“How is she?”

  Null was busily looking over Documents and writing down his list of what he needed to do, while asking Prime for the state of Spot.

  “Right now she is healing, but would need some attention from you to be completely healed.”

  “Sounds good, but what would need my attention to heal her?”

  “There are some deep burns which made her infertile. The healing methods we have do not repair those deep tissue burns inside a body.”

  Breaking the coal pen he used for the documents, Null had a hard time composing himself.

  “Maybe I was too lenient with those bastards… Work on all other wounds I will take care of the rest after she decides if she still wants to be transformed.”

  Nodding Prime put the documents of Spot’s wounds on the table and was leaving the Study. Using his presence Null disintegrated the Pen and created a new one out of the remains.

  A knock was again heard on the study.

  “Come in.”

  Into the Study came Katie the human Maid with someone behind her.

  “My Lord, Sister Annette wants to talk to you.”

  Nodding, Null recognized her and with a bow Katie left the Study.

  “Null, we need to talk!”

  “Hello Annette. It is nice to see you too. What can I do for you? Are the Children fine?”

  “While the Children are fine, their environment is not fine at all! The one time you just wandered with those creatures out of the Castle made some curious, while some had nightmares of those beasts! And now the Library is haunted!”

  “Haunted? Oh you mean the Book Spirits?”

  “Those flying Books have a Name?!”

  “Yes, you see we live in a rather rich place in Mana, as you know. That is the reason why most of you have blue scars, but no further side effects… for now. The Books here get this Mana and start to move on their own. They are benign and are not a threat to anyone, if you do not try to damage some books around them.”

  “Some have Teeth!”

  “Yes, that is the interesting part. What you saw was the handwritten book over dangerous Monsters and their habits. The passion of the Author is embedded in the writing and makes them all unique. By the way, only handwritten books from the author himself have those aspects, otherwise every Book would be like that. I didn't even know I had first publishings of the original author until they floated.”

  “So it is only those few? What shall I say to the children?”

  “Tell them they are harmless, but only disturb them if they really want to read something inside of them. By the way, the books about battle can summon Swords and Spears, they are a bit more dangerous, if messed with. Just do not hurt books and nothing happens.”

  “This place is no way good for the Children anymore! I could understand many different problems as some quirks, but this is starting to get out of hand!”

  “That is why I am building an Orphanage and large School in the Lost Village right now. You will be settling there in a week or two.”

  “Oh… Um, thank you, but is it really necessary to make a Building in the Village just because of some things we just need to be careful about?”

  “Huh?”

  “Ah, nothing! Thank you for your understanding. I will see to it, that we are ready if you are thinking the time is right. You can take your time, we will not complain if it takes a bit more time than you thought.”

  With that Annette just got out of the Study in a hurry. Null was a bit perplexed, as he thought she would be glad to be out of this chaos. The Children themselves have been reduced to only 37 Children anyways and would often go to the Lost Village to study together with the Village Children in the Study hall.

  Not quite understanding what was going on Null just got back to his original task. Through Esther’s notion of him being too conspicuous, he started to collect all the things he needed to do before he vanished for good. One of these things was the Orphanage he started to create. If he wanted to he could make this Building now in a day, but right now he paced himself to not fall into a kind of trance. There were many things that came sudden and might take priority, like Spot did. He would not again suddenly be at the wrong place at the wrong time. This was Null’s conviction, even if he did not know if he could keep this conviction, but he wanted to try his best.

  —

  A day later a Caravan was entering the Lost Village. At the front was an elven Woman, which sighed once before giving the lead to a guy with two sabers on his side.

  Noticing the strangers, many Villagers hurriedly entered their Homes and called their children inside. Seeing this many of the Mercenaries were a bit perplexed.

  “Quite welcoming, don’t you think?”

  “I heard about the people being a bit weird here from hearsay. Do not worry about them, they are just wary of us, as we are wearing weapons.”

  “Oh yeah, I did not see one weapon on them. Are they not worried about Bandits?”

  “Are you an Idiot? How do you think Bandits would be able to come here?”

  “Oh, true.”

  Traveling to the middle of the Village the Marketplace was rather small, but obviously large enough for their small caravan even if they had tripled their size and wagons. The place had some drawings of children on the floor like some squares touching each other with numbers going up. The mercenaries thought of it as some kind of game, but were astounded that Children already knew not only to read Numbers but even write them.

  Bickle exiting the first Wagon looked around and breathed a small sigh, before commanding his workforce to set up stalls. As there was not much time before it got dark he just said to leave them empty for now and put things on them after the first rays of Sunshine.

  At that time a Rat Girl in brown Clothing came to the Caravan with a wrapped up man in tow. Seeing the two people at first the Mercenaries were alerted, but as they had no weapons, they immediately relaxed again.

  Bickle also saw the two people and put up his best Merchant smile before greeting them.

  “I greet you, Madam and Sir. My Name is Bickle and I am a Member of the Peddler King. We came a long way to exchange our wares for your specialties and will be willing to give good bargains to make it worth it for both of us. With whom do I have the delight to talk?”

  Bowing in front of Bickle the Rat Girl was having a small smile.

  “My name is Ville. This Gentleman next to me is the Village Chief Belk. While Belk is speaking for the Village and their needs, I am the voice for the People in the Castle. Right now Lord Null is not able to visit you yourself. If you have anything that needs to be talked about, I am officially allowed to make arrangements.”

  Nodding next to her was Belk saying with a friendly but wary tone: “Belk, nice to meet you. We need some more fabrics and spices will be nice too.”

  Hearing this Bickle was in full merchant mode for the next hour. Calculations and assessing the Inventory of the Caravan made it clear they had many of the needed Items. What shocked Bickle on the other hand was the low amount of magical Metals, he could sell as Ville said the material experiments of the Lord were over for now.

  In truth the Ground Digger of Dr. Simov had found some veins unclaimed under the Crater, as they made the pipes for the used up fuel to be turned back into Mana.

  Ville told the people to rest in the refurbished garrison. After the last attack, the Garrison had been turned into a guest house by removing every single Trap and even made more homely with a large Cellar to securely store their Products for the time.

  Not only were the Mercenaries and Workers surprised but elated to have free beds and a roof without any hassle. Most Villages would only give a room with blankets to sleep on the floor, but here there were beds and even the ability to bathe in a strange building where the water was already hot.

  “Oh, this? This is the Public Bath. We have many Elderly, so this place is for them to relax after a hard day at work.”

  Ville explained to the curious Mercenaries the building's purpose.

  “Most Castles do not have such luxury. Are you sure this is okay?”

  At the comment of their Leader Misha, Ville slightly giggled.

  “I can understand your concern, but it is a free bath for all the villagers. It was made after the children of the Village saw the large Pool in the Castle. Lord Null did not want to let the people not have the same luxury, as they are working for him on the fields.”

  “He is either benevolent or extravagant, but I do not complain!”

  “Oh, one thing. Do not stay too long in the hot water.”

  “We can survive the heat easily. Do not worry.”

  “That is not the worry. The Water is filled with extremely high Mana. If you stay too long, you will get Mana Burn. And do not drink too much of the Water the Villagers consume also. Use your own Flasks and take back the Water to sell. It is worth quite a penny if I heard correctly.”

  That shocked all of the Mercenaries. The Water is not only hot but magical. While they tried to understand the notions all checked their flasks for how much they had left to drink.

  “While we have stale water in closed urns to dissipate the Mana for you, the water tastes awful as it got stale over months and even cooking makes it not appealing. It will do in a pinch.”

  “Oh, that is good to hear. Do not worry, we can stomach it. The Merchants on the other hand will learn their lesson for the next time.”

  Laughing about how the Merchants might suffer on the way back, they understood the Bathhouse rather quickly. A flowing bath for the ones who want to rinse their dirt inside was separate to the main Bath. The Main bath had a cleaning area where people can remove their grime before getting into the hot water. While some thought of just jumping into the large main Bath, Misha stopped them and made sure they held themselves to the etiquette of the other people.

  “Customs are important. You do not want to be barred from here next time, do you?”

  With only these sentences all fall in line. One who rather took a bath to also wash himself took one of the separate baths where the overflowing water was exiting from the main Bath. Misha quickly understood the reason for the separate baths as for people like him, who only did it like they learned in their own Country. For a second Misha asked himself if this town also had a cold river for people that never had a true bath before, but shook his head after believing it as ridiculous.

  One of his companions was wondering: “Why would no one say there is such a relaxing environment here in the Mountains? Would that not entice Merchants and Mercenaries to go here?”

  “Use your brain. Who would tell of how nice the place is and risk being not chosen later on the trip?”

  “Oh! I understand. So better not tell anyone.”

  “This was included into the Contract we made, do you even read the contract?”

  “Um, I can’t read.”

  “Sorry, I forgot about that, still remember what we told you. No Information leaks that might come back to us. I do not want to be barred from doing business with the Peddler King.”

  —

  The next Morning many people came to the stalls to barter for fabrics and Ceramics. While there were many Spices, those were sold very quickly before anything else. Most were bought by Ville herself, but the rest was bought for community usage by Belk.

  The bartering was rather good, especially for the extremely fresh Vegetables which have such high Mana, Bickle could feel it just by touching them.

  “Has the Mana increased? I remember the samples I was handling before.”

  Ville answered directly to this question with an affirmation.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Yes, the Starfall Crater has an influx of Mana because of circumstances. Most of it escapes into the Forest, but the Vegetables also have an increase in density. If it is dissatisfactory, we can also pay you in coin.”

  “Oh, no no! It is rather better. The Mana will be inside of the Vegetables for longer. I appreciate the high influx of Mana.”

  While Bickle is bartering he was having problems keeping his happy face under control. Not only were there Vegetables, but also Monster Meat and even Eggs, which are very rare. Although Rendlar bought some through Mordred, the main Branch had no Information of them as they were bought right away, before one even could make it back to the Headquarters.

  Seeing the Quality and Quantity he was forgetting all the negative things, he had to endure until he got to this point.

  —

  In a place that is not a real place a purple Sky was illuminated by a black Sun bleeding into an Ocean of black and silver liquid. Broken Clouds like floating glass shards roiled through the sky. From the Clouds rainbow coloured lightning struck the Ocean and the Thunder sounded like Metal grinding on itself but had an eerie echo which sounded like wailing of banshees.

  In this nightmarish place a reef was the sole land where a small insect was resting. This insect had humanoid features, but was definitely not human. Kneeling on the jagged floor it bowed to the Sun in the sky reverently while the Sun appeared to watch the Insect.

  [Speak]

  No words were spoken, but the Insect knew instinctively what the Sun wanted it to do.

  “Master, I am where you want me to be. The Woods I am residing in right now are the Sacred Hain of Lowell. I am next to the City of Lowell and hiding in the cave of the former Guardian of the Woods. The Guardian was delicious and helped me grow fast.”

  Irritation was being felt by the Insect. The Sun seems to not be happy about the Information it gave.

  [Time]

  Understanding how the Sun wanted to know the approximate Date, the Insect obeyed.

  “By the knowledge of the hunter I ate and the tellings of the Woman I enslaved, the precise date is >/$§&(/>>. Summer is starting soon.”

  The roiling waves intensified and the clouds started to swirl while the lightning and thunder multiplied. The sun on the other hand was still and unmoving except for the slow bleeding into the Ocean behind the horizon.

  The Insect was shivering and waiting for either its destruction or salvation. Which it would get was not really clear at this point. It took a while, but the roiling of the Ocean started to slow down.

  [New mission - Grow and Conquer]

  In the Mind of the Insect were suddenly multiple areas of the Continent it was residing in marked with specific purposes. A place to build its army, a place to silently invade, a place to explore and tell its master about it, and a place to watch as this is the place it must eradicate from the World itself.

  [Granting Power and Knowledge]

  With those thoughts a black drop of the Sun’s Blood changed its course and fell onto the Insect. Under pain it notices its body and soul changing into something new, something foreign. After the transformation was over the Insect was still looking the same, but noticed how it could now again shed its form into a new type of being.

  Knowledge of different kinds of Monsters in the World were ingrained in its brain and in which places they feel at home. The rules of how to utilize Miasma and different magics they correspond to were now clear to the Insect.

  “I am grateful for your gracious gift. I will work hard and do my utmost for your sake.”

  [First Goal - Altar of Blood and Gore]

  “Yes Master. I will message you when the Altar is finished.”

  [Begone]

  Starting to go transparent, the Insect was gone in a few moments. Only the Sun was still watching the place this little insect was previously occupying.

  —

  A sigh came from Null after opening his eyes.

  “This makes many things more complicated than they have to be.”

  Looking at the List of things he wanted to do before going he could only sigh again and write ‘Needs revision’ over it.

  While Null was writing his lists of what he wanted to do he got the message of his Anchor in the other World. The World itself was the right one, but he had not thought the difference in time to be that dramatic, as he had been only a few years in this World.

  Ringing a bell by pulling the cord on the wall, Katie came in the Study after a few Minutes.

  “You rang, my Lord?”

  “Tell Annette the Orphanage will be a bit later. As I have some other things to do, it will delay a bit, but at most three to four Months. Also can you call Dr. Simov to the Dining hall? It is urgent.”

  “As you wish, my Lord.”

  With a bow Katie excused herself to meet Simov in his Machine Shop.

  ‘To all of the Leaders of the Family. Meet me in the Dining hall. This includes you too Esther. Snow, could you please tell Hoof to come too?’

  An affirmation from different areas of the Castle came, while a groan from Esther was being sent as she was right now studying the intricate Runes she had learned from the Waste Disposal Site.

  Standing up from the Study table Null made his own way to the Dining hall to see how Maiden was already there with some other now phantom Maids to make tea. The Rat Maids itself had lost their Rat origin and had gone into the Dark Miasma they inherited from Snow. Now they can just vanish in shadows and even incorporealize themselves.

  Null was fascinated by how different copies of Snow changed in different kinds of creatures. The Copies themselves were already incomplete and had hard time nourishing themselves on normal Food at the beginning, but later they could shed parts and grow in different directions. Those happenings were seen in other copies in the Arena too, but most of them died before they could show their differences.

  ‘Maybe I should stop the Battle to grind stronger Warriors? Somewhat late, but better late than never.’

  The current leader of the Claws fell from the Ceiling from a false ceiling tile, the high Shaman of the Fishmen was entering through a secret passage, and Brutus the current leader of the Brutes came in after him. Butcher lost the last battle against him and now he was the leader until Butcher gets his revenge.

  Leaf and Petal were coming in hand in hand, as they were together before the call. Esther came in, when another Esther came right after, where the first Esther started to giggle and morph into a faceless creature with black tentacles as hair.

  Snow brought Hoof, and while he was already used to the creatures, still needed a double take until he was ready to take his seat. A rift opened and staring out of it was a goat ram hybrid with its five eyes. Next someone unexpected came in, as it was Hoffmann instead of Simov.

  “Simov is… occupied. I take… his place.”

  While Null was getting a small headache for Simov being extra again, he paid it no heed and waited for the rest to arrive. A bell sound was heard and small wisps of cold air manifested into small ice Fairies while in the potted plant rose a bit of dirt to become a fat looking doll.

  Maiden put a pitcher of water on the table where she noticed a fish head made out of water looking curious out of it. Prime came from the door where she looked ashamed to be late, but as Null knew she was in the Body Shop inside his Realm he just waved to not worry. Seeing a candle on the side has turned blue he started the talk.

  “Good, most could make it.”

  Looking at Hermann, Hermann bowed in an apology. Right afterwards the door opened once again and Ville came in panting heavily. Null forgot, she would have to run here, so he did the same as Hermann and made an apologetical gesture to her. Ville on the other hand just bowed and sat down on one of the few empty seats.

  As Null wanted to start again out of the dumbwaiter a hoarse breathing was heard and something in the dark was also watching. Nodding to the Dumbwaiter, Null cleared his throat.

  “As most of you know, I wanted to travel to my former World in a matter of Months.”

  Hearing this, Hoof was shocked but did not say anything as no one else seemed surprised.

  “The Schedule has changed. We have a bit more time to prepare. My Anchor had found out some disturbing facts, I have to comprehend myself.”

  Snow put up her hand.

  “Yes Snow?”

  “Do you know when we will be traveling?”

  “Not yet, but it will be in at the earliest… in a decade, if not two.”

  Murmurs were heard between the creatures in the Room.

  “To use this time properly I wanted to help Simov refine the Runic Circles even more.”

  Looking again at Hermann, both nodded to send the message.

  “Also I will partake in the War against the Angry Metal, so make yourselves ready for that.”

  Hermann voiced his opinion afterwards: “Simov will not… partake… you should know… that.”

  “I know and fully understand his standing. Just tell him the ‘angry Metal’ will be warmachines of the Empire. Most likely they had reverse engineered his creations to make them. If there is a way to stop them without a fight, I would be thankful.”

  “...Understood. I will… Tell him.”

  “Next on the Agenda, Hoof.”

  “Yes?”

  “Look around you.”

  Wondering what Null meant he looked around in the Room. So many different creatures with menacing looks. Albeit some cute ones were mixed in, many made him shiver.

  “This is what happens when I improve people. Some are early experiments, but still there is a chance you and your Daughter might become something unrecognizable. Take this also into your decision.”

  “I understand your worry, Brother Null, but there is now a more pressing question I have to ask you.”

  “And this is?”

  “Could we come with you into this ‘former World’?”

  Null was a bit shocked. “What do you mean by that?”

  “You saved my Daughter and we came with you. Most of us would love to follow you where you are going. While it is peaceful here in the Crater, I would like you to lead us to where you are heading.”

  “I… will think about that, but please talk with your people about that.”

  “Will do.”

  “Next on the Planing board. Leaf and maybe Petal should tell the Root I will be a bit longer here than I thought.”

  “We will do that, my Lord.”

  “Leave it to my Leaf and me, we make them understand.”

  “Doppel, could you tell the Grays to do a Transport to Magus, so the Glowing Ladle has enough Food? It might become a monthly transport, as the original Contract with the Peddler King is void.”

  “Sure. They enjoyed the scenery and also how many faces the World outside has. They are eager to mingle.”

  “My next goal is something I do not want to do, but have no choice as it seems. I will go to the Beastmen Sect. Baphomet will come with me and it might be dangerous this time, so better I go alo-”

  “I am going with you!”

  “...So as it is dangerous Baphomet, Snow and I will go there alone. I do not know when I will be back, but it will be as soon as I can.”

  Many things were talked about afterwards. Hoof was made aware a Caravan was in the Crater and had necessities and especially magical Metals in their repertoire. Brutus and the Fish Shaman were told right now they could not travel with them as their strength was too low. Hearing the devastating evaluation made them horrified and depressed. The change in the meat grinder methods of the Arena was also a shock, but after explaining that specialization might be a way to increase the likelihood of being allowed to travel, they felt a new drive to better themselves.

  While the Brutus and the Fish Shaman were hyping themselves up, many of the other creatures who want to travel with their Lord were worried they would be left here, if they do not increase their power too. This misunderstanding made all of them eager to become an asset their Lord would never leave behind. A war of improvement was starting and everyone was thinking about how to improve their strength.

  —

  Bickle was rather happy about what he sold on Items. He was shocked about how hard the people could haggle with him. All of the people were not only literate but could do math. The glowing eyes made them even more unnerving, when they started to haggle.

  While they were all bandaged like they were recently mummified, Bickle could sometimes notice the blue glow and noticed how all of them had the most severe Mana Burn he had ever heard about. Assuring his helpers was hard for a while, as they had all heard of the curse of Mana Burn when they were young. Explaining was hard while Bickle often gestured to the unperturbed Mercenaries relaxing around, bartering to be allowed to fill their flasks with the water from the strange Fountain in the middle of the Village.

  ‘No church, no shops, no anything. This Village is extremely weird for being so educated.’

  Thinking this Bickle was a bit distracted before he noticed the new arrivals from the Castle getting closer and closer. Finally realizing everyone had horns and were large muscular Beastmen, he was starting to get intimidated by their presence alone.

  The last pieces of magical Metal were bought by the Beastmen who paid for it in half in Coin and half in traditional rugs and hand made blankets. Albeit it looked at first as a loss, it was a rare commodity in Telk, as Beastmen were on the other side of the impassible Forest and Ulk in the South, who would never let something be sold by the Beastmen as they are supremacists.

  Sighing in relief he was now a bit more glad to know they were not here to make problems but just to buy.

  The next day was quickly approaching, while wondering if the Elves would again summon a Light to send them back, the Rat girl Ville was visiting Bickle.

  “This here is the invention of my Master. To go back you just need to follow the blue shine of the lamp. If you want to get back to us you need to follow the purple shine. Changing it you need to switch the lens with this switch.”

  Explaining the brass looking lamp looking like an old signal lamp with a frontal lens, Bickle was wondering how there was suddenly such a wondrous Artifact.

  Being warned if he lost it he would never again even be able to set foot into the Lost Village he made sure to keep it to heart. If he were to lose the only way to profit that much, he would be flogged by his superiors until he is minced meat.

  The start of the walk back to their home was wonky, as Bickle needed to understand how it truly works. Lighting it made the light strangely colourful. Multiple coloured flames seem to swirl around the wick. It was not only weird but quite mesmerizing. As he finally closed the brass door on the back of the Lamp the shine came only quite dim out of the lamp but pushed back the fog.

  Lyra noticed immediately the unnatural colouring of the floor and trees, but held her mouth. Also the Forest became extremely silent as if there was a wall between them and the surrounding. More and more unnerving details came to light like how there were no insects or even anything living moving about. Taking a leaf in her hands she felt no pulse or even any life, just a shadow of what should be there.

  ‘This is not the real World? We move through a pocket? How did this person create an Artifact to manipulate the natural laws of this magical Forest? I need to find an answer, better ask the Clan quickly about me making an oath to the Root.’

  The others were feeling weird, but still felt nothing too out of the ordinary while Bickle finally understood to turn the Lamp into the right direction and a blue glow illuminated the travel forward. In the middle of the trip Bicckle was curious and switched the lens. The Blue glow vanished and the way was not illuminated anymore. At first shocked Bickle turned the lamp in different directions until he noticed the Purple shine directly opposite to where they were traveling.

  “Such a great creation. How much would this Lamp be worth if… No better not think about that, this would be more dangerous than just losing it. I would be a wanted man by many.”

  Switching back to blue the trek continued until they came out of the Forest. In front of them was the grass and afterwards the gates of Halk were seen. The Lamp directly brought them to Halk without any strange movements like the wisp made. Noticing this fact Bickle was now not only courteous out of his teachings to Null but because he would not want someone who can just create something like that be angry with him. Who knows, if he could create a small doll of him and put some needles inside or some other horrible thing which would make his life miserable.

  Again Bickle was not sure of how he should feel. While he made a gigantic profit in just a Month alone, the dangers and unknowns are so many, he was not sure if he had it good or bad. Risks and Rewards were closely interwoven and somehow he could not fathom which side was right now weighing down more.

  Entering Halk, Bickle was greeted by an apprentice from Ember Wood to talk about his visit to the Village. While the invitation was friendly and warm the look of the apprentice was not taking a no for an answer. Bickle got an even more pounding headache as he was now entwined in political and maybe even international problems.