Maximilian took another breath and let himself fall into meditation. He had already decided where he would go for the improvement, so it wasn't a grand declaration. Nor was it particularly enlightening. It was more like he had removed a blindfold that he had chosen to wear. He felt a phantom breeze pass through and around him. One that rapidly transformed into a ferocious squall. A wind free and powerful enough to go wherever it chooses. Do what it wanted. True freedom. Despite the revelation coming so easily, he didn't get up. The calmness that came from his comprehension was nice. He wasn't one for meditation before the Network, but now he found himself wanting to do it more. Of course, he also knew that he could lock himself away for weeks on end and advance. Which was unfair. Not that he would get the chance to do so. He decided to review his improved dao and attributes.

  Lesser Dao of Squall - Comprehension: Middle. Attributes: Agility +30, Strength +10

  It was expected, but still appreciated. He had even managed to reduce the benefits to Strength, though he couldn't get rid of them altogether. Not yet, at least. It was yet another thing he would accomplish in due time. He rolled his shoulders and stood up. He took a moment to reflect on everything that had happened in the new year. He would've been sworn in last week if his count was right. He would've taken office and fought with politicians over where to put parks and social change, and a laundry list of other things. He balled his fingers into a fist. Now he had real power. He could change the world. The power was exhilarating. He let himself indulge in it for a few more moments before he calmed himself. He controlled his expressions until he looked more or less aloof, and then he left. His mother still hadn't sent word, which annoyed him, but he wanted to see the harpies first. He was confident that Joshua would be able to keep her safe. Well, Joshua and the other guards.

  A short while later, he stepped out of the teleportation room in the harpy settlement. He found two guards waiting for him. The guards were mostly avian. Looking more like a bird werewolf than a human, though they still had four limbs and a head. He cocked his head as something dawned on him. He couldn't see how strong the harpies were. He pulled up the leaderboards and tried to find something that would indicate the other species, but there was nothing. He was sure that he was stronger than both guards. If he had to guess, he would put them around level 10 or so, which wasn't bad. They would be amongst the elite of Earth. Which was the problem. They were getting stronger than humanity was. Outside of himself and the other top ten, humanity wasn't doing well. It wasn't just levels, either; the real problem was the turnover. He and Justinian were mainstays on the list, but others had been replaced several times over. He was responsible for one of those replacements, so he wasn't able to complain too much.

  "Please. Wait." The hesitant voice pulled Maximilian back to the real world. He glanced up as one of the two guards left the room. He considered following the guard but decided against it. He didn't want to cause an international incident just because he was impatient. He also wanted to use it as a gauge for how upset they were. Something that was shown less than five minutes ago. The guard practically rushed back into the room alongside Volaene. He looked the warrior up and down and wasn't happy. She looked like she had been through hell. Several of her feathers were missing, along with a talon on her right hand. She had a nasty scar on the right side of her face. On top of that, her aura felt weak. He wouldn't call himself an expert on auras, but he knew they were connected to the person's health.

  "Are you alright? Please allow me to apologize for not coming sooner." He decided a bit of flattery would make up for the tardiness and make him look a bit better.

  The harpy looked like she was ready to unleash on him until she looked at him. Her eyes widened for just a moment before she lost the metaphorical wind in her sails. "Unimportant. The matriarch would like to speak with you." She said.

  Maximilian nodded and followed the woman. He tried to question her on what happened, but she was tight-lipped about it. After a few attempts, he decided it would be rude to continue. That, and he knew the woman wouldn't answer. Instead, he watched the people around them. People who looked a lot stronger than they should be. Or rather, stronger than what he thought civilians should be. Their weakest person was around level 5 from what he could see, but he would put the average levels around seven or eight. If he made a few assumptions, it wasn't hard to figure out what happened. From what he could tell, the harpies were predator birds, or at least their appearances were closest to raptors. If he assumed that they lived a lifestyle more akin to warriors and hunters before the Network, then they probably had an advantage. Regardless, the reason wasn't important. The reality was. Humanity needed to be ready in case things went poorly. He abandoned that line of thought as Volaene led him into the matriarch's chamber. Where he found the matriarch seated in a chair of trees and bones. Something that further supported his earlier hypothesis.

  "All-Mother's kindness to you. It is good to see that you are in good health." She began.

  "I thank you. I am glad to see that you and your people have done well so far. Have you made contact with any other harpies?"

  The matriarch's smile faltered for just a moment before she replied. "Yes, though that is something we wanted to speak with you about. We have heard word of another settlement. One on the other side of your mountain. We hope that you will allow us to connect our settlements through yours."

  Maximilian cocked his head at the question and nodded. It wasn't a big deal to him, but he could understand why they would want to ask like this. He had placed Nubia in a strategic place. At least for now. Anyone who wanted to cross from one side of the mountain to the other would need to go through there. Or at least want to. Assuming they weren't strong enough to fight the monsters, he would have the only safe rest spot. Of course, he would need to set up the other teleportation arrays to fully connect it. "I would be fine with letting you do so. As long as anyone who comes through the array into Nubia obeys all laws of Nubia. Everyone is treated equally inside the settlement, of course."

  "I will make sure everyone who passes through is notified. We have obtained some information that I believe will be important to you. There is a human settlement near our kin. One that has had to deal with several beast attacks. Our kin have not interfered in their lives as they do not have a teleportation array of their own."

  Maximilian's eyes widened as excitement built in the pit of his stomach. "I see have your kin found any information about the people there? Perhaps a man named Maxwell?"

  The matriarch glanced at one of her guards, who shook her head. "We do not know much about your kind, and admittedly, most of you look the same to us. We feel it would be better for you to go and look into it. Our kin do not share the same positive relationship with humans as we do."

  Maximilian and the matriarch exchanged a few more polite words. Still, it was clear they had no more to share, and he didn’t care. He kept things as cordial as he could, but when he was able to leave, he did. He moved with the utmost respect until he was through the teleporter. When Volaene opened the way. He stepped through right after the harpy. A set of seven spear-wielding harpies greeted them. He braced himself for a fight, but the lack of killing intent stayed his hand. He held up a hand in an attempt to show he wasn't armed, which helped, but was nothing compared to Volaene. She spoke up and offered a quick explanation as to who he was and why they were there. He had stopped listening halfway through. Part of him wanted to just leave the settlement. It wasn't very large, and he doubted anyone here could stop him. Yet he stopped himself. He knew his mother would be furious if he ruined any chance at diplomacy because he was impatient. After both sides had said their peace, he was allowed to leave. He made a mental note to return to do some proper diplomacy later. He exited the forest-bound settlement fifteen minutes after he arrived. He confirmed the direction to the human settlement with two others before he did, just to be sure. With everything else settled, he pushed spiritual energy into his feet and took off.

  He practically flew through the forest as he sped toward the settlement. Despite his best efforts to calm himself, his mind raced with possibilities. If he could find his father, then he would've accomplished everything he felt he had to. Everything he felt he needed to. He and his mother could control Nubia alongside him. Something that would leave him safe to do whatever he needed to or wanted to. He could range further from the city without fear. He could find a way to make them both stronger. He was so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed anything wrong until a large constrictor had leaped from the trees at him. He stopped his momentum just in time to launch backwards over ten feet. He left a five-foot-wide crater in the ground just before the snake could wrap around him. The snake was almost twenty feet long with a head almost as big as an alligator's. It was the same dark green as the flora around him, which made him think the beast was more ambush hunter than anything else. That didn't take anything away from the sword-like fangs in its mouth. Maximilian considered taking his time with the beast, but didn't. He couldn't and wouldn't waste any more time here. He imbued Severing Disc with the Dao of Squall. The buzz saw-like blades howled with the wind as he launched them at the massive serpent. The snake tried to take the attack on its scales, but how could they hold up? A moment later, the serpent was trisected, and Maximilian had collected what remained of its body. The spiritual energy it gave off was worth almost nothing, which only cemented his belief. He needed to go find stronger monsters.

  From there, the journey to the settlement was uneventful. He found several more monsters, but a brief blast of his aura scared them off. The settlement itself was disappointing to say the least. It was a small neighborhood, though he couldn't tell where it was from. The signs were in English, so he guessed somewhere in Europe, though that was just a guess. A moat surrounded it. At least what he assumed was meant to be a moat. It slanted at a weird angle that made it uneven along the sides. He was no expert on defensive fortifications, so he couldn't say if it was good or not. Though he doubted it would protect them from stronger beasts. Especially any that could fly. He decided to keep an eye on the place from here. He had tried to lie to himself. That he was doing it out of concern or to say what the leader was like, but that wasn't true. He was afraid. He was afraid that he would find that he wasn't here. That as long as he stood here, he could live in a state where neither was true, and both were. He took a breath and pushed off from his tree. He was about to find out if he had held onto foolish hope or if he had won the jackpot.

  The journey if he could call it that, was uneventful. He scared off several more enemies before he withdrew his aura and killing intent. By the time he stood in front of the moat, he was almost unnoticeable. If you didn't count his appearance and just about everything else. Several eyes looked at him from the settlement. A ball of nerves formed in the pit of his stomach as he waited. After what felt like an eternity, a group of men and women stepped forward. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but when they activated an array that caused a bridge to grow from nowhere, he was impressed. He wasn't sure if they had purchased that or if they had earned it, but it was nice. If only they had taken the time to fully dig out the moat, they would have had a well-defended settlement.

  "Who are you and what's your business here?" A man in a thick metal breastplate called out once the bridge was fully extended. The man was shorter, around five and a half feet, with a great sword at his hip.

  Maximilian pushed a bit of spiritual energy into his voice to make sure everyone near the bridge could hear him. While he did so, he scanned their faces in the hope of seeing his father's or anyone else he knew. He hadn't. "Hello. I would like permission to enter your settlement and look for someone." He flashed them as brilliant a smile as he could, which was much better than he intended. Since two of them stared dumbly at him for a moment before they shook their heads and focused.

  "Who are you looking for?" The man's tone softened as he responded.

  Maximilian considered not telling them, but figured that would be counterproductive. He also had no reason to hide himself. If anything, it might lead to his father finding him first. "Maxwell, Maxwell Croft. My father." He wasn't sure what he had expected to happen when he said that, but it wasn't this. The mood fell. It didn't become hostile, no, it was much worse. They all became sad. The heavy sadness of someone who had bad news yet wasn't sure how to share the news. His mind made connections faster than he could stop, and he had already figured out what they were going to say. What they didn't want to say. Part of him wanted to turn and run back into the forest, while another part wanted to blast the men off the bridge. A third part wanted to release his fury on everything. Dozens more emotions twisted and turned in his stomach as he followed the group. He could tell that they spoke to him, but he didn't respond. He didn't care. His mind filtered out the irrelevant information until he found himself walking along a stone pathway. The sound of his footfalls deafened him. His mind searched for answers to questions he hadn't asked. Questions whose answers he feared. The rational part of his mind pushed back against the tide, but it was a losing battle. What he felt wasn't logical; it wasn't rational. When he stopped moving, he stood in front of a makeshift grave. A simple broken metal sword lay across a patch of soft earth. A wooden cross above it. A name carved into the wood. A name that hurt every part of him to read.

  "Maxwell Croft. Proud Father"

  The words were simple, yet they fit. He stared at the ground in confusion as something wet fell to the dirty ground. A moment later, his brain made the connection. It was as if that was the moment his body and mind had waited for. The realization. The damn burst, and the worst pain he had ever felt slammed into him. It felt like his soul was aflame. As if the whole world bore down on him to prove that he wasn't strong. That he was nothing. That he was late. That it was his fault. The rational part of him was drowned completely. He fell to his knees. His fingers dug into the dirt as his aura turned erratic. He wanted nothing more than to release everything to let the world hurt the same as he did. Yet he didn't. Something deep down wouldn't let him. Wouldn't profane this place. He wasn't sure how long he sat there before he felt another presence. Another person. He couldn't bring himself to raise his head, nor did he care what they thought.

  "You must be Maximilian." The person said. "I have a message for you. Please come with me. We have much to discuss."