"How are you, my Lord?"
It was a good question.
After a few hours of walking, the feelings had already cooled — with the specific temperature of something that had cooled because it had been processed, not because it had stopped existing. The shot had been clean. The decision had been right. And even so there was something that remained — not guilt, because guilt presupposes error, and I hadn't made an error. It was something else. Closer to weight than to remorse. The kind of thing you carry not because you deserve to, but because you were the one who was there.
Life in the Oasis was kill or be killed. Choices needed to be made every day. I had made the best possible choice given what there was — and I would have to live with it.
It was strange to realize that things were rarely black or white. Most of the time they were grey. And grey was the color I was learning to live with.
"I feel like I'm learning to cope." — I said. — "We need to stay strong at any cost. It's the only way."
The most practical truth was that I needed money — and the stones Zaetar carried in two backpacks were the answer to most of my immediate problems. What had made the collection easier was that most of the spiders had died carbonized near the queen — concentrated, without needing to be hunted individually. The ash field had been laborious. The result had been worth it.
[ NECTAR STONES — CURRENT INVENTORY ]
Low quality ............... 3,200 units
Medium of very low quality ..... 857 units
High of low quality ............ 102 units
Exceptional of low quality ...... 22 units
Supreme of low quality ........... 1 unit
Enough to cover everything with a large margin — the loss of the soldiers, the cost of destroyed armors and weapons, the Treebeard' axes that the Greek fire had consumed along with the forest. Even the low quality stones, with their low unit value, covered the operation's cost with margin.
The quantity of creatures in the nest was surreal — and that was clear from the simple fact that even with that enormous quantity of stones, they had come from well under half of the creatures killed. The ring was full, forcing me to empty the two bags that had previously contained what remained of baking soda — no longer useful — and fill them with stones that Zaetar carried on his back. My blackened hands and aching body still communicated the process of searching stone by stone alongside Livina through the ash field.
I had lost some high quality stones — and at least two exceptional ones — because the Cockatrice had decided they were interesting snacks.
The result of the gluttony had been immediate and visible: she was now as tall as the worker spiders, having grown several good centimeters in the space of hours. It was clear that consuming those stones interfered with something in her development process — making her compulsive to the point of ignoring me when I told her to stop. I still needed money and had plans for kingdom expansion — so she would have to wait for another opportunity.
The Urskra, in contrast, had shown no interest whatsoever in the stones. My theory was that in adult creatures the mechanism had stabilized — that in the adult phase they stopped killing for interest in the stones and started killing only so as not to die of hunger. It was my hypothesis, without a source, without confirmation. Nobody in the Oasis had much interest in understanding the ecological structure of the place — the available information groped almost exclusively at how to kill and how not to be killed.
✦
"How is your hand? Do you want me to cast more healing on you?"
"No, my Lord. I'm fine." — Livina said, with the tone of someone about to elaborate. — "By the time we reach the territory I'll have healed. My race is very strong and warrior."
"Of course, Liv. Let me know if anything comes up."
The incursion had been a success in numbers. But what still occupied my attention wasn't just the numbers.
In my hands was something I hadn't expected to find.
A semi-transparent stone in a diamond-cut lozenge shape — not cut by human hands, but produced in that form as a result of what had existed. At the center, a frozen figure unmistakably resembling the Yokai queen.
"I see someone is more interested in the new toy." — Livina said. — "Don't worry — she's not in there. It's just the Oasis's way of showing the creature's origin to whoever acquires it." — pause. — "Honestly, I'm envious. The only time I saw a stone like this was on an incursion with my family. It's extremely rare — even more so with the inherent power it offers." — another pause, longer. — "You're not thinking of selling it, are you?"
I wasn't.
Supreme stones were something only A+ level creatures could drop — and even then they were rare with the quality of rarity that made seeing one almost impossible, let alone buying one. There was a theory in the Oasis that supreme stones weren't directly related only to the creature and its capability — such that even an A-level creature had a high chance of dropping only exceptional. The criterion was murky to the point of bordering on randomness. But I had learned that randomness didn't exist in the Oasis.
There was always a logic. Probably nobody had found this one's.
"I'm not selling it." — I said. — "I'm thinking about the best way to use it."
Throughout the entire period I had spent in the Oasis, I had avoided consuming stones for myself. The reasoning was simple: the kingdom carried far more weight than individual capability. But a point had been reached where the equation needed to change — and perhaps that stone indicated the right moment to begin that change.
"How do you use it?" — I asked. — "Is it the same as the others?"
"Ah, I see." — Livina said. — "Actually it's simpler — you just bring it close to your mouth and visualize the creature in the image. They say the clearer the image, the stronger the inherent power granted." — she hesitated. — "Honestly, I don't know if that's really true. But it's what I saw and heard."
After questioning Zeus, the answer seemed to be the same — only cloudier, with the Codex's reserve that didn't document what almost nobody would find. I preferred to wait until reaching the kingdom before trying.
✦
"Changing the subject." — Livina said. — "What are you going to do about this?"
She pointed to my arm.
The cocoon was there — white and golden, small, attached to my forearm and pulsing with the regularity of something alive that had found what it needed and had decided to stay.
It had happened right after the queen died. The cocoon had advanced toward my arm while I was still holding the crossbow — a pull that lasted less than a second, discreet, almost respectful. As though asking permission rather than taking. I could have destroyed it the moment it happened. The decision lasted less than the pull.
No.
There was something I owed that queen — not as a debt that could be paid, but as recognition that needed some form of expression. She had given me the cocoon before dying. Had chosen to whom to hand it. Ignoring that would be ignoring the only thing she had asked — and she had asked nothing beyond that.
Keeping the cocoon alive was the most concrete way I had of honoring what had happened there.
The practical problem was that it drew blood in small amounts, but with enough consistency to force me to cast healing on myself from time to time.
"I still don't know." — I said. — "But I want to find out more about this creature. If it's anything like what the bloodsuckers use as a mount, I want to give it a chance."
The bloodsuckers had another name everyone knew: vampires. One of the races that consistently ranked among the top fifty races in the Oasis — with certain unique peculiarities the Codex liked to highlight for reasons I had never fully understood. The most interesting was the fact that they allied easily with creatures that, like them, fed on blood.
They were also, for that singularity, the only race that used Yokai as mounts.
How exactly, nobody knew. But I would pay anything to find out.
They were still one of the few races that maintained close commercial relations with humans — and there was a theory about the reason. The hypothesis was that they had deposited spies or familiars on Earth long ago: fugitives from their planet who had found in humans the perfect camouflage. The physical similarity had facilitated an exchange that reflected in Earth's culture in ways nobody had recognized for what it was. Who would think vampires existed — and that they were aliens? Thinking about that made me reflect on how many signs had been there all along, interpreted as chance or curse by those who didn't have the context to interpret them otherwise.
Because of that proximity, it was also common for humans to summon them as heroes. A race considered rare for its capabilities — but balanced by the fragilities the Codex documented with the same enthusiasm. What made these heroes more attractive than many Epics, however, was something simpler and more valuable than strength: their most common power involved longevity. Their bearers lived longer. Much longer.
It was an integration I had seen before entering the Oasis — in Jasmine's familiar, in the blood magic power I had obtained from her ring and still used, in the art that was exclusive to that race. And later in the Colosseum, with Desmond Dark's powers. It wasn't an unknown race. But they were very reserved, and reserve accumulates secrets. And it was exactly those secrets I wanted to uncover.
✦
"Lord. We're arriving."
In the distance, I could finally see the castle. The incursion had cost more time than I had expected — and that was clear from the person waiting for me in front of the open gate.
"Looks like someone missed us."
"Maybe… I mean… Good to have you back."
My smile widened as she ran toward me and threw herself against my body without saying anything more. I didn't say anything either for a moment.
"I'm back."
"I know."
✦
Morgana and the kingdom were well.
The Griffin was still adapting — and by hating the stable, had opted to patrol the territory instead of being confined, playing the role the Treebeard played on the ground perimeter. It was a way of feeling free. I didn't restrict it. Even if it decided to fly away and not return, I would have understood. But just like on the early nights, it came back.
"You managed to get an Exceptional stone?!" — Morgana said, with the tone of someone who had processed the information and still hadn't finished processing it. — "Do you have any idea how rare that is?"
"Of course." — I said. — "Livina made a point of reminding me. More than once." — I paused. — "Did anything happen while I was away?"
Morgana seemed different from when I had left — as though the distance had done us good in a way neither of us had planned. There was still something unresolved between us, and both of us knew it. But there was something lighter too. And both of us knew that as well.
Her eyes went to the cocoon on my arm several times. It was clear she wasn't in favor of what I was doing. But she said nothing — and I understood that the silence was her way of accepting that it was my decision.
I lay down exhausted — from the day, from the blood loss the cocoon kept drawing in small constant installments. But even so, as I closed my eyes, I already knew what to do next.
✦
"Zeus. How long to expand the Castle?"
I didn't intend to expand the castle now — but I needed to. It was the bottleneck preventing everything else from advancing. Without evolving it, the stable would stay at its current limit, and the stable was exactly what I needed to expand. If I were going to try to raise the Yokai from the cocoon and its offspring as mounts, I needed structure that could accommodate what hadn't been designed for those creatures. One problem led to another. And the other led back to the castle.
[ INSUFFICIENT MATERIALS ] [ TIME TO ACCUMULATE AND BEGIN CONSTRUCTION: 8,766 HOURS ]
A year. In theory. In practice, considerably less — it had calculated factoring in the acquisition of supplies taking into account my workers, and I had enough money to buy what I needed without waiting for internal production.
"Zeus. Compute my territory."
[ SPARTA — TERRITORIAL STATUS ]
House Lv. MAX 5 ................... 105 units
Castle Lv. 3 ........................ 1 unit
Storage Lv. MAX 5 .................. 1 unit
Iron and Steel House Lv. MAX 5 ..........1 unit
Hero's Temple Lv. MAX 5 ..............1 unit
Stable Lv. MAX 5 ....................1 unit
Griffin Aerie Lv. 1 (building) .............1 unit
Potion and Magic House Lv. MAX 5 .....1 unit
Market Lv. MAX 5 ..................1 unit
Defense Towers Lv. MAX 5 ........... 30 units
The territory was completely occupied. Each house generated three workers or soldiers — and with the loss of fifty soldiers in the incursion, I could only replace them by destroying and rebuilding, or by evolving the castle and consequently the houses afterward. There were nearly seventeen houses effectively inactive until one of those things happened.
But the territory still had space for more constructions. And my objective was becoming clearer: to have a force relevant enough to defend the territory even without me. For that, I needed the Griffins as the main aerial force. But I kept looking at the cocoon on my arm with increasing frequency.
A domesticated Yokai — if it were possible — was cavalry. And whoever had cavalry was exponentially more capable in open field. The problem was I still didn't know how I would manage it. With the purchasing power I now had, I would risk finding out at the market.
But that would be for tomorrow.
"I really need to rest."
I used healing again — the blood the cocoon drew had increased since the last time I had checked, with the growing consistency of something that had established a connection and was deepening it. I didn't know how long I would hold out before the cost became too high to ignore.
But if there was one thing I knew at that moment, it was that I wouldn't give up.