As Rory awoke, something felt off; several seconds passed before his brain rebooted.

Oh. Oh right. I'm home. Sorta home. Whatever.

So used to living in the volcanic region or otherwise traveling through the Deep Chambers of their mountain home, Rory found himself momentarily off guard about the fact that he could hear birds chirping and the sun shining in from a crevice in the bark wall that amounted to a window.

"Another day in paradise," Rory yawned as he sat upright. "Or so I tell myself."

It was a strange feeling to be back in Ehkorrus, but the reality was that it wasn't the Ehkorrus of his memories. Gone were the days of the small, slower-paced village of fifty people. He knew less than 1% of the total population, and based on what Violet and Apostolos had told him, odds were that he was unlikely to be treated as just another person.

Still, I have things I should tend to while I'm here.

First on the list was that the walls needed proper inspection. A good chunk of the reason that Ehkorrus had nearly fallen was that the walls were no longer up to snuff against the level of threat they faced.

Tier seven monsters, they need to be able to handle tier seven monsters.

The current iteration of the walls drew upon the pneuma reserves that the city had available, as well as incorporating latent sunlight concepts, keeping the sunlight turrets and walls constantly charged. The problem was that they didn't have enough firepower to discharge without wrecking themselves in the process. It wasn't something that should have been Rory's problem to solve in the past. Still, having been busy doing his own thing, he hadn't returned before the problem reached critical mass.

Alright, options are feed them more pneuma, increase their efficiency, add to their arsenal… or all of the above.

Doing something he hadn't done in decades, Rory flicked open the Sovereign System, imagining a puff of dust appearing as he did.

Oh wow, look at all that.

Quite a bit had changed under the interface that he had been unable to access ever since he'd left the area.

Municipal affinity: Renweal. I'm not familiar with that concept, although I have some ideas that I'll need to verify with Irene, as she's responsible for planning all this out. Legal charter… Yeah, laws, no surprise - oh, God, literal tax codes, gross. Authority: 6th Stratum. Wasn't it only the third Stratum when I left? Node level: 8.8. Interesting, if I recall, node was based on the tier of the core being used as the settlement heart, and, uhh, the quality of the pneuma available? I think? Fabrication materials: lots.

Having caught up fairly quickly, one thing stood out like a sore thumb.

"What the fuck is 'Ortus La Fama?" Rory blurted. Tapping on it, his answer was given a moment later.

Oh.

Put simply, it was just a fancy name for a super special perk made available when both Authority and Node pushed past rank five, ten, twenty-five, forty, and finally, fifty.

Grave Cradle

Death is only fuel for further rebirth. Any deaths within claimed territory imbue a small portion of vital energy into newborn or newly sprouted life for a short period after they occur.

"Huh, they really went hard with that entire theme of life and rebirth stuff," Rory said to himself.

Well, that's enough studying. I think I've got a good sense of everything.

Part of why the population of Ehkorrus had exploded made sense to Rory now. A fertility tax and credit had been some of Ehkorrus' first decrees, siphoning away the fertility of those who called it home, and redistributing it to those who did want children. Using that as the base of how they'd developed alongside quite a few other perks gained from the node level, Rory doubted a baby born here had ever even heard of an allergy or benign illness.

The roots really have spread far.

As soon as he thought the words, inspiration struck Rory, realizing exactly how he wanted to adapt the walls to be better prepared for the future, even if he were gone for extended periods.

That should work, though I'll need to pay Mariah a visit. Now, problem…. Where the hell do I find her?

If he meandered for long enough, he was sure he could find her, but that would require meandering a city that might have a bit of a cult-y vibe about his existence.

Seriously, why didn't Apostolos put his foot down against that when it first started becoming a noticeable problem?

It was something he would have to grill the man on at a different time; for now, he had other goals in mind.

Hiding myself was so much easier when I had my spear for illusions. Ugh, twisting light around myself is a pain in the ass.

While it was something Rory had done here or there, it was far from an elegant solution without the aid of illusions to put the bow on top of his stealth combo.

New plan because I can't be assed. I rein in my aura, and I wear the most discreet clothing I can. The style of clothes hasn't changed that dramatically, thankfully. Or maybe old stuff is back in—either way.

Mind made up, Rory quickly rummaged through his clothes that he'd left behind. Thankfully, moths weren't a thing, at least not the small, clothes-eating kind, and thus his clothes remained untouched, looking the same as the day he'd last folded them and put them away.

Moments later, and with a fresh set of old clothes on, Rory made his way down the stairs and past his plenitude of empty rooms.

I have no idea what to do with all those.

Back on the ground floor, and not even bothering to investigate how deep his underground floors went, Rory poked his head out the doorway. Thankfully, it appeared as if the people of Ehkorrus had some closed-off space within a certain distance of his tree. As Rory looked around, he even saw what appeared to be a sign decreeing exactly that.

Hands in his pockets and attempting to look as casual as possible, Rory whistled to himself as he began his stroll. Trying to keep to the shadows or background as much as possible, Rory was surprised at how easily he was able to slip notice as he saw people milling about. Perhaps it was due to the chaos of the earlier wave, but people were clearly not paying attention to someone who, had they looked closer, they'd find themselves unable to place.

Walking around, what took Rory by surprise was just how… casual everything felt. People were talking and going about their lives, like what Rory would expect from any city back on Earth. Some sat at outside cafes, others were gossiping about who knew what, some were clearly counseling friends who had lost someone, and others argued and haggled with one another over the price of a coffee, something he noticed plenty of places serving.

It was life, pure and simple.

How odd.

No one was off battling to the death against powerful monsters, or hyper-fixating on crafting some crazy new idea.

Just people living their lives.

Letting that observation ruminate within his mind, Rory kept to himself until at last, his feet came to a stop as he looked at an oddly familiar and yet still quite different building.

"Been a while," Rory smiled to himself as he let himself drink in the pulsating thrum of power from the Stellar Heart. He couldn't see what was arguably still one of his prized creations, but he could feel it, regardless of what methods they'd used to subdue the average citizens from feeling its presence.

The forge had now grown to the size of a full-fledged factory. Were it not for runes meant to subdue the sound, he was sure that rather than a background track of hammers and steel, he would have heard a rather cacophonous noise of industry.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Pushing open a pair of heavy metal doors, Rory found himself looking down at yet another even heavier set of doors. Without thinking, Rory pushed them open before finally being presented with a third set of blast doors.

"Jeez," Rory muttered to himself, ready to shove them open until a glance to his left caused him to pinch the bridge of his nose.

Whoops.

There was a blue button and a red button, very clearly meant to open and close the doors.

So, by forcing open that second set of doors… Yeah, add that to the list of things I'm now responsible for fixing.

Rather than shove open the final set of doors, Rory gave the blue button a tap as the doors began to smoothly slide open.

Hey, not bad. Must have taken some decent inscription work to pull that off.

With the final blast door open, the real wave of noise crashed into him, hollers and hammers and sizzling abounding.

"Oye, ya lazy asses, get a move on!"

Dominating the center of the factory was a presence that single-handedly pressed down on the workers and craftsmen scurrying about, a source of power that could not be ignored.

Tier seven, the only tier seven crafter within all of Ehkorrus, a titan in the eyes of the regular crafters, a giant of their world.

And he was also only three and a half feet tall.

"Gil?" Rory found himself questioning out loud. In the past, the man had been capable of presenting two forms: a short and a tall form. However, something was different now; it was as if he were somehow both.

Odd.

Marching forward, Rory moseyed on over, stepping behind the hollering man and tapping him on the shoulder.

"What you E.O.N. damned lout!" The man began to shout as he turned. "We've got work on work to handle after that rat-fuck of a wave!"

Turning around fully, a vein bulging in his forehead, the smaller man glared up at Rory. For a split second, the man seemed confused, not a face he was expecting, before the glare crumbled.

"Founder Rory?" Gil said, shock on his face, his words nearly a whisper. "No… No, it ain't real. I got the notification like 'eryone else, but I almost couldn't believe it."

"In the flesh," Rory said with a grin.

"Well, I'll be damned," Gil's mouth spread into a wide grin before a booming laugh rang out, several workers and artisans looking over in confusion. "It feels surreal to see you again, like you walked straight on out of one of me dreams."

"Spend a lot of time dreaming about me?" Rory questioned, eyebrow raised.

"Hah, I'd be dreamin' bout a pile o monster shit like it were a pretty lady if it could weild a hammer half as well as you." Gil snorted. "It's good to see you again. Us geners', thought you up and died."

"Geners'?" Rory questioned, unfamiliar with the term.

"What us first gen sometimes call ourselves." For a moment, Gil's face fell, Rory having a good idea as to why, before it lifted back up a moment later, though a shade less happy. "I'd ask what brings you 'ere, but this place is rightfully yours; I just take care of the old lass."

"It's changed," Rory noted. "Also, it moved."

"Moving buildings ain't that hard," Gil said. "Though the shining brat didn't 'ppreciate being magically stored away."

"You speak of the Stellar Heart like it's a living thing," Rory chuckled, before noticing Gil hadn't joined it.

"Like it's a living thing?" Rory repeated, sensing an odd feeling from Gil.

"Easier to 'splain if you come with me," Gil finally sighed, with half a grumble. "I ain't wanna deal with her on my own."

"Her?"

Remaining silent, Gil led the confused Rory to the back of the factory-sized workshop as they found themselves in front of another set of blast doors.

"Back 'ere."

Rather than press a button, Gil flexed his aura as the doors began to recede.

"We had to engineer a way to keep the idjats from getting too curious and getting themselves killed. Only a few people can pass these doors, and it recognizes our aura."

Making their way past the doors, they finally came to a stop in what could only be called a forge cosplaying the cosmos. The walls were pitch black except for twinkling gems imbued with starlight energy, and channels of silver liquid snaked through the floor and walls. Large orbs floated through the room, spinning and turning in precise orbits.

As for what they were orbiting?

"I demand a snack!" A surprisingly whiny voice hollered at them within moments of entering the room, reminding Rory of a thirteen-year-old girl.

"Oye, 'ya were just fed last week."

"I'm still hungry!"

Many things had surprised Rory in the past, but for quite some time, he had believed himself immune to real surprises.

Clearly not.

"Is he the snack? Are you finally letting me feed on what I want?"

The Stellar Heart, a star born of his own creation, what had been his star creation stretching decades.

It was talking.

"We most definitely ain't letting you eat people, we been over this." Gil rumbled. "Asides, methinks you wouldn't want to eat him. Or that you could."

The star, now the width of a person, warbled and shrank inward until it was the size of a beach ball. Only a moment later, the beach ball of condensed starlight suddenly opened like a blooming lotus flower as a figure stepped out.

"I can eat anything!" The pixie snapped back, folding her arms one over the other.

Unable to help himself, Rory instantly examined the creature.

Stellar Unseelie Fae

Level: Sixty-eight

"That's rude!" The Unseelie snapped as she glared daggers at Rory. "Examining someone without permission is a crime. Now let me eat you."

"Not a crime," Gil sighed. "We also been over that."

"What happened?" Rory ignored the little fairy, only a foot tall, as he turned to look at Gil.

"It was maybe twenty years ago," Gil said. "Yer' prized Stellar Heart suddenly shrank down to a speck, we thought we done fucked up something. Instead, it had changed into something called a Star Sprite Elemental. Rather than a fuck up, it was like everything we made was that much better, and that was for anything made in this vicinity, carrying hints of starlight. Not enough to taint anything that wanted to be conceptually pure, but enough to give 'em a bit of a kick in the pants."

"What do you mean by his Stellar Heart?" The Fae stamped her feet midair. "I wasn't anyone's. If anything, you all work for me!"

"What happened then?" Rory asked, still ignoring the pouting pixie.

"Well, not much for fifteen or so years. Damn thing gobbled up materials like a glutton and grew in level fast. Still, it did everything the prior non-living Stellar Heart did, so we didn't see an issue. Except, once it cracked mid-tier six…. It evolved."

"Evolved?"

"Yeah, like some monsters tend to do. Elementals are weird lil things. Went from an existence we ain't ever seen before, to popping up here and there around the same time as the changes in the Stellar Heart. Figured it was some shift with Aelia or something. Problem was, by feeding that Star Sprite Elemental literal physical material and then all of our appreciation for it, we think we sorta… nudged it into this little brat."

"Who are you calling a brat!" The Fae began flying around Gil's head, smacking him in the dome. While it might not have seemed like much to an observer, Rory could understand why others weren't let close. The Unseelie Fae, even just throwing a tantrum, was striking with force that could gravely wound a fellow tier six, if not outright splatter anything below.

Calming down after beating on Gil's head, the man, being a forging-focused artisan, mainly had focused on durability and thus ignored her hits, whirled around to glare at Rory once more.

"So, who are you?" She asked, now floating in front of his face. "Your aura is lying. If you really had an aura that weak, I'd have gobbled you up already."

"What does she mean by that?" Rory asked, turning to look at Gil.

"She literally has a gravity that draws in things too weak to stand her aura; it's like an always active effect. We had a few close calls, which led to the precautions with her. If you're the same tier as 'er, it's like a constant tug-o-war. Above 'er tier, and it doesn't have an effect."

"Nasty," Rory said as he nodded to himself.

"Stop ignoring me!"

Rory proceeded to continue ignoring the pixie as he asked the following question on his mind.

"Has she been a hindrance?"

"Headache, aye," Gil answered. "Hindrance… No. In fact, part of why we lasted as many waves as we did is thanks to her."

"Really?" Rory said, curious.

"Aye. You see that silver stuff?" Gil pointed at a silver liquid flowing from the center of the room through channels and conduits.

"Yeah?"

"It's her aura, condensed into liquid starlight, a very weak form of liquid starlight, but liquid starlight all the same. We been using it for a wide range of purposes, from metalworking to alchemy. It was actually Mariah who came up with the concoction that could leach some of her aura into that form. Without it, well, we probably woulda fallen two or three years ago."

"Good, you're carrying your weight then," Rory said as he finally turned his attention directly to the Fae.

"Of course I am, why would I let some stupid monsters lay claim to my rightful kingdom!" The little fairy puffed her chest out as she attempted to look down on Rory.

"Quite the ego," Rory turned away to look at Gil.

"Aye. As I said earlier, we, err, fed into it. Too much whispered thanks toward her when she was but a wee elemental went straight to her head upon evolving."

"Because I'm a star, I'm the center of everything!" The fairy said.

"Heliocentric models were proved wrong," Rory said offhandedly.

"Helio-what?" The Fae continued to float around his head, looking quite confused. "Are you casting magic?"

"No," Rory answered.

"Oh. Wait, you never told me who you are!" The fairy suddenly whizzed around so that she was floating inches from his face. "Tell me your name, so I may know who my newest servant is!"

"Rory," Rory said, nodding to the fairy. "Do you have a name you prefer to go by?"

"I am Queen Empress Astra the Great and Powerful!" Astra said.

"Astra it is," Rory said with a nod.

"No, it's Great Queen Astra, the Powerful and Mighty!" The fairy countered.

"That's literally different from what you said before." Rory snorted. The fairy was definitely a brat, but an amusing one at least.

"That's because I-" The fairy suddenly stopped, her eyes widening a fraction as her mind replayed Rory's earlier introduction. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Rory," Rory said.

"Rory… As in the one who rules all this?" The fairy asked.

"I wouldn't say I rule it, per se."

The fairy's eyes continued to widen before a flicker of something passed through.

Oh boy, I can recognize the look of a kid who thinks they have a great idea.

"I, the Great Almighty Queen Astra, Empress of the Heavens Above, challenge you, the Ruler-King Rory the Lesser, to a battle to the death, with the winner the new leader!"

Yep. There it is.

Rory folded his arms, nodding to himself as if contemplating the pros and cons.

Finally, having come to a decision, Rory snapped his hand forward, as the fairy was sent tumbling through the air, struck in the head by the mightiest attack of all.

A hefty flick to the forehead.

Cradling her forehead and dramatically tumbling through the air, Rory could only sigh as he watched the fairy that had been born from his precious Stellar Heart.

I hate being a single parent.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.