The road to Valdris from Mount Heiguers took two days on foot.

The first day was silent.

Mara walked wherever she felt like.

Sometimes ahead. Sometimes behind. Once directly in the center between Kai and Serah, which produced a pulse of markings that Mara detected and found interesting without saying so.

---

At midday on the second day, Kai activated the stream.

[Stream active]

[Reconnecting viewers...]

[Stream active — viewers reconnected]

---

[DraconicLegacy]: THEY’RE BACK. WHO’S THE NEW THREAT?

[Kalgarth]: I’ve been waiting two days for this. the green figure next to Kai. explain EVERYTHING.

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ KAI IS OKAY!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ AND THERE’S SOMEONE NEW!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: two days without stream. two days. and he shows up with a two-meter Orc. kai.

[mha96]: first time on the stream. I got here just for this. what did I miss?

[Drakeking]: @mha96 EVERYTHING. you missed EVERYTHING. but this is also worth it.

[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ NEW GIRL!! CONFIRMED!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

---

"What is that?" Mara said.

She was pointing at where the stream’s HUD was. Even though she couldn’t see it, she felt it — the floating interface that only Kai saw fully but that those with enough Qi sensitivity could detect as a presence.

"The stream." Kai. "Live transmission to... my world? Well, actually I don’t know where it’s transmitted to."

"How many people watch you?"

Kai looked at the counter.

"Right now, four million three hundred thousand."

Mara processed this.

"And they give you money."

"Gifts. That turn into coins here."

"Why?"

Kai opened his mouth.

Closed it.

"Good question."

Lira, without taking her eyes off the road: "Because it entertains them. And paying for entertainment is as old as entertainment itself."

Mara looked at her.

"That makes sense."

"I know."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: Lira explaining streaming in two sentences. eight hundred years of economics.

[Stephen_Summers]: Kai couldn’t answer his own question. Lira to the rescue as always.

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Mara processing that there are 4 million people watching her right now ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: "why" with that tone. Mara asks the questions no one asks.

[Bangsund]: wait so she can’t see us or what? And from another world we’re watching them right now. live. that’s incredible. Although I don’t get why Kai says he doesn’t know what world we’re from?

[Drakeking]: @Bangsund yeah. and some of us have been here for months. It’s because Aethon is another world like any VR game. welcome to the addiction.

[Zerox]: 4.3 million and climbing. the counter doesn’t stop.

---

"Can I talk to them?" Mara said.

"Yes." Kai pointed toward the stream camera — the general direction from which the viewers watched. "They’re watching from about there... I think."

Mara looked in that direction.

The four million three hundred thousand looked back at her.

"Hi."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: HI. MARA SAID HI. I’M DYING.

[Stephen_Summers]: Hello how are you?

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ MARA!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: viewers: 5,100,000. went up EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND in ten seconds from a "hi."

[Bangsund]: she’s already my favorite character. "hi." just like that.

[Drakeking]: #TeamMara was just born. I saw it. I was here.

[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ MARA’S FIRST!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ SINCE SHE APPEARED.

---

Kai watched the chat explode.

"Do you want to be formally introduced for the people coming into the stream who don’t know who you are?"

Mara considered it.

"How long does that last?"

"It depends on how much you answer."

"And if I don’t answer anything?"

"The chat still talks about you for three hours."

Mara looked at the counter — five million two hundred thousand now.

"Do the introductions."

---

Kai looked at the stream.

"Mara. SSS Orc Warlord. She spent two years building a camp on Mount Heiguers. We fought. Ended in a technical draw. Now she’s coming with us."

Pause.

"Anything you want to ask her?"

---

[DraconicLegacy]: HOW MUCH DO YOU WEIGH

[Stephen_Summers]: what do you think of Serah and Lira?

[Warwolf]: ARE YOU GOING TO STAY WITH KAI FOREVER

[Martijn_Wiersma]: what’s your favorite food?

[Bangsund]: how did you develop the gray aura?

[Drakeking]: what do you think of Kai as a person, not as an opponent?

[Zerox]: ARE YOU PLANNING TO GIVE KAI A CHILD?

[System — notification]

[Questions received in the last 30 seconds: 41,847]

---

Kai stared at the question counter.

"How many?"

"Forty-one thousand eight hundred forty-seven in thirty seconds."

Mara processed this.

"All different?"

"Some repeat."

"Which one repeats the most?"

Kai checked the system.

Lira, who had also seen the chat, stared ahead at the road.

Serah suddenly found a specific tree very interesting.

"The last one, but we’re going to skip it," Kai said.

Mara looked at both of them without knowing what it was.

Then at the stream.

"Next question."

---

[Stephen_Summers]: she answered without answering. respect.

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Mara dodged that one in a second ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: Serah staring at the tree. Lira staring at the horizon. Kai with a blank face. we all know what’s happening.

[Bangsund]: what question was that?

[Drakeking]: @Bangsund better this way. welcome to the stream.

[Zerox]: #TeamMara #TeamMara #TeamMara we’re trending already.

---

"The one about the gray aura," Kai said. "How you developed it."

Mara walked two steps before answering.

"Twenty years of understanding myself before understanding combat." She said it without emphasis — as fact. "Most start the other way around."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: twenty years of understanding herself. that’s the deepest thing anyone’s said on this stream.

[Stephen_Summers]: "most start the other way around" — Mara just described half the viewers.

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ MARA WITH WISDOM ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: viewers: 6,800,000.

[Bangsund]: she said that while walking. without stopping. as if it were obvious. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ

[Drakeking]: "most start the other way around" — saved forever.

[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Mara is the best addition to this stream ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ #TeamMara

---

"The one about Serah and Lira," Kai said. "What you think of them."

Mara looked at them — at Serah on her left, at Lira three steps behind.

"The primordial is strong. She learns fast and fights with her heart." A pause. "The vampire is more dangerous than she seems because she seems less dangerous than she is."

Serah processed this.

Lira adjusted her sunglasses.

"And is that a compliment?" Lira said.

"It’s an assessment."

"And if I want to know if it’s a compliment."

"Then it’s a compliment."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: "seems less dangerous than she is" — Mara describing Lira perfectly in eight words.

[Stephen_Summers]: Lira asked if it was a compliment. Mara said yes when Lira asked for it. that’s Mara being considerate in her own way.

[Warwolf]: Serah "learns fast and fights with her heart." SERAH. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: #TeamSerah and #TeamLira in chat processing that Mara described both of them well. debate temporarily suspended.

[Bangsund]: Mara’s been here three minutes and already has analysis on everyone. three hundred forty years of assessing people.

[Drakeking]: "it’s an assessment" / "and if I want to know if it’s a compliment?" / "then it’s a compliment." — dialogue of the year.

[Zerox]: #TeamMara is the only correct faction. I said it.

---

"Which one repeats the most now?" Mara said.

Kai checked the system.

"Most are questions about having children."

Mara looked at where she felt the stream chat was.

"How many of you have children?"

The chat exploded in a completely different direction.

---

[DraconicLegacy]: (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ MARA COUNTERATTACKED US

[Stephen_Summers]: HAHAHAHA she asked it back. MARA that hurt.

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ MARA WON THE EXCHANGE!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ EVEN IF IT HURTS US HAHAHA....ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ How sad...

[Martijn_Wiersma]: the chat asked something personal. Mara returned something personal. You’re cruel but fair.

[Bangsund]: she wasn’t going to answer that but she wasn’t going to ignore it either. genius.

[Drakeking]: viewers: 8,200,000. eight million. EIGHT. with Mara.

[Zerox]: #FirstChild in total chaos. Mara defeated them without answering anything.

---

Lira, from three steps behind, said:

"Welcome to the stream."

Mara looked at her.

"Are they always like this?"

"Worse on good days."

Mara considered this.

"And is this a bad day?"

"Normal day."

Mara looked at the counter — eight million two hundred thousand.

"Interesting."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: "worse on good days" — Lira with the most honest summary.

[Stephen_Summers]: Mara said "interesting" looking at the counter. the same face as when she fought Kai. she finds all of this fascinating.

[Warwolf]: Mara is going to be a problem for the chat in the best way. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: "#TeamMara" already has two hundred thousand mentions. in twenty minutes. stream record.

[Bangsund]: I’ve been on this stream for half an hour and I already get why people have been here for months. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ

[Drakeking]: Kai introduced Mara. Mara defeated the chat. Lira welcomed her. Serah stared at the horizon with her markings in that pulse.

[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ THE STREAM WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

---

The road brought them to Valdris in the late afternoon.

The northern sector gates. The dirt road turning to cobblestone. The residents of Valdris recognizing Kai and Serah and Lira with the ease of people who have been watching the group pass for months.

The residents who didn’t recognize Mara.

Mara at two meters ten between Lira and Serah.

The residents decided the road could wait.

---

[DraconicLegacy]: Valdris residents watching her pass. their faces. their FACES.

[Stephen_Summers]: Mara walking through Valdris as if it were her territory. because for her it is her territory now.

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Mara in Valdris ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: viewers: 9,100,000. the counter doesn’t stop.

[Bangsund]: two meters ten between Lira and Serah. the group has an energy I can’t describe.

[Drakeking]: the residents moving aside. not out of fear. out of instinct. correct.

[Zerox]: Valdris hasn’t been the same since they arrived. the next Chapter is going to confirm it.

---

Aldric was at the guild door.

With coffee.

He watched them arrive from the end of the main road — Kai, Serah, Lira.

And Mara.

He looked at Mara for a second.

Drank.

"There’s a summons from the kingdom."

Kai looked at him.

"When did it arrive?"

"This morning." Aldric looked at Mara again. "Who is she?"

"Mara. SSS Warlord."

"Is she staying?"

"She’s staying."

Aldric looked at her.

"Would you like coffee?"

Mara looked at him.

"What is coffee?"

Aldric looked at her.

Then at Kai.

Then at the inside of the guild.

"Come in."

---

[DraconicLegacy]: ALDRIC IS GOING TO INTRODUCE MARA TO COFFEE. HISTORIC.

[Stephen_Summers]: "what is coffee" — the most important question of the arc.

[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ MARA VS COFFEE!! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[Martijn_Wiersma]: Aldric without asking more. saw Mara. processed. said "come in." that man has been the sanest of everyone the whole stream.

[Bangsund]: Aldric just accepted an SSS Warlord into the guild with two words. absolute respect.

[Drakeking]: "would you like coffee?" / "what is coffee?" — this is the start of something important.

[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Mara is going to discover coffee. Aethon will never be the same. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[System — notification]

[Current viewers: 9,100,000]

[The system notes that Mara officially joined the stream]

[The system notes that #TeamMara formed in real time]

[The system notes that Mara defeated the chat with one question]

[The system notes that Mara doesn’t know what coffee is]

[The system considers that important information]

[The system also notes the kingdom summons]

[The system waits to see which of the two matters more tomorrow]