Early morning. The sun, not fully awoken from slumber, cast a grayish hue upon the earth. Cold winter winds gently swayed over dancing ocean waves. A young migratory bird let the winds lift its tired wings as it scanned the ocean waves for the next land zone. Its efforts paid off as a network of islands came into view, tropical trees and dense foliage promising nourishment and respite for the weary traveler.

With a relieved chirp, the bird rapidly flapped its wings, making a beeline for the largest island. Within moments it settled atop the branch of an extremely tall tree, its gaze taking in the beautiful landscape below. This island, dominated by dense foliage, was illuminated by green hues cast as sun rays traveled through overhanging semi-translucent leaves. The trees, though dense were not so close that they became choking, various animal calls provoking a sense of wonder and nurture within all who passed among them.

Thump... Thump... Rustle...

The little bird, nibbling on a fruit which had fallen onto the branch, paused and cocked its head to the side. The forest, which had once been teeming with life suddenly began to grow quiet. The birds stopped calling, the rabbits burrowed into their holes, and predators fled the area, abandoning their prey.

The bird, feeling its feathers stiffen, wanted to fly away in fright. But the adventurous spirit which allowed it to break free of its flock and go off on this journey alone spurred a desire inside it. A desire to identify this creature that could cause an entire forest to hide in fright. It took courage in the fact it was over ten meters off the ground. No land-based creature should be able to reach it at this height.

Thump... Thump... Thump

The little bird peered down in curiosity as the thumping grew louder, the earth shaking beneath whatever approached. Trees crashed to the earth, effortlessly pushed out of the predator's path as it stepped into the bird's line of sight.

!!!

Terror seized the bird. Its wings snappily flapped as it attempted to flee far into the sky. But it was far too late. The tips of its wings petrified, cold stone spreading towards its heart. Having lost control of its wings, the bird plummeted to the earth where it crashed with a hard thud. The last thing the bird registered before its eyes turned to stone was the terrible, terrible eyes of the basilisk which towered above it.

The hulking reptile, standing at over six feet tall and eight feet long glared at the petrified bird with complacency. Four pairs of stocky legs carried the massive creature next to its next meal. It bent over, scooping the stone bird into its mouth where it was crushed to pieces by thick, imposing teeth. A solution in its stomach converted the stone back to flesh and blood, to allow for digestion.

The basilisk let out a dissatisfied grunt, casting its gaze towards the thickets where it sensed another unaware prey. It angled towards the prey, unaware that over two hundred meters north of its location a pair of dark eyes silently observed its path.

Steady breaths came to a temporary halt as a bowstring was drawn to the hilt. The archer lined the arrowhead, plotting the narrowest of flight paths through numerous tree branches and thistles. With a slight twang, the arrow took flight!

The arrow zipped through the trees cutting through leaves with such force and precision its flight path was in no way altered. The basilisk, senses trained to heightened realms, sensed the danger and sharply reared its head upwards in an attempt to dodge the arrow which was aimed at its eye. Shockingly, the arrowhead coincidentally scraped the top of an overground root. The deflection sent the arrow right into the basilisk's left eye before it could react.

ROOAR!!!

Animals and birds fled for miles as the basilisk's pained cries shook the forest. Blood poured out of the mess which was once its left eye. The arrow, which was designed to shatter on impact, sent shrapnel exploding outwards, utterly shredding the eyes to pieces and ensuring they would not regenerate or heal in the short term—if not forever.

"Move!" The archer yelled as she dashed out of cover, arrow already notched. She let loose, a cold glint in her eyes as the basilisk cries affirmed she had hit the target. Within five short seconds, over twelve arrows stabbed into the basilisk's side, drawing green blood.

The basilisk, unwilling to take any more punishment, roared with rage as it charged toward the silhouette running in the distance. Unbefitting of its humongous size, the beast's eight stocky legs carried it across the ground with speeds that would make horses bow their heads in shame.

However, it seemed the fleeing archer possessed equally astonishing speed. At the very least, she was fast enough that the distance between runner and pursuer shrunk by very little over a long distance. The archer turned into a thicker path of the forest, evidently hoping to use the thicker tree trunks to slow down her pursuer.

However, the basilisk was nothing if not resilient. It smashed through the trees with relative ease, its speed not dropping in the slightest. It soon began to growl with increased rage as the archer used the trees as deflection posts to make the flight paths of her arrows next to impossible to predict. And so, the basilisk soon found itself the cushion to the archers' pins, her arrows indiscriminately finding a home somewhere in its body without fail. Luckily, because of its tough exterior, the damage was not too fatal, but several trickles of blood flowing from so many injuries would eventually sum up to a massive loss of blood.

The basilisk's rage intensified when a random beastman of the tigur race jumped onto its path with a tiny buckler in hand. The tigur, standing at only five feet five (165cm), nevertheless cast an imposing figure as it took a heavy stance, shield placed ahead of it. Thick snow white mane billowed in the morning breeze as purple eyes regarded the onrushing behemoth.

"[Tower!]" The tigur growled, as its muscles suddenly doubled in mass, a golden sheen upon his skin from the excess mana used for the strengthening process. Eyes tightly shut, the tigur stomped its right foot into the earth behind him, crouched low and braced himself for impact.

The basilisk, long since enraged to the point it would not pay attention to such small fry, charged headfirst into the waiting beastman. However, mere meters from the tigur, five silver screens composed of petals seemingly made from condensed light abruptly sprung up its path. The basilisk's momentum, too high to come to a forced halt, sent it crashing through one wall after another. The basilisk burst through the petal walls with relative ease, its momentum only reduced by a minimal, almost negligible amount.

For the waiting tigur however, it was more than enough.

BANG!!!

Dust, earth, and leaves scattered, blown away by the impact of the basilisk against the tigur's shield. The tigur winced, brows furrowed as its feet dragged across the earth, forced back by the basilisk's terrifying momentum. Hup! The tigur forcefully swallowed a mouthful of air, chest rising as it raised its back foot and stomped hard against the earth.

Boom!

With a loud crash, the basilisk's charge came to an abrupt halt. Tremors from the collision rippled through its insides, leaving it disoriented for a spell. Matters were not helped when with a loud roar, the tigur bashed his shield against its head several times within the span of two seconds.

The basilisk wavered, stunned by the relentless strikes against its snout. Survival instincts kicked in, allowing the beast to ignore its own stunned state to lash out at the general direction of the enemy. Luckily, its massive head covered a large surface area. It caught the unprepared tigur with a headbutt, sending the beastman flying backward. Getting the wind knocked out of his chest forced the tigur's eyes open.

Luckily, just as the basilisk's glare was about to meet him, accompanied by a roar that shook the earth, a massive tiger dropped from the trees onto the basilisk's back. The silver-furred tiger, nearly six foot tall and seven feet long, crushed the basilisk's head underfoot, slamming it into the ground with all the force of a ten-ton hammer.

Nails longer than men's fingers extended from the beast's claws and tore out the basilisk's good eyes before it could recover.

Mad with pain, the basilisk roared in pain as it thrashed around the forest in an attempt to through off the tiger on its back. However, the silver beast had other ideas.  It savagely ripped off scales from the basilisk's back with its teeth and claws, somehow keeping its balance atop the rampaging beast.

The basilisk, lost to rage, did not notice the brown haired girl that charged towards it. Ki imbued fists crashed into the basilisk's snout, further increasing its stunning period. At this moment, over twenty warriors charged out from the trees, specialized attacks taking advantage of the beast's blindness to punish it with unrelenting merciless attacks. Arrows, swords, spears, fists and much more tore into the beast's sides, intent on peeling off as many scales as possible.

Bombarded on all sides, rage quickly took a backseat to fear. The beast sensed a weakness in the formation and swiftly charged out. By this point, it did not even care about the tiger on its back. It just wanted to escape as far out as possible. The basilisk was so panicked that by the time its senses warned it of an impending trap ahead, it only had enough time to screech to a halt just inches from the massive pit crudely covered with tree leaves.

"I suppose it would not be that easy."

The basilisk sharply spun around to the source of the voice. It could not see, but it could surmise the voice belonged to a female of the two-legged species.

Out of the thickets stepped the female archer who began the hunt. The ocean breeze blew the down the hood over her face to reveal a striking beauty like none other. Beautiful raven black locks, securely tied into a high ponytail, prevented strands from entering a pair of cold, detached eyes.

Leila Lightwood raised her bow, petals of light amassing to form a single arrow in her right hand. She notched the arrow and casually drew the bowstring to full length. "Fall."

BOOM!

The arrow impacted against the basilisk with a resounding explosion. The basilisk could do nothing but flail about as it was launched over the pit. The Nespian tiger on its back, as If expecting this, jumped off before the shot landed. It walked over, and stood by Leila's side, mocking gaze laughing as the basilisk plummeted into the massive pit.

Leila turned her back to the pit as several archers and mages surrounded it, led a by a red-robed flame mage. "Finish it," she nonchalantly ordered, as with a wave of her hand, the bow returned to her inventory. Ignoring the massive explosions that erupted from the pit like a geyser, Hogosha trotted by the vice-president as they walked over to a spot where the tigur rested against a tree trunk, getting his broken bones healed by a pink haired mage. Ten warriors stood around him with a protective formation that exposed his status as a leader of some sort.

Noticing Leila's approach, the tigur swiftly rose to his feet, placating the panicked healer with a ferocious smile. "I'm really fine Yuna, I promise. See?" He cajoled, swinging his left arm in a clockwise rotation to prove his words. "Yuna's healing is still the best!" With a grin, he walked over to Leila and saluted, "Hell of a hunt vice-president. Sure you don't wanna transfer to the raid squad?"

"That does sound fun," Leila chuckled. "But there's still far too much work to be done. Maybe later Stryke-kun."

The tigur, who actually turned out to be Stryke sighed in acknowledgment. "Well, we'll take full advantage of your presence for this short period then." He looked to the pit where the incessant bombardment was reaching its climax as the red robed mage began a long chant for a spell that seemed to drain the area of mana. "Craig's about finishing up. That'll be the third island boss we've taken down. Still ten more to go."

"It will not be a problem," Leila promised. "Absalon's army sacrificed a lot of lives to get us all the intel on these bosses. Sixty percent of the hunt is complete if you know your prey's daily route."

"Mm..." Stryke nodded. "Without Absalon-san's warning about the basilisk's petrifaction skill, we would have definitely lost a lot of men to it." He scratched his head, deep in thought. "That said, what do you and Kashi have in mind for these islands. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad for a leveling spot I don't have to compete over, but I know you guys never do anything without reason."

BOOOOM!

Leila smiled as heavy bursts of wind, dust, and stone escaped a massive explosion at the pit. A geyser of flames blasted the cooked basilisk a hundred meters skywards, before it plummeted to the ground next to the pit, deader than dead. "Sorry we did not tell you earlier. It was truly top secret, and I know you do not like keeping things from your friends."

Stryke let out a depreciating chuckle. "Is this your way of telling me I'm too naive to be trusted?"

"Naive?" Leila shook her head. "You make it sound like a bad thing. If only this earth were filled with naive, honest people, how much further would we go as a species? Listen, Kashi and I, indeed we are not naive, but in return, we can never have the happiness that comes with innocence. I will always view the world in terms of advantages and disadvantages, profit and loss. Every interaction will be measured on a scale, every dialogue a business proposition. Even those I eventually call friends are measured on scales, upon which when they are in a negative, are kicked out of my life."

A smile adorned the wisben's lips as she ruffled Stryke's fluffy white mane. "Which is why naive, honest people like you are needed in this world. People like Kashi and I need people like you to keep us human. With you, we do not have to measure anything because your heart will always be on your sleeve. That is why you and only you can be the raid leader. A raid group might respect me, or fear Kashi. But you... Your raid squad loves you and would go to the ends of the earth for you. There is no guarantee Kashi and I can achieve the same results."

Hogosha suddenly snorted.

Stryke's gaze blazed with equally sudden flames as he snapped to the tiger. "Got something to say!?"

Hogosha turned to Leila who nodded. With a sneer, he turned to the tigur. "Someone who claims to be related to the tiger blood should not be so wishy-washy. It is disgraceful."

"Hooo..." Stryke breathed out, a deadly grin on his face. "Looks like the pounding I handed you last time was not enough."

"That is not how I remember it," Hogosha retorted, looking down on the tigur.

"Looks like your memory's gone bad," Stryke challenged as he drew his sword. "Would you like a reminder?"

Hogosha rose to full height, towering over Stryke as he chuckled disdainfully. "Bring i—"

"Vice-President!" A voice called, interrupting the two's back and forth.

Leila revealed a smile at the sight of the three men approaching, led by a female halben. "As much as I would love to watch you two settle things once again, Stryke, you said you wanted to know what we are using these islands for? Follow and find out."

Stryke reluctantly sheathed his sword, then sent a grin Hogosha's way. "Next time then."

Hogosha snorted, though a hint of a smile could still be spotted at the edge of his lips. "Next time then," he grumbled in reply as the two followed behind Leila.

Leila laughed inwardly as she watched their exchange. Rather than rage induced fighting, the two awkward children were expressing themselves the only way they knew how. Back when Hogosha was a pup, Leila asked Stryke to take care of him for two (in-game) months while she got the Hopeful Maggots up and running with a steady foothold.

Hogosha's ability to speak and Stryke's transformation occurred during this period when their raid team defeated a tiger guardian spirit. The spirit, upon death, granted the highest damage dealer, and damage soaker with boons. Hogosha gained the ability to speak, while Stryke transformed to his current form, along with some pretty awesome stat bonuses that finally truly set him apart from other common tanks.

However, upon maturity, Hogosha began following Leila around, which naturally meant he saw less and less of the equally busy Stryke. Thus whenever the two met, they would find an excuse to battle it out and check each other's progress, without flat out admitting they missed each other.

Leila shook her head as she met up with the party of four. After thanking her assistant for her work, she led the three men to the maggots' temporary base at the shore. They entered the largest tent and took seats at the table placed within. "Pleased to meet with you gentlemen. I am Leila Lightwood, Vice-President of the Hopeful Maggots. For the sake of those present, would you please introduce yourselves."

"Stryke. Leader of the Raid Squad. Nice to meet ya," Stryke introduced with an amiable smile.

"Hyproxy (ya-fi-bi)" Introduced the scholarly man sitting next to him. Sporting a pair of glasses, the middle-aged Summoned's strict demeanor gave off the feeling of a lecturer. "Historian. Particularly focused on research into ancient civilization structures, villages, towns and cities."

"JWSilver." Opposite Hyproxy, a dark-haired young teen sat, playing with long bangs on either side of his head. "Uh... Promoter I guess? Hmm... let's just say I know what is popular and how to make things popular. Yeah, that'll do."

"Lyconbe (lie-cone-bay)... but you can call me Lyon." Seated next to JWSilver was a dark-skinned man in his late twenties, brown eyes surveying the others in the room. "Civil Engineer. Ran my own construction company once. Forcibly bought out a year ago. Sort of freelancing it right now."

"Mm," Leila nodded. "Thank you all for coming. I have called you all here because we are in need of your different expertise. This island we sit on is one of thirteen clusters of varying sizes. It is the wish of the Hopeful Maggots to turn these islands into lucrative business opportunities." No good can come out of being overly reliant on the Royal Family...

"What exactly do you want?" Adjusting his glasses, Hyproxy inquired.

"Of these thirteen islands, there are three large ones comparable to entire cities," Leila exposed. "We want two of these islands to be used as farmlands with a network of villages strewn around for serfs to live in. The third, which will host our new headquarters should have a complete set of farmlands, barracks, and homes for members of the Hopeful Maggots to live in. Hyproxy-san, we need your expertise with designing the placements of the structures as well as advice on what crops to focus on for long-term benefits. Upon deliberation, Lyon-san will be in charge of choosing how to design these structures with safety and aesthetics in mind."

"What about me?" JWSilver asked.

"Your role is perhaps the most difficult Silver-kun," Leila stated. "I know you are behind the Igama Park's brilliant revival. If it was not for your ideas, that park would have closed down. Yet it is now the most visited amusement park in all of Japan."

"Seriously!?" Stryke exclaimed, eyes burning brightly as he stared at JWSilver with reverence. "You're that guy!? Whooo... I always thought it would be some wizened man."

"Hoo... I didn't realize I was in the presence of a genius. Is this what the Chinese mean by having eyes but failing to see Mt. Tai." Lyconbe declared with appreciation in his eyes. "I heard the rumors, but to think it was really the work of a teenager..."

"Hehe," JWSilver scratched the back of his head, embarrassed by the attention. "Luck... It was all luck."

"Regardless of luck or skill, I will need you to create another miracle here," Leila declared. "We want a collection of resorts and parks built on the remaining islands. Our purpose is to create the very best resort in the entire world. So much so, even non-gamers will buy a Virtual Drive just to experience it for themselves." A cunning smile curled up her lips. "Think you can handle it?"

JWSilver winced. "What's my timeframe?"

"In three in-game months, the transfer bank will open, allowing Summoned to convert real-world cash to game coins and vice versa. We need to get ahead of that window. So two and a half in-game months. That is your timeframe."

Lyconbe let out a shallow laugh. "No pressure kid."

"Lyconbe-san should not laugh like it's none of your business," Leila said with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "Immediately Silver-kun determines what we need, and should build, you will be in charge of supervising the construction."

Lyconbe's warily stared at the young woman, laughter choked to death in his throat. "...You are a complete slave driver aren't you?"

"In regards to the matter of your payment," Leila shifted the topic, leaving the man with a smile as his only response. "You can choose. Ten Million Won upfront, or a percentage of our profits going forward. Be warned that should you choose the percentage, then your pay will be in Syros, not real-world cash."

JWSilver shrugged. "I don't need cash that much. I'll go with the percentage."

"Truly, celebrities think on a different level." Lyconbe chuckled. "I'm really strapped for cash since I lost my job. But..." He glanced at the teen. "I'll trust the kid's instincts. The mind behind the Igama Park's revival shouldn't be wrong. Besides..." He looked at Stryke and Leila. "I've read up on you guys. Hopeful Maggots. You're making real waves. I don't believe buying up shares in anything you put your hands in can be a negative decision. Hell, I think I should be honored to receive this opportunity... So, yeah. I'll take the percentage."

"I am a historian. I do not do this for money," Hyproxy commented, adjusting his glasses. "Regardless of whether your venture succeeds or not, I am only glad I have an opportunity to put all I have studied to use. But Lyconbe-kun spoke so much, I am willing to bet on you guys. I will also go with the percentage." He glanced at Leila. "If that is all, I suggest we get to it. Two months is a short time, even with the game's mechanics and magic."

Leila nodded. "We have already cleared the main bosses of the three islands you will be working on. The other monsters are small fry compared to the regiment stationed there. You can start anytime." Turning to JWSilver, she said, "You, on the other hand, will be accompanying Stryke and I as we clear the bosses on the other islands. It is my intention that you see the hunt for yourself so you can decide if you can make something fun for the resort with hunts as a lure."

"That's an awesome idea!" JWSilver praised with a grin. "Let's get to it."

"In that case gentlemen," Leila closed as she rose to her feet. "To a fruitful three months."

**********

**********

Aygorian Citadel

It had been a full week since the defeat of the coalition forces. The dwarven city, rather than taking the time to rest, was ablaze with the ringing of hammers and sawing of wood. The dwarfs at the behest of their new king had begun building the city for real, taking out all their stockpile of materials for the speedy construction.

The added labor of over five thousand prisoners quickened the process, allowing the city to come into being at a frightening pace. Before construction began, Kashi had advised the dwarfs on a special mixture called Mortar which they could make by mixing desert sand with water and some aggregates. Of course, since he was not a civil engineer, he could only point them in the general direction before disappearing into his lab.

However, if there was one thing dwarfs were good at, it was construction. Several experiments later, they found a workable mixture with the right ratio, and boy did it blow away their minds! Not only did they create coated mortar, but they accidentally stumbled upon the right mixture for concrete and cement. The only sad thing was that despite their, discovery, they were not visited by a messenger of Gerber. Which meant that someone else had already discovered these mixtures before them.

With equal parts lament and anticipation, the dwarfs wished they could meet whichever person or nation that had this level of technology. Surely, they could learn a thing or two from them.

More importantly, however, with the new mixture, their cost and time required for construction greatly diminished. They had abundant desert sand, and the other aggregates were easy to find or cultivate, which meant they had an endless supply of the stuff. They would not have to heavily depend on other nations to import good quality stones.

Meanwhile, as construction aboveground was going strong, below ground, The Hand were equally hard at work on the projects proposed by the dark elf. Already, there were miniature train tracks running along the underground city on which small test cars with iron wheels were placed. There were roughly four to six seats within and space for loads to be placed. The train, powered by a mana crystal placed at the helm moved forward with when a button was pushed and came to a stop when the brakes were pulled.

It was simple and crude looking, but the true ingenuity lay in the runes crafted in the inner workings, drawn by the daeben. These runes, some of them provided by Kashi himself, were the backbone of the whole operation for a group of people who could not fully understand how trains completely worked in real life. After all, although Suzuki had read up on how they worked and understood the concept, asking him to actually design one with the right chemical reactions, pressure valves, and whatnot was just wishful thinking.

Unluckily, Suzuki was not one of those transmigration protagonists who could travel to another world with complete knowledge of how to build complete technological marvels despite never really being an engineer. So, Kashi had to manage with the massive cheat the game had granted him: Magic.

Worried about filtering methods of crude oil to create diesel for energy? Don't worry, Magic Crystal can provide all the power you need.

Not sure how to connect a smartboard so that with the push of a button, your train will know to accelerate? Don't worry, with runes you can cover that command.

Need to create a pressurized zone, but don't really get how it works? Runes brother. Just line up that chamber with pressure or gravity runes. As long as your runecrafting level is high enough, there is nothing you cannot rune your way through.

And that was how with the excuse of magic, Kashi and the dwarfs began their attempt to recreate technological marvels. Of course, that was not to say reliance on magic did not have its pitfalls. The amount of mana required to move the little test cars alone would drain a grown man of his mana. If they were to have a whole train, who knew how many people would need to be walking battery packs in order to charge up a single trip.

But all in good time.

They would find a solution to the mana problem another time. For now, they would just resign themselves to the drain.

Elsewhere, work on a suspended ship like structure continued in full force, a task to which over seventy percent of the workforce was dedicated.

********

Dungeons

"You want to what?" Absalon stared at the prisoner across from him with shocked ridicule. "You can't be serious?"

"Hey, I get your concerns," Larsial murmured seductively, clinging to the prison bars like a dancer to a pole. "But you don't have to worry. We daeben only offer our allegiance to one person at a time." She shrugged, "You killed my last boss, so I'm currently unaligned. You do not want to miss out on this deal. My intelligence network is something your guild could stand to gain."

Absalon's brows rose. "You actually expect me to believe you hold no resentment?"

"Resentment?" Larsial grinned. "Of course I hold resentment. I resent you lot for killing my boss and keeping me in this dingy cell. I do not do well with dark colors you know? Think it's easy getting a daeben skin this glossy and beautiful? You guys are ruining years of hard work." Sighing, she lamented, "But what can I do? There will always be someone stronger than you. I spent too much time at the top, I forgot this simple truth." Blinking her eyes, she begged, "I will do anything you ask. Just let me be part of the team, yeah?"

Absalon frowned. He had to admit this woman was quite formidable. If it was not for the brief period spent in the dwarven city which secretly powered up both Kashi and Syèl beyond reasonable limits, then with the information she had on their abilities, Ruse's army would very well have won that battle. The intel she failed to grab could not be blamed on her as within that timeframe, he doubted anyone—even the CIA—could have gotten the right intel.

But it was equally undeniable how dangerous she was. He had seen for himself just what she was capable of. Shaking his head, he decided to leave it up to Kashi to decide. "We will leave it up to Kashi—"

BOOOOM!!!

A tremendous explosion rang out from deep within the dwarven underground city, causing earthquakes to ring throughout the city. Earthquakes so bad, Larsial prison bars, rusted from age, cracked at the hinges and crashed to the earth. Absalon, who could only lean against the opposite wall so as to prevent himself from falling, stared with shock at Larsial who stood in place, unaffected by the tremors.

The daeben looked from the general to the exit, but to Absalon's shock, sat down, a seductive smile on her face as she waited for the earthquakes to die down. "I only have one request," she spoke calmly, despite the harsh breeze that began to blow out of the dungeon as if some monster down below was sucking up all the mana in the vicinity. "That white haired kid. Shadow, was it? Let him work with me. I like him."

Absalon frowned, but since he was still struggling to keep his balance could not reply. Moments later he could finally push off the wall as the forceful sucking air and earthquakes came to a stop.

"Ooh. Seems like the fun's ended," Larsial commented with a smile. Crossing her legs, she rested her chin on her hand. "Feel free to check out the commotion. I'm not running anywhere."

Absalon hesitated, but looking at the calm daeben, he could not shake off the feeling she was telling the truth. Hence despite his logic blaring warnings, he trusted his gut and walked out of the dungeon to find the commotion, throwing over his shoulder, "We'll talk when I return."

Larsial gaze followed the general's back, turning steely as he reached the exit. But they once again softened as she opened her palm and rubbed her face. "Larsial baby, I hope you know what you're doing."

*********

Deep underground, Kashi winced with pain as he stared at the dozens of floating portraits which surrounded a massive painting over five meters wide and four meters tall. Massive swirls of mana forcibly absorbed from the air for miles kept the paintings afloat, pushing them into the largest painting one at a time, forcibly expanding its size.

By the time the last portrait was absorbed, the painting was over sixteen meters wide and seven meters tall, glowing so brightly, the daeben had to squint to look at it. As if choked by the amount of mana it absorbed the painting belched, knocking Kashi to the ground with the heavy mana release.

It was at this time that several Maggots and dwarfs ran into the chamber, its doors forcibly opened in the painting's bid to absorb mana. They all stopped in their tracks staring at the floating painting with shock. They could feel the massive mana emanating from that thing and could not help but wonder what the hell the daeben just made this time.

Lunette, who had been practicing with the choir took the lead to step forward and ask, "Kashi, what is that?"

Kashi stood up, dusting himself with a proud grin on his face. One so wide and happy, most people there nearly did not recognize him. "Oh, that?" Kashi joked, pointing at the floating painting. "Nothing much really. Just a brand new dimension I created."

It took the crowd a second to digest what he just said. But once they did, they all screamed in unison... "WHAT!?"

************************

A/N: Hey Guys! Been a while hasn't it!? What, going on four weeks now? Real Sorry Guys, I wasn't trying to beat my previous record. I've had a combination of sickness, and confusion caused by sickness affecting my writing recently.

Was so confused as to what I wanted to write about this chapter that for weeks I could not get pen to paper. Worse yet, a stupid ass fever didn't help matters much. But then... 

[Explicit Content Ahead! Those with weak stomachs, who easily get disgusted or are eating are advised to skip to the summary after the sign. Reader Discretion is Advised]

Was on the toilet a dew days ago, you know, doing my business when inspiration hit. Hmm what's that? You don't get inspiration from the bathroom? Well, I can only say you're missing out on some of the greatest inspiration sources.. So, yeah back to the lesson for today.

I realized sometimes when tackling a problem, we tend to try out all the familiar methods, approaches, positions over and over again. But sometimes these don't work. In this case, there was so much going on with Kashi, the dwarfs and the daeben I wasn't sure what I wanted to start with or how to structure it all for that matter. And I kept pushing hard from a position of Kashi first over and over without being able to start the chapter. It was like this massive blockage--er, writer's block that just would not move away.

But then, I decided you know what.. let's try out a new position---er, method of approach. I decided to pull back from Kashi and go through Leila's route. Turned out, that was much easier, and after finally being able to start the chapter, the rest easily pushed--er, came through.

Yeah, and that was how this chapter came to be.

[Explicit content End]

For those with a weak stomach, the summary basically is, sometimes you need to try a brand new approach when tackling a problem which just seems unsolvable. Take a step back, reevaluate your methods, and give something new a try. It can help to clear the clutter.

Now. Picture of the Day.

Some of you might have noticed this image on the background of my page. Been using this guy and the other kid on my profile pic for as long as I can remember. He basically decided Kashi's clothing style of sleeveless little-to-no armored style. The tattoo on his left shoulder also birthed the tattoos of the seven broken swords tied by a sash of blood. It was originally meant to be the dragon, but upon second thought, I felt the blood and sword thing was a bit more poetic and metaphorical. 

Oh yeah, and the red eyes and bushy hair were also adopted from him...