True to his word, Orum returned quickly. Not so quickly that Samuel wasn’t annoyed at being made to wait but far faster than he expected, given that the elf had needed to find a water source as well as bring it back.
Another surprise was the two large barrels on his shoulders. One of the burdens was enough to require a wagon and a beast a burden but the elf showed no sign that the weight bothered him. The prince marveled as the containers half as tall as he was and nearly as wide were set down with heavy thuds that left no doubt about how much they weighed.
“Life needs three things to thrive: shelter, sustenance, and light. However, if all these things cannot be found, an ample supply of one can make up for the loss.” Orum lifted the top off one of the barrels, grabbed it by the rim and doused the ground where he’d planted the seeds.
“You’re going to drown them.” The group turned to the soldier that had spoken. The veteran met their gazes with a droll look and waved a hand at the ground. “Come from farming stock. Too much water can kill plants sure as pests.”
“He is right. The life of this kingdom is fragile, but I will make it strong.” Orum touched the ground, his hand wrapped in a soft green glow. Samuel couldn’t deny his interest as a green sprout steadily pushed aside the dirt. His mild interest became rapt attention as the sprout suddenly erupted. The stem grew to Samuel’s chest, with large drooping leaves wider than his head. Over two dozen at a glance, overlapping each other like the skirts of a dress. At the top, a bright yellow bud sprouted, its petals almost aggressively vibrant.
The elf repeated his work with each seed, sprouting four more of the enormous plants before stepping back with a nod. A hand gestured towards Samuel. “Come, boy.”
So deep was his fascination, Samuel didn’t even take offense at how he was addressed. He waved off Ewan before the royal knight could censure him, stepping up to Orum’s side. “I have seen casters hasten the growth of a plant but never make such drastic alterations, especially in so short a time. It should be impossible.”
“How can something you see before you be impossible? If it can be done, then it means that those that failed were merely incapable.”
“But how? If you can share.” Such a methodology had to be incredibly value, if not a closely guarded secret.
“Teaching was not your favor.” The rejection wasn’t harsh, but it was final. Samuel didn’t push. “The plant has been changed. It needs less nourishment from the ground, but drinks more heavily of the sun and rain. The leaves are edible and will regrow rapidly when harvested.”
“How quickly?”
In answer, the elf plucked one of the large leaves. The prince’s fascination intensified as it immediately started to grow back. If it continued at its current rate, he guessed it wouldn’t take more than a couple days, less than a week for sure. Anything with that quick of a harvesting cycle was a game changer and not just for Quest. “This is incredible.”
“Mm. All things must be balanced. The plant produces well but it is fragile. A day without sunlight and it will die. Too little water and it will wilt in hours.”
Water wasn’t an issue with so many capable casters about. The sunlight was more of a problem, as the wrong storm could leave the sky overcast for days, but nothing was perfect.
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“The flower is where the seeds are harvested.” Orum swiped his hand over one of the buds before showing his palm to Samuel, where a half dozen black pellets rested. “They will not be replenished quickly so treat them preciously. And do not bother the insects it will attract. The flowers’ smell will drive off the pests. Only nature’s helpers will come and they are important.”
Samuel leaned forward and sniffed, expecting a strong fragrance. Instead, there was only the faintest hint of citrus. “Ewan, send one of the men to the camp to inform Instructor Filagree of these developments. And for baskets.” The sooner the leaves were harvested, the better.
For once, Ewan didn’t make an argument about his safety and nodded to one of the soldiers who hurried back to the camp. Orum ignored the exchange, collecting the seeds from the other plants and hastening their growth. Samuel was forced to retreat further and further, until all he could see before him was a sea of green. He didn’t know how filling the leaves would be but if each leaf could be considered a portion, there was enough here to feed the whole of the camp with perhaps a few dozen to spare.
Samuel looked over the elf, checking for signs of manastrain, but there wasn’t so much as a wrinkle in his brow. He waved Ewan closer and dropped his voice to a whisper. “How much mana do you think he has?”
“Impossible to tell. Something like this…it’s unprecedented.”
“I’m not looking for exact numbers, just a general idea.”
“I know a master that can modify plants instantly. They are secretive about the details of their spells, but I’d estimate it costs around two hundred. But your highness, that is for small changes, like tinting its shade or adjusting its height. He has created an entirely different plant, something that is done over days or weeks. Such drastic changes as he’s introduced are even done over generations, changing it over several iterations. To do so this fast…I’d estimate eight hundred.”
Samuel frowned. “That’s less than I thought.”
“I’m assuming he isn’t simply pouring mana into it like a brute and has a spell that reduces the cost.”
A reasonable assumption. Still, eight hundred mana wasn’t a small number. Saints above, it was three hundred units above the minimum to be considered a master, the strongest force humanity could produce and the more mana one had, the harder it was to fill their core with more. When he was small, his father once bragged that the current captain of the royal guards had a coefficient of nine hundred. It was meant to reassure the young prince whose dreams were haunted by the thought of assassins waiting in the dark.
That was only one hundred more than the elf might have casually spent on a whim.
“Do you agree that I have kept my word?”
“Hm?” Samuel snapped out of his thoughts to find the elf watching him. “Yes! Of course. You’ve more than…returned the favor, though I’m embarrassed to say the words. All of this is worth far more than a bowl of soup.”
“Kindness, honor, mercy. These are priceless.” Orum sighed. “Yulia also made a good point. There is no future for my daughter in this kingdom if all you see when you imagine her is a monster. This?” He waved his hand at the newly created field. “This is child’s play for her and I mean that literally. Often when she was a girl, I would wake up in the morning to find the plants surrounding our tree totally transformed. Grown tall enough for her to climb, their leaves and petals whatever color that amused her.” The father’s smile was nostalgic as he recounted the memories. “I would love to bring my daughter home but if this is where she wants to be, I will keep her from making a nightmare of her garden.”
So, this was an attempt to clean up the mess Kierra had made? Samuel wondered how far the powerful caster would go to make things right. How far could his generosity be pushed? Or better, how much influence he could exert on the daughter that was supposedly more talented than him? “What will you do now?”
“I will return. My partner will come find me if I take much longer.”
Partner? Did he mean a spouse, his wife presumably? “It would be a pleasure to meet…her?”
“No, boy, it would not. My gift to you is to spare you the experience. Be well and be good to your people. This kingdom faces a great struggle, but the harshest challenges make the strongest warriors if they are led out of the darkness.”