A half-hour later the Inferno guild was discussing the Arcadia Raid. Mina hadn’t lost any of her Vilas, but several of them would be down for a few days.

“You vanished just as we finished off the last Acolyte.” Sharl had thought Nix had ported out, he was using both hands to hold strands when he disappeared.

“I summoned him.” Shae was still holding the glowing deed in her hands. “There were two Water Lords in the temple. They sprang a trap on me that caught me by surprise.”

Pon whistled softly, “two of them?” He stared at Nix, if his emerald fire strands could hold a Water Lord, then Nix was the strongest fire mage on Colonial. “A Water Lord should have tossed him around like a toy.”

Shae pushed an errant strand of red hair behind her ear. “He held her without assistance, even I am not sure what those flame strands are.”

Nix stood up and stretched his tired body. The depletion of his mana had completely worn him out. He would have to be more careful in the future. “Let’s head to the temple site.”

The group walked toward the middle of the Island. There was a small hill with a level area on top. This was the temple site. Nix activated the Island menu and chose the temple site. He nodded to Shae who walked toward the middle of the plot.

[You have a Temple Deed and an Elemental being. Do you wish to construct a Fire Temple?]

“Yes.”

Both Shae and the deed she held vanished. The entire hill became a whirling cloud of smoke and flame. The Inferno guild quickly retreated back to town. The Temple was a 12-hour build.

Nix noticed that the Inn had been completed, so he led the group there. Hyai had kept the name, it was still the Kindled Spirit. The Inn had been upgraded automatically when it was built, the tables, booths, and chairs were all new again. He took a seat at the bar and waited while the rest of Inferno did the same.

Surprisingly Sila walked in from the backroom and moved behind the bar to serve. “Heya Nix!” She served him a pint first and then started filling up mugs for everyone else.

Nix grinned at her, he hadn’t seen much of her since the raid on Cyphix. Her short brown hair had grown to shoulder length. Her baggy clothes still did nothing to hide her impressive curves. “What are you doing here Sila?”

She hesitated in front of Mina, not sure if Aquarions liked to drink. She poured when Mina nodded.

“Mina this is Sila, a friend of mine from Cyphix. Sila this is Mina, she is the leader of the Souza Accord.”

To her credit, Sila smiled pleasantly, even though it was her first time meeting an Aquarion. “I’m here helping Hyai for a few days, Nezbit and Donri are here also. ”

Nix had grouped with the three of them shortly after his arrival in Colonial. Nezbit was also one of the clerics that had been captured during the Cyphix raid. “Is this a coincidence?”

Sila grinned at him but didn’t answer right away as she continued to pour. When she was finally done she walked back to the middle of the bar and leaned her elbows on the smooth wood. The act caused her large breasts to squeeze together, Nix did his best not to stare. “We’ve left our guild and want to join Inferno. If you’ll have us.”

Nix didn’t really have to think about it. The three of them were all in the mid-30s, with a small push they could make 50 and start gearing up. “We’d love to have you.”

A few minutes later Nix left by himself and walked down the short path to the docks. His tailor shop had been completed. He walked in and opened the small double doors to let some of the sea air in. He had used the Shop menu to have Nix’s Tailor Shop painted on the window. Inside were several rows of hangers, followed by a few large flat tables and some bins. There was a workstation in an attached backroom. The backroom had stairs leading up to a second floor that could serve as storage or a living area. He used his inventory from Gladis Hub to stock the workstation and was just wrapping up when he heard footsteps in the store.

Nix peeked through the curtain leading to the back room and smiled at the young woman who had walked in. “Hey, Kyla.”

Kyla was wearing the red dress that Nix had made her, for once her hair was down. She had always reminded him of his sister Lisa. It was her smile, it turned a normal face into a stunning beauty.

“I ‘m going to head over to the Inn to eat.” Her shop was set up like Nix’s, she had been unpacking her personal things in the living area.

“I’m heading that way also.” Nix locked up his shop and then walked back toward the Kindled Spirit. There was a group of people standing outside watching the sunset. Nix had to admit, Colonial sunsets could be breath-taking.

Kyla stopped outside to mingle a bit, she had made friends with Nansu during the day and decided to chat with her.

The Kindled Spirit had the same warm feeling he remembered. He headed up the stairs, Hyai continued to insist that the luxury suite was his. Halfway up the stairs, he heard her voice.

“I made some beef stew if you feel like eating something.” Hyai had just walked out of the kitchen with a tray for one of the nearby tables.

Nix nodded, “that would be great. Going to get cleaned up a bit, then I’ll be down.”

Hyai shook her head, “get some rest Nix, I’ll bring it up when things slow down.”

A few minutes later Nix was submerged up to his chin in hot water. His clothes were tossed in a pile next to the bed.

***************

Nix was shaken awake several hours later, landing on the hard floor woke him up. The entire room seemed to be tilting as he stumbled to the door and down the steps. He managed to make it outside without further mishap, all of Glory island was rumbling. He headed to the back of the inn toward the Temple site.

“Holy Shit.” Molten rock was flowing down a steep volcano that seemed to sprout from nowhere. It continued to rise skyward with small eruptions sending rock and lava into the air. By the time the rumbling stopped, all of Inferno had joined him.

Smoke clouds swirled around the site for several more minutes before finally clearing. The base of the volcano had become a serene white marble temple with huge stone columns and a large courtyard. There were dozens of fountains that flowed with flaming liquid, Nix felt a huge surge of strength when started walking toward the entrance.

Colonial System Message: A Fire Palace has been constructed on Glory Island. All Inferno Guild members receive a +50 percent to fire-based damage. All Inferno Fire mages receive a mana boost of 30 percent. The Fire Palace may be chosen as a binding point. All weapons made in the Fire Temple smithy are automatically fire-based weapons.

Nix felt someone grab his arm, he turned to see an excited Pon. He had a half dozen robed women with him. “These your daughters Pon?”

The old mage made a face at him but didn’t reply. “These are all fire mages who volunteered to become Acolytes.”

“So many?” Nix glanced back at the temple, there was no sign of Shae yet. “Suppose I’ll go get her.”

The group let him get several yards ahead before they followed him. Nix walked across the courtyard to the intricate red gold doors. They were quite warm to the touch and opened easily when he pushed against them.

Inside were more columns and white marble floors, in the distance he could see an altar. He stopped for a moment and turned back to Pon. “Six isn’t going to be enough Acolytes Pon.”

The old fire mage nodded, “I wasn’t expecting this.”

Above the altar was a swirling mass of fire. Nix couldn’t feel any heat emanating from it when he approached. There was also a set of green leather armor folded neatly along with a wooden staff, a rifle, a spear, a shield, a sword, and two daggers.

Shae stepped from the fire a moment later. Her red hair seemed to be in flames as it floated casually in the air behind her. She wore a suit of red mail and held flaming swords in each hand. When she saw Nix, the swords faded into nothing and she stepped toward him.

Nix returned the smile that she gave him. “These are pretty nice digs Shae. I wonder if my..” He was interrupted when she grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him.

She released him but latched onto his hand. “It seems like meeting you has been one benefit after another for me. I’ve named you the Fire Palace Champion.”

Nix let himself get pulled closer to the altar, where Shae handed him the green leather armor. He slipped it on without a second thought. It was warm and comfortable.

[Aura Ignitition]

Green flames crackled and swirled around him, the fire mages nearby all stepped closer when they noticed they had received a fire-based attack buff.

Pon read the buff out loud. “Emerald Champion +100 to Attack, stacks with all attack based buffs. Four-hour duration.”

Nix looked at the stats on the leather armor.

Emerald Armor [Growth Type]

Unique: Elemental

All stats increased by ten.

Fire-based attacks use thirty percent

less mana.

“My aura ignition causes an ATK buff?” Nix dropped his aura and watched as Shae handed out the weapons on the altar. Pon received the Fire Staff, Banzi received the spear and shield, Chael received the rifle, Jun Li received the sword and the two daggers went to Semmi and Wind.

Shae smiled and thanked everyone. “Once a month I can make armor and weapons in the Temple Smithy. Within a few months, everyone will have a set of fire-based weapons.”

Pon motioned for the Acolytes to move forward. “Shae these fire mages volunteered to serve here. I will find more when I can.”

Nix moved away from the group and accessed Deep Blue, he chose the Sea World and right away received a system message.

[You are accessing a personal seed world in the vicinity of your temple’s seed world. As the Temple Lord, you may combine the two seed worlds. Do you wish to combine them?]

“Yes.” He glanced at Shae, she was talking with the Acolytes. Why wasn’t she the Temple Lord?

[Please wait an additional four hours for the seed melding to take place.]