The Third Portal: Chapter Twenty-Six

On the walk to the guild, I called Dusk out from where she had been playing with Dawn and some of the small folk in her realm, and I discussed the plan I was thinking about putting into action. Dusk’s world, now reinforced with a dominion, was in an odd spot when compared to the powers that were here on the island. She was strong enough to stop even powerful Spellbinders within her, but if an Arcanist decided to wreak havoc in her, she couldn’t stop them without taking serious damage. 

It made the easiest option of just throwing open her plane untenable, she did still have a  lot built up. The fungal folk, pixies, bwbatch, and naiads all made for an excellent workforce tending to the cultivated parts of the garden, and her realm was essentially a living nexus of mana and energy, and she’d been growing it for over a year, while also stealing chunks from an even older and more developed worldspirit. There was considerable excess that I could donate without negatively impacting her internal ecosystems, and Dusk set to figuring out what could be safely donated without trouble. 

We might not have a complete set of plants to make mana restoratives, but there were plenty of sources of life mana, and that was the single most broadly useful type for alchemy and healing, which would be almost as good for the guild of alchemists and healers. 

And there was one other facet of the law that I was going to lean on, even if I was forced to take a detour to speak to one of the leadership of the Brighteyes to confirm some details of the law, and get the paperwork started on. As I finished up, I almost laughed, thinking about how full circle things had become.

“I’d like to make a donation to the guild,” I said to the attendant at the hospital guildhall the moment I wandered in. “But I’d also like to speak to the guildmaster.” 

The man gave me a thin-lipped smile. 

“I’m sure you would, but I’m afraid that I can’t just set up a meeting without a good reason.”

"I have one, I want to discuss a method of getting the guild a bunch of resources."

"Donations do not require the guildmaster."

"No, this is a plan to get more," I tried to explain. "I've got a plot that involve-"

"Donations do not require the guildmaster."

I pressed my lips into a thin line as I withdrew my ID and passed it over to her. 

“Fine, I’ll pay the six hundred points for a three hour lesson,” I said, internally groaning at the waste. I’d definitely be asking for a refund, but if it was the only way to get the meeting, oh well. 

The man happily took my ID and deducted the points, then made me wait a short while. The next time she would be open for me to take a lesson was in forty-five minutes, since she was currently attending to the healing of someone with a broken spine. 

When she emerged, I immediately took a liking to her. She was, in many ways, the exact opposite of what I had seen with the leader of the Glowing Soil Guild. She had a face with lines and warts, black hair that was fading to silver and thinning in a few spots, a large frame, and burn scars along her hands, chest, and face in a manner that had been competently healed, but would likely never be able to be completely removed without an Occulist’s help. Despite that, there was a softness and kindness that radiated out from her, and it reminded me of Meadow’s aura, or the soft moments where Kene’s grandmother was more lucid. 

“Hello child,” she said, extending her hand. “I am Gakodi Hyacinth, head healer of the guild. Let’s walk about the town while I see how I can help you.” 

I leapt to my feet and strolled over to open the door for her, then we stepped outside. 

“Well,” I said. “I was actually hoping that I would be able to help you. Purchasing the training with you was just the only way that I was able to get to talk to you.” 

She let out a sigh and puffed some of the hair out of her eyes. 

“I apologize about that. If you want a refund, I can get that sorted for you. But I am curious – what did you need to speak to me about?” 

“Well, first and foremost, I have…” 

I trailed off, mentally sending a request to Dusk, before iterating how many flowers I could potentially donate to the guildmaster. Her eyebrows raised slightly, and she nodded. 

“Having a month’s worth of extra healing potion supply would certainly not be remiss. I can see why you wanted to speak to me. Were you hoping to have a hall named after you or the like?"

“No, no, nothing like that,” I said. “I didn’t stumble across this out on a mission – I have access to all of these in full, flower form, tended over months, as well as several mana sources that have been done the same. If you’re willing to put up the money for land, I can use some spells to transplant them.” 

“We’re not a farming guild,” Gakodi said, shaking her head slightly. “We have some supplies that we tend ourselves, but the need for farm spells goes beyond our budget.”

She paused, then hummed. 

“The Earthwright Guild is who does most of the agriculture on the island, and they’re also our number one suppliers for mana apples, potion ingredients, and most other things, because they sell healing at-rate, with their only small profit coming from the tax breaks for growing healing supplies. Perhaps you could give it to them?"

"What happens when they can't grow enough flowers?" I asked. I wouldn't mind donating to the Earthwright Guild, but I thought I could expand my plan.

"When they're unable to provide enough, then we're forced to buy from smaller guilds like the Glowing Soil Guild, and pay their extortionist prices as private buyers, rather than subsidized prices. But that still doesn't resolve our current situation. While I do wish I could take the full flowers, I’d recommend donating it to them. It might help us lower our dependency on scalpers when we go over our normal agreements.” 

“Interesting,” I said, frowning and nodding, then pulled the papers out. “How familiar are you with dueling codes and laws?” 

“Pardon?” she asked, blinking. 

“Well, the Glowing Soil Guild is charging an arm and a leg for excess, like you said, and refuses to entreat with you as healers. That is, legally speaking, enough of a reason for you to challenge him to a duel. My proposal was that you’d buy some land, and I’d fill it with flowers. Then, you challenge him to a guild duel. Now that you’ve got your own source, your guild no longer needs to or wants to pay him. If he disagrees…” 

I shrugged. 

“I don’t know. Maybe you can sell the land to the Earthwright Guild? But he’s prideful and fearful, but above all, greedy."

"He is at that," she agreed. "The man hoards healing resources amidst a war zone, then charges tenfold their worth to line his pockets."

"Right! So if f you can taunt him and get him riled up, you might be able to each put the content of his and your fields up as the stakes for the guild duel, theoretically expanding his profits. If we lost the duel, then I’d be out of flowers, but you’d still be able to resell the land. If we won, we could transplant the entire field over. Bankrupt them, in essence, and give you access to a massive amount of resources. And I mean no offense, but he should feel like beating up a bunch of healers is easy."

The woman pursed her lips consideringly. 

“That doesn’t resolve the problem of being able to tend to the field, but we could still likely sell the filled plots to the Earthwright guild, and help both them and us. Hmm. If you can convince me that we actually stand a chance at winning a guild duel, then I’ll agree to your little scheme. But I don’t see how we stand a chance. I don't even know if I could win the Arcanist level guild duel, and we can't win the Spellbinder or Practitioner levels."

“Why can't you win?” I asked, cocking my head.

I thought I had an idea, but I wasn’t sure. 

“I didn't say I couldn't. I might be able to win, but I might not,” the woman said. “I am a true Arcanist, though I’ll never progress past fifth gate, so I edge him out in power, but I don’t have combat plants or the experience to use them. He isn’t a full combat mage, but he and his guild have been hunting slaughter spirits, and have more combat experience than I did.”

“I can fix that one, or at least put a finger on the scales to weigh them in your favor,” I said. “I’ve got blademoss, upgraded with spiritshield lichen. It can grow up to fifth gate. I also have stonesprout, and enough firecreep and ash-willow to make some firebombs. Powered by fifth gate mana density, they might be able to give you the tools to win, and I can spar with you, to give you combat experience. At least enough to help.”

“Do you really think you’re ready for combat on an Arcanist’s level?” Gakodi asked. Her tone wasn’t scornful, but it was curious and slightly doubtful. 

“If I had to fight him? Probably not. But giving you a crash course? I think so. Alright, next problem?” 

“None of our Spellbinder or Practitioners are combat mages,” she continued. “They’re also healers, and most of them are on a practical learning accreditation from their studies to become doctors. We’re not a combat guild.” 

“Another easy fix – I’ll fight. I can pass the tests for creating healing potions and other alchemy enough for you to grant me guild access.” 

I paused. 

“Probably. I can make healing potions and the like, but I’m more of a field alchemist than anything. But anyways, once I pass, I'm confident I can beat his guild member for the spellbinder division. I felt his members, neither is too impressive."

“Well, assuming that you can pass the tests, that leaves the Practitioner bracket,” she said. “I assume you would also provide combat plants to them, but I’m not sure that will be enough to actually win. Can the blademoss break through Earthen Armor?” 

“If we can both win our fights, we would still be the overall victor in a guild duel,” I pointed out. “That said… I admit, the Practitioner duels would be the one most likely to go pear shaped.” 

I had considered asking Dawn to fight, but her magic was focused on empowering and supporting others, and while she could assist me as my bond, helping others would be outside interference.

“But if you lose, you lose a bit of face and are out whatever points you lose in reselling the land,” I said. “Not that much of a risk for you. I’m the one putting up all the flowers for the bid.” 

“That’s the other thing,” Gakodi said. “What do you get out of this? If you’re hoping for a bundle of points, I’m afraid I can’t help you. We’re actually running at a loss, subsidized by Elio.”

“I just want to annoy the prick running the Glowing Earth Guild,” I said. “That being said, I’m not opposed to payment, I just would rather not have all those resources going to waste.”

The guildmaster was silent for a long time, pursing her lips, before she finally spoke. 

“I will have to speak to the Earthwright Guild, and get them on board, as well as get several other things set up, like the loan from them for the land. They’re chomping at the bit to expand, so they’ll go through with it, but still, agreements need to be settled. That will probably take a week or so.”

“Makes sense. I’ve got to pop back to Mossford to check on my partner soon and sell some goods anyways, then I can portal back,” I said. “Not a problem.”

Gakodi muttered something under her breath about how even if I was a wealthy kid with too much interest in fights and gambling, at least I was a philanthropist. I wasn’t supposed to be able to hear it, but my empowered body and ingrained Vampiric Senses let me hear it anyway, so I suppressed the urge to smile at her. 

“I have a few favors that I can call in,” she said after a moment. “You don’t need healing potions or alchemy supplies, but I’ve got favors for most of the local guildleaders. I can get you free training with the three big combat guilds – Nightheart, Beastbody, and Phantom Hand. If that doesn’t interest you, I’m good friends with the leader of the Candleseer’s guild. He has a strange but powerful seeker legacy that allows him to create candle flames that direct a person to the location of unclaimed items that they need, even if it’s not what they asked for. I could set up a meeting for you to get one of his candles.” 

Oh. Well, that explained the name, at least. It was a strange legacy for certain, but was it worth more than training with the powerful guilds? I could probably learn some things from all of those guilds, after all.

Then a thought entered my mind, and I glanced up.

"Oh, hey. Could you make use of Healer's Heart? I only have one, but I could try and split it."

Gakodi let out a tired sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose.