-Callen-

  When the walls were finally restored, I had time to get back to my prior work, but now the town was teeming with overly inquisitive Earthkin. For some reason after working with me on the wall everywhere I go I’m shadowed by a half dozen of them. Some are interested in my work; others are just fans watching from a distance. The attention was a bit freaky, and I couldn’t figure out why until I visited the new underground district.

  It was something of a culture shock. I had grown up as the only person in my community using runes, but the Earthkin had a completely opposite approach. Their giant, dangerously wobbly airship was only functional because hundreds of earthkin would work on shifts regularly supplying mana, and the average mana of earthkin matched what my current total was.

  This was even more evident in their home design. Every community was built around a mana pylon that functioned as a mana battery; it powered cavern lighting, water fixtures, and reinforced walls to prevent underground incursions. It felt like a city from earth but built underground. The issue of mana leakage was combated by having a community tithe, and everyone living within the influence of the mana battery would be scheduled a time to offer mana.

  Another significant difference was the average levels. An adult human averages around level 30 for civilians, 40 for soldiers with experience, and 50 to 70 for veterans like Grandpa. Any more and someone is considered a candidate for knighthood. The Earthkin, despite living much longer, have the same levels, but that is because a much greater emphasis is placed on technology versus martial prowess. With the heavy defensive installations, their communities don’t feel the need to seek out challenges in the same manner a patrol team would regularly encounter monsters.

  I also figured out the reason I was well regarded by the community. Not only was I a master acknowledged by the certificate sent by the Council of Grandmasters, but also my prosthetics had been a huge hit in their clan. Clan Stone-Foot was named such because they were previously located near a region with an unusual number of small burrowing poisonous ambush predators. The only way to survive was to cut the victim's limb off quickly, and thus many of their adults had lost limbs that had been sacrificed to prevent death. Previously they resorted to using stone stumps as cheap peglegs, but their whole society had changed when affordable functional limbs were invented.

  In fact, when the clan heard about the damages from the monster invasion, the grandmasters floated the idea of sending a smaller clan here. They volunteered to repay the help I had unknowingly provided. Another reason may have been to leave the Leg Bitter hills that they previously inhabited.

  I couldn’t help but feel there was more to it, but at the very least, among the common folk, that was the consensus. I was a bit concerned about what the reaction from the human side of politics might be, but Mayor Hew assured me that this was something the kingdom would look favorably toward. A majority of high-level weapons were sourced from the Earthkin clans, and having a clan living inside human territory and respecting human rule would gain the support of many nobles. Especially because our town was considered royal territory, and that meant the benefits of having Earthkin would directly connect to the royal faction, which was inherently the dominant force of the kingdom.

  The Earthkin even built limited access for the human towns above to the amenities of their communities. Nothing would have spiked more tension than a group of outsiders moving into our town, relying on our defenses, and doing nothing to better the living conditions of the townsfolk. The Earthkin and Mayor Hew knew that, so they worked out a method of building access for humans with some limitations. Humans didn’t invest in nearly as much mana as the Earthkin and didn’t have a culture that supported regularly contributing mana on a set schedule. Therefore, the human communities didn’t get light fixtures, unlike the Earthkin, who needed them to see in their underground home.

  I finish my work for the day, pack up, and head home. With the time that has passed, Callia’s stats are finally enough to properly confront monsters, and she plans on joining the scout teams. I’ve prepared a bit of a surprise for her: I’ve been working on a bow with sufficient draw weight to actually have the power she needs to deal some real damage. I even enchanted it with shape wood to magically raise the draw weight proportional to the magic expended.

  -Callia-

  I spun from a tree, striking every target Nixie had rigged for me with Dad’s spear. When I first started using it, I could barely hold it, and despite getting no associated skill, I felt my natural resistance growing fast. It felt more like the more I wielded the spear, the more it was a natural part of me. Normally I don’t look at Callen’s status using our bond, but sometimes curiosity hits. I pulled up his status to see how he has grown since the bear attack.

  It wasn’t a big change, but the XP from killing so many monsters in Callen’s helicopter was significant. I’m almost frustrated that he gets a fair share of the pie for every kill because of our twin bond. Not because I felt he was leaching off me but because it would be hard for me to ever pass his level if he focused on skills and crafting while I spent my days hunting. I didn’t hold much to that line of thought. Yes, Callen spent much more time crafting, but I got almost free access to his best stuff, and when I was in trouble, he stopped at nothing to pull my ass out of the fire.

  After checking him, I pulled up my own status.

  Looking over my stats, I almost miss the change in my mana affinity. Fundamentally it felt the same, but now it could work in reverse as well, and I could feel Dad’s spear responding to my will, switching from decay, withering everything it touches, to rapidly growing moss on its length. The spear was connected on a deep level, and I got the feeling that was why Dad never put it out of reach. For some reason that made me happy, like I was a little closer to Dad even after he was gone.

  Then my mood turns dark. The bear had gotten away. Callen and Nightshade might have forgiven it, but as soon as I felt confident, I would avenge Dad. I would kill the bear, and I would do it with the claw Dad had torn from it in his fight. In the meantime I felt fighting in different environments would help my growth the best and planned on joining the guard team for the fishing vessels.

  Council Session

  The Council of Grandmasters looks over the diagrams and sketches sent to them by Yoren, each stretching their head and theorizing. Why does this store lightning? How could they replicate this technology? If storing energy in non-mana form is a viable alternative to the mana batteries their communities use, what kind of possibilities does this create? So many doors some even secretly felt it was too many. The consequences of this research will change Earthkin forever.

  However, the hesitation of the few slightly conservative grandmasters didn’t stop the council from assigning new projects to the many clans. Seeking means of storing and utilizing natural power instead of mana. Energies like heat, motion, sound, light, and most importantly lightning. Clan heads jumped to be the recipients of the various new projects, and an undercurrent of excitement ran rampant within their communities.

  Callen the human had found an alternative solution to the Great Trivia. The council was determined to see him rewarded in full even if not immediately apparent. Grandmaster Slate personally chose the Stone-Foot clan; not only would they support Callen’s development, but they already had a great deal of admiration for perhaps the greatest innovator of all time.

  Callen had no way of knowing that among Earthkin he was already a figure of reverence. Grandmaster Slate worked late hours not only deciphering Callen’s inventions but also in contact with the human ambassador. Port Town must not be interfered with except to provide support in times of need. Callen’s name must not reach those who would snatch the golden child. Should he be taken, Grandmaster Slate was more than willing to bet the entirety of the Earthkin race to recover him.