The longer Sara spoke with [Mind Speech] the more it was like a regular conversation, and Kaden managed to not shout his responses mentally, insteach choosing to listen.


    “It’s supposed to be an honor. That I’m not even level fifty and the Mercari would choose to spend the resources on me, to put on a personal trial. It’s normally not even an option, and I was so excited I couldn’t wait. The promise of skills. Of profession development. Of learning from the greatest merchants.”


    “And that was a lie?” Kaden asked.


    “It was all the truth. I went gladly with Flavius. I don’t know what I expected, but when we emerged from the FarPortal, I was told it was the Zinder Kingdom. It’s a beautiful place, thick forests and rolling plains as far as the eye can see, and so few monsters. Flavius handed me a coin pouch, showed me a trail, and said my task was to make ‘them’ strong.”


    She’d followed the train with apprehension, not because of bandits or wildlife. The Horror devoured a puma and enjoyed it so much it continued to check for them constantly. She’d followed it down from the mountains and into a rolling valley filled with derelict houses and a few negligible monsters, grahts.


    Not twenty minutes later, the FarPortal activated, and a stampeded of people came rushing through. Bloodied, wounded, exhausted, they just kept coming. “At first, all I did was move among them, offering potions and salve and assurances that no matter what they’d fled from, they were safe here. The first of my lies.”


    Within hours, Sara assessed the situation, ordering the refugees to houses, and largely become baffled about what, exactly she could offer. “That’s when the second wave arrived. This time, it wasn’t just commoners. A [Mayor], a [Blacksmith], a [Healer] who was drunk most of the time. And I began doing exactly what I thought I should. I organized. I established a hierarchy and a rotation of guards and I personally stayed up to ensure the night spawns didn’t eradicate them.”


    So far, Kaden tracked everything. “So when did things go wrong?”


    “Things were never right. The next morning, I woke to find we had a visitor. A traveling general store who would sell me almost anything. You’ve experienced Trade-Rite. This was shocking. And with the vendor came a note, asking me why I wasn’t making purchases to ensure they were strong.”


    Giving Sara purchasing privileges was an easy way to ensure she would buy anything. Everything. “So you started simple? Or you went grand?”


    “Simple. I invested in farming tools. Smithing tools, miner’s axes for the open ore veins. My limit was a hundred gold a day. That week, there were no attacks. Within days we had crops planted, corn and wheat. I bought a [Blessing] to advance the harvest, because we were already at mid-summer. And I truly believed I’d done well. A week in, we had our first night spawn.”


    A week was long, but then again, the village wouldn’t have attracted much. “What was it? Who died?”


    “No one, that first attack. I slaughtered the [Acid Spider] and sold its corpse the next day. And bought spears and bows and materials for rudimentary walls. Within the second week I was running the most useless shop. I existed only to stock what they needed. I accepted trade against the coming harvest. The planning around that gained me a level in my business profession.”


    So far this sounded boring. Of course, there was a reason Kaden was a Dungeon Master, not a Business Manager. “You wanted to train guards.”


    “I did train guards. And builders, we had a young woman who had just gained the class. I worked alongside them. I harvested lumber from the forests where the pumas attacked. The Horror got to feed, I got lumber, it was an excellent trade. We built spike walls. We harvested. We traded and bought better supplies and new crops. A month in came the first attack.”


    “What spawned?” Kaden asked.


    “Not monsters. Raiders who came by night. The first one was a scout. I caught him myself. I fed him to the Horror in pieces, but I knew the moment I saw him, he wouldn’t be the last.”


    “And the people?”


    Sara choked back laughter or tears, or perhaps both. “Oh, they believed me. If I offered a Class, I never heard no. If I stressed the importance of leveling archery or spears or even swords, they took it as key. We had one night when the Surge Wave came over. Sixteen spawns in eight hours, three of which were so dangerous I had to pick how I battled them. Ten guards who had been merchants before their town was overrun fought off thirteen Night Spawns.”


    “And the raiders?”


    “They came back the next night, this time, five. [Anthem of the End] left them crippled. The fifth was the only one who even got to attack. They brought better equipment. I traded it for what matched our skills and spent that day’s gold on spell books, bombs, and traps. For two weeks, it worked. For two weeks, I bought more, I trained more. Eight weeks in, I lost the first townspeople. An [Assassin] attacked from one side, a squad of ten raiders from the other.” Sara’s [Mind Speech came drenched in grief. “After that, I demanded to talk to Flavius. He was so complimentary. He was so kind. He tested my guards and suggested improvements.”


    Flavius hadn’t struck Kaden as the type to betray. The [Thief] was too much of a merchant these days. “And then he exploited the improvements?”


    “No!” Sara shook her head. “He asked why I wasn’t getting stronger. I was spending on the villagers and not myself. I acted immediately. I bought [Hailstorm].”


    Sara had wanted that in Omnor.


    [Hailstorm]


    Summon a localized hailstorm that will impede enemy movement and inflict minor damage. The damage and debuff scales as this skill levels. Continuing [Hailstorm] will incur greater mana costs. Expanding the range of [Hailstorm] will greatly increase mana costs.


    “And the first night, we not only defeated the raiders who came, I chased them all the way to their camp and used [Anthem of the End] combined with [Hailstorm] to utterly destroy those waiting on their comrades. All their equipment only served to increase our profit. We reinforced the wood walls with iron cable and stone enchantments.”If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Kaden was keeping notes. This would be invaluable when they resettled Eveille.


    “The second night, our archers had [Nightsight]. We lost a few of raiders but made up for it with not even a scratch on our guards. And a second harvest produced so much corn we sold it. Our [Builder] replaced rotten wood with stone. Then the third night came.”


    “They attacked in mass?”


    “Everywhere. Not just raiders this time, Adventurers. [Rangers] who killed my guards before we even knew we were being attacked. [Shields] who bashed through our walls. A [Gravity Mage] who crushed traps and of course the [Rogues] who let them know where everything was.” Sara’s voice shook as she spoke. “But I caught the [Rogues], and the [Ranger] never expected a [Swordsman] optional class, and the [Mage]…I took out my frustration on him. I wanted to send a message and I wanted that message to be clear.”


    Good. Kaden was happy to hear that. “And they killed all the townspeople?”


    “Archers. Guards. They would have burned the village but my counter-attack left them retreating. The damned corpses disappeared.” Sara swore. “I should have known. That should have been what told me.”


    It was good there wasn’t a pop-quiz, because Kaden had zero idea what the Lesson of the Strong was at this point. But he had the sense to keep quiet.


    “Flavius was waiting for me at dawn. He told me that for one day—and one day only, I’d have no limit. Anything the vendor stocked was mine to buy. And I bought everything. I even bought another [Hailstorm] scroll to upgrade the skill. And mana potions. And more importantly, I planned.”


    Sara was an implicit planner. “You mean you came up with a second plan. And a third one.”


    “I mean I stepped back and asked myself what I thought would happen. I recognized the pattern of pressure. And I made certain that if anyone set foot in that valley the purchase price would be their life. I trained another healer and two citizens volunteered to die and be resurrected to gain him levels.”


    “And?”


    “I anticipated the [Rogues] and the [Ranger]. I’d bought [Burrow] for our [Builder] and moved all the townspeople underground. [Burrow] is criminally powerful combined with a [Geo Mage] and my ability to force mana regen. The traps I set killed their mage before he ever set foot in the village. Their [Healer] discovered I was waiting, and of course I let the man call for help.”


    Summoners didn’t usually fare well against entire parties.


    Summoners weren’t usually Sara.


    “And?” Kaden asked.


    “The mana bomb killed their [Shield] and critically wounded the [Knights.] The darkness was blessedly silent. No screaming. No burning. No flaming meteors. For nearly two hours. Then the second party attacked—and an hour after that, the third—and just before dawn, four at once.” Sara spoke through tears. “I killed as many as possible. I was forced to hide in tunnels and attack where I could. They stayed in groups of ten near the end. And killed everyone. Everyone except me.”


    Kaden couldn’t find words for the horror. “Why?”


    “Dawn came. You know I have [Rise]. I began resurrecting the healers first. Then everyone else. And it was late afternoon when Flavius showed up. He opened a portal and explained that anyone who abandoned the village would be given two gold. When they were all gone, he sat beside me. Eventually, he asked if I’d made them strong.


    There was only so much any woman could do.


    “I explained how I’d budgeted. How we planned. How we cooperated. How I’d spent every coin I had and every waking moment. And then I asked him, how could I possibly have made that village stronger?”


    “Ulfs? No. TriTerrors! A whole horde of them? No. Two!” Kaden said.


    Judging from Sara’s look, that wasn’t the answer.


    “He said I couldn’t. That no matter what, the attacks would have grown more frequent, more deadly, and larger. That normally the Lesson takes half a year, but he couldn’t afford Adventureres once word got out.”


    “Wait!” Kaden said out loud. “What do you mean, Flavius couldn’t afford them?”


    Sara’s smile wasn’t pleasant. “Now you know the Lesson of the Strong. You haven’t learned it the way I did, but you know it. The Lesson of the Strong is this: It doesn’t matter how strong someone is, if the other person can afford to wear them down with cheap adventurers. The most powerful empire can be laid low by mercenaries. The best built village razed by nothing more than level twenty adventurers. The Lesson of the Strong is this: strength is no match for money.”


    Kaden held her, not a passionate embrace, but the gentle grip that said she wasn’t alone. “And the people?”


    Sara shook her head. “As far as the Mercari are concerned, they were gifted classes. Professions. Skills. Any terror or lost levels or permanent deaths is a cheap trade. Now you understand why I hate them? It’s not that their lesson is wrong. It’s that they casually used people as props.”


    “Next time I see Flavius—”


    “I kicked him in the crotch, hard as I could. And I kept the money pouch. It keeps dispensing gold and I keep taking it,” Sara said. “I thought maybe I could see myself as one of them. Now I can see myself working against them.”


    “By…taking their money for Quests. And pouch?” It was one way to work ‘against’ someone. Probably not as effective as a warhammer and probably also not something Kaden would call ‘working against.’ But a good friend didn’t judge. A good friend would help you move a body. An even better friend had a TriTerror who would eat the body instead of moving it. “What hurts worst about this? The way you were manipulated? Or the way you were broken?”


    “That people trusted me and I failed them. If I had planned better, if—”


    “Stop!” Kaden blurted out, rousing everyone but Trella, who continued to snore. “The Mercari were always going to win. I bet they never needed more than one Party. I bet they had people who have helped them run this Quest for years. I bet they don’t have that now. The Lesson of the Strong isn’t that strength doesn’t matter, money does. The lesson is ‘It’s our responsibility to take care of the weak. Even if we lose. Even if we can’t win.”


    Eve wiped her eyes and yawned. “I suspected this was the ‘Lesson. And I’m sorry, Sara. It was a cruel way to try and enforce their worldview.”


    “Has this not always been the way?” Ashi asked. “Those with power believe they matter. Those without power, it does not matter what they believe.”


    Eve lay back down, and Vip turned in a circle to lay against her. Kaden, on the other hand, dressed quickly and headed out into the pre-dawn dark. Near the center of the village, several heatstones blazed, and around them stood different clansmen.


    Kaden ignored them, heading straight toward the edge of camp. Now that he was awake, the call was clear. “I’m here.”


    The snow shifted not five feet away, and Garm materialized, his muzzle bloody and his razor teeth exposed. The Resyr behind him shouted in alarm, but none of them dared attack. Kaden kneeled down and rubbed Gamr’s cheeks. “Was it a good hunt?”


    *Full*. Gamr stepped forward, then dropped his head and began to gag, choking, until he puked up a pile of meat.


    And gleaming in the steaming mess, Essence. Kaden gathered the Essence and let Garm lap up his own half-digested meal. “Good boy. Come with me, you can sleep in groundhouse.”


    When Kaden turned, the weight of stares fell heavy on his back.


    These people would be in awe of Trinity.


    Skully would leave them terrified.


    Garm pushed his head up under Kaden’s hand as he appraised the clan men. No one moved as Kaden headed past, but the Fen men had a healthy air of fear. Garm sensed it. Kaden did, too, through him. Maybe it was better to enjoy the heat. “I was sad about missing hunting, but Garm brought back eleven essence. And this claw that came from a [Razor Goose] boss.”


    The murmurs and stares were all he needed. They would keep the Fen in line, though Kai was different than his men. Kaden recognized the attitude that said the world had already taken what it could. Such men were difficult to turn aside.


    Kaden had been one.


    Now he wound his way through the Resyr camp with Garm in his shadow, seeking Drokor, seeking answers, and a solution that wouldn’t leave the north stained with blood.