Several days of hurried preparation could be seen throughout both the inner and outer city while the river forts and southern fort all received massive deliveries of dried rations, arrows, and medical supplies.

All of Kodria's forges were working long hours every day trying to get as many arrows, bolts, and repair jobs done for the army and city guards.

Kodria's guards on the city walls also received large bundles of arrows and stacks of long bolts for the wall-mounted ballista. The naval ships did not laze about in the still lake, they continued to patrol both the lake and the long stretch of river for any irregularity.

The army, along with its new recruits, were constantly training in the forest and surrounding areas killing any monsters that they came across. This was all done to lessen their worries. They didn't need a massive mob of wild monsters also attacking them while whatever storm that was fast approaching arrived and started knocking on Kodria's doorstep.

Such activity was hard to hide from the civilians who grew worried after seeing all of this. They did not know whether another tragedy was going to happen where several hundred or thousands would die once again.

The majority of Kodria's civilians that had survived the Molten-onyx plague siege, were not as scared as some of the newer residents due to the massive upgrade that the outer city had received. There was also the child of the world tree growing at the center of the outer-city which had a slight soothing effect on their worries.

***

Kodria's castle.

Akira sat in his office and listened to a new report being given to him by Klyn.

“The shaman in Bent-Gii has reported that they were able to take care of the attack and are on high alert and are ready if they launch a second attack. As for the team that went to search for the merchants, they found them camped on the bank of the river. Several of them have wounds that are still healing. The navy has taken it upon themselves to escort them to Kodria where they can hold up until the coming storm ends.”

Akira nodded his head and then asked, “Any news from the shaman messenger and his escort that we sent to warn the northern allies?”

“Not yet, although we sent them on the fastest sloop we have, it will still be several days before his team can reach Jerora and warn them of the coming trouble.”

“Sister Teresa and the [Full moon] guild have already left to help Bent-gii ward off whatever it is that will be attacking. I just hope they are strong enough to make a difference...” said Akira as he became lost in his thoughts for a moment.

“Can we really trust them?” asked Klyn. “Judging from how things are going. things are only going to get even more crazy in the coming months and years.”

“Although nothing is 100% guaranteed in life. I have a decent respect for Sister Teresa and her core followers. I feel that they will not stab us in the back and will become one of the core pillars of Kodria. Plus, with their subordinate connection to me, I can still catch those that are having improper feelings if I am near them.”

“I don't know if they will be enough to hold off the main guilds with their small numbers. Although you have added another dozen or so to their numbers in the last ceremony, the large guilds in the north are constantly growing,” said Klyn.

“The problem for us is for every 100 demigods, there is only 1 who wants to convert into a minor lycan. Out of those who come to us only a few of them actually want to join the [Full moon] guild and help Kodria. Many of them just want to receive the... 'Job change' as they call it, and then just leave back to wherever they came from. This is something we can not allow. Since this is the case, it will be a while before we gather enough honest candidates that are not up to their usual games.”

“Since I have finished with the report, I guess I should head out and check on the new hospital's preparations for the coming storm. We can't have any problems appear during that time as it may be the cause for even more loss of life,” said Klyn. He stood up and waved to Akira before leaving his office.

“Yap,” said Fluffball as he yawned and rolled over to warm his other side next to the fireplace.

“You're lucky you can enjoy being lazy right now. But I can't. I have so much to do right now. But I expect you to be fully rested when we go out to face whatever is coming to greet us,” said Akira.

Fluffball's ears flapped about as he listened to Akira but he decided to ignore his words and fall back asleep.

Akira was not able to leave his office as he still had a desk full of paperwork that had grown too tall to ignore with all his time away coming back to bite him in the butt.

Although Azura had been put in charge of helping keep the stack of documents low by filling them out for him. She had a bad habit of picking all the easy stuff and ignoring everything else... whenever he brought this matter up to her, she also ignored him as well.

His cute little sister was growing quite rebellious. Akira didn't know why she was going through such a phase.

Now, he had an expression of dread as he looked at the complicated documents in front of him. Just this one set of documents would make a normal person go insane or grow bald from the stress of overworking their brain. He still had a large stack of similar mind-numbing documents waiting to be filled out. Such a horrifying battle lay before him.

Several hours passed before there was a knock on the door.

“Sir! Klyn has come to see you!” said one of the guards through the closed door.

“Send him in,” said Akira. He sat back in his chair and began to stretch his arms while yawning.

Fluffball also let out a yawn as well as if infected by Akira's own yawn.

“Tired already? It's not even noon yet,” said Klyn as he saw both the yawning Akira and Fluffball.

“It's this dang pile of paperwork that is killing me! Never mind that, is something wrong with the hospitals that you have come here to see me?” asked Akira as he looked at the large pile of paperwork with dread. The pile had only lost around 1/3rd of its original size.

Klyn shook his head, “No... it's something else... the shaman team we sent to Jerora was stopped by a group of soldiers of the Begus Dekus dukedom.”

“What?” asked Akira, sitting up straight and fully alert as his tiredness disappeared upon hearing this.

Fluffball's head popped up and stared at Klyn after hearing Akira's alarmed voice.

“No, it's not what you are thinking,” said Klyn holding up a hand. “From what the shamen managed to relay back to us, the soldiers seemed rather worried. They apparently want Kodria's help in fighting the demigods,” said Klyn, holding up his hands to try and calm Akira.

“Why now of all times? This is the worst possible timing with the... could this be a trap?” asked Akira, stopping himself from mentioning the main event quest.

“It could be, but from what I have heard so far, they seem serious about the request and almost desperate.”

Akira was silent for some time while trying to use his brain that he had been working too hard all morning, and was not chugging along to figure out what to do about this new matter.

“Are they still with the soldiers?”

“They have made camp for the time being so that they can receive their new orders if there are any,” said Klyn.

“Take me to the shamen in charge of communicating. I need them to send a few questions,” said Akira, standing up quickly. He was ready to run away from the paperwork that was haunting him.

The walk to the secure shaman room was rather quick. The room was rather dark and silent inside as a large group of shamen sat on cushions ready to receive any transmissions or to send any out themselves.

Seeing both Akira and Klyn enter the room, their low chatter quieted and they sat up straight.

Akira did not waste any time and just asked, “Can you ask the shamen in the north to find out why the humans want our help.”

Heod, the head shaman of this group, was quiet for a moment before he silently nodded his head. After taking a sip of a fragrant drink he and the others all joined hands before they started channeling their power into transmitting the question.

It was a restless wait as Akira and Klyn stood there for a long while until a reply was received.

“They have found out that the demigods are planning to take over the dukedom in the near future. Something about after finishing some quest or something. Their lives and their king's life are in danger as they will be killed or if they are lucky enslaved by the demigods when they take over.”

'The quest mentioned is probably the main event quest that just appeared,' thought Akira.

“Tell them they need to hold on for as long as they can. Kodria has its own problems that we need to deal with and can not send an army north right now.”

Another long silence lasted until the main shaman slowly opened his eyes and took another swig of the drink next to him before speaking.

“They are on their knees begging for help.”

“There is not much we can do...” said Akira as he paused and tried to think things over.

Although he was skeptical due to the past friction they had, he could not turn them away if this was an honest cry for help. It would be best to stay true to his offer from before and give them the help they needed.

If things all worked out in Kodria's favor, they would have another ally in the north to help fight off the demigod guilds.

After several minutes of mulling over the problem, Akira looked up and said, “Tell the shamen and their escorts to ask Jerora for help with the problem along with the warning of the coming storm. With their help, we can at least ward off a few attacks. Kodria will send a small undercover advisory team north to help protect Duke Begus Dekus and help them beef up the city's defense against the demigods. With them monitoring the situation we will be able to keep tabs on the local demigods in the area as well. They must hold out for now. That is the best we can do with all that is going on.”

Several minutes of silence passed.

“They have accepted the offer, but are still pleading that you send a larger force north to help them.”

All Akira could do was shrug his shoulders and sigh.