The Sage coughed, "Cillian, decorum, you are representing me."

"I spoke at his funeral and everything," Cillian said quietly.

Kai watched as Cillian's younger sister actually face palmed while his three cousins either rolled their eyes or shook their heads.

"Are you sure these are the ones you want to send off to become tower climbers?" Sietra said as she gave Cillian a long questioning side eye.

"Yes, my love. You will find that Cillian and his team are exceptional adventurers despite one of their members often acting foolish and getting himself into trouble. They are already acquainted and all of them have been bound to system enforced contracts that will prohibit them from unknowingly sharing any information they shouldn't when the system detects mixed company," The Sage explained. "They are all at an ideal level, have found their cores and have begun retroactive cleansing that shouldn't put them too far behind if they work hard and keep up their assigned training regime."

"A simple yes would have done, dear. You know I trust you."

"Then why ask, my love?"

"I know how you like to explain things, and I adore that serious expression of yours."

Alicia groaned as she tucked in deep to Kai's side.

"They are worse than you two were when you finally got together. At least you two were romantic. I do not know what to call that. It is just weird."

Syl chuckled. "It is just weird to you because they are your parents. You should hope we are like that after several centuries. You have got to remember how long those two have been pretending not to love each other."

"Please no," Alicia whispered as her father and mother came close, with Cillian and his team just behind them.

"Daughter, can you explain why a cadre of confused ministers thought you were abducted?" Thanric asked when he noticed Alicia's poor attempt to avoid his attention.

"I told them I was on holiday, that you were in charge of things for the foreseeable future. They just would not listen, so I dismissed them and came to see what the other members of the Imperial Trinity were up to."

"Daughter," Sietra said as she levelled an austere look on her daughter, "You are an empress now. Empresses don't get holidays. I should know."

"That's bold coming from you, mother. You've been absent from the Twilight Empire for over three months now," Kardain said as he wandered over to take the measure of the newcomers.

"This is different. I am here on a diplomatic mission," Sietra answered as she held her head high. "Serving as the Imperial Trinities head advisor in these times of change is crucial to the security of the realm. And besides, the Twilight Empire practically runs itself these days."

Kardain just shook his head in mock disappointment at his mother's reply.

"So you want us to give these five a ride on our lovely new ship? Keep an eye on each other in Cibiale. Make sure that one," Kai pointed to Cillian, "Doesn't get caught canoodling again and lives up to his potential?"

Cillian looked affronted, while the rest of his team nodded along emphatically.

"Actually, I was hoping they could travel in your domain. They could use the extra time to cleanse their cores and train for the entrance exams for both the Adventurers' Guild and the academies I've set them up at. As I have already said, they're bound, so they won't be able to reveal any important secrets. And it is always good to have allies you know and trust with you when you go somewhere as competitive as Cibiale," The Sage said.

Syl tapped a finger on her lips in thought before saying, "There is a stable dilation of fast time on the far side of the lake… I can duplicate the house there and add a room for each of them, they will be able to come and go at their own convenience…" A distant look of concentration washed over Syl before her eyes flicked back to Thanric and she said, "Done."

Orrick coughed, and they all turned to look at him.

"Do you think you could set up a forge in one of those fancy time things? By your main abode, no need to go out of your way setting up a whole new residence. You see, Orril here hasn't lifted a hammer in weeks and he is worried his arms will be rusty when he enrols at the Forge and Anvil to begin his apprenticeship. He is a promising smith any team would find a boon to have around."

"Dad, I'm fine," Orril moaned without looking up.

"Ester could do with a workroom to practise her enchanting, runesmithing and armour-" Estelle started.

"Mom!" Ester said firmly.

"Done," Syl said, "Matching facilities, even set up a room for them both. Should allow them to exploit the domain to the fullest, they will just have to come by the main house to find food once in a while. But as you asked, it's not too far."

"Wait, how do you know how to set up a forge and workshop?" Kai asked Syl.

Syl rolled her eyes, "I saw thousands of them back in the you know what. I know what works and what doesn't."

"Oh… yeah. that." Kai turned to The Sage as he opened a portal right to Syl's designated domain entry way just off to his side as he asked, "Just how long will it take us to get to Cibiale?"

Thanric shrugged. "It all depends on how fast you push it, but you have just under a month before the new term starts. I'm hoping you can open a portal large enough for your new ship to slip through," Thanric said as a familiar clipboard appeared in his hands. "If that is indeed the case, there are a couple of things you should be able to do. The trick that you did with rapidly recharging the mana of that skimmer you used to get here among them. That alone should allow you to cross the distance at a record pace, especially when you consider the stable lay line between here and the City of Adventurers." Thanric started scribbling something down, "Tell me, Kai, what is the furthest you have been able to make a portal?"

"From the palace to the tower," Kai answered, knowing it was best to humour The Sage when that clipboard came out.

Thanric made a mark. "That is further than I thought. Do you think you can go further?"

"Not sure. Connecting to the space around the tower was easy, cost nothing extra to open a portal than normal. Before today I had never been to the tower, but it felt like a beacon."

Thanric tapped his stylus against the edge of his clipboard with a grin on his face.

Twenty minutes later, Cillian, his team, and the two young dwarves and their parents were getting a tour of the domain from Syl. While Kai, Alicia, Kardain, Temra, Thanric and Sietra were all sitting at different stations on the bridge of the Dawn of Hope.

Temra taking an abnormal amount of glee as she chuckled to herself while switching the console in front of her from one system to the next.

Kai was in the pilot seat, clutching the control crystal as he guided the ship out over the city, leaving the tower and the palace that faced the rising sun behind them.

The bridge, apparently, was a technological mana marvel. Each station was capable of switching to control any system of the ship, allowing anyone to perform any task at any station at a moment's notice and drastically cutting down on the number of people that were needed to safely control the ship.

The walls, ceiling, and floor of the internal room all projecting a near a seamless three-dimensional image of the exterior of the ship. Even the doors to the room flickered on and off with their own projection when they were used.

The lack of any glass window on the front, top and bottom of the ship allowing for much sturdier defensive plating on the whole of the exterior.

The internal room was positioned near the ship's centre of gravity and the six drives that kept her afloat and moving forward. The central location also allowed for anyone on the bridge to access any part of the ship in just seconds, depending on which door they left by.

The control crystal for piloting the ship, where Kai was given the privilege of sitting, was positioned high in the centre of the room above the other consoles, so that only the view directly below was slightly obstructed by other members of the crew.

"I hope you noticed the crystals on the exterior? They are a prototype system we came up with following your stunt, turning a simple mana bolt into a ship to ship cannon. The crystals are a networked series of focuses that are all safely woven through the ship systems back here to this bridge to each of the station as well as the pilot's seat," Thanric said as he did something from his chosen station.

A marker appearing on the projection of the ship's surroundings. The point marked was a distant mountain ridge just off the path.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"You should, in theory, be able to anchor your spatial distortion and fire a mana bolt from where you sit or any of the other stations. Allowing you to defend the ship without having to step out onto any of the exposed exterior walkways," The sage explained, as he looked back over his clipboard and then to the console again.

Satisfied with what he was seeing, Thanric continued, "I am told the preliminary testing was successful. The channels that were built into the ship and the focuses used are all far more robust than anyone on your level should need. Its mana throughput should be more than even you, Kai, should be able to output for the next hundred levels. Though I don't think the shipwright quite believed the readings that I gave them or the tolerances I asked for..." Thanric trailed off as he sat back and tapped his lips. "Now Kai, try to feel the ship. There is a central spell construct that ties the entire ship together; It should detect what you are doing and respond if needed by adjusting the ship systems so as not to interfere. Then when you-"

"What my emperor consort is saying, Kai, is you should find that you are able to anchor your spatial distortion and fire your mana bolt without concentrating too hard on the task itself. Just see if you can fire at the ridge he marked while you continue pilot the ship," Sietra said as she cut into Thanric's lengthy explanation.

What they were saying seem easier said than done, especially when he was clutching the control crystal.

Thanric put the task to him as if it should be easy, but Kai had failed to do a lot of the simple tasks The Sage had asked of him back when he was trying to teach him to work with traditional spell constructs. That and he had never cast anything through his focuses. Not really. He just anchored things to them, which in his mind was different.

Turns out it was no different from casting an infused strike through a sword. Only what had been built into the ship was purpose built for the task and it accepted his mana eagerly. While, his now defunct swords were shattered and broken from forcing too much mana through them.

The hardest part had actually been finding the connection to focus through the control crystal itself. But with a bit of concentration and a little use of mana sense and sight to see how the mana he supplied was trickling through the network that flowed through the vessel like a vascular system, Kai was able to pick a crystal on the outside of the ship, attach his magic, and fire a low-cost mana bolt off for it to veer off in a tight arc to hit the ridge in a little puff of debris.

"No change to any of the ship's systems. The airframe remains solid, and the barrier adjusted smoothly to allow the mana bolt through without so much as a shift in the phase state and frequency," Temra reported gleefully.

"There was a slight increase in the mana recharge rate. I think a small amount of mana was pulled into the battery as Kai pushed his mana through to the external focus. Either the system will need to be checked in Cibaile or Kai needs practice directing his mana through external mechanisms so he doesn't flood the channels and let his mana get absorbed into the batteries," Sietra reported matter-of-factly.

"It is within expectations," Thanric said as he did something on his console and another mark appeared on the ridge. "Now Kai-"

"No, Dear," Sietra said as she got up to place a hand on Thanric's clipboard, making it disappear. "We will be at this all day if you let yourself get carried away. They can test the systems all they want on their way to Cibiale. A high-powered shot, Alicia's and Gift's illusions. All of that can wait. You will be sent an update when the port takes her in. You can pour over the data and make your recommendations, then."

"Fine," Thanric grunted in disappointment as he turned to look up at Kai. "Would you turn us around and point us at the Tower? There is one last thing I would like to test before you drop us off at the palace."

Kai turned the ship about to point towards the sun as it rose just to the side of the Tower of Alea.

Seeing the beautiful sight as it cast a long thin shadow over the city, he couldn't help but wonder if it could be used as a massive sundial in the future. One that everyone could use to measure the time of day or figure out the season at a glance.

"Now, can you open up a portal to the Tower for us to pass through?" Thanric asked.

"Yes," Kai replied, somehow certain of the task as he reached out to get a feel of the tower. "I can do that."

There was a long moment of silence before Thanric spoke up to say, "I guess I should have been more specific. Kai, can you make a portal to the Tower that the Dawn of Hope can pass through? And can you do it now?"

"Retracting the mana sails just to be safe," Temra said suddenly. "Kai, make the portal as far out as you can and make it as large as you can. Distance can be deceptive on projectors like these," she said, gesturing to the panels all about them, "at least until you get used to them."

Thinking of wing mirrors from cars back on Earth, Kai said, "Objects are closer than they appear."

"Exatly. Now open the portal and give us a moment to confirm it is large enough to pass through without damaging Dawn. Wouldn't want to cut her nose off or clip her sails just after she was given to us."

Kai thought about how to best approach the request. He could just focus on the space in front of the ship and open a portal, but as Temra had warned, that could go quickly go wrong.

Trying to get a better sense of things, he put his intention back into the ship systems, the conduits that were woven through it and out to the crystal focuses all over the outer hull. Trusting his gut, he applied his mana sense to the whole system.

He was overcome with disorientation as his brain tried to process the new information, but when it passed, he felt his spatial awareness encompass the ship and the world around it.

He opened the portal with a grin and drove the Dawn of Hope straight through to a number of surprised sounds below him.

"I said give us a minute!" Temra cried.

Kai closed the portal off as he picked up speed to circle the Tower.

A wall of white flashed by on the left side as his weight shifted back and to the side with the rapid acceleration until he felt, with his mana sense, a dormant ship system come to life, the inertia dampeners.

"This is interesting," Thanric said, his amusement clear. "Did anyone see the spike in mana when we passed through the portal?"

"I was too busy checking the sails had been pulled in all the way," Temra complained, her annoyance that Kai hadn't listened to her made clear by her tone.

"I saw it. The entire ship was flooded with mana," Alicia said as she eyed the wall of white slide past.

"I confirm, the mana batteries are all reporting an additional fifteen percent charge… sixteen," Sietra said, as she studied her console like the wall to her side was of no concern. "Seventeen."

"Is there any way to turn off the system that dampens inertia? The only sense of speed I have right now is how close I am to the Tower," Kai said as he adjusted the angle of attack to climb further up the Tower in a massive corkscrew.

"Inertia?" Thanric stopped what he was doing to flick through screens on his console. "Actually, there is," he said as he jumped up from his seat to point up to a dial next to the control crystal. "It will adjust the field around the pilot's seat. Just don't turn it all the way off, especially if you're pushing her acceleration. The pull can make low-level people faint when they accelerate too fast. Normally, it's not an issue on older ships or higher levels, but the Dawn of Hope, she… she doesn't have the standard limiters."

"She doesn't?" Temra asked, her surprise mixed with equal interest. "Isn't that against, oh, international law?"

"Those laws were put into place after the Dawn Empire fell. So, when the Dawn of Hope was brought into an official Dawn port and her registration was finalised to show that she is in fact a Dawn Empire ship, the Houses crawled all over her, removing certain limitations," Thanric explained.

Kai adjusted the inertia dial as he came around the Tower to face the City of El'alora again on what must have been his third loop around.

"Is that why we got all those contracts to make new ships for the Union? They were awfully clear about them being Dawn Empire ships serving the Union?" Alicia asked as she pieced something together.

"Exactly," Sietra said, as she gave her daughter a proud smile.

"Wait, didn't you put the Imperial yacht in for some work?" Alicia asked again.

"Since the Exploration is being decommissioned, your mother gave it to me as a wedding present…" Thanric said absentmindedly as he looked over the information at his console. "It is the second ship officially registered in your empire. Which means he, too, is no longer required to have any of the old limitations that we've been working around for centuries."

"Is this even safe?" Temra asked as she switched through the different readouts and systems of the ship again. "Wait, this mana storage is insane."

"You of all people should know that our advances have made most of the restrictions redundant," Thanric said. "And I think that the burst of mana we got from passing through the portal was spatially aspected. It seems to have altered the mana storage slightly. Needs more testing."

Kai felt himself sink back in his seat as he accelerated down the valley.

"What is her top speed?" Temra asked, as she tapped a readout in surprise.

"They don't know. She was still accelerating when the batteries hit critically low levels. Took them a day just to tow her back to port. And that was before they removed the limiters," Thanric said as he wrote stuff down on a new clipboard.

"Hmm, and not a single vibration from the drives or the airframe," Temra said. "Kai is pushing her pretty hard and all the systems are still holding steady. Just who designed and built her?"

Kai slid to the side as he eased back to circle the Spirit of Exploration by the dock.

"Valsho, Sibiant and Torruke came up with the initial design, then Elora Sky was brought in to make changes and oversee production. She then brought in Themrial to help with the modifications I proposed. You would be surprised what the words unlimited budget can do," Thanric said without looking away from what he was doing. "That mana surge has stabilised, and the changes seem permanent. I can see no ill effect from that portal jump from here. I would like to go look at the mana storage crystals, borrow one for some testing."

Looking down, Kai saw Temra sink into her seat as Alicia spun around to look at her father with wide eyes.

"Elora Sky? But she died," Alicia said, the surprise clear in her voice.

"No, she simply got sick of everyone asking her to design and build ships for them," Sietra said. "And Thanric dear, you're not gutting a battery from your children's own ship."

"Fine. Knowing we would have a brief opportunity to test some things, I connected some analytical equipment in the ship's hold this morning. There are quite a few batteries powering the equipment that were connected to the ship itself. They will have to do."

Kai continued to circle the Spirit of Exploration, noting that the number of people on the top deck was increasing with each pass.

When he felt he had burned off enough speed, he angled the ship down to then levelled out to glide slowly over the top of the city as he made his approached to the palace landing platform.

"You know, with all the ships set to be constructed, the lack of limits. I feel we are preparing for something. And I don't mean a harder stance on pirates," Alicia said as she continued to put things in place in her mind.

"Thanric dear, we're approaching the palace. You better go get your toys and that new contraption of yours ready for Kai," Sietra said as she ignored her daughter's statement.

"The Shattered Kingdoms are preparing for war, a big one, not just another territorial grab. They think nobody knows, but everyone is in a secret arms race right now. Their allies and ours are all trying to skirt the restrictions put in place by the system every time some long dead idiot had a bright idea. Such as the system enforced restrictions put on airships," Kardain said, hammering in the last piece of the puzzle for his sister.

"Kardain…" Sietra sighed.

"What! I know they're young, but you have got to trust them with this kind of stuff, eventually. They're our trump cards. It's why you're letting them run off to level up. We need them to level up, to become the best of us. They deserve to know what faces them," Kardain said sharply.

As he approached the platform of the great hall, Kai was listening in and he wondered just how large of a threat the Shattered Kingdoms actually were. He was cut short of asking when he realised something else and he had to ask, "How do I dock this thing?"

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