"The compensation we're talking about here is for you to compensate for the barbaric thing your husband did to my nephew."

Mum was not to be pushed around by intimidation. Once again, her gaze darted to Ao, who stood up and dusted off his attire to stand behind the broader man, a smug smile curling his lips.

What did father do to him? My eyes finally saw the truth of the matter. Ao's aura was never compact, nor had he ever managed to retract it all into his body, but now there seemed to be barely a trace remaining. More shockingly, his essence seed, something was very wrong with it. If it had been a campfire before, now only a withering candle flame remained, holding a mere eight threads in place of the hundreds. And the way they drifted around, their composition, as though they had grown anew, as if Ao had awakened just yesterday.

Is that father's work? Crippling his path for wounding me. My heart pounded, but the words I heard from my mother were even crueller.

"You pray that he got away with still having a chance to recover," Mum said icily. "If it were I..."

She let the words hang in the air. However, the man before her was Magnus of House Dernerys, a Fabled Knight, who was used to getting away with everything for only the Oracle knew how many decades.

I could not believe Mum could be cruel enough that she would cut off someone's path entirely, that she was merely saying this for intimidation. But Knight Magnus did not know her as well as I did, and acted the only way he had ever learned.

A blistering crimson aura blasted outwards from him. Mum took a step to stand before me, a gold aura almost as powerful as Magnus's exploding and clashing. The little radiance that was left of the sun seemed to bleak away, as colour faded from the surroundings, a pin-drop silence befalling everywhere.

"So what if it were you?" the knight challenged, his palm tracing over the pommel of his sword.

Mum was on the brink of losing it. She had never had to use any cruel means in almost the entirety of my lifespan, but the way she stood, the composure she displayed told me she was no stranger to cruelty. That she was a warrior in her own right.

The only thing that kept her in an impasse was the thousands of people around us, and the bigger problem we all faced.

"Sir Magnus," came Lord Magistratus of Karmel, mustering all his courage. He stood at the edge where their auras clashed. Even with all his courage, it would be nothing more than foolhardy for a Noble Class to involve himself in a fabled class conflict. Yet he was there, where all the sentries, the militia lined dozens of paces away, as though their limbs were frozen in solid ice. "Lady Ashlyn, please think of the people. You both are..."

A glare from Magnus Dernerys made Claudius swallow his words.

"Octavius," the knight yowled, gazing him up and down. "I knew your grandfather. He was a squire under my brother, and earned this land for the honour he showed. Compared to him..." Magnus shook his head. "An utter embarrassment."

The town lord's face turned ashen, but that was the amount of attention Knight Magnus gave him, as his gaze soon returned to Mum, the blistering blood-red aura retracting and dispersing like a plume. Mum too withdrew only a moment later.

Then the man smiled, though it never reached his eyes. He gazed at the surrounding people and returned once again to Mother, the scornful tug on his lips never leaving. "With the imperial law, and my station of Knight-Lieutenant, I can take charge of the people, but I'll let you have it for now," he said, all smiles. "Perhaps it is the only way you can feel yourself being important, ordering people around, and reliving the glory days of Knight Victorian."

Mother showed no outward reaction save for her stare, but the blood in my veins fumed, essence surging forth in wild rush to do something. Anything.

But I knew I was too powerless. Not even Noble Class.

"Tame your emotion, little fella," Magnus said, his gaze finding me. "Else your end won't be any less disgraceful than your mother's."

My fist clenched white, the anger almost blistering out. A palm fell on my shoulder. My mother's. I looked up at her. She said nothing, as the man sauntered away, people giving him a wide berth, afraid that if they even so much as breathed the same air, it would offend him.

"Now you know what you are not to become," she said, eyes tracing the fading figure. Ao ran after his uncle, after shooting threatening glares in our direction.

"Simply great!" Mum said acidly. "We lost a good couple of minutes on this fool."

Her gaze turned towards the great Candor mountains, obscured in layers of fog. The crackling cries and screeches continued to reverberate. She returned to her work.

I wanted to ask about the whole thing, what father did to Ao, what Magnus was talking about her losing the position of Knight Victorian, and all of it. But it was not the time for it. In all honesty, there was no right time for it. I saw the scars on Mum's face when the knight uttered those words. It was not something she ever wanted to dwell upon if she could.

"Looks like Dalin and Risna are here," Mum said, patting me forward in their direction. "Go lead them to Eran."

My gaze darted around to find the couple struggling through the hundreds of people, little Lillia in her father's arms. They seemed to have run all the way, wasting no time after hearing about Eran.

"Uncle Dalin," I called, using my Levitation boots to drift over the crowd. "This way."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Ari, fly," Lillia was the first to notice me, opening her arms towards me.

"Arilyn," prompted by her, Uncle Dalin turned, "How's Eran? Where is he?"

"He's fine," I said swiftly, and perhaps a bit too defensively. "Follow me, I'll take you to him."

Coming down, I led the Stonecutters into the chapel. On the way, I barely managed to explain the situation, which only brought more questions. When the couple heard about the demons we faced their faces paled. Before I could reassure them, we were already before the inner chamber where Eran rested.

A couple of dozen people crowded before the door, attempting to enter it, but the clerics standing guard barred their entry. The same thing was transpiring at the entrance of other chambers, even the main hall, or the awakening chamber, was not an exception. In many of them, the sentries and regular people stood guard.

Getting through the crowd proved to be a hassle, but not many there could contend with my physicality.

"Hey, we're here first!" croaked someone I had pushed.

"Wait for your turn, blighted fool!"

A glare from Uncle Dalin froze their tongue as the cleric opened the door for us.

Eight small hardwood beds lined one side of the room, with barely any space between them. Other than Eran, there were a few others resting, some even less fortunate than my friend, not getting timely healing. Their bandages were soaked with blood, and a couple even lost a limb. The head cleric tended to them, his dawn essence on the brink of exhaustion. Eran slept in one bed in the corner, sharing with another person. The guardian beast rested near the foot of the bed. It opened one of its eyes upon our entry, before falling asleep again.

The colour of Eran's skin had got a lot better than the last time I saw him. Within a quarter of an hour, he almost looked peaceful.

Yet Aunt Risna broke into tears, almost lunging to his bed. "My boy!"

I could not imagine her face if she had seen him before his wounds were mended. My gaze drifted to the other patients. A thought flashed, and I brought out two vials of restoration potion to hand them to the cleric.

"This is..."

"Don't have many of them," I said, "use them wisely."

It felt odd to advise such a wizened man. So before he could return the vials or even thank me, I shot out of the chamber, leaving the Stonecutters there.

While I was away, Lucian seemed to have taken over my task and prevented the folks from bothering Mum. Pressed for time, she had already released her soulward. Using the rings of rune chains, she rewrote the formation in the column rather than fixing it.

Several thousand people had already streamed into the temple within a quarter of an hour. But there were still a few thousand left, mostly the ones who lived on the other end of the valley, in the more remote areas.

Guildmaster Rowin had already led a few teams to help them, and it seemed the Magistratus was to join him soon. Both Priam and Aleya stood next to their father, the girl's face more solemn than the boy's, both in chainmail and leather jerkins. It had not been easy for them to see their lord father disgraced by the Dernerys knight. I was wondering if I should join them, help the people get to the shelter, when Aleya's eyes found me.

"Hey, Arilyn," she said, running towards me. "I was looking for you for some time now."

Priam joined next to her with his blurring speed. "I heard you fought those demons," he asked, gawking at me. "Did you kill any?"

I did not know what to say, but even Aleya seemed interested in the question. "I killed a few," I muttered, "along with my father and Eran." And a very mystical dog.

The girl scrutinised my face for a long moment as though peering to see if the confrontation with those damnable creatures had left any scars. She did not find any.

"How is Eran?" she asked. "I heard he was hurt badly."

"He's unconscious," I said, "but his condition has stabilised."

"That's good." Her eyes drifted eastwards, where my mother had moved from one column to another, still engraving those runes. "She seems to be working hard," Aleya said. "How long do you think it's going to take?"

I turned towards Mum and looked. Fractal sight revealed that the formation was a third of the way mended. Even with her soulward, she had to spend a few minutes repairing each column. If the worst came to pass, then this was going to be a life-or-death struggle for all fifteen thousand people. She could not afford to miss anything.

"From what I can see," I said, "it's at least going to take her another fifteen or twenty minutes."

Aleya blinked and nodded. "Well, I should be going then. Can't just lie down when everyone's working hard."

I nodded, and it finally occurred to me. "You're going to fight, aren't you?"

While the sacrarium's barrier might save everyone, they still needed to dispatch the demons, not to mention that not all townfolk were quite safe yet.

Aleya lifted her head and stared at the murky clouds gathering in the sky, only traces of sun rays managing to filter through.

"Aleya!" shouted the magistratus. He was ready to move out, only waiting for his daughter to join him.

"Well, I should get moving," Aleya said. "There are still many people who need help."

Despite being suited in his battle gear, it seemed Priam was not on the roster, much to his dismay.

"Where's my sword?" he asked me. "You should have sharpened it already, no?"

Not only that, but I had even killed a bunch of evil creatures with it.

"Give it to me, and I'll show—"

I turned away, not listening to him. "Aleya," I shouted after the departing girl. "The Stormguard set, it will be of great help to your fight."

The girl faltered in her stride and turned. "You have completed it?"

"Almost," I blurted. "Well, the vambraces need a bit of tuning to fit your arms, and I haven't painted them, but—"

"Is it usable?"

"Yes, it's almost perfect."

"You have already completed it?" Priam appeared before me with his dashing speed. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

It was impossible to ignore Priam with him creeping before my eyes instantly. "It is in the workshop right now."

"Then let's go get it." Priam caught my arm and lunged forward. We would have crossed tens of metres, if not for Aleya catching her brother's arm before he made the run.

"Not so fast." She glared at him and pointed towards the direction of our home. "Did you not hear the screeches?"

"So what?" Priam said pompously. "I'm faster than those demons."

"Yeah, sure, but for how long?"

It was not easy to convince Priam, once he set his mind to something, which in most cases, was anything.

"You have never fought a demon," his sister chided. "Don't know how dreadful they can be in a pack. I faced them with a whole battalion, have scars to show for it, so when I tell you to sit down, you sit down."

Priam snorted, unconvinced.

"Did you forget what happened with the corpse flies already?"

A shadow of doubt finally fell over his young face, which was cut short by another shout from his Father.

"Aleya, my patience is running thin."

"Give me a minute," Aleya shouted back.

"Can you tell me where it is located?" she asked. "If we go in that direction, perhaps I can sneak in and take it out myself."

I shook my head. The entrance to the workshop was sealed by a rune lock. Without knowing the exact pattern, nobody could open the door. I told all of that to her, that I would have to be there, or someone with huge firepower would have to break apart the entrance. The only person who could do that in town was fighting demons in the mountains right now, meanwhile, his wife, my mother, was busy repairing an esoteric formation. I was the only option left.

Honestly, with these levitation boots, there shouldn't be a problem for me to make a trip to the workshop and retrieve a few items. With both the [Band of Protection] and boots, I could probably escape from an Ashhound unscathed.

But of course, I would need Mum's permission before attempting any of it. Without wasting any more time, I flew over the hollering crowds to seek her.

Surely, she knows what's important right moment.

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