So. It's been awhile huh. Well you can thank Josette Du Pres for this part, because this would not have been done anytime soon if I hadn't been messaged asking about Ilos haha. Also, a big thanks to Eric for catching some of my spelling mistakes, there always seem to be a few that slip by me when I post :)

There is a good portion of talking in the part and you get to meet a number of the more important members of Sweet Dreams, but I've done my best to keep it from being just a bunch of talking heads. If there is anything you don't understand about how Ilos works, this would be the time to let me know so I can expand upon it.

Hope you enjoy!

 

-Tas

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 9: The End of Isolation

 

 

Ilos, Day 36

 

Tasalin strode down the hallway towards the meeting room inside Sweet Dream’s home fort with Solani by his side, the whisper of her footsteps drowned out by the heavy clanking from his armor and boots. It’d been ten days since they’d established contact with Lassea, and Corvid had convinced him and Solani to keep quiet about it until after he could get some things set up. The guild leader had contacted them about an hour ago, summoning them to the fort, and they had immediately headed back to town and begun the teleport spell that would get them back. An hour was a long time to wait and do nothing while the spell completed, but it certainly beat the several days of travel it would take to get back on foot. Tasalin hoped that they could finally reveal the truth to the people stuck on Ilos, the fact that there was no going back and that all of their bodies on Earth had long since dissolved into nothingness.

That particular piece of news had been a shock. Tasalin liked this world, enjoyed it, and was quickly beginning to consider it his home, but there had always been that small voice in the back of his head that told him he should try to find a way back to Earth, that there was an empty body waiting for him there, something to go back to.

Now that voice was gone. There was nothing left for him there, and that was a depressing feeling. There was no going back.

How many others would feel this way if they told everyone that they were dead as far as the people on Earth were concerned? Would they be able to handle it?

He’d had a lot of time to turn this issue over in his head, most recently the hour wait for the teleport spell to finish, and he still hadn’t come to a correct answer. He knew that the emotions he felt were a bit muted compared to most people, and while it kept him from being overwhelmed sometimes, it was hard to relate to others when he truly didn’t feel the same depth of emotion that they did. It was morally the right decision to release that information; everyone in Ilos had a right to know, but-

A hand smacked his arm. “Tas, you’re frowning again. How many times have I told you not to worry about the things that are out of your control?”

Tasalin shook his head slightly, then looked over at the woman who had been his almost constant companion for the past three and a half weeks, a smile touching his lips despite his somber mood. Black eyes that seemed to draw in the light and condense it into small silver flecks met his own forest-green ones, that small half-smile that seemed to be present whenever she was around him quirking her red lips. Her silky black hair framed a slightly angular face, giving her beautiful features a more serious cast. She had one eyebrow ever so slightly raised, waiting for his answer as she strode silently alongside him.

“I believe the count is at ten.”

“Twelve, actually.” Her smile grew a bit wider and she bumped him with her shoulder, then remained close enough that he would have felt uncomfortable had it been anyone else. “Relax, Corvid knows what he’s doing.”

Tasalin sighed. “I know, I know, and I trust him to do what’s right, but this whole situation still bothers me. Why can we contact the black Keys now? Was this instance thing set up at the very beginning and we just didn’t notice it? Or did-”

“Tas! Enough! I know you’re worried about it, I am too, but we’re going to be meeting to discuss this very issue! Hold on to your questions for just a few more minutes alright?”

Tasalin let out the rest of the air he was going to use for speaking before pulling in a breath and beginning anew with a small smile. “You’re right of course, as always. I don’t know what I would do without you here Sol.”

“Probably drive yourself insane with worry within days!” She laughed.

There were a few moments while Tasalin laughed along with her that everything seemed right, and he found himself thinking that everything would turn out alright so long as they were together. They reached the large doorway to the meeting room and stopped, their mirth trailing off as they looked at each other. His eyes met Solani’s sparkling dark ones and the moment stretched, neither moving.

The door to the meeting room creaked as it swung open and they both jerked back a bit, turning to look at the sudden noise. Corvid stood there in the opening, a small knowing grin on his face. Tasalin felt his cheeks heat, though he felt a bit better when a glance showed Solani’s face was also a bit redder than normal. With unspoken agreement, they both walked forwards through the door as if nothing had happened.

The meeting room was dominated by a large round wooden table that was covered in dents and scratches and looked as if it had seen better days, and the ten chairs that surrounded it were in similar condition. The rest of the room was fairly bare, lacking any decoration besides some rough torch sconces and a few holes in the stone that served as windows.

Unfortunately that was par for the course in the old run down keep Sweet Dreams had taken over, only the most demanded amenities were in good repair and anything that was serviceable was used until it broke. The walls and structure of the keep took priority over everything else, and while those were coming along nicely there was still a lot of work to be done.

Seven of the ten chairs at the table already had occupants, which meant he and Solani were the last ones to arrive. They were also the only ones in combat dress, having just come in from the field. Tasalin recognized only three of the people already seated, Taktik, who gave a lazy salute from his chair, Roland Barclay, who still had his testing clipboard and lab coat and was busy writing something down, and a young Japanese girl named Supai, who bobbed up and down excitedly when Solani entered the room. The slight black haired girl couldn’t have been older than sixteen, and if she was more than a few inches over five feet he’d eat his plate armor. She always came to talk with them when he and Sol were in the base, which is how he knew she was actually head of the Information Division and completely idolized Solani, using the same weapons and magic as his partner did and even trying to copy her appearance sometimes. He pulled out the chair next to Taktik to allow Solani to sit, then tested his rickety chair to make sure it wouldn’t break under his weight before taking his own seat just right of her, shifting the massive shield on his back and the sword at his waist so they wouldn’t catch on anything.

Corvid walked around to the remaining chair on the opposite side, but stayed standing. “Now that everyone is here, we can start. The ten people here represent the whole of Sweet Dreams. There is not a single guild member that does not fall under the leadership of one of you, so congrats on your appointment to…“ He gestured at the group grandly, “the Council of Dreams.”

Small smiles and amused looks swept across the table, everyone seemingly used to their leader’s tendency to give things associated with the guild dramatic names.

Corvid held his pose for a few seconds, then grinned and continued. “I’ll start the introductions. I’m Corvid, the leader of Sweet Dreams, and I use throwing daggers and Spirit magic.” He sat down in his chair and gestured for the woman to his right to stand up.

The blonde smiled sweetly as she followed his direction. She had bright green eyes and long hair that flowed down to her middle back in waves, and easily surpassed what would be considered supermodel quality beauty, even in Ilos, with both her face and her body. Tall with long legs, a large bust, and wearing a blue colored form fitting tunic and shorts, she was showing off all of her many curves without being anywhere near indecent. “My name is Lilith, head of the Magic Division. I use a staff as well as the elements of Fire, Water, and Spirit.” Her sweet voice deepened to a throaty purr. “You’re all welcome to come see me at any time.”

Roland was next, and didn’t even look up from his notes much less stand as he shortly introduced himself. “Roland Barclay. Research Division. All the elements.”

The woman next to the grey haired scientist rolled her eyes and stood up, smacking the older man in the back of the head as she did so, which actually made him look up for the first time, if only for a moment. She had black hair that just reached her shoulders and blue eyes that seemed sharp and intelligent. She looked to be in her early thirties and was probably just above average height for a woman, likely 5’9” or 5’10”. “I’m Miranda Solus, the head of Development. I use a sword and shield along with Nature and Earth magic, though I can use Fire as well. If you need anything from the sciences-“ She gestured towards Lilith and Roland, “-come speak to me. I’ll get these two on it.”

Taktik stood up as she sat down, giving her a suggestive wink. “Well if you ever get bored of those two I’m sure I could show you some things we could to together that you’d find fun.” The huge black man next to Tasalin frowned at that, one of his massive hands forming a fist. Tasalin raised an eyebrow slightly, wondering what was going on there, and saw that Taktik noticed the movement as well, but the red-bearded stocky man just grinned and turned to face the table as a whole. “The name’s Taktik, military strategist. I don’t fight or use magic much beyond Spirit, but if you want a break from things you can always come play a game with me.”

Solani rose gracefully from her seat, bowing her head slightly in greeting and speaking quietly, the rest of the table leaning forwards a bit to better hear her. “I am Solani, the leader of the Nightmares. I use daggers and Shadow magic in combat.”

Tasalin smiled slightly to himself as she sat down. He always forgot she was so reserved around people because she was so vibrant when they were out in the field or alone. Standing, he cleared his throat and addressed the people sitting at the table. “My name is Tasalin, and I’m the leader of our military forces. I use a sword and shield as well as Earth and Nature magic. It’s a pleasure to meet all of you.”

The massive black man next to him rose slowly, towering over the table and its occupants, easily half a foot taller than Tasalin. He was bald and the exposed parts of his skin rippled with muscle. “My name is Vulcan Arc, head of the Crafting Division along with Miranda, my wife.” He nodded at the woman next to Taktik, then fixed the stocky man with a hard look before continuing. “I use my blacksmithing hammer and a knife when fighting, along with the elements of Fire, Earth, and sometimes Nature.”

The younger brown haired man next to Vulcan got to his feet and put a hand on his shoulder when the larger blacksmith didn’t sit down immediately, instead glaring at the grinning Taktik. “Vulcan, he was inviting her to play a game with him, probably chess. We play together a lot and he always does that kind of thing. Besides, I already told him the two of you were married, and he’s likely just screwing with you.”

Taktik laughed. “You know me too well Deac. Relax big guy, I’m not going to try putting any moves on your wife, she’d sic Lilith on me if I tried anything anyway, and I really want to avoid that particular fate.”

Lilith smiled, and this was not the gentle curve of her lips that she had shown earlier, but more of a malicious expression with more than a hint of maniac glee. Something about what it did to her face was frankly terrifying, especially when she spoke with the same sweet voice. “Oh come on Taktik, it’s not like you can feel any pain here.”

A mild shudder swept through the room, only Corvid and Solani seemingly unaffected, even Taktik’s ever-present grin and Roland’s scribbling faltering a bit. Vulcan gave in to the slight pressure on his shoulder and sat, and Deac visibly recentered himself before beginning his introduction. “As Taktik just said, my name is Deac Markus, and I’m the leader of the Merchant Division. I can use a dagger but I don’t fight, and I use Air magic mostly for its utility. I keep track of the guild’s money and decide what we use it on as well as try to keep good relations with the Ilosians.”

Supai bounced up out of her chair as soon as Deac sat down, scarcely taller out of her seat than she was in it. Her black ponytail fluttered with her as if infected with her excitement. “My name is Supai, and I’m in charge of the Info Squad! I use daggers and Shadow magic just like Solani, though I’m not as good. If you find out anything new or you need info on something, come drop by!” She bowed and came back up with a smile. “I’ll be in your care.”

Corvid waited until the young girl sat down and resituated herself before continuing. “Now, there are a couple reasons I’ve called you all here. First is to keep everyone connected and informed on what’s going on and to get you all introduced to each other. Tas and Solani will be heading up any manpower we need in dangerous areas just like Miranda, Vulcan, and Deac will be in charge of anything we need locally. Roland, what have you discovered through your tests the past month?”

The grey haired scientist looked up from his notes, then paged backwards a bit. “Let’s see let’s see… Ah here it is. Now that we can measure experience values exactly we’ve learned a good number of things. As suspected, groups of four are the most efficient when gaining experience for any encounter or quest. A single person gains the full value of experience, two people working together each gain seventy-five percent of the experience for a total of 1.5 times the base value, three people each get sixty percent for 1.8 times, and four or more people evenly split double the experience value. This makes larger groups increasingly inefficient, no longer gaining additional total experience points when adding more members. We have also confirmed that how a player completes a fight will affect the amount of experience that he or she receives. Completing a task or defeating an encounter faster or with less injuries will increase the amount of experience gained. The amount of damage dealt, healing rendered, command taken, and battle tactics observed will also affect the experience count, but these conditions are so many and fluid that it will be next to impossible to determine which if any grants more experience gains than another. It does seem however that the basic amount of experience gained will not decrease no matter what actions are taken so long as the task is completed successfully.”

Roland flipped backwards another few pages and then pulled a couple out and handed them left to Lilith. “If you would pass those around please. Through our practical tests, we have learned that the physical capabilities of the champions are not uniform over the same level of experience, and in fact differ greatly. Those papers are the test results from Tas and Solani at certain benchmarks in their experience values, and you’ll see that the two sets differ significantly with the exception of a few variables despite being recorded at the same experience value. Solani has developed the ability to fall great distances in silence, move swiftly and suddenly, and has gained increased flexibility, reaction time, and strength. When armored with plate and added weights to match Tas’ weight, she was still able to move faster, drop further without noise, and react more quickly than he could. Tas on the other hand has developed the ability to withstand great blows without flinching, impart great force through most of his movements, and has gained greatly increased endurance and lifting weight. He was able to shrug off forces that took Solani off her feet, even when armored and weighted to be the same, with and without a shield. He was also able to lift more and his movements impart more force when they move at the same speed. However, the force of their strikes is almost equal because Solani can move herself faster than Tas can.”

“Woah! You two already have more than three hundred thousand experience?! That’s amazing!” Supai exclaimed, her eyes sparkling as she looked between the papers she was holding and Solani.

“Ahem.” Roland frowned at the young girl, obviously annoyed at being interrupted in the middle of talking about his favorite subject. “I’ve had them and a couple others come in every fifty thousand experience to do a few of the more common tests and the differences grow more defined each time. It appears that how experience is gained in and out of combat contributes to how a champion develops physically and how strong the Barclay Effect is on the different actions they take.” The doctor turned to glare at Taktik. “And no Taktik, I did not name it that myself, nor did I suggest it.”

Taktik shut his mouth with a disappointed look. “Y’know, for an absentminded scientist you’re pretty sharp Roland.”

Roland’s mouth twitched slightly in what might have been a smile before he continued. “The Barclay Effect is what the science divisions have started calling the gap between what the champions make happen and what physics tells us should happen. The champions themselves have some control over the Barclay effect, able to affect forces they directly influence to a significant degree. For example, when Tas in full armor attempts to land softly from a three story drop, he only makes a loud noise, but when he tries to land hard he imparts enough force to shatter the stone that lines the streets in Ilos as well as crack a good area around the point of impact.”

“The type of magic they use also affects the Barclay effect, imbuing the champion with additional power based on the experience they have in each element.” Lilith stepped in. “We haven’t been able to map exactly what all each element affects yet, but it seems that Earth and Nature affect endurance and longevity, Fire and Air affect speed and reaction time, and Water affects a mix of all of those. This is a newer discovery, so we haven’t yet been able to figure out what effects Spirit, Light, Shadow, and Death have. Very few people use these elements in any significant amount, so it’s hard to get a large enough sample size to determine much of anything.”

Vulcan handed the papers over to Tasalin, who glanced over them briefly, already familiar with the contents, though he couldn’t help but be impressed with the kind of strength champions could have. The figures of the latest test showed that he could bench press over six hundred pounds and Solani was almost as strong at a little over five fifty. The scientists had tried to get a read on what they could deadlift, but without modern refining couldn’t find anything strong enough to hold the weight that he could grab and lift by himself. He’d been a pretty strong guy back on Earth, but it had taken him years to get to a three hundred pound press. Now he had more than doubled that in a single month, and Solani was almost as strong as the strongest woman on Earth. If they were like this now, what would they be able to do in six months or a year?

“…created a small working steam engine, but we’d need to find a large source of iron and other metals if we plan on doing anything of any usable scale.” Miranda was saying as he passed the papers over to Solani. “We have the copper for wire and circuitry, but we’d need to find some rubber or another insulator to make it safe. As it is we’ve been able to make a usable lightbulb powered by a hand crank and no one has noticed any change in electromagnetics, but we’d really need some better tools to make sure.”

“I’ll look into it Miranda.” Corvid nodded at her. “What other modern techniques have you been able to apply?”

Vulcan leaned forwards. “We’ve been able to produce what I would consider low-quality steel fairly easily and it seems to be a big hit. Most metal around here are made of iron and good steel is very expensive and hard to come by. Ours is better than anything but what the top craftsmen can make, and we can produce it much faster.”

“We’ve been able to sell what we’ve made at high price in the city, and the demand continues to grow. I’ve tried to suggest making tools and weaponry with the material rather than just selling it to the Ilosian craftsmen, but Vulcan wouldn’t hear of it.” Deac grumped.

“If I’m going to put the Sweet Dreams name on it, it’s going to be of the highest quality metal, not the kind of crap we’ve been able to produce so far.” Vulcan rumbled back. “I’ve been working with Miranda to produce some better tools, and we’re close to finishing a prototype Cyclone Converter Furnace and Smelting Reduction Vessel so we can use the HIsarna process. With Air and Fire elemental magic we should be able to get to the temperature necessary to make some good quality steel. We’ll probably have to reinforce the furnace with Earth magic until we can make a better one, but it should work.”

“Good.” Corvid nodded. “I’ll try to get ahold of the Ilosian nobles again to see if I can get you a good source of iron, but they seem to be avoiding all champions and hiding themselves away in the palace.” The guild leader grinned suddenly. “Say Tas, if I can’t get them to come out, how would you like to come help me break down the door?”

Tasalin returned the grin. “Only if you don’t mind scaring the pants off them.”

Deac scowled. “Please try to avoid any major incidents, I get the feeling the nobles are looking for some way to justify trying to throw us out of the city as it is. The champions are a large, unknown, and powerful group that they have no way of controlling, and that’s a massive threat to their power. The people seem to be alright with us for now, but that’s just because we buy a lot of things from them and we’re no danger to them with the exception of a few idiots that we’ve taken care of ourselves. As a whole champions are considered to be extremely rude and it wouldn’t take too much to turn tolerance into hostility.”

“I’ll keep that in mind Deac, thank you.” Corvid said, nodding at the young businessman grimly. “Do you have anything to report on the military side of things Tas?”

“Hmm, nothing in particular. We’ve seen a slight uptrend in people going out to do quests and gain experience because of new recruits and some members from other divisions that want to try it out. The idea that groups of four is best has stuck around and a lot of those groups are bonding now and becoming more permanent. The Info Squad has been a big help to everyone as they go out questing, and we’ve been getting a good advantage over anyone not in Sweet Dreams with the kind of information we have on the higher level quests. It was a good idea to publish the lower level quest information and allow public access to our records here in the keep, a good number of the people who come here end up joining Sweet Dreams if they aren’t in a guild already. Nothing really big has happened or you all would have known about it well before now. Taktik, do you have anything?”

“Not a thing, though I wish we could get some large scale combat training in with everyone except the Nightmares. We need to get some practice in, but it would be too difficult to balance if we ended up doing skirmishes with our elites in play.”

Corvid nodded. “I’ll speak to some of the other guild leaders and see if they want to do some large scale things, but even if no one agrees we can set something up internally. Solani, how are the Nightmares doing?”

“One group of four has dropped out, but everyone else is advancing quickly. The Info squad is doing a great job of recording what information we get over telepathy so we don’t have to come back here every day. Supai has done really well running the Information Division as well as being a part of the Nightmares.” She made as if to stop at seeing the young girl preen under her idol’s praise, but then glanced at Deac and continued. “I have heard rumors from some of my groups in the north that an Ilosian city was destroyed by a champion.”

Corvid frowned and Deac paled. “Please tell me you’re kidding.” The brown haired merchant said weakly.

“She’s not.” Supai shook her head, her black ponytail hitting the sides of her face as she did so. “Both Edgar’s and Strider’s parties reported that the city of Travant has been razed to the ground. All of the surviving Ilosian guards and many of the populace refer to their attacker as the ‘Black Demon Girl’, a beautiful young girl with long black hair and golden eyes who wore a black dress and was inhumanly strong and fast. Most think she was a demon sent from the Abyss to punish them for their sins, but some are insistent that she was a champion. According to what the two parties heard she came in and killed the ruling duke, his mage advisor, the military commander, and several hundred soldiers before destroying the tower that was behind the mansion where the duke lived and then burning the city to the ground.”

Tasalin frowned. Something about that description tickled his memory. Young with long black hair, headed north…

“Supai, this girl, was she really short?”

The Japanese girl nodded. “Yep! How’d you guess?”

“She’s a champion. I saw her in the plaza at the beginning of all this and she was headed north. I certainly didn’t think she was good enough to be ahead of the Nightmares though.”

“Tas, I’m going to have someone take you and Solani north to look into this. We need to know the reason behind this before word reaches the city.” Corvid stated grimly. “If the timing is the same as in the beta, we have to keep our relationship with the people in Ilos at least neutral until the goblins attack in another month. As much as I would like to say that we could ignore Ilos and fortify ourselves in this keep, I don’t think we’d survive.”

Tasalin and the two other military leaders shook their heads. The keep wouldn’t be reinforced enough to repel that scale of attack in only a single month, the time everyone expected the goblins to attack. The beta had only lasted a little over two months, and most of the players assumed the massive horde of goblins would show up at roughly the same time they did in the beta.

Corvid glanced at them and continued. “Even if we could, losing Ilos would defeat the purpose because we might lose our ability to respawn. If the Ilosians don’t trust us enough to allow us to garrison inside of Ilos, we all die, and so do they.”

Silence reigned for a few moments as Corvid let that sink in. “Supai, what other news about the Information Division?”

The short girl looked decidedly uncomfortable at continuing with such a somber mood, and the cheery tone she usually had was completely absent. “Ah, um, the Info Squad has been doing well. Since it was decided that information counts as contribution to the guild and payment for room and board here in the keep, a lot of people come to us because it’s so easy. With Miranda’s help, some raw materials, and a little Earth and Nature magic, we’ve been able to make a fairly good paper substitute. Some of us can even print text or duplicate whole pages with magic and we’ve been teaching people how, so we now have paper copies of the more common quests available for anyone who wants to come and take one. I’ve got a few of my guys working on compiling the most efficient quests into a guidebook for each direction away from the city so people don’t have to come back for more quest guides if they don’t want to. What else is there… Oh! A few of the others and I have actually been talking to some of the Ilosians in the city and more and more of them seem curious about us and where we come from. They’ve been asking questions about Earth, especially the guards under Commander Lorilee. I’m not sure what that means, but I thought you’d like to know.”

“Good. Well done Supai, I wouldn’t have anyone else as the head of the Information Division.” Corvid’s praise brought the smile back to the teen girl’s face and he turned to Vulcan. “How are the repairs going for our base here?”

“Good. The things we use most often have been fully repaired and we’ve taken the opportunity to install some modern additions. We’ve enlarged the bath and it’s now fed by pipes instead of buckets from below the keep as well as heated. There’s a schedule set up to rotate between men and women because everyone wants to use the thing to unwind even though anything outside of our regular appearance vanishes after a few hours. The kitchen has the same water upgrades, but we’re delaying putting in pipes throughout the rest of the keep because the weather seems to be warming up and we don’t need them for heating just yet. We’ve done some basic revamp to the underground spring and aquifer that feeds this keep in order to make the pipes work, and we’ll need to do more when we expand the pipe system, but for now it’s usable. We’re expanding the area under the keep and will be attempting to make this place as self-sufficient as possible, even to growing our own food. We have watchtowers along the outskirts of the wall and since two hours of watch duty counts as one day’s contribution we always have people up there just in case something happens. We’ve taken apart the remnants of the walls that were here and are magically reinforcing the stone and using it to build the newer, much more expansive wall. It won’t rival Ilos in radius, but we could have our own city here with room to spare once it’s finished. The wall has a good base all the way around and we’re starting to build it up using an internal magically fortified metal structure for extra strength, but we’re going to need a lot more resources and what we have now is swiftly running out.”

Deac raised a hand for a second, keeping his elbow on the table. “I’ll see what I can do to get my hands on some more material for everyone. Our finances are well in the black since we’re mostly self-sufficient and we’re selling some of what the crafting divisions are making for high prices. There’s not much available in the way of raw materials, but once we establish contact with cities worth trading with we’ll have access to more resources and money. We’ve already begun trading with some of the other champion guilds so I should be able to leverage them to get some additional stone and metals, but not much quite yet. We’ll really need to have contact with someone who has a mine or quarry or build our own.”

“Alright, I’ll make a note of that and see what I can do to get you those contacts. Does anyone have any questions or comments?” Corvid seemed to see Supai shift out of the corner of his eye and looked towards her. “Supai?”

She shook her head slightly. “It’s nothing, I’m just surprised you all speak Japanese so well, I thought this game was global and I wasn’t expecting so many native speakers.”

Tasalin blinked and looked at Solani confusedly, seeing the same expression in her eyes, then back at Supai. He was sure he’d heard Japanese spoken at some point before, but he didn’t know the first thing about the language.

Taktik leaned forwards, resting his chin on his fists. “Did you hit your head girl? You’re speaking English, plain as day, and so am I.”

Tasalin, Corvid, Miranda, and Vulcan all nodded, agreeing, but the rest of the table just looked more confused.

“Russian is the only language I’ve ever learned.” Roland stated.

“I know a few languages, including English, but I’ve been speaking French.” Deac added.

Lilith raised her hand halfway for a moment. “I’ve been speaking French as well.”

Everyone looked at Solani when she didn’t say anything, but she looked as confused as the rest. “Did none of you notice this earlier? We all hear speech and see writing in our first language, but none of us are speaking any language from Earth right now. How would we communicate with the Ilosians otherwise?”

“Not speaking any Earth language?” Roland asked, his notes abandoned.

“Listen closely to my words. Do they sound like any language you’ve ever heard?”

Tasalin frowned, concentrating on the words alone. “Sol, say that same thing again.”

She nodded, speaking slowly. “Laso ra’soriy a’ rliy lla’mcs. Da’ hoiy sa’auc ranno oaiy roaghauoagho iya’au’rro orrom hommac?”

Taktik slumped back in his chair. “Well holy fuckin’ shit.”

The sentiment seemed to be shared among those at the table with the exception of Solani and Supai, who seemed more or less unaffected.

Corvid frowned, rubbing his forehead with one hand. “This could be a problem.”

“But why? I think it’s really cool!”

“Because Supai, if we only speak Ilosian now, we’re going to have to rely on those with the black Keys to translate for us when we make contact with Earth.” Corvid sighed. “This was the second part of the meeting anyway, so I may as well tell you all now. You all know we’ve made contact with Earth through the people with that black Keys and that we no longer have bodies on Earth to go back to.”

Everyone around the table nodded, waiting for him to continue.

“I want all of you to wait until I finish telling the whole story to say anything or ask questions. What you don’t know is that the black Keys have discovered two new types of magic, runes and summoning, and I have personally been back to Earth twice in the past week.”

Tasalin was stunned, along with everyone else. Corvid had been back to Earth! That was incredible!

“Lassea, the girl that we first talked to, has contacts with the media, and is going to be arranging a meeting with them soon during which she and a few friends of hers will be summoning Tasalin and I. We will gather as much information as we can and then share most of this with everyone in Ilos. The only reason I’ve wanted to keep this quiet is because we didn’t know exactly how it works or what the rules are, and I didn’t want things getting out of control. From what we’ve been able to determine, someone with a black Key from Earth can use a summoning circle to pull a creature from Ilos to Earth at the cost of a significant amount of mana. However, not only can multiple people add mana on Earth’s end, whoever is being summoned can also contribute mana to the process. Anything we’re carrying also makes the trip with us, including anything in the storage Gems we hold.” Corvid opened his inventory and removed a very familiar object, turned it on, and slid it towards the middle of the table.

Everyone leaned forwards, watching as the screen of the smartphone ran through its startup animations and came to rest on its home screen.

The guild leader continued before anyone could speak up. “I traded a few small storage Gems for this, a few other things, and the meeting with the media, and I can confirm that Gems work on Earth just as they do here. It seems all of Ilos’ rules about magic apply to everyone on Earth, but those without a Key simply have a negative experience value and cannot regenerate mana on their own.” He pulled a couple spiral notebooks and a package of pens out of his inventory and slid them over tow Roland before closing the glowing blue window. “One of those contains all I could find out about runes and summoning, and the rest should be of good use to-“

Corvid stopped suddenly, then looked at Tasalin. “It looks like we’ll have to continue this later. Lassea just contacted me and they are ready to summon us to Earth.” He looked at the rest of the table. “I’ll contact everyone again when we return and we’ll go over everything we find out about Earth. Roland, those notebooks should get you started on runes and summoning magic, see what you can find out.”

The older scientist waved his assent, already paging through a notebook.

“Deac, talk to your contacts and see if you can get your hands on any more raw materials, I’ll leave what price we’re willing to pay up to you.”

“Not a problem, I’ll see what I can dig up.”

“Lilith and Miranda, you’ll be very interested in the runes section of that notebook, make sure Roland doesn’t hide it away.”

Miranda nodded and Lilith smiled that terrifying smile of hers again. “Oh he won’t keep it from us.”

“Supai, see if you can make a few copies of that notebook. We’ll need quite a few for everyone to look at.”

The young girl nodded, grinning. “You got it!”

“Vulcan, Taktik, Solani, you’re free to do whatever you like.”

*Tasalin?* A familiar female voice spoke in his head.

*Lassea?*

*Yep! Are you ready?*

*For the summoning?*

*Yes.*

Tasalin looked at Corvid, who nodded. *Yes, we’re ready.*

A glowing circle with a nine pointed star inset into it bloomed into being under Corvid, covering a good portion of the room. The three scientists and Supai all rushed to the edge of the thing, bending down to examine it and talking among themselves in low tones while Vulcan and Deac got out of their chairs and began heading for the door.

“Let us know if you need anything Corvid.” Deac called out as he left, then turned to the towering blacksmith. “So you think you can make some better steel with this new furnace you’re building? How soon do you think-“

As door closed, cutting off the rest of his sentence, Tasalin stood, shaking his head in amazement before turning to look at his friend and guild leader. How does he inspire such trust and loyalty? This summoning thing came out of the blue, and not only did no one say anything about having a way to get back to Earth kept from them, they aren’t even asking why he’s taking me along instead of someone like Deac who knows how to deal with people. I don’t understand it even if I can see it right in front of me.

*Did I get you in the summoning?* Lassea’s voice spoke in his head again.

Tasalin glanced down, seeing only the circle centered on Corvid. *It doesn’t look like it.*

There was silence for a few seconds, and a second summoning circle began glowing on the floor centered on Tasalin and overlapping Corvid’s. *How about now?*

*Looks like you got it.* He replied.

*Good! See you in a few minutes.*

“Tas!” Corvid called out, getting his attention from where he stood on the other side of the table. “Make sure to push some mana into the circle, they can’t summon us on their own.”

He nodded and concentrated, expecting it would take a number of tries to get learn the trick to it but found it was surprisingly easy. The mana flowed out of him just like it would when he was casting an enchantment, creating a connection to the circle that he could add more mana to at will. He began pushing energy into the link, which unlike enchantments seemed to have a limit to the rate he could add mana.

Taktik slowly got up out of his chair, stretching and sauntering around Solani’s chair to clap Tasalin on the shoulder. “Welp, I kinda wish I would have known about this sooner so I could have you pick some stuff up for me. Just make sure to bring back souvenirs.”

Tasalin mimed writing down something on his hand. “So Risk, Chinese checkers, and as many other games as I can get ahold of. Anything else?”

Taktik grinned and winked, turning towards the door. “You know me too well. Have fun.”

Tasalin watched the door close behind the stout tactician, continuing to push mana into the circle. It seemed to be filling with a shimmering multicolored light from the outside as well as the center under his feet. He estimated it would be full in a minute or two. Glancing over at the scientists he realized that everything outside the circle he was standing in was starting to shimmer and dim, as if the world was made of slowly rippling water.

Solani stood up from her chair, as clear and solid as ever. Her face was deadly serious as she looked up at him. “Be very careful Tas. We might be extremely strong and fast, but you’re not strong enough to take on any sort of military force yet.”

“Military?” Tasalin frowned. “We’re just going to make an appearance for the news, why would the military be there or have any intention of attacking us?”

“Champions are powerful Tas, and the media will no doubt ask you to show off that power. People fear what they do not understand, especially when it can hurt them. It doesn’t matter if the person who wields that power is friendly or not, governments and militaries do not like unknowns. Keep that in mind and keep your wits about you, because Corvid may not be watching out for threats.”

He nodded slowly, signaling his agreement. “You’re right. Thanks Sol.”

The world outside the circle now looked like two images overlaid atop each other, one of the meeting room that was swiftly fading, and one that looked like the setup for a talk show, complete with a large stage, cushy chairs, and a live audience. He could see ghostly people in the audience and a few on the stage as well as another summoning circle on the stage next to where he stood that was glowing, but empty. There were several things that looked like playing cards that were face up on a couple of the points of the summoning circle as well as two girls and a boy who were wearing black Keys and standing by the circles looking like they were concentrating on something.

One was recognizably Lassea, a bit less striking than he last saw her but with the same mid length blonde hair and unique brown into blue eyes, though she was rather done up with a fancy red dress and makeup. The boy was in his young twenties with short red hair and blue eyes that looked fairly athletic, but there wasn’t anything especially notable about him except that he was in a suit. The other girl there had blue eyes and brown hair that didn’t quite reach her shoulders and was pretty in that girl next door sort of way. She seemed fairly at ease, kind of like summoning was old hat for her, though she did look a bit uncomfortable in her blue dress and kept plucking at it.

He glanced down and smiled slightly. He was still in his full plate armor with his massive shield on his back and his sword at his waist, he hadn’t had time to change into anything else, but if worse came to worst at least he’d be ready. Under his feet was a symbol that looked like a kite shield outlined in white with a massive tree in the center colored in green and brown. The circle under him was almost full now and he could hear the host saying something, but it didn’t make sense. A chill went down Tasalin’s spine. The man should be speaking English, but the noises he was making were something else entirely.

“Arb rav r’qo ‘r ITV vo du’rs vai klo g’utk aervaro laet toor ag klo voavro vla qaer’tlob guad Earukl ae r’kkro aqou ae darkl aesa. Tloto kva dor roaeb klo raeusotk cuaiv ag vraevout kiuuorkrv kuaevvob ‘r Ilos aerb laeqo aesuoob ka dook it louo aerb kaerx aedaik vlaek klov’qo ozvou’orkob!”

Well, it looks like we are going to need Lassea and her friends to translate for us. We really aren’t a part of Earth anymore.

Ilos was almost gone now, only the things inside the circle solid enough to see and touch. Solani stepped forwards towards him with a serious expression, her silver flecked black eyes staring up into his just inches away, close enough for him to feel her warm breath. “Watch the crowd.” She whispered, then turned and walked out of the circle, her figure quickly blurring into nothingness.

The host turned to face the summoning circles. “Auo vo uoaebv Jott’kae?”

Tasalin saw Lassea nod out of the corner of his eye, still looking towards where Solani vanished.

The host turned back to the crowd, waving his arms dramatically. “Aru’slk, rok’t oq-veryone welcome the leaders of Sweet Dreams, Tasalin and Corvid!”

Tasalin breathed a sigh of relief as the gibberish the man was spouting suddenly switched back to understandable words, then straightened his posture and steeled himself. It looked like they could still understand English, at least so long as they were on Earth, but he couldn’t let anything distract him. Solani had been too serious about the possible danger for his comfort. He wasn’t sure if she was just being cautious or if she had experience with something similar before, but he was going to take her advice and be wary of possible danger. He still had a good third of his mana pool to work with, and that would have to be enough.

The shield symbol under him erupted in green and brown light, blowing away the last remnants of the meeting room in Ilos and solidifying the talk show stage on Earth. He looked around, his strong eyes piercing the bright lights from above to look into the audience and backstage. There were a lot of people to keep track of from all directions, but he was going to make sure nothing went badly for any of the champions there, including Lassea and her friends.

It looked like being back on Earth was going to be a lot more stressful than he’d hoped.