The Merchant guild rivals countries in financial power, with an influential stranglehold that allows them to significantly shift both political and financial power of not only a town, but the region itself. It’s not uncommon for a small village to turn into a wealthy town because the merchant guild set up somewhere nearby.

  One such hub is Memphis, which dictates a significant portion of regional trade for the southeastern lands. It is such an important city, that any disruption in trade can lead to widespread financial losses and enormous famine.

  Thus, when the [Guild Leader] of the central merchant guild heard that the city was attacked, and that the attack was orchestrated by Valentine, the man immediately loaded up his ship with supplies before departing with a Battleship strike group.

  After weeks of travel, the Tycoon

  “That damage is going to take a while to repair,” He says as he looks at the damage. “And costly,” he adds after a moment. “Why did he attack here? There's plenty of better, easier, and more profitable towns and cities to waste ammo on. What is Valentine's goal?” He rubs his chin. “Was there something valuable in the city that he needed? Is he just luring me to this city to rob me? Is he trying to disrupt trade in this part of the region?

  The woman besides the richest man in the world sighs. “Silver, stop trying to predict the actions of a madman. Valentines known for being chaotic.”

  Silver grins, undeterred by the words of his [Strike Group Sub-Captain]. “Jasmine, Valentine is indeed chaotic, but even chaos has some logic to it. All I need to do is figure out what that is, then I can prepare accordingly. Now, what’s your thought on why Valentine attacked Memphis? Is it to lure me out so he can kill me?”

  Jasmine shakes her head. “The report says an aurora formed above the city prior to the attack and only dispersed once Valentine left. I believe Valentine can create an aurora and was just testing it out in a siege scenario.”

  Silver pouts. “That’s wasteful and dumb. Well, unless it’s to lure me into a trap to kill me.”

  “The isn’t something Valentine can easily deal with, even if he can create an aurora. On top of that, you can always activate your skill to escape.”

  “I don’t like using that skill,” Silver whines. “It adds too much paperwork. I’d rather just let you handle it.”

  The woman sighs. “Let's just deliver all the supplies. We can theorycraft a reason for Valentine's attack once we have a bit more information.”

  ________________________________________________________

  “That ship is so big,” Mentara exclaims. Her eyes roam the incoming massive cargo ship.

  Adriana leans on a cane with a smile. Her legs are getting better, and she believes she won't need a cane at all in a couple more weeks.

  “The is the largest Carrier in the world and is captained by the Leader of the Merchant Guilds; Silver Prodest,” Adriana explains. “Though most people would know him by the name Tycoon

  Mentara and Adriana stand near the broken port, watching the Magnate turn perpendicular to the city while the Battleships creates a defensive position. To Mentara, the Battleships look tiny in comparison to the enormous size.

  “What's the Tycoons

  Adriana chuckles. “It’s been awhile, but if memory serves, his job is [Guildmaster Admiral] and his class is [Suzerain of Sky Routes]. His job is twenty four and his class is eighty one. Though both could be even higher now.”

  Mentara frowns at her mother. “That doesn't sound like a class.”

  Adriana repositions her cane a bit to better lean on it. “All master classes are long like that. They’re also all unique, too.”

  “So it’s like being named, right?”

  “Not exactly. What name you obtain is based on a single significant action you do as an expert. For Silver, he became the Tycoon

  Mentara widens her eyes, and then frowns. “That’s too amazing. There must be a catch.”

  “There is. The slipstream lasts a very short time, allowing only for the and a small fleet to utilize it. It also weakens any nearby slipstreams that the passes by for several weeks.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “That’s still amazing.”

  “Indeed.” Adriana smiles at her daughter before returning her attention to the carrier. “Looks like they’re about to transfer goods.”

  Mentara stares at the hovering still a bit far from port. The ship is both vertically and horizontally large, though much of the vertical aspect consists of numerous stacked metal containers the size of Corvettes. “They’re too far from port. How will the-”

  Mentara’s words are interrupted as a horn is blared loudly for all to hear. Not a moment later, the side of the ship opens. Then, several dozen griffins exit the ship into immediate flight. They ascend up and land on top of a metal container. The [Griffin Riders] get off their mounts and connect the metal container to the griffins via a harness. They remount and take off, flying the container to Memphis’s damaged port.

  _________________________________________________________________

  The monster raises its head and opens its mouth. It takes a breath, only for a runed blade to sever fur, skin, sinew, and finally bone. Jiro’s brother collapses alongside the severed head.

  Jiro stares at the corpse for a long moment, bile rising up in his throat at what he’d been forced to do. But a nearby scream reminds him that this is only the beginning and that he should not be distracted. Regardless, he takes a moment to offer a silent prayer to the Emperor so that his brother's soul may rest peacefully with the divine.

  With the prayer done, Jiro attaches his brother's sword to his hip and rushes out of the building, Katana grasped tightly within his hands. No sooner does he step outside, does he pivot to the left as a claw skids upon the overlapping plates of his shoulder armor.

  Without skipping a beat, his Katana sings, slicing an arm, then leg, before finally stabbing his weapon through one of the monster's six eyes. He retracts his blade from the monster corpse and assesses the situation. Smoke and fire accompany screams and howls. The sickness spreads rapidly across the town, infecting more and more every second.

  Seeing that no monsters have invaded his current position, Jiro rushes to where he can hear not only howls, but the screams of the emperor's citizens.

  When he arrives, the scent of so much blood makes him want to hurl, but such a thing can wait until later. For it seems the [Guard] has not yet been overrun. They live and fight, organising a retreating wall of spears and blades while those who cannot fight hide behind them.

  The monsters, though, can see the corpses of their brethren lining the streets. They can see blood dripping from the [Guards] weapons. And instead of engaging mindlessly, they wait and howl, calling for a larger horde.

  Grimacing, Jiro rushes to the [Guards] as fast as he can. Two of the monsters see him out in the open and react, pouncing to intercept. The [guard] screams in warning, not that he needs it. The sun is out and the monster's forms are fully on display. With a twist of his body, he bisects one of the monsters in half and then continues his momentum to quickly sever the second head clean off its body.

  Before the body even strikes the pavement, Jiro is sprinting to the [Guard]. When he nears, the encirclement opens and then closes.

  “Jiro, where have you been?” A woman in full blood-smeared yoroi armor asks. “Where are your brothers?”

  “Training at my family garden and then assisting at the port.” Jiro grimaces. He taps the second scabbard on his waist. “The infection killed Akio.”

  Though he can’t see the woman's expression on account of the Kabuto on her head, he can easily predict the grimace. After all, she was to be his wife.

  “So, the infections spread all the way to your family home?”

  Jiro nods. He and his brothers had been attacked during a spar. They’d killed the monsters that attacked them, but one of his brothers was splattered with blood.

  “Yes.”

  “And the port?”

  “Overrun, but we’d been able to assist several ships to depart.”

  “How overrun?”

  Jiro glances at the number of tired [Guards]. “You do not have enough.”

  The woman nods and then turns to the crowd of citizens. “Change of plans!’ she yells to the crowd. “The port is inaccessible, so we will head to the base of the tower to form a defensive position and await the inquisition.”

  Jiro can hear the screams and yells of those present, many realizing that the chance of survival just reduced to the single digits. It’s common knowledge that if an infection hits critical mass, then not only the town, but the entire island is lost.

  “Silence! If you wish for a chance to survive, then walk slowly to the tower.”

  The screams and crying continue, but the masses obey her words. They move slowly, step by step in the tower's direction while the [Guards] walk with the crowd, continuing the encirclement.

  “Jiro, I need you to scout ahead. I don’t want any surprises,” She orders. “If you find any more civilians, send them my way.”

  Jiro grimaces under his Kabuto. Even as capable of a [Samurai] that he is, he can’t reliably handle a large swarm on his own. Not at his current level.

  Grabbing his brother's katana, he removes it from his waist and offers it to her. “Hina, I leave you with his will if I do not return.”

  Hina hesitates for a moment before grabbing the weapon. “I accept.”

  Jiro nods. He turns and rushes out of the encirclement, towards the direction of the tower.

  As he travels the streets, he finds numerous corpses of both civilians, [Guards], and monsters. What he doesn’t find is anything living. Which is both good and bad.

  Either the civilians have retreated to the tower, or the monsters in the area have turned into a horde.

  It is after he passes ten buildings that Jiro hears the sounds of screaming, accompanied by loud banging.

  Tightening his grip on his Katana, Jiro rushes to the noise. When he arrives, he’s met with his former teacher pounding violently at the cellar door.

  Jino sighs. He takes a stance. “Elder Ning, of all the [Samurai] in Kyoshi, I did not expect you to have turned into a Fenrimorph.”

  The Fenrimorph stops its banging. Its ears twitch for a moment. Then it turns towards Jino, allowing him to take a good look at the remains of Elder Ning’s clothes covering the monster's muscular form.

  “Regardless, allow me to put you to rest.” Jino tightens the grip on his Katana and waits to react.

  The Fenrimorph lowers its body for a moment, then the ground shatters as it pounces at an incredible speed towards Jino.

  Jino releases a single breath. And in that breath were two words.