"So they'll come out through the Portal?" Kanae asked as I wheeled her up to the Portal, Svilran at my side.

She had barely moved, but her voice gave away how excited she was to meet more people from other worlds. Maybe Svilran's strange aura was also lifting her spirits again.

"Kanae, you're not too chilly, right?" Svilran asked, worried that the sudden fatigue she was experiencing would affect her in numerous ways.

It was worth asking. Kanae was technically naked... I wasn't sure how I didn't realize that earlier... I think... I must not have wanted to pay attention to her body... I made a note to myself to think about how to better deal with this kind of situation later.

Kanae pulled the blanket covering her lower body up a bit more and nodded. "Yes, I feel comfortable. Thank you."

Svilran looked at me, relieved. I totally got why she was so worried about our charred friend.

"If you need more clothing--"

"No, it's alright, Fainn. I was never one to wear extra garments beyond the humble cloak. It wasn't all too comfortable."

"Alright. If you say so," I said, feeling a little bit better.

"So, Elma and Dorthaunzee," Kanae said. "Elma was your first rescue, and Dorthaunzee is the nun that fell from the stars, yes?"

"You got it," I replied.

Kanae nodded to herself many times. It looked like she was repeating all the details she had heard about the girls to herself.

The <Portal> glimmered moments before it flashed—

"Hub sweet Hub, right, Zee?"

Already I was happy just hearing Elma's voice again. Smiling from ear to ear, I watched as the two walked out, but before I could say anything—

"Elma, Dorthaunzee! Welcome back!"

—Svilran went and greeted them.

"I saw your epic battle! You two really did your best, and that Hero was spectacular, wasn't she?"

"She was definitely a surprise," Elma replied, chuckling over Svilran's enthusiasm.

I pushed Kanae up to the trio right as Elma looked past Svilran to look at me.

"Fainn."

"Hey, Elma," I replied. She showed me a gentle smile I knew could save me from nightmares, and then her eyes went down to see the girl I was pushing along. Immediately, her smile died.

"Oh my," she said, her brow furrowed with concern. "Is that a new Hero?"

Dorthaunzee shot out from behind Elma and rushed up to Kanae and me. I didn't even have the opportunity to greet her before her knees hit the ground. She immediately put her hands out, and a faint blue glow left her palms. Dorthaunzee was trying to heal Kanae.

Kanae, as far as I could tell, tensed up.

"Hey, don't be afraid. Dorthaunzee has healing magic."

"Oh… wow, okay."

My eyes met Elma's concerned own, and she shot me an uneasy look.

"I don't know if you guys were hoping Dorthaunzee could do something, but her healing magic closes up wounds and provides relief from pain. It does nothing for fatigue or wounds like… these," Elma said.

Svilran and I both nodded.

"We weren't hopeful," I said. "Kanae here came to the Hub with these... burns. Her condition is stable, but, well, Kanae, how are you feeling?"

"The glow is pleasant, but I am still tired… I was starting to become curious over how healing magic would affect me but alas…"

"Yes," Svilran replied. "She's been burned, but that burned flesh has essentially cauterized. There's no open wound for Dorthaunzee to heal... Kanae here isn't wounded but disfigured."

"What a strange state to be left in," Elma said.

"And we all agree," I replied. "This is why getting that <Portal> Leveled Up might be necessary. It's great that they're made stable, but we need to be able to produce better duplicate bodies. We can't settle for the bare minimum... Anyway, ladies, this is Kanae." I looked down at her. "Are you up for sharing your story with them?"

"Of course."

***

We ended up going to the <Mess Hall>, where we then bought a fruit platter we could share. Svilran, of course, brought many watermelons. On the way there, Elma had come close to me and whispered that she would head back out immediately if more points were needed.

There were no words to describe how thankful I was that we had such a sharp woman among us.

Anyway, at the <Mess Hall>, Svilran, Kanae, and I explained the situation regarding the Neo Demon and what Kanae's goals were. We, however, left out the detail about the Neo Demon potentially knowing I was watching.

***

"Your world sounded like a difficult place to live, Kanae," Elma said, pouring her a glass of water.

"I'm sure all of our world's had their sets of challenges…" Kanae looked at me. "Right?"

"Given how the system works, it's likely a lot of the Heroes we save will come from rough, if not downright tragic, backgrounds," I said.

"So, what do you want us to do, Fainn?" Elma asked. "Do you have any plans drawn up?"

Kanae slowly raised her hand, calling our attention. "Before you say anything, I want to say it clearly. My desires do not need to be made a priority. I understand that you all are still getting started and what I need is extremely specific… what I want to say is to not encumber yourselves because of me."

"Don't worry, Kanae," I said. "Svilran and I will figure out the best path forward—one that forwards all goals as quickly as it can. Anyway, we have to search that world, and right now, there is a facility we can build once we have the points."

Elma raised her hand. "Given Kanae's desires, may I submit my opinion before you continue, Fainn?"

"Of course."

Elma nodded and grew serious. "I am concerned about this child being pursued, but I believe we should focus on facilities that can improve the Heroes ahead of the facility that can aid the search."

Svilran was the one who reacted with a gasp and shock. "Elma! That sounds so cold!"

"I'm sorry, Madam Goddess, but that Neo Demon sounded like a tough enemy… and I recently scratched the surface of my limits. I'm not sure I could handle such a being as I am now. Also," Elma looked at Kanae with sympathy. "I'm not sure being able to find a child will do us much good if we can't pull them out of the world."

There. Elma had just said the thing that no one had brought up, and the thing I wasn't sure occurred to Svilran.

"Fainn, what do you think about our powerlessness in that regard?" Elma asked.

"It occurred to me. I guess I was hoping a new feature would get unlocked by the time we could launch a search."

"I see… Well, regardless, I'm also more concerned about the woman in front of me. I, personally, wish to prioritize Kanae's health, but that priority doesn't conflict with building anything so it can run concurrently with the building plans."

"But if we prioritize Hero Improvement, our Hero Scouting will be impaired," Svilran said. "Oh! We upgraded the Observatory enough to get a new search function. It consumes our Resource Points, though."

"First off, congratulations. And that won't be a problem. I'll just work harder and faster." Elma was straight-faced. The way she just said that was so awe-inspiring. "If I recall the rates of consumption correctly, they are such that working will go and balance out any expenditures. It would be like spending two points to get ten."

"She's right," I said. "Fundamentally, if we had Missions constantly being completed, we would be getting points faster than we could spend them. But that comes back to the problem—"

"We aren't completing missions quickly enough," Elma said. "Which is why I want to prioritize Kanae's health and improving our ability to complete missions. I think it'll be faster and better if we focus on things that help mission completion as opposed to world exploration. With mission completion rates increasing, everything else would come naturally."

Kanae nodded silently.

"It's not like we disagree, Elma. The big problem is that Svilran and I have yet to develop and execute the best strategy. As far as we're concerned, we know we need more Heroes."

"Fainn," Svilran said, "Maybe we should make an immediate priority be filling up the <Dormitory>. We still have nine slots. Could you imagine our productivity with nine more Heroes?"

"I can only pray it would be amazing."

Kanae spoke up again. "I just want to say that I'm thankful we're all taking this so seriously. Also, I'm thankful for the kindness. Truly, I would be fine with whatever I earn, and only what I earn, being invested toward my purposes."

Elma shook her head. "We don't need to be that brutal. We're a unit. Being efficient doesn't require us to be cold."

Dorthaunzee nodded along.

Elma continued. "Fainn was hoping for a situation where we would gain a function that would allow us to remove the child from danger should we find him. I'm actually hoping for a situation where we become strong enough that we're given a Mission that requires us to defeat the demon and save the child."

Svilran and I looked at each other, surprised.

"That is an option, isn't it?" I asked.

"It is… and if we're speaking about options, we could always try and make a wish…"

Truly, it hadn't occurred to me that we could hope to generate a Mission on Kanae's world. If we did, Elma could search it as a Hero capable of taking on the challenge.

Elma smiled at me. "I trust you know where that world is now."

"We do…" I grinned at Elma. "Thanks for reminding us we have many paths before us."

"The Hero Hub gave me a lifetime's worth of choices. That's why I don't think our choices could ever be so limited."

After taking a bite out of a melon, I nodded and put my hand on the table.

"Okay, so let's formalize our plan of action. The reality is that there exists an efficient way to run the Hub. We have yet to find that efficient way because we're limited. Therefore, we will alleviate those limits. Let's begin with formally reading our Mission Report."

Svilran took the cue and brought up the menu for all of us to see.

***

After-Mission Report

Hero: Elma

Completion: 50

Monster Slayer Bonus: 10

Rest Days Earned: 10 days.

 

Hero: Dothaunzee

Completion: 50

Monster Slayer Bonus: 10

Accolade: Familial Guardian:10

Rest Days Earned: 10 days.

 

Hero Hub Scoring

Hero Multiplier: 2x

E-Rank Mission Reward: 50

Bonus: 0

Total: 100

***

First, we cheered at getting 100 points for the Hub, and then we cocked our heads at the 'Accolade' note.

"I'm glad we had our efforts rewarded, but..." Elma looked over at Dorthaunzee. "'Familial Guardian?' Is it referring to that huge deer, Zee?"

Dorthuanzee, cheerful and happy, shrugged. Elma and I both then looked at Svilran.

"Umm... 'Accolade' is new..." Svilran smiled. "But I got it! An Accolade is just that! It's a special distinction one can receive. A person can only receive one of each Accolade, and they're very hard to get. Also, Fainn?"

"Yes?"

"We just unlocked a new facility. It's the SR <Hero Archive>. It says it will keep track of Accolades and tags--not sure what those are, though."

"Noted." I looked at both girls. "Well, congrats! You two are awesome. With that, we can talk about the next thing. Our plans."

The ladies all nodded, and I proceeded.

"Our first priority will be gathering the Resource Points needed to power Kanae's treatment. We need 205--not the worst situation. Our second priority will be finding more Heroes. With more Heroes, we'll have more points coming in… As for the buildings… We'll build as necessary. Hopefully, if the first two go well, we'll be neck-deep in points such that we can afford to build a little more freely. Due to special circumstances, any points Kanae earns will be saved for her personal goal. Are we all agreed?"

Everyone nodded, with Svilran and Dorthaunzee clapping.

"Whew," I said, relaxing. "Honestly, we're in a tricky situation." I looked at Svilran. "One day, we might have hundreds of Heroes. Imagine having to deal with these types of priority problems then."

Svilran grimaced. "I don't even want to begin to imagine how terrible we'd have to be to still be having these problems despite having hundreds of Heroes."

We all laughed at Svilran's terror, but secretly, we all wondered how bad things would have to be to get us to the point where we were still starved for points.