Sulika received a brief events report from Oladi and returned to Aldritch’s side. "Alright, so here’s what’s about to happen.” She said to get his attention. “Oladi placed an R.F.A two at the guild - That’s a tier two request for aid. Per standard protocol, the guild should’ve already dispatched someone to meet us here. It’s just a matter of waiting for them to arrive. How long will that spell keep them stable?” She asked while motioning to the sphere.

  “Until I stop supplying it with mana.” Aldritch replied, seemingly unbothered by the idea of meeting someone from the guild.

  “Does the mana need to come from you, or can it be shifted to someone else? What happens when they’re taken to the hospital?”

  “Sure, the supplier can be anyone with a sufficient mana supply. It could also be powered by a mana crystal of adequate quality - which is normally how the spell is meant to be used. However, I didn’t have one on hand at the time.”

  “Really?” Sulika asked. “What kind of crystal would you need?”

  Aldritch did some quick mental arithmetic and raised his hands to indicate the size of the crystal. “I’m not aware of the methods you use to categorize crystals, so I ask for your forgiveness if this is confusing. It should be seven cubic inches with a… Cerulean color?”

  Sulika looked at the space between his hands and compared it to the crystals she’d seen. “Sounds like a grade three crystal. Hmm… Does it really take that much mana to sustain it? That’s almost as much as a level seven spell.”

  “To cast it, no, it doesn’t require as much. However, the drain is rather significant. A ‘grade three’ is to ensure no facet of the spell ceases to function during transportation.”

  “But are you sure it takes that much mana?”

  Aldritch half-smiled. “No, I’m not. I’m giving you an estimate based on what I know. Whether my advice is heeded is not is not up to me. I expect whoever takes over for me to do what they think is best.”

  Sulika furrowed her eyebrows at how easily he gave up. “What if I told you a grade one crystal would work? Would you still hand over control of the spell?”

  “Of course.” He said without hesitation. “It’s not up to me to determine how much mana you’d like to use. Your decisions are your own, I can only tell you what I know. It’s up to you, as the one with more experience in this field, to do with that information as you will.”

  “And if my decision leads to their deaths?” She asked, leaning forward slightly out of curiosity.

  “Then they die.” He replied, still smiling.

  Sulika’s expression dropped. “Would you get angry if they died?”

  “Should I?” Aldritch muttered. “I have no attachment to any of them, and in case you forgot, I’m the one who injured them in the first place. Their ability to survive or their deaths have little to do with me beyond my agreement to aid you.”

  Sulika crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Aldritch, who calmly returned her gaze. She couldn’t tell if he was shameless or arrogant. How could he talk about their deaths so easily? They weren’t monsters, they were people - each of them had a family, a home, a story to be told. Yet he would dismiss them so easily?

  Who gave him the right to decide their fates?

  It didn’t sit well with Sulika.

  For a hunter - allies and the citizens they protected are everything. One of the core tenants of the guild was about using their power to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. All of them would gladly give their lives to save the people inside that sphere… Was Aldritch not the same?

  “You think I’m heartless.” Aldritch said, and it wasn’t a question. The expression on her face had given her away.

  “As hunters, we’re supposed to protect these people. It’s our duty to protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

  “I see… And when did you start thinking you’re better than they are?”

  Sulika’s eyes widened out of surprise, then narrowed in anger. “I don’t -”

  “Captain!” Zarud yelled from the doorway. “The portal!”

  Sulika turned to see the portal had shrunk since she’d last looked that way, by a considerable margin too.

  “No! Oladi, tell me you’ve got pictures of the dungeon?”

  “Several.” She replied and pulled a recording crystal out of her bag. “Want me to take a few more?”

  “As many as possible. The more proof we have, the better. And get a few from the doorway too - we want to make sure there’s no doubt that it was here. And as for you,” she said, looking at Aldritch. “You said you’d never been to Azuris island before, right?”

  “Never.” Aldritch said while splitting his attention between the actions of Oladi, Derrik, Zarud, and Sulika’s words.

  “Then you’ll need an escort for the time being. I’m sorry, wish I could let you go, but that’s not possible. You ‘technically’ entered the city illegally, so we’ll need to register your presence with the guild representative before we can let you rest for the night.”

  “I understand.” He replied offhandedly, as if it didn’t concern him in the least.

  Sulika watched him for another moment before shaking her head and moving on. There was so much to do before the night was over. They needed pictures of the portal and a detailed report of what they remembered about the dungeon - sights, sounds, smells, anything that could be used to recognize the dungeon, should it ever reappear in the future.

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  Sulika pulled a palm-sized notebook from her bag and started sketching everything she remembered. It was quick, crude, and severely lacked any sense of artistic vision. But it would do for the time being.

  She would sit down with a guild interpreter at a later time and get a more 'picturesque’ image for the archives. Right now, all that mattered was getting her perspective of the events down on paper.

  “What’s that?” Aldritch asked, kneeling beside her and looking at the notebook in her hand.

  “It’s part of our protocol. The guild wants after actions reports to be as detailed as possible, so we have to provide several kinds of evidence to back up our reports. I’m working on a sketch of what I remember about the dungeon.”

  “You’re drawing the temple.”

  “The temple, the storeroom, the hooded men.” As she spoke, she placed a crude drawing of the storeroom to the side and began working on the temple’s sketch.

  “I see.” Aldritch grabbed the drawing and raised it towards the light to get a good look at it. You have an interesting sense of scale.” He muttered, a slight smile on his face.

  “Yeah, I know.” Her pencil moved with an almost careless sense of urgency. “I usually let Zarud handle this part. He’s a better artist than I am, but…” She trailed off and glanced over at the half-orc.” Something tells me I’d paint a clearer picture if I did it myself.”

  Aldritch followed her eyes and found himself looking at Zarud - he chuckled under his breath. If looks could kill, Aldritch had a feeling he would drop dead any second now. “Yes, he does seem to be rather upset at the moment.” Aldritch muttered.

  “That’s a bit of an understatement.” Sulika laughed. “I haven’t seen him this upset since he found out he’d bought Oladi a counterfeit bracelet. I thought he’d never calm down.”

  “Oy, captain!” Derrik hollered from the doorway. “He’s here!”

  Sulika looked up from her book and her face fell the moment she made eye contact with the tall elf standing beside Derrik. “Of course it’d be him.” She muttered while climbing to her feet.

  “Problem?”

  “Not sure yet. Wait here, this shouldn’t take but a moment.” She made her way over to the door like a prisoner heading for the guillotine - head down, shoulders hunched, feet dragging. It was clear to everyone she didn’t want to speak to the elf, but she was forced to.

  He was the representative sent by the guild. She couldn’t go home without speaking to him, and she really wanted to go home… “Hello, Elluine.” She said with a fake smile plastered across her face.

  Elluine was a tall Lunaren elf with bluish-gray skin, wavy brown hair, and eyes reminiscent of freshly polished rubies. He wore a tight shirt that emphasized his muscular arms, comfortable slacks with plenty of pockets, and a pair of black shoes that allowed him to walk without making a sound.

  “Sulika, lovely to see you.” Elluine replied, his eyes narrowing to slits and a charming smile spreading across his face.

  Aldritch turned away from them and turned his attention back to the injured people inside the sphere. He placed his palm against it and closed his eyes - “I pray you learn from this experience and your life improves because of it. May your ties with the devil remain forever severed, lest I be forced to return to show you true mercy…”

  “Hey,” Sulika said as she returned to Aldrich’s side, a mana crystal in one hand and a scowl on her face. “Tie the spell to this and let’s get out of here.”

  Aldritch received the crystal without a word and quickly did as she asked. It wasn’t a difficult task by any means, though depending on the spell, it could be rather time consuming.

  Aldritch passed the crystal back to her twenty seconds later with a smile on his face.

  “Already?” She asked, her eyes wide.

  “Of course. I wouldn’t waste your time by pretending otherwise.”

  She narrowed her eyes at the crystal before turning around and walking off.

  “I wonder how long she expected you to take?”

  Aldritch said nothing as he waited for her to return. He didn’t know how long it’d take someone from this world to do what he did. However, he was certain few could be as fast as he. Not just because he was well versed in manipulating mana - though that was certainly part of it. No, the reason he knew he was faster had to do with the stagnation of their mana.

  If he was correct about how the ‘system’ worked, then mana had to pass through a filter somewhere in the depths of the system before shifting back towards the user to activate the spell. How long did such a trip take? One second? One minute? Somewhere in between? Mana was supposed to flow as quick as a thought, and as smooth as melted honey.

  But from what he’d observed, the system didn’t allow for that. No, it forced mana to be as stiff as a cold stone and move only when the system allowed.

  Because of this, Aldritch knew their mana simply wasn’t flexible enough to replicate his speed - and he doubted it would never be, so long as they continued to rely on the system.

  “Ready?” Sulika asked, sighing as she approached.

  “What of the crystal?”

  “I’ve passed it along to the representative. He has a few healers working under him who are supposed to be on their way.”

  “Then yes, I’m ready to leave.” He nodded and stood to his full height. “After you,” he said, motioning for her to lead the way.

  Sulika nodded and started walking. “We’ll need to stop by the guild before the rest of us can return home for the night. The Azuris hunter’s guild has a dormitory on the grounds, which you can rent a room in on a weekly basis. I’ll put you up for now and you can pay me back later, alright?”

  “Understood, I’ll have to impose on you for the time being. My apologies.”

  Sulika waved him off and beckoned for her team to follow her.

  As they left the, now abandoned, warehouse and entered the narrow streets and back alleys of Auris: the capital city of Azuris Island. Sulika, Oladi, Derrik, and Ralocan chatted amongst themselves while Zarud and Aldritch followed them without a word spoken between them.

  Zarud was still peeved about how easily Aldritch man-handled him earlier. As for Aldritch… Well, he had nothing to say and no interest in participating in idle small talk with a stranger who clearly didn’t like him.

  Eventually, the members of the team said their goodbyes and broke off one by one until only Sulika and Aldritch remained.

  Auris was a small city compared to the ones Aldritch saw in his youth. But it was still one of the more impressive ones, regardless of how he measured it.

  As they walked, Sulika filled him in on a few details about the city.

  It had a population of around 71,000 people living within the three-hundred-foot-tall stone walls that protected the city. Aldritch didn’t understand why the city needed walls that tall… until Sulika explained the whole situation.

  Azuris Island wasn’t like anything Aldritch had ever witnessed before. He would need to observe the situation with his own eyes to be sure, but for now, he would just have to trust Sulika’s words.

  The entire island was floating through the sky.

  Sulika said she wasn’t sure how it worked, but the island had been floating for the last several hundred years.

  Not only that, but it was also in constant motion as the planet beneath it rotated around the sun. This phenomenon led to the creation of the ‘aerial dock’ which served as the lifeblood of the city. It was what allowed them to trade with other floating islands as they approached one another.

  While Aldritch was attempting to wrap his head around the fact that the entire island beneath him was actually floating some 20,000 feet through the sky, he and Sulika walked side by side in companionable silence until they reached the front stoop of the Hunters Guild.

  Aldritch glanced at the three-story building with the gigantic dragon’s head on the roof and wondered at the story behind it.

  “Coming?” Sulika asked from a few steps above Aldritch, which meant they were now eye to eye with each other.

  “Yeah,” He took one final glance at the dragon head then began moving again. “I’m right behind you.”

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