Phoenix already gave up trying to always keep Ta un-merged while in the city. The st “incident” they had, with the small Familiar attempting to steal a sparkly hat off one of the chef’s heads while they were cooking, helped convince her to just glow around the city instead of apologizing profusely to everyone wearing shiny jewelry. So, while she was busy fighting down her anxiety about standing out, the rest of her party was raptly listening to Paul’s expnation of what had happened during the raid of the Ruwena Estate and where they were heading now.

  “What do you mean they ‘seized the rift’? It’s basically a tear in reality to a pocket dimension. It’s not like they can put it in a box and steal it,” Rayna practically shouted.

  “No, but they can build a box around it,” Paul patiently expined in his gruff voice, “Which is basically what they’ve spent generations doing in order to harness its power and resources for the city.

  “Now the main family –bolstered by their branch families and other allied parties– have barricaded the entrance and cut off the ley lines that feed mana to everything. Crippling our enchantments throughout the city.”

  The twins gasped in unison, and Dazien spoke up to crify, “You mean the city’s arms are down? We won’t be able to respond to internal monster spawns?”

  “Or power the wall’s defenses,” Uriel added with increasing worry.

  “Wait, I don’t understand. I thought all that just used the ambient mana,” Phoenix asked in confusion.

  “The magic quality here won’t allow those systems to work naturally. The city of Tulimeir has spent thousands of years and more resources than you can imagine harnessing the power within the Reality Rift, which does have a high enough quality and quantity,” her mentor lectured while navigating the surprisingly empty streets.

  “Is that why nobody is around like normal?” she asked, gesturing to the sparse roads that only seemed to have guards and Adventurers traveling them.

  “Yes, the Ducal Administration has ordered a temporary shelter in pce while the defenses are down as part of their announcement of the Fall of the Ruwena House. Our primary objective for this expedition is to take back and secure Tulisuda. Ideally, before they blow it up.”

  “Question,” she interjected once more, “Why don’t you just go in and make them give it back? Everyone was just telling me earlier that you’re the strongest Caster in the city.”

  Paul shook his head and answered in gruff annoyance, “We want to take back the Reality Rift, not level the city… My powers are not exactly well suited for the environment.”

  “Where is this Reality Rift exactly?” she finally thought to ask.

  Everyone pointed down at the ground in almost perfect unison, and she couldn’t stop herself from gncing down at the cobbled stone street. Paul expounded further, “It’s below the city. A veritable fortress was built around it, and then the city was built around that. It is the foundation for the whole area. If I go in there greatsword bzing, I could easily destroy something that would set off a devastating chain reaction, and unfortunately, I’m not knowledgeable enough about the area to know what not to destroy. Besides that, I’m still only a single person. I can’t take on an army of Casters alone.”

  The questions halted as they arrived at the staging point, where the rgest crowd of Adventurers and city guards that Phoenix had ever seen had gathered in one pce before. The siren raid came close, but as it had been the middle of the night, not everyone had joined the Call to Arms.

  Now, however, it seemed like every combat-trained person in the city who hadn’t gone traitor had been gathered to defend their home and recim its most important asset.

  Phoenix felt uncomfortable as many eyes turned in their direction to watch the man, who was expected to save them once more, and the small entourage of Crystal Casters following in his wake. Whispers and mutterings followed after them, and she could only make out the occasional sentence.

  “—Says she’s a Wayfarer.”

  “Outsider, you mean. Which continent do they—”

  “—That giant starry bird illusion, remember?”

  “I heard they fought off the raiders in Vallinsarvi.”

  “—Portaled me halfway across the tundra.”

  “Protégé? He chose her?”

  “A whole group of orphans training under the Lord Padin? Must be exceptional orphans to manage that.”

  “—Discovered the Ruwena House’s treachery.”

  “He’s being trained by the Warrior?”

  “What kind of voxen are they anyways?”

  “Do you sense that? She’s an Aurabreaker!”

  Uriel nudged her shoulder gently to get her attention, and as she looked up at him, he said under his breath to her, “Remember, you’re a princess now. You should try to do as Lord Waynd and Daze and hold your head high. It reassures the people watching.”

  “I’m not a princess, though,” she muttered in response, gncing at the two men leading the group forward before returning her eyes to the friend at her side.

  He held her gaze for a moment before stating, “You are to everyone who matters.” Then he lightened the mood by slightly smirking and adding, “My king has decreed it, remember?”

  She rolled her eyes dramatically but smiled despite her nerves, and she looked around at the crowd that was still watching them pass.

  At a gesture from Paul, Dazien held the rest of the group back as the noble lord went to speak with the expedition organizer. They waited patiently despite the general unease of the crowd, knowing that every moment they weren’t reciming the Reality Rift was another moment that monsters could manifest and attack the residents.

  When an important-looking runeforged took to a small ptform to address everyone—with Lord Waynd standing slightly behind her to add the weight of his own authority to hers—a hush fell upon the crowd in anticipation of her words.

  “Adventurers and Guards of Tulim, as I’m sure most of you have heard by now, House Ruwena has been revealed as a servant of the Renseres in alliance with the Soul Reapers and seeks to cim Tulisuda from beneath us.

  “We cannot let this happen. Each party leader will be given Silencers to assist in capturing the enemy, but do not hesitate to put down the traitors. Should we fail to recim the Reality Rift in time, everyone you know and love in this city, and perhaps the entirety of the tundra, will be utterly annihited. We cannot let Tulimeir fall,” the organizer stated passionately, and Uriel helped Phoenix identify her as the AOA Director, Agatha Trayvious.

  Phoenix felt her anxiety continue to rise as the full severity of the situation was spread out before her with each word the director spoke. She felt a familiar furry hand entwine with her own as Saiya moved next to her to offer her own form of comfort.

  She could feel her friend’s soothing aura slightly expand to encapsute their small group, and gave her a small smile of thanks as she felt her body rex slightly. Phoenix mentally reminded herself that she had her family with her. They were her sisters and brothers in arms, along with a new parental figure who would make sure to protect her and everyone else on this mission for the fate of the city.

  As the speech ended, Dazien led them towards the location Paul had pointed out to him with the other Crystal Caste parties, many of whom did not seem happy with their presence among them. Phoenix wondered if it was jealousy of their new position of prestige or just a general bias against outsiders, or maybe it was something different altogether. She wasn’t sure how many details of her involvement in uncovering the Ruwena family’s deception had escaped or what Paul had even told people during his investigation into the noble house.

  Their party was pced near the center of the group, and Phoenix was concerned for a moment that they were getting special treatment to keep her safe. That was until the Adventurer who was leading their contingent gave an order, and she felt the fre of auras being projected as they prepared for battle.

  With renewed understanding, Phoenix unleashed her aura, which blossomed to cover the entire Crystal Caste crowd. A swarm of tiny [Starlight Companions] appeared over every shoulder, lighting the area like a sea of stars, with the glittering [Sun Shells] acting as bright suns around slightly blurred cores. With this much light being produced by the other effects and the daylight above, the shadows were struggling to hide her allies.

  Many eyes turned to her, but she followed Uriel’s suggestion and held her head high as she focused all of her attention on their party leader instead of the crowd.

  That was when she noticed that Dazien wasn’t smiling.

  He always smiled when others were watching. Instead, he remained steadfast and silent, watching the Crystal Caster that was in charge intently to pass on the orders through the chain of command that had been hastily put into pce.

  Perhaps he was nervous, she wondered. This would technically be their first expedition, and the stakes were high. Not only were they under intense scrutiny from their peers and commanders, but the price of failure was unconscionable.

  It was only a few minutes ter that the gathering moved, heading towards designated locations to descend into the earth, where an entire second city y beneath the towering skyscrapers above.

  As they entered the depths, the little [Starlight Companions] became even more helpful in providing additional light to the glowstones embedded in the ceilings. Those built-in lights were barely flickering with the meager trickle of mana going to them after the ley lines that had been feeding them were interrupted.

  When she noticed a small cloud escaping her mouth in the cool corridor leading downward, Phoenix realized they were on even more of a deadline as the citizens might start freezing without the warmth the magic normally provided.

  In a sudden shift, as they went through one of the rge underground gates, the ambiance of the corridor changed to a warmer red glow, and the temperature began to rise. The pipes hanging from the ceiling were slightly rattling as if struggling to function, and there seemed to be wisps of steam everywhere, causing a severe spike in humidity.

  Phoenix was internally grumbling about her clothes sticking to her when one of the walls gave way to clear gss looking over an immense cavern. She could feel her jaw go sck at the site of the enormous network of stone paths, lifts, stairs, and walls that mazed through the underground fortress, and brief fshes of light indicated that combat had already broken out below where the few Emerald Casters along with the majority of Sapphires had entered before them from a different side.

  Ideally, the Crystal Casters would never need to enter the battle, but the enemy’s numbers seemed much rger than was expected and had the advantage of a fully functional magical fortress on their side.

  As she took in the scene unfolding below, she managed to y eyes on a brightly glowing red portal set into stone bricks towards the center of the fortress that looked like it might lead to the very pits of hell. She could only see it due to their vantage point as they continued descending the flights of stairs. A slight shiver ran down her spine at the sight and her [Guide Book] appeared near her to feed the new information into her aura.

  New Quest: Tulimeir Traitors

  Recim control of the Reality Rift below the city of Tulimeir.

  Objective: Help defeat thirty traitors.

  Reward: Rare Crystal Caste Spirit Gem.

  Objective: Help recim the Reality Rift.

  Reward: Rare Crystal Caste armor.

  Bonus Objective: Don’t die.

  Reward: The rarity of other rewards is increased.

  “Again?!” Phoenix unwittingly said aloud, and her party tensed as they gnced back at her. She flushed in embarrassment and silently pointed at the book in response, her panic slightly increasing at the words. The st time she had gotten that particur bonus objective, she had utterly failed. She wasn’t looking forward to dying again, especially when her friends and mentor were nearby.

  She absently tugged at her braid as they continued making their way towards the battle. Rumbling resonated through the cavern, and concerning tremors shook the earth as some stray attacks collided with the surrounding infrastructure.

  Phoenix felt her heart leap into her throat as she finally spotted Paul atop one of the fortress’s outer walls, expertly wielding his rge sword against the enemy forces. He was holding back his more devastating abilities in favor of precision, and everyone knew it.

  What had caught her attention, though, was the change in its appearance. Before, it had seemed to be made of a single piece of pure gold with a flowing crossguard that reminded her of fmes. Now, however, the massive bde was jet bck and had glowing gold runes running up the center with a hilt made of the same dark onyx crystal stylized to make the crossguard look like a pair of crow wings in flight.

  She felt the comforting grip of Uriel’s hand on her shoulder as he reassured her, “He’ll be fine, Princess.”

  Phoenix nodded to him as she noticed Dazien’s gaze lingering on the both of them and she recognized the assessing nature of it that reminded her of Paul; it was like he was searching for the answer to some question he wouldn’t voice. She was about to ask him if something was wrong, but he had already returned his attention to the path ahead.