A Permission, An Idea

“They are surprisingly resistant to spilling the beans. I can only assume that they are forced to keep quiet by some sort of technique or something like that–Anyway, I was thinking about handing them over to the Xing clan for interrogation. I bet they’ve been itching for some invaders to question since the start of all this mess”

Edrick explained what had happened and his thoughts on the situation to his Valdre. The patriarch of the Elt clan nodded along as he listened to his Allino’s words. Only speaking a fair bit after the conversation began.

“I wasn’t expecting Journomanp to make such drastic moves so rapidly. It would seem that the others and I underestimated just how foolish and hotheaded they truly are… His Majesty was hoping for a swift and peaceful resolution to the conflict, and I agreed with him until now–But I can’t tolerate a targeted and premeditated attempt on the life of a member of my clan, and certainly not on my own Allino”

Yongfu could make many drastic concessions, but this event was simply not one he could overlook. Not only was he personally unwilling to let an assassination attempt be water under the bridge, but as the patriarch, he needed to show that he wasn’t one to take such a thing lying down.

Unfortunately for the king, there wouldn’t be any way for him to convince Yongfu not to escalate the conflict, and once the other great clans heard that Journomanp, which they considered to be a lesser nation than Leynlornd, had tried to kill a young scion of one of their peers, they would also agree that it was time to take the gloves off and show Journomanp its place.

Edrick himself would have preferred it if things didn’t escalate so greatly, but he knew that it was the logical conclusion to what had happened, and he wasn’t willing to let more experienced and stronger assassins show up at his doorstep either.

“Valdre, I worry that a strong response against Journomanp might be the cue Heldeorlt is waiting for to launch an attack of their own–We can’t cross off the possibility that this is all a ploy to leave some room for Heldeorlt to strike at Leynlornd. After all, Journomanp could easily be manipulated or bought into acting as a decoy”

Yongfu stroked his beard.

“You make a good point, Zixu… I get the feeling that His Majesty will likely use the same argument to try and argue against an attack. The old fox never misses anything when it comes to getting his way…”

The patriarch smiled slightly.

“Well then, I suppose that an attack on the scale that I imagined won’t come to pass, but… You mentioned your personal dealings with some of the mountain-dwelling forces in Journomanp, yes? The slight was committed against you, after all, and it is likely linked to your connections to these small influences, so…”

“...I authorise you to use great force in Journomanp. If anyone has anything to say about it, it shall be that you acted on my orders. Go and spread the terror of the Elt, Zixu. I am certain that you’ll find plenty of benefits for yourself as well”

This surprised Edrick a bit. It seemed like he had indeed improved his reputation within the clan in a stellar manner for his Valdre to directly permit him to run amok in Journomanp.

Anoteros stood up, bringing a closed fist against an open and straight palm.

“Thank you for this opportunity, Valdre”

“It isn’t much. Good luck out there, Zixu”

___

This meeting changed a lot of things concerning Edrick’s plans. He had been aiming to play things nice for a while longer, but things had accelerated swiftly, and he now had the authorisation of his Valdre to be as direct and violent as he wanted to be.

Naturally, Anoteros didn’t rush in immediately, and he instead went to see how his ‘troops’ were doing.

Eltysia had given birth a few more times since the first time, and as such, the realm had grown a bit larger, and most of all, the population of the realm had increased quite significantly, especially since they were also reproducing amongst themselves.

In fact, they were doing it like rabbits, as Anoteros had ordered them to get to work in this regard.

The most effective of the more intelligent species was obviously the Baumsaftgar. With their intelligence being on the lower side of things, their period of gestation was the shortest by a long shot, and they also grew up quite rapidly.

This was quite useful since they were probably the best footsoldiers as well. They took orders from Edrick without question, were physically strong, and they also had their ‘tribal ability’. Which Edrick had come to find out was very simplistic.

It simply allowed them to empower one another when acting as a cohesive whole, and they also received a great boost depending on the strength of their ‘superiors’.

Basically, they had a simple hierarchy, and if placed into a military formation with said hierarchy all being present at the same time, then the increase to their strength combined with the sheer number of them working together would be massive.

Normally, this was balanced out by the fact that they formed relatively small tribes and only coordinated during fights for territory and while hunting in small groups.

Under the scion’s command, this tribal ability would be put to its full potential, not to mention that since he had this ability too, he was technically the highest in the hierarchy, so as long as he was present for their battles, they would benefit from his strength as well.

All of this was splendid already, but that went without mentioning the other intelligent species…

The Undersky Elves weren’t great fighters, but that was fine since they specialised in being farmers anyway. Their value lay elsewhere.

The Underblood Elves were fairly good combatants. Their body marks were rather simple as well. They were etched into their bodies soon after birth, and would grant them various bonuses, allowing some to cast spells, making some stronger than the norm… However, the main trick lay in the blood rituals.

They could do some pretty impressive stuff if given enough time and resources, such as summoning temporary blood beasts that could get ridiculously big, or even empowering their own body markings to greater heights for some time.

As for the Underwood Elves, they were good fighters, but their best talent was stealth, which Edrick planned on putting to use…

Finally, after several births, a new Blutgar had been created. However, it seemed like the nature of a Blutgar wasn’t something defined.

Crimonia had been first created by merging Baumsaftgar and Underblood Elf, while the new one seemed to instead be the unification of Baumsaftgar and Underwood Elf.

He was similar to Crimonia, but had the dark skin of an Underwood Elf, and he was also smaller, seemingly taking more from his elven side.

He was strong for certain, but his true calling lay in stealth nonetheless.

“Eltysia… I have an idea that might allow the realm to grow, but I am not sure how it would work…”

Edrick wanted to be as prepared as he could possibly be.