Chapter Sixty

Arden stared down at the now regal man, his armor glowing with power. Even his armor gave off more power than the ambient mana. How did they miss it? Or did they miss it? He did, but Solanine didn’t seem surprised. Were the previous interactions just a play between them with him in the dark?

Once again, a spike of panic shot through him as he realized either the man faked his melody or what he sensed was an illusion. The melody might not be as accurate as he thought it was.

Any further thoughts paused as the powerful man below him stored away his helmet. Storing away as in making it disappear as if it entered a storage device. Not the most surprising thing about the man, though.

What caused Arden to do a double take was the man’s face. It wasn’t the middle-aged face he expected. In fact, he looked around the same age as them. He was an elf, though, not of the desert or high elf variety. Instead, he had an almost greenish tint to his skin. Was he a wood elf? Most wood elves he saw were shorter, thin elves with olive skin.

Actually, now that he thought about it, that wasn’t far from his own skin tone. Maybe he was part wood elf. It would explain the strong wood talent, or maybe it was his mysterious Fae genes.

Not the time to think about his own heritage. While the powerful man below seemed content to let the silence stretch as he surveyed his surroundings that could change in a heartbeat. He didn’t doubt for a second the man could break out of the colorful prison.

Solanine next to him seemed content to let the silence stretch as well. Why though? All they were doing was letting him explore their capital and defenses with his senses. For someone so focused on defenses, she seemed oddly relaxed. More relaxed than she was when they had the captives.

Fed up with being in the dark, he questioned Sola through the bond. “What is going on? Did you know who he was?”

“Yes. My parents briefed me about some of the local nature attuned leadership. He won’t harm us. If anything, he needs us more than we need him. His clan isn’t doing so well. Really, their name and some limited territory holdings are all that they have.”

Arden flashed back to the story of a patriarch of the Ashwood clan burning down a diseased forest and regrowing it. Maybe the book over-exaggerated the regrowth part. Based on the age of the current patriarch, it wasn’t the same man, though he didn’t lack in power.

Or maybe he was. Elves aged oddly. With his level of power, he should live for many centuries unless killed. He needed to know more. One thing caught his attention, though.

“Wouldn’t his clan’s situation make him desperate to take advantage of us? We are a perfect target to take over.”

“No. In order to take over the territory, they will have to take over the core forcefully, which will kill the tree now that they are merged. The tree and core are the reason our little paradise exists. Much better for him to ally with us and benefit from our improving territory.”

Hope blossomed, but before he let himself believe it, he questioned further. “Wait, does that mean our territory isn’t as valuable as I thought?”

Unfortunately, she crushed his hope, reigniting his worry. “It is extremely valuable just not for take over. Well, not take over in the official sense. A clan would love to make us a sub-territory to them, but that involves our consent. Consent that could be forced. The defenses I set up weren’t for the core, but for us.”

Arden sent a subtle glance down at the patriarch, who sat with his eyes closed, meditating, uncaring for his situation. “What is stopping the Ashwood Patriarch from doing just that?”

A vicious smile formed as Solanine pointed at a small black flower he hadn’t noticed before below the patriarch’s feet. “That.”

Arden peered at the flower with his senses, only to jerk back, eyes wide. Maybe the erratic melody he saw before wasn’t so fake. Something like that might actually harm the patriarch if not kill him.

Where did she get something so potent? Well, potent wasn’t the right word for it, as the aura it gave off was barely noticeable. It seemed like an assassin flower. Extremely deadly if his senses were right, but subtle.

His gaze jerked the Patriarchs green tinted skin. He looked closer to find black veins peeking out from under his armor.

She already poisoned him. Why wasn’t he in a rush then? What was he missing? Anger flared at being left in the dark.

Yet again he asked the culprit, who seemed to have the entire situation planned out. “What is going on? I’m your partner. I need to know the plan.”

A sigh escaped Solanine, followed by a flash of genuine emotion. Exhaustion tinged her words as she spoke to him through their bond. “I couldn’t tell you because he might catch on. Until he triggered the Sicarius plant and poisoned himself, we were in danger. Well, him triggering it isn’t quite right but if he didn’t subdue himself, I couldn’t have used the territory authority to force him to touch the plant.”

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Solanine shivered, a glimpse of fear reaching him through the bond. “Before that, at any moment, he could have killed us.”

That fear turned to self-satisfaction. “Now we have control. If he kills us, the poison will take him down. The reason he isn’t in a rush is once the poison enters the body, it requires a trigger from the planter to activate. So, until the poison triggers, nothing will happen. He can’t kill me because it will automatically trigger, and I can trigger it any time.”

Somehow, she became even more self-satisfied, practically glowing with pride as she continued. “It is the perfect poison to force a negotiation, though extremely rare and valuable. My parents gave me the seed as a gift when they exiled me to the dungeon, probably for this occasion. If we play out cards right, we have the perfect opportunity to seal in an alliance.”

Even if he hated being left out, he couldn’t help but smile at the situation now that he knew what was going on. Once he realized she poisoned him, he probably gave up the act and sent his clan members to safety. There were a few unknowns still. Like why he tried to fake his status.

Deciding to get it over with, he returned his attention to the man in question, who sat on the ground, no longer giving off the regal visage. A scan with his senses told him the man was taking advantage of the environment to meditate a little. Not that a few minutes would do anything.

The Ashwood Patriarch was an odd man. He didn’t give off the patriarch vibes he expected. More like a talented mage who inherited the title because no one else qualified. He was just speculating, though.

Instead of trying to play games, he cut right to the point. “I would like to propose an alliance between our territories.”

The patriarch opened his eyes and stood, expression turning serious, though Arden couldn’t help but notice a hopeful gleam in his eyes. Maybe Solanine was right about the Ashwood clan’s needs.

“First, as I said before, I would like to limit intruders from your clan, partially for their own safety. I would also like assistance if another force invades.”

With a deep voice, regal aura returning, the patriarch spoke. “I can agree to those terms as long as you give access to this marvelous cultivation paradise to some of our promising members.”

Arden tried to keep his expression blank as he ran through the implications. Did he want to risk having visitors poke around? How would they get them in without setting up a security flaw either from the Solanine defense system or a portal? Suddenly, an idea sparked that could prove too tempting to resist.

Before he dangled the tempting prize, he focused his senses downward. A smile snuck on his face as he sensed the trial dungeon alive and well. If anything, it felt stronger than before. Since it had trial in its name, it probably still had some. One such trial was perfect for the clan he wished to seal an alliance with. Since the man already knew about their existence, one more reveal wouldn’t hurt too much if they could gain more out of it.

First, he needed to see how far the man would go. “You previously offered a scholarship. What would that entail?”

Expecting the question, the man answered immediately, maintaining his regal, businesslike tone. “My clan would sponsor you to enroll under our name. We would facilitate the process. In return, you would need to attribute part of your future accomplishments to our clan to boost our reputation. Also, you would be required to join our clan’s team for any competitions. As a bonus, we will provide a stipend and housing in our clan’s dorm.”

Yeah, no. They needed to make a name for themselves and from the way he said it, they would just be some talented member of the Ashwood clan. Sure, it would protect them, but it would be hard to break away from that once they found their footing. For some talented village with no resources of their own, it was a perfect deal, but not for them. They needed to make a splash, but still have the backing of a clan to fall back on.

With a deep tone matching the patriarch, he countered. “We planned to enroll in Magna Schola Magica soon, but we have other options. We would like the support of your clan, but as territory owners, we cannot make ourselves subservient. How about you expedite our enrollment but and we will help in your clan activities, but our accomplishments are ours alone. That way you get to benefit from finding us, but the rest is on us.”

The regal man raised his eyebrow. “What benefit would that bring us? Your accomplishments will easily overshadow the initial buzz from the enrollment. Even if we play it up, the buzz won’t last long unless you do something extraordinary at the enrollment.”

Arden glanced at Solanine, causing her to nod as if she guessed what he planned to say. “Well, you may be in luck. How much of a splash would two legacy class holders make?”

The patriarch jolted, which was all the answer he needed. Maybe he didn’t need the trial dungeon to complete the alliance. A perfect bargaining chip to save for later once they knew what they needed. For now, they just needed an in and an alliance to prevent hostility. Really, the alliance was more important. They could use the headmaster to get them enrolled, like their previous visitor told them to.

At the thought of hostility, he dropped another bomb. “We claimed a dungeon to the west of here under the control of your clan. That was what lured your clan members to us.”

Seemingly already over the surprise of the reveal the patriarch smiled. “I know. Why do you think I sent my son and his team to a dying dungeon? It wasn’t to train them, at least not in the way a dungeon would. A territory claiming doesn’t go unnoticed, especially when we have a dungeon within said territory.”

This time it was Arden’s turn to be surprised. Though in hindsight, he should have known. That dungeon was basically dead. It didn’t make sense to send delvers to a dungeon on its last legs if they didn’t plan to take the core.

Suddenly, the alliance felt even more needed. What if another clan had a dungeon in their territory? If there was one, there could be more. Maybe the patriarch knew of other dungeons. Information was another thing they lacked.

While trying to keep a blank expression as to not give anything away, he continued. “I wondered about that. It seemed odd to delve an empty dungeon. On the topic of dungeons, are you aware of any other dungeons in the area?”

The man made a show of looking down as he spoke. “Besides the trial dungeon below our feet? Maybe.”

Despite his best efforts, Arden couldn’t help but flinch. So much for keeping that bargaining chip for later. What was next? Did he know about our prime magic? Maybe their position wasn’t as solid as Solanine said it was.

Without the poison, he doubted they could get anything out of the man.