***Tirnanog, Mount Aerie***

***Magnus***

I fiddled with the delicate innards of my latest prototype, bleary-eyed and tired. Since the Eve of my little invention, I may have relied a little too much on the wakefulness mutation, which allowed me to bridge a few days without sleep.

But there was just too much potential there! It felt impossible to take a rest before I at the very least explored all the possibilities. It was like standing in front of a grand fireworks display with a lighter and being told not to do anything. Like being back in my childhood, playing the latest game and being told to stop when the next level was so close! As if I was once more back to my naive and innocent self, the nerdy university student who wanted nothing more than to solve the mysteries of science.

I squinted and shook my head, giving my best to ward off the tiredness for just a few more minutes.

Since the dawn of humanity, the one thing that limited a civilisation wasn't energy generation, but the ability to store and apply power where needed.

I blinked when one of the little, magnetised gears slipped away from my tweezers and rolled off the edge of the table. It disappeared and fell onto the workshop's floor. My inability to react in time was only one more proof that I was overdoing it.

"Shit!"

It took a lot of control not to hit the table in frustration, which would have sent the entire assembly of my newest creation into disarray.

That stupid little gear was important. Making a new one with the same specifications might take hours and require the help of Gilbert's assistants. Not only were the tolerances on its dimensions extremely tight, but it was also magnetised in a very specific way to manipulate the magnetic field.

I sighed and grabbed one of the magnifying glasses, preparing myself for a lengthy search. Then I dove down onto the floor, wary not to step onto the stupid thing. Just bending it would likely be enough to invalidate all the work spent on its creation.

Unfortunately, my second sight wasn't of much help in this case.

The search must have gone on for less than a minute before a familiar voice cleared her throat directly behind me, demanding my attention.

It took me another five seconds to rationalise whose voice it was, and realise the impossibility of hearing it inside the workshop.

Shooting up, I hit my head on the edge of the table and turned around to find Gaia standing there in a neat business attire.

"Hi, Magnus!" she greeted me with a smile. "I never thought you would ever get down on your hands and knees to pay me the proper respect I am due."

"What the fuck is going on?" I quickly got to my feet and looked around. How was it possible for her to be here?

"You fell asleep because you overdid it playing with your new toys, which is good because I wanted to talk to you anyway." Gaia waved a hand dismissively.

I rubbed my head and cursed. Falling asleep and not even realising it was bad, but on the other hand, there had to be a good side to it. "Please tell me that dropping that gear was already a part of the dream."

"It was." She cutely pulled at her lower lip while studying my worktable. "But you are probably lying cheek-first on your little assembly while you are drooling into it."

I groaned. "So what do you want? It has been a while since you showed up with a personal request, aside from our nightly tutoring sessions."

The Avatar crossed her arms. "Well, it wouldn't be necessary if you were doing your job. You have been neglecting your duties lately."

"My job?" I asked.

"Mortals…" Gaia clicked her tongue. "How fickle your loyalties are."

"My loyalties are fine, thank you very much," I replied.

"Obviously not. You are my agent and…" She gestured at me, then at the table. "Look at yourself! You are my chosen one. The one whose job it is to spread my will throughout the world. You are not supposed to hide in some workshop and make toys. That's what Gilbert is for!" She turned and gestured at our surroundings.

I scoffed. "Ye, mighty goddess. So tell this ol' lil' mortal what he is to do on your behest."

"Conquer this so-called kingdom on the other continent," Gaia declared without the smallest hint of uncertainty in her voice.

I waited for more to come, slowly, mentally counting to ten before replying, "No."

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"Why?" she asked.

"Because I wouldn't know why I should. Currently, we just want to get our people back." I waved a hand dismissively. "Yes, yes. I killed a few of them. But if they are smart, losing a few mishandled minions shouldn't stress them out too much."

"Foolish little human. Because now is the best time for doing so. Because Tirnanog's population can't afford to split its resources and attention on any other task than to secure the world as a whole and prepare for what is to come." Gaia spread out her arms. "And aren't you a warrior for freedom? To protect those without power from those who would happily sacrifice scores of their kind if it meant their continued hold on power."

"I haven't paid much attention to this so-called kingdom, but do you have any clue what would be required to bring them under our control?" I shook my head.

They hadn't done anything to me or those whom I held dear, so I didn't feel inclined to return to the warpath. That part of my crusade had ended with the death of the alien researcher. Going any further felt like reaching beyond an infinite horizon, not knowing where it would end.

"So you would allow them the time they need to become a second Thich?" Gaia asked.

"As I mentioned, I haven't paid much attention to the matter aside from an initially bad first impression," I reiterated. "I am not even convinced that drastic measures have to be taken."

"Then I will just have to wait for you to wake up to the realities of life. And hope you see the benefit in staying true to our deal," Gaia replied coquettishly.

"What deal?" I rolled my eyes. "We never made an official deal."

"Then be glad that we have an unspoken one. A deal where I hold out a protective hand above you and yours, making sure that none of your mutations end in misery."

She stepped closer and clapped her hands together right in front of my face.

My eyes flicked open, and I shot into an upright position with a surprised gasp, finding countless little gears spread out on my table and even more falling off my cheek and onto the floor.

"Fuck!"

I let out a dejected sigh and finally gave up on finishing this particular prototype tonight. Closing my eyes, I rubbed the bridge of my nose. If Gaia truly wanted something, I didn't have a lot of choice. She was right, at least insofar as I couldn't risk losing her as an ally.

But unlike other situations in the past, I had options now. There were multiple ways to decide the outcome of this particular quest, and while the goddess might dictate the outcome, the path towards that goal would be of my choosing.

And I already knew who to talk to, so a slight smirk stole itself onto my lips.

But first, I had to sleep.

As it turned out, the next day, I was being recruited to another mission to the kingdom anyway. I was barely given enough time to set up some of my own preparations before Astra and I stood together with Vanya and the recovered Mary and Gunnar, who was still in the process of figuring out his new powers.

I didn't bother to share any of my ingenious plans with them, knowing they would likely dismiss them out of hand for being cringy.

As I searched the assembled task force with my eyes, I noted that some real powerhouses had been recruited. Added to the mix were people like the Jeng's head paladins and an entire group of their best. Plus, Etan was leading a strike group of our elite hunters.

It was a small number of people, fifty in total, but none of them were small fry.

I hummed appreciatively at the sight. "We are truly going all out with this one, aren't we?"

Vanya threw me a disapproving glare. "There would be no need to do so if a certain simpleton hadn't turned this mission into a prisoner exchange program with a foreign power."

"They gave us no choice. Though I still do not understand why you would need so much power at hand," I countered. "If there is a better solution, I am open to suggestions. Then I can act accordingly in the future."

The Matriarch sighed. "Given the situation, it was probably the best outcome to be hoped for. Though you could have retreated earlier and let me handle the diplomacy."

"You mean you would have used your Jedi mind powers to make them more amenable to talking," I pointed out. "Though, can you truly blame us? One would hardly expect the second group to be unreasonable after we already beat up the first party."

Vanya ran a hand through her hair in a frustrated manner. "And given the disposition of the people running this kingdom, that's exactly why we need to be prepared for a demonstration of power."

She gestured at the line of people who were ready to storm into the teleportation room.

Given the orb's restrictions, we would have to take a few people at a time. Thankfully, the transitioning process was quick. As long as a few powerhouses went first to tank a potential ambush, the rest should be able to follow relatively unmolested.

There was little to do, so I crossed my arms and waited till the organisers of this event gave their go-ahead.

"It shouldn't be too bad," Astra tried to calm us from her spot next to me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think so, dear?"

"We took everyone in the arena with us," she pointed out. "From the kingdom's point of view, shouldn't they only know about a commotion at their arrival site? Their guards plus reinforcements disappeared, but couldn't that have several possible explanations?" She shrugged. "I mean, that sounds bad, but does it warrant a reaction which could threaten what we are bringing to bear now?"

I looked around. According to the people whom Vanya interrogated, the kingdom as a whole was more than a match for the clans in terms of collective power. But the relatively low percentage of people with powerful mutations meant that assembling the equivalent of fifty juggernauts in one spot was exceedingly unlikely to happen.

Not to mention that Vanya and Mary were above that power level. I had no clue how much control Gunnar had over his powers, but if he was only half as strong as Mary, he had to be counted as a third ancient on our side.

Even if the kingdom had reacted by assembling a significant military force, we would have been able to easily overwhelm any stationed units. We wouldn't be going out to conquer the kingdom or anything like that. But we definitely could appear at their garrison and claim it as ours.

On the other hand, we would be dropping right into the kingdom's capital if our prisoners were to be believed.

"We will see," I hedged. "I suppose that's why Vanya organised this strike force. I don't like it that the teleportation spot is right inside their capital. Then again, at least one person from the 'royal family' should be available for negotiations."

"Exactly," the Matriarch said. "Your plan sounds valid in theory, but according to my studies of history, people got stupid entirely too often with situations such as this one. Which means, grabbing hostages till both sides showed up with enough power at hand to make it clear that, shouldn't calmer minds prevail, nobody would walk away without a bloody nose. Now hush, we are about to start."

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