"What do you mean you found other Ancients?" Yuriko asked, barely parsing through Gwendith's flood of words and emotions. The spell made use of the threads connecting them by widening the passage, and as a result, Gwendith's thoughts and emotions, especially when they were this strung up, nearly overwhelmed the spell.
Yuriko felt longing, eagerness, regrets, excitement, fear, as well as impatience and a host of other negative emotions that the other girl tried to suppress.
"Ancients of the Conclave of Authority," Gwendith said. "I'm not sure where they're based, but they send their youth—those not in Actualisation—to Shardlands to gain experience, and to grasp a Personal Truth."
Yuriko tilted her head to the side while she pursed her lips in thought. Conclave of Authority? Damien's memories…hold no such group.
Unless…
The Scaeptrum?
Yuriko frowned. Was that them? The memories flooded into her mind and she didn't stop it. It might have tainted her perception a little bit, but she was able to filter only what she needed. After all, it was Damien's everyday memories that posed a danger to her, not the knowledge and wisdom he had.
No, that wasn't true, she amended. Pure knowledge couldn't exist in memories without biases, so she should be wary of everything she inherited.
The Scaeptrum were a conservative faction of Ancient Civilisation and had been responsible for quite a few things…
What those were she couldn't tell, but she felt that they were rather unpleasant. Listening to Gwendith about the Conclave Circle they met gave her some mixed feelings. They were clearly considered immature and had set out to prove themselves, but they were also clearly older than Gwendith and Heron, at least from the physical descriptions.
Either way, the news about the Tower Entry Token, and the fact that they were stuck in the Broxxon Ruins in the foreseeable future was disturbing news. Did the token mean entry into the Eternal Tower? Where Damien's memories revealed that he had spent a significant fraction of his youth to train and grow stronger?
She delved deeper into those memories but was unable to find any specifics before the spell nearly expired. The last thing she and Gwendith discussed was how much time they've been out of contact and what the time dilation was.
It wasn't a stable dilation, from the looks of it. It swung from three times, to as low as ten percent slower. It made predicting how long it would take for the three of them to return much harder.
"The Ishodir Empire incited rebellion in Virtalla City and invaded at the same time," Yuriko said, "I'm bringing some refugees to safety. Your exit will likely be back into the Hillside Burrows is in the west, so head to Nirlith when you escape."
"We will, but if you're not there, we're going to you."
"Alright," Yuriko agreed, and the spell expired.
Sighing, Yuriko flew towards the clouds to think. It had been too long since she had contact with her lover, and the news Gwendith brought was mixed. The prospect of meeting other Ancients both excited her and made her wary. Damien's memories indicated that he had not exactly been on good terms with the Scaeptrum, but things had changed since then. She hoped, anyway. She didn't have enough information from Nathan Quint and the rest of his Circle…
Even the term, Circle, had been rife with nostalgia. Not hers, but Damien's. A Circle was a sworn brotherhood and sisterhood: each member would fight for and support the others for most of their life. Damien had one in his youth, but he had quickly outstripped them to the point where anything that challenged him presented a deadly encounter for the rest. He had even deliberately forgotten their names…
But there was also the possibility that his former Circle was alive and a part of the Scaeptrum. She didn't know what that meant for her, who carried part of Damien's memories, but she instinctively knew that he and the Conclave had butted heads in the past. If she met with this Circle, she would have to keep her origins a secret.
Then, there was the term they used for Gwendith, Heron, and herself. Rogue Ancient. The term told her that the Conclave considered any Ancient not under their ambit to be unsanctioned. She had no intentions of suborning herself to any organisation at all. She had already broken from the Empress' overt control, though she remained loyal to her home nation. She wasn't about to accept anyone's control, especially since they had little to do with raising her strength.
Or perhaps she was overthinking things. They may not coerce her into joining, and they may be free with their knowledge.
And perhaps pigs would fly and Fluffington would turn out to be a transformed beastkin. Heh.
She glanced down at Fluffington, who was patrolling the perimeter assiduously. He looked up at her, probably feeling her gaze, and he wagged his long, luxurious tail. The movement created little whirling dervishes that blew dust, pebbles, and vegetation back.
Yuriko couldn't help but feel the need to tackle, grapple, and tickle the huge puppy, but she resisted. She had many things to consider, and troubles once again found her and her friends.
She had an ominous premonition just then, as though things unnamed were stalking her. That creature she saw in the Chaos tunnel…the elusive Magus, and the Ishodirian ambassador…
She felt that they were connected or complicit in her problems. Why, though? The Ishodirians wanted to poach her from the Academy, it sounded like, but why would they attempt abduction and coercion? What would that accomplish other than alienating her? She would hardly be in the mood to teach if she was under coercion!
So it was something else. Radiant Affinity? It was why Niria Academy wanted her. But it shouldn't have pushed the empire to such a degree, right? Was there something else?
Sighing, she returned to the ground. Speculating about such things wasn't doing her any good. She lacked any concrete evidence and information—anything she thought of would be a guess.
The mystery of why Ishodir wanted aside, she also couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement at the upcoming conflict. A guilty twi ge too, considering people would be killed in war. Still, they chose this, so they could hardly fault anyone for dying…
No, what got her itching was the chance to battle those strong enough to hold their own against her, just like that elusive Magus. Fighting him had been annoying, yes, but the fact that he had been able to survive her wrath after two engagements at her current level of power was interesting. She wasn't sure at what level Magus he was, but he could not be weaker than the Vice Dean.
As she landed, she couldn't help but take note of the numerous campfires dotting the countryside. Theirs wasn't the only caravan hoping to reach Greyith and beyond. The wall that was the Kerromere Mountains was insurmountable to anyone who couldn't fly, which included the majority of refugees. Which meant that they were strung along the country road, and…
They might be a tempting target for enemy raiders.
She wasn't sure what was happening in the front lines but the Ishodir Empire had attacked without a formal declaration of war, and without probable cause.
She said as much to Juliette and Sofia when they began their evening training, and the dark-haired girl snorted in derision.
"No doubt they're using the insurrection as an excuse to secure their borders." Juliette said, "That strategy had been something they used to annex Urlana and Registon."
"Where are those?"
"Part of the empire now, but they used to be Bresia's northern and northeastern neighbours."
"That was before we became a republic," Sofia said while breathing heavily. Training tonight was on how fast they could go through the stances.
Once Yuriko was sure they were able to flow through the stances with enough precision to trigger resonance, she shifted her focus to her other students, who turned out to be almost everyone else in the caravan not preoccupied with night watch.
Simple physique enhancement exercises and basic Arcana Weaving had them occupied, then she moved on to Fluffington's Animakinesis training, which involved the puppy trying to steal a pebble from her while she juggled it. He was now good enough to mimic a humanoid hand, which in hindsight had been a mistake. He managed to pilfer three days' supplies and had glutted himself on it. Yuriko scolded and punished him, of course, and made his physical training just a bit harsher, certainly enough to exhaust him every day, but the sad eyes got to her a day later and she relented. Still, no stealing food and she made it clear he'd regret it.
"I'll give you a lapdog's hairstyle if you do," she threatened Fluffington by shaping an image with a simple spell. The wolf pup nodded vigorously and behaved himself since then.
They were on their sixth day of the journey, and they were probably a couple of days away from reaching the Greyith Strip, which was why the trouble that came after them had been frustrating.
Up ahead, the road curved around a couple of hills, zigzagging in such a way that it was difficult to see far ahead, which was why she'd flown up to scout. And the sight of the Ishodirian raiders currently accosting a caravan ahead, who'd just exited the twin hills pass, an unpleasant surprise. It was midday so her Radiant light had not been that noticeable. Enhanced Sight gave her the numbers.
"A hundred raiders up ahead." She sent a message spell to Juliette, "There may be more hidden in the hillside." Yuriko carefully scanned the surroundings. Sending sunblades to scout might work, but it would also alert them to her presence. On the other hand, she could simply attack and wipe them out, then continue on their way, but she was wary of putting the caravan in danger.
Still, a hundred soldiers was an easy fight, and if any more appeared, she'd simply kill them, too. What she was worried about is if that elusive Magus was nearby.
Then again, if he were, he wouldn't have any reason to target the caravan unless she was there. Fighting head-on would be safer for them than heading into the Vitrovin Forest and risking a fight with the elemental beasts there.
Mind made up, Yuriko began conjuring her sunblades and stuck to four hundred blades, well under her maximum free use. She set most of them in the defence, and she moved closer to the raiders.
She noted that the soldiers had not killed anyone, and were merely robbing them of supplies. But they might as well have taken the refugees' lives from the deadened expressions on their faces.
She hesitated for a long moment. Anima Pride prickled at her. These people were too weak, and it would taint her to kill them without giving them a chance to fight.
She drew a deep breath and considered her principles. No, she wouldn't kill them since they didn't cross that line, but she would strike to neutralise them anyway.
A hundred sunblades darted to attack. Each one struck at their weapons and destroyed the firearms, side weapons, and armour. A moment later, the raiders were disarmed and practically naked.
After a brief moment of shock, the refugees struck back and knocked the soldiers down. With her sunblades still there, the raiders dared not fight, and were soon knocked out. The refugees gathered their gear and beat a hasty retreat.
Yuriko returned to her caravan and they continued down the road. They hurried past the downed raiders and for the next hour, they continued in tense silence.
Yuriko stayed up in the air, and that was when she saw the raider's main battlegroup. It was a battalion of ten thousand men and women, accompanied by hundreds of Golems. And somehow, Yuriko saw the elusive Magus right in their midst. He met her eyes with a smug grin and waved the battalion to attack.