Curtis, Kathyln, Lilia, and Regis were running through a forest heading towards the Minotaur village. They had been running for most of the day so far, with Regis taking point, and thanks to him they were still making good time. Both Curtis and Kathyln were silver core mages, while Lilia was still in the yellow stage, meaning her ability to augment her body with mana wasn't as easy for her since her mana channels weren't as developed yet. However she saw this as the perfect opportunity to train and try and force their development even further, so she insisted on running most of the way. Instead of everyone taking a break when she reached her limit, she would climb on Regis' back and he would carry her for a while. Curtis quickly became annoyed with this since every time she got on or off of Regis he would make lewd comments about her riding him instead of Curtis.

As they approached the edge of the forest they slowed to a stop, the village was in their sights. Sadly it was several hundred feet away, but there was nothing to use as cover. Even if there was, the village was surrounded by a tall wall made of red wood that would prevent them from seeing inside.

"It looks like the queen was telling the truth," Lilia said as she looked above the village. "Those winds are looking pretty violent. Arthur, Tess, and Elijah might be able to make it through, but the rest of us would be in trouble."

"Could you just distort the wind? Make it move around you?" Curits asked.

Lilia shook her head. "It's like a tornado spell but more dangerous. I can see so many wind blades flying. The only reason I think the others could make it is because they could probably counter or block the spells, but if they're carrying us as well I can only see it complicating things. If we could see the point of origin I bet Arthur could cancel the spell out, but the area is so large that it covers that it would probably be easier to fight our way through."

"Hmm, we can't see over the wall, and sneaking in will be impossible while it's light out," Curtis mused. "Hey Regis, do you think you could sneak in after it gets dark?" There was no response. The three turned and looked around. "Reg..."

A large minotaur crashed to the ground as Regis lept from it and attacked another that was hiding behind a tree. There were two reasons on Arthur's mind when he sent Regis with them. One, that he was stronger than even Elijah or Tess, so he could protect the three if a stronger opponent showed up. The other reason was that only the two of them could feel aether, meaning beasts could actually sneak up on the others without them realizing.

"This is the only perk of babysitting you three," Regis commented as he jumped off the second beast.

"They must have been on patrol. We need to move before anyone misses them," Kathyln suggested.

"Good idea, but let's wait a minute. Somethings happening," Regis said, looking past them.

Seeing this the others turned around. A large section of the red wooden wall was now a flat pitch black solid wall.

"What the hell just happened?" Curtis questioned in confusion.

"Is that stone?" Lilia questioned.

"Maybe black iron?" Kathyln guessed.

"There are so many possible minerals between here and the surface so who knows," Regis said.

Without even enhancing their vision they could see movement at the base of the wall, so they channeled mana to their eyes for a closer look. It was easy to identify the four minotaurs due to their large size, meaning the smaller figures had to be, what everyone agreed to call them, fairies.

"I thought we stopped them from taking any prisoners," Curtis questioned.

"From when we arrived. Who knows if they took any prisoners away before then," Kathyln pointed out.

"There's also another possibility...that these fairies were bred from when the minotaurs initially attacked a long time ago," Lilia added.

"Bred?" Curtis asked with a cocked head as he and Kathyln looked at her confused.

"Mhm. Even though my parents were always against the slave trade, they were often pressured by some of the merchants they dealt with to auction elf and dwarf slaves, but since they're kind of rare some of the merchants would take the females and breed them like cattle so they didn't have to risk going into Elenoir or Darv."

"That's horrible," Kathyln said as she and Curtis had looks of disbelief.

Since their mother was completely against slavery, slaves were never used in the palace, or any other property the Glayders owned. Leaving Curtis and Kathyln oblivious to how bad the slave market actually was.

"As horrible as things have been in Sapin, I think we need to pay attention," Regis whispered, gesturing back to the wall.

The others looked back to the wall. Two minotaurs stood on either end of a line of ten fairies. The fairies all knelt down and placed their hands in the ground before glowing purple. Seconds later the wall also glowed purple as a flat black material crept up out of the ground and slowly began to cover the section wall. In about two minutes the once log wall was now a solid flat black.

"Was that some kind of earth magic?" Curtis asked.

"Even though it looked like it, it must have been that same spell the queen used," Kathyln replied.

The fairies stood up, but as they did one collapsed to the ground. One of the minotaurs yelled at the fallen fairy, but it didn't move. The minotaur then lifted the fairy up by the legs, then ripped one off and threw it to one of the other minotaurs. He then did the same with the fairies other limbs, holding the torso by the head. The remaining fairies didn't even react, showing they were used to this kind of treatment. Curtis and the others just watched with their mouths hanging agape in horror from the scene.

"Get a grip, your mana is fluctuating," Regis stated sternly. "We need to move now before anyone comes this way."

—————————————————————-

Back in the fairy village Tess was having a mock duel with one of the fairies as Claire explained and pointed out issues in his form and how to move next, as one of the fairies translated. They had been in Claire's class for a few hours, but Tess had just arrived a few minutes ago. Tess' morning started in the mostly destroyed fields that were once the fairies' crops. Due to how they lived, they had already used nearly all of their seeds. Due to this Tess dug into her own supply and grew a variety of fruits and vegetables that they had never seen before, even then it couldn't fill the field. Nevertheless she was seen as a savior to them, since with some rationing the food could be enough.

Tess remained on defense as the fairy lunged forward with a piercing strike from a narrow aether sword. Tess parried the strike with Dawns Ballad and moved behind him, but with his wings he was able to spin right back around and continue his attack.

Tess knew first hand how good of a teacher Claire was, but the rate at which the fairies were picking up her lessons was astounding. Not only had they never created swords before, but they had already picked up the basics just after a few hours of instruction.

"Ok, that's enough for now," Claire announced as she clapped her hands together. "Nicely done, you've picked up my lessons quickly," Claire praised as she patted the fairy on the shoulder. "Now that you've all seen them, I want the rest of you to pair off and duel as Tess and I walk around and make any critiques."

With that the fairy's paired off, stood a few feet apart, and began their duels as Claire began walking around making critiques. On another end of the plateau flashes of purple could be seen from Feyrith's group as he worked to grasp an understanding of what the fairies capabilities where with Aether as to figure out the best way to use it for defensive purposes. Opposite them Theo and Elijah were working with a smaller group, teaching them how to design and install traps incase the Minotaurs were to ever reach the top of the plateau again.

Tess raised Arthur's sword and admired it. Even though it wouldn't adjust for her like it did for him, she could easily appreciate why he treasured the sword so much. She of course had two spare swords in her dimensional ring, but since she still occasionally slipped up and channeled too much mana into weapons Arthur wanted her to keep using his until she got her new sword that was supposed to be forged for her.

Ring ring

Tess pulled her communication artifact from her hip.

"Hello?"

"Tess, it's Curtis. Where's Arthur, he isn't answering."

"He's in his training with the queen," she replied.

"Training Huh? Is that what people call it these days?" Regis commented, sounding amused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tess asked.

"Nothing, I just remember how blessed the queens chest is, and I'm betting she's falling for Warrior Princess' natural charm. I'm also wondering if he's taken my advice and started making an official harem."

"Regis, shut up," Tess ordered, sounding annoyed at his comment. "Curtis, what did you need Arthur for?"

"We just wanted to let him know we're going to be here for a while. We can't see passed the wall, so we're going to have Regis scope out the village after nightfall."

"I'll let him know."

—————————————————————-

In a stone chair Arthur sat in front of the queen with his hands in hers as he divided into the cube, both glowing with an amethyst hugh. One of the queen's many responsibilities was also to be a teacher of their aether art, since the cube was also her responsibility to protect. The purple glow subsides and they both slowly open their eyes.

"I must admit," the queen started as she locked eyes with him. "You have an interesting process of interacting with the treasure."

"Thank you. I've actually used several of these so I'm familiar with how to experiment with them. That being said, knowing what I'm actually trying to achieve makes it a lot easier."

"That says nothing to your understanding. Normally I help those who are trying to obtain this magic, but with you I feel as though my assistance will not be unnecessary."

"You can always just leave the stone with me, I won't leave this room with it. At least this way you can resume your other duties."

The queen shook her head. "It is my responsibility to protect the treasure, even though I do trust you would not take it. It is also my duty to facilitate its use." She smiled. "And thanks to you and your people, most of my most pressing matters are being taken care of."

"Well I just hope our preparations will be enough, and the minotaurs won't show up before we're ready."

The queen moved closer to Arthur. "Do you know how I was chosen as queen?"

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Where did that come from?" He asked himself as he shook his head.

"Because I have the strongest connection to the creator's magic." She took Arthur's hand and pulled it closer. "Yet you, I can feel their magic within you, and it is greater than everyone in this village combined."

"Umm, thanks?" Arthur replied nervously, feeling a little uncomfortable about how close she was to him.

She released his hand and stood up. "I have never approached a male with this before, but," with a simple movement she opened her robes and they dropped to the floor. "please mate with me."

"What?! Never mind, just please put your clothes back on!" Arthur panicked.

"YES! You finally seduced a queen! And a busty milf at that! The Harem grows!" Regis cried out in excitement, but Arthur wasn't paying him any attention.

"The offspring we would produce would no doubt be far more powerful than ever seen before. Even if it were to be a male, I have no doubt it could one day protect us as you can."

"Umm, I'm flattered your majesty," Arthur said as he made sure not to look below her neck. "But I have a wife."

She tilted her head. "What is a wife? And what does that have to do with mating?"

"A wife is a males mate. My people mate for life with one chosen partner, only the chosen partner," Arthur explained slowly.

"Really? Hmm, I see. interesting, but a shame." She then bent down and picked up her robes. "That wouldn't work for my people though."

"Why not?" He asked as she dressed herself.

"There are only five females of child baring age in the entire village."

"What?! How would your people survive to another generation?"

"The males make a request to mate with one of the five females, if she approves then they mate and a child is born a month later. If a male is born the male raises it, if it's female then the female raises it, and the male is given another chance to have a child."

"I take it then that females are rare?"

"Very. The most our village has ever had was eleven. There was a time when there was even only one. In fact you met my daughter when you saved us, she just reached child baring age recently and will be taking her first male soon."

"Umm, congratulations to her I guess."

The queen then had a saddened look in her eyes. "In a way congratulations to us all. The recent attack took many from us. Because of you and your comrades many more were saved, but still... I fear that this is only the beginning of many more losses."

"That is the way of war. And since your population is so small, these losses have a bigger impact."

"Yes, some males may have to raise multiple sons for us to have our population grow back. Thankfully the impact will only last a few years."

"A few years? You mean until the children grow up?" The queen nodded. "How long does it take for your people to reach adulthood?"

"Eight years. Is it not the same for your people?"

"For us, a child is considered an adult at eighteen."

"Oh, that's my age."

"You're eighteen?" Arthur asked in disbelief. The queen herself looked to be in her thirties, and if her daughter just turned eight, but looked in her late teens... "It seems your people age roughly twice as fast as ours," He concluded.

"Really? How old are you? How old do your people get?" She asked with intrigue.

"Eighteen, and it varies. But the average human mage can live to around one hundred years old, depending on their core level."

"So how old will you get?"

Arthur shrugged. "No clue. There's never been a human mage to reach my level."

—————————————————————-

Arthur walked down a hall towards their rooms, a fairy guard in front and another behind him. The guards knew if Arthur were to become a threat that they wouldn't be able to do anything about it, but just the sight of them with him put the people at ease.

This walk had provided a better understanding of the layout of their village. While the center of the plateau was almost entirely intended for farming, the interior was for everything else. Essentially the entire interior was a massive bazaar with fairies selling their goods. Some were selling prepared foods, while others sold clothing and other knick knacks. However, unlike what one would expect from a bazaar, it was very quiet and solemn, no doubt the result of the many recent deaths.

Arthur took notice as he walked past multiple people eating a small round flat bread. Normally this wouldn't be worth much attention, but seeing as it was nearly time for dinner he began making a plan while also going over a list of all the food in his storage rune. Due to the queen's other responsibilities his training ended earlier than the others, so he decided to make dinner for everyone.

As he walked he smelled the air, and caught a whiff of something he hadn't smelled in a long time, not since his previous life. Following his nose he ended up at an old fairy with a variety of bowls with different herbs both fresh and dried.

The village had their own currency, orange metal coins with symbols on them, Arthur suspected it was their written language. As a thanks for their help with the attack, the queen gave them several of these coins to use to purchase their food while there. After handing the fairy a few coins he took a spoon and filled three small jars with dried green herbs, as well as a few seeds. He knew there may be potential dangers if he were to plant these seeds back in Dicathen, however there was far less danger in planting them on the first floor.

After purchasing two dozen of the flat breads, a green fruit that was almost identical to a tomato, and a hunk of cheese, he was back in the room he and Tess were using, working on dinner.

About an hour later everyone but Curtis, Lilia, and Kathyln were walking in. Although this room was where Arthur and Tess were sleeping, everyone came since it felt normal for them all to eat together.

"Arthur, if you're going to be cooking every time you dive down here, please let me know so I can come," Theo commented after smelling the air.

"Or you can visit sometimes on the surface, and I can cook meals where it's safe," Arthur replied.

"That works better," Claire wrapped an arm around Tess' neck. "Then we can just drink wine and enjoy the smells."

"Maybe you should watch him instead," Theo stated. "That way you can learn to cook more than curry."

Claire released Tess and walked over to Theo to punish him for his comment. Meanwhile Tess walked to Arthur and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"So how was your training?" She asked.

"Very informative," Arthur replied, avoiding to even bring up the queens proposal to him. "And how was teaching?"

"They are learning incredibly fast, they should be ready in no time," Claire stated proudly.

"By the way, Curtis and the others are staying out by the minotaur village tonight. Regis is going to try and sneak in and try and get the layout after nightfall," Tess informed him.

"I know, Regis already told me."

"Then why did Curtis tell me to tell you? Why didn't he just have Regis tell you?"

"Because Regis probably did it on his own."

"And why didn't he tell Curtis?"

"Because he's Regis," Arthur answered with a shrug.

"Well, anyway," Feyrith said as he walked closer. Walking up to a pot with a green liquid cooking. "What's for dinner? Soup, stew?"

"This is just a sauce," Arthur replied, then looked at Theo. "Can you pull out some of that minotaur meat and cut it up into small pieces?"

"Umm, sure," he replied as he pulled a thick slab of meat out of his dimensional ring.

"What are we eating?" Tess asked as she looked into the pot.

"Pizza."