“I’m very sorry, the council is in a meeting right now.” The woman at the front desk at the council’s office bowed her head.

  “I just came from the capital. I know what the meeting is about and I would like to join in.” Zoe pleaded, again.

  “I can go try asking but they’ve never allowed somebody to interrupt them in the middle of a meeting. What did you say your name was again?" The woman asked.

  “Zoe. Tell them I’m Zoe, and I just came from the capital.” Zoe said.

  The woman seemed to hold back an eye roll as she stood up and walked to the stairs at the back of the room. Zoe heard a dull knock a few moments later and then some hushed whispers, before the woman came running back down the stairs and leaned on the desk.

  “I’m not sure what’s going on,” the woman panted. “But they seem to want you up there immediately.”

  Zoe sighed and Cosmic Leaped up to the top of the stairs, where Joe was standing at the door waiting with a somewhat concerned expression on his face.

  “I’m surprised to see you volunteering here.” Joe chuckled.

  “Do you know what’s going on over there?" Zoe asked.

  “They’re filling us in right now. Is Emma alright? The cats?” Joe asked, gesturing for Zoe to enter the long room on the second story of the building.

  Zoe nodded. "They’re fine.“

  Inside was a sight she hadn’t seen in quite some time. The room was almost devoid of colour, with a large splotchy painting floating in front of a lone mage standing at the far end of the table. This time, however; the image shown was different from the headshot she once saw of the king.

  Another identical looking table could be seen through the painting with dozens of filled seats surrounding it and just as many similar looking paintings with similar pictures contained within them. A cacophony of voices rang out through the painting as more people appeared and disappeared, reporting on different sections of the country.

  “You there,” a tall broad shouldered woman pointed through the painting at Zoe. “I’m told you have shown interest in developing a dungeon on the moon. Does the dungeon Foizo on the Moon belong to you?”

  “It does, yes, why?" Zoe asked.

  “My latest report on it is six years old. How much progress has been made since then?" The woman asked, her deep, whisper like voice piercing through the cacophony of noises that filled the room.

  “That’s more recent than I’ve checked on it, to be honest. I’ve kinda ignored it since I made it, to be honest. Why?” Zoe asked, feeling a slight well of anxiety rising in her. If they were interested in her theme dungeon while their capital was under attack, Zoe could only think of one reason why.

  The woman rubbed her chin, sighing then pointed off to the side to somebody Zoe couldn’t see. “You, what was the temperature in the dungeon again? And the air density?”

  “Cold but survivable and poor, ma’am.” A voice squeaked out.

  “Hmm,” the woman bit her lip and furrowed her brow. “Survivable, you say?”

  “Yes ma’am,” the same voice squeaked.

  “And how large was the dungeon at the time?” The woman asked.

  “A medium to large city, identical to Foizo, ma’am.” The voice answered.

  “Good.” The woman turned back to Zoe. “You. We may like to use your dungeon for evacuation depending on how the situation unfolds in the capital. You are aware of what’s going on in the capital, I’m told?”

  “Sort of. I saw it when I left, but I’m not sure what it is or what it’s doing.” Zoe answered.

  “It’s terrible. Corrupting everything it touches. There’s a chance, and I do not presently believe that it will come to this, that we fall. If we do, I advise you to evacuate everybody in Foizo to your dungeon on the moon. Can you handle that?” The woman asked.

  “Everybody?" Zoe asked.

  “If the capital falls, I’m afraid nowhere in the Injellar kingdom will be safe, and I can make no promises to whether a neighbouring country will take all of these refugees.” The woman answered.

  “I don’t think I can take everybody. It would take days just to move a few dozen people there, let alone everybody in Foizo.” Zoe said.

  The woman sighed. “Then we can only hope that nothing changes and we continue fighting back this festering darkness. You will be contacted if your services are needed. You’re dismissed, girl.”

  “Hold on, wait. Before I go, I think I might head back to the capital to help out. Is there something I could do?” Zoe asked.

  The woman paused for a moment. “Are you capable of transporting a group to the capital?”

  “I could do that, yeah.” Zoe said.

  “Then you may wait at the council building entrance until talks are completed. If we can put together a group, you will be given the task of transporting them here. Understood?" The woman asked.

  “Sure, I can’t just wait in here? I could maybe help.” Zoe said.

  “No, you are dismissed. You have not been approved for these discussions.” The woman said.

  The mage at the end of the table wave their hand and Zoe felt a slight pressure building up against her, pushing her back towards the door. Joe nodded to her as he sat back down at the seat, and the door slammed shut as Zoe was shoved out of it back into the narrow platform at the top of the stairs.

  Were each of those paintings she saw a different city discussing their plans for the attack, Zoe wondered? There were dozens of them, how much mana was being used just to power all of that? How many skills used in tandem to keep it working? There was so much power on display for what was just a glorified conference call, and yet they were worried about the entire kingdom falling to this darkness?

  Zoe walked down the stairs, nodded to the woman at the front desk and sat down on the short steps outside the council building. A commotion could be heard from the building, but Zoe wasn’t able to pick out any specific words. Just a jumble of noise that sounded vaguely language-like in its sound, yet wasn’t decipherable to her. Some sound magic that prevented eavesdropping, Zoe wondered?

  Every few minutes, somebody would run either out of the building or back into the building. Anxiety riddling them as they ran. It was strange sitting outside the council building, anxiety and panic dominating everything behind her with a sense of calm and serenity filling the streets in front of her. The citizens had no clue the depth of what was truly happening on the other side of the country.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  There were whispers of something happening in the capital, rumours spreading through the alleys and shops as people shared stories they’d heard like the worst game of telephone Zoe had ever seen. Some people talked about an elemental that had attacked the capital, others talked about their least favourite neighbouring country mounting an attack. But nobody was bothered by it very much. It was far away, distant. A problem for somebody else to worry about.

  Zoe herself found the atmosphere of the city somewhat relaxing, even knowing what was going on and feeling the anxieties raging behind her. It was so far away, and there was nothing going on in Foizo. The city was safe, the people went about their days like normal. Shops were open and advertising their wares, animals trotted down the streets hauling carriages behind them full of bags and crates.

  If Zoe weren’t just in the capital minutes earlier, she’d have written the panic ridden council building off as a particularly stressful council meeting. Which was no doubt what all the other people wandering around were thinking about the people rushing in and out of the building. It was interesting, it inspired conversation and rumours and added some credence to the rumours that were already spreading.

  But they were just that. Rumours.

  A few minutes later Emma appeared next to Zoe and took a step towards the entrance before she noticed Zoe sitting down on the steps. “Oh. Hey. Is everything okay?”

  Zoe nodded. “Sort of, yeah. As long as nothing changes, they’ll be alright they say. I’m gonna be taking some people back to the capital soon, apparently. You going to come, or you want to stay here?”

  “I’ll stay here. I’m not fit for whatever that was, right now. Sorry.” Emma’s head tilted towards the ground.

  “Don’t worry about it. That’s part of the risk of looping. I get it. I was going to take my next class before you showed up, so I guess I’ll just take it while I wait. May as well have a little bit of extra help.” Zoe chuckled.

  “Oh? You found an option you liked?" Emma sat down on the step next to Zoe.

  “Two, kinda. Elemental Enigma and Arcane Watch.” Zoe said.

  “Which is better?" Emma asked.

  “Arcane Watch is kind of exactly what I was looking for, honestly. But Elemental Enigma looks a lot more interesting. And more fun. Lots of elements at my disposal and I think it’ll probably give me even more options. I thought I might steal its skills at least.” Zoe said.

  “Which looks better for what you’re about to go do?" Emma asked.

  “I wish I had the time to just take them both and find out. You think if I asked nicely, the darkness would take a break for a few hours?" Zoe smiled.

  Emma laughed. “Probably not. Should’ve figured out your time stuff more so you could slow down time enough to check them both out in just a couple minutes.”

  “Arcane Watch is probably better for this. It’s defensive and magical, I couldn’t ask for more with this, really.” Zoe said as she pushed the system to give her the Arcane Watch class.

  *Ding* You have unlocked the Arcane Watch class. Your body and soul will be adjusted to accommodate the change.

  Effects:

  - Arcane Watch: Gain sixty one stat points for each level in this class.

  - Arcane Defender: Increased physical power.

  - Arcane Well: Health and Stamina capacity increased by 500%, Mana capacity increased by 450%.

  - Arcane Spirit: Health regeneration increased by 400%, Stamina regeneration increased by 200%.

  - Arcane Dominion: Increased magical power.

  Available Skills:

  - Mana Affinity: Increased Mana affinity.

  - Light Affinity: Increased Light affinity.

  - Physical Affinity: Increased Physical affinity.

  - Mana Manipulation: Manipulate the raw mana of the world to your will.

  - Light Manipulation: Manipulate the light around you to your will.

  - Steadfast Defense: Stand strong against even the mightiest of foes.

  - Arcane Strike: Empower your physical strikes with mana.

  - Arcane Reflection: Store taken damage and reflect it back at your foes.

  - Illusory Barrier: Form a barrier of light.

  - Cleansing Light: Form a ray of light that burns all it reaches.

  - Unblemished Reflection: Remove dirt and grime from objects.

  “So?" Emma asked. ”As good as you wanted it to be?“

  “I’m not sure, I don’t really have the time to test it all out right now. Seems pretty good though.” Zoe’s eyes darted to the corner of her vision to check her vitals. “And oh my god.”

  “What? Something wrong?" Emma asked, leaning towards Zoe.

  “No, the opposite. It gives me a six times multiplier to my health and stamina, with five and a half to my mana.” Zoe said. “Emma.”

  “Zoe.”

  “I have almost two million health, and over ten million mana right now.” Zoe laughed.

  Emma blinked. “That’s a lot of health, Zoe. Are the skills good?”

  “They sound good but I’m not sure. There’s three affinities and it’s not a combination class so it might be spread a little thin? But with this much mana I’m not sure it’s going to matter much to me.” Zoe chuckled.

  “You wanna go test them?" Emma asked.

  “I’m supposed to be waiting here. Not sure how much longer it’ll be now, but I don’t think it’ll be long. They’re kind of in a rush, what with the whole thing going on and all.” Zoe said.

  “Well, any that you can test out here? What three affinities does it have anyway?” Emma asked.

  “Light, Mana and Physical.” Zoe answered.

  “I guess you could skip the physical if none of the physical skills looks super interesting, but that’s also kinda the whole reason you took the class, huh?" Emma chuckled.

  “Yeah, and the light skills look pretty good. I might honestly skip the mana affinity, but it would affect my other classes a lot. Actually, I’m not sure it would, now that I think about it. It would only affect my enchanting, which I don’t really need to be stronger anyway.” Zoe said.

  “Okay, so skip the mana affinity, unless you really need it for one of your new skills.” Emma said.

  “I’m not sure, it looks like there’s two and they both seem interesting. A strike skill to make my physical attacks stronger, and a reflection skill to absorb some damage taken.” Zoe explained.

  Their conversation was cut short by the door slamming open behind them. A short, older woman with long gray hair tied in a braided pony tail stepped outside. “You’re Zoe?” She asked.

  “I am.” Zoe stood up. “Is it time to go?"

  The woman nodded. “The group is waiting for you on the road to the south. You’re to deliver them to the capital.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you later then Emma.” Zoe hugged her friend.

  “Stay safe,” Emma said.

  “I will. I’m not going to do anything dangerous. If I can’t help, then I’m coming back and we’ll figure something out, okay?" Zoe said.

  Emma nodded. “It’s times like these that I wish I had your sending skill. You think you could teach me it when you’re back?"

  Zoe nodded. “Yup. We’ll make it a priority, alright?"

  “Okay. Send me a message if anything happens, I’ll let Joe know whenever you do, alright?” Emma asked.

  Zoe stepped back and nodded. “Sure, thanks Emma. Stay safe here, hopefully things don’t get too out of hand.”

  A moment later, Zoe was floating above the southern wall of Foizo with a small group of about a dozen individuals gathered below. She gave a quick glance through her skill list then pushed the system to give her the Light and Physical affinities, along with Steadfast Defense, Arcane Reflection and Cleansing Light. This time it seemed her new skills would be put through a much more rigorous test than she was used to.

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