by Dakota Krout
Dale stopped for a moment, thinking carefully. He enjoyed his life right now, but several months of constant training had only given him a moderate boost to his ranking. He had put on muscle, but nowhere near what most other adventurers accumulated over the years of hard living and fighting. He didn’t want to spend twenty years getting to the next stage in his life, this was the very first time a shortcut had been revealed to him.
What was gold to someone who might be able to live for hundreds of years? “Also pay seventy-five silver on all future amulets you buy from me, and it is a deal.” Dale agreed, to Frank's chagrin and Hans and Father Richard's enthusiasm.
“Can I come?” Hans begged, “I’ve never seen this before, but I hear it is horrif- I mean amazing to see!” He quickly finished with only a quick flash of guilt.
“He can bring anyone he wants to. Those he trusts only, I would suggest.” Father Richard turned to Dale, “May I have the dagger for safekeeping? I swear on my Mana I will honor our agreement.”
“Of course, here.” Dale offered up the dagger.
Father Richard took it with a nod, “Thank you, I would recommend you take the rest of the night off, as well as all day tomorrow. This process can be… taxing.” He turned to Frank, “Please authorize a payment to him from my account.”
Frank shook his head. “Fine. I will also be there, just so you know. You better not let anything happen to him.”
As they parted ways, Hans devolved into excited laughter and slapped Dale on the back. “Good on you lad! Not even twenty-two, and you are going to make it into the D-ranks! Also, this means you are out of debt to the Guild, even with the interest!”
“Wait, there was interest on buying my armor?” Dale’s voice was shocked.
Laughter was his only answer.
~Cal~
“Sure, sure. Go back to your little hobby.” She dismissively replied. “I’ll be over here, bored and alone.”
What was I missing? I pictured the Rune as it originally had been, but saw nothing different from what I was doing. The Rune had been active when I took it, so Craig knew something I did not. I puzzled over the idea for a bit while keeping an eye on the Rune, just in case it did something. Near midnight, Dani flew back in.
“I did.” She surprised me by apologizing, “I’m sorry I left in such a huff, sometimes I forget that you don’t have the same social norms as flesh and blood creatures. You literally need to focus on yourself, and I was jealous because I’ve been kinda bored.”
“I don’t have anything to do! I give you advice like, I dunno, once a month?” Dani spoke sadly, “You don’t really need me, I just take up your time and energy.”
I proclaimed indignantly,
“I don’t know,” She dramatically sighed, “I can’t affect anything in here without your help, and I can’t go too far away without dying of starvation.”
“No, it’s impossible. I can’t store Essence, and I’m made of energy so I am only as strong as the amount you can loan me.” She seemed a bit blue.
“No, it’s too dangerous to try to alter me like that.”
“Ahhh! That’s horrible! Did you just make me into a Mob?” She shrieked, horrified.
“It… It’s not intelligent?” She stammered.
Reversing her admonishment abruptly, “I look so pretty! Ok, Cal, let’s try to hook her up to a Beast core…”
It turned out to be a very good idea that we tried on mindless wisps. The first one collapsed into the Beast Core faster than a rock sinks under water. Dani looked sick when it happened, I felt terrible of course. We continued trying until late in the night, and Dani kept looking sicker the whole time.
She shook a bit, “Not really. I’ve just seen myself die hundreds of times, Cal. Can we… move on to something else for a while? I’m sorry I was so hard on you earlier.”
She shivered. “Bleh. Anything to get away from this for a while! Let’s take a look.” She zipped over to the room it was in, though she could have seen it through my mind instead. I guess she wanted actual physical distance from where hundreds of wisps had just died.
“It looks fine.” She studied the Rune, “Nothing has been happening? It’s been active for a while?” With my affirmative answer, she continued, “So it is stable, just having no effect. That's odd.” She moved closer to inspect it, landing at the outer edge.
She suddenly moved, following the lines and movements of the Rune, screaming the whole time. “Ahhh! It’s got me, Cal!”
Indeed, her whole body was being pulled along the lines, condensing down from her previous size, until she reached the output pattern near the center and stopped, nearly half her original size but glowing intensely. As she remained in the center, stunned, her body once again began growing, and her fear stopped, shock taking its place.
“Cal! The Rune freaking refined me. Like I was loose Essence! Now it’s dumping Essence into me, like I’m a Chi spiral!” Her amazed sounding voice broke my panic.
“Mmm… most likely.” She groaned happily, “This feels soooo good.”
“Nah, wisps just get larger. The ambient Essence in this room is already draining out though, now I’m barely getting a trickle. Ah well.” She murmured contentedly, “I bet you could charge Cores like this though, just put one in here.”
a moment.
“I think it would just pull Essence from a larger area.” She thoughtfully replied. “But it wouldn’t refine as well. I suppose a big Rune like that could help increase the Essence in the air but…”
I waited for her to comply, then made a larger version of the same Rune, placing the input activation sequence of a second Rune at the output of the first. I then created a Beast Core at the final output and activated only the first large Rune. I watched the Essence flow along its pattern, then, reaching the second Rune, the Essence automatically activated that too!
With no Essence to draw beyond that given to it from the first Rune, the second Rune refined the Essence into fine threads, which poured into the Beast core! Success! I had so many plans for this now. I could use it to speed my passive cultivation, create areas that would be powered by Essence without me sacrificing my cultivation, and maybe I could even find a way to use this method to create my Mobs more efficiently.
“My only concern for this is that larger runes take more Essence to activate, so if you make a really large one, there is a chance you would not be able to, or you would die trying when it drained you.” Dani interrupted my beautiful daydream.
“I think it will depend on how big you want the Rune to be.” Dani stated, looking at me in a way that made me feel slightly guilty.
My daydream was back.
~Twenty-Four~
Dale woke up just before dawn, as per usual. He got up and started putting on his armor before he remembered that he had the morning off. Not knowing what to do with himself, he started inspecting his armor. He knew it was enchanted, but was unsure what those enchantments did. He thought for a moment, remembering that enchantments were effects that were always on when activated, until they ran out of the stockpile of Essence they were originally imbued with. He found the activation sequences, but decided to check with his group before activating them for the first time. It may last for years, but an enchantment was temporary, unlike an inscribed Rune.
He equipped all of his armor, putting his Morningstar into the loop on his belt bandolier, and went for a walk. No real destination in mind, he just enjoyed the pre-dawn morning, the quiet that was never present during the day. He sat down on a boulder and watched the sun rise over the Phantom mountain range, and felt that today would be a good day. A soft sound made him turn, where he found a few people standing near him.
His initial reaction was to scream, but as he gasped they held out their hands in a peaceful gesture. He blew out the breath, not really reassured as he had seen unarmed people release enough energy to kill a city; not holding a weapon meant nothing to him anymore. Weapons aren’t the dangerous portion of someone with the intent to kill, the person doing the killing can find oh-so-many creative ways to make sure you die.
“Good morning,” one of the robed figures carefully articulated with an unknown, androgynous accent. “We apologize for startling you, but we needed to speak.”
“Ah… what, ah, what can I do for you?” Dale’s eyes were darting around for an escape route. People always thought that just because someone didn’t kill you instantly, they weren’t going to. Faulty logic, really. People may want information or services, then want to silence you as well.
“We are a delegation from the Elven city of Tal en' Ohta, of the Huine nation. We were told that you are the human landowner of this area, that if we did not want to start a war, we would need to deal with you for access to the Silverwood tree. My name,” She – the androgynous form turned out to be a she - pronounced, “is IL- Anwa Essa.”
“Welcome, ill anna ess.” Dale butchered the name, “Can I please call you Anna, so that I don’t continue to incorrectly destroy your name?”
“That will be just fine, though, I’d prefer if you called me ‘Brianna’. My name translates better into that.’” Brianna breathed a small sigh of relief. “I take it you prefer plain words over standing on ceremony then?”
“Yes! Please! I am not a cultured man, I have lived in these mountains my entire life thus far, and the small amount of schooling I have is thanks to my mother pressuring me to better my life. Etiquette was never among those lessons.” Dale looked a bit desperate.
“This works well for me, Dale.” Brianna had a hint of a smile touching her lips. “I am an ambassador for our queen and have been given the right to arbitrate an agreement between us, which will allow us access to the Silverwood tree, with a favorable compensation to you.”
“I see, and what would this entail?” Dale cautiously inquired, his warm, gold hoarding inner weasel coming to life.
As Brianna nodded, one of her companions stepped forward with a small chest, which he opened to show gleaming gems, nearly the size of Dale's fist.
“Are those diamonds?” Dale gasped, astonished at the size of the gems.
A look of annoyance crossed Brianna's face for a moment, “No, far more valuable. These are knowledge of skills and techniques for fighting. You use earth Essence, yes? If you were to master these skills, you could shatter mountains with a wave of your hand, make the earth tremble with a punch, redirect the banks of rivers with a command, and topple walls of a city you intend to conquer!”
She took a breath, eyes shining as she breathed a bit heavily, “There is also a cultivation technique in here that is similar to the one our nation gifted the King of the Lion Realm, hundreds of years ago when his Kingdom was but a small town. Now he uses it to amass power and rule.”
“What do you take from this deal? That is a lot of wealth just to see a small tree.” Dale suspiciously and insightfully inquired.
“It will not be small for too long.” She promised mysteriously. “What I am asking for is the right of our nation to have care of the tree. Allow us to protect it and build a city around it to house a part of our population. We will allow others to cultivate near it, but the final say of decisions regarding the tree will be ours.”
“I don’t understand, why are you asking for this? What is the big deal, and why are you emphasizing ‘our nation’ like that?” Dale challenged hotly, beginning to feel a bad headache building. Brianna held up her hand angrily and waved to the side. Dale was confused until an Elf stepped away from his back, a dagger vanishing into his sleeve.
“Oh for shits sake!” Dale stood up furiously, getting into a defensive position.
“My most sincere apology.” She began earnestly. “I am royalty, they are not too fond of heated words, but that is not,” she directed at those with her, “How I deal with people. I am not my mother.” The others looked away from her at that, embarrassed by this light treason.
“Allow me to explain, Sir Dale.” Brianna sat on the rock with him, motioning for him to re-take his seat. “Please understand that this is information that is somewhat sensitive to our kind. You do know that whenever a Silverwood tree is found, Elven-kind attempt to claim the area and build fortifications?” Frank had mentioned this to Dale, so he nodded.
“Well,” she continued, “Humans think that we do so for the benefit it affords in cultivating. This is only a small side bonus for us. The real reason for our interest is that the pollen from a Silverwood tree allows my race to become fertile, able to bear children.”
Dale was shocked. This was not the direction he had foreseen this conversation taking. Brianna laughed at his stricken look. “Oh, don’t get me wrong, sometimes we get lucky and a child is born without it, maybe one in five hundred couples is so lucky. But a Silverwood tree allows all of those couples given access to become fertile, which is why they are so well-protected when found. Without it we would become extinct.”
“Ahem.” Dale tried to keep his voice from cracking, “I see. So if I
allow you to build a city, what is the downside to this deal?”
“What do you mean?” She pleaded with wide-eyed innocence.
He eyed her critically, a dangerous life had afforded him a keen nose for danger, and she reeked of it. “I would happily give you access, but you want to build walls to keep others out. Who?” He demanded. One of the guards took a menacing step toward him, only to be waved off again with a glare.
“Fair question, young one. I was not expecting any resistance.” She released a small chuckle. “Oh, fine. Our nation is in decline, we have no Silverwood trees of our own, and the cost of the pollen has tripled in the last few decades as other nations have swollen. We have earned a bad reputation since then, becoming mercenaries and killers in order to gain the pollen we need.”
“So…” Dale gulped as he looked at the Elves surrounding him, “You would be…”
“Dark Elves, yes.” Brianna despondently muttered with an air of finality.
There was a long, very awkward silence.
“Does this mean you will reject our offer?” Brianna begged despairingly.
Dale paused a moment, thinking. “No, but there are details we need to work out.” He looked up to see Brianna waving furiously at the guards.
“You! Go sit down on your hands! What part of ‘this is a peaceful talk’ didn’t you understand?” She fumed angrily. “Sorry Dale, he is really dagger-happy today.”
“Um. Ohhh-kay. Those details. Right, you can have access to the tree, but any shops will cede a portion of their profit as a tax to me. I will need to pay taxes to both the Lion and the Phoenix Kingdoms. That is not cheap. You can work to build the city, but need to work with me and the Adventurers Guild to determine the best way to complete those fortifications.” Dale determinedly decided.
“Also, none of your people are to start fights, harm, or kill humans without being provoked, I don’t want a race war here. I am sorry to say people will likely be afraid when they find the Dark Elves have come.” Dale brought up, “As you say, you have a bad reputation. Also, your people must honor my claim as owner of this land, deferring to my wishes for the area. Is this agreeable?”