15-17. Networking

Elijah recognized most of the people who’d come with Nara, though there were a few he didn’t know.

Miguel, Nara, and Hope were the most familiar, though he was well-acquainted with Rosabella and Mako as well. The little gnomish girl had made quite a name for herself over the years, and though she’d yet to reach demigodhood, most people in the grove expected it to happen sooner rather than later. Certainly, she didn’t lack for motivation, considering that she spent every waking moment training, patrolling, taking rotations in the Chimeric Forge, or running various towers with other members of the Hartwood Sentries.

She was of a level with Sara, though the pair couldn’t have been more different.

As for Mako, the Hawaiian Explorer looked much the same as he had the last time Elijah had seen him. His clothes were nicer, and his complexion was a bit darker, but he’d maintained his youthful appearance. Probably body cultivation, considering that he seemed a long way from demigodhood.

The other five were people he’d seen before, but whose names he didn’t remember. However, there was one sea elf that looked a bit shifty. Elijah recognized him from when the elves had first arrived at the grove, but he blanked on any other information about him.

The rest of the group was comprised of two humans, a dwarven woman, and a goblin with a mohawk.

“I have a way to expand the grove’s influence and allow us to rapidly respond to threats all across the world,” Elijah stated. “And each of you offers us the best opportunity to get the most out of this.”

Then, he explained his intentions and how he envisioned it working. The idea was simple enough – he wanted to build a network of dolmens across the world. Thirty-five of them, to be exact. It wasn’t enough to cover every region, but if spaced correctly, it could provide the grove with an edge that they couldn’t get otherwise.

“I don’t want to use this for trade,” Elijah said.

“What? That’s ridiculous,” said the shifty sea elf.

“Vesk!”

“Do you have any idea how much money we spend on the Conclave Spires? Not only could we bypass them with our own trade, but eventually, we could start charging others to use the network. It would be –”

“That would potentially destabilize the world economy,” Sara pointed out.

“So? We should be on top. We’re sitting on the most sought-after pile of resources on the planet. And we have an opportunity to expand our influence to travel as well? It would be moronic not to use it,” Vesk insisted.

“Then what?” Elijah asked. “How do you think the Conclave would respond? At best, we start a cold war. At worst, it goes hot.”

Elijah had thought quite a bit about it, and he thought it best that the Hartwood Grove maintain a peaceful relationship with the Conclave. Sure, he didn’t like Nyasha, but he had to think of the greater good. And that meant working with the Conclave, rather than against them.

“So? We can beat them,” Vesk stated.

“Oh, we can, huh?” Elijah asked, putting an emphasis on the second word. “Are you going to pick up a weapon? Are you going to be on the front lines of that war?”

“I am a Merchant, not a combatant.”

“You’re willing to send our people to war for no other reason than to make a few extra ethereum, are you?” Elijah asked. “Meanwhile, you’d be safe here, right?”

“I am not a –”

“No. You’re out.”

“What?” asked Vesk. “You can’t –”

“Be careful, Merchant,” came a hiss. Somehow, Rosabella had drawn her dagger, the point of which was aimed at Vesk’s groin. “You speak to Elijah Hart, not some peaceful Farmer. You will do so with respect, or I will feed you to the crabs.” She pressed the knife a little harder. “Starting with your favored body part.”

The sea elf didn’t breathe. Instead, he glanced at Nara, who glared back. After a pregnant moment, he stepped backward. “Fine.”

Then, he turned and stormed off. Or rather, he tried to. His trembling legs made that a little more difficult, and even after the elf disappeared down the connecting path, Elijah kept his eyes on the Merchant. Vesk stopped a few dozen feet later, practically collapsing in barely restrained panic.

“Thank you,” Elijah told Rosabella.

The gnomish girl gave him a curt nod.

Thankfully, Mako broke the silence only a moment later, asking, “Is our primary purpose exploration?”

Elijah nodded. “One of them,” he answered. Then, he explained that the plan for the dolmens was threefold. First, he wanted his people to explore the surrounding areas, giving the grove’s forces access to any towers or rifts they might find. Those were prime leveling resources, and they could heavily influence the grove’s potential.

“Second, I want to be able to deploy anywhere in the world. The less we’re dependent on the Conclave, the better. We won’t use it for trade unless absolutely necessary, and even then, our goal would be strategic rather than overwhelming,” he added.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“And third?” asked Nara.

“I don’t have access to the Conclave Spires anymore,” Elijah admitted. “And I don’t want to have to fly everywhere.”

“Wait. Why don’t you have access to the Spires?” asked Nara.

“Meridian Lux. They weren’t happy about that. I’m fairly sure they were just using it as a negotiating tactic, but I kind of…ah…laughed in their faces,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “But it’s fine, so long as they don’t penalize anyone else. I don’t need them.”

Nara just shook her head.

“I guess we need a tenth,” he admitted.

“No you don’t,” came another voice from nearby. Elijah had felt Biggle coming, though he was surprised at the offer. “I’ll participate.”

“Why you?”

“Herbs. I can only do so much with domesticated plants. I need to get out there and search for powerful anomalies. This would give me a good chance,” the gnomish Alchemist explained.

Elijah just shrugged. He would have preferred someone like Kurik, but the dwarven trapper was currently engaged in a Primal Realm run. He and Oscar weren’t due back for a couple of months.

“And you want to go out and look for them?” Elijah asked.

“Of course. I’m not some wilting violet, I’ll have you know. I’ve been in Primal Realms. Besides, I won’t be going alone. Mako will lend me an Explorer or two, I’m certain.”

The man shrugged, agreeing that that wouldn’t be too big of an issue. That wasn’t surprising, considering that one of the most popular paths for the nature attuned was to become an Explorer. Sometimes, those people pushed toward a hybrid, ranger-influenced class, but more often than not, they stuck to their scouting roots.

“In any case, what I need is a plan. I’m sure we have maps, right? I want to space them out so we get the most coverage possible,” Elijah explained. “Once that’s done, I’ll use Root Nexus and make you all Root Wielders. That will give you the ability to use the dolmens.”

“What about me?” Sara asked.

“You’re not a member of the grove.”

“So? I’m your sister.”

“The spell is pretty specific. No one who isn’t a member of the grove.”

“Well, that’s stupid,” she mumbled, crossing her arms.

Elijah just gave her a shrug of apology, then asked the others if they had anything to add. As it turned out, they did. Everyone there had at least one suggestion for how to better organize the endeavor, so the discussion went on for more than an hour. At the end of it, they had a good plan in place.

“I guess all that’s left to do is to induct you all,” Elijah said at last.

That required them to be at the heart of the grove, so they all made the trek back to the tree. There, they found Nerthus waiting for them, clearly looking forward to some sort of ceremony.

Elijah had no intention of making that kind of fuss, which disappointed the spryggent. And predictably, Sara as well. It seemed that both races enjoyed a bit of pomp. Disappointing both, Elijah just had the chosen recipients line up so he could cast the spell on each one in turn.

Before he did so, he took a look at the spell’s description:

Normally, he wouldn’t have used every slot, but he was counting on his trip to the First Fang to send him to the next stage of his core. Elijah hoped that by doing so, the possible number would increase.

Without further ado, he cast the spell on Miguel. The ethera flowed out of him in a rush, clouding around the grove’s most stalwart defender, then sinking into his body. It didn’t stop there, either. Instead, it swirled around him, faster and faster like a whirlpool until, at last, it coalesced in a spot just below his collarbone.

The smell of burning flesh came a second later.

Miguel gritted his teeth against the obvious pain, but he didn’t cry out. Fortunately, it only lasted a few moments before the excess ethera dissipated into the atmosphere. Finally, Miguel let out a trembling sigh.

“You didn’t say it would hurt,” he muttered.

“I didn’t know about that. You okay?” Elijah asked, already casting Wild Resurgence. However, the spell refused to attack the burned flesh.

Miguel dragged his shirt to the side, revealing a brand that looked like a stylized representation of a wide-branched tree. Despite the presence of Wild Resurgence, the burn remained blistered and red.

“Guess I’ll just have to wait for it to heal on its own,” he said.

“Last chance for anyone else to back out,” Elijah offered, looking down the line of people. They all remained resolute, though. Nara wouldn’t have chosen anyone who couldn’t take it.

With that in mind, Elijah cast the spell five more times before he was forced to take a break. “That spell uses a ton of ethera,” he groaned, snacking on a grove fruit. Each bite helped to enhance his regeneration by a couple dozen points, though it capped out at a bonus of fifty.

“You know most people can’t even eat those unless they’re prepared by an Alchemist or someone with a cooking skill?” asked Biggle. He’d been the third one to receive the brand, and he’d taken it even more stoically than Miguel. A surprise, but a welcome one.

“I wasn’t aware. Guess it’s good we have you around, huh?”

Biggle shrugged. “We should raise more Alchemists. Perhaps base them in Ironshore.”

Elijah frowned. “Is that safe?”

“Probably not. I don’t trust Alchemists.”

“You are an Alchemist.”

“But I’m one of the good ones,” Biggle insisted. “I know you like to look at individuals rather than relying on reputation, but…well, Alchemists, by and large, have earned theirs. It’s best to keep them at arm’s length. Otherwise, the temptation to help themselves to the grove’s bounty might prove too much.”

“I’ll trust you all to manage that,” Elijah said.

Then, he turned his attention to Nara, who was deep in conversation with Nerthus and Sara. Doubtless, the discussion centered around management of the grove.

Or maybe on Elijah himself.

Once Elijah was back to full ethera, he continued the process of branding each of the remaining candidates. It all went off without a hitch, though a few of the others soon regretted their inclusion. The brands were clearly far more painful than simple burns should have been, and some of the candidates were ill-equipped to handle it.

They didn’t ask him to stop, though. And even after a couple ended up in tears, nobody backed out.

That was a credit to their commitment.

In any case, once Elijah had finished, he, Nara, Mako, Sara, and Nerthus got down to the business of completing their plans for a new teleportation network.