Laying on the ground for several minutes, Rory replayed the encounter in his mind, trying to understand what happened. With every iteration and thought, he found himself facing only abject failure. He’d failed and failed miserably, at that.

  Only when a familiar face appeared above him did his mind find something else to focus on.

  “So…. What happened?” Apostolos questioned.

  “I lost.”

  “But you’re not dead.”

  “Yeah,” Rory agreed.

  “And I’m not dead.”

  “Ehh, I mean, you sort of died.” Rory retorted.

  “Tier six?”

  “Not a chance in hell it was tier five, at least.”

  “So… it just left?”

  “Yep.”

  The two were silent momentarily before Rory felt Apostolos grab his hand and yank him to his feet.

  “Master?” Apostolos said as he shouldered Rory’s limp body, ‘helping’ him into camp, though it was basically Apostolos putting in most of the effort.

  “Yes?” Rory said, everything aching as Apostolos gently dropped him to sit by their fire.

  “I think you should check for a notification.”

  “Huh, good idea,” Rory responded. He was still shell-shocked, his brain sluggishly trying to catch up after everything that had happened. Seeing what Apostolos was referring to, Rory opened the red pinging dot in the corner of his vision as his interface opened.

  Planetary Event: Bane’s Birth

  Requirements: All Founders A6+

  Having crystallized and solidified their foundations, the time has come for the spark of chaos to be added to the dry kindle of potential once more.

  Event Details: For the next three tiers (6,7,8), each founder will be confronted with their Chosen Bane three times per tier. Defeating a Chosen Bane at least two out of three times will be counted as a tier victory. Final rewards will be scaled based on tier victories. A Chosen Bane will not attempt to kill a Founder directly until tier eight confrontations. Successfully wounding a Chosen Bane to a pre-determined degree will award minor rewards per fight, regardless of victory or defeat. Should a Chosen Bane be completely killed, a new Chosen Bane will be spawned. Tiering up before battling a Chosen Bane three times in a tier will automatically count the entire tier as a loss.

  Chosen Bane of the Architect

  Tier Six Status: 0-1

  Tier Seven Status: N/A

  Tier Eight Status: N/A

  Current Level: 60

  Adaptations:

  -None

  “That’s… whatever the opposite of nifty is,” Rory said, taking in the details. “You got this info too?”

  “Yeah, but it notes me as part of the Architect’s faction and that I’ll gain rewards based on your success.”

  “Yeah, expected,” Rory said. “Did it mention anything about not killing you?”

  “No?” Apostolos frowned as he spoke. “What, does it say that for you?”

  “Yeah, it says the ‘Chosen Bane’ won’t seriously attempt to kill me until tier eight.”

  “That’s good, I guess,” Apostolos muttered. “Would have liked to have been afforded that protection as well, but whatever...”

  Ignoring the not-quite-so-young man’s complaining, Rory sat silently for several seconds, puzzling his thoughts together.

  I’m down a loss already.

  That stung. Rory wasn’t used to outright losses.

  Handed my ass to me.

  If Rory were anyone else, such a loss would have lit a fire underneath him, pushing him to realize the error of his ways and grow his personal strength.

  Rory simply frowned.

  I don't think any of my current gear would have done much.

  Rather than take the loss as a call to improve his martial skills, Rory began to think of the situation as a math problem to solve.

  I wasn’t ready, nor was my camp.

  He could bemoan how unfair it was to have gotten jumped like little more than a street mugging, yet Rory wouldn’t pretend it didn’t make sense.

  Chosen Bane. Bane, Anathema, Nemesis. The point was, assuming he wasn’t reading into the terminology too much, each Bane was likely a counterpart to a founder, and as the Architect, Rory’s entire thing was preparation and planning. What better way to counter him than to get the drop on him?

  It was the smart thing to do, and if there was one thing Rory had recognized in the monster, it was intelligence.

  It got the jump on him, instantly eliminated Apostolos, and then casually dealt with Rory like a petulant child. It was only because of re-routing some of the power within their settlement -something he’d only thought to attempt at the moment- that he managed to wound the monster.

  Things needed to change. Perhaps it was too much comfort, but in the last nine or so years-

  Nine years? Huh, it’s hard to believe it's been nine years since I first reached A5.

  -he had only been pushed truly near death once, and that was only recently in the last two years when he’d faced down an A6 monster as A5.

  His main prerogative had been showing Apostolos the ropes and raising him while also working to prepare the fundamental core of his settlement, the energy network.

  In truth, he’d hardly done anything ‘dangerous’ in that time; Blood Weave had carried him hard.

  Now, he was A6, with little to show for it. His settlement had barely changed, except it now had a miniature star.

  All right, I guess that’s pretty significant, but otherwise, I’ve not done that much.

  It was a wake-up call. If not to train himself into some martial god—which was never going to happen—then at least to begin changing his focus to safeguard against such threats. It was a reminder that while Aelia felt safe, it wasn’t.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “Master?”

  “Huh?” Rory snapped back into the moment, not realizing Apostolos had been talking for some time.

  “I was asking what we should do. If that thing comes back, we’re a bit screwed, aren’t we? Maybe with Big Bertha and some blood weave on you at all times-”

  “No.” Rory cut him off, shaking his head. “I doubt it’s going to double back around so soon. It said three times per tier, right? So, if I were a betting man, it would be near each tier's beginning, middle, and final portion that a run-in risk is possible.”

  It seemed logical to Rory; thus, he was confident that Eon felt similarly.

  The joys of having the cosmic overseer, or whatever you’d call it, born from your own mind is the overlap in thinking.

  It was a reprieve, however small it may be.

  “So, if we’re not going with Big Bertha, what then?”

  Rory frowned, thinking for a moment. Curious, he stood up, his entire body wobbling, and began searching the camp, looking for one thing in particular. Activating his Eye skill, Rory quickly found it, having been flung far away in the explosive force of his omega-arrow attack.

  A scythe-like appendage that had landed behind his hovel of all places.

  “Master?”

  Eye twitching and spasming like mad, Rory examined the dismembered body part.

  Appendage of the Architect’s Bane

  Quality: Unique

  The scythe-like arm of the Chosen Bane of the Architect of the Precursor. Composed of an impossible material that should not exist. Allows for near-perfect essence and pneuma adaptation. Only usable as a crafting ingredient by the Architect of the Precursors.

  “Damn, if this is a reward just for wounding the damn thing in just the tier-six level, I wonder what future rewards could look like.”

  Apostolos took a moment to examine the item, opening his mouth to say something until a notification appeared.

  Minor Law establishment earned:

  First to gain a victory over a Chosen Bane. Minor Law established: Addition of the ‘Accolade’ system.

  “You’re shitting me,” Rory muttered. “Someone managed a win against their Bane.

  It took a moment for Rory to grapple with the revelation, yet after thinking about it briefly, he shrugged.

  It’s not that impossible. If you weren’t caught flat-footed like I was and are combat-focused, I can see a world where you’d managed to beat a low-tier-six Bane, if not without struggling like mad.

  Curious about the ‘accolade’ system, Rory brought it up, willing it forward.

  When the interface opened, Rory was presented with two lists.

  Major Accolades: 0

  -N/A

  Minor Accolades: 2

  -Tier 3 Ascension

  -Tier 6 Ascension

  The two lists provided nothing to work with; thus, Rory willed the information forward as a textbox appeared.

  Accolades: Accolades may be earned and redeemed for rewards such as Skills, Skill Modifiers, Skill Creation, and tier reset. Skill Creation and Tier Reset are redeemable only with Major Accolades. Accolade acquisition is non-retroactive, with ascension rank-up exempted.

  “Nifty,” Rory mused. As far as Law Usage, it was an interesting addition.

  Far better than whoever had wasted a law on simply renaming Eon to Eon.

  I’ll look into it more later; with only two accolades under my belt, there is probably not much to use them for at the moment.

  “How many accolades do you have?” Apostolos asked, having checked the Accolade system as well.

  “Two.”

  “From what?”

  “A3 and A6 ascensions.”

  “Oh, I’ve only got A3. Which probably means every three tiers?”

  “Sounds about right,” Rory said with a shrug. “But, not too important for now. No, I think we’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

  “We do?”

  “Yep,” Rory waved his arms around their camp. “It’s time to shift gears, and I’ve got a three-step plan to prevent today from happening again.”

  Grabbing the scythe arm of the Chosen Bane, Rory dragged it back to their campfire, dropping it nearby before waving to one of the concentric ring seats surrounding the fire.

  “Take a seat,” Rory announced as Apostolos did precisely that. They’d had this routine for years when Rory would give the young man—then young boy—lessons on anything and everything he could remember about important and relevant school topics such as math.

  Mostly math. History no longer existed; every day was a gym class, and the subject of science was touch and go at best in a world of magic.

  “Today,” Rory began pacing, forcing Apostolos to follow him with his eyes. “Was a failure. Plain and simple. You would have died had you not had your Radiant Ember. I would have died had this event not specifically been centered on us Founders. Our walls were ignored or ineffectual, which caught us unaware.”

  Apostolos nodded, not bothering to refute anything being said.

  “Rather than pout, this is a time for reflection and betterment. As I was laid out after getting my ass handed to me, it occurred to me that things need to change. From those thoughts, I’ve now devised a route forward, a three-step road. Go ahead, ask me what those steps are.”

  Rory paused, giving Apostolos time to sigh and roll his eyes.

  “What are the steps?” Apostolos murmured as if Rory was forcing him to ask.

  “Excellent question,” Rory had to catch himself, nearly stumbling as his still hurting body reminded him that it was still hurting. “The basics are Offense, Industry, and Defense. Sep One, Offense. Otherwise known as you.”

  “Me?” Apostolos seemed taken aback.

  “Well, mostly. Right now, it’s only me at A6. If a tier-six monster attacks, you're only useful for as long as they're unable to get past our walls, once past, you'll get one shot like what happened today."

  Apostolos frowned but never denied what was said.

  “So, the plan for step one is simple. You’re going to push to A6, and in the process, you’re going to A. Clear the remainder of the second floor of the Maw so we can get that final reward, and then B. You will explore the areas beyond the bounds of our settlement we haven’t explored.”

  “It may still take me a bit to clear the second floor,” Apostolos frowned. “That spider monster is… rough to say the least.”

  “Hence, where I come into the picture,” Rory said, puffing his chest up. “It’s time to get you a real weapon.”

  “For real?”

  “Real,” Rory said with a nod. “I’m going to get you the best damn weapon on this planet, and I know just where to start.”

  Winking at Apostolos, Rory gently nudged the scythe arm of the Chosen Bane on the ground. “Also, by having you explore further areas, hopefully, we can find more resources to work with. We aren’t resource short as far as our raw quantity goes, not with our stockpile of bloodwood and thus Crimson Steel. As I’ve learned from working on the Stellar Forge, the issue is that we need more than just a singular type of resource to capitalize upon.”

  What Rory didn’t mention was his hesitation to continue relying on bloodwood-related materials after he’d been subtly affected by it during his battle against the Reaping Ash Coscinocera two years back.

  “So, if that’s the offense step of your three-step roadmap, what’s the ‘industry’ step?”

  “Glad you asked,” Rory said, taking a seat, unable to stand and pace for so long after his thrashing at the hands -scythes- of the Architect’s Bane. “Industry is a matter of taking what we’ve spent years working toward, our energy grid and now the Stellar Forge, and using them. That itself comes into three phases. The first phase is upgrading our energy capacity, which should be easy enough now that I’ve got experience with the Stellar Forge and the pneuma involved. I’m looking to upgrade the Pneuma Crushers to incorporate my latest designs and utilize room gems to refine further the pneuma we’ve access to.”

  “Is that necessary?”

  “Yes and no,” Rory said with a shrug. “It’s a matter of future-proofing. We don’t have anything that burns through that much pneuma now, but in the future, we may, not to mention the Stellar Forge does eat up quite a bit. Right now, what we’ve got access to is level one pneuma,”

  “What’s that?”

  “A term I made up right now,” Rory said with a smirk. “Level zero pneuma is what is naturally abundant. Level one is what you get when you enrich and refine it through spellcasting or pneuma crushers. The issue with level one pneuma is that it's hard to refine further with our old pneuma crushers, like the difference between clumping wet sand together and trying to clump wet gravel together. With the aid of the room gems and my new iterations, we can overcome that.”

  Apostolos nodded along, following what Rory was saying.

  “The plan is, now, capitalizing on level two pneuma; we’ve got the means to power our industry. From there, it's all about automation. Without needing to supply pneuma manually, we can rely on magi-tech instead.”

  “Magi-tech?”

  “Fusion of magic and technology,” Rory jerked a thumb toward where the Stellar Forge was gently humming away. “Just like that. For example, I’ll set up automated refineries for raw resources, such as crushers for ores, minerals, and stones.”

  “So, industry, that means we don’t have to handle things ourselves, which helps how?” Apostolos seemed perplexed. “With only two of us, there isn’t that much we need,”

  “For now, sure. It will also make our lives far easier in the future, leading to the third and final step of my three-step roadmap: defense. We saw our walls struggling even against mid-tier-five monsters. Sure, they were Alpha Variants, but a high-tier-five monster would likely have just as much ease at tearing through our walls. Furthermore, our walls were completely bypassed by the Chosen Bane, and when it did happen to come into contact with them, they were little more than cardboard.”

  “What’s cardboard?”

  “Not important,” Rory waved the question off. “The point is that improving our camp into a proper settlement will require resources and the likes that would take us ages to work on without industry behind us. And it’s not just simply improving the camp; it's also about making sure that if something were to attempt to attack us within our very own seat of power, they’d be in for a rough time.”

  Rory was proud of the plan, mind conjuring images of turrets constantly on the swiveling, protecting their camp, before it came to a halt as Apostolos asked a question.

  “What about you?”

  “What do you mean, ‘what about you’?” Rory questioned, confused.

  “Exactly what I said. I get the plan, yet surely you aren’t forgetting about yourself there. The Chosen Bane is after you, so don’t you need to improve yourself too?”

  Rory scowled, only to sigh a moment later. “Yeah, fair. I’ll… I’ll come up with something.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning it’s a future addendum to the three-step roadmap,” Rory said, scowling again. “Just, for now, there is enough on the plate to handle. I’ll plan it out more when I’m working, okay?”

  “Alright, as long as you don’t forget about yourself,” Apostolos said with a smirk. “Otherwise, I really will pull ahead of you.”

  “Yeah, yeah, cheeky brat.” Rory snorted.

  “Oh, I do have one more question?” Apostolos asked.

  “And that is?” Rory said, eyebrows raised.

  “When do we start?”