As I worked my way through the storm dance, I couldn’t help but wonder how Calbern’s search was going. Kinda hoped he was on his way back.

Despite Calbern being gone, I wasn’t exercising alone.

In fact, we had a not so small group. After finding out storm dancing could help with spell casting, Arizar had insisted that I give lessons.

And not just to her.

In addition to Tamrie, half the Tethered were gathered, watching and following along, Tanis and Selvi at the front. None had their first spell slot unlocked yet, but that hadn’t kept them from showing up.

I tried not to think about it too much, simply shifting to the next position. My enhanced memory and pattern recognition couldn’t help but compare a lot of the moves to the martial arts I’d occasionally seen in movies. Not the sparring, but the other stuff. The practice katas.

By the time we were finished, I had a new appreciation for how much the trials were helping with my agility. I felt far less awkward than many of the Tethered following along.

Tanis had picked it up instantly, of course, but comparing myself to him was pointless. I wasn’t that much of a glutton for punishment.

Tamrie snagged my arm, leading me to Tender’s trials.

Bevel and Arizar were just behind us, not so politely arguing about whether it would be better to hold future lessons atop the peak of Mount Aeternia or within Tender’s halls.

Neither had appreciated the empty ridgetop we’d done the lessons on that morning. When I’d suggested that we didn’t need to keep meeting as a group, I’d been instantly shut down.

After the storm dancing, our session with Tender was less painful than it’d been the day before though there were a lot more breaks involved. Even our marginal increase in awareness had helped us keep from getting to the point where the pain would spike harshly, since we could recognize it building then simply stop to let it settle.

It took us five times as long to finish. I suspected most people would prefer that to the extreme pain we’d gone through, no matter how temporary.

Tamrie certainly had. She’d also enjoyed using the breaks as an excuse to cuddle.

After we finished the trial, I had a free morning, thanks to several scheduling mismatches.

Bevel and I took the opportunity to repair another Waygate, one that was on the opposite side from the Golden Halls, hoping it’d balance the network.

“Isn’t that the swamp where-”

Bevel’s question was interrupted by a burst of flame shooting into the air.

“Where the Inferno Drakes are staying? Yeah, looks like it,” I said, shaking my head. The Waygate was supposed to be roughly in the middle of the bog. Considering the lack of solid land visible from our location in the air, I suspected the next part was going to be less than pleasant.

Of course, that would’ve been more true if not for a few quick spells.

Aegis to keep everything away and Water Breathing, just in case. Then we took turns wading through the swamp as close to the coordinates as possible, each of us shooting out an occasional spell to check the depths.

We were searching an area less than a hundred feet by a hundred feet and it still took us two hours to find the buried Waygate.

Amazingly, it was mostly intact.

Wanting a better reception area than a swamp, I decided to sculpt a protective area out of stone. Only there wasn’t a terribly large supply of stone at hand. After a quick trip to fill my pendant with loose stone from the ridge to the north, I returned and created a sort of reverse well. Like a polder from the Netherlands, except less dikes and more stone wall.

With a dry area clear of the local swamp, Bevel set to work repairing the Waygate while I pulled out my latest designs for spatial storage. It looked like we were going to have a fair amount of extra material to test with. Thanks to our work on the Waygates, I felt my understanding of the basics had improved to the point I could make a ring similar to the one Nexxa and I had received as our boon what felt like a lifetime ago.

Assuming that was my ego talking, I figured I’d start with a basic storage vault. The designs were easy enough to lay out. The ease with which I sketched the first out was one of the more obvious impacts of my increased mental attributes.

By the time Bevel had finished the repairs to the Waygate, I had a dozen possible setups for a storage vault.

“Ready to fire it up?” I asked, hopping down beside her.

“I… think so?” Bevel said, running her hand over the recently enchanted stone. “Do you see any mistakes?”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I looked over her work, stopping part way through, chuckling. “That was entirely unnecessary.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking ‘bout,” Bevel said, grinning as she activated the Waygate. She disappeared in a flash of darkness, and I shook my head.

She’d decided to work ‘Papa stinks’ into the Spellcode that would activate the Waygate to the swamp. Unfortunately appropriate after the time we’d spent there.

Returning a couple seconds after her, I found her sitting near the central crystal with her legs dangling over the edge. I left her to it, checking the new mana draw. When I activated the Golden Halls Waygate, I was delighted to find we’d brought the network’s stability up massively.

“Everything’s coming up green,” I said after flicking through all the submenus.

“The green? Is that good?” Bevel asked, flopping backwards, catching herself on a pillow of air before her head could hit the stone.

“Yeah. Green’s good,” I confirmed, moving about the chamber and checking if there was a way to improve it further.

Turned out that we’d reached a threshold and now every Waygate that was running reduced the overall mana maintenance further. Which meant Waygates weren’t a priority any longer. It was a shame, since we only had two more of the outer ring to repair to have them all done, but that was something Banya’s crew could set up for us.

With the Waygate network up and running, the next few days were spent helping set up the Vox Knights and Arizar in their respective new homes.

To my surprise, when Vexith had learned we had a Waygate in the bog, he’d been excited.

Well, he’d smiled, clapped me on the shoulder and said, “An excellent place for our training camps.”

“There are Inferno Drakes there. Ones we want to keep alive. Mostly,” I said, brushing his arm off.

He nodded. “The local wildlife will be preserved. Adverse conditions make for better training.”

“Right. Anyway, I’ll set you up with a code,” I said, shaking my head.

He nodded again, clapping me on the back as he went back to… whatever he’d been doing with the stack of crates I’d found him next to.

I found Tamrie and Arizar together in one of the meeting rooms of our mountain home, going over records of… ah, of our recent refugee arrivals. It looked like Arizar was helping us sort out their existing skill sets, organizing educational programs and…

Yeah, I’d really been slacking. The speed with which they were revising almost had me retreating. A reminder how much practice helped despite my enhanced pattern recognition.

Still, I joined them, mostly as a silent observer. Was there to learn. Some of what they were doing Arizar and Books had told me before.

Simple optimization and organization.

A few minutes in, and I was starting to understand their current focus. Ensuring the refugees became part of our culture.

This was being done by using reward programs that encouraged cooperation, problem solving and protecting others.

Until Arizar stated them as specific goals, I hadn’t realize they were part of our culture.

The next hour was spent with the ladies continuing their work, only occasionally disrupted by one of my questions.

“Honestly, I’m surprised you all weren’t in a worse state when I arrived,” Arizar said while packing up her notes. “I visited several communities with far more educated Shapers in charge who’ve done worse. And they weren’t struggling with wave upon wave of refugees.”

“The Tethered have been a big help. As has Tamrie,” I admitted, nodding towards her.

“Lot easier to dredge up good results when you can wave a hand and grow enough fruit to feed a hold,” Tamrie said, bumping me with her elbow.

“That would have made it easier,” Arizar agreed. “The Foresthalls made use of such spells within the borders of Terra Vista more expensive than simply purchasing from them. Father had expressed his concerns about such a monopoly with the council more than once. It is a tragedy that it took a war for them to see the truth.”

“So, the other Shapers were set up to fail?” I asked. “Too reliant on the Foresthalls?”

“Hardly,” Arizar said, shaking her head. “If anything, they had it easier. A couple Waves and they could’ve fed your entire country for the next few months.”

“Our country,” Tamrie said, giving Arizar a hip bump. “You’re team Aeternia now.”

“I suppose I am,” Arizar replied, smiling for a second. Then it turned into a frown. “I would be far happier with my new home if not for the neighbors. I was not expecting the Sahevin to be so decidedly aggressive.”

“Really? Matches what I found about them in Spellford’s archives.”

“I find myself continuously reminded that to know a thing and to apply it to my life are two entirely different matters,” Arizar said, giving us a small smile.

“Ain’t that the honest truth,” Tamrie said, having somehow taken each of our arms during our discussion. “Never mentioned why you stopped by, Perry. Wasn’t just to learn ‘bout how we were sorting folk, was it now?”

“Right. Got the Waygate network stabilized. You’ve got unlimited access to Overflow B now Arizar,” I said, leaning in to give Tamrie a kiss on top of her messy mop of hair.

“You have an absolutely infuriating betrothed, my dear,” Arizar said, patting Tamrie’s arm while glaring at me over her shoulder, earning her a laugh from Tamrie.

“Last I checked, having the network online was good news,” I said as we stopped just inside the entrance to our mountain home.

“More’n like she’s happy with the news. Though perhaps, you could’ve mentioned it before we spent an hour determining where to assign labor,” Tamrie said, leaning her head on my shoulder.

“Right. I meant to, I just didn’t want to interrupt and then I got caught up in understanding what you were doing,” I said, feeling my cheeks warm.

“That is infuriatingly over-considerate for the man who is supposed to be in charge of this country,” Arizar said, managing to make the word considerate sound like a filthy curse. “Were my father to be so easily discouraged from sharing important information, Spellford would never have become the center of learning and enchantineering it is today.”

“It’s not like anyone was in danger,” I grumped out.

“It’s fine, love,” Tamrie said, kissing my cheek. “Arizar is simply vexed because we must now go over most of our work from this morning.”

“That’s a pretty good reason to be vexed,” I said with a sigh. “Sorry, didn’t think it’d make that big of an impact. That’s exactly why I need to learn it.”

Arizar nodded, letting out a breath through her nose. “You have admitted your ignorance in such matters more than once. I suppose it is only right that I educate you. Shall I talk to your assistant to schedule lessons?”

To my surprise, Tamrie was nodding. Not so much as a squeeze of my arm. “Best to have ‘em after our walks along the paths. Not everyday, but a couple times a week’d and we’ll get him sorted right quick.”

“Very well. Now, while it might be more efficient to revisit our plans, I think we can use our original plans for a few days. I find… I very much want to visit my new city,” Arizar said, moving us forward. “And would appreciate the company of my friend.”

“I’ll just-”

“And perhaps her paramour can accompany us as well, to ensure his lady’s safety,” Arizar added, cutting me off.

Well. Guess I was going to Overflow B with Arizar and Tamrie.

Felt kinda outnumbered.