Getting out of Duggus Forest was easier to do since most of the forest predators didn’t want to mess with them anymore. Witches occasionally picked a fight with them but were easily crushed.
Fayt was the only one who couldn’t fight in the group because he was preoccupied with carrying an unconscious Ameena.
As they reached a crossroad where the east path took them back to Peterny and the north path took them across a bridge, a pair of menodix crossed the bridge ahead and rushed toward the group.
Both were slightly taller than Roger. One wore a maroon shirt and helmet. The helmet had horns pointing sideways. His tail was tan and resembled a fox’s tail. He carried a wooden sword on his back. The other wore a blue robe with yellow stars as well as a ragged gray mantle. The horns on his blue helmet resembled cat ears and had a pair of goggles on it. He carried a broomstick. His tail was shaped like Roger’s except it was dark gray.
“Hey! What are you doing to our little brother?” shouted the maroon-wearing menodix.
“Uh oh! Let me handle this, guys,” Roger said. He turned his attention to the duo. “Hey Dribe, Melt, what are you two doing away from Surferio?”
“We came to rescue you Roger,” Dribe, the maroon one, replied. “When you didn’t come back we got worried and came to find you. We figured that you were captured by the Moonshadow Clan or worse.”
“Oh…” Roger chuckled awkwardly.
“And who are these guys?” Dribe continued.
“Well, these guys were in a jam and I decided to help them out.”
“You’re not telling everything,” Melt, the blue one, noticed.
Roger said nothing for a moment, the moment became more awkward as Roger tried desperately to think of something to save face. He couldn’t think of anything and sighed in defeat. “Alright, these guys rescued me from the Moonshadow Clan and helped me with my ‘Real Man’ contest.”
“Ah, so that’s what happened,” Dribe said. He looked at the others, “Thank you for saving our little brother. I’m sure he was quite a handful so thank you for putting up with him.”
“You didn’t have to put it that way,” Roger grumbled.
While everyone was in the middle of introducing themselves, Melt suddenly moved past Roger and Dribe and walked up to Sophia. “You,” he said. “I was foretold of you from the stars. You are the key to solving the riddles of the ancient tomes we found.
“Ancient tomes?” Sophia wondered. “What do I have to do with a bunch of old books?”
“It is not my place to question my visions. I received a vision of meeting with a girl a few years older than myself. She would have blue hair and golden eyes. It is my purpose in the vision to speak the riddles to you. Whether you solve them or not, my visions do not say. What purpose it serves, my visions do not say.”
Sophia raised an eyebrow as she looked at the child in confusion. She had known of seers in old fantasy novels but this was the first time seeing someone who believed themselves to be one. Since there was nothing to lose, she decided to humor him. “Alright, so what are these riddles?”
Melt took a moment to prepare himself before he began. “Hidden spring in a sea of rolling white fog; what will the stalwart father and son who stand guard think?
“Caves as dark as death. The five attributes come into conflict. What light can reveal them?
“The rotted corridor, guarded by archers of the gods. The Sun King sleeps in his coffin. What shall the mute corpse say?
“Which of the three shall claim the kingless throne?
“Does the sacrifice of the winged messenger of the gods gaze at hope or despair?
“At the end of the caverns where the copper sleeps, the northernmost wiseman gazes upon the lake. Is it an ancient power sealed below the roots?
“Burning flames of the underworld. The red twins, looked down upon by the giant from the tribe of long ears. Who can release that inner power?”
Once he finished relaying the riddles, Melt returned to Dribe’s side.
While everyone was discussing what to do next, Fayt headed back to Peterny with Cliff and Nel right behind him. The others felt that was a good idea on their part as Ameena needed immediate medical attention and the menodix in front of them were being distractions.
Sophia scratched her head while pondering the riddles. While for most of them she had no idea what they were about, she had a vague idea about two of them. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was a coincidence though.
She remembered the dark caverns of Kirlsa’s former mine and the skeletons that Lyra mentioned fighting while there. She recalled the console with five different behavior names. She wondered if they were the five conflicting attributes. She did find the Ihan crystal shard under the torch that brought light to the console.
She then remembered the fogged area in Duggus Forest. They found a spring hidden in that fog. She wasn’t sure about the stalwart father and son, but if she were to take a shot in the dark, she could consider rocks of differing sizes as a stalwart father and son. All she really knew was that she found another shard there.
Could the riddles be leading her to the locations of the other shards? If so, then how could the books, as old as they were, lead her to the shards when they were only put there within the past couple of decades?
She could figure the puzzle out later. For now, they needed to get away from the menodix and get back to town and to Aquios before the sun set.
“Well, I say we go on an adventure and find out more about the places described in the riddles,” Roger declared.
“No way Roger, that sounds way too dangerous,” Dribe said.
“Of course it’s dangerous, it wouldn’t be a real adventure if there wasn’t any real danger,” Roger countered.
“I’m not looking for any place that mentions ‘burning flames of the underworld’.”
“You call yourself a man, Dribe? Forget it, I’ll go looking for those places myself if I have to.” Roger turned to the others. “You guys gotta help me.”
“Why do we need to do that?” Peppita asked.
“I have a feeling that those places are connected to me,” Sophia said.
“Why do you think that?” Twilight asked.
“Because I think we found the locations mentioned in the first two riddles. I think the second riddle, mentioning five attributes in dark caves, referred to the Kirlsa Caverns. We found an Ihan Crystal shard there. The first riddle mentioning a spring in fog may have been referring to the shrouded spring in Duggus Forest where we fought that creature made of mud. I found another shard of the crystal there.” Sophia showed everyone the shard.
Lyra looked at the shard and confirmed that the shard was part of the crystal. “So we do have a reason to check these places after all,” Twilight figured.
“Guys, please take me with you,” Roger begged. “I really wanna see these places for myself.”
After a moment of consideration, Sophia gave Roger a stern look. “If you’re coming with us, you better pull your weight. Everyone in our group can hold our own against most enemies. If you can’t handle yourself in a fight, then go back home.”
Roger smirked, “No need to worry about me. I may be small, but I’m no small fry. I have more up my sleeve than just this hatchet.”
“Alright, don’t slow us down.”
Roger cheered and bid his friends farewell. At the same time, Dribe asked the group to take care of their reckless little brother. Roger stuck his tongue out at his friend in response.
With their paths decided, Dribe and Melt returned from where they came from while the group returned to Peterny.
Since Fayt, Nel and Cliff went back to Peterny with Ameena, nobody really knew where the girl lived. Thankfully, Twilight was able to track Nel’s magic signature. She tracked Nel down to a side street on the east side of town. She appeared alone at the moment.
“What’s going on?” Lyra asked.
Nel, who was leaning against a wall, walked up to the group before she explained, “When we got back to town, I summoned one of my medically specialized subordinates. We brought Ameena back to her house here and the doctor has helped stabilize her for now. That’s all we can do for her. Sadly, we have no means to cure her disease. I don’t think she has much longer.”
A proverbial dark cloud hung over the area.
“On a brighter note,” Nel continued. “It seems Fayt has finally decided to help us complete the runological weapon and help us bring an end to this war.”
“I’m guessing that Ameena or that woman who takes care of her said something to inspire him to help you,” Sophia said.
“I think so. Regardless, I welcome his decision.”
Just then, Fayt and Cliff exited the house. “What did the two of you talk about?” Nel asked.
“Not much, I just asked him if he was gonna miss Ameena,” Cliff lied, not wanting to divulge the existence of the UP3 that they briefly discussed.
“Silly question, of course he will,” Nel teased.
“Lay off, would you?” Fayt complained. “Let’s get to Aquios before I change my mind.”
With that, everyone regrouped and headed back to the town plaza and toward the northern street that would take them toward Aquios.
Before they managed to leave the city, they came across a pair of individuals who were arguing about something. When they got close, they began overhearing the conversation.
“...I said, the town in question is southwest from here,” said the young man with reddish brown hair and carrying a stuffed backpack. “So all you gotta do is follow the setting sun, right?”
The girl he was talking to shook her head, “Ruddle…I can’t believe you got us even this far…” The girl was more than a head shorter than the man, who was apparently named Ruddle. The girl had long gray hair and wore a green beret. “Do you know the planet’s axis of rotation or latitude, or that sort of thing?”
“Please stop mocking me. The planet’s axis of rotation is thirty-two point six degrees. Our latitude is thirty point four degrees, south. I have that much memorized, excuse me.”
“Those two are sounding like off worlders,” Lyra remarked telepathically.
“More than that Lyra, I’m picking up player IDs from them,” Twilight noted. “Their authorization level is three so they pay more through their subscriptions.”
“Authorization levels?” Lyra asked.
“The player accounts in the Eternal Sphere are separated into four levels of authorization in what they are allowed to do in the universe. Level four are the regular players but they can only play as humanoids who attack humans.
Level three can play as humans but have to adhere to a strict set of rules in order to avoid any of the denizens of the Eternal Sphere finding out about us. As long as they follow the rules, they can interact with people within reason. They pay more than regular players so they are kind of like VIP players.
“Level two are my regular employees. They are in charge of regulating the system and bringing any issues to my attention. Level two can enter the Eternal Sphere as themselves or as humans. I gave you level two authorization for the sake of the mission.
“Level one are administrators like myself and anyone I trust with maintaining the Eternal Sphere directly.”
“So these two are level threes?” Lyra asked.
Twilight nodded. “We should probably talk to them and see what they are up to.”
The girl cast a skeptical gaze on Ruddle, “Oh really…Okay, then let me ask you this. In which direction does the sun rise in this season, and at this location?”
Ruddle realized he was stumped so he guessed ‘north’. He took a look at his map.
“Ah, forget about it. You can stop looking at maps now. I’m not ready to die yet.”
“What are you two up to?” Twilight asked.
“Huh? We’re trying to get to…” Ruddle trailed off and both his and the girl’s eyes widened when they saw Twilight. “Wha?! P-Princess Twilight? What are you doing here?”
“Is that Templar Master Lyra Heartstrings with you?” the girl asked.
Nel raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t address titles where you shouldn’t be,” Twilight warned.
“Oh, right,” the girl cleared her throat. “Anyway, my name is Rumina and this idiot with me is Ruddle. We’re trying to get to a town named Kirlsa to sell our wares there. Have you heard of it?”
Twilight sighed as she knew that she was going to get a headache trying to run damage control later now that the two in front of her blabbed about their titles. She put the thought on the back burner for now to instruct the two.
“Take the south exit from Peterny and head southwest to a village called Arias. It will look like it has seen better days. From there, take the southwest gate into some arid wilderness and head west by southwest and you will be in Kirlsa.” Twilight took Ruddle’s map and used a marker to draw their route. She then handed the map to Rumina in hope that she could follow maps better than Ruddle could.
“Thanks for the help,” Rumina said. “Take these blueprints I found somewhere. They look like they are for assembling an automaton from Greeton.”
As Twilight received the blueprints, a couple of thoughts raced in her head. She had no idea if the blueprints would be useful at any point in their adventure. She also had to rethink her estimations on Greeton’s level of technology. If a nation in Greeton was capable of utilizing robotics, then she may have underestimated the capabilities of the technological superpower.
In the future, she may have to put that part of Elicoor II under observation. But that was a worry for after they resolved the matter of the hacker.
The group bid Ruddle and Rumina farewell and headed through the north gate out of Peterny.
The path north was pretty straightforward. Nel referred to the route as the Irisa Fields. There appeared to be some ruins scattered through the area as well as more monsters and witches.
The witches were dressed similarly to the ones found in Duggus Forest, but the clothes were colored differently. Twilight alerted Lyra telepathically that the witches in the area were a little tougher than the ones in the forest.
Other than the witches, there were plant monsters, chameleons and sphere-shaped bats which Nel called romperbats.
One of the witches tried her luck with the group by casting an Efreet spell which forced everyone to scatter to avoid the wide-area spell. Cliff and Peppita ended up a little singed as they caught the tail end of the attack.
The witch failed to notice Roger sneaking up on her and by the time she realized, it was too late. Roger pulled out a handle from his helmet and pressed a button on it which caused a snaking length of red-hot energy to emerge from the handle. Those who were tech-savvy understood that Roger pulled out a plasma whip, which was still strange given what they knew about the planet’s technology level.
He wrapped the whip around the witch which caused her to scream in agony as the plasma seared her flesh. This lasted a brief moment before Roger yanked the whip back and caused the witch to spin uncontrollably until she fell off her broom. Dizzy, the witch was oblivious to the land mine that Roger planted next to her until she stepped on it and vanished in an explosion.
“Where did Roger get that tech?” Lyra asked.
“If I were to guess, he must have encountered some weapons vendor from Greeton and either bought out or cleaned out the shop like a bandit,” Twilight speculated.
“Isn’t that dangerous for children his age?”
“Yes, but so are a lot of other things we’ve been doing lately. We’re taking part in a war that’s none of our business, we’re testing the limitations of the UP3, we’re inside a universe that could get attacked any time now by the administration drones, you’re training someone who appears to be some sort of Protoss-Zerg-Human hybrid with an unmeasured level of potential, and we’re trying to help protect these guys from Azure Lazer who seems really Tartarus-bent on killing Fayt. A twelve year old playing with modern weapons is just another log on this proverbial bonfire. Right now, it’s taking all of my thousand years of experience to not go into a panic attack right now.”
“I have noticed that you haven’t been Twilighting much lately,” Lyra giggled.
“Quiet, you.”
It was early evening by the time they reached the northern end of Irisa Fields. Once they crossed the main gate, they looked upon the bridge that connected the land to a city sitting on a lake.
“What a beautiful city,” Fayt commented.
“Yes, it’s the pride of our kingdom,” Nel said. “But there are people trying to take this city for themselves.” She paused for a moment to look upon the city that she would give her life to defend. “Come, it’s time to introduce you to our ruler.”
“I’m kinda hoping she’ll be hot,” Cliff said.
“I think we should find a library somewhere along the way and borrow a dictionary to show Cliff the definition of tact,” Sophia suggested. Everyone but Cliff nodded their heads in agreement.
“What? Why are you guys piling on me? Ever hear of a joke?” Cliff defended weakly.
“Let’s go, the castle is at the end of this road,” Nel said.
While traveling across the bridge, Twilight’s communicator made a noise to inform her of a notification. As they walked, Twilight opened her communicator to connect to Grape Vine.
“Hello boss, I am calling you to inform you of three new applicants who have applied to the guild. I’m sending you their profiles now.”
The screen brought up the image of a young lady who appeared to be a little older than Sophia by months. The profile marked her as an amateur alchemist who blundered many of her creations. It also mentioned that the loss of her parents and having to take care of her little brother forced her to study runology on her own without a mentor. Even then, the materials needed for her education were too expensive for her.
This made Twilight think about how blessed she was to have had a mentor and supportive parents. It was unfortunate that she could do little to help the girl as she saw part of herself in Eliza. As an administrator of the Eternal Sphere, it wasn’t her place to interfere in the affairs of its denizens. The best she could do was offer her some money so she could afford necessities. She lived in Aquios so she might come across the poor girl soon.
The second entry was an old retired soldier named Grats who tried to prolong his military career for as long as possible, even turning to mercenary work and volunteer work as a soldier. Eventually, no one would take him anymore and he couldn’t even find work as a mercenary anymore due to his advanced age.
Forced to retire, he took up work as a blacksmith to provide arms to the younger generations of soldiers. His skills with the forge and hammer were decent though what he created lacked the flair expected from an artisan of the forge. It would be easy to acquire his services if some money were thrown his way. His last whereabouts were in an abandoned refinery near the Bequerel Mines.
Last on the list was a young woman who was of a race that were known for their large wings. Stanice was a free-spirited woman who had an obsession for doll collecting. Her skills in craftwork were decent. Rumor was that she lived in Roger’s town of Surferio.
The group followed Nel to the castle at the end of the road. Looking at it in the distance, Twilight and Lyra considered it to be almost as impressive as Canterlot Castle.
The guards at the entrance had to take a moment to recognize Nel among the group before they allowed everyone inside.
Nel led everyone to the second floor of the castle where the throne room was. The throne room reminded the ponies of Canterlot Castle’s throne room with the marble floors and pillars. There were steps leading up to a throne where the queen of Aquaria sat.
The queen wore long blue and red robes with gold lining and a white veil that extended to the floor. Her crown appeared to be part of her veil and had several braids of her hair extending down the length of her veil. Her hair was ebony and she had a strange symbol on her forehead.
Her face appeared unblemished and radiated beauty.
Next to her stood a man who wore a runologist’s uniform. His hair was tied into a long ponytail.
Everyone stood before the throne and kneeled before the queen.
“I have returned, Your Majesty,” Nel said.
“You have done well,” said the man beside the queen. “Are these the ones?”
“Yes, Magistrate Lasselle.”
“Lift your faces, Her Majesty will speak now,” Lasselle declared. “Listen well to her words.”
The queen opened her eyes to reveal scarlet irises. “Greetings, engineers from Greeton, to the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria. I am the ruler of this country, Romeria Zin Emurille.”
Everyone formally introduced themselves to the queen. However, Nel noticed that Twilight carried herself more regally than the others as she introduced herself. It was subtle, but she could sense it. She wondered if there was something to what the two at Peterny uttered by accident.
The queen then explained the status of the war against Airyglyph and that Aquaria was not doing well. She then mentioned a prophecy that mentioned the war and believed that Fayt and Cliff were the Arrow of Apris that was sent to bring salvation to their kingdom.
Fayt told the queen that he would do what he could to help them, which pleased the queen.
Since the sun was setting, it was decided that the engineers could begin to lend their assistance tomorrow. Lasselle then called a guard to show the guests to their quarters.
Thankfully, there were enough rooms in the castle to accommodate the group of eight.
Everyone soon went to bed while thinking about what will likely happen tomorrow.
Sophia, however, had a strange feeling that tomorrow was going to be quite interesting.