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Four days passed in the jungle rainy season, prompting heavy rainfall to strike specific parts of the valley.  Elinor’s party was somewhat spared with drizzles, but it was a rainforest, which meant there would be a lot of storms.

Night had fallen, and Valentina and their Lethix guide required some rest from time to time, so they’d taken shelter in a hollowed-out tree that had likely been dug out by one of the many jungle creatures.  Clouds softly rumbled in the distance, indicating there would be yet again more terrible weather.

They’d only just made it across one of the Lethix bridges that carried across the wide river that marked their eastern border.  Yeppa was quite careful in where he guided them, and Elinor hadn’t seen a single village or sign of living space on their path, but a plethora of male warriors jumping through the trees in their iron-tight defensive grid.

Word must have spread since after the second day, they weren’t stopped anymore, and the patrols only lingered to whisper and point at them.  It had been far harder for her horsemen to find enough Death Orbs to sustain her empire in the very hilly region due to wildlife population control, which should ease up now that they were back in Clanless territory.

Throughout the journey, she’d continued to level up her body.  Elinor swapped out [Enhanced Construct I] once it hit A-tier for [Cursed Zone: Amplify Wound I] to bring it up from F-tier.  Testing out the new Feat, she was impressed by the results when encountering wildlife that Quin kept still to test out the zone’s potency; a cut to the neck seemed to draw the blood out at a slightly increased rate.

[Chains of the Damned] had reached A-tier, as well, providing her with a slightly longer tether and stronger grip on the object she attached its barbs to.  [Phylactery II] hitting S-tier helped to mitigate a bit of the price, but she was still anxious to try out the second phylactery extension to see if anything changed by having a second spiritual home.

[Phylactery II] and  [Minion Pool II] had also maxed out their tiers, meaning she had to max out her pool to complete the conditions for [Minion Pool III], which wasn’t hard for unintelligent undead, while on the move, but the intelligent ones were where an issue came in that needed to be solved.  Right now, all she had was what awaited her at the Wixum camp or what she might find when stumbling on some hostile clanless raiding party.

In fact, most of her current Feats were now reaching their S-tier, and she had reached Level 16 on the third day of her journey, yet nothing significant came from the upgrade.  She was lacking something to jump to the next stage, and throughout the 4th day, Elinor spent much of it inside her inner world, resting on Quin’s hand and trying to find the solution.

Overseeing her valley kingdom from the Delthax cliffside, she scanned her status window, searching for anything that could give her insight into the secrets of the wall she’d hit.

Levels were slowing, and her Grade Advancement requirements were stacked in an unfavorable light, considering she needed to find Unintelligent Rare-Grade bodies to reanimate in order to presumably unlock Rare-Intelligent undead, yet it wasn’t as if she’d found any.

No, she needed to unlock it for her Uncommon-Grade units to be able to reach into Rare, rather than having the ability to resurrect creatures at that high threshold.  Since progress had been blocked on the Empress-front, she’d swapped to the Lich side, ranking up her physical attributes, chains, and now this cursed zone.  But once that was done, where could she put her efforts next?

A low growl shook her throat as her gaze hovered over [Monarch of Death II] S-tier.  In order to reach Grade III, she had to develop a stable kingdom community within the Nexus that is recognized by another nation.  If what she feared was correct, the ‘stable’ part would be the hardest to accomplish to expand her Nexus’ reach and scope.

From what she’d observed thus far, it was perhaps one of her best Feats; communication, and more importantly, secure communication, was an essential part of a society and government.  It had been the crux of much of her success to date.

The 2.5-kilometer distance she could currently operate from was huge, but how much further could it be at the next grade, or how much more precise could she be in following her empire’s unit location?

She made a quick note of her units again, stretched across the land.  Butter and her forces should be at the Wixum’s northern mine location for a battle.  She expected to feel a substantial loss to her unintelligent undead soon.

Her father and Angélica were walking slightly north of the path they’d taken, presumably to a settlement, which lined up with her theory.  The maid was military trained, so it provided someone her father could count on if he needed her.

Emelina seemed to have met up with Klaus by this time, having safely traversed the land to the Clavex territory in the Nalvean Empire.  She hoped the pair were having a much better time negotiating with the Clavex or nalveans than the trouble she was going through with the Lethix, Wixum, Delthax, and Flex Clans.

On the other hand, Garu was now making an unusual detour from the zone where he’d said his people had been to what she assumed was the Tol’Val Kingdom.  Valdar hadn’t told her much about the large territory across the valley’s western mountain range, other than that their merchants would occasionally stop by, and trade was good.  What would prompt Garu to change his mission in finding his people, though?

It was frustrating being unable to communicate over large distances, and she wanted to solve that problem sooner than later.

Elinor glanced at the vast valley landscape; it was beginning to feel more and more like home the longer she stared at it.  It was interesting to see the topography and elevation changes between the different clan territories.

Undoubtedly, the Wixum held the most fertile zone, situated on a low point of the valley and sprinkled with many rivers, lakes, and other vital resources.  It wasn’t hard to see why the clan had mostly moved away from the military and more toward the trades.

Their high-cliff neighbors and strained allies, on the other hand, were in a far more precarious position.  The Delthax warriors were tough and ruthless, lacking in water but making up for it in some mismanaged resources and Mystics that could prove quite useful.

Sadly, from her time exploring the Lethix’s hilly lands, she guessed most of their population would be situated on their border river, leaving almost all of their western lands solely used for military defense.  Given the ri’bot’s need for liquids, it was hard to see a good source of it in the ground they’d covered.

Probing Yeppa for details, their northern tip was used for resources and appeared to be a vital component to their people; of course, Elinor didn’t let on why she wanted to know more about their geography, playing it off as wanting to learn more about their way of life.  It was the little things the scout said and how he said it that gave her some insights into their infrastructure.

It helped when Valentina got in on the conversation, her innocent questions about their wild animals sparking all sorts of juicy information involving their diet, which mainly involved berries, fish, larger insects in their northern territory, and nuts that had to be pounded with rocks.

No, the Delthax had it hard on the demands of its military, but easy with resources, thanks to the Wixum, who struggled to keep up with the demand of their western protectors.  Then there was the Lethix, struggling to keep panic and civil unrest down due to high tensions and competition for mates while dealing with minimal resources.

Yeppa didn’t provide many details about the role the Flex played in helping them, yet she guessed that their relationship wasn’t quite as iron-clad as the Delthax Chief believed.  It was much the same that the Lethix thought the union between the Wixum and Delthax was without question.  All of them were struggling, and in different ways that confused Elinor a tad.

Making points and linking them in the air with lines as a visual guide, as she learned to do in school, Elinor’s frown deepened the more problems and solutions she connected between the various valley clans.

She only had a significant amount of information on the Delthax and Wixum, much less on the Lethix and Roxim, yet it was enough for her to start drawing some very odd theories with what extra bits Valdar had provided.

All of them suffered from distinctly different issues, and some were in direct contrast to the others; it was all too convenient to be a coincidence, but she’d need more evidence to confidently say there was foul play involved.  It was interesting to ponder, though.

Shade was her first choice of a hand behind the curtain.  Still, she didn’t want to get paranoid and think he was lingering behind every tree.  She’d have to see if the Roxim had any more issues to add more evidence to her board to consider new theories.

Exiting her inner world to the leaf-cushioned log seat she’d been using, Elinor’s eyes opened to the interior of the hollowed-out space in the giant tree they’d settled in for the night.

Adoncia was still in the process of making the place cozier, somehow managing to make a fern broom on the move to sweep out dirt; the ogress was resourceful.  Yeppa and Valentina were passed out in the corner, dead to the world.

Her horsemen were now strong enough to handle themselves, racing through the clanless territory to find her Death Orbs and discover any nearby dangers, while Quin guarded the front entrance.  Ominous thunder came from the distance as she left the shelter, Adoncia giving her a soft smile and short bow before continuing her work.

One of Quin’s heads tilted to her.  “Is there something I can do for you, Empress?”

Looking at the overhead canopy, entirely visible in the near pitch blackness due to [Darkness Vision] reaching Grade III the previous day, she kept a neutral expression.

Bring me up to see the storm.  We need to know how bad this one will be.

“Understood!”

Quin lumbered over, weighted steps leaving imprints in the soft soil.  Elinor transferred to her palm, and she took to the nearby branches and vines.  However, halfway up, cold water dumped over Elinor’s head as her sister’s spiritual presence exploded within the Nexus; it was so sudden that even Quin and the other intelligent undead seemed to notice, forcing the giant ape to pause mid-climb.

“Empress, what—”

Get me to the top!

Adoncia ran out to look up at them, stress passing through the Nexus from the maid as Quin shot toward the canopy and her horsemen flipped around to return.  Breaking through the foliage, Elinor discovered dark clouds and a veil of rain over the semi-blocked area her sister currently occupied; she had to be at the mines.

She couldn’t spot a thing from her distance and angle, making pins jab into Elinor’s side; the holy energy flooding the Nexus was gut-twisting.  Had she completely restored her spirit?  No.  It was far too much Death Energy for her small pack of butterflies to obtain in just a week since they last spoke.  What was happening?

Mika and Carlos were nearby, but the Nexus wasn’t powerful enough for her to sense much else from the two.  Elinor followed the path of the storm as it swung around the enormous white-clouded mountain range beyond the black fortress city, where it would then be dispersed throughout the valley.  She couldn’t see any reason for Butter’s surge in power.

Hoping she could maybe get further insight by visiting their shared space in the resonating phylacteries, she had Quin maintain the position as she sank into the meditative world.  Their divided room opened up, making her curse and close her eyes at the brightness radiating out of her sister’s side; everything was aglow.

Elinor rose to her feet and paced the line, yet nothing provided her answers, and after several minutes of unsuccessful attempts to discover the reason, with her now wondering if she should make a hasty return, it vanished entirely with her sister’s presence.

Coming to a halt, alarm brought a lump to her throat as she scanned Butter’s side of the room, its brightness gradually waning.  “No…  No, no, no—Butter, where…  She can’t die—I have her phylactery—she’s not allowed to die!”

“Aww.  It’s good to know you care, Priss.”  Elinor’s vision snapped to the grinning blonde, sitting in her chair by the fire, showing a beaming expression; she’d released her body and returned to their shared home.  “So you do care for your little sister.  Dad will be thrilled!”

“Butter,” Elinor growled, a rare sense of heat rising in her chest as she stormed over to pound her fist against the wall dividing them.  “You have some explaining to do; I thought you’d died!”

“I know, and seeing that look on your face made me want to cry,” she said, actually sniffing and rubbing her eyes.  “Sometimes I question whether you actually see me as your little sister, but I’ll return to this moment when I have those feelings of dou—”

“Butter!”

“Hmm-hmm-hmm.  Yes, yes.  Just let me enjoy these rare feelings of emotion between sisters for a bit longer…  Haaa.  Okay.  Where should I begin, because I have some wild news, Priss!  Oh, I have a Staff of the Dead for you.  See, aren’t I a good little sister?”

Hand going to her thumping undead heart, Elinor tried to ease the stress her little sister had dumped into her veins.  “You could have killed me,” she snarled, calming down as she took the seat opposite her.  “A Staff of the Dead, you say?  I’m listening.”

Butter’s eyes became strained while looking away and fidgeting with her liquid-like locks.  “Well, eh-heheh, it is mostly drained—oh!  And on another note, it takes a little bit of time, it seems, for my spirit to return to the phylactery if there is some distance between us.  Isn’t that interesting?”

Settling in, Elinor folded her fingers atop her crossed legs and stared her nervous sister down.  “Quite…  Ah, well, we’re together now.  So, fill me in.  A mostly drained Staff of the Dead?  Am I to presume that it wasn’t obtained in that state?  Mostly drained, Butter… or purified?”

Lips tucking under, her twin spread her fingers wide and slapped them together to tap against her thigh, trying to find some way to avert any blame from herself.

“Mmh-hmm-hmm.  I may have gotten a tad carried away in the heat of the moment—but you can’t blame me, Priss—I could finally have a body for a few minutes again.  Plus, I had to impress the insane Mystics from the north!”

“Insane Mystics from the north?”  Elinor whispered, breathing out a long stream of air, still feeling the stress from a moment ago.  “So, it wasn’t the Lethix that attacked the mines?”

“No!  No!  It’s sooo much juicer of a topic than a simple battle for resources,” Butter said, eagerly sitting forward with a sparkle in her aquamarine eyes.  “They invited us to meet them, and it seems they have a lot of Staves of the Dead and other elements that they can channel—they’re certainly a threat.  Wait until you hear how they’ve manipulated the valley clans and their population growth!”

“Population growth?”  Now fully invested, Elinor told Quin to return her to the hollow before the storm struck them.  “Tell me every detail.”

Her twin’s pearly teeth flashed as she waved to the side, her room transforming into a dark, rainy jungle.  “I’ll do you one better, Sister; one of the many benefits of our intertwined spirits.”

As Butter took her through the replay of her spiritually recorded confrontation with the Susime Clan and the interrogation of the impaled Wixum warlord, Adoncia took her still outward body from Quin to rest against a leafy bed she’d created.

Elinor wore a curious smile from the time the middle-aged Mystics began their advance to the end of Nebu’s life; the revelations changed everything.  She had to agree with Butter that it was Shade’s doing, or perhaps some other obscure entity that noticed their presence since they dealt with necromantics to some degree.

It certainly was an enticing group, yet it also provided her with a way to shift blame, and not necessarily against the Susime.  She had identified quite a few positive pieces in each clan that could help her get to the end goal of a unified empire under her rule.  Elinor wanted multiple angles of attack to her opposition to reach her goal with many defensive angles to protect her critical pieces.

Right now, Krava was the queen, sliding right off the board to guide pawns over that could bring more devastating units to the game.  However, his rook, his clan, was left vulnerable in his absence.

Her most profitable and immediate move, at the moment, was getting the four lock-stepped clans to put aside their differences and convince them toward her goal, which would provide her with a host of powerful pieces to maneuver.  The subtle play the Susime had made against the valley clans over the century could be used to point fingers at the Komath themselves.

“Butter…  The Komath use old rituals in their Mysticism, correct?”

Her twin looked off to the side and pulled up a few conversions she’d heard from various groups to illustrate her answer; she included their fights against the blood-vine eyes they’d faced on Earth.

“They keep their Mysticism close to the chest, yet from word-of-mouth, most clans leave them alone due to the fear of their unknown powers, which does include ritual-based feats, such as those blood-vine eyes they utilized against us.  Why?  Are you thinking about using their secrecy against them by pinning the decrease in their gender populations to their hand?”

“Why not?”  Elinor shrugged, leering at the wrinkled image of Krava that her twin conjured up.  “We don’t have to directly confirm but merely insinuate that some ritual-based Mysticism is involved and dig up these artifacts that Nebu mentioned.  Without knowledge of the Susime, where will their eyes naturally go?”

Butter gave her a pained smile.  “You can be wicked, Priss.  And the Roxim…  Yikes,” she winced as Elinor gestured to her own memories, bringing up Krava’s heated exchange with Fennel.  “The Roxim already feel disrespected by Krava, and if they learn the western valley clans now have beef with him…  You’re turning the Komath into a rallying point to unite the valley based on some perceived wrong.”

A small twist lifted Elinor’s mouth as she created a chessboard to play with a rook piece on the opponent’s side.  “People need hope for the future, which is strained by their lack of gender population equality, which affects their social happiness levels…  This a critical need in any social species, and the ri’bot are social creatures.

“I have a solution for it, and all that’s left is to provide them an enemy to redirect their past grievances toward to unite them.  I won’t even have to do much pushing since the Roxim feel disrespected, the Delthax are tired of fighting a losing war, the Wixum are too timid to resist, the Lethix are too horny for women, and the Flex…  Well, we’ll see what their problems are, but it should fall in line with the general direction.  And… down goes the rook.”

She tipped it over.  “Suddenly, I have a solid defense on the board, and positioning to then move on the Xaltan to complete my takeover of the valley, pressing in on all sides.  All I need now is more support from the Clanless to rally a hidden force within the gray zone.”

“Hmm.”  Butter pointed at the board, scooting close, clearly interested in the game.  “I can see your plots spinning, Sister, but allow me to pose a problem for you.”

“Go ahead,” Elinor said, settling in to observe the rough 2D map Butter fashioned herself from the information they had.  “Impressive.  You’ve been working on this?”

“Thank you, and I have!”  she boasted, puffing up her chest with a happy tone as she rose to her feet to gesture at specific areas, clearly marked by the respective controlling parties.  “I do not know much about your game, which I’d love to play with you, by the way, but let’s play this out for a moment.”

She pointed at the four clans, bringing them under one banner and color before adding the Roxim into the mix.  She then highlighted the Clavex and far western Tol’Val Kingdom and the southwestern Great Planes.

“Let’s say you do gain your strong defensive position in the valley.  I can see you’ve expertly positioned Klaus to the southwest, which gives us leverage and eyes for if the Komath retreat to the Nalvean Empire and the ability run interference for us in that region.  Garu is currently checking out our western borders to spy on their activities—”

Elinor cleared her throat.  “Actually… that one wasn’t planned.”

“Hehe.  Okay.  Well, he’s there anyway and also obtained some information on the mysterious Prume Clan, who can throw a swamp stinger in your strategy.  All well and good, for sure.  The Komath squeezed between your united four clans and the Xaltan would be in a perilous predicament, potentially forcing them into slavery, joining the empire, or destruction.

“Now, we have the Clanless being recruited, providing a wealth of unknown manpower, putting pressure on the Xaltan, and we now have the numbers to force their hand; join or run to the valley, threatening an attack against the Roxim in their retreat with our stationed troops supporting them…”

She slapped her hand against the Great Planes.  “Klaus is keeping the nalveans busy and docile.  We may have eyes on the Tol’Val to be sure they aren’t on the move.  We have the full run of the valley and a killer defensive point against invasion from the Great Planes’ armies, the Xaltan with them or with us, we’re still in an excellent position!”

“Mhm…”  Elinor whispered, waiting for the counter.

“But…”  Butter hissed, one hand on her hip as she tapped Kel’mal’tha, the northwestern lands for the Susime, and put a question mark where the clanless and Nalvean Empire was before bringing all their forces with lines to the southeastern part of the valley.

“And what if the nalveans don’t like what Klaus says or the turmoil happening to their north?  What if there is an even greater danger lurking in these unknown areas that have yet to be poked?  What if Krava, the Great Clans, and the Scarlet Hand aren’t as powerful as you give them credit for…  And we have all of our pieces on the opposite side of the valley for the Susime, who seem to be bent on taking this valley, to roll in and sucker punch our home base?”

She winced and brought arrows from the Tol’Val, Susime, nalveans, and Great Planes toward the valley.  “And what if… we end up fighting a war on four fronts after sending the arrow at the Komath, and, heavens forbid, the Xaltan choose to join them?!  How much pressure is needed before our clan alliance turns on us?  I think… we need a bit more leverage, knowledge, and assurances before we send the arrow at the Komath.”

Elinor breathed out a long puff of air, studying all the marks her sister had spread across her board before absently swapping her Equipped Feats to use [Enhanced Construct I] again.  Butter was right; they were operating in a lot of unknowns and potential risks that should be avoided.

“That trigger is the Komath, though,” Elinor muttered.  “And if I throw the insinuation out that makes them the target of our ri’bot alliance’s ire, then there will be significant pressure for us to attack them.  We can curb that to some extent, but eventually, they will start looking at me as an obstacle to their revenge if I keep shooting them down.”

“Precisely,” Butter smiled, pointing back at the Susime.  “Which means, as you said, we need more leverage.  You have to do all the legwork within the valley, but I am free to play my part in the shadows—which is ironic, considering how bright and lovely I am,” she giggled, looking at herself in a nearby mirror.

Elinor recreated her sister’s board and got up, flipping it to a table and adding pieces to it, making Butter clap with excitement as she drew near to the barrier.  “We’ll need more pieces to send out, which means you need to select the proper people I can resurrect when I return.  It is unfortunate that we need to be within the Nexus’ reach for you to use my resurrection Feat…”

Butter nodded.  “It is, but it shouldn’t be a large obstacle.  I have already organized most of the useful candidates.  I will have Tiffany prepare some of the clanless we’ve resurrected already to start making the rounds; they should have their bodies restored by now—hopefully.  I’ll then head to the Susime to see what they are about.”

A small smirk moved Elinor’s lips as she looked at her sister.  “You can take the Staff of the Dead to gain your temporary body.  Bring Mika with you.  Carlos will be needed for other things.”

“Ahh!  Thank you, Sis!”  she cried.  “I could kiss you; I won’t let you down!”

“Remember,” Elinor laughed, “you need to save it for when you do meet them, and be careful…  I’d go myself since they have necromantic powers, but your purification and absorption abilities might prove more useful.”

“Right!”

“Alright, get going; I only have Adoncia with me, so she’ll carry you back.  I can figure out the rest on my own—oh.  Have Tiffany look into the cursed objects the Susime are using and try to get more answers about that acid cave you were exploring when she gets a chance.”

“Mhm!  Wait…  You won’t have a maid.”

“The concern is cute, Sister,” Elinor laughed, feeling much better about her twin after the detailed thought she’d put into the direction they were heading.  “I will be just fine, though.  Hopefully, I won’t be gone too long.”

“I’ll have it all going by the time you return!  Should I inform Dad on the way back?”

“Might as well,” she hummed, nibbling on her bottom lip.  “…Have Adoncia be careful; the Lethix might not be so happy that you can find their settlement.  I’m sure they’ll send a scout to escort you back to the Wixum, and he will have you deliver a message to Tiffany.”

Butter smirked and glanced off to the side.  “Keep my horse saddled?”

“He brought his—Butter!”  Elinor chuckled at her innocent face.  “Get out of here with your dirty mind.”

“You love it; love conquers all, and I’ll help Dad every step of the way!”

Exiting her inner world, she saw the golden butterfly of her twin form out of her earring, floating toward Adoncia as Elinor sent her orders.  The maid was hesitant to leave, worried that Theresa might bonk her on the head for allowing her to go maidless, but an order was an order.

She allowed the butterfly to crawl into her shirt front for protection before entering the worsening storm, following the directions Butter gave her to find Edmon.  Elinor took up a resting position on the bed the girl had made for her, pondering what needed to be done with all the disastrous angles.

The horsemen met Butter and Adoncia on their path to fill up the High Monarch on Death Orbs to purify before returning to the hunt.  She was getting closer to reaching the 2,500 requirements she needed to fully restore her spiritual health; perhaps the Staff of the Dead would push her over the edge.

Elinor wanted to go to the Susime; if she could get her hands on their artifact, then perhaps she could discover how it was made and replicate it.  Still, providing Butter with more protection and options on the dangerous journey wasn’t an option; she needed everything they could spare, and that wasn’t much.

When Yeppa awoke, she kicked Valentina awake, and a chain split space to stop the reactive claw swipe the hissing girl made.  “Good to see you’ve got some vigor!”  Elinor chimed, making the girl’s ears pull back.

“Emp—wait, does that mean…”

“Double time, Kitty Cat!  Tiffany should have sent the message to them to meet us there, and I’m pretty sure the Roxim Chief is going to reach it before us at our current pace.  Time to use those athletic Feats, Val.  Let’s go!”

“Not even breakfast,” she cried, groaning as she worked around her sore muscles.  “It’s not even fair; you just rest on Quin—ack, Y-Your Majesty…  Where’s Adoncia?”

Elinor laughed internally at the tiger girl’s complaints; she had been pushing her hard, and she was making gains with the harsh training.  Her combat skills had certainly improved, which further helped Elinor in her reaction speed, positioning, and staff proficiency.

“She’s returned to the Wixum base camp, so no more snacks from her.”

Valentina’s ears folded back, big yellow eyes going wider.  “No… more snacks?  I need carbs—and it’s still raining?!”

“Best find something to chew on the way,” she laughed, catching Yeppa looking almost just as mortified at the thought of them increasing their pace even further.  “We’ll be traveling through the storm.”

“You really are a creature of endless stamina,” the scout coughed, moving to the storm to refresh himself on water.  “Ugh.  Uh—g-good morning, Quin’Alse.”

“Good morning; I love stormy weather,” the quen’talrat child chirped, shaggy silver fur dripping with water.  “Shall I carry you, Empress?”

Elinor activated [Enhanced Construct I].  “Not right now.  Perhaps later, when I need to think on a few things.”

“You can carry me,” Valentina mumbled, slinking away to probably relieve her bladder and drink some water before they continued.  “I’m going to die at this pace…”

“At least I can bring you back!”  Elinor sang after her, actually enjoying her daily routine of teasing and pushing the tiger teen; it was nice having a peer around the same age nearby to ground herself.

“This is hell…”

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