Hovering right behind her was Emilia wearing a broad smile. Elise leapt from her branch and used {Dash} to get away as fast as she could, until she looked back and saw that Emilia still hadn’t moved, and was starting to laugh. Somehow, the cows below didn’t seem to notice any of it, and were still peacefully lapping up water from the river.
Elise made her way back, glad that rabbits couldn’t blush. Naomi’s suspicions were getting to her head. She was willing to admit that Emilia was at least a little suspicious, but nothing was confirmed, and Emilia should have no idea about those suspicions, so fleeing in terror was just rude.
“Sorry,” she said sheepishly when she got back.
“Don’t be,” said Emilia, chuckling. “That was funny. I knew rabbits were skittish, but I didn’t realize it would be that much.”
“Yeah…” said Elise.
“Are you getting some early morning hunting done?” asked Emilia.
“Yes,” said Elise. “When did you get back?”
“Only an hour or two ago. I had just finished talking to Salome when I saw you flying down from one of the fruits, so I followed you to see what you were doing.”
“You talked to Salome? Did she tell you…?”
“Yes, she told me about the prophecy she received,” said Emilia, her smile lessening. “I am still not convinced that the Dwarves will fulfill their end of the deal you supposedly made with them-”
“It’s not ‘supposedly’,” said Elise. “I did make that deal.”
Emilia’s smile vanished and her expression became cold. “Regardless, we cannot trust the Dwarves. But if Titania wishes for us to wait, then I will cooperate. At the end of the 44 days, though, when the Dwarves have shored up their defenses and made no moves to leave, I will personally step in to make sure that they are eradicated.”
“They will leave,” insisted Elise.
Emilia stared into her eyes. “Whatever you’ve seen that made you trust so much in the Dwarves, it was likely false. They will lie about anything if they think it will help them achieve their goals.”
“They won’t,” said Elise. “I lived with them for a month. They despise the Drow, but they’re still just people. They are reasonable. They don’t want to fight a war to extinction any more than the Drow do.”
“I wish that was true,” sighed Emilia.
“It is! Why do you refuse to believe it? What did the Dwarves do to you?”
“What did they do to me?” she asked. “What didn’t they do to me? Ever since they first arrived, when I was still just a Lesser Sprite, they’ve hated me. They just appeared one day and started taking over. They took pleasure in torturing and mutilating the Fey. They killed my best friend right in front of my eyes. There used to be dozens of us. Now, I am the last survivor from those times, and if not for you and Jean, I would still be alone amongst the Drow.”
“I think there’s more to the story,” said Elise. “The Dwarves said that they lived in peace with the Drow when they first arrived.”
“Of course they said that,” said Emilia. “What else were they going to tell you? That they came and slaughtered their way through the cave until it was theirs, then warped it into a twisted mockery of nature? History is written by the historians, and the Dwarven historians are loyal to their people. But I was there. I remember.”
The Sidhe’s face was twisted into an expression of pure rage and anguish. Elise was starting to rethink what Greta had told her. She was sure that Greta hadn’t lied to her on purpose, but she wasn’t there when the Dwarves first entered the caves. Emilia was. The Dwarven history could very well have been propagandistic lies.
“But enough on this,” said Emilia, seeing Elise’s silence. “There is no point in creating animosity between us due to a matter that is already settled. We will have peace, then we will have war. Or not. Either way, we are both in agreement on the next course of action, so this discussion does not need to continue.”
“Alright,” said Elise.
“So, hunting,” said Emilia, her expression softening. “It’s been a while since I’ve done anything of the sort. Would you mind showing me how you do it?”
“I guess,” said Elise, glancing down at the cows, which still hadn’t looked their way. “Why haven’t they reacted to us?”
“Oh, I’ve been hiding us from their perception,” said Emilia. “I’m sure you’ll be able to do the same in an evolution or two. It’s not an omnipotent skill, but it works well on mindless beasts such as these.”
“Are you going to keep doing it?”
“Will it change your hunting tactics?”
“No. Actually, it will make it easier.”
“Then I will leave the skill active,” she said with a nod. “Show me.”
Elise turned away from the green-haired woman and toward the cows. A few were starting to step away from the water, having drunk their fill, but the closest one, the one she had been targeting, was still there. She focused on it and used {Suggest} drawing its attention to something off to its right. It looked up from the water, but did not move, so she prompted it with {Suggest} again.
It started walking alongside the river toward the non-existent point of interest that Elise had created in its mind. She kited it along for a few hundred more feet, until she believed she was far enough away, then she attacked. She was not able to take it out with a single blow like she was with the Lesser variety, but it wasn’t difficult either. After the first attack, a quick cast of {Ensnaring Roots} to hold it in place and two more {Magic Missile} were enough to finish it off.
[ You have defeated Omnivorous Cyclops Cow, lvl 7 ]
[ You have leveled up! 4 -> 5 ]
[ Agility +5, Dexterity +5, Charisma +20, Intelligence +15, Willpower +5, Mana +10, Mana Control +10 ]
[ { Magic Missile } lvl 28 -> 29 ]
[ { Suggest } lvl 24-> 25 ]
“Hmmm, not bad,” commented Emilia. “Was that {Suggest} that you were using to lure it away?”
“Yes.”
“Clever,” she said. “You are quite proficient at it. When I was your level, I wouldn’t have been able to get it to go along so easily.”
“Well, I’ve gotten a lot of practice,” said Elise.
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“No, it’s talent,” countered Emilia. “You’re too young to have gotten that with experience. You seem to have a grasp on the true nature of the skill and how to use it already, something which usually takes many years to fully understand.”
“Thanks.”
Emilia peered into her eyes, and Elise could sense a hint of suspicion. She was reminded of the way Sylvanna would look at her when she behaved a bit too intelligently. Was her use of {Suggest} really that noteworthy? She assumed that Emilia was referring to how she had to make sure that the suggestion felt like an ordinary thought in the head of the target, but wasn’t that common sense? Or was it only common sense to her because she was old enough to make the requisite connections. If she really was two months old, it wouldn’t make sense for her to understand that though. She doubted someone like Jean would be able to make that connection on his own.
“I’d like to show you something,” said Emilia. “Your use of {Suggest} is very good for your level, but you’ve only unlocked a small portion of its true potential. Come, follow me.”
Emilia started to fly back along the shore toward where they had come from. Most of the cows had finished drinking by then, and were starting to spread out to graze. Emilia stopped in the air above all of them, approximately in the center, and Elise floated beside her.
“I’ll be using {Suggest} on those two,” said Emilia, pointing to two of the cows in the middle of the herd. “My skill level is much higher than yours, but I will try to limit its power to something similar to what you’d be able to do so that you can get a better idea of what is possible. Watch closely.”
At first, nothing happened. The two cows continued to munch on their separate patches of blue grass. Then, one of them started walking toward the other, moving on to a new patch of grass. A few seconds later, the other moved to the same patch, and they butted horns. The one that had been their first made an annoyed growling sound, but continued to eat, ignoring the other. The other, rather than backing off, made a louder sound, and tried to force its way in to eat the first’s grass.
The conflict started as just a minor contest of strength, with each trying to push the other out of the way, but as time passed, it got more and more violent, until eventually, the second cow’s horn pierced the first’s cheek. The first bellowed with rage, and bucked up onto its hind legs, bringing its front paws down hard, trying to crush the other. The second cow leapt back to avoid the attack, then charged forward with its head lowered, trying to run the first down.
The first took the second’s charge head on, its hooves digging grooves in the ground as it was pushed back. They separated, then clashed again, this time with the second being pushed back. The other cows in the vicinity had paused their own breakfasts to watch the ongoing battle, and were starting to form a ring around the two combatants.
The two cows butted heads a few more times, neither giving in to the other, until one of them leapt back, and its eye started glowing. Before it could get its laser off, there was a loud bellow from outside the ring, and one of the Greater Omnivorous Cyclops Cows trotted over.
“I’ll now be using {Suggest} on that one too,” said Emilia, pointing to the bigger cow that had just arrived.
The cow that was about to fire its laser stopped its attack, but didn’t look to be done yet. Even with the big one bearing down on it, it still stared back defiantly, clearly still wanting to fight. The big one skidded to a halt inside the ring, and then bellowed again. For a few seconds, none of them moved. Then, the other small cow– the one that hadn’t been about to use its eye beam– used its eye beam on the other, putting a smoking hole in its neck.
The big one roared in anger as the injured one charged up its own beam, hitting the one that had shot it in the flank. Before the fight could go on any further, the big one’s eye glowed, and the laser split into two streams, one going to each of the fighters, killing them both. It huffed, then walked up to one of the corpses and took a bite of charred flesh.
“See?” said Emilia, turning to Elise. “I didn’t have to raise a finger. Using just {Suggest}, I killed two, and got the experience points for both.”
“Not full experience points though, right?” asked Elise.
“No, not full,” she admitted. “Those two together are probably worth about the same as the one you killed on your own. However, I could have easily expanded the conflict out if I wanted to. I could have killed 3 or 4 or 7 or 15, or even all of them if I wanted to. Then, the experience would have been much more than what you got from directly killing a single one.”
Elise looked down at the corpses. If she could do that, things would be so much easier. She could find a place to hide, completely out of sight, and gain experience points without risk. It would be even easier with Emilia’s invisibility skill, but even without that, it would be a huge improvement. How did she do it though? The simple answer was that her level was high enough that she had more control, but if she thought Elise couldn’t do it, why would she show it to her?
“How did you do that?”
“To master {Suggest}, you need to master your imagination. To understand why another creature does something, you need to put yourself in its position and try to think like it.”
“I already do that.”
“Yes, you’re good. But you need to take the next step. Dig deeper. It’s not something that you can master with just mindless practice. You need an intelligent approach. Find out what they like, and what they don’t. Find out what they’re willing to fight over and what they aren’t. Find out which instincts they will obey without question, and which will make them hesitate. You need to find the smallest change you can make that will produce the largest results. Sometimes all it takes is one single thought to cause a chain reaction.
“Don’t be frustrated if you don’t see results immediately. This skill takes more experience than anything else. It took me years to truly master it.”
I suppose my approach has been a little mindless, Elise thought.
“Why are you teaching me this?” asked Elise.
“I see potential in you,” said Emilia. “I don’t know how you did it, but you managed to survive a month with the dwarves, and your mastery of your skills is above where I would expect it to be for someone of your level.” She glanced around. “What I’m about to tell you is something that you cannot tell anyone. Not Jean. Not Salome. No one. Understand?”
“I understand,” said Elise. “What is it?”
“I’m sure you are now aware that I leave the cave once a month, but until now, I’ve never told anyone where I go.” She leaned in closer as her voice lowered to a whisper. “I am a member of an organization of non-humanoids seeking to change the world.”
“...What do you mean?”
“I cannot say anymore than that, since you are not a member, but if you are willing, I can take you along for the next meeting, and you can see for yourself.”
Elise wasn’t sure how she felt about that. It sounded incredibly sketchy. She was more of a sci-fi kind of girl on earth, but she had read enough fantasy to know that a secret organization of non-humans usually involved some kind of anti-human agenda. On the other hand though, Here Emilia was, living in harmony with the Drow, a group of humanoids.
“Maybe,” said Elise. “Why me though?”
“Like I said, I see potential in you,” she replied. “And so does Titania. It has been a long time since she has spoken so directly to someone without a direct connection to a Spirit Tree. If you joined us, I’m sure you would be treated well, and with our help, you would be able to grow faster than you ever could on your own.”
“I- I’ll think about it,” said Elise.
“That’s fine,” said Emilia. “Take all the time you need. The next meeting isn’t for another month. I hope you can come though. I think you’d do well there.”
“Maybe.”
“Well, I’ll leave you to your hunting for now then,” said Emilia. “It was good talking to you. Don’t forget to think about my offer.”
She flew away, leaving Elise alone above the herd of cows. Elise stayed there for a moment, lost in thought until the cows noticed her because she wasn’t invisible to them anymore and she had to flee their lasers.
Over the next few days, she settled into a routine. She slept on the fruit at night, and hunted during the day, and occasionally checked in on the drow to make sure that there was no warfare occuring. She was almost surprised at how smoothly things were going. Naomi had sent out the bare minimum number of scouts to keep an eye on the dwarves with strict orders to not antagonize them and to prioritize their survival, and none had even been spotted yet.
So far, all had gone well, and according to plan. The dwarves started a very obvious tunnel heading upward, and the entire city was packing their belongings. The excavation was going slowly, because there were only a few dwarves who had the necessary class and skills to dig through a mile of dirt and stone, but it was steady, and there was no sign of them gearing up for war.
Jean and Emilia, and many of the drow didn’t seem too pleased, but no one raised any serious issues. They didn’t like seeing the dwarves getting away scot-free, but aside from a radical few, most of the drow knew it was for the best.
Elise tried to keep her contact with others to a bare minimum. Aside from her regular check-ins, the only times she ever spoke to anyone were when they came to seek her out, which was rare. Naomi had come after her for the first few days after the poison incident, but after getting cold-shouldered every time, she gave up, leaving Elise mostly unbothered.
While alone, Elise tried to refine the hunting method that Emilia had shown her, but it was harder than the older Fey had made it look. She had to go beyond just making her suggestions sound like plausibly original thoughts, and actually spend time learning about the cows’ habits and way of thinking.
Her first few attempts had resulted in utter failure. She could barely get the cows to growl at each other. It was only after a week that she started making any real progress, but she still wasn’t able to escalate the fights to the point of lethality. No matter which cows she chose as her targets, one would always back down before things got too serious.
And like this, two weeks passed in a flash.