Alexander The Great Mage

"A hundred Planet Grade Treasures per day, minimum payment of 365 days regardless of how quickly the \'campaign\' ended." Blackfire said.

Alexander blinked in confusion. "A hundred Planet Grade Treasures per day? Are we talking about the same Planet Grade Treasure here? Maybe Planet Grade Treasure in Central Symphonia is a different thing."

Blackfire laughed. "Even IF it\'s different, it would be \'more expensive\' different. Central Symphonia is much more affluent than a fringe planet like Arcanus 26. It\'s the exact same thing! The measurements for treasures are the same throughout all of Symphonia and all the Universe Empires. Even if they are called differently, they have the same corresponding ranks. Continental Grade, Planet Grade, Galaxy Grade, Universe Grade and Divine Grade. A thousand units of each grade corresponding to a single unit of the next grade."

"Thirty six thousand five hundred Planet Grade Treasures just to hire them for a single year? That\'s insane!" Alexander muttered.

"It is not." Blackfire said firmly. "Imagine you\'re fighting for a huge Star System and you\'re in a stalemate against your enemy, a single X-factor would upend the balance and you would gain the riches of an entire Star System. In that case, you\'d have more than enough to pay the mercenaries."

"Yes, but if I\'m locked in a desperate war for a Star System, the scale is much too big for the mercenaries to make an impact. Even if I could afford them, why would I pay them?" Alexander pointed out the flaw in Blackfire\'s logic.

"Very simple. To wipe out the enemy\'s top tier combatants. As you know, top tier combatants determine the ebb and flow of the war." Blackfire explained. "Although a well commanded army with only mid-tier combatants can defeat a poorly commanded army with top-tier combatants, it is a rare case to find such discrepancies in the quality of command. More often than not, both factions would have excellent commanders, and the determining factor of the war would be which side\'s top tier combatants would die or lose first. All three factions who decided to pull the trigger and hired Rag-Hatharos and his men won their respective wars and Star systems. Well, they did struggle for many years trying to administer a war-ravaged Star System from their own bankrupted Star System, but still. A victory is a victory. And in our case, we don\'t have to worry about administering any land we conquer in the Realm of Darkness."

"Thirty six-thousand five hundred Planet Grade Treasures!" Alexander muttered. "Or thirty six and a half Universe Grade Treasures. Where do I even begin looking for one? The one I had I gave to the three girls already…"

"What??" Blackfire was startled. "You had a Universe Grade Treasure before?"

"Yes. Dubaza and I found a Water Goddess during our mission to free Flamewing from a Golden Lich Emperor." Alexander said.

"Water Goddess!" Blackfire marvelled. "That is truly a wonderful Universe Treasure. One that even some top tier combatants would kill their families for. There are not many options to power-up once you have wrung your entire being out of all of its potential. The Water Goddess is singularly the most riskless and easiest method to gain another step up in the rungs of power! IF you had not mastered the Water element, of course. Arcanus 26 is truly a hotbed of wonders. The Royal Family of Symphonia must have dumped in an insane amount of resources when they terraformed the fifty experimental planets!"

"That\'s it! I get it! I\'ll just tour all fifty experimental planets and scour them for Universe Treasures! With Aleyria as the Sovereign of Luck, I am sure we will be done in no time! If we find three Universe Grade Treasures and a thousand Planet Grade Treasures on each planet, I would be able to afford all of the top mercenary groups!" Alexander shouted. "Damn you dragons acting all so high and mighty. Can\'t you guys be stirred by patriotism instead and be filled with desire to defend our realm for free?!"

Blackfire laughed.

"Why do it for free when there are people who would pay for it?" Blackfire chuckled evilly.

Alexander sighed. Searching for all those treasures to be able to afford the mercenaries would take quite a lot of time. Alexander hated wasting time like that, and the idea of working so hard just so he could afford to pay mercenaries irked him to no end.

*-*-*-*-*

While the boys were having fun gambling and story telling, Aleyria and Kan-Dari were having a much more meaningful time.

"How are you feeling, Dari?" Aleyria asked gently as she sat next to her on the giant rock overlooking the encampment, watching Alexander summon his undead minions.

"I… I don\'t know, Mistress." Kan-Dari said softly. "I have never felt like this before."

Aleyria nodded in understanding. She put her arms around Kan-Dari and pulled her close.

At the touch of a firm yet caring hand, Kan-Dari felt all the grief and pent up sadness within her bubble up uncontrollably. Very soon, she was sobbing, then bawling her eyes out on Aleyria\'s shoulders.

Aleyria continued to stroke Kan-Dari\'s hair, giving her the time and space she needed to vent her emotions.

After a few minutes, just as the first Giant Skeleton Mage made its appearance, Kan-Dari\'s sobs quickly subsided.

"When Pri-Princess Yellow died…" Kan-Dari sniffed. "I-I was so shocked and I didn\'t feel much of anything. Soon after that though, I began to feel guilty for not feeling anything over her death. But as the days passed, I started to miss her very much, and my grief began to catch up to me. Mistress, it\'s so tragic that Princess Yellow had to die like that!" Kan-Dari cried out sadly.

"Princess Yellow died honorably in battle. As a Wyvern, and especially so as a Wyvern serving under us, it is considered as the highest honor to die in battle. They have quite a bit of dragon blood running in their veins, after all. And dragons  And remember this, Dari. The real tragedy of life isn\'t death, but what we let die while we are still alive. You are very much alive, Dari. Take this pain, make it a part of you, and step forward bravely once more. Live your life to the fullest once more, and only then can you honor the memory of Princess Yellow who died in your service and in service to the Crown." Aleyria encouraged Kan-Dari.

Kan-Dari remained silent for a moment as she tried to slowly internalize Aleyria\'s words.

"There\'s no deadline for dealing with grief. Take your time. You\'re ready when you\'re ready." Aleyria smiled gently.

"Yes Mistress." Kan-Dari sniffed. "Thank you very much for your words."

"It\'s all good." Aleyria nodded and looked up to where Alexander and Blackfire were talking, just in time to hear Blackfire calling her a freak, and Alexander\'s defense."

"Hee Hee, thank you dear!" Aleyria called out.

Kan-Dari blushed slightly at Aleyria\'s mushy words.

"Let\'s go. I\'ll bring you to reunite with your friends before I rejoin the King." Aleyria said. She grabbed Kan-Dari\'s hand and blink! They\'re gone.

"Mistress!" Shira and Liz\'An cried out together when they saw Aleyria and Kan-Dari appear out of nowhere.

"Dari! Where were you? We were so worried!" Liz\'An exclaimed.

"I was having a little chat with Mistress. Sorry you had to deal with the King\'s surprise test by yourselves." Kan-Dari said guiltily.

"Ah! It was a surprise test?! No wonder there weren\'t any casualties!" Shira remarked loudly.

"It was King Alexander\'s way of giving you all some much needed live training." Aleyria smiled at the girls. "You have performed very, very well indeed. And your soldiers were also very well trained. I commend you three for a job very well done!"

"Thank you for your kind words, Mistress!" All three girls curtsied in unison.

"As a reward to your excellent work, let me give you girls a gift." Aleyria said. With a wave of her hand, beautiful bracelets came to be, coalesced directly from her control over the metal element. She breathed gently into the bracelets, one at a time.

One of the bracelets glowed red. Another glowed brown. And yet another glowed blue.

Aleyria sent the three bracelets drifting gently towards the three girls. The red to Shira, the brown to Kan-Dari and the blue to Liz\'An.

"That you very much, Mistress!" Kan-Dari was the first to squeal in delight. Her beautiful eyes were wide open, mesmerized by the bracelet\'s glorious beauty. "It looks so beautiful!"

"It\'s more than just beautiful." Aleyria chuckled. "By the Empire\'s standards, these three should be considered Semi-Universe Grade Treasures. They are worth a lot of money, so make sure you take good care of them! As to what they can do, it\'s up to you to discover them all. All I can say is that each bracelet has one main function and three auxiliary functions."

"Thank you, Mistress!" The three girls said distractedly as they gazed lovingly at their bracelets, totally glossing over the fact that they held in their hands treasures that their King was so desperately seeking.

If Alexander knew that he was worrying so much over things that Aleyria could create with just a thought and a breath, he would probably puke blood.