72 Phase 61: First Steps in Lamico

Colin felt dizzy by the time they landed at Lamico airport, his head filled with all the possibilities presented by his Comrades' techniques.

{Kirin and Raiki do great together… I should train up their electric attacks more… Shiro, Sonia and Eclipse should train direct attacks… especially the armor-piercing ones.}

Speed and power. That's all his Comrades were good for, all they really needed, so far. {So far. But one of these days, well…}

Satrox had piled onto him all sorts of possibilities for combined attacks.

{Enough. No more thinking about those. My head hurts.}

"Troxy!" Someone called to them as they exited the arrivals gate.

"Tam!" Satrox waved back.

Tam appeared to be a girl with a zebra-colored hairstyle, with broad stripes of white and black one after the other. She had twinkling yellow eyes and a sharp face, giving her a somewhat wild look. "You're finally here!"

"What do you mean, 'finally'?" Satrox asked.

"You're the new Regional Commander, aren't you?" Tam asked. "I never thought they'd send one of the Seven Champions, but it's great! You're just what we needed!"

"Wait. What's this about Regional Commanders?! Wasn't Luke in charge?"

"He's gone off to fight the Frenzieds." Tam told him.

Satrox stared. He touched his watched. "Abby!"

Abby took the call. "Hmm?"

"What's this business about Regional Commander?"

"Oh, didn't you know? You're it."

"What?!"

"You're the highest ranking Knight we have on Lamico. Luke was breaking down from the stress, so we decided that since you're going over, you might as well relieve him."

"Since when?!"

"About twenty minutes ago. I sent you a text message."

Satrox checked. He found it. "Even so…!"

"Come on, Troxy. You're the best we got for it, and you're already there! We'll send you some backup, so just… hold the fort. Or take over the continent. Whichever you like."

Satrox growled. "I was coming here for a sweet little vacation thrashing the tournaments, and you guys give me the hardest job in Nakama World? Someone's going to pay for this."

"We already did. Check your credit account."

Satrox checked. He paused. "Okay… you guys are definitely serious about this."

"High Command was insistent." Abby said. "Just having the title of Sage of the Ancient Ways, and being one of the Seven Champions brings quite a lot of clout to our credibility on the Lamico Continent. Sending someone of your stature shows them that we haven't forgotten them."

"I'm just filling in for my retired teacher." Satrox sighed.

"We know that. But they don't."

Satrox looked grim. Very grim. "I'm going to need more power. Fast. I'm still a Blue Badge."

"Yep." Abby agreed. "Can't let our Regional Commander be seen with such a low ranking. Good luck, Troxy."

"Thanks a lot." Satrox said flatly.

Abby laughed softly as she cut the link.

Satrox turned to Tam. "Do the local Comrade Homes have any good Feathered Flight Tames in stock?"

"Most good Tames have been bought off by now." Tam said. "Except for the very hardest to handle. If you want Feathered Flight, there's a couple of them right here in the Lamico Comrade Home. Other than that, you'll have to fight Wilds. What about the Homes at the Crescent Continent?"

"I've already bought the best Pan had to offer." Satrox said. "The rest were all low-level cubs."

"What kind of levels are you looking for?" Colin asked.

"At least level 40." Satrox answered, without turning. "Or even the higher 30's would be fine."

Colin gulped.

"Well, if you really need power…" Tam said slowly. "We've got some contacts in the Underground."

Satrox paused. "That's suicide, Tam. If they see me with a Blue Badge…"

"We'd be doomed." Tam agreed. "Then you're left with no choice but to take on the Dungeons before you're seen."

Satrox growled. "I'm not prepared for this! I was supposed to be a competitor on vacation! A rank-hanger!"

Tam sighed. "Sorry."

"Not your fault." Satrox said grimly. "I should have expected this. Let's go to the Comrade Home first."

"What about your friend?" Tam asked, nodding to Colin.

"Colin comes with me wherever I go." Satrox said at once.

"Is he your brother?" Tam asked. "I heard…"

"No, he's not my brother." Satrox answered. "He's… well… sort of my student."

Colin didn't protest. Satrox did teach him a lot about Nakama World, after all.

"Is he your successor to the Ancient Ways?" Tam asked.

"Maybe." Satrox said, marching off.

{What are the Ancient Ways…?}

***

Lamico City was a place of very tall buildings.

"I can barely see the sky from here." Colin noted, surrounded by towers on all sides.

"They try to squeeze as much in as little space as possible." Satrox agreed. Walking around with a gray coat covering his badge, he looked a bit odd walking in the warm 'day'. "Notice the walkways below and above us? There are four levels of streets in Lamico City, and we're on the second."

Satrox was right, Colin realized. The streets they walked on were fifty feet above ground. Another fifty feet above them were identical streets, and beyond that, more of the same. {I thought they were balconies.}

But despite all those buildings, the streets were quiet. Few people went about and a lot of the windows were boarded up. Lamico City was half deserted.

The Comrade Home was at the very top of a short building. Colin and Satrox followed Tam to the fourth tier of streets to get there. The Chief Breeder there was a fair skinned man with a square glass visor over his eyes, a tall forehead and short hair sticking straight up.

"Tam." The man greeted them. "How can I help you?"

"Archie, do you still have those Chimeras in stock?" Tam asked. "I think I've found someone able to handle them."

"You don't say?!" Archie stared. "They're the most fussy, irritable creatures I've ever had to deal with!"

"Show me." Satrox said softly.

Archie blinked at him, eyed him up and down and said, "Well. Well, well, well. Hmm."

"Archie?" Tam prompted.

"Follow me." Archie said, leading them in. They took the elevator to the highest floor.

Comrade Homes typically had their Comrades under a broad dome with rings after rings of habitats. The inner rings would have the lowest level, easiest Comrades. The outer rings would have stronger and harder Comrades.

Archie led them all the way to the outermost rings.

"They're big." Colin stared.

Chimeras were a mixed up bunch of creatures. Each one looked like a lion with eagles' wings and tails that looked like snakes or something. Colin wasn't sure what the cubs looked like, but the ones in front of him now were really big.

{How tall are they…? Twenty feet? And that's just height …}

"Strife and Temper." Archie said. "Their previous Dreamer couldn't control them once they became adults. He gave up and left them with us."

Strife and Temper glared at Satrox. Satrox stood there and stared right back.

"They'd bite anyone who came too close. The last six who tried to touch them died for it." Archie went on. "The only ones who tried to buy them and survived are those who backed off and wisely chose not to…"

Satrox stepped into their habitat.

"…try and… huh?! HEY!" Archie jumped. "Watch out!"

But the Chimeras didn't pounce. Instead, they exchanged slow, calculative glances.

Satrox held out his hand, saying nothing.

"He's going to lose that hand." Archie muttered. "They're going to just bite it off… or bite his head off… or…"

Slowly, the two beasts came to Satrox and put out their forepaws. They touched Satrox's hand of their own accord.

And did not attack.

Archie's jaw dropped. "Did they just… accept him?!"

"Looks like it." Tam was really relieved.

"Who {is} that guy?" Archie whispered.

Tam laughed weakly. "He's one of the Seven Champions, Archie, our new Regional Commander.

"He is the Sage of the Ancient Ways."

***

Tam sounded very self satisfied as they left the Comrade Home. "With that, the word will be all around Lamico by tomorrow night. Everyone will know that we've got a new Regional Commander and that he's seriously powerful!"

"They'll think the whole deal with getting two new Comrades was just to flaunt my power." Satrox said grimly. "They'll also think I'm the showy sort. They'll expect me to try and prove myself all over the place… and they'll even give me the chance to do it."

"Probably." Tam sounded happy.

"And when I lack the kind of power they expect…" Satrox trailed off softly.

Tam froze.

"I can't put them off forever." Satrox said. "And they're going to move quickly. The first ones to have me perform at some event of theirs will try to claim bragging rights. Whatever the situation is politically, I need to move even faster. And I haven't much time."

"It's almost morning here." Colin noted. "What do we do?"

"Where's the least active dungeon?" Satrox asked Tam.

"Well… probably either Dark Forest or…" She trailed off.

"Lost Paradise." Satrox concluded grimly. "You're right. Nobody would even think of training there."

"You're not planning on Overday Training, are you?!" Tam gasped. "What if your Comrades Abandon you? They might die without your supervision!"

Satrox turned to Colin. "Unless…"

Colin stared for a moment, then turned to his shoulder.

"Yip." Shiro wagged his tail.

***

Shiro was without a doubt, Colin's best Comrade. Not only in terms of combat capability, but because of his traits.

{Independent… Analysis… }

The combination of those two meant the wolfcat could fight without needing Colin to tell him what to do, and make smart decisions in combat. Furthermore, Shiro was a Command-type. There had been times when he'd led other Comrades to win the battle before other Dreamers could finish telling their Comrades what to do.

But he was still just a little white wolfcat, small enough to fit into Colin's hand or ride on his shoulder. There was something inconsistent about his size; at times, he was this small, but Colin had seen him almost three feet in length before. In any case, he was only in the third stage of his growth, not quite adult yet. Would Satrox's gigantic Comrades listen to the tiny furball?

"Yip!" Shiro told them. "Yiyip!"

The Chimeras roared back at him.

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea." Tam said, standing at the entrance of the Dark Forest. The 'dungeon' was really just a simple maze of trees, where the nearer one got to the center, the stronger the Wilds were. "Most of the Wilds here, even at the outer edges, are level 20-30."

"Don't worry." Satrox assured her. "I've seen Shiro in action. He won't do anything stupid."

"He is still just a Comrade." Tam said. "And I've never heard of Comrades able to command any other Comrades other than their own Dreamer's."

"Shiro can do it." Colin told her. "I've seen it before."

That was how Edward's pond had been dug. The little wolfcat had barked at the crowd and everyone's Comrades had worked together to finish the pond in minutes.

Including, Colin realized, Edward's big Firebull and Graybark, the adult gray wolfcat.

{Come to think of it… Edward's got a Wolfcat. That's a pretty high class Comrade. What's a simple farmer doing with something like that?!}

Satrox had summoned his Crimson Condors and Frost Owl, Colin saw. "Can Shiro manage five?"

{Five?} Colin frowned. "What about…"

Satrox put a finger to his lips and his eyes flickered to Tam.

{He's not going to call the rest!} Colin stared. {He doesn't want to show Tam his strongest Comrades!}

Colin, on the other hand, wasn't a Purple Badge yet, and never had been. He didn't have the ability to Warp in his Comrades. All of them were still following him around, mostly on Kirin's back.

"…letting your own Comrades command each other?" Colin changed his words.

"They're not really Command-types." Satrox shrugged.

Tam's eyes narrowed.

{She knows. She knows he's holding back, because he wouldn't go around without a Command-type or two.}

"I don't want a clash of commands." Satrox said. "Let Shiro command them all."

Colin winced. {But most of MY Comrades are Command-types! Raiki, Sonia and Eclipse are all capable Commanders!}

But they were also used to following Shiro's orders… and weren't quite as big as Satrox's Comrades.

"Shiro…" Colin sighed. "I've got to Wake Up soon. Can you guys train around here until I get back?"

"Yip." Shiro assured him.

"Satrox's Comrades too."

Shiro nodded confidently. He turned to the Chimeras, the Crimson Condors and the Snowy Owl. "Yip?"

They roared, screeched and hooted in unison.

"YIYIP!!" Shiro barked, and raced into the Dark Forest.

All of Colin's and Satrox's Comrades followed him in.

"And that," Satrox said, with a satisfied smile, "is that."