Chronicles of the Exalted Sun Child

The conference room was surprisingly light and airy. Yuriko could feel a breeze coming from the windows, and she appreciated the view of the lake towards the south, and the light coming in from the east and west. It felt as if she stood atop an isolated tower even though it was right in the middle of the fortress.

She soon recognised some of the runescript patterns that enchanted the walls to act as windows, though they were selective in what it allowed through. Nothing that was harmful, she thought, but perhaps an attack made with the Light Element or her own Radiance could penetrate past the wards, though only if an attacker could identify which segment on the wall connected to the room. 

The conference room only had Monica and a younger-looking man, though that was relative to the other woman. The man looked to be middle-aged, though his pale green eyes looked world-weary. He looked up at her, stood and gave her a short bow. 

“Professor Davar,” the man said. “Well met, I am Fort Commander Gabriel Ramirez, in nominal command of Greyith Fortress.”

“Good evening.” Yuriko nodded and accepted the handshake the man extended to her after he straightened up. His grasp was firm and he didn’t try to bring her hand up to kiss. 

Monica smiled as they all sat down. Captain Nuria gave a salute to the other two, turned smartly on her heels, and left the conference room. 

“What are we to discuss?” Yuriko asked, wishing to get to the point so she could return to her evening routine.

“I’ve had some of my men speak with the members of your caravan and it seems that only a fraction of them wish to continue to Nirlith City,” Monica said. “Most would prefer to go to the Capitol instead, or Briarsale, which is closer."

"Hmm, I will confirm with them," Yuriko said. "But if so, what do you want to say?"

"It's rather simple," Commander Ramirez said. "Greyith has seven brigades of roughly three thousand each. The Ishodirian invasion force holds more than a hundred thousand, and the numbers of the rebels are uncertain, but I can't imagine they'd have fewer people. While Greyith is well fortified, that leaves them free to roam eastern Bresia."

He cleared his throat and took a sip from a cup perched next to his pile of paperwork. Monica did not have more than a single folder in front of her compared to Ramirez's, which was tall enough to hide him if he sat down. 

"That is to say," he continued, "we need reinforcements, we need elites, and your feat if fending off a ten thousand man battalion…that is the work of an elite above other elites." He smiled winningly while Monica nodded along.

"I do have my duties in Niria," Yuriko said mildly, "and I'm waiting for my companions to return from their extra long delve "

"Oh?" Ramirez murmured. "I thought Niria Academy takes a vacation break over the Season of Fire?"

"They do," Yuriko nodded. She paused when an orderly entered the conference room carrying a tray with a pot and some pastries. Yuriko's nose twitched when she noticed a wonderful scent. "Is that…" She swallowed her saliva.

"Hot chocolate with cream," Monica said. The older woman turned her face slightly away but Yuriko did not miss the slight smirk with her Anima perception. 

Yuriko rolled her eyes which only prompted an undignified giggle from the other woman. Ramirez looked confused at the sudden distraction and glanced at Monica, who gave him a firm look. He shrugged and waited for the orderly to place down the tray.

"Please," he said, gesturing to the snacks. 

Yuriko used her kinesis to pour the drink while she took some of the pastries. They had a citrus scent, and once she bit into the doughly rectangle and took a sip of the chocolate beverage, she couldn't help but moan in pleasure. The taste of the sour pastry and the slightly bitter drink mixed with the sweetness of the cream exploded on her tongue and sent paroxysms of delight down her body. 

…

Her Mien must have gotten out of her control because she immediately noticed both of the elderly officers' faces turning red. 

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" Yuriko asked once she consumed half of the drink and a couple of pastry bars. 

"Ah, yes," Ramirez coughed. "As I said, we need elites to hold the line here. A call for adventurers has been made, too, but they will not take any contract in a nation versus nation conflict. Instead, they will take over some of the army's duties in relieving pressure from Chaos Founts and Twisted Beasts."

"So you want me to defend the fortress?" 

"And take other missions, of your choice," he added hastily. 

Yuriko frowned, glanced at the hot chocolate, then said, "I will need to return to Niria first, and clear things with the administration. I also have some loose ends to tie up."

"Does that mean you agree?"

"I guess it depends on your offer."

"A standard contract is ready, with terms, conditions, and exceptions. I will have an orderly deliver it to you tomorrow morning." 

"That would be appreciated."

The meeting ended then, but Monica asked if she'd like to see Cillian.

"How is he?" Yuriko asked as they exited the room. Unlike most defensive structures, Greyith Fortress had large straight passages once above the ground floor. It facilitated quick troop movement over defensive measures and Yuriko supposed that their doctrine meant that once foes entered the first, things were already over. 

That or it was to allow Golems and other larger combatants easy access within. Not that there weren't any defensive structures at all. At the ground level, and for at least three storeys up, the hallways away from the main thoroughfares were narrow. There were the usual narrow spiral staircases that curved around to the right. Deosil or clockwise, she thought the term they used here for the rotational direction, for how the hands in a mechanical clock moved. 

There were murder holes aplenty, too, though they were currently sealed up and concealed. Everywhere she looked or sent her perception, she found hidden defences. Even when she thought that the choices had been wrong, or foolish, such as the large hallways, she found that there were countermeasures in place. The fortress was by no means invincible, but taking it on would require far more soldiers than the empire had. Probably. 

It was predicated on the point that each side’s elites would keep the other side busy, disallowing the other side from gaining an overwhelming advantage. It wasn’t that simple, of course. Back home, it was somewhat common knowledge that it would take three Knights to fight evenly against a Knight-Captain, and the ratio held even up the higher ranks. When they fought the Chaos Duke, it had been two Knights Domini and a Luminous Sorceress who was of an equivalent level, as well as herself and a Vasi Colossus that pretty much negated Mum’s weakness compared to the Knights. 

And yet they still lost. If not for Damien’s sacrifice, Rumiga would have ended, too. No matter the masses arrayed against the Chaos Duke, it had not been enough. 

Then again, he had his own forces to keep the Empire occupied. If he had not his own troops, and if he had fought against the might of the Empire by his lonesome, he probably would have been defeated. Else, why would he have bothered with his schemes?

It was the same here, wasn’t it? Her sunblades might have meant she would be able to take on an army of mortals, but it didn’t mean they had no chance. If she didn’t evade or escape, they would eventually wear away her Anima and she would be defeated. 

Well, thinking about all of this had been prompted by the prospect of another conflict. A war with nations she honestly had no deep ties to. She was doing this for what? Waste time? Hone herself to grow stronger? Her original goal had been to learn how to use the portal in Bresia City to return to Rumiga, but upon finding such an interesting place, that goal had honestly fallen to the wayside. 

Though she would like to get home before her new sibling grew up. She would regret that a lot, not even knowing if she had a new baby brother or sister. 

That thought brought her mind to her missing, and probably deceased brother, and a pang of melancholy shot into her mind. She felt tears beginning to seep out of her eyes and she had to control her body to prevent it. 

What had become of Kato? It had occurred to her that if he had truly died, wouldn’t the thread completely disappear? She didn’t actually know since she hadn’t observed others who she was close to, die. But she harboured some hope that maybe it was only because he found himself so far away, or at a place that was disconnected from where she was…

No, that was too foolish a hope to hold. She had no way to trace the severed thread, and the world was much bigger than she had imagined. Without any clues, how would she even know where to start looking?

The Eternal Tower holds many secrets and mysteries.

The idea popped up all of a sudden, and a few more memories unfolded. 

The Tower was built as a playground for the Primordials. That was what Damien believed, but even he didn’t know much beyond hearsay and his own experiences. He hadn’t finished the climb yet, or the delve. 

“The Tower can be climbed or delved?” Yuriko muttered in wonder. One could go up or go down, and the trials and rewards were different in either direction. How many towers were there?

Just one. But it is in more than one place, all at the same time. More than one layer of reality, and perhaps…

The knowledge slipped away like fog under the warm sun. But it did leave a thought. Reach far enough, and perhaps she would find a way home, or find Kato, no matter what condition he was in. 

The flower of hope blossomed in her heart, and it was a good thing that her lovers…lover…was already about to get an entry token, otherwise, she might have gone straight into the Hillside Burrows and attempted to find her way to Braxxon. That they were trapped inside until they resolved the Elemental Tide would complicate some things, so she really shouldn’t. There was also no guarantee that she would find the path to Braxxon in the first place and she might get stuck elsewhere too. No, it was better to wait, and she might as well earn more coins too. Chocolates were expensive, after all. 

She came out of her ruminations when they arrived in Monica's suites. There, she found Cillian Coinoch, one of the first people she met here in the Arcadia Region. The young man was staring at a spellbook. His arm was covered in green scales and his fingers ended in claws. He looked up when the door opened and started in surprise when his eyes met hers.

“Lady Davar!” He stood up in a hurry only to give a deep bow, “I… I haven’t thanked you yet for saving me!”

Yuriko waved her hand and said, “It’s the least I could do.” She focused her perception on his arm, “Do you mind if I examine your…mutation?”

“I…I don’t.” 

“We’ve had healers in Bresia look at it,” Monica said. “Transforming it back would be costly and dangerous, but if he increased his Magus rank, it would be safer.”

Cillian held out his arm and Yuriko activated her Chaos Sight, observing the interplay between his flesh as well as the ambient Elemental energy. Unsurprisingly, the arm held a tiny bit of Chaos… no, it was producing Chaos inside, and it was clashing with his body and the Elemental energy in the air. Every time it did, he would flinch in pain. 

But…the presence of Chaos inside him, contained by mutated flesh, disastrous it might be, was also an opportunity. It was just a question of whether he was brave enough to take it and whether he was lucky enough to survive.