“That wasn’t surprising?” asked Nate. “Captain Borin just surrendered after two exchanges.”

“Hondo, you field this one,” ordered Grommir.

“I informed Captain Borin ahead of time that your companion, Kiri Beaufoy, was undoubtedly a Seed and potentially a Second Evolution Lesser Divine. As such, if she was found to be able to handle his attacks, or worse, generate Divine Energy from them, he was to surrender, as every exchange would then have the potential to make her more powerful. While it is a risk taking a loss so early, it’s calculated that he will likely win enough of his following matches without reaching into his own Divine Energy reserves.”

It made sense to Nate, even if it was anticlimactic. Kiri was no doubt going to be pissed. Still, Nate could hardly fault the Golden Tide members for being so pragmatic, especially given the costs in Divine Energy they had to push through to improve.

“You’re welcome to stay,” offered Grommir. “Or you can go join your companion as she’s no doubt done for the day.”

“I’ll go join her, I think,” replied Nate, his mouth twisting a little at the debt between them.

Grommir had offered a lot of information, some of which had value to Nate, and now Reciprocity was humming that the bill had come due.

“A painting,” suggested Grommir, no doubt also sensing the debt. “A portrait of me.”

Nate felt Reciprocity shift in the other direction, with Grommir now owing Nate. A moment later two Low-Grade Divine Artifacts were offered to settle the debt. One hummed with the Concept of Metal while the other was white as bone and felt like Durability. Nate accepted the pair and closed his eyes, focusing on the memory of his first meeting with Grommir.

The ogre had towered over the other Divines in his red and gold armour. Sturdy as a mountain and calm as a frozen river. Drawing on that inspiration, Nate created a rune built from his Art, Paint, and Control Sigils. Reaching into his spatial zone, Nate began to craft a portrait. It wasn’t the same as doing the brushstrokes manually and he could tell that because he wasn’t as involved in the creative process, he was unlikely to generate any Divine Energy from his work. Normally he would have taken the time to create the painting later but he expected to be busy with development, warding off kidnapping attempts, supporting his team, and the crafting tournament over the next few weeks. As such, he didn’t want this debt hanging over his head.

Within a minute the painting was done and Nate pulled it out of his spatial zone. The canvas was over a metre tall and detailed Grommir in his armour, with his rank markings on full display, standing over a field of indistinct battle with swirls of red and gold for the Golden Tide fighting against creatures with many legs wreathed in shadow. The indistinct nature of the battle led the eyes to the defined image of Grommir that dominated the painting.

“Will this suffice?” asked Nate.

Grommir nodded, already picking the painting up to admire it.

“This will suffice. Marshal Hondo, make sure that room is made upon my wall for this portrait.”

“Yes, sir!”

Nate scooped up the Low-Divine Artifacts and, after bidding polite farewells, saw himself out of the private box and off to see Kiri. The lingering scents of seasoned meat remained in his nose reminding him that maybe it was time to get something to eat.

*************

“That was generous of you, sir,” remarked Marshal Hondo as the orc watched the Lesser Divine human float back down towards the stands below.

Grommir could hear the reproach and question in his assistant's voice. Grommir shot a look at the two Lesser Divine soldiers present. Well trained as they were, the pair instantly understood and grabbed the chef before exiting the private box.

Alone with Hondo now, Grommir gave the Greater Divine his full attention, “And why do you think that is?”

“I honestly don’t know, sir. Second Evolutions show up rarely and their survival time is always short. Even when they can bridge the gap in levels, they ultimately lose the numbers fight. Those that are kept hidden within their faction’s strongholds end up assassinated. Isn’t giving him so many Divine Artifacts, even Low-Grade ones, a waste? Or worse, granting power to whoever ends up killing him?”

“Nothing in particular you’ve said is wrong, Hondo. However, there are factors you’re not considering. When was the last time you heard of two Second Evolutions appearing together?”

“Last recorded was two-hundred-and-twelve years ago by the Huntington Federation, sir. The President attempted to have her twin children raised as Second Evolutions in secret. They were assassinated by the Nightstalker Guild and the President was subsequently deposed and executed by her own people for the waste of resources. The Huntington Federation ceased to exist ninety years later when it was ‘conquered’ by The Eternium.”

“Precisely. The Huntington Federation bankrupted themselves to create and progress that pair as quickly as they did. Which left them little room to equip the pair. What did you think of Nate’s robe?” asked Grommir.

“You said it might be a High-Grade Divine artifact,” ventured Hondo.

“Might. More likely it is Peak-Grade. What about hers, Kiri Beaufoy’s?”

“No idea, Sir. Looks like black wyvern scale armour. If it’s Peak-Grade as well, then I have no idea where they could have gotten such within The Heartlands. Black wyverns are rare and True Divines that could leave Peak-Grade scales even rarer. I can’t think of a faction that has one.”

“You are correct that there isn’t one, and that the armour is Peak-Grade, but not about it being wyvern scale.”

Hondo frowned.

“It’s understandable that you wouldn’t know, Hondo. Most wouldn’t. Have you ever met X’valia’severn, the Silver Scaled Wyvern and Lord of the Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent?”

“No, sir.”

“I have. And a few other Wyverns who achieved Greater and Lesser Divinity. You know what they all had in common? The shape of their scales. The edges are slightly rounded, like a snake. Kiri Beaufoy’s armour however had scales that tapered to a point.”

“So, they were made from some other beast? A hydra perhaps?”

Grommir snorted, turning back to look out the viewing window at the battles taking place below.

“I’ve seen scales shaped like that once before, Hondo. On Belori’khan’andur.”

Hondo sucked in a breath and Grommir nodded slightly. He had been just as surprised as his subordinate when he’d look further into Nate’s companions. Dragon scales were beyond rare and always Peak-Grade. Those mythic and dangerous creatures started life at the Legendary tier at the very least.

“But sir,” muttered Hondo. “Belori’khan’andur has red scales.”

“He does,” agreed Grommir. “And the other two dragons I know of have blue and white scales. I have never heard of a dragon with black scales. Which begs the question, where did they get the scales from.”

“So, you’re courting Nate to find out?”

Grommir frowned, “No. I’m courting Nate because in the event that the Peak-Grade artifacts were a gift from their Master, which is almost a certainty, then I would like to be on good terms with such an individual should the pair survive the Reaping. And someone that powerful must have a level of confidence his Seeds can survive the proverbial storm they have started with their reveals.”

Hondo lapsed into silence as Grommir continued to stare out the window. The Grand Marshal left unsaid that he also liked Nate’s artwork. A good general always attacked from multiple angles after all and didn’t reveal all of his strategies.

*************

Nate, Wulfgar, Jemima, and Frick sat around the table in Nate’s room as Kiri drank away her anger. Every sip of whatever hellish concoction Jemima had put together sent lines of black rushing away from Kiri’s mouth, tracing winding paths down her neck as his sister Endured. Nate thought that he was incredibly thankful that his own Path didn’t involve such suffering. If Kiri felt the same, she wasn’t showing it as she continued to down the poison like it was water.

“I can’t believe he just surrendered like that! We had barely gotten started!” raged Kiri.

“I don’t blame him,” mumbled Wulfgar as he continued to grow back his left arm.

The old Bloodborne Executioner had won his own match, though not without giving up his arm to score the decisive blow that ended the battle. The Concept of Flames lingered in the limb and it was taking the old warrior a little while to scrub the foreign mana from his body so his regeneration Skill could fix the damage.

“What?” growled Kiri.

Wulfgar shook his stump at her, “We don’t all have Divine Energy coming out of our ears. What was he going to do? Keep hitting you while you constantly gain Divine Energy from the exchanges? While risking injury? Sounds like a shit deal. I knew you two were crazy but the rumours I am hearing. Did you know they don’t have any records of a Second Evolution Divinity surviving beyond Greater Divine? And even then, there were like two names mentioned. Two that managed to survive as Lesser Divines and evolve once, only to get squashed the moment they entered the realm of Greater Divine. You two have dropped us in the shit.”

Kiri pursed her lips at the tirade but didn’t refute Wulfgar’s accusation while Jemima simply kept her head down. Nate wondered if the alchemist was secretly hoping that he and Kiri would get offed and free her from her enslavement. Even now it was hard for Nate to think of what they were doing to the woman as anything else. He only continued to tolerate it because, so far, it seemed that Jemima would prefer enslavement to death. Nate wondered if he would’ve chosen similarly. The thought kept returning considering the risks they were taking by revealing themselves would either lead to total victory or facing the exact same choices. Though, he supposed, even if he chose enslavement, some other faction might assassinate him.

Pulling himself forcibly out of such morose thoughts, he tapped his fingernails on the wooden table to get everyone's attention.

“Yes, we have put you in an awkward position. And yes, you might die in the crossfire if things go south. If you want to jump ship Wulfgar, you can. No questions asked and no hard feelings. I’ll even tell you how to get back to Galle.”

Wulfgar, no doubt still angry from his wound, glared at Nate for a moment.

“Is there an ‘or’ coming? Are you hinting at a second option, Nate?”

There was a second option. Nate had already made the decision to try and make friends. The question now was, could Wulfgar be an ally? The Lord-Prefect of the Guild had proven himself a good man in Nate’s eyes. Not a saint, of course, but then, how many people were? Besides Rania of course. Wulfgar had shown himself moral enough that Nate was willing to take a chance on him. The same was not true of Jemima.

Nate shot a glance at Kiri. It was clear she understood as a moment later she was ushering Jemima out of the room. With the room sealed Nate created multiple runes, layering barriers against Sound and Soul while cloaking the area in Shadow, all flavoured with hints of Destruction. He finished by creating a Mana Exclusion rune. Then he added Divine Energy to the mix. By the end of it Wulfgar was starting to look worried.

“Relax,” grumbled Kiri, giving the old warrior a gentle shove. “He’s just making sure no one is listening in who shouldn’t be.”

“Alright,” agreed Nate. “Now that we have some privacy, we’re clearly confident in our ability to handle the amount of aggression that is about to get thrown our way. The question is, if we tell you why… if we give you the opportunity to seize that same power… are you with us? Not just for the Reaping, but for making Galle a better place when we’re finished here in the Heartlands.”

He paused a moment before continuing, “Take your time, and honestly, it’s okay if the answer is ‘no’. Nine hells, Jak’s team would probably take you if you asked. We can let the Guild know when we return if you’d rather stay here in the Heartlands. I’m just giving you options here. Giving you outs. And an apology for getting you caught up in this without giving you a warning. Sorry.”

Nate slumped back in his seat feeling like a bit of an ass. He’d gone off half-cocked, not considering the position he was putting Wulfgar in. He’d gotten too used to it just being him, Kiri, and Frick in the mix and both his sister and his Familiar were the ride or die kind of people. Now, he had to deal with the fallout of his decision and make it right, one way or another.

Nate had expected the silence to drag on but he’d forgotten to factor in Wulfgar’s nature. The Lord-Prefect wasn’t the kind of man to take his time making life changing decisions.

“Lad, I am many things, but a fucking coward ain’t one of them! You dropped me in the shit without asking my permission. The both of you! That pissed me right off! But don’t think for a second I have forgotten what you did back home. You got rid of those two fucking lunatics, even if you decided to collar one of them and don’t get me started on that! Shit! What was I trying to say?”

“Not a coward,” interjected Kiri.

“Right! I ain’t a coward! You’re good kids. The kind of kids that the Adventurer’s Guild was always meant to support. Not produce, because let’s be honest, you two are freaks of nature. I’ve been here barely a couple of weeks and I can already tell that we come from a vastly different place than this lot. I ain’t been pushed like that battle today since I was back in the Legendary-tier. Yet you two are handling this new level of pressure without breaking a sweat… shit… I am off track again.”

“You were trying to get to your decision, I think,” suggested Nate.

“Right. My decision. I’m in. I’m fucking in,” stated Wulfgar, slapping his hands down on the table.

Nate smiled.

“Alright, well then the first thing we’ll need to do is improve your armour and weapon.”

He paused to glance at Kiri, “Both?”

“Both,” she agreed. “He’ll need the leg up when the factions start sending multiple teams after us.”

“What do you mean improve?” asked Wulfgar warily.

“I was going to make them as powerful as Kiri’s armour and my robe,” said Nate simply.

Wulfgar was already rubbing his forehead like he felt a headache coming on, “You made them, didn’t you? They’re not like Dungeon rewards… you fucking made them… why am I even surprised anymore. Fine. Yeah, let’s do that. I appreciate it.”

Nate’s facial expression went from pleased to panic as the patio wall exploded in a conflagration of flames.