It takes a few minutes of stretching to restore the feeling, I was right about the throne being uncomfortable. Even though I don't want to waste time, I can't stop myself from checking out the rest of the palace. While it needs a good cleaning, it doesn't hide the beauty and luxury found everywhere.

While the palace is highly decorated, it is done in an elegant way so nothing looks gaudy. The hallways use a lot of marble, giving it a slightly cold feel to it. The bedrooms and private areas are the opposite, using woods to give them a warm feel.

All in all, I don't think this would be a bad place to live, not that I will have a chance to settle down. If Core could leave the pillar I would certainly want to move her down here. I think once the beasts have moved a decent amount of people up here the elders should move into the palace.

For now it will just remain empty, but the golems will maintain it and keep it clean. When I finally exit the palace Myria and the others are waiting for me. They don't say anything until we have climbed the pillar and entered Core's room.

Zheka says "All the spider holes have been closed, as you ordered."

"Good. Did you run into any spiders?"

Kechara says "A few groups, nothing difficult."

"They shouldn't be able to get back into the city now."

Core says "I thought you were going to disable the defenses?"

"No, I just modified them. It is safe for the beasts to start moving into the city. I even sent the golems to fix the destroyed area."

Core says "You were able to modify enchantments and dispatch the golems?!"

"Yeah. Why?"

Core says "According to the records, it took the last king about a week to learn to use the throne!"

"I have an advantage, it is similar to things I used to do in my old world."

Core says "What sort of things?"

"It wouldn't make any sense even if I explained it."

Core says "Alright, I will take your word for it. So, what's next?"

"Ekeerr will go and report to the elders so they can start plans for moving into the city. Oh, that reminds me. Ekeerr, if anything comes up that the elders can't decide, come to Core. Consider her my reagent when I am not around."

Ekeerr says "Understood!"

Core says "Wait, what?"

"Oh, Ekeerr, the city defenses will only target spiders, so any other threats must be handled by warriors."

Ekeerr says "I understand, King Ash. Since there is so much room up here we will move the warrior training grounds first."

"Good idea! After this I will be leaving, probably for a couple of months."

Ekeerr says "The elders will handle things until your safe return."

Ekeerr leaves to go give the other elders the good news and Kechara and Asuna leave as well. Since they can't fit through the teleporter easily they are going to go up the mountain to the tower. This leaves just me, Myria, Zheka, and Core inside the pillar chamber.

Core says "Why am I your reagent?"

"To give you something to do, and to allow you to have visitors more often. I know you spend a lot of time with Yui, but I want you to have more friends than just her."

Core says "Aww, thank you, Ash!"

"Alright, let's move to the tower and get some dinner."

The mention of food makes Myria and Zheka perk up, it has been a long day. As we walk from the teleporter to the dining room I fill Yui in on everything that has happened. As soon as I set foot in the dining room I am attacked by Ekard and Haku.

Ekard is crying as he clings to me, I wasn't expecting to be gone so long. Haku is better, but it is obvious he missed me too, it takes a while to calm them down. The arrival of Kechara and Asuna helps, they get almost as much attention as I do.

It is nice to see that the kids care that much about each other, ours is a strange family. Yui waits until the worst has passed and then brings in the food to distract everyone. While we are eating I introduce Zheka to everyone since he will be traveling with us.

In the morning, after breakfast, I have Myria take the others through to Illium. Kechara and Asuna stay with me because they need to be shrunk before they can fit through the teleporter. For that I have to track down Zamart, which means going to the library.

Once the two of them are the size of a house cat I pick them both up and head to Illium. I told Myria to get Lizzy and the wagon and meet me south of the city. Mainly because I don't want the shrink spell to wear off inside the city and cause a panic.

Cuddling the two of them in my arms I take off from the inn and fly south until I spot the wagon. Luckily, the spell lasts that long and for once nothing goes wrong. Ekard and Haku try to play with their sisters who are now tiny only to find out their strength hasn't changed.

They play until the shrink wears off, while the rest of us just enjoy the adorableness. Once Kechara and Asuna are back to normal I turn to enter the carriage. Myria has been busy, the door is now a double door and tall enough for me to enter comfortably.

Asuna will be riding on top of the carriage, but Kechara has no choice but to fly along. After all, she is longer than Lizzy and the carriage combined. The rest of us will be riding inside the carriage, which is very roomy and comfortable.

A normal carriage has doors on both sides, but Myria has removed the other door. Inside really comfy benches line the other three walls making plenty of seating. In fact, with just me, Myria, Windy, Zheka, and the kids it feels kind of empty.

However, since there is plenty of room it means the kids can play as we travel. One of the benches even folds out into a big bed so we can camp inside the carriage if we want to. This will be a really comfortable way to travel, but there is one thing that is missing.

"Myria, can you put a window that can be opened where the driver seat would be."

Myria says "I can, but why?"

"So that Lizzy, Asuna, and Kechara can hear what's going on and maybe join in on conversations."

Myria says "Oh, sure!"

Windy says "So, where are we heading?"

"First stop is going to be the construction site for the new city and military base. After that we will go looking for the tribes that I need to talk to. We may also track down a few mana beasts while we are traveling depending on how things go."