Chapter 144: Chapter 215 – A Bold Strategy

Bidding farewell to Welrond and Kindra, they used Grea’s portal to return to the castle. Asterios promised his mother that he would send Umbra to fetch her before they entered Bryn’s realm, leaving her in the king’s hands for a bit longer. She didn’t have anything extremely important to take care of and could relax for a moment.

While Grea remained in the underground to do a little check on anything that could be useful for them on their journey, the others decided to pay Endymion a visit. The old enchanter had been slowly working on the Runic Chips for Asterios and it was time to collect them. Thus, after stealing a passionate kiss from Asterios, Grea let them go and focused on herself.

On their way to the man, they stopped by Venuzathor’s spot and informed the Storm King about their plans. He would still be able to contact Asterios telepathically in case anything happened and that was what they requested of him. Everyone knew how strong he and his minions were so they had no doubts that the town would be left in good hands.

And speaking of good hands, Ast’s group couldn’t forget about meeting up with the Committee members. Surprisingly, they found everyone in the Town Hall, as rare as it happened. All the leaders were busy with their own dealings so they spoke only briefly. Asterios instructed Ulyssen and the others to pass any important messages to him through Venuzathor. If it was really serious, he would send Umbra to connect them, or even come himself, depending on the situation.

After briefly discussing a few matters mostly related to the development of Glimmervale, Asterios and the girls bid early farewell to the Committee and left to continue towards their main destination. No further delays interrupted them and they entered Endymion’s store, finding the man behind the main counter.

“Ah, Lord Asterios and friends! I know precisely why you are here and I do have good news! Welcome!” the old enchanter greeted them, standing up.

“Hello! Does that mean Master’s tokens are ready?” Miria beamed a curious and excited smile at him.

Endymion chuckled softly while stroking his long beard. “That would be correct. Please, follow me.”

They all nodded and let the man guide them to another room somewhere on the side. Instructed to wait a moment in what looked like a simple lounge, they seated themselves comfortably while examining some furniture filled with interesting trinkets. Even though they had toured Endymion’s house a little bit, there still were things that just attracted their attention, especially Miria’s.

Soon, Endymion returned with a small, rectangular, wooden box and set it on the table in front of Asterios, Silvia, and Tina.

“I started with the most complex ones, therefore completing them first, and then began moving down,” he explained. “While I couldn’t prepare all the spells we have talked about, I managed to get most of them. Here they are. I hope they will serve you well, My Lord.”

Raising the lid’s box, he revealed two neatly arranged rows of crystal tokens of various colors, patterns, and even shapes. Miria immediately appeared behind them to admire the beautiful Runic Chips as Asterios picked one up and examined it in front of his eyes.

“Instant Teleportation. That one will certainly come useful. How many uses will this token bear?” he asked.

“Up to six but that’s just a prediction. I guess five is a more realistic number,” Endymion answered. “I prepared a few Blinks too. They should be able to withstand about ten to twelve jumps thanks to the materials you provided me.”

“Isn’t that the same thing? What’s the difference?” Miria tilted her head in confusion.

“Blink can only teleport you to the destination you can see. Depending on the location, that can be very limited. Not to mention any sight-disruptive effects and conditions,” Silvia replied calmly. “Whereas Instant Teleportation operates on the caster’s mental image if the location is in the range of the spell, or on set distance chosen by them. You can teleport yourself past an obstacle that way.”

“It’s much more dangerous, though,” Tina added. “If you don’t know what your targeted destination is like, you can transport yourself into something, and that’s not good. Worst case scenario, you get stuck inside a solid structure.”

Miria shivered. “That is not good. I think I’ll pass.”

Asterios chuckled and scratched behind her fluffy ear. “I’ll be the one using it so don’t worry. If I ever need it.”

“What are some of the other spells Master got?” Selene peered into the box from the side.

“Mostly a bunch of wide-range offensive magics, as requested. The utility spells are a minority. If I had more time, I could have prepared more of them, but I had to focus on the former. There’s fire, water, lightning, earth, nature, wind, and other elements, including some combinations. Be careful not to use those in a highly-populated area.” Endymion waved a finger at them.

“Will keep that in mind.” Asterios scooped the box with treasures into his spatial storage. “Thank you for your service. If we find anything interesting on our journey, we’ll bring it to you. As long as the valkyrjas won’t mind since the Spire still technically belongs to them.”

“I’m sure a bunch of rocks and minerals is a small price to get one of your important locations retrieved from the hands of the enemy,” Selene commented.

“I’ll be eagerly awaiting your return while working on more tokens, then.” Endymion made a respectful bow.

They chatted about the imbued spells while walking to the exit together and then left the enchanter’s abode. Miria couldn’t stop pestering Asterios about the Runic Chips, causing everyone to chuckle at her enthusiasm. Seeing how much she wanted to witness their power, he promised not to skimp on their use whenever they would get into a fight, and he predicted that they would quite soon and most likely quite often.

“Do we have any other places and people we should visit?” Silvia asked after they walked a bit from Endymion’s store.

“I think everyone who should know already knows,” Tina replied. “Did you tell your maid?”

“Yes, I informed her about our plans earlier.” The princess nodded.

“Since Suanori and the guild are aware, we could drop by Imadil’s new smithy just because and get going. If he and Cynthia have some time on their hands, they could take a look at our weapons and stuff. We’ve been taking decent care of everything but it doesn’t hurt being sure, even though only Miria here uses more conventional blades,” Asterios chimed in.

“They barely need any maintenance themselves. I’ve never seen them lose sharpness or anything, though I do tend to them regularly since that’s what Mom taught me,” Miria added, drawing one of her simple-looking but mysterious blades.

“And their compatibility with magic is surprising too,” Selene added.

“All I know is that they have been our family’s heirloom for a long time. They are supposedly made from the pieces of a meteor that has fallen deep in the jungle ages ago, turning it into a barren wasteland,” the panthergirl explained.

“Ah. That one. It’s a quite famous and popular story. Your ancestors must have been extremely lucky to snag a part of it and even find someone to turn it into a good weapon. Anything made out of that thing is an extreme rarity even in our tribe. Most of the meteor mysteriously disappeared and only bits of it remained at the crash site. You should keep that a secret from anyone you don’t trust,” Selene warned her.

“No wonder they can easily withstand getting heated up almost to white,” Asterios commented.

“It’s only thanks to Master that I can actually utilize them properly.” Miria sheathed the blade back and pushed herself into Ast’s side, nuzzling her face into his neck. “I could barely cover them with my Mana Coating back in the day. They were nothing more than a pair of really good swords in a mediocre user’s hands. But, with Master's help, I’m getting stronger and better, becoming actually worthy of using them.”

After Miria got enough snuggles from her beloved master, she freed Asterios and they followed the path to the workshop of their elf friends. Both the father and the daughter were present on the spot and made some time for them without an issue, accepting the request to take a peek at their gear.

Cynthia expressed her appreciation for Asterios actually tending to her creation properly. As she had said, not many people bothered with it in the current age, and customers coming back to fix almost utterly broken and destroyed weapons were a major part of their clients back in Tyrienheim. She did some simple maintenance on his Spellslinger and focused on the other things with her father.

It took them about an hour to look through everything Ast’s team had to show. The talented Spellsongs applied a few additional, temporary enchantments to all their gear, which would last for about a week or two, depending on use. They also examined Miria’s blades after everyone had grown curious about their backstory but only confirmed that the mineral was special and the weapons themselves didn’t hide any additional secrets. But, that was already enough since even they were fascinated by this meteoric steel.

Promising Imadil and Cynthia to let them study Miria’s blades a bit more in the future, they thanked the elf family wholeheartedly and exited their smithy.

“Well, then. Let’s not keep Bryn waiting,” Asterios said and they shared a smile.

A dark crimson gate rose from the ground and the golden-haired Valkyrie stepped out of it.

“It will be my pleasure to be your guide in my world. Everything is ready.” She nodded politely.

~Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaait! Don’t forget about me!~ Another portal opened next to Asterios and Grea lunged out of it. “A realm full of badass, beautiful, bombshell ladies living in floating cities? No chance I’m missing this.”

Everyone chuckled at her and then followed Bryn through her gate. One by one, they found themselves amongst shiny buildings made of silver and gold metals, with some marble showing up here and there. Tina had already seen a little bit of the streets so she wasn’t utterly gobsmacked but Grea and Silvia looked all around with pure awe in their eyes.

Just like usual, many armored women flew above their heads, heading in various directions. They could spot some of them walking on the ground. A more casual attire dominated amongst those wandering the streets on their own two feet, mostly in the form of white robes, vestments, or dresses. Similar to Bryn, the other valkyrjas showed a great deal of skin.

“Damn. This is a paradise for eyes.” Grea whistled. “I would have never believed if someone told me a realm like this exists outside of fiction. Oh, how envious would all the men be after learning that you have exclusive access to it.”

Asterios shook his head with a smile. “You are forgetting the part where our men look quite close to their monsters in terms of general body shape. And that includes me.”

“Psssht. Minor detail.” She waved her hand at him. “There’s bound to be at least one pretty winged lady who doesn’t mind that fact, right?”

Bryn’s cheeks grew a little bit rosy after the demon woman winked in her direction a few times. Asterios sighed and bonked Grea on the head to stop her from teasing their friend too much.

“So, we are here. What now?” Miria looked around curiously. “Do we even know where to start looking?”

“I know exactly where the Descending Spire is if that’s what you are wondering about,” Bryn replied, taming down her faint blush. “Unfortunately, it won’t be as simple as jumping over the edge of this ARK and falling right on top of it.”

“Then?” Selene raised a brow at her.

“It’s quite a distance from Tyr. The Descending Spire is the closest to Odin since that flying fortress has been constructed near the city built around it. I don’t think it will be wise to travel on the ground, for obvious reasons, so we will have to fly there and most likely make Odin our main base of operations,” the Valkyrie explained.

“It would have been too good if it was right under us.” Grea smirked. “Nothing is ever that easy.”

“I have already called the Council members to gather. If you don’t mind, we could discuss with them our course of action. Some of them can be a bit rude but it doesn’t change the fact that they are the best of the best in their respective fields, somewhat similar to the Committee from your town, Master.” Bryn glanced at Asterios. “Then, while the necessary preparations are in place, I planned to show you more of this beautiful city. Of course, if we aren’t in a rush to get to the Spire as soon as possible.”

“Let’s consult them and then go sightseeing. I’m sure everyone is looking forward to that part. We can take it slow and enjoy our stay here,” he answered and a bunch of cheers immediately filled the air. “But, if we are going to be traveling far in this realm, we need to keep the usage of our gates in mind.”

“What do you mean?” Tina asked with a soft frown.

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“It’s not like all of us have to stay in Bryn’s world all the time. As long as at least one person remains here, excluding her, we will be able to leave and return to wherever we are at that point in time. To be completely safe, I would suggest raising that bottom limit to two people at least, just to be safe from an accidental mistake that could render our progress void,” Asterios explained.

“Why exclude Bryn? She is the one who can open portals here.” Miria tilted her head.

“That’s exactly why.” Asterios smiled at her and scratched under her chin. “If we all go back to my world and leave her alone here, there’s a chance that Bryn could come to us after being called or something. After she closes her portal, the new one that opens will lead here.”

“Ah, I get it.” Grea hit her palm with her fist. “If we do that while being in Odin, we end up back in Tyr since that’s where her home is. Yeah, I agree with Ast. We should keep some anchors down to be safe.”

“While Umbra can technically transport me to the place we have already visited, that still takes some time, depending on how far the ARKs are from each other. It’s more for convenience than anything. Plus, I bet we would like to spend most of our time here anyway,” he added.

“Smart.” Bryn nodded, rubbing her chin. “I wouldn’t have thought about that and I could see myself making such a mistake.”

“When you are obsessed with Summoning Magic, things like that just pop up in your head.” Asterios chuckled while shrugging his shoulders. “Now, lead the way. We have a meeting to attend.”

Bryn took the lead and guided them through the flying city. Their quite big group attracted some attention from the valkyrjas they passed but it was mostly curious gazes. It was the first time Asterios brought this many people into Bryn’s world at once and it was just impossible to sneak around, especially with Grea acting like an overexcited tourist. At least Silvia absorbed the sights with some composure.

It didn’t take them long to reach the majestic castle they remembered from their previous meeting with the Council. The armored sentries opened the massive gates for them while Grea marveled over their beauty and fitting gear. 

Bryn took them straight to the meeting hall and Asterios noticed that a few valkyrjas politely lowered their heads at him as they walked through the spacious hallways. He assumed those would have to be the ones aware of his aid. Naturally, he responded with the same whenever he could.

As they walked into the cylindrical chamber with the round table, Asterios quickly recognized the familiar faces of the five Council members they had already met. While Kara, Rota, Eir, and one person they hadn’t caught the name of yet showed either smiles or neutral expressions, Hilda still seemed unamused by his presence and involvement.

“Thank you all for gathering,” Bryn began as they reached the table. “The time has come. As you already know, the Descending Spire is Asterios’ current goal in our realm. We wanted to discuss this journey with all of you and decide on our next steps. I think it’s obvious that with how much he has done for us, we should do our best in aiding him and his companions on their quest.”

“Why does he even have to go there? You told us that it was important but nothing more,” Hilda spoke up first.

“I believe that my parents brought me there for some reason and did something to me. Additionally, you can say that I received a pre-recorded message from my father to go there,” Asterios explained.

“Parents? Have you been born here?” Kara frowned a little in confusion. “That would be a bit hard to believe considering your… appearance.”

Before Bryn could rebuke her colleagues for being rude, Asterios raised his hand to stop her.

“I haven’t and neither have they. I think, at least. They were able to cross realms and I don’t actually know my exact place or world of birth. I have a memory of a structure with similar architecture to what we can see around us. Bryn saw it and confirmed that it indeed comes from the Descending Spire.”

“What are you searching for there? I’m sure Bryn told you that it’s completely swarmed with the Scourge right now. We’ve never even considered going any close to it, no matter what kind of useful things it could be hiding,” Eir said.

“Wish I knew.” He shook his head. “All I have are hints and memory fragments that aren’t exactly coherent. I don’t know how much time passed between them either, though I can try to guess that not too much since I’m an infant in all of them.”

“And you are going to risk heading into a fully infested structure you’ve never been inside of just because of that? Do you not value your life? It’s basically suicide.” Hilda crossed her arms under her chest.

“I believe Asterios possesses the strength to succeed. Besides, I will be guiding him. I know a thing or two about the Spire,” Bryn interjected.

“Bryn! You should know how dangerous it is too!” Rota showed an extremely concerned expression. “We can’t let you go! If something happens, we will lose the connection with Kraedorion!”

“The same thing can be said about Asterios being the one to die.” Bryn rolled her eyes. “Besides, even if I truly am felled in battle by his side, I’m sure it wouldn’t be an issue for him to form a contract with another valkyrja. If you are that worried about the connection, I can make that my final request.”

The other person didn’t answer but Asterios could see Rota’s tightly pressed lips. It was pretty clear to him that she worried more about her close friend rather than the connection, but since she had used it as an excuse, she couldn’t really continue arguing after Bryn had suggested a resolution.

“Additionally, I believe that we can not only succeed in finding whatever my Master is looking for but also reclaim the Descending Spire from the claws of the Scourge once and for good,” Bryn added, meeting the gaze of all the other members. “That’s why, I want to request a full mobilization. Every single combatant present in Tyr has to be ready to take off at a moment’s notice.”

“You are insane!” Hilda shouted. “Do you want to drag our entire army down with your idiotic delusions?! Can’t you see the losses?! And what will that achieve when the enemy will just swarm it again?!”

“That’s the thing. They won’t.”

“What?”

Bryn straightened her posture and stared Hilda down. “We will locate and activate Tyr’s Aegis.”

All the valkyrjas in the room gasped at once and murmurs filled the air. Asterios and the girls didn’t know why they had reacted like that to Bryn’s declaration but they could understand that it was a big deal for some reason.

“I don’t want to use the army to clear up the Scourge on our path so that things are easier for us. I want them to station in Odin and wait for my signal. We will do the heavy lifting ourselves. They just need to help protect us in the later stage of the plan. Turning something like the Tyr’s Shield on will inevitably cause a huge spiritual outburst. All the monsters in the range of entire kilometers will surge towards the Spire. We just need to hold on long enough for it to fully activate,” Bryn continued.

“Tyr’s Aegis is nothing more than a legend, a fairy tale, Bryn,” Kara replied with a pitiful expression. “We don’t even know if it really exists. And even if it does, the chronicles state that it had never been activated. There was just no reason for it to be. After gods know how long, it might be in a completely inoperable state.”

“It doesn’t matter if it exists or not. No one will follow a suicidal order,” Hilda sneered.

“Then I just need to convince them that it’s not a suicide.” Bryn smirked and glanced at Asterios. “I submit a petition to host War Games. The prize will be my seat in the Council.”

Shocked whispers broke out once more. It seemed that Bryn kept one-upping herself again and again.

“I have just one condition,” she continued and everyone quietened down. “Asterios is going to fight in my place.”

“Preposterous!” Hilda slammed the table with a furious expression. “That is against the regulations!”

“Show me the rule saying that I can’t appoint a representative.”

“That thing is an outsider!”

“Then show me the rule saying that outsiders can’t partake in the War Games.”

It seemed that Hilda wasn’t able to fight back anymore and could only grind her teeth in frustration. In the meanwhile, the girls were getting all excited about the so-called War Games. They didn’t know a thing about them but they wanted to see Asterios participate.

“No one else has any objections?” Their winged friend scanned the chamber with her gaze and nodded to herself. “Great. Since having the support of our forces is a key element of my plans, we will continue the strategic talks after the War Games conclude. Also, I hope you won’t have anything against Ast’s companions taking part in the tournament, on their own behalf. They can show what they are capable of too.”

“Please, give us some time to talk all of this through,” Eir chimed in after a while. “We will discuss your petition amongst ourselves and let you know about the voting results later. Since you have submitted it, your vote is already counted. If you wish, you can take our guests away in the meanwhile.”

“That’s what I will do, then.” Bryn made a respectful bow. “Thank you for listening to me, Councilors. We will take our leave.”

Following their Valkyrie friend, Asterios and the others walked out of the meeting chamber. They could hear the loud noise of spirited discussion from the very moment they stepped past the decorative gate, before it even fully closed behind their backs. Even then, the voices were still loud enough to penetrate the metal.

They stopped in front of the stairs leading down from the castle’s main entrance. The beautiful flying city stood open in front of them. People busied themselves with their daily lives. Taking a step forward, Bryn turned to face everyone.

“It might take a moment for them to stop bickering.” She smiled wryly. “Why don’t we take a look at your assigned quarters and then go around the city while I explain everything? I’m sure you are dying to hear about all the things mentioned during the meeting.”

“I have a much better idea.” Selene smirked slyly. “Since we’ve already seen a thing or two with Miria, we will take Master to the residence while you can start the sightseeing early. Grea is practically trembling from excitement. We will catch up to you guys after checking the place out.”

“I guess we can do that.” Bryn nodded. “I’ll quickly show you the way and return here, then. You can wait for me at this plaza in front of the castle.” 

She shared a nod with the women that were staying and launched herself into the air. Asterios had already brought out his wings while they were speaking and did the same after scooping Miria into a princess carry. Selene followed them a moment later.

They reached their destination in under a minute and landed in front of a small but charming villa, of course, all made of silver and gold metal. It was obvious that it was meant for someone of high standing with how much more intricate the designs and decorations were even for the front pillars. The building resembled a tiny castle or temple with many little, sharp towers and spikes.

Bryn handed them the keys after opening the front door and took off to return to the others. Miria burst into the mansion first, starting to run around the unusual building. Asterios followed her, chuckling to himself. Selene came in last and he turned around after hearing the distinct click of the lock. An impish smile decorated the fox lady’s lips.

“Now, I believe we have a little bit of time to enjoy ourselves while thoroughly exploring this place.”

 

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