Rory tried to summarize the past day to the best of his abilities, but it still took a while to explain everything to Arelland. A part of him frowned all the while, still unsure whether he ought to trust the elf or not. But he just didn’t get any malicious feelings from Arelland at all.

“Your tale is rather wondrous,” the elf said when Rory finished. “It explains why the Thunderclaw decided to appear here.”

Rory had little time for compliments. “Thanks. But if we’re done here, then let’s get that deal taken care of. I don’t want to have to keep fighting monsters every waking moment.”

“Ah, you misunderstand me. This deal I mention is only a safety measure for the war. It establishes you as an impartial faction. Simple as the outcome may seem, achieving it will not be easy. However, it in and of itself does nothing to protect you from Otherworlders who aren’t part of the Coalition.”

“Wait, wait. You’re saying all this talk was just so more of you wouldn’t appear and kill us all?”

“In essence, correct!”

Rory ground his teeth together. All this talk, just to decide on some ifs and maybes. He sighed, getting a reign on his roiling feelings. The elf was still here so things could be salvaged. “Alright, back up a bit. Our priority right now is surviving the other Otherworlders from killing us while we sleep. Can you help with that?”

“Hmm. I am unsure how I may be of assistance, but I do know that you require a Safe Zone to prevent monsters from spawning at and attacking your location.”

“Safe Zone?”

“The Safe Zone is an area where no monstrous activity is allowed to be created. Creatures such as these Emberteeth and Thundershells will no longer be able to spawn in the vicinity. Monsters are the greatest threat in lands affected by the Planes. They are creatures born from the same energy that births Sigils, so they exist to hunt down more and more Sigils.”

“But then, if we stopped using Sigils, wouldn’t the monsters go away?”

“They are born to hunt down living beings since the likelihood of a Sigil existing with them is much, much greater than somewhere out in the Wilderness.”

Surviving without Sigils was sounding more impossible by the minute, but now, using Sigils would draw monstrous attention from everywhere. It sounded like some sort of elaborate catch-22 scam. Rory started pacing again.

“What’s going on?” Viv asked.

Rory froze.

She had risen to her feet with Evelyn’s help and was now slowly approaching Rory. He forgot to breathe for a moment. Viv was fine. She looked tired and was clearly unsteady, but her wounds had healed as though she’d never been burned in the first place. She was a vision.

Rory didn’t remember moving but he found himself before her in an instant. Then he was wrapping her in his arms, locking her to him because he was now for sure afraid that every time he let her go would be the last time he got to hold his beloved.

“You’re embarrassing everyone.” Viv’s voice was muffled against his shoulder.

“You say that,” he whispered in her ear. “But you’re not letting go of me either.”

He could feel her smile against him. Then she did let go and pull herself back. He held her at arm’s length, his swirling worries shoved aside for the moment thanks to her presence.

“If you can stop grinning stupidly at each other,” Sue said, also coming over. May was with her, looking around everywhere. “We can start deciding what we’re going to do next.”

She frowned at Arelland, and Rory used that distraction to clear his throat and step back.

“What’s going on?” Viv repeated. “You look worried.”

“Are you feeling okay?” he asked back.

She waved the question away. “I’m fine. But what did you learn?” Her eyes flickered past him to Arelland. “From him, I imagine?”

“She’s not really fine,” Evelyn said as Viv glared at her. “She needs rest.”

Rory sighed. Viv was always “fine” even when she wasn’t. He waited until Dez, Ned, Miles, Mikey, and Jerome had joined them as well, then proceeded to explain what Arelland had said about the Safe Zone and about Dwellmont.

“Alex,” Viv whispered.

Rory swallowed. “We’re just going to have to hope they made it out.”

Sue punctured the momentary uncomfortable silence. “We can make it to Mirrorend. Stop wasting our time here and get to where people are.”

“I’m not sure we’ll make it that far,” Rory said.

“We can! The van’s working fine. If we start now, we should make it before nightfall.”

Arelland shook his head and stepped forward. He stood just beside Rory, towering over the rest of them and making even Dez look small. “You forget your lack of Mana needed for such a journey, and the relative weakness of your Sigils. Travelling long distances should be your last option.”

“And your other option is this Safe Zone? How are we even supposed to get it going?”

“It will be… a difficult process, undoubtedly.”

“So, we’re weighing whether it’s more difficult to travel to safety or enforcing our own,” Sue said. “Aren’t numbers a big part of the safety factor?”

“Perhaps. But if you recall, the other settlement will soon be steeped in war. The Otherworlders will not stop until Mirrorend suffers the same fate as Dwellmont, and considering the state of your former capital, I have little faith in your kind’s ability to withstand our forward progress.”

Sue pressed her lips in an uncompromising line. Rory understood her fears. When all options were terrible, there seemed to be little point in choosing.

Rory, however, was bent on trying.

“How exactly would one go about making this Safe Zone?” Viv asked.

“You would need to register a location as your Settlement,” Arelland said. “The system will not allow it naturally, since once there are two Settlements in a battlefield, it is highly unlikely that it will allow more. However, Rory can obtain the needed Sigil via his Weaving, and then Ward it in the required location.”

“You already got one, right?” Dez asked Rory.

Rory needed a second to remember. “Oh, that’s right. I got it from the system, actually, as an achievement.”

He showed Arelland the Sigil of Settlement with the picture of a house on it.

The elf’s eyes widened. “Interesting. I would not have thought that possible, but the system works in mysterious ways. Regardless, once you have formed your Settlement, you will find that it requires certain components to increase its Tier. One of those higher Tiers will allow you to turn your Settlement into a Safe Zone.”

“That makes sense,” Rory said.

“But you said the system wouldn’t allow it to remain in existence, right?” Viv asked.

Arelland nodded his head with the gears in his helmet whirring. “Correct! But there is a way to bypass that. At first, the system will likely neglect your Settlement due to its relative weakness and the great possibility that it will fall on its own in due time, thanks to Otherworlder efforts.”

“Sounds lovely,” Sue muttered.

“But should you survive and prosper, to the point you raise it as a Safe Zone, then the system will attempt to take action against you. To stop that, you must simply make yourselves indispensable to the system.”

Viv frowned. “What does that even mean?”

“Like a merchant.”

Everyone looked back at Ned, who flushed under the attention.

Viv stared at him. “What?”

“That’s one of the ways this system can be convinced to stop the monster attacks, right?”

“Yes,” Arelland confirmed. He peered at Ned. “Though merchanting wasn’t what I had in mind. From where did you attain such an idea?”

“I recognize your system. It’s like…”

“A game!” Miles said. “We can craft and sell things instead of fighting.”

Arelland’s eyes narrowed. “A game, you say?”

Rory decided to butt in before they offended the elf by reducing his tragic life into a pastime for the people on Earth. He raised his hand to show the image of the Sigil of Mercantilism. “What he essentially means is that we can be part of the war without taking any partial part in it. You need suppliers, craftspeople, armourers, weaponsmiths and so on, right? We can be an indispensable support group, to both sides.”

“That is an interesting supposition.”

Rory’s mind raced. Much as he found it reprehensible to help propagate a conflict he didn’t even fully understand, they had few options. But more than that, it was the idea of being a merchant that appealed to Rory on an incredibly base level. He could create Sigils and sell them, perhaps perform some Warding as well, to create Sigil-Warded items.

After all, he had set out to enjoy his retirement intending to live on a mercantile business, just with artifacts and antiques instead of magical Sigils. For the first time since this mad apocalypse had started, he found an optimistic way ahead. He couldn’t fight like the others, but maybe he wouldn’t need to.

“What exactly would we need to get this set up as soon as possible?” Viv asked.

“You are in luck that I know,” Arelland said. “Note carefully, to gain the system’s approval in setting up a legitimate business, you will need a trading deal, a supply line, an enterprise, a recognition letter from both governing bodies, a storefront, and of course, the Sigil of Mercantilism you already possess.”

“That’s a lot.”

“As I said, it would not be easy. Some requirements will be easier to obtain, some harder. But they are all achievable.”

Rory figured that. Easy, since he had no idea how he was supposed to go about getting any of those. But he closed his eyes for a moment. No point in getting too overwhelmed. They just had to take it step by step.

“All I need is to know where I can start,” he said.

“For now, focus on your Settlement,” Arelland said. “You will need to get it to the point where it can act as a Safe Zone, and only then will forming a mercantile deal work in our favour.”

“Then we need to figure out where exactly we should go to make a Settlement.”

“Wait, we haven’t decided that’s what we’re going to do,” Sue said.

Rory stared at her. “That’s what all this talking was about.”

“Yes, but that wasn’t the decision. That informed the decision. Because like—” Sue shook her hands in frustration as though she was having difficulty getting her point across. “We don’t even know how long all this is going to take. If you think we can’t make it to Mirrorend, you think we can protect ourselves for however many days we need to establish this Safe Zone?”

“She’s right,” Mikey said. “How long are we supposed to keep fighting?”

“It isn’t simply monsters that you ought to be wary of either,” Arelland said. “There are others who will seek to destroy you, simply because you have a Weaver in your ranks. Homeworlders, Otherworlders, there will be no difference.”

“As if things weren’t bad enough already,” Sue muttered.

“Things are likely to get worse. But with great danger comes great opportunity.”

“I don’t think that’s how the saying goes…”

“What saying? Also, what is a saying?”

Sue sighed.

Rory cleared his throat. “I think Mirrorend could be a good, short-term goal. But long-term, it would be better if we had a base here. Think about it—we can’t be the only ones left behind in Hillhard. We need to find and help those people too.”

It wasn’t a point Rory himself had actualized yet, but as he said it, he knew it to be true. None of the others argued. Not even Sue. Maybe it wasn’t safe to go around hunting down other survivors of the apocalypse who hadn’t been able to make their way to Mirrorend, but it was the least they could do to help them.

“Where would be a good place for starting this Settlement?” Dez asked. “Not here, though.”

“No, not here,” Viv said, looking around.

Rory had to agree. This bank was one strong breeze away from falling apart after the devastating effects of the battle between the lich and the Thunderclaw Knight.

“The palace,” Evelyn said. “It’s more than big enough, and it’s mostly intact.”

“The old Belcourt palace?” Sue frowned. “That’s too big.”

“Just what we need in case there are a lot more people we haven’t found yet,” Rory said.

“Then we should finish up our salvage, find whatever we can, and get out of here,” Viv said.

Her eyes landed on Evelyn, her expression twisting. Rory’s heart sank. Their entire excursion in this bank had been to get Evelyn’s family out, and they’d come far too late.

Arelland stepped forward again, right up to Rory this time. “I believe we have concluded our business. I will depart and wish you luck in your future endeavours.”

“Alright, thanks for everything,” Rory said. “When can we expect the letter of recognition?”

“You can expect development regarding the letter before the true war starts. I will return before long. You must survive till then.”

The elf left with a departing wave. When he reached the hall’s exit, Mara rushed up and stood in his way, glaring up at his face.

“I’m coming with you,” she said. “But you still owe me training. You’re going to pay for everything you’ve done, master, after you’ve trained me to be even stronger than you.”

“Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?”

“Hey… Mara, is it?” Evelyn said. “You can stay with us. We’re a good group.”

Rory nodded. He wasn’t sure how he felt letting the girl go off with an Otherworlder, no matter how well-meaning he seemed. “We’d be happy to have you along.”

“Thanks, but nah.” Mara hadn’t taken her eyes off Arelland once. “I’ve got other plans, right, master?”

The elf stared long-sufferingly at the sky. “Come along, then.”

They left, no doubt the strangest pair Rory was ever going to witness. He could see his troubled expression reflected on the others, but it wasn’t like they could force Mara to do what they thought was best. Everyone was responsible for themselves, and their ultimate choices were up to them and them alone.

“Alright,” Rory said. “Let’s get scrounging. We’ve got a lot to take care of.”