Path of Dragons 7 - Chapter 24 - The Moment of Truth

Elijah landed lightly in Druid’s Park.  Concerning his flight technique, he’d made a ton of progress since he’d gained the spell just outside of Seattle, and though he wasn’t quite at the level of a native flyer like a bird, he at least didn’t disturb the ground upon landing.  He was eager to head to the Branch so he could select his class evolution, but he hesitated when he felt the density of ethera surrounding the ancestral tree. 

It had never been as powerful as the one in the grove, but as it had grown to maturity, it had become far more potent.  And the energy in the atmosphere local to Druid’s Park was alive with vitality and ethera.  It almost felt like an oncoming storm, the air was so charged with energy.  Since the last time he’d been there, it had grown noticeably more powerful, and it wasn’t a secret why. 

It was somehow tied to his cultivation, which wasn’t really supposed to happen.  From everything he’d read, a grove’s power coincided with its founding Druid’s level.  The tier of Core cultivation wasn’t supposed to come into it.  And yet, in this case, it had.  Perhaps the Shard of the World Tree was responsible.  Or maybe it was because he had the Core of an Elder race.  Regardless of the reason, he found that he wanted to investigate further. 

Yet, the pull of his class evolution was far more powerful. 

So, after noticing that the group of children who’d been watching Miguel a week or so before had once again gathered to practice their swordsmanship, he left Druid’s Park behind and headed into the city.  Along the way, he noticed the same glances he usually got.  Most of the dwarves, goblins, and gnomes looked upon him with fear, but he also saw that many of the humans had a different emotion writ large on their faces.

Greed.

It was as plain as day, and Elijah knew what it meant.  Clearly, those humans – mostly from Norcastle – knew who he was.  More importantly, they knew where he lived.  Perhaps they believed his grove was the reason he’d grown so powerful.  Or maybe they just sensed the dense ethera across the strait.  Regardless, they knew he was attached to that grove, and as such, it had painted a target on his back.

Because if there was any constant concerning human nature, it was covetousness.  It wasn’t universal – far from it – but there were always a few people that wanted whatever someone else possessed.  And it only took a little nudge for them to decide they deserved it.  After that, they would choose to take it for themselves, and they usually wouldn’t do so alone.

In short, the way they were looking at him was a problem, and one for which he had no solution.  He could kill them, sure.  They weren’t strong, and even if every human in the city banded together, they would struggle to take him down.  It would be even more lopsided once he evolved his class.  And yet, Elijah didn’t want to combat every problem with killing.  Not only was it distasteful to him, but it wasn’t a long-term solution.  After all, most people had family.  Friends.  And if he killed enough people, he would create the sorts of enemies he couldn’t simply dismiss. 

No - his old mainstay of threatening to kill anyone who crossed him wasn’t really a sustainable tactic.  Besides, he had no interest in remaining sequestered in his grove and guarding it against intrusion.  So, he needed to find a better way. 

He just wasn’t sure what shape that way might take, so pondering that gave him a brief distraction as he strode through town on his way to the Branch.  He arrived at the huge, fortress-like building where the Branch was housed.  To his surprise, someone had raised an elaborate scaffolding system, and Elijah saw a few dwarves working on the structure’s façade. 

On approach, Elijah studied them for a few moments before he realized that the building had never been meant as a finished product.  Instead, it had been hastily constructed as a last bastion to shield them from the dark elf threat.  It had already served that purpose, so clearly, Ramik had commissioned some specialized workers to bring the building’s appearance up to the standard of the rest of the city.

It was just further proof that the only constant in the world was change.  With the area’s incredible ethereal density, the richness of the mine, and Carmen’s plans for her Great Forge, Ironshore was destined for continued growth.  One day, it would become a hub – not like what he wanted Argos to be, but still a commercial juggernaut.  And unless he changed his approach, he wouldn’t be ready to combat the problems that came with close proximity to such a place.

As he entered the building, passing by a pair of guards he vaguely recognized, Elijah decided that he needed to be more involved in Ironshore’s plan.  He refused to let it descend into unthinking urbanity, and what’s more, he needed to head off any potential intruders before they actually set foot on his island.  In short, he needed to meet with Ramik, and sooner rather than later.

For now, though, he wouldn’t be dissuaded from his current path.  Ironshore’s future was important, but not nearly as vital as his class evolution.  So, he continued on until he reached the chamber housing the Branch of the World Tree.  Fortunately, there were only two people in line, so he didn’t expect a long wait. 

While he stood there, he studied the Branch itself.  Like the city, it had grown quite a lot over the years.  When he’d first encountered it, it had looked like nothing so much as a crystalline sapling, but now, it was a full-fledged tree.  Not a large one, but a tree nonetheless.  In structure, it resembled a maple, with spreading branches. 

Looking at it, Elijah felt a sense of connection that most closely reminded him of what he experienced with the ancestral tree at the center of his grove.  It wasn’t nearly as powerful, but still, it was quite comforting nonetheless.

So, by the time it was his turn, he felt no hesitation when he embraced the new ability associated with Soul of the Wild and touched the Branch.  Immediately, he blacked out, but instead of his mind going blank, it was as if he was buried beneath a deluge of information so thick that it cast his entire spirit in shadow.  For that brief instant, he felt nothing. 

And at the same time, he felt everything.  He glimpsed worlds whose nature he couldn’t even fathom.  He sensed a well of power that dwarfed even the mighty Stormbreaker.  And he felt a loving – if alien – embrace that dragged him forward with such implacability that he couldn’t even consider resisting.

Thankfully, it only lasted an instant before the Envoy of the World Tree snatched him away.

“What are you doing?!” she screamed. 

“Uh…”

That was all Elijah could muster as the memory of that experience began to fade.  It wasn’t hyperbolic to say that he’d been on the verge of madness, and when the touch of the World Tree slowly dissipated, he finally mustered the will to use actual words. “It was a new ability.  I didn’t…I don’t know…it lets me connect to nature, and I felt this insane pull to use it on the Branch,” he explained, shaking his head.  “I don’t know why.  I…I shouldn’t…”

“It’s okay,” the Envoy said, patting his arm.  Only then did Elijah realize he was on his back about ten feet from the Branch.  “The Branch is connected to the World Tree in a very real way.  You are not to use abilities here, lest the World Tree’s reaction become unpredictable.”

“Oh.”

“It’s not your fault,” she continued.  “The World Tree loves Druids.  You could not have resisted, even if you’d tried.”

“I see.  Is…is it safe to do what I came here to do?” he asked, eyeing the beautiful, crystalline tree with no small degree of suspicion.

“It should be.  I have blocked your abilities for now,” she said.  “So, as soon as you’re able, you may proceed.”

Elijah took a deep breath, then nodded.  Once he was back on his feet, he hesitated a moment before stepping forward and resuming the touch. 

But in the back of his mind, he was curious, as well.  That had been the most potent feeling of connection he’d ever experienced, and there was a part of him that wanted to feel it again.  More strongly, he also knew just how dangerous that feeling was.  The Call had nearly overwhelmed him on multiple occasions, and he knew that the World Tree’s influence was just as powerfully enticing. 

And it was likely even more detrimental, at least to his sense of identity.  So, as he reached out to touch the Branch of the World Tree, Elijah steeled himself against its influence.  Fortunately, he felt nothing.  He did, however, receive an immediate notification:

Congratulations!  You have satisfied the requirements to evolve your class [Animist].  You have 792 paths available to you.

Almost eight hundred?  That was an overwhelming number that Elijah certainly had not expected.  Was that normal?  Or was it due to his Legacy?  He had no idea how to answer that question. 

Whatever the case, the first notification was soon followed by another, and this one was far more complex, featuring a list of every evolution possibility.

 On and on it went for almost eight hundred lines.  However, it only took Elijah a moment to recognize that he could sort them by rarity.  He knew from the guides he’d read that, in most cases, higher rarities were associated with more power.  It wasn’t always the case, but it was generally accepted as the rule of thumb.  So, once he’d sorted them, he saw that five choices stood out from all the rest:

From his reading, Elijah knew that there were nine class rarities.  In order, they were: Common, Uncommon, Exotic, Legendary, Mythic, Arcane, Celestial, Primal, and Eldritch.  He didn’t have much context for how much of a gap there was between each one – or what those names meant – but he did know that the first class evolution could not exceed Mythic rarity.  He wasn’t so arrogant as to think that his Legacy was entirely unique or unprecedented – it was a wide multi-verse out there, after all, and he’d be surprised if there was anything that had never been done – but the guide he’d read on the subject made even one such option seem like a rare occurrence. 

 So, having two such choices – and three at Legendary rarity – seemed pretty good to Elijah.  Fortunately, he had a lot more information at his fingertips than a single line on a notification, so he drilled down into the first option:

Elijah’s jaw dropped.  He’d had a notion of the evolution’s nature, just from the name alone.  However, what he had not anticipated were the attribute gains.  thirty-two points each level?  That was insane, and it was far more than he’d been led to expect. 

As for the choice, he couldn’t have been more pleased.  The Primal Lord was a direct upgrade to his current class, though one with far more power at its disposal.  It was exactly what he’d hoped to achieve, given that those extra attributes would go a long way toward pushing him into a more combat role.

He wasn’t an action junkie or anything, but he’d be lying to himself if he didn’t admit that he had no intention of sitting in his grove and nurturing plants. 

Still, as happy as he was with the description of the Primal Lord, he intended to look at all of his top-tier options, giving them all due consideration before making his final choice.  But for now, Primal Lord seemed like a great option.

With that in mind, he moved on to the Windcaller’s description:

Elijah was not impressed until he saw the weight of the attribute bonuses.  It only gave a couple fewer points than Primal Lord, which suggested that it was almost as powerful.    

Still, Elijah couldn’t imagine giving up his shapeshifting abilities.  Certainly, from what he understood, he wouldn’t lose any of his current spells.  However, they would become less and less viable as he leveled, and eventually, they would be replaced by spells more appropriate to that class. 

Even so, the power of the option meant that he couldn’t really ignore it.

Next, he moved on to the third choice:

The Savage Stalker class offered the fewest attribute points yet, but most of those were focused on Dexterity.  That wasn’t really a terrible thing, though Elijah found himself pulling away from the class simply because it would rob him of some of the versatility that was one of the primary reasons he’d managed to survive. 

He looked at the next listing:

The Stormbound Mystic had some of the same problems as the Windcaller, though it was a bit better because it was slightly more versatile.  Taking it would mean moving away from his shapeshifting, but he couldn’t deny the appeal of a lightning-wielding sorcerer who could also heal. 

Finally, he looked at the second Mythic rarity class evolution:

Seeing that the class offered twenty-five points per level in a single category was jaw-dropping.  On paper, it was far and away the most powerful class available to him, though Elijah had trouble latching onto it.  Still, he could not ignore it as an option, just because of the power it offered.

He sighed, realizing that he had a difficult decision ahead of him.