403 House of Tempest: The Second day (1/2)

Talot has cast [Uncilliary].

Nix focused and pushed the tip of his blade into the first gap, a flick of his wrist sent it away from him.

”Well done, Nix.” Chiba clapped from the edge of the yard. For whatever reason, Chiba wasn't wearing her ring. Her thick golden hair was braided and tied off with a red ribbon. Talot had nearly collapsed in shock when they showed up for training.

The streak of success continued for another dozen spells before Nix finally missed one.

”Move the sword to your offhand, Nix.” Chiba walked to the center of the yard and stood behind him.

Unlike many swordsmen, Nix was ambidextrous. By lunch on the second day, he ranked up to Level Three 1/30. Chiba called a halt to the training as soon as he told her.

”Take the rest of the day off, Nix. You need to absorb what you have learned.” Chiba smiled at her apprentice's obvious disappointment. ”Starting tomorrow, we'll work on dual-blade spell defense. Steady progression is the key.”

Nix nodded. ”Fine. What are we going to do then?”

Chiba shrugged. ”Get away for a bit, maybe do some crafting. No sword work if you can help it.”

After cleaning up, Nix decided to stretch his legs by walking. He left the House of Tempest and wandered aimlessly. Market street was crowded, once the cities were connected again, foot traffic between them created an economic boon for crafters and vendors.

Soup sat comfortably on his shoulder, taking in the view with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness. ”You haven't got out much, it's the noise, right?”

Unexpectedly after buying lunch from a street vendor, Nix found himself standing in front of the large empty space that used to be the Greater House of Oasis.

”Kinda hate seeing it empty like that, boss.”

A familiar voice spoke from behind him, Nix turned to see Wind. ”I've been thinking about that too. This Everspire expansion derailed some of our plans.”

Wind was wearing his upgraded Nether Armor. His dark hair had recently been cut much shorter, it made the lean Gemini thief look dangerous. ”We gonna head to the 90th floor and finish it?”

Nix nodded. ”When I finish training at the House of Tempest, we'll do it.”

/Inferno: Pon: The hell did you go, Wind?

/Inferno: Wind: Am at the Empty lot where the House of Oasis used to be. Nix is here.

/Inferno: Pon: On my way!

Nix chuckled. ”Should we bolt on him?”

Wind nodded, ”it would serve him right. The old man's been walking around smiling all the time. It's disgusting.”

Nix has joined Alpha channel.

Wind has joined Alpha channel.

Pon has joined Alpha channel.

/Alpha: Pon: You slacking today, Nix?

/Alpha: Pon: Is that still a thing? F*ck yeah!

/Alpha: Wind: How big a raid is it?

/Alpha: Nix: Nine in all. The five foundation stones and the four corner pillars.

/Alpha: Pon: Shit... I can't remember who they were.

/Alpha: Nix: Of course not, you're an old man. You're lucky you remember where your dick is.

[Five Foundation Stones] Nix, Shae, Vooni, Chiba, Rhylia.

[Four Corner Pillars] Fajii, Wind, Semmi, Pon.

/Alpha: Wind: Let's do it!

/Alpha: Nix: Put the others on call. If I get another break in training this week, we'll knock it out. If not, we'll do it when I get back.

/Alpha: Pon: What are you going to do with Icaraphet?

/Alpha: Nix: Join it to the rest of the Dragon Cities.

Pon shared a glance with Wind before continuing.

/Alpha Pon: What if you didn't?

/Alpha Nix: You've something in mind? Spill it.

/Alpha: Pon: Move it offshore near Loki.

/Alpha: Wind: The Aquarion Colony built an underwater settlement, but they aren't exactly thriving.

/Alpha: Nix: You're talking about Ishna and her people.

/Alpha: Pon: Yep. And my daughter Ayla.

/Alpha: Nix: You do remember that Ishna tried to nab me?

/Alpha: Wind: Old news boss. Ayla isn't the only Aquarion baby there, a whole lot of daughters have been born recently.

Nix remembered Gideon telling him that there was a list of preferred fathers, both he and Nix were on it.

/Alpha: Nix: I'm not against it. We currently have a lot of space.

/Alpha: Pon: I'm not asking that you give it to them.

/Alpha: Wind: Even with the elites from the Neptiphago fight, there's less than fifty of them, including children.

/Alpha: Nix: To tell you the truth, I forgot about the Archon Aquarions that were serving Neptiphago.

*****************[Story Reminder]****************

Aquarius City was hidden in the Polar Ice Cap of Colonial. A squad of Archon Aquarions under the Command of Aki was pretending to serve Neptiphago while their true master grew stronger. Nix freed them of Khione's influence by baptizing them in flames. Afterward, Inferno placed the elite squad of Aquarions in Oasis with Ishna, the former Aquarion Matriarch who once tried to kidnap Nix.

*************************************************

/Alpha: Wind: That leaves a lot of space. We could open it up to some of our other allies.

/Alpha: Pon: Just a thought.

/Alpha: Nix: Talk to the other officers and see what they think.

/Alpha: Wind: Damn... Fajii is still with Eron and that third Bo'raz guy. We can't finish the Greater House quest until she gets back.

/Alpha: Nix: I expect she'll be back before this week is over. No worries, we'll get it done.

/Alpha: Pon: It'll be nice to have a place here in Solomon City. These taverns have the best fights.

The trio continued walking, enjoying the afternoon without the hassle of constant fighting.

/Alpha: Wind: What's the House of Tempest like?

/Alpha: Nix: Hmm... What have you heard?

/Alpha: Pon: That it's loaded with smoking hot demon women who wear skin-tight black leather and carry whips.

/Alpha: Nix: That's very solid intel.

Nix stopped suddenly, his mind whirling. ”Who are our top crafters?”

Wind opened his hud and brought up the list of crafters. ”Let's see. The former Gladis Hub people are rated the highest. We can take out Lena, she switched from carpentry to shipwright.