The repercussions of Astera being recognised as an official and independent Colony were immediately visible. The main thing it meant was that Astera was now open to trade instead of just being a research outpost supplied by the Argosy. It would take a while to come in, but they expected the trade to settle once a safe route to the New World was established.

  For Astera residents however, that meant that now it could be their permanent residence if they so desired. There was a real call to build permanent houses so that everybody would feel comfortable. That would however mean that they would need to cut down trees in the forest, given they could no longer rely on disassembling the ships they came with. They had a couple carpenters in the second fleet, though, so a solution would be found.

  Still, the excitement took a while to wear off, and life returned to a stable normal after a while… Until the first real merchant ship arrived, escorted by the Argosy. It was a first, as it brought commodities that haven’t been seen since a long time in the New World, the Argosy focusing on the essentials.

  They weren’t sure what Astera could provide back to the Old World, though the most obvious thing were herbs, as there were several local plants that did not exist back there that had incredible medicinal properties. So there was quickly a push to focus the grown Ancient Tree on cultivating those, as its properties in accelerating plant growth would be invaluable there.

  When the ship left port back to the Old World, it was as if the whole of Astera waved it goodbye, but it reassured everyone that their first trade went well. They knew that they had the ability to provide unique resources, so they just needed to make sure they expanded reasonably to meet demand.

  Once this happened, daily life returned to more or less normal, though hunts still continued, prioritizing monsters that were deemed a threat to their local ecosystem. Still, there was nothing that called for any of their Named attention. So it was just a quiet time for Valen.

  The first notable event happened a couple months later, when a Lunastra had been spotted in the Waste. Though normally known for their aggressiveness, this one was surprisingly tamer than the other members of her species. There was a short investigation, and it was found out that she more than likely became the mate of the Teostra that Valen had visited in the Wildspire.

  Valen believed that the Teostra was making sure to reign her in, as to honour his agreement of not being a disturbance to the ecosystem. This suited the Commission just fine, and they simply monitored them from afar just in case there was a shift in the dynamics.

  But the second biggest event happened not long after, and this time it did not come from their local continent, but from one of the Old World trading ships…

  “Sky Piercer!” One of the hunters shouted at him, catching his attention. “You might wanna hear about this!”

  Now interested, he followed the hunter until he found himself facing the captain of the trading ship currently docked at the Tradeyard. Commerce was starting to pick up and the Argosy no longer needed to escort all ships, as a safe route was found that avoided the territories of the aquatic Monsters and the turbulent waters.

  The Captain noticed Valen and exclaimed:

  “Sky Piercer, you might be interested in the news I have to share… Just so you understand, before coming here from Dundorma, I came from receiving commodities from Kamura Village, and you know what I have been told?”

  Valen shook his head.

  “I haven’t kept abreast of any news since I came to the New World… Much like the whole of the Fifth Fleet actually, we only got sporadic updates from the Argosy captain, but nothing major seemed to have happened.”

  “Well then, allow me to cut to the chase, a Valstrax has been slain near Kamura Village…” Valen immediately stood straight, now fully focused. “And the strangest news? It has been confirmed it was a brand new Variant. Here, I got a copy of the official drawings.” He pulled out a folded paper out of one of his pockets and gave it to Valen.

  Valen unfolded it then studied it. The drawing looked like a regular Valstrax, however the differences immediately jumped to him. He first saw it at the shoulders, where right below the wing-joints and a bit to the sides of the chest vents, there seemed to be glowing red dragon energy. The second difference was on the wings, where they seemed to also have the same glow. He glanced at the top of the paper, where a name was written: ‘Crimson Glow Valstrax’.

  “Indeed, they told me that this Valstrax differed mostly in behavior, as it was extremely aggressive and landed frequently on the ground instead of merely flying around its territory. It took a while for the hunter team at Kamura to nail it down and slay it.”

  Valen offered the paper back but the captain shook his head.

  “Keep it, I think you are the one most suited to receive it. Also, another fact: the glowing spots you see, while the one around the wing joints were constantly visible, the one on the wings only glowed when it sucked in a lot of air and powered them up. We don’t know what made it so able to do this, but they were worried about the circumstances that led it to become a variant…”

  “Hmmm, might be extreme stress due to environmental factors. Deviljho is also known to do something similar with his Savage variant…” He sighed. “I’ll see what I can find. thank you Captain, for relaying this information.”

  “You are welcome, you are technically the one that knows most about the species, what with the armor and all!”

  Valen smiled, and waved goodbye to the captain, then took his leave. He studied the drawing a bit more, as something nagged at him, then headed to see Aiden, to which he showed him the same drawing.

  “You are worried about something? I can feel that about you Valen.”

  He nodded.

  “I need to see Nikki. I have a suspicion that needs to be confirmed now. Do you want to come?”

  Aiden shook his head.

  “I have things to do sadly, and maybe it is something you need to do alone with her. That sounds pretty important.”

  “Good point.” Valen nodded, then checked the sun. “I need to leave now if I want to catch her at today’s meeting point.

  “Good luck Valen!”

  Valen smiled in his helmet and left, he found Adem and informed Ikari that he needed to see his ‘friend’ then whistled to his Wingdrake and flew away from Astera.

  To Valen’s luck, Nikki was flying around when he approached the meeting spot, and evidently she also spotted him coming in and landed in the clearing. He removed his helmet and then approached her, though she tilted her head.

  ‘You, troubled.’

  Valen sighed and nodded.

  ‘I… Learn something.’ He unfolded the paper in front of her and after a split second, she flinched. Then she did something he never expected to see from her. She bowed her head in… Shame.

  ‘You know now. Species secret… And fear.’

  ‘Fear?’ Valen asked.

  She sat down and paused for a bit, probably thinking of how she could explain to him.

  ‘When Valstrax danger, being killed, body core… Works more. Too much. Painful. Lose mind.’

  Valen froze, that means that Crimson Glow Valstrax were those that lost their mind, that had little or no rational thought like normal Elders… It must be a terrible fate to become one. Then suddenly he remembered something: the Valstrax he had hunted years ago had the same signs on its wing joints.

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  ‘One I felled. Was he this?’

  Nikki shook her head.

  ‘Not yet. Changing, not finished. You freed mind. He grateful.’ She said as she nosed the gem that rested on the back of his armor. Valen almost thought he felt a pulse from it in response…

  Valen hugged her beak in return and they kept the contact for a while, until Valen frowned, and remembered a critical detail.

  ‘You… Turning mad? Nergigante.’

  Nikki shook her head.

  ‘Almost did. Stopped process.’ She seemed uncomfortable with the subject, so Valen did not push it. And besides, he did not see any signs that anything was wrong with her. He hasn’t seen her leaking dragon energy since that time on the Elder’s Recess, and he also believed it was more caused by the Dragonfell berries he gave her.

  Having no more questions, Valen wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon with her, but Nikki said that she needed to come back to her nest, so he simply hugged her one last time before she took off. Valen quickly called his Wingdrake, which had now grown used to Nikki and simply stayed around, and flew back to Astera.

  Nothing else happened for several weeks, Valen relayed the information he received to Aiden, Rapha?lle and their handlers, but they agreed that there were nothing they could act on, it simply meant that now that they knew this was a possibility, it explained the legends that Valstrax had, as most of their rampages were from those that became or were becoming Crimson Glow.

  The majority of the efforts were then focused on developing Astera. There would no longer be restrictions of having new people moving to it every decade, though the immigration would still be limited.

  The colony was a hive of activity, the most active of them being by far the Second Fleet, who do specialize in engineering and building.

  Then, suddenly, something happened: tracks of a new Elder had been found, though this one had been spotted before, albeit only briefly. But it still led to an investigation, and eventually, they found where it originally nested, and what they found blew everyone away.

  “There is a subterranean network that spans for miles! It is completely separate from the Everstream and from what we suspect, has been created by that Elder we spotted!” Sophie exclaimed, as it was her and Rapha?lle that investigated the sightings of this Elder.

  “We have confirmed that it seems essential to maintain the stability of that network… So passive observation is what I suggest, I do not want to find out what could happen should we anger it.” Rapha?lle followed.

  The Commander nodded and then answered.

  “Then that is what we will do, Hunter Rapha?lle and Aiden, as well as Handlers Sophie, Ikari and Lea, you may follow it for however long you need. From what I remember, sightings of this Elder had been made a couple decades ago, and the name Kulve Taroth had been assigned since. Do not anger it and simply study its behavior. That should be your mission.”

  The two hunters nodded, and they went to make preparations to leave for the investigation. Valen was not surprised he had not been chosen for this task, given he had given the reigns to Rapha?lle and Aiden. That meant they would be prioritized over him for any critical tasks.

  Ikari was however surprised he was ordered to go with them, but Valen simply said that it meant that he had proved himself to be invaluable for his insights. And besides, Valen didn’t really need a Handler anymore and it was better that Ikari’s talents were put to use.

  Once the group left, he simply resumed what he was doing: helping the engineers building new houses, as with his armor, he was able to lift heavier weights. The engineers were grateful and appreciated his assistance.

  There was nothing much that happened for several months, the group had returned from their investigation after a couple weeks and confirmed that Kulve Taroth was passive, and only was curious of them, but that she had a vital work maintaining the subterranean network, now called the Caverns of Eldorado due to the sheer amount of gold present. They agreed on keeping the entrances to this as a need to know basis, due to the potential of greedy individuals trying to extract the gold and angering the Elder.

  Outside of that, the life at Astera entered a monotonous rhythm, and Valen only rarely went out hunting, this suited him fine, as at least he was allowed hunting instead of completely barred from doing it as it was back in Dundorma. His frequent visits to Nikki also allowed him to keep his skills sharp and not neglected. Aiden and Rapha?lle also benefited greatly from it and started winning spars against her.

  They even fought as a group against her in some occasion, which allowed the Elder to go all-out, which showed that even though they were able to apply pressure on her, they weren’t the only ones that gained experience from their spars, they still won most of these, but each of them was a hard-earned victory.

  Still, life was great for Valen, and he wished that it could go on like this forever…

  Valen had been called into the Commander’s office, only bringing Adem and Ikari with him. This was something that happened rarely, as Arcos usually gave his missions at the council table, the fact that he was called privately was odd.

  He knocked at the door, which opened and the Commander nodded, allowing him to enter. There was only the Admiral inside, which immediately put Valen on edge. That only the two most important officials were here meant that a high level of secrecy was required. Ikari was similarly put on edge, and they stiffened.

  “Good, you already have a good idea of what we are about to ask of you three…” Arcos started. “To put it bluntly, we had the recent confirmation that Poachers are now present in the New World.”

  Valen stiffened. Poachers were outlaws that practiced illegal hunting, without any consideration for the ecological balance. They also always used overwhelming power instead of the teams of Hunters to slay their targets. A fair number of them were ex-hunters that were dissatisfied with the Guild’s strict restrictions on hunting.

  “We believe they managed to get their hands on the trade route maps that are given to merchant ships and sneaked a ship or two that have now established a base somewhere on the coastline…” The Admiral continued. “We only now have confirmation because one of our Hunters have found definite signs of an Anjanath that had been slain this week but no Anjanath hunt had been issued for a couple months.”

  “Everybody knows that you are prone to disappear for long periods of times, and this often without your Handler, so this makes you the perfect candidate for this.” Arcos finished. “So your goal will be to scour the continent for any signs of the Poachers… And put an end to their activities. You’re to call for assistance once you find their headquarters.”

  Ikari then interjected:

  “What about me, then?”

  “You had to be in on the secret, else you probably would have realized something was wrong about Valen's greater absence.” The commander responded. “Besides, your help explaining his absences would make things easier on the whole. This is not some easy mission however. It is known that Poachers will not hesitate engaging Hunters with overwhelming odds and will steal their gear once done… So you being a Handler would put you at risk, and if Valen had to focus on protecting you if ambushed…”

  “I understand…”

  “Wait.” Valen interjected. “Isn’t what I have been assigned normally the mission of Guild Knights?”

  Then the Admiral chuckled.

  “It is… And I have the authority to do what I am about to do then.” He cleared his throat. “Hunter Valen, you have proved yourself time and time again that you are a skilled hunter, that values upholding the Guild’s tenets highly. You have proved that you will rise up when you are needed, and do what must be done. And thus, to make sure you have the authority to be able to accomplish the task that you have been assigned…” There, he picked up a badge from one of his pockets, then presented it to Valen. “By the Authority that has been assigned to me as the representative of the Research Commission of the New World, I hereby promote you as the first Guild Knight of this continent!”

  Ikari gasped and Valen could only stare at the badge that sat in the Admiral’s palm. He never guessed that it would come to this, that he would one day be promoted as a Guild Knight, those who were responsible for upholding one of the most important duties of the guild: making sure those that did not respect the balance were appropriately punished.

  The Hunter’s Oath forbade Hunters to bear their weapon against another human in the exception of self defense. Valen believed that those that ambushed him on the training ground what felt like so long ago called in numerous favors to be affected by the repercussions.

  However… The Guild Knight Oath overrode this fact. It allowed one to be able to kill those that did not respect the Guild tenets should they prove to be a danger to the ecosystem… He hesitated, but then firmed himself, he already knew what decision must be done. He already knew all too well what may happen should the New World ecosystem be disturbed. So he looked into the Admiral’s eyes, then nodded.

  “I will do it. I, Hunter Valen of the Research Commission, hereby swear now that I will do whatever it takes to safeguard the Ecosystem, and strike down anybody that has the goal to upend it. By the Red Comet, I swear.” His ending was not the traditional one, but he didn’t care, Nikki was the one he respected above all, and he believed swearing by her was required of him in this case, as she was the embodiment of this new task that had been fostered on him.

  “Then go, Guild Knight Valen. Keep your new station a secret for now, and only reveal it when you need the authority. We suspect the poachers have managed to plant moles in Astera, so treat this task with the greatest discretion you can manage,” the Admiral reminded.

  “I will. I’ll visit Astera as much as I can manage, though. Being absent for too long of periods may prove contrary to our goals of secrecy.”

  “That is reasonable, we will simply say that you have been sent on expeditions to monitor the ecosystem. Go, Sky Piercer, and may you accomplish your task.”

  Valen nodded, he had only accepted this because he highly respected both the Commander and the Admiral, who he knew valued highly the stability of the New World’s ecosystem. Now that Astera would become a permanent fixture, that task has become that much more important, and so making sure no outside elements could put a damper on that was a priority.

  That is thus what Valen thought as he prepared a large backpack full of supplies and necessities for long trips in the wilderness. He went to see Aiden and Rapha?lle to give them his cover up mission, but also said that he trusted them to be able to handle anything in his absence. They wished him good luck, then Valen whistled to his Wingdrake and he flew out of Astera hanging on it.