Elijah’s knees were killing him.

It was understandable, too. After falling for a few hundred feet and landing in the middle of Mercer Mesa, he was a little surprised that he hadn’t broken anything. By comparison, a couple of sore joints was a small price to pay for his bombastic entrance. Still, he was continuously surprised by how durable his body was. Sure, he could look at the numbers in his status and recognize that they were high. But that didn’t tell the same story that lifting tons of rock, outrunning a car, or remaining mostly unharmed by a fall that would have easily killed him before the World Tree had transformed Earth.

“Barry,” he growled again at the stunned crowd. “Now.”

“You can talk?” asked one of the men. To his credit, he’d positioned himself in front of a woman, clearly ready to protect her. It was a reminder that, despite their evil actions, not everyone who lived on the mesa was irredeemable. They were just people, albeit greedy ones whose actions had resulted in a multitude of deaths. Did that make them evil? Or was that just one bad tally mark on the ledger of their actions? Surely, they had good traits as well. Perhaps they’d spent their lives feeding the homeless. Or volunteering at hospitals. Maybe some had even donated organs. There was also the chance that they’d been manipulated. Or they might have chosen to go along in order to protect themselves and their families from the retribution that would surely follow any resistance.

But regardless of the philosophy surrounding the perception of good and evil, Elijah knew that his mission was just. The people of Mercer Mesa needed to be stopped.

“Of course I can talk. And I want to exercise that ability by speaking to Barry. Now. Or I start killing,” Elijah growled. As conflicted as he was, he wouldn’t hesitate to do what was necessary.

Besides – if he didn’t, the team creeping up the sides of the plateau would. According to Isaiah’s voice in his ear, the traps had all been deactivated, and the team of SEALs were already near the top. It wouldn’t be long before they arrived. So, Elijah needed to make his offer before they got there, and for that, he needed to speak to the leader, Barry.

“What do you want?” asked the man in question, shouldering his way through the crowd. “Come to take your pound of flesh, monster? We know what you did to the Adventurer’s Guild. Killing all of those poor people, and for no other reason than to put the rest of us beneath your boot! Thug, I call you. Criminal! Tyrant!”

It was almost like looking at – and hearing – a different man, and for a brief moment, Elijah even questioned his own actions. Was he justified in attacking the guild? He’d thought so. After all, he’d seen evidence that they were preparing to mount an attack on the Garden. And yet, a seed of doubt blossomed into a flower of hesitation.

“Speechless!” Barry bellowed. He wore white linen pants and a colorful shirt that made him look like an upper-class man on vacation in the Caribbean. “Proof of his guilt! Begone, monster! Begone and never return!”

At that moment, Elijah realized that Barry was using some sort of ability. He had no idea what it was called or how it worked, but he knew that he was being manipulated. So, with all but two facets of his Quartz Mind, he searched for answers. With that much brainpower – or perhaps because of his attributes – he quickly discovered a thread of ethera in his mind. He isolated it, then quarantined it in one facet of his mind.

It all happened in the blink of an eye, but to Elijah, it was like suddenly opening a door and letting fresh air into a smokey kitchen. His thoughts focused, and he saw Barry as the man he was. A small and pitiful person who lorded himself over anyone he could dominate. And by virtue of his Demagogue class, that meant everyone on the Mesa. Did that mean they couldn’t be held accountable for their actions? After what Elijah had just felt, he wasn’t so sure.

Thankfully, his Mind cultivation helped to mitigate the ability.

But what would happen if he met someone who could overcome that defense? Suddenly, Elijah felt very vulnerable.

And angry.

It was one thing to attack him physically, but trying to manipulate his thoughts was crossing a line he’d never expected anyone to be able to pass. So, without further debate, he leaped forward, shouldering the remaining Mercer Mesa residents out of the way before grabbing Barry around the waist.

Everyone gasped.

Barry tried to resist, using some sort of ability that created a hazy, gray shield around him, but it only took a slight flex of Elijah’s fist to shatter it. Then came Barry’s bones. The man screamed in agony, “You can’t do this! Do you know who I am?!”

Elijah growled, “I do.”

Then, he bashed Barry against the ground. The first blow killed the man, showing just how weak he really was, but Elijah slammed him down again for good measure. Then, he reached back and threw Barry’s corpse as far as he could. And given his Strength as well as the man’s comparatively miniscule weight, the throw ended up sending that body arcing over the surrounding mansions and past the edge of the plateau. Where he landed, Elijah had no idea.

Nor did he really care.

He turned to the people and said, “You will open the mesa up to –”

It was at that point that the SEALs arrived, though they didn’t hit with a hail of gunfire, as they might’ve in the old world. Instead, they had adapted just like everyone else. There was a protector, a Sorcerer, a Healer, a melee combatant, and a Ranger. But that was where the similarities between them and any other group Elijah had seen ended. They moved with efficiency and precision, killing four people before anyone could even react.

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That had always been the plan. As far as Isaiah and the other residents of Seattle were concerned, the people of Mercer Mesa had long since established themselves as the enemy. And for better or worse, military men and women only had one reaction to finding themselves in the company of an enemy. That was what drove Isaiah, and it was definitely the attitude held by the SEALs.

They executed three more people before everyone threw their hands up in surrender. To their credit, the SEALs stopped at that point. They weren’t interested in needless slaughter, especially when the enemy had surrendered.

After that, Elijah let himself return to his human form.

“You!” came a feminine voice. Elijah glanced over to see Victoria kneeling on the ground in all her plastic glory. Her hands were on her head, but if looks could have killed, Elijah would have already been dead. “How could you?! We welcomed you into our home, and this is how you repay us? Trash!”

“You did this to yourself,” Eliijah said with a shake of his head. “Hoarding water while the city dies of thirst? What did you think would happen? You call me trash? I say you’re worse than that. You’re actively evil.”

“We didn’t…I don’t know anything about that,” she insisted.

“Your ignorance is not an excuse,” Elijah said with a tired sigh. He’d recovered from the previous night’s ordeal, but he was still exhausted. As much as he felt for the people of Seattle, he couldn’t help but realize that he hated the place. There was no sense of community, little in the way of law and order, and everyone in the city felt like they were on edge. That, in turn, left Elijah feeling like an exposed nerve.

He watched as the SEALs restrained the gathered people. By the time they’d finished, more of Isaiah’s people had arrived, and they were currently moving from house to house, looking for stragglers. They found a few, but the majority of the residents were already in custody.

Some shouted about who they were – or who they used to be. Others offered largely worthless bribes. And still others tried to escape. Yet, none won free. A few fights broke out – there were enough combatants on the mesa to put up a decent resistance – but they were quickly overcome. Without Barry to incite them, their will quickly broke.

To Elijah, it felt like he was watching the death of an era. The former elites of the world were finally giving way to new power structures. Would anything really change, though? New wealth would rise. And inevitably, they would eventually come to treat poorer people as lesser.

He sighed.

Those sorts of issues were beyond him. He just wanted to go back to his grove and rest for a couple of days. After that? He wasn’t sure. All he really knew was that he didn’t want to be in Seattle anymore.

First, though, he had a few things to take care of. So, after he made certain that everything was in hand, he used Shape of the Sky, then launched himself into the air. A few moments later, he was flying toward the capitol, where he landed soon after. After that, he made his way to Isaiah’s command center. Notably, no one tried to stop him.

Either word of what he’d done the night before had already gotten around, or the fact that he’d arrived in a form that looked curiously like a dragon forced the government employees to keep their distance. For his part, Elijah was happy with that arrangement. He was in no mood to deal with people.

However, he couldn’t avoid Isaiah. So, when he reached the command center and found the man, Elijah asked, “Does that satisfy my part of the agreement?”

“It does,” Isaiah said. “And for what it’s worth, you did a good thing. Those people would have run Seattle into the ground.”

“And you won’t?” Elijah asked.

“My goal is to make this place into a utopia. With ethera, I think we can do it, too. You’ll see,” Isaiah said. “In a couple of years, you won’t be able to recognize this city. Everyone will be safe. They’ll all have what they need. It’ll be paradise.”

“That’s a noble goal,” Elijah said. “I hope you reach it.”

“You could help.”

Elijah shook his head. “Not my place,” he stated. “But before I go, I think you owe me a couple of questions at the Branch. It’s time for you to pay up.”

“I can’t convince you to stick around?” Isaiah asked again.

“Not a chance. This place makes me feel dirty,” Elijah said. “I wouldn’t have come back if it wasn’t for Lucy. Or our agreement, I suppose.”

“I see,” Isaiah said. And it looked for a moment like he was going to say something further. Elijah didn’t miss the fact that everyone in the room was looking at him. But then, the Lord of Seattle let out a sigh. “This world can be so much more than it is. We just need to get over the hump of survival, and we can have paradise on Earth. But I understand.” He signaled to one of the guards, saying, “Lead Mr. Hart to the Branch. He is entitled to our Librarian’s help with two topics. And fifty gold from the city’s coffers.”

“Yes, sir,” the woman said with a salute.

After shaking Isaiah’s hand, Elijah was escorted to the other side of the building, where he saw the city’s Branch. It was slightly larger than the other Branches he’d seen, and it looked like a small sapling with expansive, crystalline limbs. There were three people nearby. One was clearly the Envoy attached to the Branch, but the other two were introduced as Librarians. After that, he asked his questions.

First, he requested information on specializations. He knew he was coming up on one, and he wanted to be as prepared as possible for whatever choices he was given. Next, he asked about class evolutions for Animists. The first question yielded results after only a few seconds, but the second took almost five minutes, during which the Librarian – a plump young woman who wore round spectacles – was forced to expend quite a bit of effort. Elijah suspected that she had to use her entire repertoire of abilities to finally get an answer.

When the leaf grew, she let out a sigh of relief before handing it to Elijah. “Sorry,” she said. “That was difficult to find.”

“I see,” Elijah said. “I thought it was as simple as just asking a question and getting an answer.”

“Some topics are far beyond us,” she said. “We get a lot of skills, just like everybody else, but some questions require higher level attributes and evolved skills. That was almost more than I could handle. But I got a ton of experience!”

“That’s great. And –”

“Oh, did you get the free leaf?” she asked.

“Uh…not sure what you mean,” Elijah said.

“About the Trial of Primacy. Everyone who qualifies gets a free information packet explaining what it is, how it works, and what you’re supposed to do when the day comes,” she said. “Just touch the Branch, and you’ll get it.”

Elijah looked at the Branch Envoy questioningly, then got a nod to go ahead. He touched the Branch, and immediately, another leaf grew. He took it, adding it to his collection, and after that, he had no more reason to remain in the capitol. So, he thanked them, bade them farewell, and left to return to Lucy’s so he could see the fruits of the Librarians’ labor.