There was silence after the elf finished speaking. She had said that she belonged to no faction, although whether that was true or not could not yet be confirmed. But what was most interesting was that she already knew he was also independent, at least for the most part. His working with The Empire, even if just for the moment, did put him on their side for the time being, but only until he left Earth.

“Yarila, why have you come here now and not earlier?” Shaun wanted to take the lead in questioning here. He wanted as much information as he could get from here and only then would he make a decision as to what to do. If it had to do with the settlement then he would leave most of the decisions to Viv, it was why she was here after all. But if it had to do with something else, that would mean he would need to get more involved, probably.

“The reason we have come is simple, yet not. We did not know there was a human settlement here, not until very recently. Days ago we saw the night light up in the distance. It was close enough to our woods that we could not ignore what it was in case there was a threat to us. We sent our scouts to check what had caused this event. To our shock it was your settlement. It was decided that I would come to see what kind of people you are. Depending on what I find will decide how we move forward. For good or ill.”

The elf had remained calm throughout her reply, everything she said was logical and made sense. For them this was a get to know you and see if you are the kind of people that would kill the elves just because they were different. Or if they would accept them and try and form some alliance maybe?

“You have heard of me, considering your first statement of knowing I was not part of any faction. Care to tell me how? I am curious about what was said about me.” He hadn’t really had an opportunity to question someone on this yet and he was definitely interested to know.

Yarila gave him a small nod as if she had been expecting such a question, like she had purposely set him up for it. “We were sent to tutorials, just like humans. And like yours not all the tutorials were created equal. Our leader was from one of the more, difficult tutorials, as was I. At the end, before we were sent back here, we were informed of a man named Shaun Clermont who had a kill order placed on him by all of the factions. If one of us managed to kill him, we would be granted admission to join one of the factions of our choosing.” She stopped then and looked at Viv. “That seems to have changed though. She is from The Empire.”

Viv moved in closer then, taking that as her que to join the conversation. “I am part of The Empire. I do not hide that fact, I have no reason to. But if you must know a deal was struck, the kill order was lifted by The Empire and all factions allied with us in the war. If you have come here to attempt to kill Shaun, you would be working against half of the factions.”

Yarila turned back to Shaun, not bothering to directly reply to Viv. “We do not wish to kill you. I do not believe we even could.”

“Good to know.” There was silence again for a few moments as they stared at each other. “I believe this is the point where you tell us what you really want here.”

“I will be honest and to the point, it seems that is your preferred method of communication. I would like to see your settlement. I wish to know the reaction of your people to seeing elves walk through your home and to see how everyone is treated and what kind of ruler you are. We will report back to our people and deliberate on what I have found. Only then will we decide if we wish to move forward with communicating or working with you and your people.”

Shaun considered her for a while, he did appreciate the honesty, it was clear that she wouldn’t have final say on what their people did but her opinion of them would be a deciding factor. Still, this was all becoming more political, and politics wasn’t his thing.

“I may currently own the settlement, but I don’t deal with the day to day running of this place. The decision is Viv’s. If she agrees to show you around, I will come with you for the tour, but she gets to make the final decisions when it comes to this stuff.” It why he had spent so much effort in building her up to where she was.

Yarila continued to stare at him without saying anything for a moment, she finally broke the silence after fully taking in what he had said. “You are an odd person, Shaun. Among my people, the strongest rule, it was the case even before the integration. Yet, even though you are clearly the strongest you have given that power to this Viv.” He didn’t answer her, didn’t see any need to.

“Yarila, I will allow a tour, but like everyone that enters the settlement you will need to make an oath before you enter. It will be in force while you are within the settlement. That is non-negotiable.” Viv took over the conversation after that.

Yarila and the twins had no issues with taking the oath as long as it didn’t cause them or their people any harm. What followed after was the longest day of his life. It had some interesting moments, as he got to see just how much had changed in the last month, but for the most part it was just seeing people get along with their day.

The reaction from most people when they saw the elves was curiosity more than anything. Although some looked on in fear and others with looks that went beyond mere interest. He didn’t blame them, the elves were super human attractive. They were also powerful and different, why wouldn’t people be interested.

When they came to the crafting city that had been created specifically for those wanting to focus on their professions Shaun was actually just as curious as the elves. He had never bothered to come here, he had no need. Although seeing the standard of what they were producing compared to his own school was insightful.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The large city forge was similar to the one at his school just much bigger. When they entered, he found that there was nearly 2 dozen people working in their own spaces, each working independently on their own projects.

Not bothering to ask he looked around at some of the projects people were both currently working on and some that had finished. The people working looked annoyed at first until they saw Viv and they immediately became much more welcoming, even with the elves present.

The weapons that were being created were, average, at best. They were all basic and not worth the time it would take to apply runes to them. Yarila seemed to share his opinion as she didn’t look like she was impressed with the work either.

“This is the city forge, some of our best metal workers are working overtime to create weapons and armour for the event that is coming up.” Viv spoke to the elves and he almost cringed at the idea that she was showing them her best. The forge at the school was making weapons much better than what was being worked on here and most of that was being done with kids helping!

“The are basic weapons.” That was all the elf said and that one sentence said a hell of a lot more than what the words actually meant. It was embarrassing, even for him.

“The grade will increase as their levels increase. Making an advanced weapon is not an easy feat.” She then gave him a look and mumbled. “For most people anyway.”

All three elves heard her mumble the last bit which made them look to him. He held back a sigh and instead did what he would have done if they were not present.

“Everyone stop what they are doing.” He didn’t shout in the forge, but he infused just enough power into his voice so that he would capture everyone attention. “Gather around. There has been a change of operation here.”

Everyone stared at him and then looked at Viv for direction. She looked to be holding back her anger but it was slipping through if you knew what to look for. In the end she simply nodded at the and they all did what he asked and came to stand in front of him.

Once he had everyone’s undivided attention he continued. “Basic weapons are going to do nothing for us in the event. From now on you will be crafting advanced weapons based off of these plans.” He pulled out one of each plan he had, leaving him with only a single copy of each. “You will need to share them, or specialise in one, I don’t care. Push a little mana into the orbs and the plan will be projected like this.” He gave a demonstration and projected one of the plans for the short sword.

All of the crafters gathered around excitedly, these plans were above anything they had created to date and having it all mapped out for them would be a boon for their progress.

“Shaun, do every single one of those orbs have a different design?” Viv questioned him, almost as excited as the rest of the crafters.

“Yes. There are plans for weapons and armour in there. You might need better material but the base of how to do everything is all there including instructions.” He thought for a moment before deciding to continue. “I have also started training people on runes. Once they are fully trained, they will be able to engrave spells into weapons and armour as well. But it is a work in progress and won’t be free. Their time will be valuable, you will need to make it worth their while to upgrade anything that is crafted. Our forges have already started work on these designs and have been successful in crafting a number of them. You will have competition.”

He had just lit a fire under all of these crafters and they all looked ready to get started. He gave them the all clear to take the orbs and he turned and left the forge without a goodbye. Viv and the elves followed suit and when they were outside he saw Viv’s barely controlled annoyance. In contrast to that he saw Yarila actually smiling.

“It seems that you have your own place here that is doing the advanced work of the settlement. If what you say is true, producing advanced weaponry and working on runes, I am now impressed. Is this included in the tour?”

“No. My place, as you call it, is in fact a school for kids to learn and grow. We have some great trainers and teachers but the focus is on helping kids adjust to the new world and making sure they have everything they need to explore and choose their own paths. It won’t be part of the tour.”

For the first time he saw her look at him with not just happiness but something akin to respect. “You may not know this, but us elves value children more than most races. We are unable to birth as often as most races and that makes us cherish our young all the more. To hear that you have dedicated time and resources so quickly to your youth……. If our people were willing to join with your own, would our own kids be welcomed to your school like they are your own? Would you willingly take those of us hat wished to teach and be surrounded by all children into your school?”

Now this was a decision he could actually make. “I would need to confirm with my partners who help run the school for the most part, but if you were to join this settlement, and that is a decision that is up to Viv, then yes, I would support the elven children and those that had something to teach in joining the school.”

There was no real downside to letting them join. If they joined the settlement then they should fully join, not be excluded from things just because they were a different species.

“I was hesitant, when I found that you owned this settlement. Having a kill order put on you by the factions coloured my view on you, at first anyway. But I see you are a good male, at heart.” She turned to Viv. “I have seen and learnt all I need here. We will take our leave and someone will be sent once a decision has been made on behalf of the elves in our colony. I thank you for opening your settlement to us.”

The walk back to the gate was done in silence. He wanted to leave after Yarila had said her piece, but he decided to stay until the end. Once they got to the gate there was no farewell, they simply gave a short bow to Shaun and a nod to Viv and left.

Once they were out of listening distance he spoke before Viv could. “I think that went well.”

Viv let out a breath of pent up emotion before she replied to him. Her emotions were still in check but she did let some frustration creep into her voice. “I would have preferred you not make a scene at the forges, but yes, it went well. I have some idea of what they want as well, especially when you spoke about the school.” She turned to look at him then. “How long has the school been making advanced items and training on rune work?”

He shrugged at her. “A few days.”

“I would like to send a few people to start learning runes. It will be good to have that skill in the crafting sector.”

“Not yet, I am already training over 2 dozen people. When they are good enough to start training others it will be up to them if they wish to pass on their knowledge. Until then, it stays within the school.” He wasn’t going to take a golden opportunity away from the school or his students. What happened in the school was still ultimately up to him. And if it came to a point they needed more people to learn rune work then he would reconsider, until then though, he wasn’t going to budge. “I am heading back now. I expect the training for the event is going well. I will check in on progress in a few weeks.”

He left without saying another word, he simply shifted into the air and left. He still had a lot to do and entering into pointless conversation was not one of them.