They were at the local mall. Or what used to be the mall. It had been mostly destroyed but was quickly being rebuilt. Abandoned before the tutorial it was only a few miles from the Community Guild. The higher ups in Community were sitting outside a shop she assumed used to be Hot Topic. Sitting in chairs there was idle chatter as they waited. 

 

It was December now. The planet increasing in Tiers made the world a lot warmer. But there was still a slight temperature drop during the winter. At night it was jacket weather. 

 

Ria Whitmore finally had her daughter. And of course she was an angel like Anita’s kid. No wailing at all hours or freaking out at minor inconveniences. Amelia was mostly through the phase of being pissed off. But sometimes she got in a mood. 

 

The three ex-pornstars sat next to one another with their newborns. Anita with her son, Nathan Tyler. Daphne with her daughter, Amelia Yueller. And Alexandria with her daughter, Rachel Whitmore. 

 

They weren’t the only newborns. The 3 were simply the oldest. Many women were now pregnant. At first Daphne attributed it to the lack of birth control. Now she understood it was simply the way of the world. 

 

As things were upturned people stopped worrying about simple drama and got back to their roots. No TV or news to distract them or to make them feel miserable. They focused on themselves and were somehow able to find people that they wanted kids with. 

 

It also helped that over half the population was dead. The planet was way bigger than it used to be with more resources. Like the baby boomers after World War II. People were happy to be alive and were pushing kids out. Daphne was sure that in 20 years the new generation would be called the baby nukes or something. Just because of how many kids there would be. 

 

They were coming up on almost a year after the tutorial. Daphne was reminded of that time. She had been transported back to Earth with everyone else around January 1st. The return anniversary was less than a month away. 

 

Asher was still gone of course. They had slowed down on contacting him as nothing changed. The devlins had integrated themselves nicely. A few had left. Simply disappearing. Some were assumed to have left to homestead, but no one really knew for sure. Most had joined the Community. 

 

It had taken time for some to get used to the people with red eyes. But they had. They mostly looked like humans. Their angular faces and pale complections were obvious markers. Turns out the paleness was caused by many living off of planets. Now that they were on Earth they had tanned and were just like everyone else. 

 

The twin devlin girls sat at the end of the line with Lastoo. The trio had started their own dungeon group. Lastoo had experience with monsters and was a great guide. He had leveled quickly in the short time they were there. Able to identify resources he stayed busy and was a big part of the guild. 

 

His nieces Merriem and Sapphan were never far from his side. Their pale complections had thrown Daphne off as the mirror images of one another stared at her. That was until they cornered her one day. 

 

Someone had told them Daphne had once been with the Lawful Good in a carnal fashion. Then they were both asking how they could seduce such a man. Daphne had of course imparted wisdom on them. Very false wisdom of course. But wisdom. 

 

She couldn’t wait to see Asher being pelted with gifts by the twins. Also seeing the girls in the skimpy outfits Daphne had lent them to help them ‘seduce’ the hero. Daphne already knew the way to the simple man’s heart. Show up naked. 

 

They would figure it out eventually but for now she looked forward to him coming back. He was still a source of confusion for Daphne. At first they were romantic. Then embarrassment when her oldest friend guilted her for sleeping with her son. Then her feelings for him turned to fear. Would he have been jealous of Arnold? Mad at Daphne for preferring one guy and not near as many girls? 

 

Now he was simply her friend. A confidant she had once had sex with. Or twice. 3 times at least. That night he showed up at her hotel was still a blur. 

 

“Ok,” Charles Turck said walking out from the white sheet in front of Hot Topic. The sheet covering the storefront had a lot of stains, but apparently Charles liked the reveal. He wore a white lab coat for once. Sick of people trying to push it on him he was slowly accepting the role. 

 

Hreath stepped out from the sheet to stand behind him. The gray haired devlin smiled widely as she and the scientist held hands. 

 

“My beautiful wife and I are finally ready,” Charles said. The duo had been married for a few weeks by that point. Both passionate about new technology it wasn’t long till they were shacking up. Rumor was Hreath was already pregnant. 

 

She wouldn’t be the first interspecies kid born either. There were many star elf and devlins married or dating humans. Hreath and Charles were simply one of the quickest. 

 

“After we set up a few assembly lines we have been able to standardize the circuitry, as well as mana capacitors, blowers, fuelers, injectors, and all the items needed to make most any standard mana powered machine.” 

 

“Husband…” Hreath said. 

 

“Sorry,” Charles said. “May we introduce the very first permanent portal.” He dropped the sheet to show the black portal. Underneath it there was a very smooth white metal disc. The disc was about a foot tall and 6 feet wide. The black portal floating above it was oval, roughly 8 feet tall by 4 feet wide. 

 

“Another one should be turning on soon enough in Denver. The Junak Guild agreed to be the guinea pigs for the test,” Charles said. 

 

“How is it powered?” Wayne asked from his seat. 

 

“Ambient mana,” Hreath answered. Moving to the portal circle she pointed at some vents. “Mana is drawn in. Processed into Space Mana. Then creates the portal.”

 

“How do you link it to another portal?”

 

“We set up a signature verification. There is a frequency, for lack of a better term, for every portal. We are currently working on …encrypting that signature so no random person can link to it.”

 

Other people began asking questions but midway through the portal pulsed and instead of black nothingness a view of a woman appeared. She was older with gray hair. Heavyset but muscular. 

 

Charles excitedly ran over to her. Waving her over the woman hesitantly stepped through. 

 

“Well I’ll be,” she said. “Really was as simple as pushing a button.” There were cheers around the group. People standing up and shaking Hreath and Charles' hands. Giving out congratulations. 

 

“How soon can we get more made?” Wayne asked. “I want every mall shop to have one.”

 

“We have 2 more in the works,” Hreath said. “If we had more people maybe we could have those ready in another week.”

 

“This is amazing,” Ria said. “We could have these all over the world soon enough.” And the cool thing was Community would be right in the middle of it all. Setting up vendors, charging commissions to use the portals. Allowing the guild to increase its control and power. One more piece of the puzzle to help put them at the top. 

 

More people stepped over from Denver and they asked their own questions. Charles and Hreath were at the center of it all. Doing their best to answer and get what they needed from people to keep doing their work. 

 

It was quickly ruined as a man yelled, “Bishop!” 

 

Bishop Whitmore quickly turned to face the devlin flying toward them. Though their wings were hidden from sight, they could still use them. He appeared to fly without mana.

 

The devlin had a small boy in his arms. He was bleeding everywhere. Bishop understood immediately and covered himself in mana jumping to meet the man. Holy mana poured out of him into the boy in a wave of power. Still one of the highest leveled people Bishop was also known as the best healer. The boy in the man’s arm convulsed and let out a gasp. The devlin man began weeping happily, hugging the small boy. 

 

“What happened?” Lastoo asked, rushing forward. 

 

“My son, he was bathing in his…natural state,” the man said. “Someone saw him and attacked him.”

 

“Who? Where?” Wayne asked as he was bathed in light. More than one person put on their armor. 

 

“The large lake outside of town,” he said. The boy in his arms was now crying and hugging him as the group shared a look. It wasn’t long until they were heading out of the mall. The good mood ruined, the ladies dropped their kids off at the daycare and followed the others to the lake. 

 

Halfway there they were intercepted by members of the Rapture guild. The invaders were walking on the ground. The Community group descended on their Gliders. 

 

Wayne dismounted as he yelled to the leader. He and all the other members were wearing thick armor. “What are you doing in our territory?!” 

 

The armored man wore a cocky grin as he announced, “our leader had another vision. He has said that you and your people have been infested with devils. We came here and found what we have been searching for.”

 

“You have attacked members of our guild. This shall not go unpunished,” Wayne announced. “Where is your guild master?”

 

“I am here,” Joshua said. Standing atop a hill next to them the illusion covering his body disappeared to show he and Grace.

 

“What are you doing here, Joshua? You agreed to our terms of not crossing the river without a formal request,” Wayne said. There had been many agreements laid out with guilds. 

 

“I saw it in a vision,” Joshua announced. “One where-“

 

“Cut the shit,” Bishop said. There were very few times Daphne had seen the ex-pastor become angry. He was furious now. “You tried to kill a child. Answer honestly or we will retaliate.”

 

“Oh ye of little faith,” Joshua said. That was the wrong answer as holy mana poured out of Ria and Bishop. 

 

The group of soldiers in front of them were blasted away as the armored husband and wife knocked the group down easily. Mana coursing through them they made quick work of the supposed muscle and were upon Joshua before he could take a step. 

 

Ria’s blade was at his neck causing him to raise his hands. Grace next to him stepped back, fear in her eyes.  

 

Bishop's words were said slowly but loudly. “I’m done letting you play with your god complex. Your little crusade and inquisition are a joke. Stop blaming your actions on visions and explain how you think you can step on our land without challenge.”

 

Instead of answering Joshua looked to the blade at his neck and simply disappeared. The group, including Grace was dumbstruck as Joshua wasn’t there anymore. No mana had been leaked, or indicators that he had been there at all.

 

“Crap,” Bishop cursed. Looking around he turned back to the guildmaster. “Sorry for jumping the gun there,” Bishop said. “I'm tired of that man’s games.”

 

“No,” Wayne said. “I understand. They have been a powder keg waiting to blow for some time now. I’m simply surprised you were so quick to action. I see where Asher gets it.”

 

“Normally I try to be more restrained. There is something about that man that isn’t right,” Bishop looked to the group of guards that were slowly getting to their feet. “What should we do with them?”

 

“I don’t know,” Wayne admitted. “I’m worried we will have to deal with the Joshua problem. I doubt he will come to us without a fight. Let’s lock them up. Tell our people to stick close for now. Let’s touch base with Rapture tomorrow.”

 

Bishop nodded and moved over to the men in armor. They were soon being escorted back. One tried to run for it but Ria was upon him in a few steps. Knocking him down no one else bothered trying to escape. 

 

Grace was trailing behind them. Lost but too scared to run herself. Must have been a blow to be abandoned by her messiah. They’d have to interrogate them all later. The last thing anyone in Community wanted was to be caught off guard again.