Going Places.

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Tapping Ember's back in a rhythmic manner while also employing his Sun Breathing to combat the morning cold of the island, Richard focused his gaze on the early risers who were currently drawing logographic runes in the Aon programming language of ISE in the air to raise the earth.

After elevating it about three meters, or ten feet, from the ground, this group of Kitsune erased the symbol and drew a new one, SHAO, followed by TON, which transformed the mud into a block of simple stone. Erasing the symbol once again, each of these people started to draw TUC, which they then used to carve the block of stone into something resembling a very ordinary and simple house.

Finished with the house, each of them moved toward the back, where the bathroom should have been, and started drawing OVE followed by SHAO and TON to shape the earth like a pipe, essentially creating a drainage system that connected to the middle of the town outline.

Turning his gaze to the left, Richard saw another early bird group of Oread drawing ISE to raise the earth slightly from the ground, about half a meter or one and a half feet in height, followed by IDE, which fragmented it into smaller sections. After creating the shape of the town's pavement that connected to every house, they finally transformed this shaped mud using SHAO, TON, and VEL, essentially creating a roadway made out of cobblestones and gravel.

Shifting his attention to yet another group of early-bird Aasimar inside the largest rectangular building, where the temporary warehouse was located, Richard saw them picking up decaying wood, flaking stone, and rotting meat that had been gathered by everyone to create coal, by using complicated series of runes—SHAO, PEA, RION, LIFI, ARD, and OAL—to process these materials. This would then provide the inhabitants of the soon-to-be town with fuel for cooking their daily meals and heating their bathwater, especially given the cold temperatures of Skellige Isle, which had become colder since the Second Conjunction.

Finally arriving at the largest building in the outline of the town, which already resembled a mansion he had seen in Oxenfurt, though still a bit crude in design, Richard approached the open double doors and entered the lobby of the administration building. This building, directly in front of the bridge to Tor Gvalch'ca, was intended to be the mayor's office. However, since there was currently no mayor and nothing to administer—evidenced by the empty counter and the lobby's large, blank, vacant space—there was no one here to work this morning except Margarita and Moiraine, who were on the second floor.

Taking the grand marble staircase, wide enough for five people to climb simultaneously, Richard passed along a long corridor of open doors, which would soon serve as workplaces for anyone registered to become a civil servant of Undvik. After walking in silence for three minutes, with only the soft tapping of his footsteps meeting the marble floor, Richard finally arrived at the large entryway leading to the auditorium, where future meetings would be held.

Following the counter-clockwise path around the circular space, he noticed the only closed door and, as a polite gesture, knocked before opening it. Inside, he saw Margarita sleeping soundly at her desk, with visible bags under her eyes, likely from thinking about Bella, Stella, and Cindy. Richard then turned toward Moiraine, who was reading a report on the long sofa, regarding other Heralds who had started going places just the day before.

"In Povis, Triss and Logain are currently in conflict with another holder of the Demon Mythic Path, Deskari—a demon lord capable of commanding all the insect monsters in that province. Fortunately, many new elves who have arrived in this world and phased into the area are capable of wielding magic to create a safe haven for the locals."

"These elves, known as the Blood Elves, include the prominent Kael'thas Sunstrider, who can summon the legendary Phoenix from your Fantasy Fiction database. Depending on various factors, such as today or tomorrow, Triss and Logain plan to hunt down or drive away this demon lord."

"In Verden, Ervine and Faralda encountered two holders of the Mythic Path, Zagreus and Melinoë. Fortunately, they are friendly allies who assisted in defeating a city-level monster. One resembles a cockatrice but stands on two feet, while the other is a much larger werewolf."

"Despite their help, they were unable to drive away or even harm the Dragon Mythic Path holder in the area: the Devourer—a massive undead bone dragon with green, burning spectral flames within its bones. The dragon can control the skeletons of deceased beings and has recently acquired shouting magic similar to that of the undead creature roaming Skellige. Footnote, this shouting magic appeared much later."

"In Mahakam, Narishma encounters resistance when he seeks to ally with the Dwarves. These resistance, known as Green Skins, possess a unique magic system called Waaagh, which can temporarily or permanently enhance their characteristics and affect allied Green Skins."

"This magic seems tied to their constant state of war, as it prompts them to remain in conflict to grow more powerful. As for the Mythic Path holders in the area, Narishma has been unable to locate them, as they are either well-hidden or indifferent to the ongoing conflict."

"In Temeria, there is so much happening. For starters, Northern Nilfgaard now has a new magic system called Endowment to combat enemies. This magic functions similarly to leveling up stats in your Science Fiction database. For example, it allows Emhyr to absorb attributes from his subjects—such as intelligence, strength, or even charm—if the subjects are willing. Note that willing can be substituted with coerced."

"Second, there is a Demon Mythic Path holder who brought with him his army of races. His name is Khorne, god of blood, killing, and rage, as the person said when Yennefer met him. She doesn't know how the tear in space happened that allowed him to descend, but we can guess it's similar to what Molag Bal wanted to do—using resurrected souls to open up a path."

"Not only that, in Temeria, there is another Mythic Path with a new category, which is the Primal category. Yen deduces it is for a normal beast like a lion or elephant to gain ascension after meeting the creature in person. This creature named itself the Primal Beast and is as large as a mountain, which has a habit of smashing everything into pieces."

"Thus, humans, demons, and beasts are thrown into the area, creating a three-faction stalemate with Nilfgaard currently the weakest. Because of this, Nilfgaard wanted to ally with us to kill the two Mythic Path holders in exchange for her friend Keira and many other Witchers. Due to that demand, Yennefer directly saved Keira and other Witchers with ease, uninterested in the one-sided treaty."

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