By the time she thought to finish her training session, the Radiant Sun had fallen below the Veil and her tummy complained bitterly of neglect.

GROWL!!!!

Yup, bitterly. Yuriko chuckled to herself as she floated off the boulder and headed back to Misttyre. Her Anima reach had expanded to forty-five paces, her Radiant Body was at ninety-three percent while her Radiant Anima reached the threshold of eighty percent. She was capable of advancing to Transformation now if she so wished. Radiant Anima meant that every bit of her expanded Anima had a little bit of Radiant energy suffused into it now. Natural suffusion without the need to circulate or force the energy from her Essence to the rest of her. She suspected that by simply covering a nameless with her aura, they would be burnt.

And now she worried if she would harm Desire simply by being near her bound Chaos Lord. Not that she regretted doing this. She needed all the power she could get. And if she reached Transformation, it was one step closer to matching the Chaos Duke. Hopefully, it also meant she’d at least survive a Knight Dominus attack, but really, she had no such delusions. If she advanced now, she would be at the lowest tier. She had not been able to fight that Femorant Queen evenly at the start either.

Urk. She was filthy with sweat and blood again. The laundry runescript weaving in her backpack didn’t have enough time to finish cleaning and repairing her earlier set, and she only had another one clean. Maybe she should do this naked to save her clothes?

She stripped off and dove into the stream to let the cold water cleanse her. This time, she managed to keep control over her Radiant energy and didn’t bring the water around her to a boil. It grew warm enough to be comfortable though.

She stuffed her clothes into the laundry section of the pack and put on her last clean set. It wasn’t as if the cut and colours were that different so she doubted anybody would notice her frequent changes. Afterwards, she flew towards Misttyre.

In the relative darkness of the evening, the lights spilling out of the buildings created little pools of life. And while in the midst of the warzone, the nightlife wasn’t quite as wild as what she experienced in Rumiga City, there was still some semblance of it. More particularly, warriors, militia, legionnaires, and guards, all seemed eager to drink beer, listen to music, and dance in the pubs once the sun went down, and if they weren’t on duty. There were no other eateries or restaurants she could see, so Yuriko settled for one of the pubs that had loud music and laughter coming out of it.

She landed just outside the doors, on the rapidly emptying street. The laughter had an edge of desperation in it. People forcing themselves into merriment. Her perception told her that most of the people inside were legionnaires or militia, so she felt right at home. The servers were carrying dinner and drinks with harried grace, and a three-piece band was fiddling away even though the music missed a few notes here and there. The man’s song was bawdy, and Yuriko felt her cheeks redden when she heard exactly what he was singing about. She was determined to ignore it though, since the food smelled incredible.

She drew a few eyes when she pushed her way inside and headed directly to the only spot that was vacant–a seat next to an older woman at the bar. She noticed a few more eyes riveted to her, but thanks to shifting her Mien’s focus, it wasn’t as bad as she expected. Even the singer’s voice felt happier and uplifted.

The stool was a bit lower than what she expected, which left her with an awkward bent to her knees. She looked at the proprietor and said, “What do you have for dinner?”

The rotund man grunted and nodded towards a board above him, which had the menu written with chalk. Well, it was just one dish, actually, mutton stew. But it came with bread and a mug of ale. Ten Sovereigns.

“One please,” Yuriko said as she tossed a silver mark to him. The proprietor caught it easily, not even bothering to look at the coin. His fingers did trace the markings and the shape and the milled edges. Granted, a silver mark was one of three round coins in the Empire, and the smaller silver penny had a hole in the middle. A gold mark was also noticeably heavier than the silver one.

“Coming up,” he grunted. He grabbed a mug, shuffled over to a barrel, opened the spout and let the foamy golden liquid top it up. It was a wooden mug, of course, but he didn’t try to cheat. The liquid was almost to the brim and the foam head dribbled a bit over.

“Thank you,” Yuriko said politely and the man gave her a genuine smile. She took a sip and stopped herself from frowning at the bitter taste. It was ale, after all.

“Well, you’re impossible to mistake. Knight Yuriko Davar,” her neighbour said, a familiar-looking woman who, Yuriko was ashamed to say, took her a few seconds to place and recognise.

“Knight Captain Adeline Perry,” she said with more than a bit of surprise. The green-eyed and silver-haired woman had been the Frozen Camp’s commander back when Yuriko first returned to Rumiga. They separated once the evacuating militia reached Horswick. It must have been a year ago. Hmmm, probably less. “It’s been a while.”

“Indeed, it has.” Adeline laughed as she raised her mug of ale. “And a lot has happened. As I said, it's practically impossible to mistake you for someone else. You’re the only warrior I know who keeps her hair that lustrous. And long, too. Heh, what do you even use to tie that ponytail of yours?”

Yuriko chuckled and brushed her hand across her golden tresses. “Nothing. It holds itself up with a bit of Animus.”

“Truly? You must be proud of your control. I never asked why you kept it long.” The woman’s hair was cut short too, as were the Legate’s and Trinunus Kaspar’s now that Yuriko thought about it.

She shrugged and said, “Well, it’s not like I have much choice. My long hair is part of my Mishala lineage.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is.” Commander Perry eyed Yuriko’s hair, which settled below her bottom. If it weren’t tied up in a ponytail, the tips would end up just above her knees. It had grown longer over the years and contained a secondary reservoir of Radiant energy.

Yuriko took another sip of ale, in quiet contrast to most of the patrons who were gulping it down. Perry grinned at her and took a large swallow. “How’ve you been?” Yuriko asked politely.

“Could be better.” Then the woman grunted and asked, “Are you still tight with that Sharine girl?”

“Gwendith?” Yuriko blinked. “She’s a dear friend. She’s back in the Watchtower.”

“Oh. That’s too bad.” Perry sighed. “Her family’s looking for her, and they’re right up my behind about it!”

“Oh, why?”

Perry snorted. “It was the reason for the entire campaign, after all. Earl Sharine wanted his granddaughter back, and we were there to pin the barbarians down. When we returned, the first thing I did was report to City Hall that Gwendith Sharine had been rescued, but not by us.” She chuckled. “I did mention you by name.”

Yuriko waved. “That’s quite alright. Well, rescue isn’t really the right term. Gwendith had freed herself from captivity and it was a coincidence, or the doing of the Threads of Fate, that had our paths crossed.”

“Hmmm, yes. They, and I do mean the whole family, made the trip to Faron’s Crossing before the city fell, and they didn’t find their granddaughter there. There was word that she joined you on a mission, and well…” Perry trailed off with an awkward cough. “They would really like to see Gwendith.”

“Uhm, nothing’s stopping them,” Yuriko said in confusion. “I mean, Gwen’s just there at the Watchtower…” Yuriko trailed off as she recalled what Gwen told her about her family. She wasn’t all that keen on seeing them again, mainly because she had to rescue herself. Yuriko thought it was much more complicated than that, but she always caught a hidden edge to the otherwise sunny girl.

“She’s there now, but nobody can cross the Imperial Pass anymore…wait, did you just come from across the mountains?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Flew over. On a Colossus.”

“What, wait! That was you in there?” Perry guffawed, “Well done fighting, hear hear!” She raised her mug high and exclaimed, catching everyone else’s attention.

“Who’re we toasting?” someone yelled from across the pub.

“The pilot of that Colossus!” Perry yelled right back.

“A worthy warrior! Cheers!” The pub erupted into a raucous celebration and just in time for her meal to arrive.

“That’s no meal for a hero!” Perry laughed, “Bring out the good stuff! On me!”

“Eh, but…” Yuriko stuttered.

“Well, give it a taste, hah!”

She took a spoonful of the stew and almost spat it out as soon as it crossed her tongue. The mutton! Oh, the muttony muttoness of the stew…urk.

Perry burst out laughing and chuckling. The proprietor and the people around her chuckled good-naturedly, too, and Yuriko felt no malice from them. Shaking her head ruefully, she took another spoonful and swirled it around her mouth, before coming to regret it when the…scent clung to her palate. When she gulped down the ale, the bitterness of the alcoholic drink sort of drowned it out. It was a rather expensive yet substandard meal. But clearly, supplies were dear and there was no shortage of sheep.

“Takes getting used to, doesn’t it?” Perry managed after her laughter ran out. Yuriko nodded with puckered lips.

“It’s not bad…”

“Hah! Wait for the chops. Those are better.”

They were indeed much better. It also came with a glass of sweet red wine that was a wonderful complement to the roasted lamb. She glanced at Perry and at the rest of the pub. She wouldn’t have expected such cuisine here, but then again, Commander Perry is a Knight Captain, whose status was close to the upper nobility just based on her Anima level. Why would she go here if the place didn’t suit her taste?

She polished off the food, even the stew and ale, as wasting it didn’t even occur to her. With her tummy satisfied, she and Adeline chatted over several glasses of wine and other tasty spirits. They even moved to a private booth to do so. The songs of the minstrel drifted in but didn’t overpower the conversation.

“...so my cousins did bring my people back to the surface,” Yuriko muttered when Adeline mentioned it. Of the Haveenian prisoners she saved, more than half of them opted to stay in Synkrasia instead of following her to the Siderious. Cousins Riley and Aidan brought them back up here. Which was a good thing since she was sure Synkrasia was close to the planar core, hence soon to be a battleground.

The only thing was that they emerged on this side of Imperial Rumiga rather than the west. She’d have to track them down to fulfil her promise.

“I heard a rumour that some of them managed to awaken,” Adeline stared at her pointedly. “And not through their lineage. Not the Imperial Path either, thankfully, or you’d be in trouble.”

Yuriko snorted. “How can one initiate an Atavism Ritual without the proper catalysts anyway?”

“Oh, there are ways,” Adeline said ruefully. “But the Empress will know.”

“How?”

“The Knighthood ritual,” Adeline said softly, “when we pledge our fealty.”

She wouldn’t say more, which frustrated Yuriko to no end.

“It’s not that I won’t, but I can’t.” Adeline laughed. “Give over, you won’t tease secrets from me. Anyway, give some thought to talking with the Sharines, would you? It’ll get them off my back and she’s your ‘dear friend’, isn’t she? Heh.” She scooted over and threw her arm around Yuriko’s shoulders, “I normally don’t swing that way, but you seem to make it so easy.”

The stench of alcohol in Adeline’s breath was unmistakable and Yuriko was pretty inebriated herself. She giggled at the older woman and nudged her arm off.

She regained her sobriety after a couple of hours and made her way back to Eli’Theria. Adeline had also left for her quarters after downing half a dozen pitchers of water. It had been an amusing night, and Yuriko sighed as she realised that she needed a break every now and then. The weight on her shoulders, the tension of knowing that the plane could fall and everyone die if she and her parents failed…

Such things are to be expected. You are an Ancient, and should you reach Exaltation, anything below world ending is not worth your time.

Her good mood lasted all the way until she reached the hangar. Then it evaporated when she saw a messenger waiting there for her. And from the looks of the young man’s face, it was not good news.