Chương 134: Around the Nexus in Seven Days

The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts. Eastern Gate. Local Time 1240 Hours. Emma Shouts, cheers, and even jeers dominated the air as we made our way down the long flights of stairs specifically designated for these field trip 'quests'. Crowds of excited onlookers, from familiar first-year faces to the less familiar senior years alike, stood just a foot apart from us field-trip questers; kept at a distance by an army of apprentices that seemed to have spawned out of nowhere.

Banners bearing Qiv and Ping's sigils stood high amongst the crowd, held aloft by their most endearing supporters. In contrast, glares and sneers were shot our way whilst whispered breaths spoken in cupped hands punctuated our catty sendoff. However, not all was gloomy. For within this sea of chaos were a few supportive faces that purposefully waved our way; Etholin's group being one such prime example.

The little ferret even went so far as to lob something our way with a magically-assisted throw; the mystery bow-wrapped pouch landed right on Thalmin's outstretched palm. Meanwhile, a few errant voices seemed to straddle the line, providing commentary that leaned neither supportive nor dismissive.

"That cloak… where'd she get that?"

"No, no no. The question is… what sort of sigil is that?"

"Mmnh. Too simplistic for me."

"I disagree. There's a certain… elegance and presence in its simplicity."

"You and your artistic inclinations, Lady Klevan… Anyone can arrange stars and orbs in such a pattern."

"Maps. Those are rounded projections of an adjacent realm. Remember your adjacent realm geography."

"Wait, but that means that the newrealm must have circumnavigated—"" IF! And only if that is an accurate projection."

"Touche…" However, it was our closest allies that bore the brightest sendoff, as I took a moment against the steady tide of students to properly deliver our parting goodbyes.

"I'll be careful, Thacea." I began, before following it up with a cocky wink.

"Knight's promise."

"I shall hold you to that, Emma." Thacea responded as we shared one final wave before turning to Ilunor.

"Stay out of trouble, Ilunor." Was all Thalmin said to his other half, as the Vunerian merely hmmphed back in response. Pouring out of the castle, we emerged to meet our vehicles alongside the conveyances of our fellow questers. We'd seen a handful of others parking their vehicles alongside us earlier this morning, consisting of the typical horseless carriage, the more unique golem-drawn stagecoach, and the like. So I expected more of the same to fill up the starting line as we approached it. …

Suffice it to say, this was one of those times where I should've treated Ilunor's foreshadowing with a little bit more weight. Because out of everything I could've imagined… rolling wizard towers certainly wasn't on my list of expectations. We were thrust into what could only be described as a scene straight out of Mrowl's Traveling Castle.

With brick-and-mortar towering behemoths, each the size of one of the Academy's guard towers, sitting high and proud above at the starting line; their sheer scale casted a shadow over our two modest-by-comparison conveyances. A total of four such 'vehicles' sat idly by on their impossible chassis. Some were wooden, others steel, while the rest were assembled from what I could only describe as anomalous atypical materials with visual similarities to unrendered aerogel.

The sensors couldn't make sense of it, almost as if it was some form of—"Ahoy ahoy!" A familiar voice beckoned my attention as both Thalmin and I quickly turned to face a familiar, somewhat amicable gaggle of faces.

"I see both of you are packin' light!" The green and orange-yellow Gumigo spoke enthusiastically, his voice brimming with excitement.

"Quite a refreshing sight indeed! Ain't that right, mate?" He turned to the smallest of the gator bunch he'd chosen as his partner, who nodded along excitedly.

"The sentiment goes both ways, Lord Gumigo." I offered with a friendly dip of my head.

"Given the stark disparity between that —" I pointed over towards the conical jenga towers.

"—and our own modes of transportation—" I then quickly turned towards Gumigo's stagecoach.

"—I'd say we share more reasonable tastes."

"Aye! I empathize with the desire to bring the comforts of home along with ya. But there's a fine line between compromising for the sake of noble comforts… and outright disconnecting yer'selves from the point of it all!" Gumigo grinned widely.

"But I digress, I should've known you two of all people would be roughing it the hardest." He continued as he turned towards Thalmin.

"The mercenary prince and the newrealmer, a match made in the fires of adversity. A story for the ages, no doubt! I hope the two of you'll make Academy history and actually spice things up for a change, aye?"

"It'll be so much fun!" The smaller gator spoke, his eyes lighting up with excitement.

"Your spectacles make for quite a topic over tea!"

"Perhaps it does… for the uncouth and poor-of-taste, that is." Another voice suddenly made itself known. An often overlooked voice, one that the EVI was quick to highlight. [A45 Vicini Lorsi]"But for those of a more refined palate, there exists a near infinite number of topics through which tea would most certainly be enhanced… not despoiled." He managed out through a forced chuckle, before turning to the much larger, more imposing figure behind him with an expectant and wary gaze.

However, instead of any exchange of words, the bull in question merely hmphed loudly, letting out a sharp, steamy exhale from both of his nostrils before wordlessly entering his carriage.

"Hey, Lord Lorsi." I hollered, just before the fabulously frilly dressed deer entered the carriage proper.

"I'm surprised your team didn't go for one of those towers."

"Hmmph. You mistake our modesty for our station. A superficial insult that tarnishes not our ego nor decorum. You will do well to note that our aim for this quest is to actually accomplish its goals, not to treat it like some holiday—""That's not what I'm saying." I interjected, causing the deer to narrow his eyes in annoyance.

"I'm just surprised you think that you can fit in that carriage with Lord Ping's ego already taking up most of the space." I offered through a sly chuckle. That one jab caused the charismatic deer's eye to twitch in place, refusing to say anything else as the carriage's attendant closed the door shut. That was, until he rolled down his window, staring at us from high up.

"Childish." Was all he said, before rolling the window back up. No sooner was that awkward exchange over did the second class sovereign candidate arrive. Though unlike Lorsi's pugnacious jabs, Qiv's chosen partner — Uven Kroven — remained his usual silent and stoic self. If anything, the gorn-esque lizard merely regarded me with a simple stare, his eyes narrowing not at me nor Thalmin. Nor even the rest of the crocodile gang, but the motorcycle instead.

He even stopped just short of his own carriage to ponder it properly, cradling his snout in his hand as he did so.

"Is that your conveyance, newrealmer?" He inquired politely.

"Yup!"

"A… bi -treader, of sorts?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I shrugged in response. The noble quickly summoned a book from one of his pouches — one far too large for the pouch itself — as he began flipping through the pages hands-free. His eyes darted left and right, rising and falling before stopping just as the final few pages were bookended with a satisfying thud.

"From where did you procure it?" I quickly turned to Thalmin, the both of us locking eyes for a moment before turning back towards Qiv.

"I built it."

"She built it." We spoke simultaneously, Thalmin going so far as to back me up by gesturing towards me with a thumb. Qiv's expressions grew even more quizzical, critical, and most of all… skeptical. A thousand and one words clearly buzzed behind those blue and orange eyes, until finally… he landed on a response.

"Doubtful." Was all he said.

"I mean, if you want to see, I can show you how I—""Perhaps another time, newrealmer." He shut me down just as an attendant finished loading the last of his belongings into the carriage.

"Perhaps we'll simply show you on the race track, Lord Ratom." Thalmin offered gleefully.

"That is, of course, if you were planning on participating in Professor Chiska's golem races."

"Is that a challenge, Prince Havenbrock?" The lizard responded with a slight hint of incredulity.

"If you wish to interpret it as such, then yes." I doubled down, backing Thalmin up with an affirmative nod. This tag-teaming prompted Qiv to let out a disinterested sigh, his eyes turning to Uven who merely stared back with the same dull expressionless visage he always wore. However, it was clear the noble was actually gauging something other than Uven's affirmation, as he seemed to be counting just how many other students' eyes were on him during that exchange.

With a brief lull in the conversation, he seemed to hesitate before finally giving a response.

"Challenge accepted. A friendly challenge, of course. I hold no desire to demonstrate myself in such sporty affairs, after all." He added quickly, and with a calculated sort of cadence.

"Nevertheless, I do hope you do not overuse your Firstmark Seals, newrealmer. I wouldn't wish to see you exhaust your conveyance before our rally, after all." Qiv eventually disappeared into the carriage without another word exchanged, prompting me to turn back to the crocodile squad.

"Now that Lord Ratom mentioned it, your conveyance is rather… odd, newrealmer." Gumigo acknowledged.

"Yes, yes! I'd assumed it to be some form of modified monotreader capable of handling your heft, but now that Lord Ratom mentions it…" The smaller gator trailed off, moving to examine the motorcycle even closer now. Gumigo followed suit, lowering himself and demonstrating a flexibility I hadn't at all expected from him. His eyes narrowed as he looked beneath and through the open spaces in the bodywork, into the nitty gritty innards that weren't covered by it.

"Ah… I don't sense any enchantments within it." He mused under a surprised breath.

"Is it only the armor that exudes your conveyance's aura?" He asked, not necessarily towards me, but more so out of some open and trailing train of thought.

"But how would it…" The smaller gator questioned, before turning to meet Gumigo's befuddled gaze. It was around this point that the both of them turned towards me with the same shocked expression Ilunor, Thalmin, and Thacea wore on those first few days.

"Newrealmer… how exactly do you expect your conveyance to even move?"

"Well, Lord Gumigo… let's just say that there's one or two tricks my people have learned to harness and master over the centuries. Tricks which allow for movement, comparable to many of your conveyances… without enchantments nor artificing." I spoke with a wink, placing an armored hand top of a cocked hip." Ahem." Thalmin interjected, the prince quickly gesturing towards an approaching squad and their leopard leader that had him squarely in their sights.

"Oh, er, perhaps we can discuss this another time, Lord Gumigo." I spoke urgently.

"Ah, yes yes! We shall meet you in the meadows, newrealmer!"

"Let's actually see it move, yes!" The smaller gator beamed.

"Yeah, sure, see ya—""May I have your attention, please!" Another voice boomed out, this one belonging to Chiska.

"All students with personal conveyances may now leave! To all students who have chartered a river cruise —" The feline practically seethed at that ridiculous comment. A sentiment that I wholeheartedly agreed with after a moment of reflection.

"—please line up in an orderly fashion at…" NEIIGHHHH! Thalmin's horse reared loudly, the prince once more gesturing at the incoming leopard who had transitioned from a gentle walk to an all-out jog now. I took this as our sign to leave, hopping on the V4c with a twirl and fluttering Mifis' GUN travel cloak as I did so. I've always wanted to do that… With another glance towards Thalmin, I took a deep breath as I steadied my hands on both of the V4c's handlebars. [All Systems Nominal.]"EVI, give me full manual control." [Affirmative.] Time slowed to a proverbial crawl now, as my focus shifted towards not just Thalmin, or the encroachment of his ever-eager fanclub. Instead, my eyes were leveled towards the rest of the conveyances that were poised to leave right about as we were. Gumigo's stagecoach, complete with four meticulously carved stone-drake golems, stood idly by as he turned towards me in the 'driver' seat high above us, tipping his slouch hat in my general direction.

Qiv's carriage, literally your typical fantasy princess carriage, stood ominously without the presence of mounts nor drivers, reminding me more of Lord Lartia's carriage but shrunk down for its modest role in holding just two occupants. Ping's carriage, however, stood far larger than either Qiv or Gumigo's conveyances. Indeed, it was the biggest non-tower vehicle on the lot.

A double-deckered, souped-up carriage that was as elegant as your 25th century Martian all-terrain omni-utility vehicle designed for the Martian badlands but destined for the garage of your post-war martian suburbanite. I took a deep breath, as without a clear 'go-ahead' due to Chiska's preoccupation with the cruise group, everyone seemed to be waiting on each other to push off the starting line. My hands trembled as a single bead of sweat poured down my brow. There was no revving of engines as would be expected.

Though there were several large bursts of mana radiation, as if that's how they made up for the lack of any physical tells. ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 340% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS Gumigo turned excitedly at us, and the rest of our fellow travel companions. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 400% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS Qiv rolled down his window, if only to glower at both of us, and Gumigo's smaller stagecoach. ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 500% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS Ping followed suit, a shit-eating grin and a prolonged snort, showing that the largest burst of mana radiation was clearly analogous to the 'loudest' revving of these proverbial magical 'engines'.

With no further indications as to who was to start, it was Gumigo's troupe who was first off the line.

"YA! GO GO GO!" He screamed, sending several solid bursts of mana radiation through those reins and into the golems. All four beasts suddenly roared to life, kicking dust and dirt behind them at impressive speeds. KA-THWOMP KA-THWOMP KA-THWOMP Qiv quickly followed, the steel-reinforced wooden wheels of his carriage crackling to life with several bursts of mana radiation. WHOOOOSH!

Then finally, Ping followed suit, a solid THUD marking the magical equivalent of an OUV's start as it completely and utterly smoked Gumigo's troupe. However, this was where Thalmin and I finally pushed forwards, the prince giving his horse a firm command as the familiar sounds of a galloping horse finally echoed through the air.

CLOP CLOP CLOP This was followed close in tow by a familiar high-pitched whine, one louder than any the Nexus had yet seen, as the motor within the V4c could only be rivalled by that of the MOTHERSHIP drone. Many amidst the crowd quickly snapped their heads in my direction. Though only a certain leopard crowd seemed less bothered by that development and more dejected by our sudden departure.

"I'll see you in the meadows, Prince Havenbrock!" Cynthis called out, waving us… or rather, Thalmin goodbye. No sooner did those words echo into the distance did I quickly overtake Thalmin, moving forward to smoke Gumigo's group, before promptly leveling out near Qiv's carriage. However, because this wasn't yet our challenge, I simply gave the man a nod, prompting the gorn-esque lizard to simply roll up his window in annoyance.

It would, however, be Ping that was my ultimate target as I pushed the V4c harder, the whirring of the electric motors dominating the otherwise silent air while the speedometer climbed to 90, 100, 120… I found myself neck to neck with Ping's mega-carriage at about 150, my smile growing wider and wider as I toyed and continued to straddle what felt like the functional limit of his carriage's speed.

Though, quite unexpectedly, he surprised me as he pushed the large and unwieldy thing to 170 kph, the bull even rolling down his window to give me a dismissive wave as he left me in the dust… I waited for a few seconds to see where he was going with this, watching as the carriage peaked at 180, its suspension surprisingly holding out despite the inconsistent bursts of mana radiation it was giving off.

I took a deep breath, savoring the hunt, before twisting my wrist sharply and pushing the V4c to even greater speeds. It took barely a handful of breaths to reach the bull's window. At which point, I saw him wide-eyed, slack-jawed, and utterly fuming at the seams. Though sadly, that sight would be short-lived. As Vicini Lorsi's cries and frantic scrambles cut our nonverbal exchange short.

"Lord Ping, we cannot sustain—""I WILL DICTATE WHAT WE CAN OR CANNOT DO!" A large and unsteady burst of mana radiation followed, causing Ping's carriage to suddenly lose speed, as I promptly just cruised on, only turning back to wave at the rapidly decelerating carriage with a noble's wave. Sadly, the bull had long since rolled up his window. Moreover, he'd now pulled up by the side of the road, eventually being smoked by Qiv's carriage, Gumigo's stagecoach, and Thalmin's horse in that order.

But I could only imagine what sort of faces he was making just behind that pane of magically polarized glass. The Crown Herald Town of Elaseer. Outer Wall Ring Road. Local Time 1305 Hours. Emma We made surprisingly good headway as we coasted and hugged the outer edges of the town, sticking to paths occupied by the occasional horse and buggy, mule drawn cart, and whatever else non-magical conveyance existed in this dastardly dichotomous world between the magical and the non -magical.

If anything, the outer edges of town reminded me of the outer ring service highways common in old metros — dedicated roads for commercial and industrial traffic but not much else. Which was a good thing, given how Thalmin had hoped to avoid picking up on any unwanted attention.

Though attention was inevitably drawn by virtue of our two conveyances, it was clear the locals' eyes were drawn more to us as a collective whole rather than the V4c itself; Sorecar's magical mods clearly having worked out quite well all things considered.

"You know… I'm not really looking forward to using the transportium." I admitted, turning to Thalmin before grabbing the pamphlet that Chiska had handed out to us during orientation.

"I understand the hesitation, Emma. The… incident with Mal'tory's portal would've left even the most seasoned chosen one to reassess their faith in portal travel. However, to counter that, I'd like to pose a question — you've no doubt experienced Vanavan's conjured portal back to the Academy, no?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Then try focusing on that experience rather than Mal'tory's. The former was an anomalous incident, resulting from both a forced entry into a singleton portal, as well as whatever safeguards Mal'tory had put in place to ensure said singleton status. Most portal travel is far less… malicious, and more akin to your experiences with Vanavan's teleportation magic."

"I'll definitely try, Thalmin. Thanks." I nodded in acknowledgement, before quickly looking over into the distance at our intended destination.

"The town's Transportium nexus should be just beyond the Warehouse district. The Western wall's townguard keep is what we should be on the lookout for." The prince spoke.

"Right, I'll keep an eye out for—" [Alert. Anomalous activity detected on external visual sensors. Source: V4c Cam No. 3. TIMESTAMP… Incident Start: 12. 20. 23… Incident End… 12. 21. 22. Total time elapsed: 59 seconds. Read Annotated Local Security Report?]"Go for it, EVI." I acknowledged, cutting my words short as I began scrolling through the incident report. My eyes widened as I realized what I was seeing, prompting me to quickly signal Thalmin to pull over.

The prince, clearly catching wind that something had gone awry, dismounted quickly; the both of us distancing ourselves from our vehicles. Without any words exchanged, Thalmin quickly deployed a privacy screen, giving me what he'd taught me as the Havenbrockian 'all clear' signal — a clenched fist held perpendicular to the sternum.

"What is it, Emma?" He questioned.

"We have a situation." I spoke as I grabbed hold of my datatab, handing it over to Thalmin. The security footage started playing soon after. To the untrained eye, it would seem as if it was a whole 59 seconds of nothing. Thankfully, both the prince's intuition and the EVI's visual analysis algorithms seemed to align at about the same time, as Thalmin preempted the EVI's annotations highlighting movement towards the rear of the horse armor at about 25 seconds in.

It was barely noticeable, what amounted to a little divot forming to the rear of the armor. One that didn't exactly conform to the natural bending and flexing of the horse's own movements, or even the wind. However, what truly gave it away was the slight and barely noticeable addition in the armor's chainmail — a raised protrusion over a single link of chain mail that was caught in 16k.

"I should've felt something was off." He chastised himself firmly before moving once more to the horse, poised to do something to the armor. However, before any mana radiation signatures could be detected, he pulled back, shaking his head once more as he let out yet another sigh.

"No. Any detection spells or investigation magic would immediately render our advantage useless." He began, placing his snout in his hand in contemplative thought.

"I'm assuming we're dealing with some sort of magical tracker?" I attempted to clarify.

"Something probably high-end, given how there were barely any hints of it, both visually and magically?"

"It's, as you say — high end — Emma." Thalmin acknowledged.

"So much so that any cursory glances into and around the manastreams result in nothing out of the ordinary being felt." The lupinor began walking laps around both of our vehicles, his fingers continually scratching the fur beneath his snout.

"Either the dean or the goldthorn wishes to track us." He stated simply.

"Either way, the situation remains the same — we are currently in a precarious situation… but we do hold the advantage."

"They have no idea that we've detected it."

"Precisely. Thanks to your manaless memory shards, we currently stand one step ahead of them. But where we go from here… is currently up in the air." Thalmin admitted with a sullen sigh.

"We could just abandon the horse armor, right? I mean, I get it was an expensive upgrade and whatnot, but—" I stopped myself as the prince eyed me with a knowing gaze.

"Yeah, no, that's a crap idea. It'd take them a few hours tops to realize something's gone awry. Afterwhich, they'd just pull some other crap on us or track us the old-fashioned way." I quickly corrected myself.

"If we are to gain long term reprieve from this chase, we need to find a more permanent solution. One in which we can press our advantage in this shadowy theatre of war." Thalmin offered.

"We need to not only be rid of the tracker, but use it to our advantage."

"We need to go full MILDEC, huh?" I replied bluntly.

"Right, okay, hm… selling or putting the horse armor on another horse wouldn't really work."

"No, it wouldn't." Thalmin replied bluntly.

"Sending the horse away wouldn't really work too since they'd just be onto us in a heartbeat."

"Correct." The prince nodded.

"We need some place to dispose of the horse armor." I began.

"Some means to keep it moving on a similar enough path as the rest of the other peer groups." Thalmin added.

"At roughly the same pace and speed too." I added.

"In order to maintain the guise of plausibility to lead them off our trail." Thalmin concluded. The both of us fell into silence, kicking up dirt and grass as we did so before a lightbulb moment hit us. At which point, we quickly turned to face each other, Thalmin shooting me a knowing gaze which I unfortunately could not reciprocate.

"A place where we may either entrap our pursuer—" I began.

"—or keep them constantly on the run." Thalmin concluded." The river cruise." We both spoke at the same time with wide toothy grins. We moved to close the gap with a solid high-five, eventually resulting in us gripping each other's hands, before slamming both of them close to our chests; celebrating the synergy of our shared goober tactics. With no time to lose, we quickly hopped on our mounts, setting off for a district we'd passed by on several occasions but had yet to truly explore — the riverfront ports.

"So… how do you propose we actually get on the cruise? Let alone lose whoever's following us on the ship? I mean, you saw how he was completely invisible on my cameras and sensors." I asked, as the unfortunate logistics of the otherwise sound and solid plan started rearing its ugly head.

"Our pursuer is probably using the same cloak of invisibility as Ilunor did in the workshop." Thalmin offered.

"This makes it difficult if not impossible to truly spot them. However, our plan isn't contingent on actually finding the pursuer. Ours is a feint, a ruse, a diversion tactic after all. We simply need to remain on the boat for as long as possible before departing at the last minute. Whether they get on or remain on shore is irrelevant. We'd have trapped them in the former scenario, or will be sending them on a wild cowvern chase in the latter. Forcing them to desperately follow a ship on land."

"Right." I acknowledged with a nod.

"So our real concern is in getting on the boat, and exiting right at the eleventh hour."

"Correct, Emma."

"Alright… Well then, I hope you have your coin pouch open, Thalmin. I'll be sure to pay you back when we get back." The Crown Herald Town of Elaseer. Riverfront. Dock 3. Local Time 1345 Hours. Emma There was a healthy flurry of activity at the docks.

With carts hauling fresh produce and canvas-covered tarps, to gentrified versions of the stalls I saw over at common-town, hawking overpriced wares ranging from 'authentic' souvenirs from far-off lands to freshly-cooked and magically-infused treats that just screamed overpriced.

"Daisy's Doughy Delights! Get your airy cloud puffs! Get your angel strudels! All baked by the hearth of a genuine fire elemental from the western lavalands!" A particularly thin elf shouted from one of the stalls, his voice intermingling with a hundred other vendors that cried out for attention from a tough and frankly disinterested crowd. A crowd consisting of dock workers and town officials, to the merchants and nobles that stood leagues above them in fashion and dress. It was…

honestly a bit jarring to see the dichotomy here. Other parts of town hid it much better, but here? You could really start to see the class disparity. Or at least, the disparity that existed between the necessary'middling' class, and those of noble blood. The working classes seemed to be sequestered somewhere hidden, probably in the warehouse district.

Whatever the case was, I didn't allow the flurry of distractions to get the best of me, as Thalmin and I pushed forwards down the vehicle-friendly road towards a particularly large riverboat. A boat which immediately became my next object of interest, as my eyes settled on the two large outriggers that kept it a fair distance away from the actual port itself.

"A trimaran?" I questioned, turning to Thalmin as he nodded.

"Those two outriggers you see act similarly to the wings of an aethraship. They're advanced artifices, capable of propelling the boat through water using a series of complex enchantments, spells, and whatnot. All commanded by either a carefully organized crew of chosen ones, or some mage of some sort." Thalmin explained, prompting me to simply let out an 'ahh' as we made our way closer towards the boat and its docking boom.

The whole length of the craft spanned two entire designated docks, reaching about three-hundred or so feet from bow to stern. This relatively large size compared to both passengers and cargo granted some clemency in terms of portside congestion. Though this also meant the passengers, crew, and staff were quick to pick up on our arrival.

Two figures ended up meeting us halfway from the ship, one of whom was an elf donning more or less what I'd expected of a Venetian ship captain and the other being a student that was unfortunately on shaky terms with our group… and me in particular.

"Ahem." The tortle-like-turtle cleared his throat, crossing his arms as he glared daggers in my direction.

"What do you think you are doing here, newrealmer?" He seethed.

"You appear to not be on our passenger manifest, nor our leasing contract…" The boat captain quickly added, scrolling through his elongated scroll in the process.

"There's been a change of plans, Lord Ysiv." Thalmin spoke on my behalf, bowing halfway as he did so.

"If you would be so kind, we request passage aboard this vessel." The prince paused, before gesturing towards the V4c.

"There's been… certain magical limitations when it comes to Cadet Emma Booker's conveyance. We wish for a more convenient passage as a result, in order to—""Such is typical for an uppity newrealmer desperate to make itself known." Ysiv acknowledged with a snarky jab, prompting me to do everything in my power not to strike him down where he stood.

"There is no need for such language Lord Ysiv." Thalmin rebutted, his fangs bearing ever so slightly.

"Oh? Is that so? And what are you to do about it, mercenary prince? Just to reiterate your position in the current hierarchy, you are currently playing the role of the beggar. And last I checked? Beggars cannot be choosers. Not with gold, not with services, and most certainly not with requests." The tortle-like-tortoise rambled out slowly, methodically, clearly enjoying this 'dressing down' of the prince.

"So what say you, oh usurper prince? Do you wish to contest your betters, or do you wish to—" Thalmin quickly turned his back on the tortle-like tortoise, cutting him off before ignoring him entirely. A quick glance towards me was enough to convey his stance on the matter, as unlike Ilunor or even Thacea, the prince had zero tolerance and no stomach for noble discourse.

"I was not finished with you!" Ysiv screamed out, but to no avail. Once we were out of earshot and under a fresh new privacy screen, did Thalmin finally speak.

"I have acted brashly, Emma. For that, I apologize." He apologized.

"However, I could not stand by and allow that impetuous creature to sully both of our names. Even if it is for 'passage' on that vessel. I'd rather we face down this spy than to have my honor besmirched for the sake of convenience."

"It's alright, Thalmin. I appreciate your integrity there." I replied reassuringly.

"We'll regroup and reevaluate our plan of action. I'm sure there's—""Ahem." Another voice suddenly interrupted us from behind, just outside of our cone of silence.

"I apologize if I'm intruding in this private conversation, but I overheard your earlier arguments with our dear, old cruise coordinator." The orange haired elf spoke casually, almost too casually. [A80 Lord Favril Etale] The name was familiar, as with most names in the student body. In fact, the man's presence as one of the few elves in the year group did make him stand out some more. But then again, given our limited contact, that was about just as much as I recognized of him.

"I do apologize for the adjacent realmer's rather uncouth decorum. He acts so far beyond his years as is typical of his kind." Etale chuckled through a polite grin.

"In any case, I know you are a knight of action, earthrealmer. As much as your grandiose and web-weaving speeches seem to indicate otherwise." He once more chuckled at his jokes, shaking his head all the while.

"I wish to aid you in your request, to offer you a room aboard our little cruise. Both you and your Havenbrockian partner, of course." I blinked in response, cocking my head as a result. His tone was… difficult to pin down. On one hand, it felt awfully less condescending than the tortle-like tortoise. But on the other hand, there was something hidden there beneath the excitable and agreeable persona that I just couldn't pin down.

"What's the catch?" Thalmin quickly chimed in, taking the words right out of my mouth.

"Ah, there it is." The elf raised a finger." The catch. There's always a catch to anything with my kind, hmm?" He spoke slyly.

"But yes, you would be wise to ask that. Indeed, my catch, as it were, is that you must earn this passage." Those latter words didn't sit right with me, nor Thalmin for that matter. But before any of us could interject, another elf quickly walked up to stand beside him. [A81 Lady Lesaine Evrail]"Oh just get to the point already, Lord Etale. The ship departs in just over two hours!" The white-haired elf woman spoke, before turning towards me with an expectant grin." Earn your passage, what an ominous thing to say."

Evrail sighed, shaking her head with an exasperated breath.

"Simply put, earthrealmer, we offer you a challenge. We've seen how you have fared in the realm of physical activity, but we are curious as to your more intellectual pursuits. In short, we wish to challenge you to a duel. A single round of our favorite game…"

"Lines of Succession [Remastered]." They both spoke simultaneously. Everything quickly clicked into place following that demand, my mind immediately recalling exactly who these two were… two of the table-top RTS gamers in the third nook of the student lounge…

"We offer a simple lightning round, concurrent turns, and a full ten-thousand point limit." Lady Evrail continued.

"That's full unit and logistics points too. If you truly do hail from as advanced a civilization as you claim, then you should have no problems in demonstrating your abilities to conduct contemporary warfare, yes?" Lord Etale quickly added, as both elves grinned like jackals waiting for their next easy meal.

"Well, what do you say, earthrelamer? Do we have a deal?" I couldn't help but to grin internally, excitement quickly overtaking me. You two don't know what's coming… I quickly thought to myself. All those hours on Era of Kingdoms are finally going to pay off.

"Yeah. You've got yourselves a deal." I acknowledged with a handshake.