They repeated the day trip into the miasma mists two more times. Hector’s stamina dropped as his realm grew increasingly sore. They only lasted five hours the second day, then a mere two on the third day. The ache had an ironic side effect. His swollen realm aperture reduced his sensitivity enough that he almost returned to his state before his realm existed.
His area of effect shrank to the footprint of his domain while his realm was out of commission. That may have been a concern if not for the fact that his domain had gone from approximately peak seven strength to above peak eight. He could convert miasma better than ever before even without his realm in full working order.
What he couldn’t do was ignore the soul pain.
On the fourth day, they called for a shuttle to bring them back to Cruiser Erin. Restoration studied Hector for a time in medical before explaining that he hadn’t done any damage to himself. The soul ache wasn’t an indication of a deeper problem. It was swelling that would go away in time. Pushing through the pain would be unwise. But so long as he behaved halfway sane when experiencing intense agony, he’d have no long term problems.
Yet Hector knew that nothing was the one thing he could not do. Having raised the level of his reserves, he began to obsessively train the Shuttle Technique once more. If he couldn’t improve his realm, then he would work on his aura and domain. Hopefully that wouldn’t consume too much of his reserves before he could replenish them.
During the unplanned downtime, morale plummeted. Boredom proved far more perilous to unit cohesion than combat ever had. Simmering resentments boiled over left and right. Surprisingly, Piercing wasn’t public enemy number one. Nor was Darius, in a stroke of luck. Isabel of all people had become the lightning rod.
Perhaps it could have been foreseen given the fact that Hector put her in charge of training the other Xian on the Shuttle Technique. He’d expected a few days of effort before that was done. Instead, it was weeks later and Isabel relentlessly hounded her students for not mastering a challenging technique. Hector stepped in to cancel any further classes, but the damage had already been done to interpersonal relationships by that time. Isabel was ostracized by her former students.
Then Conrad sparked some turmoil by policing the public areas for messes. He’d order the guilty parties to clean up after themselves. Resentment built on one side or the other depending on whether the orders were followed or refused. So Hector had to instruct Conrad not to use his authority as battle leader when they were away from the front lines.
After learning that Conrad went on his campaign of cleanliness because the Jinn crew were growing upset that they had to clean up after the retinue, Hector had to take action. He had Esther create a duty rotation modeled after the one for post-meal cleanup. Two of their number would be assigned to work under the unrated crew member Amy for the morning and a different two for the afternoon – though only on days they weren't in combat.
Most concerning to Hector was that Riley had fallen out with Esther. He heard Riley’s shouts of ‘just stay away’ and then no one could explain what happened. Esther maintained the explosion came out of nowhere. The woman appeared so confused that Hector was inclined to believe her. Riley herself refused to speak with anyone for several hours.
Finally, he dragged his friend into his room and made her sit beside him on the bed.
“Riley, you have to let me know what happened.”
“Nothing.”
“But you’re mad at Esther?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“What did she do?”
“Hector, please just leave me alone.”
He considered the request before rejecting it. Much as he might wish to treat Riley with all the delicacy and respect that she deserved, they were a fighting force. Riley didn’t flip out over insignificant matters, so he needed to ensure there wasn’t a lingering enmity that could impact their teamwork on the battlefield.
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“I can’t this time, Riley. What is it?”
She shrank on herself. “Esther is inappropriate with Darius.”
Hector leaned back until his shoulders rested on the wall. “I see.”
“Don’t tell anyone.”
“You know she flirts with everyone. Even women. It doesn’t mean anything. For as long as we’ve known her, she’s never had a relationship or taken anyone to her bed.”
“I still don’t like it,” Riley snapped.
There were so many ways to approach this situation. He could drop it, content that Riley wouldn’t betray Esther while deep in the miasma. That wouldn’t deescalate tensions, though. He could instead pull aside Esther and let her know what was going on. That would betray the trust of a friend. He could try to play relationship counselor where he wasn’t welcome.
“Do you think this would bother you less if you had some official status with Darius?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“The alternative is I talk to Darius about it.”
Riley grew more tense. “You went away for a long time, Hector. It’s not fair for you to show up and get involved in my business like this.”
“You’re right. It’s not fair to you.” Hector sighed. “It’s also not fair that we’re tasked with saving the multiverse. There should be so many more competent people lining up to do the job. But it’s us. And I need to know my team is going to have each other’s backs. That my friends aren’t distracted when their lives are on the line.”
“I won’t cause any more problems.”
“To me, it looks like this problem started with Darius. I don’t know the details of what is between you two, but a woman running away with another guy after a marriage proposal is a clear sign something is going on. Darius has been threatening death to every man who showed interest in you since we moved to Tian Tower. What am I missing?”
She spoke so softly he barely heard her even with superhuman hearing. “Maybe he wants better than a whore.”
“Riley…. That’s not how he is.”
“Promise you won’t tell anyone about this, Hector.”
“Let me talk to Darius.”
“No!”
“Then you have to apologize to Esther and tell her you snapped from stress.”
“I can do that.”
“If anything like this happens again, I’m not keeping quiet.” He gave Riley a fierce hug before letting her escape his room.
The disasters did not cease, but they declined in severity. Piercing insulted everyone. Ajax chewed too loudly – an empirical fact, not an opinion. Conflagration burned random things, setting off blaring alarms. Zelda got in a screaming match with Restoration, blaming the other woman for the fact that she had spent all her energy reserves on a pet project weeks past.
It took three days for the soul ache to ease enough for Hector to return to duty. With the drama unfolding on the small vessel, it felt more like three years. Even occupying himself with the Shuttle Technique and externality cultivation did not make the time pass faster.
One of the pilots took the group down in a shuttle and they entered the miasma again. Hector kept his realm packed and calm so that he could convert miasma mostly with his domain. This time they went deeper than before. Miasma density increased significantly about a mile in, to the point it became a serious workout for his domain.
They paused there and Hector managed to split his attention. He couldn’t draw energy through his domain and mind apertures simultaneously. However, he could transform miasma with his domain without absorbing the cosmic energy. That let him pull through his mental aperture.
He was at it for perhaps an hour when the dark mist began to move about under the influence of fierce wind gusts. With the howling gusts stealing his words, Hector resorted to hand gestures to call for a retreat. They had to fight for every step, but managed to escape the massive tornado as it formed. Passing the invisible barrier let them move freely once more.
They gained distance before pausing to study the phenomenon.
“Fucking hell.” Piercing whistled. “The entire storm is condensing into a single monster.”
Captain Devin, typically reserved, chose to offer advice. “This appears beyond us, Lord Dragonbane. Abandoning this world would be wise.”
Hector watched the figure forming. There were twin tornadoes rising from the ground in the visible distance to connect with a dense mass of clouds above. The scene vaguely hinted at a familiar shape. Scale and texture were odd, but when the form condensed into a solid and animated he knew the truth. A patch of miasma the size of a county was becoming a tiger.
“Exactly how big is it?”
Conrad answered him. “Several miles tall. I can’t imagine its length.”
“Too big,” Darius said.
“This isn’t the time for a heroic last stand,” Captain Devin added.
“You’re right.” Hector hardened his heart. This world couldn’t matter more than the entire multiverse. He needed to make sure he lived long enough to take back Aes. The strategy was clear.
Piercing barged his way to the front of the group and pointed at a spot in the sky. “Guys? What are we doing about that?” Far above, a man standing on jets of flame had begun to swing a fire whip above his head like a lasso.
