Reaving Roccaforte, Origin Realm

The home base of the Reaving Dread mercenaries was in an unknown location, even to the mercenaries themselves. To travel to and from there, they needed to enter from one of the subsidiary bases, or have the mark of the Condottiere on their bodies.

Yet as the mercenaries were active in multiple realms, they had at least one subsidiary base in each realm where they operated. The Reaving Roccaforte was one such base, built on a 4 star planet, in a galaxy partially owned by the Reaving Dread mercenaries. The only reason they didn’t own the entire galaxy was because they were mercenaries, not administrators or rulers. Someone else had to look after the welfare of the galaxy.

Within Reaving Roccaforte, Kaemon slowly opened his eyes, awareness slowly returning to him. He felt weak, drained, possibly even crippled - if only for a short while. Of course, he was. It would take him many centuries to return to his former state.

It couldn’t be helped. That was the price to pay to have the Condottiere inhabit his body to complete the mission - a feat that would kill anyone else. The only reason Kaemon himself did not die... was because he was one of the Condottiere’s clones.

Kaemon looked at his surroundings, and discovered that his body was half submerged in a pool of special lava which was replenishing his spirit, body and soul.

"We did it..." he said hoarsely, a hint of disbelief in him still. He had been unconscious since their departure from Abaddon, and only vaguely recalled Lex waking him to have him leave. If it hadn’t been for Lex, lord only knows what would have happened.

"Yes you did," said the Condottiere, appearing in front of Kaemon as a projection.

Kaemon hurriedly looked down, not daring to make eye contact with the Condottiere. Although he was a clone, he wasn’t a clone born from some technique, sharing the Condottiere’s soul. Instead, he was a biological clone, created from DNA from before the Condottiere became a Dao Lord. So, although biologically they were similar, Kaemon was his own person, with his own personality and soul.

It was just that he had been trained and tempered since birth to be able to tolerate the Condottiere taking over his body during a critical moment.

"I’m impressed, Kaemon. Honestly. Based on how things started out, I didn’t think you’d be up for the task," the Condottiere said, looking down at the submerged Magma Lion.

"Competent allies made all the difference," Kaemon admitted honestly, feeling somewhat rejuvenated. Naturally, since the Condottiere was visiting him, he would expedite Kaemon’s recovery.

"Yes, the Midnight Inn. We have an unusual relationship. What do you make of them?"

Kaemon thought for a moment, sifting through his thoughts before answering.

"I have never seen a more unified group," Kaemon said. "They’re strong, sure. Unique, definitely. But I have never seen a group so cohesive and unified before - at least not one that wasn’t a part of a hivemind."

"Huh. Not what I thought you’d say," the Condottiere commented. "Anyway, the real reason I’m here is to share some news with you. Moving forward, you’ll be the dedicated liaison between us and the Inn. Any time we have a mission with them, you’ll be a member of it. Unfortunately, you can no longer take the leading positions anymore."

Kaemon was stunned, but he dared not ask why. He had succeeded in the mission, so why was he being demoted?

"Don’t take it personally. That kid, Lex, did something to your body when he was trying to heal you. It’s fundamentally altered the structure of your body. You can no longer act as a host for me to possess without dying, and I think it would be very rude of me to pry into the details of what he did. So considering I don’t want to soil my newfound relationship with the Innkeeper, I think this role fits you better."

Kaemon was having mixed emotions as he heard the Condottiere’s words, but he suppressed them all.

"Yes, Condottiere."

"Don’t be so upset. Think of it this way. You have a lot more freedom now. Except for when there’s a mission with the Inn, you can do what you want."

Kaemon was silent, realizing that it was true. The Condottiere did not wait for him to respond, and just disappeared.

A hint of conflicted emotions ran through Kaemon’s eyes, but he didn’t have the energy to stay up and think things through. He closed his eyes, falling back into slumber. It would still take him a long time to recover.

*****

Lex had a lot of work to do, but even so, he spent nearly a full day chatting with Mary in his office. It was kind of cathartic to relax like that, even if the topics of conversation could have been better.

Considering that Mary was the only one who knew everything there was to know about him, she was also the only one he could openly talk to. But he had not forgotten that he barely knew anything about her.

Although the system forbade her from speaking about it, Lex had a few hints about her past, and so he could search for things himself. What if she really did have living family members, or even friends or acquaintances? She might enjoy seeing them again - or at least knowing how they were doing.

Those were things for the far future, though. Lex returned to the forge, and once again began helping Orin in laying the foundation.

"Little Lex, I had an idea while you were away," said Orin, a crazy look in his eyes. "It’s a bit ambitious, but I think we can pull it off."

Lex raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"What if... instead of making a one time forge, we make a forge such that the one time use that will ultimately destroy it... is only a part of the process to lay the foundation for the next forge that we’ll make."

"It’s not a bad idea. So what’s the crazy part?" Lex asked.

Instead of answering, Orin began to laugh, mania clearly visible in his eyes, alongside excitement.

"Nothing much. It’s just that, during the forging process for the Karmic bead, we’ll have to be inside the forge, crafting and simultaneously working on the forge itself."

Lex knew it. He was the only normal person in the whole Inn.

"Well, while we’re at it, why don’t we try a little something. Lets try forging my body since I’ll be in there. I think my body can be a little stronger."