Chapter 202 - Moving Forward

Abigail

"Honey, you need to stop checking that." Jon sighed.

She knew he was right, but she couldn't help herself. The pylon leadership screen was her only way of knowing everything was alright—well, not alright, but it was the only thing she could do.

For weeks, she had the screen pop up whenever she had free time or the worry reared its ugly head. Every time it opened, there was a split second where she prayed with everything she had that his name was still there.

"I can't help it, Jon." She said dejectedly.

He heard the despondent tone and came over and wrapped his arms around her. The sense of security in his embrace barely enough to ward off the evil thoughts her brain thought up.

"He's stronger than he looks. I would know. Him and that hammer could thrash me even without his more powerful skills." Jon said, trying to ease her mind.

Abigail knew how strong her brother was but it was a fundamental problem in her mind to worry. She knew the lengths he would go to protect everyone. The danger he would throw himself into.

Still, she couldn't let it distract her from the goings on here. It was her job to hold down the Fort and she would do it spectacularly. They were already ahead of schedule on most projects even without the additional manpower that had left.

She ran through the checklist in her mind.

The farms are ahead of schedule with everything already planted.

The quarry caught up as the Miners gained levels.

The construction effort is already on phase two, waiting for the enchantments.

The dungeon output is low but that is to be expected.

The four biggest projects were either on schedule or ahead of schedule and she was immensely pleased at that. The workers who remained worked tirelessly so that when the warriors came home, it was perfect.

Abigail wondered if that was because of her emotions bleeding into the people around her or if everyone felt the same way she did.

Jon broke away and started dressing for the day to come. It became her little ritual to check the screens every morning just in case something happened while she was asleep.

After the warmth left, she got up to do the same. She went through the same motions ever since they moved into the Castle. Chris had the forethought to make sure there were enough rooms for everyone in the family and even a few extra.

Making her walk to wake her children as far as across the hall.

"Anna, get ready for school." She knocked.

She walked to the next door and did the same knock, "Josh, get ready for school."

It was nice to be able to fall back on old routines. Mornings like this were like clockwork before everything changed. Except for walking across the hall in the Castle to wake her two kids, it was down the hallway of their home.

The kitchen was further away as well but she had gotten used to that change by now.

After giving them the first round of wake-up calls, she began making breakfast for all of them. A much welcome change compared to before. She couldn't remember a time when Jonathan had the time to eat breakfast with them, usually out the door before the kids needed to be up.

It wasn't quite bacon she was cooking, but the kids had gotten used to the odd tastes for breakfast. That had been rough to get Josh through as he was quite picky.

Jon managed to hunt a deer while out training which made for a fine breakfast.

As the cooking finished up, she went back to give them their second round of wake-up calls, much the same as the first. A chorus of grumpy 'I'm ups' rang out even though she knew that not to be true.

Still, a few minutes later, two bobs of bedhead made their way to the table.

The little things made everything easier. A meal with family. Even if it went by too quickly.

"Alright, off to school with you." She shooed.

A few grumbles were heard but they moved in the right direction at least. Both going to grab the things they would need for the day.

While they were off, she turned to the other thing that had been on her mind lately, besides what her family was off fighting.

A golden envelope sat on her desk.

A wax seal ensured its contents were kept unopened and it was one she hadn't seen before. A triad of mountaintops with a wall ringing the base. The wax itself wasn't a rosy red as expected, but a granite grey, matching the theme of the sigil.

When the letter first arrived she had been overjoyed thinking it was news from her family. She was only a little disappointed to find out that it wasn't from them but another pylon entirely.

Mountainside.

They weren't sure where, exactly, this new pylon stood but they already had a few ideas. The name itself was a large clue. Mountains were more numerous now that things had changed, but they still weren't dotting all over the place.

Her first thought was Denver but that was too far away. The letter hadn't arrived by messenger but by some magical means. For a person's skill or Formation of some kind to send a letter all the way from Denver was unlikely, especially when there were mountains closer.

The other thought against it coming from Denver was the reasoning. There had to be tens of pylons closer to the big city than theirs, making it extremely unlikely they would reach out all the way to here.

After speaking to some who lived up here for longer, they theorized it was from somewhere near Calgary, but they weren't sure.

The where was uncertain, but she didn't know if she should open it or not. It was addressed to the pylon owner, which was Chris, but it wasn't like he would care one way or the other.

"Just open it. You've been staring at it since it arrived. He won't mind." Jon said.

He was right, he wouldn't care, but she still felt hesitant.

Blowing out a breath, she grabbed the letter and began opening it.

~~

Austin

Nearly two months inside the camp and he was nowhere closer to achieving his goal than before.

Even with the help of the city's warriors, and Austin using a lot more effort than he anticipated needing, the bugs continued to be a problem.

They were endless.

No matter how many he speared, or how many Marcus sliced in half, or Clarissa roasted, they always came back in force. The only positive to come out of his presence was the city wasn't as boxed in as before.

With Austin's help, they were able to liberate one of the Dungeons around the city. While only holding one out of three wasn't a lot, the fact they now had an influx of materials uplifted people's spirits.

While the Dungeon didn't give what they were in desperate need of, metal, giving any materials at all was better than nothing. Even if it only gave an assortment of Gems and Crystals.

They even managed to get a Skill shard out of it!

It was only found on the third floor and the skill was only common, but the fact it dropped one at all was surprising. The Dungeons around Frostheim had only dropped a handful so far and they had delved them for months.

Chris was quite put out that he hadn't gotten one yet even though he delved into them the most.

The insects constantly attacked the Dungeon trying to take the area back but they had managed to hold onto it so far. With every passing day, they entrenched themselves that much more. Making the assaulting bugs easier and easier to deal with.

Austin was starting to get a little frustrated.

If Chris were here, the bugs would be dead by now.

It was hard not to compare his progress to what he imagined his friend would be capable of. He knew he wasn't as good as Chris but it stung to know how far the gap was.

Even the levels he gained from the near-constant fighting didn't lift his spirits. Mostly because he knew he would be stuck soon.

He didn't meet the requirements to evolve.

He had two Least Laws and he hadn't managed to push either to Lesser.

It felt like his Light Law was close to upgrading but it still wasn't quite there. He also hadn't undergone the Body Refinement process yet. Plans bubbled in the back of his mind on what he was going to do, but it was still annoying to know the levels he gained would soon be capped.

He could evolve on his own, but taking a shot in the dark with something as important as an evolution was stupid. Especially when he didn't have any Golden Eagle parts to improve his Bloodline with.

Hell, he had barely gotten a chance to strengthen it, let alone be ready for an evolution.

Austin had assumed there would be so much more time before the time for D-rank came, but from the constant fighting, his level would be ready way before everything else was.

Taking a page out of Christopher's book, he planned to do everything he could before evolving. Pushing his Law to Lesser, Forming his Anchor, Strengthen and Purify his Bloodline, and Refine his Body.

He was behind in so many ways.

He didn't regret leaving. He needed to explore, yearned for it, but he hadn't realized it would net him so many levels that he would have to play catch-up with everything else.

He couldn't wait to be done with the infernal insects so he could start on his lengthening to-do list.

~~

Chris

The battlefield was ruined.

Everywhere I looked was either an impact sight or the place a body had once laid. Crumpled and deformed Demons were all that was left, other than the irreparable damage done to the landscape.

Their taint would linger for a long while before it was cleansed. People did what they could, even now, but it wouldn't be completed overnight.

The explosion caused a large chunk of the taint to be destroyed, along with the landscape, but if Demonic taint was that easy to cleanse it wouldn't be such a headache.

My body still flared with pain as I walked, but this was something I needed to do. Being cooped up in the tent was enough to drive me mad and some fresh air was a welcome change.

Even if it wasn't the crisp air of Winter.

We were set to march back to Fort Hope at sunrise the following day and this would be my last chance to walk the battlefield.

I wasn't sure what I was looking for. I wasn't even sure there was anything to look for, but it felt right.

My mind could nearly picture it. The mage spells blasting the earth, swords and shields gleaming in the sun. Even the Demonic stench permeating the air.

It was like I was there again, the past week rewound so I could experience it again.

So many thoughts came to mind but I pushed them all away. I didn't want to spend my last day here planning for the future, even if it was a major thing I needed to do.

I had been lax.

I had thought the end of the tutorial would allow us to take our foot off the gas pedal, to slow down.

I was wrong.

Calling how I built my City slow wasn't far off from how I felt. I hadn't hired City Guards, as I wanted the Castle to be finished. I hadn't started a lot of things for the same reason.

I hadn't even upgraded our pylon yet.

My entire timeline was centered around when the challenge would come. The test we would have to face to keep the system's protection. Whether this year or the next, it would come and I had planned around that instead of what just happened.

If the Demons had been closer, we wouldn't have been able to fight them alone.

We didn't have enough people, we weren't strong enough, and that was a failure on my part.

One I meant to rectify.

I had already put things in motion to do just that.

I couldn't wait to progress, I needed to constantly move forward or surprise threats like this would end us.

And that was something I couldn't allow.