Chris

A grin so large that it split my face in two appeared on my face as I felt out the new aspect. It would take some getting used to, but I could already see it adding a lot to my strength.

Heaviness was close to the essence of how I fought. If I could somehow imbue that into my hammer, that would make every blow that much more devastating. Using skills like [Meteor Blow] and [Hammer Reverberation] would only increase it further.

Packing up didn't take long, and it only involved getting dressed and digging up the pack I had buried. The many feet of snow was trivial to deal with even before [Ice Manipulation] upgraded.

To aid in my good mood further, I pulled up the System notification just to see it with my own eyes, even though I had already felt the difference.

You have upgraded a skill: Ice Manipulation(Uncommon) -> Ice Manipulation(Rare)

Seeing the gap between Ice and Wind grow wasn't ideal, but I wasn't about to turn down the upgrade. It just meant I had to spend some time shoring up my [Wind Manipulation] skill. I figured that doing so would help me when I went back and focused on my Wind Law in the future. Right now, most of my energy was spent on my Ice Law, but that wouldn't be so forever.

In the same way the snow didn't impede digging up my supplies, it didn't impede my walking either. It was easy enough to clear the way and walk on the hard-packed ice, but I decided not to do that. Walking atop the ice was much, much harder, which made it a workout for my newly upgraded skill. To spread out my weight, I had to grab hold of the snow in a large area so I didn't sink through it.

The strenuous activity would help with getting the feeling for when I eventually did the same with my aura.

Even though I had just spent the previous day dedicated toward my Law, and I was currently searching for a suitable area for my First Star and Bloodline, that didn't mean I'd forgotten about my aura training. To swing my hammer without launching myself off the ground, I needed to be able to anchor myself to it with my aura. Similar to how I was anchoring myself to the snow now.

The round area crunched down as I walked, as my weight and the weight of my hammer weren't light, but I was getting better at the technique. Every step made the process smoother, and I could grab hold of a larger area.

The larger the area, the more strenuous it was on [Ice Manipulation], but it also made me sink into the snow less.

With the first notable change since I'd left, I ambled on happily, not at all feeling the monotony I once had. It wouldn't last, but I still enjoyed it.

Rachel

It was finally over. A week of back and forths was honestly on the low end of her expectations when she arrived, but she was glad all the same. Brayden had spent most of that exploring the city, looking at the various new buildings they had built, while she was stuck talking with the other Faction leaders. It was nice to see him so excited. He'd been unusually subdued lately, and seeing the new and exciting city had broken him out of it. For that alone, Rachel was glad they had come. Even if it did cause over a year of disruption to her other plans.

Being D-rank, a year felt like nothing at all. Her body felt in even better condition than it had the previous year, instead of the slow decline that age usually brought. Gaining a few levels and increasing her stats made it feel as if she had grown younger, instead of a year older.

Vitality wasn't even her main stat, either.

"Sophia, have we packed everything up?" She called for Christopher's assistant.

"Yes, my Lady, everything is ready for departure," Sophia answered. The my Lady bit had grown on her, even though she had thought it awkward at first.

It felt... nice, after she had gotten used to it.

"Then let's set off," Rachel said, "The sooner we make it back, the better."

She was already dreading how long the trip would take, but that was what she had signed up for. Maybe she would stop and hit a few dungeons on the way back to make it exciting? Just as she was boarding the wagon to leave, she saw that a visitor had arrived to see her off before she left.

A visitor she had hoped to avoid.

"Ashton, to what do I owe the pleasure?" She stepped down from the carriage and walked to where the man was standing.

"Rachel," he nodded in greeting, "I had hoped to catch you earlier, but there didn't seem to be time. I hadn't expected you to be departing so soon after the Assembly ended." His eyes drifted toward her packed and ready retinue.

"As you know, it's a long way home." She said, "Best to get moving quickly."

"Yes, that I know." His face showed that he was looking forward to the trip home just as much as she was. Not at all. "Do you mind if I delay you for a short time? I have something I'd like to speak with you about."

Rachel knew what it was, and wasn't that enthused about it. "If this is about the mine, you know where we stand. That will not change."

He tried not to show it, but she picked up a subtle wince at her words. It wasn't hard to imagine the blow of losing his portion of the crystals. Just looking at their gains from full ownership was enough to picture how much they had lost.

"I've already sent my apologies before, but I will do so again now. I hadn't expected them to attack the mine, or I would have said so. While it wasn't our resource alone, we still had a stake in it." He tried to explain.

Lie.

"Somehow, I don't believe it is as simple as you make it out to be," Rachel said instead of what she had thought. Chris would have called him out on it straight up, but she had spent the last seven days trying to at least be civil.

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She hadn't been perfect, but she had at least tried. The man trying to downplay his involvement made her angry, but it was not enough to drop all niceties. If he'd tried to cover it up and not take responsibility, that was a different story.

"Even so, I must convey the message I was charged with delivering. Lord Clairmont wishes to sit down and meet with you regarding this incident at your earliest convenience. He also wishes to discuss other things regarding the North."

Lord Clairmont? I guess he does fancy himself a Lord.

Rachel held in a frown. She definitely did not want to get delayed any longer than she had to, and she definitely wasn't interested in being the one to talk this out. She hadn't met this 'Lord Clairmont' before arriving, but the impression she got from the Assembly wasn't the best. He was a needle-er. He didn't come out and say anything plainly, but instead poked and made comments. They were never large or deep, but they were consistent.

He'd done so at Vanessa a few times, and while Rachel didn't understand the entire picture, she knew enough to pick up on it. Such people were annoying to deal with. She'd rather sit down with someone like Chris a hundred times than verbally spar with someone like Ryan.

But she couldn't say no.

The East was an avenue they couldn't cut off carelessly, and saying no to the man would certainly do that. He didn't seem like the type to take rejection well. He would smile and nod to your face, but after that...

"Very well, I hope this will be quick," Rachel said.

The only thing she stopped to grab was her staff before leaving. Brayden was curious about where she was going, but after finding out, he wasn't that interested. Luckily, Sophia made note of a few things to remember before sending her off.

Following Ashton to where New Canada was staying didn't take long, as all of the representatives weren't placed that far away from one another. Tracy and Rhett were kept separate, but even they weren't that far apart, considering they were all on the same block.

Their accommodations weren't that much different from her own, so she didn't focus on them long.

Ashton ended up leading her into a room with two people in it, the first was Ryan, while the second wasn't someone she had met before. Her first thought was either an aide or helper of some sort, but she dismissed those thoughts.

Someone with that much strength wouldn't just be a mere aid.

A guardian? Bodyguard? She wasn't sure.

Both Ryan and Ashton had brown hair, while the newcomer had dark black hair. They all had the relatively pale complexion she had come to expect of Canadians.

"Rachel, nice to see you again," Ryan started, "I know you've met Ashton before, but this is Pierre, my Guard Captain."

That explained the power she felt from him. It was concealed well enough to hide his affinity, but it was clear he wasn't a mage. He didn't have a core, and those were notoriously hard to conceal.

He didn't give off a Healer's aura, so either a Warrior, Ranger, or Rogue of some sort.

Neither one had visible weapons, with the only armed people in the room being her and Ashton. Openly, at least. She held her staff while Ashton carried his sword, but not his shield, and also wore no armor. If a fight broke out, even as improbable as that was, she didn't fear much. None of them were mages, and no one in the room had bows. As long as she kept a distance, she would be fine.

That didn't mean they weren't powerful; Ryan was a Titled Baron after all, it was just that she was confident in getting away if it came to that. Not winning. She didn't know enough about them and their skill set to claim victory.

Ashton was the weakest in the room, and he'd made great strides since the last time she'd seen him. Ryan and Pierre were both a step above him, but they concealed themselves well enough that their upper limit was hard to make out.

It won't be long until he turns Fort Hope into a Baron city. Based on what she was feeling from Ashton, there'd be another Baron in the North soon.

"Ryan, Pierre," Rachel greeted and sat across from them. Ashton stood behind the two seated men, making the room lopsided, but she didn't focus on that. If that was the man's intention, he didn't know her well enough.

"I feel I should start by apologizing on Ashton's behalf. I certainly hadn't seen what happened at the mine coming. Especially not the Demon summoner being Lakeshore's Lord." Ryan said amicably.

"I will be sure to convey your apologies to those who lost family." Rachel's face stayed passive, but her words certainly weren't.

If the man wanted to wheedle his way out of taking responsibility, she wasn't going to let him. She knew what he wanted from this meeting, and there was no way they were getting any portion of the mine back.

They were lucky to have kept it for as long as they did. There were those in the Family who tried to advocate for reducing their ownership over time, but Chris said no every time it was brought up.

He said, 'An agreement was made, and we will stick to it.'

If they hadn't broken that agreement, they'd still be getting their portion of the mine even though their aid was no longer needed. It had been a long time since they'd needed Fort Hope's help at all, yet they kept paying them their share.

Seeing how he wasn't going to get anywhere with the mine, Ryan pivoted. If there was one thing the man was good at, it was that. Reading the room and knowing when not to push.

"Conveying my sympathies is more than enough. The last time our two Factions were together was during the test, and there wasn't a whole lot of time to discuss other matters. Now that we are here again, I couldn't help but feel that this is the perfect time to discuss a few things. Mainly, I wanted to ask if there had been any developments in your investigation into Victor?" Ryan asked.

Rachel scowled at his mention of Victor. She was the one who had taken over the city after his death, and she dealt with the citizens daily. That let her see firsthand how the man had run things and the aftermath therein. It wasn't pretty. She was still dealing with his lasting effects on the populous.

Abigail's discoveries only painted the man in an even worse light, the little she managed to uncover.

"Other than the fact we suspect he was behind the Demon Summonings, we haven't found out much. Even the people who survived the battle weren't able to give us any information. Every time we tried to interrogate it out of them, it was like a force was resisting us. Even if they wanted to tell us, they couldn't. They were somehow being restrained by the contracts they signed." She said, holding the frustration from her voice.

Ryan sighed, "I had hoped that after his death all mentions of Demons would be behind us, but he was far from the only one dabbling in it. I've heard mention that there have been other sightings of Demons in the South."

Rachel had heard the same. Nothing large, just a few scattered sightings here and there and a dead body a hunter brought back, but where there was one, there were others.

"Humans will be humans. There will always be some who seek out the shortcut to power." She answered. Demons would be a continual problem, she thought. One that would come up again and again.

"But I'm glad the North is past such things. From the coast to as far West as Frostheim and Emberhold is now covered by the Formations, so we will know if any are summoned in our lands." Ryan said.

That much was true. "We've also given the Formation to Marcus, Jayla, Patrick, and Vanessa as well. So the coverage of the South is not as sparse as it once was." She mentioned off-handedly. She didn't know if all of them had implemented it, but she doubted they hadn't. Chris had given them his seal of approval that they didn't contain anything other than what was advertised.

Not all of them had faced the Demon problem, but there were enough people who had that the information was out.

"Good, I can rest easy knowing the range has been extended." He stated. "I've heard from our Traders that you've begun construction on a Road leading to the Twins?"

"Yes, we have. After paving the way to Emberhold, extending it to the Twins was only natural. We also have plans to reach the West as well, to Mountainside, but that will take much longer." She answered, not surprised the man knew about their transportation efforts. It was a continually ongoing work effort.

"What would your thoughts be on building one in the direction of Fort Hope? If both sides worked to meet in the middle, it certainly wouldn't take long to complete." He posited.

"That I can't say. I don't know how much has been done since I've been gone or what their current plans are. I certainly don't know what the picture will be once I make it back." She said. "Jonathan will be interested to link our two Factions together through trade, that much I'm sure of."

All trade was done through Jonathan, and while this trip had seen her take up some of that mantle, she would try to delegate most things to him if she could. It wouldn't only help the man level faster, but he was also much better at it than she was.

"Then I can't wait to meet this Jonathan of yours." Ryan smiled.

Luckily, he caught her intention. Jonathan would have to make the trip East to figure things out.

There wasn't much else for them to discuss, and after some mundane back and forth, she was able to get out of there swiftly enough. She'd made her points known, and while Ryan annoyed her, he was an apt leader in that regard.

She was just glad she was finally on the road home.

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