Nightmare Realm Summoner

“The Empty Court?” Finley’s eyes went wide. “What do they have to do with anything? How do you even know who they are?”

“Long story,” Alex said. He banished his bone mask and tuxedo back into the ring on his finger with a thought, revealing his face for the first time since entering the Ancestry so he could run a hand through his hair. Pieces of the puzzle were finally clicking into place. “Do the Empty Court have access to this guild, Finley?”

“I… yes. They almost certainly do,” Finley said. He swallowed. “But that organization would be the last place I’d even hold the faintest hope of looking for someone in. I don’t know how your friend managed to get a hold of them, but they’re known across the Infinium. And not in a good way. Didn’t you say he wanted you to find him?”

“Yes,” Alex said. His lips thinned. He wasn’t sure if Teddy being with the Empty Court made things more complicated or a hell of a lot clearer.

“It’s impossible,” Finley said. “I don’t know how he managed to get a hold of them, but getting access to the Empty Court is practically impossible. Even if you managed to find an entrance… you’d never get in. They’re one of the most secretive organizations throughout the entire Infinium. Just getting access to their outer halls requires an initiation that very few people are ever offered.”

“Finley, didn’t I just complain about people throwing impossible around way too lightly like a minute ago?” Alex asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I’ve already gotten an invitation.”

“What?” Finley whispered. “To the Empty Court?”

“Yes,” Alex said grimly. It finally made sense. He’d been wondering who ever would have bothered sponsoring him. It certainly hadn’t been Meiderly — and Zeal had said it wasn’t him either. Alex had thought he didn’t know anyone else within the Empty Court. But he’d clearly been wrong. “I think Teddy sponsored me.”

“Your Nativeworlder friend?” Finley asked in disbelief. “That’s— uh… improbable. Very improbable.”

“Why?” Claire asked. “The reasoning seems sound to me. All the information we’ve gotten leads me to believe Alex is correct.”

“I share in the merchant’s confusion,” Rhyss said slowly. “This is reaching the limits of what I can advise on. But getting access to the Empty Court this early on is already incredibly difficult. Being powerful enough to not only receive an invite but also sponsor someone else to join…”

“Does he happen to have insane backing?” Finley asked. “Perhaps some connection to an immensely powerful member of the Empty Court that he could have leveraged to help you?”

“I don’t know why he would,” Alex said. “But at this point, I’m not sure I know much of anything with regard to Teddy anymore.”

“It seems like there’s really only one way to find out.” Claire crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I don’t think we’re going to be getting any information at all about the Empty Court from any place but the court itself.”

“Most likely not. There are few people who would be willing to sell information on them, and fewer who I’d trust enough to buy the information from,” Finley said. He blew out a sharp huff. “No matter. Even with the invites, you’ll have to find an entrance. That in itself will be immensely challenging. It could take…”

The merchant trailed off.

He stared at Alex.

The faintest of grins pulled at one corner of Alex’s lips. He didn’t even say anything. At this point, he didn’t have to.

Finley’s eyes widened.

“No,” Finley said.

“Yes,” Alex said.

“Bullshit,” Finley said. “You’ve already got the location of a pathway to the Empty Court? I — but why? What’s the point? You only just realized that Teddy is with them. Why would you have gotten them earlier?”

“I was planning on checking them out anyway,” Alex replied. “It felt prudent to find. I got them from the Ancestry.”

“Got them from the Ancestry,” Finley muttered. “Do you somehow have a portal that’ll take you right to their doorstep? Maybe the premium gift-packaged version that gets you a back massage and a bouquet of flowers upon arrival as well?”

“Nothing that nice, unfortunately,” Alex said with a chuckle. “Just the Astral Map coordinates in a magic slate thing. I’m not sure how to use them yet, but I figure I can hand them to Mite or—”

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“I can integrate them,” Rhyss said. He held out a hand.

Alex blinked. Then he summoned the slate from his ring, handing it over to the Advisor without another word. He wasn’t one to complain if someone wanted to solve a problem for him.

Rhyss took the stone plate and examined it for a moment. His lone eye flicked over the glowing designs twisting within it. Then, without so much as a pop, the stone vanished. Rhyss looked back up to them.

“I have inserted the information contained within this into Mirrorwane’s records. The Teleporter should be able to draw on them without too much difficulty.”

“Just like that?” Claire asked. “It almost seems too easy.”

“I do not suspect any aspect of this is going to be easy,” Rhyss replied. “The coordinates lead to an area quite a distance from Mirrorwane. Too far for a brief visit using the Warp Relay. Though there is a Starstone receptive to teleportation, it does not appear to be part of a town. That means—”

“It’s a one-way trip,” Alex finished grimly. “How far are we talking?”

“Months of travel as the crow flies,” Rhyss replied. “And that would be assuming you suffer no setbacks or fights along the way.”

Alex grimaced. “Of course. That’s the closest entrance? I think Shawn and I have different definitions of nearby. Then again, given the scale of the universe and all that shit… I suppose a few months isn’t really all that far at all.”

“If we don’t know what town we’d be landing near, it would be really hard to get back after we left,” Claire said with a deep frown. “We can’t exactly leave Mirrorwane’s Teleporter open, nor do we want to give some random town the coordinates of our Astral Map.”

“You could always attack a town and blow it up behind yourselves as you leave,” Finley said with a laugh. “That would wipe any trace of your passing and make sure nobody could follow you.” He shook his head, still snickering. Then he paused. “Wait. You wouldn’t actually—”

“Of course not,” Alex said with a huff. “I’m not going to attack some random town just out of convenience. The System isn’t going to turn me into a literal monster. There’s nothing fun about killing people for no reason. We’ll make our way to the Empty Court the normal way — and without ruining everything we’ve been preparing in the process.”

“That would be wise,” Rhyss said. “There are other methods for transport. We could also potentially upgrade the Warp Relay to enable longer-ranged short term missions. I do not believe it would be easy, but it should be within Mite’s capabilities after he gets some more experience.”

“Which he’s getting a lot of right now,” Claire observed. “He’s started on the new Mythic building, right?”

“He has,” Rhyss confirmed. “It appears we have the majority of the material we need for him to begin. Mirrorwane has been storing all the useful monster parts possible. We have also invested some earnings into purchasing Harvesters from Finley. I can give you a full breakdown of the town’s finances—”

“Honestly?” Alex raised his hands. “Just tell me if anything’s wrong. I paid practically no attention in econ. I wouldn’t know the first thing about finances. And to be honest, that sounds like desk work. I didn’t survive the apocalypse this long to start pushing numbers and calculating profits.”

A flicker of what might have been amusement danced through Rhyss’ eye. Then it was gone, and the Advisor’s expression was as flat as always.

“We are doing well,” Rhyss said. “The majority of our earnings have been re-invested into the town. There are a number of new buildings Mite wants to create. A few of them would be wise. A storage, as well as more housing, would be an intelligent addition.”

“Both are approved,” Alex said after a moment of thought. The town was growing, after all. Nobody wanted to have to start rooming together. That wouldn’t be very good for morale.

His thoughts lingered on the Empty Court for a moment longer. Part of him wanted to rush to find the entrance and throttle Teddy for answers. The rest of him was more than aware that Teddy would have given him answers if he’d wanted to.

Throwing himself at the Empty Court like an idiot would just be wasting the lead he’d been building on the Outworlders. Now was the time to focus on training and getting stronger to solidify his position. The Empty Court wasn’t some king whose orders he had to scramble to obey.

They could wait. Their time would come when he got to them.

“Is there anything else I should know about the town right now?” Alex asked.

“The Labyrinth beneath it is teeming with monsters,” Rhyss replied. “Several people have been using it for training to some success. The monsters are more dangerous than the ones that live in the immediate area around us, though that does not hold true for the Mirrorlands.”

Huh. Nice. Good usage for that rather than just summoning the monsters on top of an invading force and hoping they fight.

“And no outsiders since the System protection dropped?” Claire asked.

Rhyss shook his head. “None. We have not yet been noticed, and our combat prowess has been increasing at a considerable rate. I prefer to abstain from conjecture… but Mirrorwane’s rate of growth is practically unheard of aside from the Great Families with access to enormous amounts of resources that can be used to build up their people. It is practically unbelievable for a Nativeworld town, even on a Tier 1 world.”

“That’s always good to hear. Orchid has been doing a great job. Who would have thought she’d be a good teacher? Still, I’m glad. I don’t want to keep losing people every fight we have. It might be an impossible request, but I want everyone to survive.”

“It is an impossible request,” Rhyss confirmed.

“Then it’s a good thing impossible seems to have lost most of its meaning as of late.” Alex’s lips twitched. “But let’s not get caught on what-ifs. That’s a waste of time. There’s nothing else that needs my approval right now?”

“Nothing pressing,” Rhyss confirmed. “Everything that can be in motion already is.”

“Great,” Alex said. A grin split his features. “Then please make sure the new members of Mirrorwane get properly situated. I’m going to go check the Cultivation Array out while everyone gets situated. I’m behind on my training. And after seeing what that Vincent guy was capable of… I’m inspired.”