Final Fantasy Frontier 87 (Patreon)

Located beneath Nalbina's Dungeon, serving as a passage that once brought goods in and out of the fortress, was a secret railway known as the Barheim Passage. It had fallen into disrepair after the introduction of airships as the preferred form of transportation, but it was a near straight-shoot to Dalmasca's Estersand and a few other locations. Several heavy gates had been erected to prevent its use and stop fiends from invading the fortress from the inside, but Andrew simply melted them with intense, white-blue fire magic.

"Such powerful flames..." remarked Basch, now sporting a red version of the Aurum War Set and a saber variant of an Ice Brand, effective against monsters that weren't immune to the ice element.

"Yeah...I've been training hard to become proficient with a few different weapons, but my talent for Magic outshines my martial prowess..." replied Andrew, smiling wryly. He exclusively used his fists and various weapons in the combat sim, but when it came to battles with real stakes, guns and Magic were his go-to. They were just so...convenient. Especially after Etro shared her knowledge with him...

Finished melting the gate, Andrew changed the nature of the meter-wide sphere he was manipulating from fire to ice, rapidly cooling the area and turning the red-hot ends of the gate black. Once finished, he reabsorbed the energy back into his body before turning to the group and saying, "I'll mostly be observing from this point onward. My job was to get you out of the Dungeon. If you need my help dealing with Fiends and the like, expect to owe me a favor or have your debts increased."

"If it comes to that, the Resistance will pay what it can," asserted Basch, confidently speaking on their behalf even though he was considered both a traitor and a dead man.

"I have a feeling, my dear Captain, he isn't concerned with money," said Balthier. He didn't know much about Andrew, but if he could store away weapons, armor, restoratives, and even furniture by simply touching them, he likely didn't want for much.

"Mmm, I see...then we will find some other way to repay you," said Basch, furrowing his brows slightly as he met Andrew's relaxed, smiling gaze. As for Vaan, he had already moved ahead, inspecting the passage without so much as a trace of fear. His dream was to become a Sky Pirate, so he had already been eager to prove himself to the established Balthier. Now that Basch had entered the equation, he was even more enthused to prove he didn't need the disgraced Captain's or Andrew's help...

"Come on, already!" shouted the spirited youth, waving at the group from around fifty meters up the passage. However, the moment he turned to do so, what looked like a pile of machine and stone debris transformed into a spider-like creature and charged toward him at high speed.

Despite the spider, known as a Mimic, only needing to cross eight meters, Basch traversed fifty before the opportunistic Fiend could pounce on the unsuspecting youth, slicing through it with such force that the arachnid's body split into two innumerable icy chunks.

"Wah!? What the heck...!?" exclaimed Vaan, shielding his face from the icy shrapnel as he recoiled instinctually.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" asked Basch, brandishing the Ice Brand to disperse the Magicks remaining in the blade.

Realizing what had happened, Vaan looked between the remnants of the Mimic and Basch with a look of disbelief before flaring up and shouting, "I didn't need your help...!"

"Even so, I'm relieved to see you're unharmed," replied Basch, sporting a genuine smile. His words and actions left Vaan feeling confused and even more frustrated, but before he could storm off, Balthier warned, "If you're going to keep rushing ahead and getting into trouble, pick a path different from ours. I'm not in the habit of babysitting children."

"I'm not a child!" shouted Vaan. However, with everyone but Basch staring at him with slight deadpans, he didn't exclaim further and just gripped the handle of his dagger, looking around the area for any indication of a Fiend he could take out his frustrations upon. Fortunately for him, he didn't have to look around or wait long as a second Mimic dropped down on him from the ceiling.

Demonstrating he wasn't completely inept, Vaan dodge-rolled to evade the Mimic, skillfully bounding back to his feet before lunging toward and darting past it while sweeping his dagger in a reverse grip. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have been able to slice through the Mimic's metal carapace with a grazing blow, but because the dagger he was wielded was forged from Mithril, it had exceptional mana conductivity. The Mist within the passage had similar properties to the Mist from FFIX, where the dagger originated, so Vaan's anger and other emotions drew energy into the blade, allowing it to pass through the Mimic like a knife through tofu.

Surprised by the result of his attack, Vaan took a moment to look between the ornate green-and-bluish-purple dagger in his hand, the Mimic flailing about with half of its legs missing, and Andrew. He didn't know how much the dagger cost, but it was clearly an exceptional weapon.

"Are you looking over here because you want me to finish it off?" asked Andrew, raising his brows and causing Vaan's to crease. In response, the youth looked for an opportunity before leaping in to slice off the top of the Mimic's head/back, finding it harder than the legs but still easy to cut through, like slicing a melon. As a result, the Mimic collapsed, twitching a few times before becoming completely motionless.

"Well done," said Basch, causing the frown on Vaan's face to deepen and become conflicted as he enjoyed being praised but didn't want to hear it from the person he hated. Unfortunately for him, Basch was the only one with kind words for him as Balthier had his green eyes fixed on the ceiling, remarking, "This is going to be trouble..."

Following Balthier's gaze, Vaan paled slightly as he saw dozens, if not hundreds, of metal, cocoon-like eggs on the ceiling, roughly six meters overhead. Each was a Mimic in hibernation, so the group would quickly be overwhelmed if the entire clutch awoke.

Turning his gaze to Vaan, Balthier's expression hardened as he said, "Do me a favor, Vaan. From here until we reach the end of the passage, don't speak."

Though he would normally take offense to such words, Vaan nodded in response to Balthier's request. He was even tempted to ask Andrew to use Silence on him, but when he looked over and found the latter with a completely relaxed expression, Vaan's annoyance compelled him to look elsewhere...

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As his Alert Ability would 'inform' him if there was any hostility directed toward him, Andrew spent most of the trip through the Barheim Passage reading through his messages and checking in on what was going on in other worlds. Fran and Balthier noted his abnormal behavior and lack of focus, but the duo didn't say anything until they reached a section of the passage that opened into a massive cavern with an underground lake, the tracks terminating partway where the ridge had collapsed.

"This must be the source of the water that flows into Nalbina Fortress," said Balthier, staring out over the ridge at the slightly luminescent water below, a telltale sign there were fairly valuable Water Crystals to be found within. There were likely to be aquatic or amphibious Fiends as well, but if they were to venture out into the desert, having a water-producing crystal would be extremely helpful.

"We've been walking for half a day," expressed Basch, taking in the area alongside Balthier as he added, "We should rest here and recuperate our strength before pressing onward. Even if the Empire sent a group after us, they would be hard-pressed to sneak past those Mimics in their armor."

"I certainly wouldn't mind kicking up my feet," said Balthier, shifting his gaze to Andrew to ask, "Any chance you have food, drink, and perhaps a chair on hand?"

"That, and much more," replied Andrew, making his way over to a fairly flat section of the cavern before materializing five of the white, military-grade SeeD Cottages and placing them in a row. He then pulled out what looked like a set of spears with crystals embedded in them, stabbing them into the ground to generate a barrier that repelled and obscured the senses of most monsters.

Seeing Andrew proceed to pull out a picnic table and a full set of cooking equipment, ingredients, and utensils, Basch couldn't help remarking, "You possess a truly remarkable ability. But I'm curious. Are you creating these things, or simply keeping them elsewhere...?"

"A little bit of both," replied Andrew, having learned to create things from chaos and other forms of energy using the knowledge Etro had shared with him. The caveat was that he couldn't make anything organic, as not even Etro herself possessed that ability. Her blood had been used to give life to the humans of her world, but it was her brother, Lindzei, the creator of Cocoon, that engineered and gave them form.

Causing Andrew's brows to perk and getting a rise out of everyone else present, Fran caught him off guard by abruptly asking, "Are you a God...?" with crossed arms and a serious expression.

Adopting a smile, Andrew decided to be vague, responding, "Not in the vein your imagining. I have met a few Gods, though. I'm even acquainted with one, a Goddess by the name of Etro. She shared her knowledge with me in exchange for a favor."

"Etro?" repeated Balthier, crossing his arms similarly to Fran as he added, "That's not a Goddess I've heard the name of."

"I would be far more surprised if you 'did' know of her," stated Andrew, maintaining his smile and shrugging as he appended, "As for the reason why, that's information you can't afford."

"Fair enough," replied Balthier, gesturing to the cottages and cooking setup before asking, "Now, how much will this setup add to our debt? I was honestly fine with just a chair."

Shaking his head, Andrew explained, "So long as you don't expect me to cook or clean up after you, you're free to use these facilities as you see fit. I have a soft spot for women, so since you're traveling with quite the beauty, this is a courtesy afforded to you by her presence. I'm not exactly a gentleman, but I'm not without chivalry."

Punctuating his statement with a wink directed at Fran, Andrew caused the brown-skinned bunny girl to blink in surprise, her lips parting slightly as Balthier teased, "It seems you have an admirer."

Narrowing her eyes slightly, Fran put Andrew on the spot by asking, "You intend to woo me?"

"Not exactly," replied Andrew, shrugging a second time and explaining, "I try to avoid targetting other men's women. However, if you were single and permitted yourself to be wooed, well...I certainly wouldn't be against it."

Exhaling a scoffing chuckle, Fran shifted her weight and revealed, "I am not beholden to another. Many have tried to woo me since I departed my ancestral Wood, but I cherish my freedom and independence..."

Expanding on Fran's words, Balthier explained, "Vieras can live well over five-hundred years. Unless your species has a comparable lifespan, you're better off seeking companionship elsewhere."

"Mmm, well, I'm technically immortal," revealed Andrew, wriggling his brows as he added, "At the very least, I won't die of old age."

"And you said you're not a God?" asked Balthier, furrowing his brows and looking slightly annoyed. As for Fran, she sported a thoughtful expression as she stared at Andrew but didn't say anything. He wasn't aware, but she could detect Penelo's scent on his body. Thus, while she was intrigued by his power, she believed he was similar to Balthier in that he was the type to cast a broad net without caring for the feelings of those caught within. Such a disposition was common among handsome and affluent men, but Andrew was mistaken if he believed she was the type that would permit herself to be used and tossed aside the moment he got bored. She hadn't preserved her chastity for nearly two centuries to part with it easily, so if he wanted her as a prize, he would need to work for it....

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