Nate enjoyed the slow, rolling motion of his alliram mount as it trotted south and east across the plains. Around him, on their own mounts or sitting in drawn wagons was the rest of the Adventurer’s Guild contingent who had accepted jobs posted to assist Princess Morgane. Kiri was nearby, of course. His sister had been glued to Coralie’s side ever since they left the Capital, as though her mere presence could prevent anything from happening to the blonde Ice Mage. A smile bloomed on his lips as he considered that she very well might be able to do exactly that.

  Flash was nearby as well, though the Edgedancer seemed to be keeping the company of one of the few non-Guild members. Nate spent a moment going over his memories to recall the woman's name. Celeste, he recalled. The red-headed noble had a retinue of three guards who lingered nearby. Golds, in theory, though Nate had penetrated their veils subtly and they were of the weakest kind of Gold – low sixties with Fragmented Embodiments and Rare Classes. Not a threat. At least not to him or Kiri. Or Aisling, he mentally added. There were about fifty other Guild members dispersed among the wagons with a few having their own mounts. The split was even between Gold- and Silver-ranked members, with Aisling being the only Platinum present.

  Thinking of Aisling reminded him of the farewells at the Guild compound. The goodbyes had been a lot calmer than Nate had expected. Britt had promised to visit his workshop on a schedule Nate had proposed. Luc had stayed behind to continue delivering their runecrafted goods to Asmuisil and to assist Nate’s young proteges in getting a couple of Dungeon-based Achievements. Evindal was taking a trip to the Elven Groves to try and find some materials or alchemicals for further developing Nate’s Life Affinity. Deverell was handling things in the Capital for Aisling. That left his guardian as the one playing escort for Nate at the warfront.

  In the week leading up to their departure, Aisling had made her concerns over their involvement in the war abundantly clear. Even though the amazonian Platinum clearly didn’t like his choice, she had come along purely to protect him. The gesture warmed his heart and made him feel just a bit safer.

  He also hadn’t wasted the past week. After Kiri had split the profits from Luc’s first visit to Asmuisil, his sister had bought a number of Skill and Stat Orbs. The Skill Orbs had been Common and were simple ones for drawing – gifts for Nate’s proteges to assist them in drawing out runes. The Stat Orbs, however, had gone to Nate and herself. Another eighteen points in Intellect and the same in Creativity meant for the first time he had crossed over half of his maximum capacity for Stat Orbs. Additionally, it had decreased the time for his Conceptual Material Shaping to a seventy-percent reduction.

  The improvements were solving some of his time problems, but he had considered a secondary issue he would face in the field. Wouldn’t it be odd if he was constantly obfuscating his and Frick’s mana usage as they created the materials necessary for his runecrafting? That was ignoring how it might reveal just how much mana he had to work with, which would raise questions about how he was supplying himself with so much mana. So, he needed a better method to conceal his Skill and mana usage, while also giving Frick somewhere to work out of sight.

  Thankfully, his solution played into his future plans. A customised spatial zone that was directly linked to him. Even with the tome provided by Arikanvil, his Grandmaster-tier Space Sigil, and his own Mythic Skills, it had taken him almost the entire week to get it working. The result was the first proof and prototype for self-modification. He had, of course, tested it externally first and Kiri had been present when he finally applied his newest creation to himself.

  His femur had been the bone of choice for the alteration. His leg had the benefit of being quite large which gave him more room to runecraft, while also being something he could survive losing if everything backfired.

  His customised spatial zone, which he was calling his Runic Gallery, differed from his spatial storage ring. The ring gifted to him by Arikanvil came with a form of stasis for its contents. While he might have been able to achieve the same result with his own creation, he didn’t want to. He wanted time to be able to pass within the Runic Gallery, so that in the future he could install runecrafting to perform tasks for him, such as using his Skills to upgrade materials.

  Testing the impact of improving the bone had gone surprisingly smoothly. He had raised it a single tier each day till it reached Epic, with check ups from Evindal in between. He was planning to do the rest of his skeleton soon but he wouldn’t do above his waist without Evindal present in case something went wrong. The Epic-quality of the bone was influencing the maximum size of the spatially expanded area of his Runic Gallery. At the moment, it was roughly five metres cubed. Enough space for Frick to sit inside with a pile of mana gems and materials and keep churning out everything they needed. The best part was, Nate could direct his own Skills into the space, fuelling them with the mana gems. As it was all internal to his body, his veil kept anyone around him from knowing what he was doing.

  Nate’s reverie was broken as he sensed Aisling approaching him, her mount slowing down till they had drawn even. Glancing at his guardian, he flashed a smile at her. He could tell that the smile he received in response was a little forced.

  “I’m sorry for putting you through this,” he said quietly, glancing at the swaying grass of the plains in front of them.

  Aisling withdrew a small cube. He recognised it instantly, as he should, since he made the thing. The small cube filled half of Aisling’s palm and he had decorated it for her, shaping the metal so that each face showed a different scene of Aisling: in the skies above Helmfirth Forest, on the road on the way to the Capital, relaxing in a bath they had made on the Plains, standing in the Guild compound with Evindal and Deverell, out at dinner with everyone and finally, Aisling yelling at Prefect Allais – snapshots of her life. The cube itself was just runecrafted to create a sphere of privacy, preventing sound from leaving the affected zone while using light to obscure what happened within and creating a weak mana barrier that would need to be broken if someone was to try using a Skill. It was only Rare-tier, so it wasn’t going to stop everything, but it worked in a pinch. The decorations had simply been Nate wanting to give Aisling something with a touch of his art. Conceptual Material Shaping made it easy to reshape the metal to appear how he wanted it to and the rune itself was buried inside of the cube.

  Aisling activated the cube and the air around them fuzzed as the rune began interfering with the light around them.

  “You’re not putting me through this, Nate,” Aisling replied calmly. “Do I wish you weren’t putting yourself at risk? Of course I do. Do I think we would have been better off staying in the Capital and continuing your development? I think I have made that clear. But, I recognise the importance of you walking your own path. I am just thankful you’ll be focused on healing rather than being near the actual battles. I am still concerned this is going to draw more attention to you, though. We can’t let you go unescorted, as we know that they are willing to send Platinums against you. But my constant presence watching over you is also going to draw attention to you. Attention we don’t want. That bothers me more than anything else.”

  Nate nodded along. He agreed with every word she said. He knew that what he was doing was risky. But, he couldn’t let Kiri go alone and his sister would not let Coralie go alone. So, here he was, in a shit situation, all of the making of Prefect Allais. His dislike of the woman had grown from a small spark into a campfire. The Prefect's actions had set this entire fiasco in motion and it was she that he would hold accountable should anything go wrong.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Instead of voicing that thought, what he said was, “I agree. Sorry for taking these risks. Could you tell me a little about what the battles will be like? Since I am unlikely to see them myself.”

  Aisling tilted her head in thought, “It occurs to me that out of Luc, my husband and myself, that I am the one who has taught you the least. Luc taught you how to use your Skills in battle and helped pressure you to think of ways to use them more cleverly. My husband is teaching you how to heal and gain a class similar to his own. I’ve only ever taught you a little about the Guild.”

  Nate was quiet for a moment before he replied softly, “You’ve been teaching me how to lead.”

  Aisling glanced at him, her eyes widening ever so slightly.

  “Luc, Evindal, Deverell all defer to you,” Nate explained, rushing on. “They offer their opinions and thoughts but it always seems to end with you…or lately, me. It’s from you that I am learning how to handle that burden.”

  “I’ll have to make sure I give you some more lessons then,” replied Aisling with a small smile.

  His guardian paused to deactivate the privacy cube.

  “Thank you, Nate. That was kind of you to say. I suppose I should answer your question though. The battles. Deverell did explain it slightly but I will go into more detail. Etrua military might is based on individuals. The Nobility. There will likely be somewhere between ten and twenty Platinums present who will make up the main direct combatants. Asmuisil on the other hand will make far greater use of enchantments, specifically Empowerment enchantments. They might have a few Platinums, but nowhere near enough compared to Etrua or to fight Etrua head to head. Instead, they will empower Gold-tier individuals with better equipment and empowerment enchantments. These enchantments channel a small portion of hundreds of individuals’ processed mana to a target. The Gold tier. It should let them compete with the Etruan Platinums.”

  Aisling paused, noting how a few other Guild members had drifted closer to listen to the explanation. Kiri and Coralie were amongst those paying attention to Aisling’s words.

  “However, the individuals empowering the Gold-tier can do nothing else. Not move, or even defend themselves. The Asmuisillans will put in place other enchantments and forces to protect them. Those forces are likely to be weaker. Silver, at best. Which is where the Etruan conscripts will come into it. Etrua will throw its conscripts against those forces to try and disrupt the enchantments. You begin to see how messy it can become? One platinum uncontested could very quickly decimate such forces, leading to a cascading problem for either side. If Etrua gains the upper hand, they will decimate those empowerment enchantments which will lead to a cascading loss of powerful combatants for Asmuisil. Alternatively, if Asmuisil can weather the storm or wipe out enough conscripts so that their empowerment enchantments aren’t threatened, then they can swap out Gold-tiers frequently with the empowerment enchantments. Fresh forces that can fight on the level of Platinums will quickly lead to Etrua’s defeat. So both sides will almost certainly hold back reserves. It will be a game of strategy and deceit.”

  Aisling looked around at those listening, “For those of you who took combat jobs, that is where you will be fighting. Your jobs will almost certainly involve attacking the empowerment enchantments and the forces protecting them. I know some of you took foraging and supply jobs. You will be scouring the land nearby in teams for beasts and food we can eat, to supplement the Princess’s own supply train. I know a few of you took guard jobs. You will be watching over the conscripts’ camp. I am sure they said something about keeping the peace, but you will mostly be preventing runaways – those who took the offered mana and coins but will try and flee now that their debt is due. I do not envy you.”

  Aisling glanced around, meeting everyone's eyes and Nate took note. He had not been lying when he said he was learning how to lead from Aisling. The silence dragged on for a few more seconds.

  “Back to your spots. We have another week ahead of us before we catch up to the Princess’s Army. Then another month of marching before we get close to the border with Asmuisil. Get used to being bored but don’t let your attention lapse. While it is unlikely Asmuisil would strike so deep into Etrua, it’s not impossible. And who knows if the Royals might try to sabotage each other. Eyes out, people. The Adventurer’s Guild produces quality individuals. Show me your quality.”

  Nate smiled and settled in, continuing to channel his Conceptual Material Shaping Skill into his Runic Gallery alongside Frick. They had enough mana to last them for another four days before he would need to use his Portal Plate to return to the Capital, restock on mana, and start Britt’s treatments. The time was going to fly by. Though the second part of his plan couldn’t start until after they caught up with the army. They were travelling through the wilds of Etrua. That meant Dungeons. A few small diversions for Kiri and himself shouldn’t go astray.

  *************

  Four days had passed on the march and Nate found himself sitting on his bed inside his personal tent. The tent itself was incredibly basic, if tall. It was enchanted to stand itself up or fold itself down. He had gotten a few envious glances from some of the other Guildies when they had seen it. The tent was a little over five metres wide and long and almost three metres tall at the apex. The dimensions of the tent meant it was big enough for him to pull out his second cloud-enchanted bed. His original bed was still back in his workshop, but true to his desires and newfound wealth, he had bought a second so that even out on the frontier he would be comfortable. The size of the tent was what made his fellow Guildies green with envy. Many of them shared tents smaller than his between an entire team, or slept under the stars.

  Tapping his foot patiently, he smiled at the tent's door. He just needed to wait a few more minutes.

  As expected, a minute later Kiri walked in through the flap, closing it behind her.

  “Alright. I’m ready. How long will you be gone?” she asked without preamble.

  “Few hours at most,” he replied calmly.

  Kiri nodded with a smile and motioned for him to get started.

  Moving away from Kiri, he paused to make sure he had enough space. Satisfied, he set his Portal Plate down on the grass before activating the runecrafted item. As he did, he didn’t sense a single ripple of mana. The tunnelling effect that paired the two meant that they were connected through their own spatial tether. It was that tether and not the intervening space between the plates that the mana traversed. The obfuscation rune kept any other signs of usage from leaking out. A few seconds later, a two metre sphere appeared above the portal plate. Sending his farsight sphere of awareness through the sphere, he could feel his workshop on the other side. With a final nod to Kiri, he stepped through his first self-created portal, appearing in his workshop to find a bright and beaming Britt waiting for him.

  “I’ve missed you,” she said softly, approaching him.

  Closing the portal behind him, he spent a few minutes reacquainting himself with his girlfriend before pulling away.

  “Alright, we’ve only got a few hours. Time to get to work.”

  Britt moved towards his workbench, stripping down to her underclothes so he could begin upgrading her skeleton. As she did so, Nate sent a thought to Frick.

  “Go restock our mana supplies and drop off the empty gems. Then see if Deverell has anything for us. Also, can you check on the kids?”

  “You got it, Boss! Keep focused though. You don’t have time to make the goblin with two backs!”

  Nate rolled his eyes with a smile and moved towards Britt. He had proven that he could improve his own bones. Now it was time for him to do the same for Britt. Kiri he could handle on the road. Reaching towards his Conceptual Material Shaping Skill he got to work.

  Discord Channel

  Patreon with up to 20 chapters ahead of RoyalRoad.