Andrew Robinson Leinbach
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Chapter 165: Bargaining with Major Powers
🕑 Added 2023-07-04 23:39:38 +0000 UTCKrysta
“Shadow is female. The boy is a subordinate. Multiple masters.” Joma La’Vordi, the Alchemist of the Deep Woods, looked contemplative. “I feel like I’m missing something.”
Then a look of realization appeared on her face and she snapped the fingers of her right hand. “You haven’t stopped thinking about him even after meeting only briefly. The identity that makes the most sense died less than a month before the integration started, so of course he’d be reborn as a monster. And he would be inspired by Xara Valin, so why not choose an incarnation of lust?”
Her mother then frowned. “But his skills don’t make sense. If he was going down that route, he would have chosen the Legendary grade Void Sage, not the Heroic grade Advanced Void Sage. So he would only have the class now.
“But everything else fits too well.”
She didn’t say anything else for a few minutes. “Maybe if he had an essence chamberlain. But how would a monster get that bloodline? Also, if Shadow were the other apprentice, wouldn’t she be a monster too? How would she get into the Trial Tower?” A deep frown appeared on her face. “I’m definitely missing something.”
Krysta waited a few more minutes, but her mother didn’t say anything else, seemingly deep in thought.
Normally, Krysta would just leave the room and go do something else when this happened, but it was pretty obvious her mother had realized something after she’d explained what had happened in the War of the Chosen, and she wanted to know what it was.
“Mom!”
“Oh right.” Her mother blinked her yellow eyes and brushed back several mossy green dreadlocks which had fallen over her face. “You must be rather confused.”
“Yeah.” Krysta nodded and then just stared at her mother, making it extremely obvious she wanted an explanation.
“That summoner girl is most likely lying.”
She and her mother were sitting at a table on the patio which had been built on top of one of their life tree’s branches, about a kilometer off the ground, and, while Krysta had been pacing, she now sat across from her mother, waiting for her to continue.
“After your experience in the Trial Tower and the talk of plagues, I looked into the current status of the Yin Yang Sage and found she’d made an experimental planet where she’d left the talents of her own force and most of the forces she destroyed before she died, a planet called Earth somewhere in the Evolon Galaxy Cluster. The Yin Yang Sage is apparently still alive in spirit form and is the guide of that planet, so I expect she’s able to take on apprentices and then see through their eyes.
“This information is only known because the planet was undergoing an apocalypse style integration, but all the forces invading the planet were cut off from communication at about the same time and nothing has been heard from them again, so it is suspected they were all destroyed.
“The most powerful cultivator from Earth was a summoner by the name of Diana Alvaro who specialized in both yin and yang Laws, and I suspect that’s the summoner from the War of the Chosen. I don’t know how she got the other six spirits, but it seems very unlikely there is another youngster in the universe with yin and yang spirits in the shapes of a twin-headed serpent and a winged horse, as those skills are both very, very rare.
“As to why she’d be lying to you, I suspect the boy whose cultivation path you effectively crippled was her younger brother, Aalam Alvaro, who supposedly died about half a month before the start of their planet’s integration. He would have gone through a monster tutorial and, given what you said about him, I’m leaning toward him being some kind of incubus.”
“An incubus.” Krysta thought about that for a few seconds and felt rather embarrassed. “How sure are you about this?”
“That the summoner is Diana Alvaro, about 87%. That the heavenly spark crafter is her younger brother, about 48%. There are several things that don’t fit and I don’t have all the information.
“What I can be sure of, however, is that it is not a coincidence the Bronze Legion offered spots to both you and Henrietta. I wouldn’t have been able to figure out anything if they’d just killed you and, if they have Xara Valin behind them, which I highly suspect they do, they almost certainly know that.
“When you go for the next battle in three months, find a chance to talk to the summoner privately. Especially make sure the Bronze Legion and Vin Clan members, including Henrietta, aren’t around. Likely they’ll have some sort of deal they want to make and, given who’s behind them, I’m interested.”
* * *
Mila
“So, just to be clear, you’re on first name speaking terms with the princesses of both the Vin Clan and the Forest Cauldron?” Eminar Kelmin was one of the eighteen C rank elders of the Violet Mountain Sect and the father of Mila’s friend Pimala, the chief trainer of the core disciples. Of the C rank elders, he was the only one she’d ever talked to before and, of the five elders on the committee to see if she could offer up the E rank Legendary grade skill Soulshape to become one of the commanders of the Bronze Legion’s second army, he seemed the most excited.
“Yes, sir.” Mila bowed toward him.
They were in a large room inside one of the larger buildings in the Violet Mountain Sect’s so called blessed land. And the room reminded Mila of a courtroom from Earth, the elders all behind individual desks on a raised platform as they looked down at and passed judgement on her. It was normally used for situations like the one they were in now, where a younger member of the Violet Mountain Sect was asking for something the sect’s rules required a quorum of elders to decide on, and, as intended, the effect was quite intimidating.
“And we’re just supposed to accept your word on this?” Kalin Hewin, the youngest of the sect’s C ranks and the most likely to advance to B rank in the future had been beaten up by Epecteos in the past for being an asshole. Thus he wasn’t the biggest fan of her fictional identity as Epecteos’s great-granddaughter.
“Seeing as all the other disciples of the sect participating in the War of the Chosen have been killed, and you probably don’t want to ask the Vin Clan, yes.” She smiled pleasantly at him, showing no irritation in her face or her aura, and Eminar on the other side of the five burst out laughing.
“Can you explain more about why the Bronze Legion would be willing to grant you a commander position?” As the sect’s lawyer, in charge of all their contracts, Lander Haxor was the true second in command of the Violet Mountain Sect, as shown by his position in the center of the five listening to her request.
Like Eminar and King Hewin, he was human, and all three looked most like those from the Indian subcontinent on Earth, but he had the appearance of an old man while the two younger C ranks looked to be in their late twenties at most. He had smiled at her response to King Hewin, however, so she was pretty sure he was leaning toward accepting her request.
“They have all the power they need with over 600 law armors and likely more to come, but they don’t have any healers able to turn that power toward saving their soldiers other than seemingly their most powerful commander, and she’s primarily a summoner. So, they need technical skill more than they need raw stats, and I was able to impress their general by healing Princess Henrietta of an undead plague which targets new victims via karmic bonds.”
“Ah.” Mr. Haxor nodded. “So your training as both a lawyer and a healer helped.”
Mr. Haxor turned to look at Eminar. “Find a suitable reward for a job well done and grant it to your daughter in my name.”
Then he turned to the elder sitting between him and King Hewin, who was in charge of resources for the sect. “In my name, triple Ms. Lin’Talic’s resource allocation.” Then he turned a rather cold look to King Hewin before looking back to the elder in charge of resources. “She hasn’t been lying and, no matter what we decide today, she’s already contributed greatly to the prestige of the sect.”
He then turned back to her. “Ms. Lin’Talic, please make your argument for what the Violet Mountain Sect will gain by you joining the Bronze Legion’s army as a commander which we wouldn’t were you to join as a soldier.”
“Prestige, sir.” Mila bowed toward him as well, then straightened her back and continued to answer. “First, given the power on display from the Bronze Legion’s army, it is likely they will go quite a bit further than anyone would have originally expected. Being a soldier in such an army would allow me to cultivate personal relationships with the Bronze Legion, the Vin Clan, and the Forest Cauldron, as well as whatever force the summoner and spearman are from, but it wouldn’t be of much help when dealing with other forces.
“As a commander, however, were I to be part of negotiations on behalf of the sect in the future, the starting line of respect given to me would be higher. And you, more than anyone, know how useful that could be.
“Also, on a personal relationship front, being a commander would allow me to speak to the other forces involved in the Bronze Legion’s army as a peer rather than a subordinate. In fact, I’d be at a higher level than Princess Henrietta and, given her personality, that would be a good thing so long as I remain friendly.”
“That’s a more detailed answer than I expected from your reputation.” Mr. Haxor nodded toward her. “From what I’ve heard, you seem to most delight in charity work.”
Mila bowed again, not raising her head before she answered. “I like helping people, sir. It makes me happy. But that doesn’t mean I’m an idiot or unaware of politics.”
Mila raised her head to see Mr. Haxor smiling. “I’m in favor of giving away the skill.” He looked at each of the other elders in turn. “We’ve had it for over five million years and no one has had the talent to learn it, so we might as well use it for political capital.”
“I concur,” Eminar Kelmin agreed.
“As do I.”
“And me.”
All four of them turned to look at King Hewin, who seemed contemplative. Then King Hewin nodded as well. “I agree.”
“Good. It seems we are unanimous.” Mr. Haxor turned to the elder responsible for resources. “Please see to it that the skill is sent to the general of the Bronze Legion’s second army as per the rules of the War of the Chosen.”
Mr. Haxor then rose from his seat and gave a very slight bow to Mila. “It’s good to finally see the sect produce someone who might be able to take my place when I die. Good luck, Ms. Lin’Talic.”
Then Mr. Haxor left the room, along with all the elders other than Eminar Kelmin, who instead walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder in a way that wasn’t quite appropriate. “Good job, Sarra. Please come see me in my residence if you ever need anything.”
