to standing like a statue.

  Nemon did not greet Dozel and instead moved straight for Phony. “How is the lovely newlywed?”

  Phony looked over to the shunned Dozel and replied, “That will not be tolerated.”

  Feigning ignorance, Nemon asked, “What will not be tolerated?”

  “Disrespect toward my family.” Phony’s stern eyes met Nemon's.

  Nemon raised his hands with a shrug, “I showed no disrespect. I try not to associate myself with enemies of the Republic.”

  Wes took the opportunity to interject. “Then you will not associate yourself with any of my family.”

  “That’s a bit rash, young master. You will meet whole systems where it is banned.” Nemon pointed his extended thumb at Dozel.

  Standing up, Wes walked the five steps down to Nemon’s level. “Well, those systems can go and fuck themselves, too.”

  Closing one eye dramatically, Nemon followed, “Are you sure that is the stance you wish to make with a high-ranking member of the Republic’s military?”

  “Oh well, in that case, Fuck you and the Republic's military.” Wes paused, not really knowing where all this emotion was coming from. He tried staying his tongue but couldn’t help himself, “Let me declare now for all to hear. Any disrespect to any of my family will permanently sour my thinking of you and yours.” He looked past Nemon to the dozen or so in line. “I don’t care how any of you think, so long as you don’t offend my wives or future children, think what you want.” Wes’s anger was bubbling up so much that Phony started to inch her way closer to him. Turning his attention back to Nemon, he said, “Now, either you apologize or fuck off.”

  Raising his hands in the air, Nemon said, “Fuck off, I suppose.”

  Nemon paused as he was turning around, “I will forgive your outburst, consider it a gift for your wedding day. But my master may wish to come back and to hear what you have to say about our military for himself.”

  Nemon finished turning and bumped into the air. Standing confused, he was shocked as Magdrundon became visible in front of him. Her smile was from ear to ear. The mildly flustered Nemon bowed and exited the hall before teleporting out.

  Magdrundon's eyes met Wes’s before moving over to Argyros. “Does an attack by your father-in-law count as hostility?”

  Phony turned around and stared daggers at her father. “You didn’t.”

  Argyros started to laugh, “Sorry, that snot-nose brat is an asshole! His master should have been the one to come; didn’t like the disrespect they were showing us.”

  Wes spun around and looked at Argyros, but Argyros raised his hands and said, “Not now. We have more guests.”

  “Not anymore,” Magdrundon said.

  Turning around, Wes could see everyone start to teleport out at Magdrundon’s words. Feeling unease, he asked, “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing, just protecting my investment.”

  Argyros looked up through the glass, showing the stars, “Stupid woman. How long?”

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  Magdrundon replied, “Since the start of the ceremony.”

  A confused phony asked, “What’s going on, Father?”

  Magdrundon added. “I cannot engage her further. Rules and all, now that Nia knows, I will lower the barrier. I’ll watch the children.”

  “You think so too?” Argyros asked.

  “I don’t know yet myself, but I trust my friend. If she says it's so, then it is so.”

  Argyros stepped down to his daughter. He wrapped her in a warm, fatherly hug before walking over to Dozel with a chuckle, “You may not have been my first choice to tie to my daughter. But I’m glad we are here.” Patting Dozel on the shoulder, “I know that your parents are gone, but when we meet again, I hope that you know you will always have a home here. You are now my daughter; you just wear a permanent bruising year-round.”

  Argyros laughed at his corny joke, not turning to look back at Wes, he called out, “Take care of my daughters, boy, if they die. You die!”

  Argyros was gone as soon as he said his last word.

  The confused three stood somber and silent. Magdrundon moved closer to the three and looked up through the large skylight. “They go to defend all of our future. Do not worry, Nia is strong.”

  ***

  Goddess Tessonia and a thousand of her best men floated at the edge of Nia’s star system, waiting patiently for the barrier to come down.

  Magdrundon’s Mana met all thousand of them as they teleported in. Holding them all still for such a time, let them all know that they had entered another, much stronger than themselves, territory. If not for her personally containing them in a barrier, Tessonia would have already begun to erase this star system from existence.

  Her rage could not be sated; the disrespect of the council and Pyronnia made her look weak. She would be dealing with unrest in her own systems if she did not show strength.

  After a time, the barrier holding her and all of her warriors came down, and she began to gather her Mana for her opening salvo.

  Caught off guard when a voice rang out in her head, “uh uh uhh, not time yet. If you are going to go against the High Council. Let’s keep the system out of this.”

  Tessonia searched around for the voice. While looking up and around, she missed when the wooden masked Council Member teleported in front of her.

  “Your host will be here shortly.” The masked member called.

  Tessonia was shocked; if there was a member already there, then there would be no denying her involvement as she had planned. With anger bubbling up in her again, she formed a small barrier made of her Mana around her and the masked individual. She took the time to fill it with oxygen before speaking.

  “Why is the Council defending her so much? What does she have?” Tessonia asked.

  The wooden masked individual shrugged his shoulders. Only saying, “You are lucky Magdrundon chose to notify us, instead of handling you herself. Your stupidity could have started another war.”

  Tessonia yelled, “Bullshit.”

  The Masked bent his neck to the side in annoyance, “Bad blood is good for the republic, it encourages growth. What we can not allow is your stupidity to kill trillions upon trillions. You know who Magdrundon is, and if she allowed you to launch an attack at her, we would be at war. So shut your mouth, you stupid bitch, before I lose my temper.”

  Tessonia bit her tongue and waited ten more minutes before Nia teleported in with Argyros. She and Argyros quickly bowed to the masked man before turning their attention to Tessonia. Nia formed her own bubble around everyone. All thousand and four people.

  “This is foolish, Tessonia. Return home, let’s not waste valuable life here.” Nia pleaded.

  Tessonia looked at the masked man, who visibly exhaled and teleported away. Smiling Tessonia gathered Mana and shot off her opening beam of pure Mana. One she hoped that Nia would dodge.

  Nia understood that she was after her system, and summoned a thin disk of her own Mana, expanding it a hundred times bigger than the backdrop of her system behind her. Enough to shield most of it from damage and give her time to deal with any errant shots. These careless expenditures of mana were only worth it, so long as the battle did not drag out for more than a couple of hours. Which Nia knew it wouldn’t.

  Argyros broke off to the thousand. Many of them were well over his own level. But he had once been one of the single highest Pathers in his time. Once far superior to his wife, now only a shell of his former self, he still had some of his old tricks to fall back on. His trait, being one of the single most versatile in the Republic, meant that he could use it just as well to influence any battle.

  Argyros Teleported into the heart of all of Tessonia's attackers, even though teleportation was always one of his worst abilities, he could still make good, tactful use of it in battle. Firing Several mana disks in every direction, he quickly bisected a few dozen unprepared Pathers. Before moving on and letting his tremendous Mana leak out and wash out in every direction. The dark Mana would have blended perfectly with the inky black of space if not for the incalculable number of silver flecks pulsing throughout it.

  The more experienced attackers tried their best to reach the edge of Argyros’ Expanding Mana, which had already reached the size of a small moon in radius and was quickly expanding further.

  Using his tremendous Mana to his benefit, Argyros started offering suggestions to all thoughts and emotions around him. His trait was born for large-scale application. The least courageous attackers grew fearful the longer his mana offered suggestion. The ones closest to the center of his expanding ball were already succumbing to the anxiety of the heat of battle. They would lash out at all others who came within their line of sight soon.

  Pumping more and more of his Mana out into space meant that all those around could trace it back to its source. The fighters on the outside started firing Mana bolts, Arrows, and sealed fireballs toward the center of the new Mana Planet, trying their best to hit Argyros. The stronger among them had also started to use pure mana to fight. A trait only the strong would duel with.

  However, this was where Argyros' ability really shone out; it would offer suggestions not just to people, but also to everything his Mana touched. All attacks would be altered off course, just missing Argyros. He could control any one attack fired at him perfectly, but with so many firing at his location, he chose to adjust its course only to preserve mental capacity as well as Mana.

  Nia and Tessonia had been firing off attacks at each other from afar, both testing each other out, although the two of them never fought each other directly. They both had served the republic together, often on the same battlefields during the great wars.

  From time to time, Nia would divert some of her attention over to Argyros. Her concern was for how weak he had become with all his philanthropy. It made her wonder how much longer he could safely last.

  Nia scanned his battlefield and could see he had not been able to kill any individual, but he had taken quite a few out of the fight with relentless damage. Those who had been close to death would teleport out soon after.

  Still, Nia had grown concerned, so she decided to end things with Tessonia. Fun could be had at another time when her beloved’s life was not at risk.

  Holding out her hand, Nia let the smallest bit of Mana go, compressing it into a ball. With the emptiness of space, she could not talk to Tessonia anymore to give her an ultimatum, so she let the ability fly as soon as it was formed. It instantly shot to within a foot of where Tessonia had most recently teleported to and exploded out into a lattice that caged in her foe.

  Caught off guard, Tessonia first tried to strike out at the rapidly forming cage of pure mana. When that did not work, she turned to her abilities. Firing them off one after another. Bombarding the rapidly forming chamber and, in turn, dealing splash damage to herself. Frustrated, she cleaved her body into thirds and tried to squeeze herself through the openings, but was met with an imperceptible field of mana. Reforming her body, the next second, she continued firing off her abilities.

  Nia had already gone to help Argyros, and as soon as she arrived, the smartest of the attackers began to teleport out of the system. Leaving the severely injured and those still enraptured by Argyros’s still-growing ball of Mana.

  After all others were mopped up, Argyros used his trait to influence them to teleport out. Being sure to remember who they were as best as he could first. Only a half dozen too-injured souls remained floating in space unconscious afterward.

  Floating over to his wife, he offered a bubble for them to talk. “Going to collect the idiots so they don’t die, will take them for a heart-to-heart. Do I need to hang out a little bit before I go?”

  Nia pecked Argyros on the cheek and said, “Not necessary. Don’t stay away too long this time, or I will track you down and give you a thorough beating.”

  Laughing Argyros replied, “Can’t promise, take care of our kids and yourself.”

  With Argyros gone, Nia teleported back to the cage that Tessonia was still trying to work her way out of. The wooden masked individual teleported in next to her. “How long do you think it will take her?”

  Nia shrugged, “Don’t care, she’s lucky I haven’t killed her.”

  The masked Man laughed, “Down to business. You know why I’m really here.”

  “You mean you aren’t here to protect my little system?” Nia answered, letting her sarcasm eke out.

  “The Council wishes to see whoever this mysterious Pather is.”

  “Good luck, they are already gone with their godmother.”

  The masked man shot toward Nia and grabbed her by the throat, squeezing. He asked, “Who has taken them?”

  Nia squirmed, not bothering to fight a losing battle. Just barely managing to squeak out, “I can not betray a friend. Either release me or kill me.”

  The pressure bore down on Nia in all directions. Eviscerating her limbs atom by atom. Nia felt her body disintegrating millimeter by millimeter as the masked individual looked her in her eyes. After most of her small intestines were gone, the masked man released her.

  “I’m not creative enough to deal with your punishment; you’ll be hearing from us soon.” The wooden masked man teleported out.

  Floating Nia took her time healing herself; the skill of reforming her body after destruction had not been used much since the last great war. So Nia used it as an opportunity to practice. Floating in the emptiness of space, Nia looked at Tessonia in her newly formed prison and enjoyed that her long day was over.