System Anomaly [A fantasy litRPG adventure]

Mira and Kai stood on the roof of the lake house watching a massive mound of stone and earth rise up from the centre of the lake.

He had expected there to be some wash or wave on the shoreline, but the water level didn't even seem to drop as Kai was reminded that things in the domain weren't always what they seemed.

Water rained down from the massive mound as it rose higher.

"You're sure this won't fall?" Mira asked him cautiously.

"Yeah… I don't know how they float exactly, just that they do. So, I shouldn't have any random thoughts about structural integrity that override my reasoning once it's at the right height. That and I'm going to have Syl check it out so my brain's not constantly thinking I did it wrong."

"I told you the tower would fall," Mira said as she turned her attention to him and smirked.

Kai raised a hand. "You also said you wouldn't mention it again."

He was surprised to hear Mira giggle.

"If it helps, my approach to this is different from what I was trying to do with that tower. I took an existing chunk of the domain and applied my intent, just like how my magic works. With the tower I was trying to make everything from scratch. Using logic instead of my usual mix of willpower and intent that's been working for me so far."

"Dont be like Kai," Mira mocked.

Kai gave her an aghast look of mock indignation, but she just smiled and turned back to watch the rising chunk of domain break free of the lake's surface.

"Why is it shaped like that?"

Kai looked at the upside down cylinder with its large flared top and squinted. "Now that you mention it, it does look like a traffic cone… but to answer your question, it's shaped that way because of what I plan to do with it. The tops for us, then we can carve into the lower centre cone to make roosts for the dragons. I feel like dragons might become a definite feature of this place over the years… decades?" he shrugged, "just planning ahead."

They watched the faux sky stacks slowly rise for about an hour.

When the top area matched about the same height that his now defunct tower once had, it settled where it was, and they watched it for another half hour just to be sure the giant floating mass was happy where it was and wasn't going to drop out of the sky on a whim.

When it seemed stable, Kai opened one of his new archways on the side of the roof, and they made their way out onto the wide upper surface of the domain skystack… he really was terrible at naming things.

The first thing he noticed was the smell as the surface he created was covered in sludge and debris that had once been deep at the bottom of the lake.

Mira wrinkled her nose and looked back through the archway to the significantly less smelly rooftop behind them.

With a wave of his hand, Kai channelled his inner Syl as he made the slurry disappear with a thought. Only his effort was thwarted when, despite his best attempt, a thin layer of detritus remained on the now smooth, dark sandy coloured stone surface he had just revealed in its place.

He guessed the slick left behind must have been from those fish Talious had mentioned, so with another gesture he pushed what remained back into the lake thinking that it might have some nutritional value.

He turned to Mira and saw that she was still covering her nose as she cautiously returned to his side.

The smell remained, which meant he was a little stuck with what he could do about it.

That was when he remembered he could do pretty much anything within the domain, grinning to himself he hit the area with the same effect as a cleanse stone.

Mira growled at him.

"Oh right, sorry, caught you up in that, did I?"

"Yes, you did," she said as she sniffed at the collar of her pyjamas and sighed. "But it's much better than that other smell, so I will forgive you."

"I think I can make it smelly again, or would you rather check out the view?"

"View!" Mira said sharply as she bolted away from him.

He walked after her as he started to mentally plan things out.

When he got to her side, he was once again blown away by the sight.

The sky thing he had created didn't disappoint, its central location certainly gave it precedence. "Look, I can see my house from here," he said, pointing down at the lakeside manor Syl had constructed.

"What's that?" Mira said, skipping over Kai's joke and pointing to a cluster of buildings.

"That's where team Korabain live… Cillian, Aoife, Niamh, Maeve and Saoirse."

"I need to stay away from Cillian," Mira said abruptly.

"What makes you say that?"

"He… he takes a liking to me. He's bad at giving scratches, among other things," Mira said, blushing, "I mean, well, that's what the visions revealed. You always find the right spot."

"Ah, I'll make sure to let him know you're not interested."

"You usually handle it for me, sometimes it's Syl. Or Niamh and the others."

"He doesn't try anything, does he?"

"What do you mean? He gets me flowers and stuff, but they usually make my nose itchy."

"Good to know. Come around this way, there a whole village of Kitsuné and other spiritual being they brought in, will be interesting to see what their village looks like from up here."

They walked the circumference of what was effectively a perfect circle, Kai pointing out anything he found interesting.

The kitsuné village in and of itself was a sight to behold. Calling it a village seemed inadequate as to him, and he thought that town might bit looked more like a bustling little town. Its fields reaching far out into the domain, with flocks of livestock roaming freely in wide open pastures.

Realising he had never visited the place, he wondered what it was actually like in person.

When they got back to the arch, he was certain his plan was going to work. The best part being anything he created here could easily be moved by repositioning his sky island thing .

"So, do you think you could see yourself staying up here, enjoying the view whenever you had the mind?" he asked Mira.

"I love it… but it's a little…" she sighed. "I worry about getting up and down."

"That the first thing I want to work on. Once I'm done, you'll have access to most of the key locations of the domain from here," he said as he waved a hand and the area where they were standing rose up to form a platform. Several other arches appeared in a semicircle with the one back to the rooftop of the lake house.

"That's the Korabains, the houses and the village… plenty of room to add more and make adjustments later," He said as he walked through the arch to the Korabain's little compound and looked about, wondering if Syl or anyone had seen what he was up to yet.

He came back through to Mira and looked about. The transition walking from one location to the other was seemless. The only issue was that one side of the arch was significantly more barren than the other.

He focused and applied his intent to the domain again.

A tall perimeter wall sprung up around the outer edge of the platform, and Kai filled the area in with substrate he pulled from what he hoped was an unsued area of the domain.

The result was a relatively flat area covered in the usual purple grass and assortment of wildflowers he had never seen before, the glowing yellow petals of one variety reminding him of Alicia's mana.

"That's better, don't you think?"

"Needs trees," Mira replied as looked around on the change with a small amount of awe

"Getting to that, we'll add trees when we have a better idea of where everything is going."

"Everything?"

He started walking towards the middle of the area and grinned as he said, "theirs got to be a pool if I want to throw you into the water at some point."

Mira lost a step as she followed.

"Come on, it won't be that bad. I promise."

Kai carved out a giant pool in the middle of the island and was surprised to find it fill with crystal clear water the moment he had finished lining the area with sparkling blue polished stone.

Unlike the lakeshore far below, he made this pool with a stone apron that went around its full perimeter when he was done. It was roughly twice the diameter of an Olympic pool with one end significantly deeper than the other.

His reasoning being that it would be a good place to do laps or even swim circles and not just somewhere to get wet and let loose from time to time.

The perfect circle seemed odd to him, but he decided corners were overrated for now and that he would adjust the shape to be more organic later when he came to add other details

Seeing the pool in place, he wondered how the lakeside home would look up here, and he made a plain, empty, copy of his home minus all the storage vaults below it towards the deeper end of the pool so that you could still jump from the roof if you felt so inclined.

It worked… but at the same time it was a little off.

The Lakehouse had of course been designed to sit alongside the lake, not a large pool.

"What do you think?"

"Looks odd… is that where we are going to be staying?"

"Nah, it's where I'm hoping I'll be staying. But I'll need to run it past my two ladies for approval. I trust that they will work on it, adding their touch until it looks right."

Mira looked at the pool of crystal clear water dubiously.

"What is it?"

"Still water. Sip doesn't like it."

Kai looted at the pool and its still surface, Sip was right. With a nod, a small section on one side of the pool rose up to form a hidden grotto. A small rock feature that doubled as a cave that you could swim through and a waterfall that fed the pool.

"Is that better?" he asked, turning to Mira.

She tilted her head and asked, "Where does it all go… I mean, how does it not overflow?"

"It's that kind of thinking that made my tower fall down."

Mira's face scrunched up in embarrassment. "Sorry, it's Sip who is asking. She likes the waterfall. She is questioning if there's a springstone in there or something… and she says this place will flood if you don't do something."

Kai sighed, "Trust a water spirit to make a magical pool on a floating island complicated. I don't even know what a springstone is… but I hazard a guess, it's a stone that magically seeps water."

Mira nodded.

An hour later, they stood on the side of the platform watching water drop off the edge to fall to the lake below.

"Is Sip happy now?"

Mira nodded.

"Good, because I have to admit this is a cool feature."

He had gone with Sips' guidance and added four streams to the sky island, each of them fed from the overflow of the pool. They spread out in the four cardinal directions in a weird symmetry that was adjusted to look natural as each stream worked its way through the slight rise and fall of the land before reaching its desired end point which just so happened to separate the island into four roughly equal quadrants.

He had liked the effect so much he even mentally tweaked the flow of water to increase the effect of the four waterfalls. Going so far as to return to the lake house below a couple of times to get the look of it just right.

Satisfied, he turned to Mira. "Now, I was going to ask you which view you preferred most before we started working on your place… but I just made this thing spin. Not enough that anyone should get dizzy… but one full rotation should be a day in the physical realm. I planned to do something similar with the sky above, and I still might, but for now, this should help with the passage of time. That, and rule of cool and all that."

Mira tilted her head, "You're going to say that a lot if I go ahead with you teaching me."

Kai grinned, "It's one of the most important rules for having a good time. Now, where do you want to be? We can go closer to the platform with all the arches so you can get about the domain more easily. Or we can go near the house I put down… where I'm hoping to end up."

"Anywhere I want?" Miras asked, her eyes going a little wider as she locked them on Kai.

"Mira, that's the whole point. This is all for you. We just spent an hour adding water features because Sip recommended it. If you want, we can add something like a pyre or beacon for Wik or anything else the others might want. What Syl did for you in the house was a nice gesture, but I think, while your friends want to be close to you, they might like a bit more than that. Come on, pick a spot, and I'll show you what I mean."

They ended up quite close to where Kai had put the copy of the lake house.

Mira just stood off to the side of the building, looking about for Kai to show her what he was thinking.

Kai instead walked off to the edge of the platform to where one of the thick streams rolled off the edge as he asked, "Sip likes the streams, right?"

Mira nodded.

"And you'll be able to sleep with the sound of running water?"

"I would prefer it."

"And you said you were used to sleeping in caves?"

"Yes, and no. It depended on the time of year or when Mountain told me it was safe. There were creatures that came through from time to time, and I had to stay hidden," Mira said thoughtfully.

Nodding along, Kai waved his hand, and the ground rose up just in front of them. The lush purple grass rolled over the top of the front of everyone's favourite fantasy hill home. There was only one room inside at the moment, but all the crucial details were there, right down to the round porthole windows and the circular door. It was a little on the nose, but who was going to sue him here?

"One comfy, totally conceptual ground home. If you find any gold rings in deep dark caves. Leave them alone," Kai said as he took a step back to admire his handy work.

Mira looked at him in confusion.

"Oh yeah, forgot the garden," Kai said as the area in front of the door opened up and levelled out into a stone garden with small boulders and a mix a sand and gravel that appeared to replace the earth and purple grass. "Think Pepple will like something like this… might need to import some real stone for him to really settle," Kai said as he mentally raked the pebbles and sand into ripples around the boulders.

Miras looked to the door with its stone garden and smiled, "This is for me?"

"If you like it. I think by now you should be getting an idea of how easy it is to change things up for you. I mean eventually I hope well have this whole place filled out without overcrowding it too much, but yes, this is for you."

She tentatively walked forward and opened the door to a small porchway where Kai thought you could kick off your shoes, hang your coat or umbrella if you had the need.

That porch was immediately connected to a short stairway that led deeper.

Following Mira down the stairs, he got to the first and only room to find Mira pressed up against the glass of the far wall.

He had stolen Syl's fondness for glass walls, and Mira stood looking far out over the domain instead of just a picturesque, if not still impressive, low view of the lake.

"You like the view. It's a bit bare, but I'm new to this whole thing. But I think it's better for you to fill up with your own stuff," he said as he looked about. "If you like it. We could start by adding a fireplace for Wik to hang out in."

"Please!" Mira said eagerly as she spun around.

"You'll want a bathroom, a bedroom and a kitchen for snacking, just point where you want something and I'll start making the changes. A balcony might be cool for Brees, but I'm not too sure what to do about Chil. Something for sip…Oh if we do something like this," he gestured at one wall, redirecting a portion of the water from above to form a curtain of water that then collected in a basin and was drawn away to rejoin the waterfall just beside the glass wall.

Mora rushed him, her arms wrapping around him as she drove the air from his lungs.

She held him there for a long moment before she finally mumbled, "I know what you're doing."

"Yeah… and I feel like I'm already abusing the visions we shared."

"You think if I really feel this is my home then that last vision will be the one that comes to pass… that no one else will get hurt."

"It's worth a try."

"But you still-"

"Die… but I also have a thought at the end. How can I have a thought if I'm, you know, dead? Mira, I'm honestly trying to find the point of all those visions, there had to be something we are missing." He pulled himself free and lowered himself to look her in the eyes. "This is why I need you to humour me, be honest with me, and for heaven's sake, don't let the others know. We just need to figure out the first line, the sisters departed, the promise kept and the whole brother thing. I'm ready to sacrifice, and I really think we can make this a home for you and everyone else."

He held Mira's gaze for a while until she nodded and turned to the curtain of water Kai had created. "Does that have to go there?"

Kai smiled. "Anywhere you want."

Kai lost track of time decorating the hill home with Mira. In the end, she had a cosey little place to call her home with plenty of plans to fill it out and really make it her own.

"What do you think of moving it slightly so its inline with the stream above, we can put a fork in the stream so your home sits in the middle of two waterfalls," Kai was saying when he opened her front door to step out into her garden. Her garden, where four patient women were waiting for him.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"You've been busy," Syl said with her fingers on her hips, "I asked you to watch over Mira, not stay up all night building a castle in the sky."

"Needed to be done," Kai said, not knowing if Syl was annoyed with him or not with how tightly she had clamped down on her side of the bond.

"It's not going to fall down, is it?" Mira asked Syl as she turned around and tried the key Kai had given her. It was almost as if the act of locking the door was her claiming the place as her own, and it would prevent it from being taken away.

Syl smiled, and the land they were standing on along with the home Kai had created for Mira shifted position, and the stream split to run around everyone.

"So I'm not in trouble," Kai said carefully.

Alicia chuckled as her control over her side of the bond slipped and genuine joy flooded through.

"Kai, I'm overjoyed. And no Mira, Kai's done everything right, this place won't fall down," Syl said as she looked over her shoulder at Kai's copy of their home. "Are you happy with the placement?"

"I think so, as I've told Mira, everything here is a work in progress-" he hadn't even finished talking and Syl was waving her hand.

Kai didn't realise how bad the copy of their home was until the details started filling out and everything moved from the lake house below to become their pool house up here.

Kai wandered over to the edge to see that it was just gone. A spot on the edge of the lake where their home once was.

Syl turned to him and nodded, "That place was only temporary, I've been waiting for you to add your own touches to this place." She said as she glanced back over her shoulder and sighed. "Had to disconnect the storage. But those arches you made have potential, so everything still connected within the house. We can tweak things as we go."

"Kai keeps saying that," Mira chuckled.

"I was actually looking forward to having you live with us," Alicia pouted.

"I was too… but on this, Kai might have the right idea," Syl said as she looked at the door to Mira's place. "Are you going to give us a tour?"

Mira hesitated for a moment and then grinned. "No."

"Why not?" Syl asked, surprised.

"Because, It's mine, and I'm not comfortable showing it off yet, its not finished," she said as she tried to hide a big yawn. "Now… goodnight?" Mira said as she turned to Kai to give him a quick hug.

"Good night, Mira," Kai said as he gave her a quick squeeze back.

Mira pulled her key back out and sharply disappeared into her new home.

Both Syl and Alicia tuned to Kai and gave him an approving smile.

Apparently he was doing something right.

"You've been busy," Syl smiled.

"Well, everyone kept saying I thought of her as a little sister, decided to embrace it. And I, for one, think she will settle in her own place faster than she would with strangers. Especially considering how she is used to a little more isolation than we would all like."

"The key is a nice touch, really gives a sense of ownership," Alicia smiled.

"It's to keep Cillian out," Kai said deadpan.

Aoife, Niamh, Syl and Alicia shared a curious look.

"Okay, who knows what?" Kai asked them.

"They know enough not to ask what caused this spontaneous act of magical domain construction," Alicia said.

Kai looked to Niamh and Aoife, who were standing together a bit behind Syl, Alicia and not saying much.

"Cillian might take a keen interest in Mira, she already knows she isn't interested in him. Oh, and she has hay fever or something like it, could just be whatever choice in flower he chose in any given vision, I honestly don't know," Kai said half to test the waters for what knowing enough meant and half to tell them to keep an eye on Cillian.

They barely reacted to the fact that there had been visions. In fact, they both just nodded, the unspoken communication being that they had received the message and would keep an eye on their party member.

The two of them looked like they hadn't slept a wink. "Long night?" he asked them both.

They both nodded.

"Want to talk about it?"

They both shook their heads.

"Was it fun? Or do I need to have words with Syl and Alicia?"

"It was fun," Niamh squeaked as her cheeks turned red and her ears flicked.

"No need to talk to them about anything we got up to, girl stuff," Aoife said a bit too quickly.

"Okay then, what do you think?" Kai asked with a gesture to his creation.

"It's nice… shame we can't stay up here, hoping you still put on lake parties." Niamh said, eyeing the crystal clear pool.

"But that arch you put down actually means it quicker for us to come over…" Aoife started, and she paused when she realised that what she was saying might imply something. "Not that we think that was your intention or anything like that… I'm just saying it used to take a little over twenty minutes to walk around the like to get to yours, now it's like five and that's nice and-"

"Aoife, you're rambling," Niamh said, cutting her off.

Aoife blushed and ducked her head.

Syl looked at the two women and let out a breath before pointing to the opposite side of the pool. "Kai, what's your plans for that area?"

"Well, at the moment the only plan I'm working on is putting a dock for Hope over there near the access arches… the nexus platform? So… nothing, no plans."

"No training area?" Alicia asked.

"Nothings set yet… I mean, I like the idea of putting down an Achery range for you and Gift, that and a martial yard for practicing my spectral blades. A meditation garden like Aoife has would be nice. But as most of our training is done out in the deeper parts of the domain, I wasn't too worried about taking out time and moving up here gradually."

"Just use theirs for now, we'll move things about later," Syl said as she yawned, and the whole of Team Korabain's compound appeared on the opposite side of the pool to their house.

Cillian ran out of his house in what looked like a pair of boxers and looked about in confusion before deciding it was too early in the morning for him to care.

"What about Ester's workshop?" Kai asked as he waved off a tired and surprised Aoife and Niamh then followed Syl and Alicia into their house, details of the building and its interior subtly changing as Syl looked about and the building settled to fit better against the side of the pool better.

"She's a big dwarf, she'll realise where we are. We need to tweak the location of your arches and set up a proper travel… nexus, so everyone can still get to the locations they are familiar with. But that set of arches you made will do for now. Moving her workshops a bit more complicated because of the adjustable temporal distortion we set up," Syl said as she turned to cup Kai's face with both her hands.

She looked into his eyes for a long time before she cleared her throat and whispered, "I already know you won't tell us what you witnessed in those visions."

Kai took her right hand and kissed her palm before looking back and slowly shaking his head to confirm she was right.

A tear ran down her cheek. "You're trying to hide it, but Kai, you're so afraid."

"And Mira," Alicia asked as she came to take his free hand.

"I've asked her to tell no one. This whole thing… it's complicated, and if you knew-"

Syl placed a finger on his lips and nodded as she took his other hand. "I appreciate the honesty, but don't tempt us with an explanation. We- we trust you, Kai. Now come, we need a cuddle… and a cry, your emotions are like a leaky sieve."

Just as they were getting to the bottom of the stairs, an eager young voice called out, "I want my mask."

Kai nearly jumped out of his skin, but Syl just turned to look at Mira with a raised eyebrow that suggested she had missed something in her statement.

"Oh, and my other stuff… please," Mira said, swishing her tail eagerly.

"This kitten needs a bell," Syl said thoughtfully.

"You are not, I repeat, putting a collar or Mira," Kai said sternly.

"I wouldn't dare, chokers are much more fashionable."

"I married a monster."

…

It felt like Kai had only just fallen to sleep, his sleeping mind replaying uneasy dreams of fading visions, when suddenly a familiar bellow pulled him back to the waking world.

He moved through the domain to arrive on the roof of their recently repositioned home to find a large red dragon flying a lap of the floating island, a small white-haired girl strapped into a harness on her back as three little dragons of black white and gold trailed behind her making letting loose their own cries of greeting when they spotted Kai and Syl as she appeared next to him with Alicia at her side.

Talious turned to an open area and flew over to settle down, her claws tearing rents in the lawn as she came to a stop despite her clear attempt to land lightly.

"I think I know why the landing platform at the palace is made of stone."

By the time they got down, Talious was back in her human form, telling a soaking wet Sicily, "Stop looking at me like that; you need to get used to it or find a way to stay dry. It's far worse flying through some clouds. I told you, if you wanted to do this, I wouldn't go easy on you."

"You could have warned me," Sicily pouted.

Talious just chuckled as the other three little dragons came to set down beside her.

"Who's grand idea was this?"

Kai was nudged, and he looked up from his ruined lawn to see everyone was walking over.

"I should have known someone was channelling their inner dragon. It's not your typical setup, but I know a sky den when I see one. You do realise my kind would fight over skystacks with their own water sources. They are extremely rare."

Before he could answer, Kai heard a tinkling, and he turned to see Mira running over, the only sound of her approach being the little silver bell attached to her choker.

"Did you have to wake everyone up? It's been a long night," Kai grumbled as he realised Mira had taken the time to get herself dressed while he stood there topless in nothing but his long pyjama bottoms again.

"It's midday…" Talious said as she looked about.

Niamh wandered out of the front of her house in a long dressing gown, saw everything was okay, waved tiredly and walked back inside.

Sicily coughed, drawing everyone's attention, she however, was only focused on Talious. Her arms wide as she gestured to her soaking wet attire.

"Oh child, we all know that's all part of your illusion, just change."

Without breaking her stare on Talious. Sicily changed into a wet little Kitsuné.

"Ah, I see," Talious said, taking a step to stand over Sicily. She blew a puff of air over her that caused all the water to evaporate.

Sicilies white coat seemed to puff up, and she looked herself over, clearly still annoyed. She turned to Kai and everyone else. "How do I get down? I need to go tell Mom and Dad Talious is a big dummy."

Kai pointed to the nexus platform as a new arch rose up from the ground, "You find you can come and go from the village as you wish, Sicily."

"Thankyou," Sicily said, before looking over her shoulder at Talious and huffing at her then running off to the nexus.

"See you in the morning for more dragon draining with the others?" Talious called after her.

"I'll meet you here," Sicily shouted without looking back.

"Kit's got fire," Talious chuckled. "Now, is anyone going to give me a tour, or is this still a work in progress? I would be happy to offer a dragon's touch."

"Work in progress." Kai and Mira said together.

Talious made a point of looking about again before sighing.

"What is it?" Syl asked.

"Whenever I feel like I'm getting to grips with things, Kai goes and makes something like this, and I have another setback. You know a few minor changes and this place would be perfect. Makes my current den look lacklustre."

"Where is your den?" Kai asked as he realised he actually had no clue where Talious lived in the domain. She just came and went as she pleased. Somehow turned up just when she was needed.

"Kai, it's not happening. Stop tempting me."

Kai blinked, shook his head, and chose to ignore the joke. "Actually, I want to add accommodations for dragons… if you settle up here with the rest of us, we can learn to better accommodate Gift, Castiel and Fayriel. Come on, I'll talk you through what I'm thinking."

Kai didn't get far before he realised no one was following. He turned back and asked, "What is it?"

"You might want to get dressed, dear," Syl said with a smile.

An hour later, Kai was walking back up from a stairway that led down to a series of what he thought of as dragon roosts that now circled the lower inverted cone of what everyone was calling the Skyden.

While they had added a few large stone platforms on the outer edge of the top of the floating island for dragons to land at without damaging the terrain, Talious had actually loved the idea of a place down below that was out of sigh and more secluded. She actually ended up with something similar to Mira.

Her place was a small shelf to land on and also take off from that then led further into the stone for somewhere that a dragon her size could rest comfortably.

They even added a sizable troth of flowing water that ran through the chamber to empty into some drainage system that Syl took the liberty of setting up.

Then there was the more, human sized, apartment that could be accessed through a side door. It was admittable a basic copy of the setup he had created with Mira the night before. But they added the option for one of the walls to be folded back to combine the two spaces so it didn't feel like a house and a garage.

Once Talious had said this would work, he duplicated the design a couple of times, thinking of the additions as guest rooms dragons like Krasus could use in the future, the side accommodation perfect for the rare dragon who could take on a humanoid form or those that had riders who might enjoy some more comforts while staying close to their dragon.

When Kai got up to the top of the stairs and walked out a small access building next to the nexus platform, he saw that Syl had been adding some touches of her own.

The first and possibly most obvious change that Kai kicked himself for not thinking of himself was a waist high glass barrier that now circled the perimeter of the skymen. Seeing the litany of little Kitsuné kits now running around exploring the place, the addition had been a no brainer.

Still, he liked dangling his legs over the edge, and he couldn't do that now, which was a shame... unless he just added somewhere gated off that he could do it if the temptation struck him. How it didn't trigger his old vertigo he didn't know.

The next big change was all the plants and trees that had somehow made their way up here.

He could even see Omeg in one of the more open areas. The Drus had his hand against a rather large tree that seemed to have a position of authority in the evolving landscape and was nodding along enthusiastically.

Guessing they were communicating somehow, Kai decided not to interrupt and turned his attention to other changes, such as the house and pool.

Syl had made significant tweaks.

His basic circle pool had been adjusted, the waterfall bulked up to be a prominent feature as it now rained down over what looked to be a lazy river of all things, with a couple of large pool floats already in circulation.

The house itself somehow seemed more secluded. The rooftop slides and overhanging deck removed.

The features moved to a new building that sat between his home and the Korabain's compound.

A large communal area had been set up with clear a section for dining, a place for lounging by the pool and another section filled with large comfortable chairs and massive beanbags for relaxing.

On the roof of their house, where the slide once slinked down to the lake, there was now a small tower. Which, on closer inspection, he was happy to see, Gift, Castiel and Fayriel all lounging together on a giant cushion.

A quick check using his domain sense showed that, yes, the top of the house had indeed been converted exclusively for the hatchlings to use. Though the stairs to the top remained, and Kai could see a number of young kits running around playing games with each other and batting about a load of different toys that Kai guessed Syl had made to keep them entertained.

Looking for everyone, Kai walked around the pool. Passing through the Korabain compound, he saw that it was more open now, the old copy of the lake house they had been using as their communal spot was now gone in favour of the new joint communal area.

He spotted Cillian chilling in a beanbag like it was the best thing he had ever experienced, while Meave smiled at him from one of the couches where she sat knitting what looked like a ridiculously long scarf.

Maeve saw him and pointed him towards what looked like some joint training area.

He spotted a group gathered around some fenced off area next to the far end of an archery range.

When he got to the edge of the fence that almost everyone was either sitting on or leaning against, he saw Mira and Ester standing in the middle of the moderately sized, sand covered martial yard. Five new automata rolled around them.

"I asked for any that had fire, earth, water, wind and cold elemental cores," Ester explained. "I didn't expect them to hand over six sets so easily," she chuckled. "They even told me there's more where that comes from, I just need to report anything I discover… if that's okay with you, Mira. Even if you want to keep things secret, I doubt they will withhold from Kai and the others right now. They're starting to turn a profit with everything that's happening. You didn't hear it from me, but they couldn't be happier back in The Houses."

Mira practically pounced on Ester as she embraced her in a hug. "They love them, thank you."

"Are the houses really turning a profit?" Kai couldn't help but ask.

"Are you kidding, they're calling this the start of a whole new age. With the majority of the families leaving the shattered kingdoms and coming to the Dawn Empire to build towns, villages and the new airships. There's more work than there has been in centuries. The old holds within the Dawn territory are being reopened and forgotten treasures uncovered. As I said, there are whispers that the rise of Dawn is a new golden age for our people, if not everyone else."

There was a clash of metal on metal, and Kai looked over to see what he guessed was Wik and Chil ramming into each other.

They dented the spheres, but as they rolled away from one another, the internal mechanisms seemed to come to life as a faint glow enveloped the damage and the dented parts shifted back into place like nothing had happened.

Ester had a little book in her hand, and she was already scribbling down notes.

Kai watched as the one containing floated out over the edge of the Skyden to float in an upward draft. A quick glance showed that Pepple was submerged in the sand, a lump racing around underground with more speed than Kai anticipated and Sip had somehow escaped the fenced area and was rolling if in the direction of the closest stream.

Kai had a sudden dizzy spell as a series of visions involving Mira receiving a set of automata just like this flashed across his mind.

Shaking his head, he asked, "Ester? Can you possibly get one with an inferno or ice elemental core?"

"Easily, but why?"

"The spirits, they should be able to share cores. If Brees and Wik come together in an inferno core, the result is more powerful. Likewise, Pepple, Chil and Sip should be able to make a powerful ice construct together."

"Ok I get Chil and Sip, but Pepple?"

"Ice is technically a mineral, so he can make the ice harder. I think… Theres also a molten core for Wik and Pepple, but I don't think Pepple's much of a fan of becoming molten slag." When he finished his explanation, everyone was looking at him, "What is it?"

"You nose is bleeding."

Kai wiped his nose with his shirt sleeve, just as they said, the white fabric came away red.

"Kai, be careful." Syl warned coming up to him and checking him over. "Try not to access the visions."

Kai laughed it off. It seemed the news that he had shared visions with Mira was out of the bag as no one seemed at all surprised at what Syl had just said to him.

Waving to a concerned Mira that he was fine, he wondered what the issue was.

He had been fine last night while everything was fresh, and he was worn out from the experience itself. But this morning everything had been normal until this moment.

Ester coughed. "I'll ask my aunt. There are experts in the House's who will know more about all the types of elemental cores and their combinations. It's just a shame no one's been able to contact Professor Orellia. I hear she's quite mad, but she was a renowned expert in both elemental cores and automata."

"Yes, Professor Orellia's disappearance is being investigated… Any ideas on what weapon Mira will be using, Temra is already putting out feelers for instructors who specialise in determining talent," Kardain said as he came to stand by the fence. "I love the new digs… but can we keep this place to adventurers and dragons… I like my cottage on the lake. Something tells me I won't have as much time to use that new fishing skill you gave me if Tamra had us move up here."

"Mira enjoys the spear," Kai said without thinking. "When she takes a central position with her little team in automata, she can still strike out from a relatively safe position. Ester, the collapsable spear you made her works great, but it needs that retrieval charm you talked about, it will give her more range. That reminds me, don't bother with a spearhead, she has picked up spectral manifestation quite quickly, and she can imbue the mana with the spirit's elemental aspects. That and she can use a focus tip to anchor things like stun to apply them physically to an opponent instead of the weaker ranged version..."

They were all looking at him again.

He went on. "We'll want to arrange for classes on debilitating magic. And as far as a close range alternative, she's a bit of a brawler…" he stumbled and he gripped the fence, the wood creaking as he held himself. "I'm hoping both Ester and Aoife will help her with that. Niamh, Syl… a lot of what… she learns from sparing with you and you… wait.. we all need to work together more… wait what was I saying."

His grip on the fence gave way, and he fell as he felt a strong feeling of panic through the bond.

Syl was looking down at him. "Kai, you need to stop, I know it's going to be hard to resist, but those visions, the memories, they aren't really yours. You didn't just watch them either, your brains absorbed them as actual memories, but you don't have the natural connections you would have if you had experienced them naturally. I know you're trying to help Mira get ahead, but using the visions like that will stress your brain… Do you understand me?"

Kai nodded as Castiel's worried little head popped out of his shirt and started licking him.

He didn't even realise that what he was saying was related to the visions,

"Is he going to be okay," Mira asked softly.

"He will be fine in time, things are just fresh. He is special, but not like you, he just trying a little too hard a little too soon. The visions you shared will affect him differently than they will affect you. Once they settle, he will be fine."

Feeling like the dizzy spell had already passed, Kai sat up and reassured Castiel with belly rubs.

"With that said, Kai's given me something to work with," Ester said thoughtfully as she scratched the back of her head.

"Ester, you've been banned from dungeons for a week, relax for a bit. I worry about how much work you take on," Saoirse complained.

"It's just a spear, I have the materials and its pretty much just a copy of the quarterstaffs I made for Syl and the one I need to make for Niamh, just longer… will have to look up retrieval charms… the enchantments complicated, but if I work with Talious again a charm should be easy."

"How long was I out?" Kai asked.

"Long enough," Temra said as she came to stand next to Syl Mira and Alicia. "I just heard what happened from Alicia. It's a good thing the Guild has banned your team from dungeon runs. They're putting together a commission for your team to run a selection of unpopular dungeons that could actually do with an upgrade. They're pretending that they want to confirm there's no issue with restoring dungeon access rights but are really hoping that you do something spectacular again with the crappy dungeons no one wants to run."

"They think we can repeat what happened?"

Temra shrugged. "They haven't got a clue. By all rights, you shouldn't have triggered a dungeon upgrade. But it's all part of their investigation into what happened. I'm negotiating reasonable compensation for doing such shit dungeons, so the payout won't be bad even if you run through them all and nothing happens. For now, Kai, I'm clearing your schedule just to be safe."

"And the dungeon we validated?"

"Mid bronze with ten members, low silver with a minimum of five. And it's ridiculously profitable. It's already been booked for the next year solid. I'm negotiating the right for you to claim any cancelled dungeon runs. No one can figure out how your tin team did it. You didn't even have the decency to level, so that's confusing them."

"That's not true, Castiel, Fayriel and Gift all hit level thirteen… then we let the incoming essence overflow and help heal Syl's core."

"Yeah, normal teams can't do that, it's causing confusion. Saying, oh, they can share essence, doesn't explain where all the essence is going. Luckily, I got permission for you all to run that Bronze Tear dungeon Kai was so interested in as part of the experiment. But they are still sorting things out. This isn't the Dawn Palace. Bureaucracy takes time, especially when you skew things so you don't look bad."

"The endurance dungeon, the one with unlimited waves?" Kai asked as he got up.

"That the one." Temra said with a grin, "Now. Mira, I have good news."

"News for me?" Mira asked, her confusion clear in the flick of her ears.

"The Houses have tracked down your stolen gear, the fence who was trying to sell it has been arrested, and from his confession the innkeeper will be under some severe pressure from the Guild over the next couple of days. So I expect to have everything back to you within the next day or so, is that okay?"

"It's great, thank you so much," Mira said calmly, but her tail started swishing happily.

"There is, however, one issue, Mira," Temra said as she put her hands on her hips. The sight of a pregnant Gnomel with her hands on her hips one to be taken seriously. "I've been in contact with The Sage about Mountain, getting you back to him if that's what you wanted."

Mira took a step back.

"The issue is, no one we checked with has got the foggiest who you actually are or how you knew who to contact in the city."

Mira looked ready to run, Kai put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. He knew this was going to happen; he had seen so many confrontations, remembering all the possibilities made his head spin again.

Syl clipped him on the back of the head. "We have just been through this, your not the seer, stop it with the visions."

"Is someone going to bring me up to speed?" Temra asked, her foot tapping out an impatient rhythm on the floor. "Because from my perspective, we have a spook that Kardy can dig up absolutely zero information on. It's like she has charmed everyone, and I wouldn't be doing my job if I weren't suspicious at this point."

Kai chuckled, "Mira is my long lost little sister. You don't see the resemblance?"

Temra's foot stopped, and she cocked her head. "What? Really… how is that even possible, beastkin are rift born? They're not compatible with other humanoids, but then again, you have that adaptable trait."

Syl clipped him on the back of the head again. "You're not allowed to explain anything to anyone, not until Niamh's birthday at the end of the week and we start running dungeons again, and that will only be if we clear you for it."

"You tell me I have what I'm going to call magical brain damage, and you insist on hitting me on the back of the head, make it make sense, woman," Kai said as he rubbed the back of his head and scowled at the woman he loved despite her rough love language.

"Come Mira," Syl said. "I think it's about time we cleared the air about a few things since it looks like Kai's adopted you as one of the family."

Mira hesitated, but she looked up at Kai, and he squeezed her shoulder to let her know she was going to be okay.