The System Seas

Chapter 125: The Way Back

“We’d be glad to leave,” Elisa said. “If that’s what you think is best.”“We do. Of course, we can pay you, if you like.”

“No need.” Marco waved off the suggestion. “We’ve gotten a lot from this. I think you know that. We don’t want to be unfaithful.”

“Well, that’s settled.” The servant walked in a direction not quite opposite where the temple had been. “If you’d follow me, then, I’ll be glad to show you a way out that won’t draw attention. You are mostly unknown here, so we really just need to get you out of the palace grounds.”

They walked for a minute or so across manicured lawns, around perfectly trimmed bushes and hedges, and then eventually to a small, wooden shack of the kind gardeners used to store tools and supplies.

“The Overseer commissioned this tunnel to allow him to leave the palace discreetly when he wished. He wore disguises at such times.”

“Why wouldn’t he just leave normally?”

“He didn’t enjoy the attention. I don’t believe he was much suited to rule an empire, deep down. Of course, everyone recognized him anyway, but most were polite enough to not say so when they saw he was trying to be less than noticeable.”

The door to the shed creaked open, revealing only a stone stairway that dropped down just far enough to get them under the level of the ground. The servant motioned downwards and smiled.

“Our people thank you for what you are doing. Or would, if they knew the details of what you are doing. Can I make one humble request of you as you leave?”

“Sure,” Marco said. “If I can make one too.”

“Of course. My request is that you be successful out there. I’d ask you to be safe, but of course that’s not really in the cards for someone like you.”

“We’ll try.” Marco could feel the new temple power in him not only strengthening him, but supplementing the power of every temple in his control. It was fairly obvious why the servant would want more of that. They were probably already seeing gains over what Jare had been able to give him, and those only stood to get better as he and his crew did more things, seized more territory, and gained more levels. “We really will. It’s good for everyone here.”

“Agreed. Now, as for your request, let me know what it is, and I’ll be glad to help.”

“We’d like to get back to our ship as soon as possible, and we are all hungry. Could you arrange for…”

“Oh, sir, I’m afraid I’m a few steps ahead of you here. Don’t worry about any of that. I don’t want to hold you up, but I assure you there will be answers for those requests at the end of the tunnel.”

The assistant straightened his clothes. Marco didn’t know who was taking over the country now that Jare was gone, and it wasn’t any of his business. Somehow, though, he hoped it would be this man.

With one last nod, Marco ducked into the tunnel, followed by Riv, Aethe, and Elisa. They walked down the plain stone tunnel for about a mile, not seeing anything of interest besides a few tree roots that had managed to worm their way through the stone.

“I guess this is the way out.” Marco and the crew had finally come to a turn in the otherwise straight tunnel. It only continued on a few feet before meeting with a stone staircase headed up. “Let’s see what he has waiting for us.”

At the top of the staircase, they found themselves in a house. Not a home, Marco thought, since the furniture looked entirely unused, the space was spotless, and there were no decorations of the type families usually accumulated visible anywhere. But it was a house, complete with tables, a stove, and hallways that looked as if they headed towards completely conventional bedrooms.

Standing waiting for them were a cook and yet another scholar type.

“Glad to see you made it, sirs and ma’ams.” The cook bowed his head. “If you please, they had me make you some things to eat. Told me to let you take your time eating them, that you’d earned them. Please take whatever you’d like; there’s plenty. And let me know if there’s something you want that I don’t have, and I’ll get it.”

“I’m to help you get to your ship afterwards,” the scholar said. “Don’t mind me until you are ready.”

The team obeyed. It was hard to think much about an anonymous scholar when there were bowls of noodles, broth, and meat everywhere, filling the room with smells that could only come from someone who was used to cooking for the leader of a country.

They dug in, taking the instructions that there was no hurry to heart. A half hour later, they were all stuffed to the gills with calories and, thanking the chef, finally turned their attention back to the scholar.

“Are you ready?”

“I believe so. You’ll lead us to our wagon?”

“Oh, no. I can do much better than that. If you’d please follow me, I’ll take you to the portal room.”

“Portal room?” Elisa’s eyes rose. “I didn’t expect you to have that. I suppose I should have.”

“Loop us in, Elisa.” Riv waddled after the others, obviously overfed. “It’s not like I know about this.”

“It’s an evacuation tool. It’s supposed to help heads of state flee troubles.”

“Can’t be,” Marco said. “That old man never ran from anything. I could tell.”

“That’s what it is. I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Technically, she’s right.” The scholar stopped near the edge of the next room and knelt. “The system describes it as an evacuation tool for important figures. It’s just that the Overseer never used it that way. We had to build one for him so he’d agree to live this far inland. It was a great expense, but…”

“But it made it so he could warp to the docks, sail to trouble, and hit it with a hammer?” Marco guessed.

“Something like that. Now, if you please, go ahead and stand in the center of the room. The circle itself should prompt you as to the next steps.”

The floor all around them began to shine with complex runes and glyphs, and the notifications followed soon after.

Teleportation Initiated

Your are in range of and designated as a target for a multi-party teleportation effect. This system-guaranteed transportation is guaranteed safe unless acted on by some unknown outside force, and will only affect you if you assent to be moved.

The designated target for this spell is the deck of the Mage Runner ship . Please assent to the spell if you wish to travel to this destination.

“That’s really exact.”

“It had to be. The Overseer demanded it.” The scholar smiled. “I am old enough to remember the reluctance he faced trying to fund it. It has since paid for itself many times over.”

“So when does this…”

Marco’s question was cut off by the sound of an overjoyed group of chickens squawking in surprise as their very favorite person in the world reappeared on the deck of their home ship. Moments later, Riv was on the ground covered in affectionate poultry, laughing, smoothing their feathers, and inspecting them to see how they had fared in the days they had been gone.

“The chickens are fine,” he finally said. “What do you think is in those crates?”

“I’m looking now.” Elisa had discovered some kind of paper manifest of the new goods and was looking it over. “It looks like much of it’s high-quality stored food, some local specialties for sailors that you just have to boil to make into full meals. Not sure how they’ll be, but food is food.”

“And the rest?”

“It says I’m checking to see what that means right now.” She dug into a canvas bag about the size of one of the chickens and whistled. “At least for this bag, it means rubies.”

“Really? Neat.” Marco pulled a handful of them out of the bag and rolled them in his hand. They were all different sizes and a variety of shades of red. One of them fell to the deck, where a chicken picked it up and sent it straight to its gullet.

“Good job, Clucks,” Riv said. “That’s a stone that befits your high station.”

Packing away the new goods didn’t take much time, but by the end of it, they were as fully stocked as they could have been. On top of that, the nation at their back had gifted them with enough spending money to allow them to restock with ease almost anywhere, provided there was a settlement or floating merchant to restock from.

“Is there any reason to stay?” Marco asked. “We could just shove off.”

“That’s probably the right move. But I can’t help but think we missed something here. It feels incomplete.” Aethe frowned. “I just have no idea what.”

“It’s because nobody tried to kill us,” Marco said. “There was no danger. We got things without earning them. Or at least I think that’s what it is, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”

“Sounds about right to me.” Aethe shook her head and walked to the lines connecting the ship to the dock. “I’ll untie us. If we want danger, there’s a big ocean out there. I’m sure we can find some.”

It took a day or so to get to the border of the inner and outer seas. There were some closer borders than the one they chose, according to the dockhands they consulted before they left. This one was special enough to wait a bit longer, though. It represented the quickest way back to their own inner sea, to Gulf Isle and Riv’s home. They’d be taking a slightly different route back, always at least a few days away from their original course, far enough that Elisa thought it would take them outside the temple territories they had already covered for the most part.

As for trouble, they experienced none at all while in Jare’s former territory. The system had sent them on a vacation of sorts, and the trip back out to the edge of things felt like the system was giving them a break. As if it felt it had overdrawn its promise of rest with one big storm, there wasn’t so much as a cloud in the sky for those days of travel.

After reached the border, there was no reason to stop. It had been more than a day since Marco had finally received the vague guidance from the system that let them know what they could and couldn’t do next.

Soft Cap Resolution Process Extended!

Spending a week in a relatively safe environment was meant to slow your growth and to allow you a certain amount of room for previous advancements to, in simple terms, settle. While the time itself has done its work, you spent that time defending human settlements, navigating unnaturally large storms, and absorbing another temple network of a size that rivals your previous collection.

As such, some aspects of your growth may be restricted or slowed as the process continues. At no point will you be penalized in a way that makes you weaker than you currently are. As your class recent growth finds direction, you will gain any delayed strength increases.

No particular action is necessary to complete this process, but actions taken that give the system a firmer idea of your preferred direction and future will likely speed its completion.