If placing the mana pillars in the upper districts had invited some pointed questions, placing them in the Flats was asking for a brawl. Laurel sighed as she had the same interaction for the fifth time that week.

"What are you doing, who said you could put that there?" The angry voice came from a clump of locals, she didn't see which one actually spoke but it was clear the sentiment was shared.

"It's a mana pillar. You saw the defensive dome a while ago? This is part of the same magic."

"Who asked for more of your magic? You keep that up the hill with the fancy folks and leave the honest workers of this city alone!"

Laurel suppressed the sigh itching to come out. It wasn't an entirely unreasonable position for them to take. The ill-fated trial when the sect was first established did mean most of the magical effects had been concentrated in the higher districts. Combine that with the danger of being the first people in front of the beast wave, and a press that had spent months questioning the place of magic in society at all, and it was no wonder they were pushing back. It wasn't their fault they were suspicious.

That didn't mean she had time to deal with it.

She could write the rest of the argument herself, and she had no interest in playing it out again. Instead, she pointed at the closest building to the pillar. It was a block of apartments, rundown and in need of a good wash but still housing at least a few dozen families. A bolt of lighting jumped from her hand to the wooden siding. Wordless cries rose from the crowd at the flagrant attack.

A moment later, the resulting flames were siphoned off and sucked into the mana crystal. A small patch of the building was left charred, but it was otherwise unharmed. The shouting trailed off into confusion.

"The pillars have several effects which I am happy to be spreading throughout the city. Fire suppression."

A resonant quality infused her voice as it was projected from the crystal. "Alarm and announcement system."

She pressed her hand against the crystal and a fountain of gold sparks shot out of the top. "A way to call for help."

Demonstration done she turned to face the crowd. "The more people that bind themselves to the city, the more features will be available. If the entire city joins in, they will become refuges from the elements, or violence. You can do that by pressing your hand up against it and willing yourself to belong to Verilia."

"Oh yeah? Nothing's free in this world huh, what are we paying when we do that? And what happens when the rich folks decide to take it away?"

A chorus of agreement backed up the statement but it was weaker than before, which Laurel took as a win. She was ever so slowly turning the tide. Even if it seemed like every time she pushed her burden one step up, it rolled right back down the hill.

"No one will take it away. They have neither the strength or the interest in doing so. I welcome any of you to give it a try if you don't believe me."

As with every other mob she had spoken to, a few members stepped forward. Burly, arms bulging with muscles well-earned from hard labor, they stepped up to the pillar.

At first they simply tried to push it over. When that didn't work, they pulled out tools. The past years had been full of lessons for Laurel, but one of the most unexpected was that no one in the Flats was ever far from a hammer. With so many laborers around, every group was almost guaranteed to be able to produce everything necessary for most construction tasks without an issue. They had the same effect as brute force. Hammers bounced off, chisels failed to find a grip, despite the many facets present in the mana crystals. In a bout of ingenuity, a rope and pulley system was quickly set up, with whatever detritus they could find hanging around acting as a counterweight.

None of it even so much as scratched the pillar of crystal.

"I still don't like it," her main detractor said.

Laurel threw up her arms in frustration. "What would you like then? I'm doing my best here. You want to be beaten out by Laskar city?"

That got her another series of grumbles. "What's this about the Empire?"

"You think they aren't doing this and more? And you can believe they aren't giving people choices and time to get used to it. You want them to get the benefits? And the control?"

"No one said anything about that."

Laurel pounced on the opening like a lion hunting a gazelle. "Because they don't realize what will happen. If we let Laskar get too far ahead, we'll never catch up. And you can believe they'll be looking to squash the competition."

She left before she could over explain and ruin her case. Let them stew in that for a while and spread the word. If the palace wasn't going to push people into it, maybe the combination of fear and national pride would do the job.

**********

"Your antics seem to be turning opinion around," Annette said as she settled into her usual strategy meeting with Laurel. "A few of the papers have been talking more about the pillars, and the goal of becoming a City. I even saw one article about a fire that was put out before it could jump between houses."

"Good. But it hasn't translated into actual progress," Laurel told her. "Things have picked up, but we're still maybe a third of the way there."

"Is that enough for the first building?" Annette poked at Laurel's reluctance. It wasn't entirely without cause, but she thought the other woman was holding onto the past too much in this case. Magical workshops were great when everything was made by skilled artisans. But Annette wasn't convinced the benefits for the city were worth it. Not when they could get a better defense. Or an actual alien-designed skyport.

"Yes, it is. They ambushed George and I at our last meeting so I didn't float the idea, but there's no more pushing it off."

"It's for the best," she reminded Laurel.

"I know. But I'm still allowed to complain. I just hope he can handle the consequences they forced on him."

"Back to the upper districts today?" Annette decided discretion was the better part of valor and changed the subject.

"Yup. They should have the pillar network pretty much finalized after this."

"May I come observe?"

"Oh? Sure. Didn't realize you would want to. I think George was going to join as well. He wants to give his answer to Curson in person."

"Do you know what he decided?"

Laurel shrugged in the infuriating manner of a person used to being the most powerful in the room.

They finished up the rest of their agenda and set off up the hill. Laurel made a point to use the sky cabs at every opportunity, so they shuffled on with the rest of the passengers for a gentle ride to the upper districts. Annette sat on one of the bench seats that the enterprising pilots had suggested, gaze firmly fixed on the wood in front of her or far out towards the horizon. If humans were meant to fly they would have wings. Only the efficiency of the transport method and considerations for the sect's reputation kept her from suggesting a more traditional carriage ride instead.

The same could not be said for Laurel, or even George. Admittedly, Laurel actually could fly, so that wasn't surprising. Recently she had even encouraged Leander to spend more time on the roof to better align himself with his understanding of air. Which sounded fake, but not more so than the rest of how cultivation worked. But George was a metal attuned cultivator. He wouldn't survive a fall without a great deal of luck. Eventually, she broke down and asked why he seemed so relaxed.

"Huh? Oh, well Laurel's right there for one thing. And I asked how they worked. From what I understand, part of the gravity magic means anyone that falls out will slow down before they hit the ground."

"Yes, I'm aware," Annette said. "But knowing something is not dangerous, and actually feeling safe are two very different things. Acting on that knowledge even more so."

It seemed obvious to her but it struck a chord with George, if the overlong pause was anything to go by. "I guess I just ignore the fear until it doesn't seem so big anymore."

She tactfully let the subject drop and went back to focusing on the route. Laurel was still chatting with the driver, and after he said something Annette couldn't hear, she actually jumped out of the cab to observe while floating alongside.

That was it. Annette closed her eyes and sank into her mana flows, she would meditate the rest of the way. After her breakthrough in the hidden realm, and subsequent technique tablet, her progress had slowed. Though not to the point of stalling. According to Laurel this was expected, even a good thing. It would be a long, slow slog of constant practice and refinement until she was ready to reinforce her body and become an adept.

The noble district wasn't quite on their route, but it wasn't a far walk either. They arrived at the Corvelle estate after only a short few minutes, not even long enough for her to start sweating under the long sleeves of the dress she was wearing, despite the summer sun. A butler greeted them at the gate and led them to a spot of cleared ground amid the landscaping. Moments later, an elegantly dressed woman joined them. From her habitual reading of the papers, Annette recognized the youngest Corvelle daughter.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Oh, I see Bates has already shown you the area set aside. How perfect! Will this suffice?"

"Should be fine," Laurel said. Then she shrugged and toed a clump of grass out of the lawn.

Annette swore the other woman intentionally made herself less politically competent when accompanied by any of the other sect officers.

"Lovely. We do have just one tiny request. Wouldn't it be absolutely darling if the family crest was embedded in the pillar, in bronze and white? I've brought out an example for you to copy."

Laurel took the piece of cloth and examined it. Then looked back to the young woman in front of them. Then back to the cloth. Then the woman. She exhaled dramatically, muttered what Annette was startled to recognize as an ancient Alrasian curse, and plastered a fake smile on her face.

"Why not?"

After that it was time for the actual magic. Normally too busy with more important things, this was the first time Annette had watched the actual process. It was fascinating. Laurel described it as pulling mana up from earth and down from the air, but to her senses, it looked like a ghost of the pillar appeared from nothing, slowly becoming more solid until the crystal seemed almost more real than the world around it. This time, there was a stylized boar picked out in bronze, and a white tinge diffused throughout the rest of the crystal.

The noblewoman had been right, it was rather impressive.

"The Sarsenne's aren't the only ones to embrace change. This will be the talk of the town tomorrow."

Annette hadn't realized the girl was talking to her until George discreetly nudged her in the back. "Oh yes, I imagine when word gets out it will be much talked of."

A satisfied smile lit the woman's face. "And we're the first with a personalized design, I checked."

They managed to escape after a few more pleasantries. Annette's mind was already racing about more personalizations. Not just for the nobles, but for merchant districts or neighborhoods with more of an identity. She mentally added it to her ever growing and shrinking list of ideas to further the sect's influence. A few years ago, noble heiresses did not stop to talk to her about their plans. They didn't even notice her at all where she hovered at the fringes of high society, taking notes and running errands. She had come a long way, and had so much further to go.

*********

It felt ominously similar to an execution when George passed under the palace gates. Laurel's imposed deadline had come and he still wasn't sure what he was going to do. Most of him wanted to tell Curson to find a different sacrificial lamb and then spend a month hunting down spirit beasts for the guild. But Annette's comments were undermining that decision.

Was he just avoiding the fear, giving it power because he hadn't confronted it? Maybe. But this wasn't some irrational fear, or deep-seated issue he had to work through. The magehunters were more than capable of sending people after him. That they hadn't already was most likely due to him effectively hiding in the long shadow cast by Laurel and Martin.

Nothing in growing up a farm boy in the imperial countryside had prepared him for a life where he had a usual conference room in the Meristan royal palace, but that was where they ended up. They were led into the same room as the last meeting. This time, it wasn't just Curson and Madam Skycrest but the entire royal council. King included.

He froze at the entryway. Not knowing what else to do, he threw an awkward bow to the man in question, then hustled after Laurel and sat behind her the way the rest of the aides in the room were doing to their own council members.

His fearless leader was either unbothered by the authority arrayed in front of them, or a superb actress. Because he knew Laurel, he was entirely convinced it was the former.

"Before we get started, George stopped by to give his answer to your proposal," she threw him under the cart with no hesitation. He took back the nice things he had been thinking about her.

"Yes. While I appreciate the offer –" he made the mistake of glancing at Annette while speaking. The smile fell off her face like an autumn leaf from a branch. This would help the sect and he could only make one choice, "--I would like to agree to the interview. But I would like to keep some anonymity, if possible." He wrenched his sentence around. He played up the accent in a hope they would forget the awkward phrasing.

"Excellent. We can work with that. Etienne will work out the details," Curson said.

An eager young man popped out of his seat behind the councilor and made a beeline for George, ushering him out of the room before he could get a word in edgewise. This would cost him, he could only hope it would be worth it.

**********

As George walked out, Laurel took a chance to survey the room more in depth. She noticed an odd look on Annette's face, like she had been ready to fake pleasantries but found herself actually enjoying events. Interesting. A few members of the sect, old and new, had been under the impression that Laurel's lack of interest in romantic entanglements meant she would be oblivious when they happened around her. Not true, but she learned long ago to mind her own business in such matters. They would get there or not with no meddling from her.

Returning to the council, she saw a glint in the king's eye saying he might have noticed the same thing. Laurel didn't interact with Edward often, usually meeting with whichever councilor was requesting help, but every interaction was sharper when the man joined the meetings. She had to be at the top of her game to handle it.

"I'm under the impression you have a request for us, Madam Stormblade? Not another beast wave, I hope?" The king kicked off the real heart of the meeting. For all George looked terrified when he left, he would be thanking her later for getting out of it.

"Yes. I would like to propose a city-wide festival, centered around celebrating magic, with the goal of increasing those that choose to bond to the City Core."

"Interesting," Theresa said. "What are you thinking will happen?"

Annette took over for the more in depth explanations. "Getting people to opt in voluntarily has been difficult. Even spreading the word in a way that the average citizen hears about and believes is tricky. The nobles are mostly coming around, thanks to a few well-connected allies and palace support, not to mention the tidal wave that is local fashions. But most of the populace is still leery of taking part. We're hoping to demystify things a bit, and remind them that the sect has the best interest of the city at heart."

"Since the palace has been reluctant to take a more public stance in forcing the issue," Annette kicked her leg so she quickly added, "for noble reasons, we think sponsoring the festival is a good middle ground."

The king turned towards Curson. "Would the costs be within reason?"

Laurel avoided reacting but she was pleasantly surprised. Half of her had expected a flat out refusal, but it sounded as if their idea was at least being strongly considered."

"I believe so. Contracting with Magician's Guild members, and others, for their work throughout the country has been expensive. But much of that has been recouped in materials. Even those with no registered magical talents seem interested in working with what gets harvested."

"After successful defenses of the three largest cities against various beast waves, public opinion and confidence with the palace is at a high for recent years," Theresa added without being asked.

Now Laurel was going beyond surprised and starting to get concerned.

"Very well," King Edward said. "If you can get a proposal to the council, ah I see you've thought ahead."

Laurel had produced a copy of the in-depth proposal drafted by Annette and Sabrina for every member of the council.

"We will review," the king continued, "but I think the idea is one that has merit."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Annette began, but Laurel cut her off.

"Why the change of heart?" She narrowed her eyes at the king. "You've been reluctant to push people too hard, til now. I understand why," she added, throwing her hands up defensively. "But now all of a sudden you're on board with our proposals? After only a few minutes of discussion?"

Theresa was smiling behind a teacup, where General Mansfeln looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Laskar," the king said.

The word doused any excitement that might have been forming.

"What about Laskar?" she asked.

"They're winning. From what intelligence we've seen, most nations have taken a similar approach to us for the magic issues that have arisen in the last few years. Ally themselves with those powerful enough to help, if they exist, and cautiously weather the storm. Train up some loyal subjects in magical matters, and do whatever they can to keep things together. A safe, practical strategy.

"Laskar has been throwing that out the window. Forcing their citizens that can use magic to serve their government to a far greater degree. Forcing the creation of Cities by penalizing anyone who refuses to bond to their local Core. Attacking nearby areas without the same level of magicians.

"In short, we're concerned. With Laskar taking such an aggressive approach, we have no choice but to react. If even half of what you've mentioned about the consequences of high-level cities is true, we can't afford to fall behind."

Laurel understood the reasoning. It would have been better if they had just believed her and let her do what she wanted, but this was better than nothing.

"We should be concerned. Decorra has never had a world capital before. Our understanding of what it would mean is limited and mostly comes from those that have visited after ascending. But there's no doubt it would be a bad idea to let such an asset belong to our enemies.

"I have some good news on that front. The Eternal Archive has the largest collection of Core cultivation resources in the world. Not to mention journals and logs describing one of the most advanced Cities in our world's history. Which means more knowledge of all the ways to leverage a Core. We're still quite a ways from becoming a true City, but we have enough to get some of the benefits, including our first official Building.

"We brought a list of options, along with what each can do."

"I don't understand," Curson admitted. "You're going to construct another building?"

Laurel waved her hand back and forth in the air. "We'll use some materials as a 'seed', in the crystal sense, and the magic and mana – and some hard work on my part – will do the rest."

Ridge had been reading through the notes provided and broke in with a low whistle. "Some of these are insane. How confident are you that this is actually what will happen?"

"I'm sure. The ones with a star are what we can afford right now. But all of those have existed at some point in the history of Decorra, were witnessed by reputable off-world sources, or have been observed as options by elders bonded to various City Cores."

"You're saying we could have all of these, eventually?" The gleam in the general's eyes was echoed by his wife as she read over his shoulder.

"Maybe not all of them. Even Verilia's population has a limit on what the mana can support. But most."

"I suppose," the king interrupted, "it occurred to you to create the first building as something for the magic users. Or as a way to curry favor with one of the guilds."

Excited chatter settled down at the king's not-quite accusation. She shrugged. Yes she had considered it.

"I recognize our working relationship has been … tumultuous," she finally said. "But I care about Verilia. It's my home, and will be my home for centuries to come. Even when I eventually leave this world to explore beyond, I want to be able to come back and visit, and know my people are safe."

"Very well said," Theresa broke the silence.

Having finished their business for the day, Laurel intended to leave. Perhaps as a conciliatory gesture, perhaps because they actually wanted her opinion, she was instead invited to stay, while Annette went off to begin their festival planning with a bevy of Curson's aides trailing in her wake.

Most of the logistical matters didn't require her input, being both caused and solved by mortal means. Her insight did come in handy when discussing trade caravan methodologies. Some of the smaller routes had been avoided or severely cut back due to the preponderance of spirit beasts. Which in turn emboldened the animals and drove even more traders away. A Capital would eventually make roads somewhat safer, and allow periodic shelters to be built that all but the strongest beasts would avoid. But that was far away. Instead they settled upon a temporary rotation of soldiers to act as guards for those merchants without the funds to hire their own. Operating on a temporary loan basis, with rebates given for routes to the less well-traveled towns.

It was imperfect but it would work. The story of her life these last years.

That evening, Laurel was going over things with Annette. This time in her own office, next to the ever-changing fireplace. The younger woman had been busy after the council meeting, though she was still meticulously put together after the hectic day. The two of them had just gotten through the first page of to-do's for the festival planning, when Laurel decided it was time to break for the day.

With her normal flourish, she pulled a small package out of her tattoo and passed it over.

"A thank you. For everything, but especially the last few months. You have been the glue that holds this place together, don't ever think otherwise."

Annette was obviously startled but handled the sudden gift with grace and a polite, but heartfelt thanks. The small envelope was accented with a gilded inlay and a carefully drawn design in an iridescent ink Laurel was informed had actual pearls ground into it. All courtesy of the shop she'd purchased the gift from.

She noted the moment Annette realized what the card actually said, the widening eyes and audible gasp giving it away.

"This is too much!"

Laurel waved her objection off. "Of course it isn't. You've been working yourself to the bone recently. This is not enough. I was going to get something else but I figured you would be less interested in a magical snake skin."

"Good instincts."

"Though I can't say I entirely get it. But I went in and asked for a good gift they assured me a personal creation was the way to go."

"A personalized outfit from Claudette is the ultimate sign you've made it in Verilia. They close the shop. It's a whole event. People notice. It's incredible Laurel…" Annette trailed off.

"But?"

"But can we afford this? I love it, I really do, but I know what her garments cost just off the rack."

Laurel smiled, happy to be able to do this for her friend. As much as she was protesting, she was still clutching the paper as hard as possible without ruining the design.

"Don't worry. This is from me, not the sect. I made a deal with some of the stuff I had in storage. Not useful for us but for the best clothier in town, having direct ancient clothes from around the world to draw inspiration from is nearly priceless."

"In that case, thank you thank you thank you!" She launched herself out of the chair and into a hug, clamping her arms around Laurel's shoulders.

"You're welcome. It's next week so be sure to clear the full day."

"Oh, I will. You have no idea. But you have to come too. At least for part of the day. It's not just shopping or watching me shop," Annette cut off Laurel's main complaint before she could even get it out. "It's a whole experience. Food, entertainment, conversation. You have to come. Sabrina too, I'll send her a note. Maybe we could reach out to Elisette as well? She's been so helpful since the guild started up."

The younger woman walked out of the office, still muttering to herself about plans. This might have been a bigger deal than Laurel realized, but she would be admitting that to exactly no one.

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