Path of Dragons 14 - Chapter 12 - The Value of a Friend

“I think I scared that kid out of his mind,” Elijah admitted, referring to the young Animist he’d startled upon his return to the grove.  He added, “Since then, I’ve just been trying to catch up.”

Atticus remained silent for a few moments before taking a sip of his coffee.  Elijah had already drained two cups, and he was working on a third.  His recounting of events since leaving for the Labyrinth of Mad Gods had taken quite a while, largely because he’d held very little back.  If he couldn’t trust Atticus, then he didn’t think he could trust anyone. 

Of course, he’d given much briefer accounts to his friends and family back in Ironshore and the grove.  But he’d always kept some details for himself.  With Atticus, it was different.  It wasn’t until he’d started his story that he realized why.  He and Atticus were business partners, but they’d been friends before that.  They had chosen one another.  Meanwhile, every other relationship Elijah had had been the result of coincidence, familial ties, or proximity.

That didn’t make them any weaker, but it did change the tone.

Atticus was his friend because he wanted to be.  Not because he had to be.

Plus, he’d provided plenty of coffee and other refreshments, which tended to loosen Elijah’s tongue. 

“That is quite a story, my friend,” Atticus allowed.  “What of the people you left behind?  Will you go back?”

Elijah shrugged.  “One day.  I need to get stronger, though.  I need to figure some things out first.”

The reality was that the Shape of the World Serpent wasn’t some cure-all for his issues.  It allowed him to traverse the void, but not without consequences.  The journey hadn’t just been grueling.  It had pushed him to his limits, nearly killing him along the way. 

The idea of returning to Gorveth via the void sent a shiver of fear up his spine, largely because he knew he’d gotten a bit lucky during his first trip.  One little misstep, and he might’ve been killed by some ultra-powerful entity before he had a chance to blink, much less escape.

“What about you?” asked Elijah.  “A lot has changed around here.”

“The trappings of wealth, I’m afraid.  One must keep up appearances,” he allowed, leaning back in the expensive leather chair.  Elijah sat in a similar chair, though his looked slightly newer.  It pulsed with ethera, marking it as a powerful item in its own right.  But that was true of most of the office’s décor.  Clearly, someone had gone to quite a bit of trouble to furnish the room.  From the hulking desk made of some sort of redwood to the paintings depicting various heroic battles, they were all the product of powerful Tradesmen.

“I’m sure you don’t mind it,” Elijah joked.  “You always did have expensive tastes.”

Atticus gave a short laugh, but he didn’t deny it.  The man enjoyed his lifestyle, and that obviously hadn’t changed in the past three decades. 

After that, he told his own story.  For the most part, it was just business as usual, though he did participate in the Court of Light Primal Realm.  It was his first bit of combat in years, but he was one of the highest-level people in the world, so he’d felt duty-bound to do whatever he could.

As it turned out, he’d done his part by brokering deals with various entities within the Primal Realm, many of which allowed them to skip challenges they never could have overcome.

“Not that I didn’t pay for it,” Atticus groaned.  “By the time I got back, the business was in shambles.  Never turn your back on a business rival, my friend.  They’re like hyenas, darting in to pick at anything left unguarded.”

“Seems like you took care of it,” Elijah reasoned.

“I did, I did.  The trade wars lasted nearly a decade, but Agora emerged victorious, in the end,” he stated with no small degree of pride.  “It pushed me to the demi-god tier, though it took another ten years before I managed to unlock a worthwhile evolution.”

“What did you pick?”

“Merchant Prince, of course,” he replied with a grin.  “There are advantages to controlling trade to the extent that I do.  I even opened The Venture Hall.”

“What’s that?”

“Sort of a pseudo-stock market,” Atticus explained.  “It has become Earth’s financial hub – a place where entire economies shift day by day.”

“You trade stocks?” Elijah asked.

“And more.  We also finance trade expeditions and loan funds.  Soon, we will start funding excursions into other worlds, though the license to do so would require me to reach a much higher level,” he said. 

“How does that work?”

“The system is about more than just combat, my friend.  For people like me, it’s an entirely different set-up.  You get combat spells.  I get abilities that allow me to reduce the cost of sending settlers or caravans to other worlds,” Atticus stated.  “Among other things, obviously.”

“Interesting,” Elijah remarked.  “I’m glad you’re doing well, though.”

“Not just me, my friend.  We are partners, you and I,” he said.  “Or did you forget that I have been managing your wealth?”

“Oh.  Maybe?” Elijah admitted, frowning.  It had been a long time since he’d really thought about money.  He hadn’t even checked his bank after returning to Earth.  He had visited the Branch of the World Tree, but only to send out a few messages.  He’d spent a little more time sifting through the thousands of messages others had sent him – most just after his disappearance into the abyss – but eventually, even those had petered out.  Otherwise, he’d left the Branch alone.

Mostly, that was because he was so accustomed to not having access.  For more than thirty years, it just hadn’t been a part of his life.  Now that it was, he had to remind himself to use it.

Then, Atticus revealed that Elijah’s businesses – with the soap and the mead he’d made just before leaving – had given him enough capital to invest quite heavily in a variety of things.  Most notably, in Agora itself.  And once everyone knew Elijah was gone, probably for good, the price of his soap had skyrocketed, giving Atticus even more money to work with.

“I’ll admit that without that money, I would have had a much more difficult time reestablishing Agora after the last Primal Realm,” the Merchant Prince stated.  “The return on that investment is quite generous, even with Nara and Nerthus making copious use of your funds.”

“Huh.  Didn’t really expect that, but I’m glad the money helped,” Elijah said with a shrug.  He cared about money insomuch as he had enough to do what he wanted to do.  Otherwise, it was just a number. 

“The Hartwood Foundation is thriving as well,” Atticus stated.  “Your money has gone to help a lot of people.”

Elijah nodded.  That was why he’d insisted upon the formation of the foundation in the first place.  He didn’t think he would end hunger or poverty, but it was nice to make a difference.

After that, he and Atticus spoke of other events that had come and gone.  About ten years after the world freed itself from the threat of excisement, Earth was subjected to another wave of settlers.  Most of those people integrated into established communities, but a few had gone on to create their own strongholds.  A couple had proven to be problems – at least until the planet’s most powerful people had come together in an alliance to put a stop to those sorts of problems.

Since then, Earth had continued to adjust to the new reality.  There were still conflicts, and plenty of them.  There had even been a couple of brutal wars.  But for the most part, the world had settled into its new status quo. 

That was a relief, but it did elicit what Elijah thought was an obvious question. “Why hasn’t some deity come here to take over?” he asked. 

“Why would they?” Atticus countered, taking a bite of a flakey pastry.  “Earth is prosperous, but we have very little to attract the truly powerful.  And besides, traveling here as a deity is still extraordinarily expensive.”

“How so?”

Then, Atticus explained that travel through the World Tree was not based on a flat rate.  It adjusted according to relative power.  If a deity wanted to travel to Earth, which was only barely capable of supporting such an entity, then the cost would be adjusted accordingly.  By comparison, if a mortal wanted to travel to Earth, it would be far less expensive.

“There are other concerns, like distance.  But it is still a very interesting arrangement.  It’s also the only reason we may soon be able to afford to branch out to other worlds.  We’re just not strong enough to incur increased costs,” he said.  “That, combined with the discounts I get from my class, means that we should reach that point sooner rather than later.”

“I see,” Elijah said, nodding along.  It did make sense.  It was just a surprise.

“But you didn’t come here to reminisce.”

“That was part of my reason,” Elijah argued.  “Believe it or not, I don’t have a lot of friends.  Not ones I can talk to like this.  Everyone else…I don’t know.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you underestimate your friends and family,” Atticus responded, uncharacteristically somber. “I do appreciate your friendship, though.  Truly.”

“But there was another reason I’m here,” Elijah said, wanting to change the subject.  “I have a few items I want appraised.”

“I can’t do that anymore,” Atticus responded.

“What?”

“Ability evolution.  I sacrificed that functionality for an ability to increase the speed of my contracted caravans.”

“Oh.”

“But don’t worry.  I have others who can do that job,” he said.  “Follow me.”

With that, he pushed himself to his feet and cut across the room.  Elijah followed him down the connected hallway to the foyer.  A moment later, they were inside the elevator. 

The trip down only took a few seconds, but when they arrived, Atticus informed Elijah that the entire floor was dedicated to high-level appraisals.  Of course, there were other rooms on lower floors meant for the same task, though for much less valuable items. 

Soon enough, they found themselves inside a private room characterized by a large table engraved with dozens of powerful runes.  Manning it was an attendant who introduced himself as Ferdinand.  He tried to hide it, but the man was obviously nervous to perform an appraisal in front of his boss, who happened to be one of the most influential people in the world.

If he knew who Elijah was, he gave no indication.

The first item Elijah placed on the table was a cutting he’d taken from Treebie.  It was only seven feet long and about three inches thick.  However, it pulsed with enough power that it made Ferdinand flinch.

“It’s called a…uh…”

“What’s wrong?” asked Atticus.

“This can’t be right.  Give me a moment, if you please.”

He used an ability, but his frown only deepened as he repeated his previous statement of disbelief.

“Just read the description,” Atticus commanded after the third use of the appraisal ability.

“I’m sorry, sir.  I don’t know what’s wrong, but there is no description.  Just a name and a grade.  And the name makes no sense.”

“What is it?” Elijah asked.

“Branch of the Great Treebie,” the man half-whispered, as if he expected some retaliation.  “High Sacred-Grade.”

“Oh, cool,” Elijah said.  “That actually makes perfect sense to me.”

“It does?” asked Ferdinand.

Elijah nodded as he placed the item in his Arcane Loop. He’d taken it from Treebie just after he’d plucked the leaf that had become the Dimensional Monocle, and at the time, he’d felt extremely bad about it.  After all, Treebie was more than capable of feeling pain.  So taking one of his branches – even a small one – was like intentionally wounding a small child.

Thankfully, Treebie seemed to understand the need, based on Elijah’s communications with the tree.  It wasn’t more than a feeling, and it might have been imagined.  But Elijah didn’t think Treebie would hold a grudge.  And the item was even more powerful than expected.

Hopefully, he could use it to carve his next staff.

Next came the Armor of the Wild Revenant:

Atticus let out a chuckle.  “You truly do bring the best items,” he said.  “However, that item description does remind me that I have a gift for you.  Please excuse me, my friend.  I will be back in a moment.”

With that, Atticus left the room. 

“Would you like to continue?” asked Ferdinand, sweat beading on his forehead.  Apparently, he’d begun to grasp the nature of Elijah’s power.  He obviously knew Elijah was important, if only because Atticus had chosen to accompany him.  But now, he’d begun to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

“May as well,” Elijah said, pulling out the Chausses of the Wild Revenant. 

Elijah frowned.  The attribute bonuses were characteristically strong.  However, the traits were a little underwhelming – at least until he remembered that the Wild Revenant Raiment was meant for wandering Druids.  With those circumstances in mind, the ability to clean equipment and summon water were incredibly useful.

Not that it mattered.  Even if the chausses had no traits or attributes attached to them, Elijah would have still worn them.  The benefits that came from donning the full set were too great.  And besides, it might keep him from having to constantly replace his clothes. 

Only a few moments later, Atticus returned. From his red face and gulping breaths, it was clear that he’d run the whole way.

“You really need to do more cardio,” Elijah said.

“I will do no such thing.”

Elijah rolled his eyes as Atticus handed him a bundle.  He unwrapped it, finding an item of white leather.  As he held it up, Atticus said, “It’s called the Girdle of the Wild Revenant.”

“Girdle?  Are you trying to tell me I’m fat?” Elijah asked.

“What? No!  That’s just a name.  It’s part of your set!” Atticus insisted.

Then, he set it on the table and had a very uncomfortable Ferdinand appraise it.  The results were:

“Wow,” Elijah said.  “That’s…where did you get this?”

“Another Druid earned it in the Court of Light,” Atticus answered.  “She perished soon after, and her husband sold it to me for a veritable fortune.  The moment I saw it, I knew it would be useful for when you returned.”

“Wow,” Elijah repeated.  “Thank you, Atticus.  I don’t know what else to say.”

“Say nothing, my friend! It is nothing between friends,” Atticus exclaimed with characteristic joviality.  “Now, try it on.  I want to see if we got the full set.”