Path of Dragons

Book 6: Chapter 103: The Future

When Elijah arrived at the gate, he found his nephew – with his armor so damaged that it likely offered no protection at all – standing over a decapitated body. A handful of other dark elves knelt at his feet, having been disarmed. One of the lunar deer from the island stood guard, his small antlers glittering in the moonlight.

“Miggy? Are you okay?” Elijah asked on approach.

The young man looked up, then, with a wooden sword, pointed at the body as he said, “That’s their General. He was trying to escape, so Trevor and I broke away from the battle to cut him off.”

“Where did you come from? The island?” Elijah asked.

When he’d returned from the Trial, he’d been shocked to learn that Ironshore was under siege by an army of dark elves. Until then, Elijah had never encountered that particular brand of elves, but after his experiences with Ikan, he was not surprised to find that they were hostile.

The elves themselves were, as their name suggested, dark complected, with mostly white hair. Other than that, they looked like every other species of elf he’d met. Sharp, almost delicate features, pointed ears, and relatively slight stature were common characteristics, but there were a few outliers as well.

Like one of the prisoners kneeling nearby. She was gorgeous, with a tiny scar on her cheek, but she was noticeably more muscular than many of her fellows. The others characterized the exact features he’d been led to expect.

“I came from Argos. I wanted to bring more, but the Teleportation Network is really expensive. I could only afford to bring two other people,” Miguel answered, jerking Elijah’s attention away from the prisoners. “Including Trevor. Not that Argos could give us many people. They’ve got problems of their own.”

Elijah listened as Miguel explained that the assault on Ironshore was not an isolated incident. Norcastle had already fallen, and Argos seemed to be next on their list. The only reason it hadn’t already happened was because Isaak and Artemis had killed most of their forward scouts. Still, that was only sufficient to delay the inevitable, meaning that war was coming to the Greek city sooner rather than later.

“Green Warden,” Miguel answered. “It’s tied to the grove.” He glanced at the prisoners, adding, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to say more when they’re here.”

“Right. We should get back to the fight,” Elijah said. Then, he went about restraining the prisoners. It would have been much easier to just kill them, but after everything that had happened, he’d seen enough death. Already, he’d killed hundreds – if not thousands – of dark elves, and he didn’t want to keep that going unless absolutely necessary.

Once the prisoners were restrained, Elijah and Miguel headed back to the site of the battle. When they arrived, they found that the dark elves had surrendered. It seemed that being abandoned by their general had taken the wind out of their sails. There were still a couple of pockets of fighting, but after letting Ramik know about the prisoners, Elijah added his weight to the conflict. The end of the battle came less than an hour later when the rest of the attackers had been killed or captured. A few managed to escape into the mines, but that was inevitable.

Ironshore simply didn’t possess the numbers to stop them.

When Elijah approached Ramik, he asked, “How many prisoners?”

“Less than a thousand,” the goblin mayor answered. He took off his hat and sighed, “This is going to be a mess.”

“Better than dying,” Elijah reminded him. When he’d arrived at the Branch, Ramik and the other leaders had been putting together terms for their own surrender. His return had changed everything. “Or being captured. I don’t know if they do that, though.”

“Capture would have been worse,” Ramik stated. “Dark elves – they call themselves Illythari – are generally known to be xenophobic racists. They also adhere quite strictly to a caste system, treating anyone weaker quite harshly. They hold quite a particular hatred for goblins.”

The implication didn’t need to be spoken aloud. If Ramik or Ironshore’s other goblins had been captured, they wouldn’t have lived much longer.

“Do you need anything else from me?” Elijah asked.

Ramik didn’t, which gave him the chance to reunite with his sister-in-law and nephew. Both were quite busy with the aftermath of the battle, so aside from a quick greeting, Elijah spent the next few hours healing the injured. That included the dark elves who’d been taken prisoner, many of whom had been wounded by his attacks. Elijah didn’t miss the irony of that, though he refused to focus on it. After he got into a rhythm, he zoned out, turning his mind to recent events.

He certainly hadn’t expected to enter a battle the moment he returned from the Trial, so he hadn’t had the chance to go over his gains. As expected, getting first place in the Trial of Primacy had pushed him to level one-twenty-five, though his progress had stalled there. Not unexpected, given what had happened so long ago when he’d reached level ten. Back then, much of his experience had been lost, though he still held out some hope that this time would be a little different.

With that in mind, he returned to the grove, took off his bloody equipment, and took a long shower. Nerthus was there waiting for him when he finished, but aside from exchanging a few basic pleasantries, he didn’t spend much time with the spryggent. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy to see his friend, but he had other things to worry about. To that end, he settled down his bed and opened his status:

As he’d already noticed, he had progressed to level one-twenty-five, and he’d received the appropriate attribute bonuses. Without his buffs or equipment, his numbers looked a little paltry, but when put into context, he knew they represented a significant accomplishment.

It wasn’t so long ago – in the grand scheme of things – that every attribute had been in the single digits, with Constitution coming in at asingle point. So much had happened since then, and Elijah knew that he had become an entirely new person. Not only was he superhuman in every way that mattered, but he felt like he’d taken the first step into a much larger multi-verse.

After all, even on established worlds, not everyone made it to the peak of the mortal tier. Most did – eventually, at least – but not everyone. That he’d done so after only five years – or six, if he counted the time spent in the Trial of Primacy – filled him with a sense of pride. In some ways, it reminded him of the day he’d gotten his doctorate, but with the obvious caveat that, in this case, he actually felt enjoyment beyond the simple accomplishment of a goal.

The life of an adventurer was difficult, but it was one that filled him with purpose. And excitement. He had now seen things no one else on Earth had seen, and despite having reached a significant milestone, he didn’t intend to stop.

Sure, he’d already committed to dealing with the various problems throughout the world. That was a given. But he vowed, then and there, not to let that dominate his life. He needed more than just war and fighting. He needed fulfilment and adventure.

“Maybe I should’ve been an Explorer,” he muttered to himself, though that option had never been presented to him. If it had, his life might have turned out quite differently.

Regardless, once he was finished admiring his status, he turned his inner eye toward the next notification. Instead of gaining an opportunity to evolve one of his existing spells, he’d acquired an entirely new one.

And it was something he’d been expecting for quite some time:

It was not what Elijah had expected from something called Shape of the Master. However, he couldn’t deny that it held a certain appeal. After spending so long with the benefit of Haste from his Sash of the Whirlwind as well as the effect of his latest spell evolution – Lupine Reflexes – Elijah could definitely get onboard with further improvements in that category.

Clearly, Evasion and Incinerate were meant to work together. Though how effective it was would depend on the power of each charge of Heart of Fire. He wanted to test it out – or at least look at the form – but given the sheer size of his other shapes, he wouldn’t chance doing it inside his treehouse. He also didn’t want to go outside at the moment. So, he tabled that for now and focused on the most exciting result of having reached the peak of the mortal tier.

He could finally evolve his class, which was something he’d been looking forward to ever since he discovered the nature of progression. The Animist class was powerful, but he knew it wasn’t nearly as strong as some others. Until now, his power had been propped up on his versatility and his potent Dragon Core. But with the number of Feats of Strength attached to him, he knew the evolutions on offer would be impressive and would increase his power by a significant margin.

So, it was with that in mind that he moved on to the final notification available to him. Before he could even read the first line, he heard a voice.

“This is a momentous occasion for any young one,” it said.

Elijah looked up to see Kirlissa standing at the foot of his bed. She looked as beautiful as ever, with hair of gold, tiny glittering scales around her eyes and much larger scales upon her neck. She seemed somehow more solid than at any other time, though Elijah wasn’t sure if that was because of his vastly improved One with Nature or if she truly was there more solidly than before. Regardless, he could feel the weight of her power pushing down on him like someone had increased the local gravity by a thousand times.

“Breathe, child.”

Elijah did, and with every deep breath, he felt a little more at ease. Though looking at his patron brought some of that discomfort back, he eventually managed to speak. “What are you doing here?”

“Are you not glad to see me?” she asked with a small smile. Before Elijah could answer, she went on, “I come with advice and an invitation. The advice is simple, though it is not something you will wish to hear. Children the multi-verse over lack patience. They prefer to blunder forward without considering how their hasty decisions affect their future.”

“What is the advice?”

“Do not choose your class evolution at this time,” she stated simply. Before Elijah could object, she went on, “You are on the verge of progressing to the next stage of Soul cultivation, are you not?”

Elijah nodded. “I still need to work some things out, but I think so.”

“Do that first. Once that is done, you should evolve your core. Rest assured, this will be the last chance for easy progression. Going forward, each stage will require extensive preparation, perfect circumstances, and monumental effort,” she stated. “However, pushing forward to the Expert tier of cultivation will put you in a position of true dominance.”

“How?” Elijah asked, though he already suspected the answer.

“You know of Legacy, do you not?” she asked. He nodded. “The first class evolution is extremely important for your future. It is the foundation upon which your entire life will be built. The initial class selection is important because it is the first step. However, it is only that – the first step – and there is very little variation in terms of quality. The second evolution is where that changes. Do you know why?”

“Legacy. With more than a hundred levels to progress, there’s a lot more variance.”

“Just so,” she said, smiling down at him. “Attaining the Expert tier of cultivation will count towards your Legacy almost as much as your previous Feats combined. Together, they will put you on the path to Supremacy. It only takes a little patience.”

Elijah sighed. He’d been looking forward to his class evolution, but he supposed it could wait a little while longer. After all, he’d already told his companions that he intended to rest for at least a few weeks before assisting them with their various problems. Sadie hadn’t liked that idea, but she’d understood the reasoning behind it. More importantly, she had grudgingly admitted that it was unlikely for the undead to push forward immediately after the Trial of Primacy. So, he had a little time.

“Fine. Can I at least look at my options?” he asked.

“I would not, were I you,” she answered. “The temptation to choose one would be too great for you. Besides, you cannot do so here. You need to access a Branch.”

Elijah confirmed that was the case by looking at the notification he’d thought was his class evolution choices:

Elijah shook his head in disappointment. “Alright. I won’t do it until I reach the next stage of my Soul and Core cultivation,” he agreed. “You said you had an invitation, too?”

“Indeed, child. Once you have ensured your planet’s safety from excisement, I would like for you to visit the Empire of Scale so that we can begin your education in earnest,” she said.

“What? Excisement?”

“I can say no more. Remember my previous advice. Do not ignore the dangers of Primal Realms,” she said. “When you are ready, report to the Branch and access the Teleportation Network. Your passage has already been paid. You merely have to accept it. For now, though, I trust you to keep doing what you are doing. Your progress is quite pleasing to me, and I look forward to what you might one day become. Goodbye, my son.”

With that, she disappeared, leaving Elijah confused, a little irritated, and, despite that, excited for the future.