Diroh reacted rather well at the sight of her own inn. Dallion could see bittersweet emotions emanating from her, along with a touch of eagerness. She wanted to see it on the inside, but at the same time didn’t want to show it.

Gleam, on the other hand, was as merciless as always.

“Is that it?” she almost scuffed as she fluttered above the settlement in her fully sized majestic form. “Not absolutely terrible. It’s missing more bits than it’s got.”

“I know.” Dallion took a bite of the branchhare meat. It was slightly bitter, as that type of meat usually was. “I’ll add houses when people settle in.”

“Right.” The shardfly flew down, changing into her chosen humanoid form. “Who’ll you get?”

“I have a few ideas.”

While the emperor had granted Dallion the right to get people from the entire empire, it wasn’t as simple. Most Archdukes would refuse to follow the order, citing the war, or rather cripple the people requested just out of principle. That left one option: to find such people whose departure would cost less than the trouble of having them stay.

“Anything interesting in the mountain?” Dallion asked.

“Not much.” Diroh kept looking at the fire. “Doesn’t look like anything special. I cast a few spells to find rare ores, but didn’t sense a thing. There might be gems if you’re into that thing.”

“There’s lots of playful creatures,” Gleam added. “They’re not afraid to attack.”

“Anything I’ve seen?”

“Don’t think so.”

That was an interesting opportunity for Dallion to boost his zoology and herbalism skills at some point. For the moment, he needed to do two things: get people and return to the capital to reclaim Adzorg. After that, he’d try to make the place into a town.”

“You can always move your home village here,” Di suggested. “You’ve told me you freed them from—”

“No,” Dallion interrupted. “They’re better where they are.”

“Are you worried you’d endanger them?”

There was a part of Dallion’s mind that was worried about certain people, mostly those of his family, but that wasn’t the main reason. He wanted to do as little as possible with them, especially his grandfather. There was a time when he’d trusted the old man beyond anything else, seeing in him the only person that could understand and help him. With each new piece of information he learned, the image was tarnished more and more.

“I already know who I’ll invite.” He stood up. “Will you be able to handle this place while I’m gone?”

“You’re leaving again.” The ice fury didn’t even bother to frown. “What a surprise.”

“Only because I have faith in you.”

Dallion summoned his aura sword and waved it several times through the air. Multiple spell circles formed, combining with each other until one massive sphere spell was complete. The ball of purple light fell to the ground. Upon contact, the massive clay head of a golem emerged. Magic threads surrounded it, pulling the creature out as if it were an overgrown turning. It wasn’t exactly an imperial golem, but adequate enough to deal with lesser threats.

“I’ve also linked myself to the realm, so if you think there’ll be trouble, just let me know.” Dallion turned to the shardflies. “Okay?”

Ruby flicked his wings, while Gleam just stared back.

“Di.” He paused for a moment. “I’m giving you the settlement.”

“Really?” The word was drenched in sarcasm. “Thanks. It feels just like home.”

“That’s not what I mean. I’m giving you the settlement. I’ll still take care of growth and other things, but there are other things I must focus on, at least for the moment.”

“I know what you meant and I’m done being other people’s replacement. First my mentor, then Ji, then March.”

“Hey.” Dallion went up to her and placed his hand on the fury’s shoulder. “You won’t be replacing me,” he lied. “You’re just helping out. There are things you just can’t do, not yet. Besides—” he gently pushed up her chin, making her raise her head and look him in the eyes “—you need to spread your wings.”

A faint smile formed on Diroh’s face.

“I’ll bring Adzorg with me when I return.” Dallion stepped away. “Maybe a few more familiar faces as well.” Saying that, he cast a flight spell and rose up into the sky.

Even you must know she has a crush on you, Vihrogon said as Dallion flew to the south.

“I know. It’s just puppy love.”

I think she’s a bit too old for puppy love. Still, you know best. I’ve given up offering advice. It’s never certain you’ll take it, anyway.

I listen to all your advice.

Only because you have no choice, Vihrogon laughed.

Changing his direction slightly to the east, Dallion went over the massive forest. He could sense the vast number of creatures beneath. Some of them he was unfamiliar with, but most were what one would expect. Judging by his art and scholar skills, it would be a while before he went over familiar territory. Yet, soon enough, he sensed something else—the presence of domains.

Small monasteries, each holding from a few hundred people to thousands, started popping up in the wilderness. They were alone, isolated from the known world, yet following a strict pattern. Now, he understood why the Order had asked him to settle where he did—they were using him as another piece in their grid.

Someone wants to explore the entire world, Dallion thought.

Noon came and went. By Dallion’s estimates, he’d approach his destination in another hour. Since he was a noble now, he wouldn’t have any problems with the locals. Still, he had to act in a diplomatic manner if he wanted his future subjects to remain in their new home.

A pillar of water shot up from the forest, a hundred feet from Dallion. Water drops burst from it, flying straight at Dallion like daggers.

Instinctively, Dallion split into instances and summoned his aura sword. Dozens of spell circles of his own emerged, surrounding him in several layers of aether spheres.

The water drops smashed into them like hail. The vast part splattered into water, but the overall force was able to shatter the magic barriers one after the other.

Retaining a calm state of mind, Dallion summoned one of his clay cylinders and broke it. The object fragmented with a purple flash, releasing the spell imprinted inside. A moment later, an aether copy of Dallion emerged, casting a new set of aether barriers, this time around the water pillar itself.

Taking the opportunity, Dallion performed a line attack through the column of water, slicing it in half.

CRITICAL STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 200%

A purple rectangle flashed before his eyes. A shrieking scream followed as half of the water fell back to the forest. The rest quickly changed form, turning into what looked like a winged shark.

“What the heck is that?” Dallion asked, covering himself with two sets of aether armor.

According to his aether vision, the water entity contained several intricate clusters of magic threads, making it seem closer to constructs rather than living creatures.

A water golem? Dallion thought.

It wasn’t by any means impossible, come to think about it, except that he hadn’t seen any so far. Thinking back, he couldn’t remember any mention of any, either.

The creature slammed against the barriers surrounding it, shattering them with ease.

The aether echo flew right at the golem, burying its hands within the watery surface. Extending what magic threads it had, the echo went straight for one of the creature’s thread clusters. That, if nothing else, would severely weaken the golem, if not kill it outright.

Water spikes emerged from the watery surface moments before the echo could achieve its goal. There was no warning—no magic symbols or change in the golem’s threads. It was as if the water had changed on its own accord, as if it belonged to a copyette.

Concentrating, Dallion focused his aether vision on a spot of his enemy. Threads, fractions of the size of a human hair were everywhere, going through the water like a barely invisible mesh. This was no accident. Whoever had created the magic method of water golem creation had gone through a lot of trouble to come up with something so intricate, yet reliable.

The aether echo burst in a flash of purple light, though not before drawing in part of the golem’s internal threads. More water poured down onto the forest as the entity shed another layer of itself.

No shortcuts, Dallion threw his aura sword right at the golem’s head. A split second later, he had summoned his harpsisword and played several chords, infusing them with spark.

The sword was avoided, but the sound threads easily burned through the mesh within the water, attaching themselves to the magic thread clusters.

“Got you,” Dallion said, playing another chord.

Magic ran along them, overwhelming the golem with an internal attack. Threads tore and snapped, their magic discharging with purple sparks.

The creature shrieked as patches of water detached from it like chunks of jelly. Its struggle only expedited the process.

Barely a tenth of its initial size, the golem attempted to charge at Dallion in one final attack. Whatever water drops it still had control of darted onward, aiming to deal at least some damage. Significantly weaker than before, they splattered over Dallion’s aether armor without result. The mass of the body quickly followed. For a moment it seemed that it might reach its target, but just as it was about to, Dallion performed a multi slash attack, causing it to freeze in midair. The aether mesh that maintained its stability hardened, then shattered. Incapable of remaining in the air, the water poured straight down.

Not bad, dear boy, Adzorg said.

Dallion didn’t accept the praise. Although he had stopped the golem, he had done so after it had destroyed his aether echo. That wasn’t supposed to happen. The situation should never have needed him to use an echo, let alone lose it.

Water can hide anywhere, Harp said from his domain. Don’t get caught by surprise again.

“Do you think it was hunting me?” Dallion asked. “Or did it just happen to be here?”

There’s no point in a sentinel to be sent this far east. It was hunting someone, but I can’t be sure if that someone was you.

Dallion felt lumps of ice in his stomach. This felt like something Grym would do. If true, it meant the noble was alive and in good standing, and still set on killing Dallion.

“I didn’t think he’d be so obsessed. Harp, can you teach me how to cast golems?”

No, the nymph replied

“You don’t want to or you can’t?”

I can’t. That’s mage territory.

It was obvious that she wasn’t telling him everything. Dallion could feel the same fear she had emanated when her race had returned from its banishment. It was less intense this time, pushed deep down in her attempt to keep it hidden, but still there.

“I didn’t show anything new,” Dallion said. “They’ve seen me use the skills and the backups.”

They haven’t seen you in action. Now they have.

There was no denying that. Enemy nobles were like guardians—they never forgot and adapted their approach to improve their performance next time.

“Tell me how to remain hidden from them.”

The nymph didn’t respond.

“Harp.”

Cast an illusion of yourself to turn into something without water, she said at last. If you’re good enough, there’s a chance they won’t notice the magic. Golems focus on water.

“Water, but not magic?”

Everyone made the same mistake. They cast an illusion to make themselves into something else, but it was always something with water. When they get a scent of the water, they look closer to see if there’s anything odd about it.

“It attacked me because I was a mage,” Dallion said. That worked a bit in his favor, although he had to be quick about it. There was every chance that the place he wanted to go to had already been marked as a threat and destroyed.