Daz was incredibly thankful for Madison being in his life.

Perhaps the circumstances of their meeting had been orchestrated in a bid to gain the Hamilio bloodline by her parents, but still, regardless of the reasoning, he couldn't help but feel lucky.

She was one of the few people who truly understood him and tried her best to help him. She didn't always agree with him and even got upset with him from time to time.

Daz truly loved her for that and felt if there was anyone he could put his entire trust into, it'd be her.

Were he a ship, she'd be his rudder, sails and oars. Sure, without her, he'd still be able to float around but never with any direction in mind.

He'd also be helpless as his ship got more and more damaged with no hopes of ever reaching safe harbour again to seek repairs.

With his oars, sails, and rudder, he was free of such worries.

Sadly though, all good things must come to an end. Daz had to get to work and he'd already spent almost a full day on Sandy's funeral or with Madison.

She had helped him come to understand his own feelings on Sandy's death a bit more, however, that matter had to be shelved for now.

"There's a lot of them," Daz noted as he glanced up from the map to his little sister.

She looked just as exhausted as him, if not more so. The sleeping Bronze Dragon on her lap, while cute, didn't help relieve much of her stress. "I was thorough. Which one will you attack, Brother?"

The coldness in Rose's tone shocked Daz a bit and made him think for a moment that he was talking to one of his clones, not to his sister.

'Anger, bitterness... and a bit of worry? There's so much more mixed in... This Ember of Empathy is tough to figure out, especially on her,' Daz thought.

He had no concrete ideas as to why Rose was being so distant but he could guess. 'She's still upset that I dismissed her protests towards my plans of going off on my own and assaulting the Truthians...'

Sadly though, as much as he loved her and valued her opinion as being the smartest person he knew, Daz had made his bed. He wasn't exactly well-known for not lying in it. Not without excellent reasoning.

He trailed his index finger across the map and let it rest atop an indicated camp in the state of Wisconsin. "Here."

Rose nodded. "Do you need me to contact Larry Billard for you since you'll need to pass through Nebraska to get there? Or do you plan to just fly there in your car? You may still need to inform him since it's his air space."

'Rose without her snark doesn't really feel like Rose. Is this what it feels like to be ignored by someone you care for? Hmm, maybe not. It's certainly a slightly different situation,' Daz thought.

"What's your opinion? A part of me wants to explore why South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota are a hellish winter wonderland right now. That worries me since the snow seems to be spreading and it could be related to the Truthian's somehow," he said.

Directly attacking a camp could be a bad idea. Daz knew that. Going after something they were invested in covertly though? That interested him greatly.

He saw Rose look at him with suspicion in her eyes so he smiled a little bit wryly. "You're right. I really shouldn't launch a direct attack immediately. At least, not personally. I'm thinking of sending Beta to pretend to be me and fight with very guerrilla-oriented tactics. Confuse the Truthians while I continue to grow my power to resist them, y'know? I will go and attack myself though."

"When?" Rose asked.

Daz paused to stroke his chin thoughtfully. "Not for a few months, sadly. I need more Stars of Eternity and I need to make a trusted task force of Ember users who can fight against Truthians competently for a real militaristic push. Beta can be used to just keep them on their toes and wary of a retaliatory full-scale attack. How does that sound to you, Little Sister?"

Rose shivered from head to toe in disgust. "I won't call you 'Brother' again, so never refer to me as 'Little Sister', please. It feels more than unnatural."

Daz nodded. "I can agree to that."

Rose's expression softened a bit. "I'm glad you can see reason. The chances of things going poorly if you attacked alone were incredibly high. I even conferred with Ben's smarter side, Red. The analytical weirdo said if you went off like some sort of Rambo, his chances of survival dropped by 42.30%."

"Such an incredible ability that Red has," Daz noted. "Thoughts on the winter wonderland though?"

Rose wore a complicated expression. "It's linked to the mythical city I told you about."

Daz frowned. "Didn't you say that was in the north pole?"

Rose nodded. "Yup. however, it has a few entrances hidden around the world. Ar least, my data suggests as much. I think, now I must stress, I think, the situation just a little bit northwest of us is one such entrance. Like I said when we last spoke on this, I used up all of my guesses from my skill just finding out about the thing."

Daz stroked his jaw in thought. "Huh... If it's a trial like El Dorado was, the more people the better. I'll need Mr Barrier though if we're dealing with Truthians. He supposedly kept the castle academy entirely safe, his shield proving immune to the Truthian's system cancelling."

"Yeah, I know. I was there visiting Madison for some business. It was amazing, honestly," Rose replied.

"Hmm..." Daz thought for a bit before asking, "Does New Earth have any experienced fighters with very high cold or elemental resistances?"

"A handful, yeah. Oh, also, I found someone for that thing of yours you wanted to get rid of a while ago. Take them with you," Rose said.

Daz raised an eyebrow. "What thing?"

"The Frost Phoenix's egg," Rose explained with a roll of the eyes. "I finally found a skilled enough tamer-type class holder willing to take the thing in and hatch it as a familiar."

Daz nodded. "Great. That has been a loose end I've had for quite a while, hasn't it? I trust I don't need to tell you that anyone who goes with me on this expedition shouldn't be aware it's me or can be trusted to keep such information a secret. I might even just disguise myself through the system. We need everyone to believe Beta is me."

"What do we do about Beta himself then? He's quite integral to the reconstruction of Fort Skip thanks to a few of your skills like your Industrial Item Box," Rose pointed out. "We can't just have him go missing suddenly. Bit of an oversight on your little plan."

"Hmm... Any ideas?" Daz asked, ignoring her harsh words.

"We could always get someone to disguise themselves as him. It's convoluted, but it would work. Someone with similar skills to the one he's using right now," Rose suggested with a shrug.

"Mu then. We need someone we can trust. He can get his clone to change its appearance to me- Ah, he can spare it, can't he? He and I haven't spoken about our skills in some time, but I would imagine he's upgraded Death Energy Manipulation to have more clones," Daz said. "He also has the right items and skills to mimic my basic skillset, I think."

Rose nodded. "Yeah, he has and does. His skill is the same as yours now - Manifestation, not Manipulation. He's busy too though with reducing the suffering, fear and loneliness of everyone. He can probably spare a single clone though. If not, I can figure something else out."

"As reliable as ever, you are," Daz praised with a smile.

Rose furrowed her brow as her cheeks flushed. "Of course I am. One of us had to have our head on straight."

"Says the only one of us two that distinctively isn't straight," Daz teased.

Rose gave him a pointed look and was clearly going to retort with some snark so he spoke instead of allowing her to jab one of his weaknesses with that sharp tongue of hers.

"Now, tell me about this tamer, would you, Rose?" Daz requested.

For Rose to have picked them out, they must be special in some way, so Daz was most curious. At that exact moment, however, a quest popped up in front of the Archreaper's eyes.

Quest Title: To Hatch An Undying Quest Type: Optionable Quest Difficulty: C-rank Quest Goal Ensure the successful hatching of the Frost Phoenix. Quest Rewards 200,000 Merit Points Book [How To Raise A Phoenix: Frost Edition: Volume 1] A shovel that grants command over snails

'Okaaay... I have so many questions to which I'll either get no answers or only get them once I complete this quest...' Daz thought as he looked over the quests 'peculiar' rewards. 'Command over snails... Perhaps the last thing I'd ever expect.'

Since all of his stats had reached their limits, stat points weren't even offered to him anymore when doing quests.

Daz did dozens of simple quests a day and it was one of his main sources of income now after having spent over 800-billion on saving his citizens.

Most of those quests related to reaching training milestones or handling all of his political duties with grace, majesty, and skill. Sometimes, he'd get hunting ones too that lined up with his mercenary work.

"A quest?" Rose asked from his side. She had patiently avoided answering him since he suddenly lost focus and seemed to be concentrating on something else until just now.

Daz nodded. "Yup. It's about the Frost Phoenix egg. So, again, tell me about its future owner, please."

"I'm glad this place had Mr Barrier's protection," Daz said to the former cancer-enduring adoptive grandmother of Sasha, Jesabelle.

Right now he was being led through the damaged but still mostly intact walls of the Castle Private School which had been named McArthur Academy by the people of the city.

This was in light of all of the help Madison did for the school. She spent a great deal of her merit points on upgrading it and most of her free time was used playing with the younger students or even on teaching in the ways of the sword.

It also helped that she was the high king's significant other, making it an easy choice to honour him by naming the school after her. 'I do wonder how she feels about this since she, like me, isn't a huge fan of the family she hails from.'

The headmistress of McArthur Academy smiled wryly under her cowboy's hat. "Young Miss McArthur protected this place like her life was on the line. I can only apologise for relying on her so much, the useless old grandma that I am."

"Use is subjective," Daz noted passively. "Your use lies in fostering the future generations, not in slaughtering moralless terrorists."

"Try saying that to a me that didn't have the help of your little missy, Your Majesty. Old and jaded as I am, no one wants to look at the bodies of helpless children," Headmistress Jesabelle retorted as they walked through the castle of learning's stone halls.

"Not all children are helpless," Daz answered before images flashed through his mind. Images of a young boy who, despite trying his hardest, was ripped in two by the sharp and deadly fangs of the Frost Phoenix. "But I understand what you mean, Headmistress."

"You don't need to be formal with me, Your Majesty," Headmistress Jesabelle stated with a faint and half-hearted giggle.

"Then you can stop calling me by my title and go back to referring to me as 'Sonny'," Daz responded in kind.

"Our statuses are a little bit different if you weren't aware, haha," Headmistress Jesabelle said in refusal before suddenly asking, "Did you ever take her back to Las Vegas?"

Daz raised an eyebrow. "Sasha? No. It is on my to-do list but even before the attacks, I was endlessly busy. Perhaps when this war is over and Las Vegas is rebuilt, I'll bring her back then. You might not have heard but the city was completely levelled by the Truthians."

A flash of pained surprise coursed through Headmistress Jesabelle's eyes. "Oh... Everything?"

Daz nodded. "From every pawnshop to every hotel-casino. Nothing but rubble remains. I will rebuild it, but it will be hard and it will likely take months, if not years."

Headmistress Jesabelle seemed deeply saddened by this news. "I... I see."

"Did you have family there?" Daz asked in mild concern.

Headmistress Jesabelle smiled weakly. "Heavens, no. Antoine and Rebecca live here in Fort Home... It's just... I had a lot of memories there."

'Ah. I hadn't considered that,' Daz thought.

"Anyway, enough about the depressing stuff, eh, Your Majesty? We're here. I've already pulled them from class since that sister of yours sent word ahead of your arrival," Headmaster Jesabelle stated as she gestured to the door in front of the two of them.

"I'm surprised classes are still ongoing. I'm glad though. It serves as a good distraction for the kids to keep their mind off of the horrors outside," Daz admitted.

Headmistress Jesabelle nodded. "If it weren't for Young Miss McArthur, this wouldn't be possible. Still, so many children lost their parents, siblings, loved ones... It's going to be hard to recover."

Daz put a reassuring hand on the old woman's shoulder. "But recover we will. I'll sooner die before I let this be the defining stain on New Earth's history."

"... You're an inspiration, Sonny," Headmistress Jesabelle said as a warm smile spread across her weathered face.

Daz smiled back at her. "That's better. Anyway, I'd best not keep our future Frost Phoenix tamers waiting any longer, now should I?"

Headmistress Jesabelle chuckled. "Those twins are patient. Besides, they already have a guest keeping them company," She replied before walking away with her hands clasped behind her back.

Daz's curiosity was piqued. He held the handle of the door and pushed it wide open, revealing an empty classroom that had three familiar occupants inside of it.

The twins, Cathy and Katy, turned to look at him as they were being helplessly hugged by an absolutely radiant Madison.

He shook his head and sighed. "I should've known..."