The Empire's Exploration Era: Fatima Fattash's New Discovery

"Ma'am, we've detected signs of life," Kadija said.

"Show me," Fatima said, closing her book, Divinity and Soul, and putting it away. A holographic screen appeared before her. On it was a creature resembling a black panther, except it had scales, protruding spines along its back, and a pair of crimson-gold eyes. It seemed to have just killed another animal and was enjoying its meal.

"What's its energy level?" Fatima asked.

"Tier 6."

"Did the scan reveal anything else?"

"This creature has an innate ability to conceal its information, so aside from its energy level, our sensors haven't detected anything new," Kadija explained.

"In that case, send five Golems of comparable energy levels to capture it alive, then bring it to the lab," Fatima ordered. She hadn't brought the Knight Legion on this voyage because she didn't want any instability during the journey. Although the government's incentives to use the Knight Legion were tempting, Fatima was determined to use only Golems, since they were easier to control.

"Understood," Kadija replied. Fatima then watched as the beast used the power of shadow to fight the five Golems. It showed extraordinary combat prowess, tearing the five Golems to pieces with ease.

"What a terrifying beast," Fatima observed. She had spared no expense on the finest equipment for this expedition. Most importantly, she had used her expertise to make the Golems' soul cores, so she knew exactly how powerful they were.

"Send in a Tier 6 Golem, but use Shadow Bane." The Weasley Company was famous for two things: children's prank toys and state-of-the-art Golems. As its name suggested, Shadow Bane was especially effective against shadow-based creatures.

Before setting out, Fatima had bought Golems of every type to prepare for any eventuality, at enormous expense. That was one reason she had been nearly