Our little trip had taken quite a bit longer than expected. But I hadn’t been expecting to sign up for a fighting competition and then be forced to fight off a group of religious nuts. So I guess three weeks being gone wasn’t so bad, all things considered.I did notice that over half of the sensors had failed in the time we were out of Saint June though.Ska decided to stick with me for now and I decided not to stop off near Houston. I did send Martin a message though so hopefully he could update me on what was happening.As we approached the town, I only saw one of the barges. I had hoped both would be here but I would inquire about that after I landed.“Is there anything to hunt around here?” Ska asked as we stepped off the ramp.“I heard there were some elementals north of town. East just leads you toward the sulfur springs where we defeated the Jackals. I’m not sure if there are any dungeons near the mountains, but I would imagine there should be a few.”Ska rumbled in discontent

It was a full three days before my Reaper title picked up Javier’s location. That gave me a good estimate of how far the tracker reached. I figured it was around a thousand miles. It wasn’t a perfect estimate though as the barge was traveling away from us almost the entire time.It seemed that whoever was giving the orders on the barge wanted to get into South America. Probably to avoid exactly what was happening right now. Maybe they figured if they got far enough away, even if I could track them that I would just write it off. Well, they didn’t know me very well. The barge I didn’t care too much about, it could be replaced but I had grown to like Javier. He was quiet but worked hard. I treated him and Maria more like siblings than employees.I tried to follow the path of the barge as closely as I could. It would seem whoever was in control skirted over the Pacific Ocean to avoid the larger population centers. That was probably smart, seeing as Mexico City looked like a wasteland and

The trip back was a struggle, both emotionally and physically. The first physical obstacle was the barge itself. Taking it with us would make us a huge target. Leaving it behind would be a waste.I decided to remove anything of value and abandon the barge in the jungle. A plasma cutter helped make quick work of cutting the panels free. Removing the control systems and runic lines took longer but within two days everything had been stripped, leaving nothing behind but a steel shell. I imagined a lot of confusion would follow for anyone coming across the sight of an ocean barge sitting in a jungle near a river barely large enough to float a canoe down.Maria remained silent on the trip home, with only the occasional sob slipping from her lips. She was having a hard time dealing with what happened or I suspected what I had done. So it wasn’t surprising when we arrived in Saint June and she hurried off without a word. She needed time to grieve and process what had happened. I hoped she wo

Fiona and I spent a week practicing and got to a point where I could endure her whole form within me for a minute. I really hoped that was enough time.She had been busy as well, managing to identify four of the spies. The other two were much better at remaining hidden. I wanted to catch all six but I didn’t think we had the time. Martin had received a message from the Marshall, informing him that a Lord Vik’t had paid a personal visit to Houston.It only helped confirm that Houston had allied itself with the Enchanters Guild. I knew it would only be a matter of time – if he hadn’t already – until Rosewill told the Lord about me. With that came two possibilities that I could see. One they would try and tie me to their organization or they would try and get rid of me. I had heard plenty of stories in the Bazaar about how the Guild conducted business and had no doubt they would do the same to me. That had been my driving force for erecting the wall and the forcefield.But that was also

“You seem awfully nonplussed for someone that just murdered a group of people,” Kurt angrily replied as he glared at me.I had just finished going over what had occurred with the Stygian Order base with him and Martin. I hadn’t expected the man to get so up in arms about it but I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised. He did capitulate to a bunch of thugs instead of gathering his officers and driving them off. I think he still had that pre-System mindset that killing people should result in my arrest. It would be pretty funny if he tried. Well, funny for me maybe.“Have you ever had to kill another human being?” I asked instead of just ignoring the man’s ignorant assertion.I watched him flounder as his mouth worked uselessly for a bit. Eventually, he turned away before replying. “No.”“Then you have no qualifications to judge my actions. I don’t kill because I enjoy it, I do it because it is necessary. Over the last year, I have had to kill more people than I care to count. You m