Wild Era 4, Ch 5: Highmist

Kelin spent a couple of days making more talismans to refill his stock and ended up with a bit more than two hundred of each, all of them at the Second Evolution.

He was working on his balcony and watching the movement of the elements throughout his realm, which made for a pleasant backdrop.

There was nothing here to interrupt his concentration or distract him, which he appreciated, but it would be nice if there were a bit more life.

Once the elements stabilized, he would order some seeds and fruit trees that had once grown on Irian and plant them, creating his own orchards and forests.

Some of the ancient golden grasses of the plains and the red shrubs of the mountain foothills would be nice too.

Fortunately, there were other worlds where some still grew, so it wouldn’t be hard to acquire them.

Other plants that had been unique to Irian had been shared through the galaxy and cultivated in distant worlds, and that had preserved them.

Not everything existed, but he could find quite a bit.

He stored his talisman tools away and turned his attention to his clone and the ship that was still heading across the Ocean of Storms.

It was almost back to dock in Stormhill now. 

The Spirit of the Dark Ocean elemental had faded away, but his clone was enough to keep the ship on track. It had ten percent of his strength, which wasn’t much, but it could use simple spells and meditate to regenerate what it used.

The ship’s journey across the ocean had been fairly calm, with only a few storms sweeping its decks, but the enchantments that made it capable of traveling the ocean in the first place were enough to protect it.

No other pirates had appeared, which was almost too bad. If they had, Kelin would have switched places with his clone and dealt with them.

Then he would have searched their souls for more information about their network, cooperation with Sarathia, and other issues.

Some of his attention was always monitoring his clone, but he pulled the rest back and dusted himself off.

He pulled out a fresh cup of coffee that had steam wafting off the top and wove a temporary heating spell to keep it that way. 

Then he created a mirror made of water. It was six feet high and the same broad, allowing him to examine himself.

The changes to his physique were becoming more obvious than ever.

Tiny soulfire flames burned along his skin and hair, flickered in his eyes, and appeared and disappeared in his aura. He’d already scorched a couple of chairs and a table he was leaning on.

They were like wisps of mana, and without him willing it, they didn’t normally burn anything, but if his concentration wandered and he thought too much about Fire or similar concepts, the flames could soar higher.

He was becoming similar in some ways to a phoenix.

Burning things wasn’t much of a downside.

The Bones of the Phoenix trait had changed his body on a base level. 

Before, he had needed specific environments in order to refine his physique and improve his attributes, like the cloud of ash or pressure from climbing a dangerous staircase.

Now, his bones existed in a different state, one that could inherently absorb energy to grow stronger. He just needed to incinerate other forms of energy and matter in order to do it.

That energy then flowed into the rest of his body, which had gained a similar structure, although it wasn’t as developed as in his bones.

He wasn’t sure this trait counted as a human one. It was more like an elemental or a spirit. 

That wasn’t surprising, since the divide between living beings and pure energy was thin at higher levels.

It was exactly what he needed.

If he wanted to become the Sovereign of Souls, he had to have more attributes and a strong Law of Reincarnation. 

That meant absorbing a lot of energy to strengthen himself. 

The problem was that it was inefficient right now. He’d tried a number of things over the past few days and even incinerating a low-quality mana crystal into ashes was a chore.

His flames weren’t strong enough to do the job.

It wasn’t just natural heat that was required, but the intense magical fluctuations of the Law of the Phoenix. Without fully mastering that Law or his own version as the Soulfire Phoenix, it would be difficult.

Perhaps by the time he reached the Fifth Evolution, he could use his domain to help, but for now it was easier to allow the Path to convert the rewards from a dungeon into pure attributes.

It made for a simple plan.

The more dungeons, the better. 

Even if they weren’t otherwise important, he could have the Path convert all of the random treasure and rewards into energy. 

He would Wildfire the wandering monsters, face the Challenges and kill the Elites directly, and then cash in all of the rewards he didn’t want for attribute points.

His spare funds might take a hit, but he didn’t need that much money right now, and if he did, he would just hold back a few things to sell.

He had some abilities to improve, but eventually even those rewards could be tossed into the pile.

It was a plan that fit well enough with his current trajectory, including heading to Sarathia to follow the Path’s quest and finding out more about the cult of Undeath.

He studied the intensifying energy of his realm as he established his goals. With the elemental gates constantly pouring out essence, the forests and plains were beginning to turn green and stand tall, while the mountains were rising and the ocean was growing deeper.

The realm had been about two miles across to start, the same as the academy, but it had already increased by a quarter mile.

On the edges, the earth was trembling with every moment as it expanded.

He adjusted a few small things and then he walked inside, where he considered if there was anything else he needed for the interior.

It was stark.

A bed would be nice, as well as some bookshelves, a desk, and a few reclining chairs. 

The last few nights, he’d been sleeping on a bedroll from his storage, which he’d enchanted for comfort. It was fine, but not exactly fashionable.

He chuckled as he made a few notes.

He’d never been that big on creature comforts, but he did appreciate a few, like hot food and coffee. They were tenuous threads that held him to what it meant to live a full life, even while he stood guard in the stars for thousands of years.

He’d already ordered most things through Jesra, but he added a few more in a much smaller list.

With that done, he willed himself out of his realm. 

A wave of spatial energy surrounded him and he was standing at the entrance to the academy library. 

It would have been nice to stay for longer, but it was time to head back to Highmist.

His apprentices should be back shortly, along with Maro and the others. 

He was looking forward to helping Yao and Naomi with their class specialties and elementals, and then he would see how his allies had been doing.

Every time he’d checked on them, they’d been working hard and were usually away in a dungeon. With their Epic classes, they were blazing through Challenges at their level and a bit above.

They should be somewhere around Level 150 by now, or perhaps a bit higher, and with decently upgraded gear.

They weren’t at the Second Evolution yet, but they would still be helpful in Sarathia if they wanted to go.

It was their choice, but following the quest and gaining experience by fighting strong enemies would help their foundation.

Kelin also had a few other things to do, including checking on the local barons to ensure they hadn’t hatched any new plans. 

The number of spying spells around the academy told him they were already feeling bold.

They should have still been terrified from the duel and Sleset’s visit, but they were the type to dismiss the truth and find reasons that they liked better. They would slowly puff up their courage until they were willing to cause trouble again.

That was the problem with small nobles who couldn’t see the bigger picture. 

They didn’t pay attention to the Chaos War, the truths of the galaxy, or even the larger concerns of their world. They only saw their city and their day-to-day power.

Kelin snorted.

He had a feeling the city lord was also that type and would try to interfere sooner or later, but if he or the others were getting ideas, Kelin would swiftly disabuse them of the notion.

Although Letro Arcolen was in the Third Evolution, it wasn’t enough to make him a threat any longer. If it came down to a fight, the man would be lucky to escape with his life.

The likelihood of that was slim, since Arcolen was frightened of Kelin’s backing, but it was a possibility. 

The rest of the nobles were worth less attention since they were mostly at the early Second Evolution, similar to Kelin’s current level, but the difference was vast.

They would fall in line or find out why he was called the Lord of Wildfire.

He walked through the academy grounds, checking on the changes over the past several days, and was pleased to see that things were proceeding quickly.

He still had the teleport node at the guild, so he could have used a scroll to get back, but he didn’t feel like it. 

He spent a pleasant couple of hours walking back to the city, considering ways to deal with the nobles and other issues.

With his improved physical traits and the mana infusing his body, his feet floated over the ground, speeding him along faster than most people could run.

When he reached the Third Evolution, he would be able to fly for real, and at the Fourth Evolution, teleportation would only take a thought, especially with an anchor node to use.

When he reached the city, he stopped at a cafe for breakfast and ordered a mix of fried eggs, roasted potatoes, and some hearty oat cakes that were golden and crispy with a sweet syrup on top.

As he ate, he checked on his apprentices and noted that they were almost back. 

They should return later today.

He was powerful enough that he could protect them from some things in the area, but they were still safest in the guild where the threat of that massive organization deterred anyone who might try to harm them.

Their existence was fragile in the greater scheme of things, as was his. 

If someone at the higher levels of the Third Evolution showed up, much less the Fourth Evolution or higher, he would be dead, much less them.

While they remained in the guild, their status as his apprentices ensured they had the best protection available.

Being a Knight Commander was worth that much.

He didn’t know if the Sovereign, Sleset, or any of his other old allies would step in if Yao and Naomi were threatened, and frankly, he doubted it.

They weren’t important enough.

Yet.

They would have to rise to power on their own and to establish their place in the greater scheme of things first.

When he finished his breakfast, he headed to the guild, where he checked at the front desk and found Jesra waiting.

They spent a couple of hours going through details of his estate, focusing on what he wanted to do with the various parts Silas Crest had left behind.

The man had owned a considerable range of businesses and various houses, but the bulk of his wealth was in dungeon materials, and Kelin had asked Jesra to get rid of most of it.

It was too widespread and inconsequential to deal with, especially when a single dungeon run at his level could bring in the equivalent of two years of income.

“I’ve liquified everything you asked for,” Jesra said, “including most of the businesses, since you wanted little to do with them. You sold some off to guild members who wanted a local presence and others to merchants and nobles with a favorable stance toward the guild. Thanks for that, since it helps fortify our interests here.”

She took out a thin ledger and a dense stack of bills of sale, which she set in front of him.

“These are the records for everything,” she said. “It boils down to just over 650,000 gold. That’s a significant amount for this city, enough to buy a baronage outright. It’s about what you would have gained as income from the estate for twenty years, but the future income will be less, about 10,000 a year instead of 35,000. Everything that’s left is focused on simple passive income, like rent for places you still own.”

“That’s fine,” Kelin said. “It would have been too much trouble to manage. Work with Taren and Esla and use the fund to set up investments and businesses that will support the academy and orphanage. The income should be channeled back into the academy and used to expand the trade network.

“Reserve the remaining annual income in a separate account to maintain the buildings and other interests in the Verasun estate. It should be a while, but if it builds up, invest some in new purchases to increase the same type of passive income.”

Jesra nodded as she recorded his orders in her notebook.

Kelin was pleased with the result, since it meant he had little left to take care of regarding the things he’d inherited as Baron Verasun.

It might be one of the smaller baronies now in terms of income, but it didn’t matter. It would grow again through the association with the academy.

With Taren and Esla’s help, it might only be a few years until the income exceeded what it had been before.

He hadn’t asked for all of their details, but he was well aware that they were used to handling hundreds of thousands of gold a month.

650,000 should be about right to let them do what needed to be done.

After she finished taking some notes, Jesra looked off to the side at a guild message stone that was glowing with a soft light. 

“Yao and Naomi should be back momentarily,” she said as a smile appeared. “They just sent word. Their survival class wrapped up and it seems like they’ve made a bit of a name for themselves.”

She looked back at Kelin and her smile brightened more.

“They’ve checked in a few times since you left and have been looking forward to showing you how much they’ve improved. I won’t spoil it by telling you in advance, but they’re proud of themselves.”

“I’m glad they’re living up to their potential,” Kelin said, chuckling. He didn’t try to hide the approval in his tone. “Tell them to meet me in my crafting hall. I’ll bring some lunch.”

He bid farewell to Jesra and walked away through the guild, heading for the hall he had semi-permanently reserved. It felt more like his home here than his chambers above.

He had certainly spent more time in it.

Now that he had his spatial realm, that would eventually change, but he needed an easy teleportation method to get between the two places.

He debated the advantages of setting up a semi-permanent teleportation portal as he set out some local things for lunch and waited for his apprentices to appear.

Above, sunlight shone through the glass panels of the arched ceiling, igniting motes of light and elemental essence that drifted through the room. 

When the energy touched Kelin, it ignited and turned into wisps of flame in his aura, surrounding him with blazing life.