Chapter 203, 1/2

Chapter 203, 1/2

The Forest was physically rather nice this time of year. The air was cool. Here, where Erick stood, the sun was simply warm instead of cold or burning hot like it was in other places. The sky was clear and blue, and the rain had ended an hour ago. The Restful River flowed in front of Erick like a deep, dark blue ribbon inlaid across the green and rocky Forest floor. The river ran rather fast here, about 120 kilometers northwest of Treehome. Dark blue waters seemed to zip across the Surface of Veird, only showing their speed in the constant surf at the river’s edge where water crested over fallen logs trapped between the flow and orcol-sized boulders.

“This is a rather average point of the halfway-tamed Restful River. Most of it looks like this,” Syllea said, walking along the rocky beach-like riverbank meters from the actual river. Erick walked at her side, looking all around. Syllea wasn’t looking directly at him, though, she was looking at Yggdrasil’s floating eye atop Erick’s shoulder. Yggdrasil didn’t seem too interested. Syllea tried, “We’ve got a fourth location to check out, if you desire?”

Poi, Tasar, and thankfully, Kromolok, had joined Erick on his trip to Treehome. The first two came because of course they came. Kromolok came because Erick asked for a Font to help him plant Yggdrasil in a new location, here by Treehome, and the Inquisitor of Rozeta decided to personally fulfill that request. Erick was glad for that, for aside from Tasar, Kromolok’s presence gave him some much-needed physical proof of his alliance with the wrought, and with Rozeta.

They had all met with Syllea and Bayth, and two chieftains of Treehome about two hours ago, on what might have become Yggdrasil’s planting spot. Only two chieftains, though, out of 12. Peron Wyrmrest, and Yura O’kabil. They looked exactly as Erick remembered, with Peron being an old man in a green robe dotted with white gems, like stars, while Yura wore silver robes with white fur linings.

Syllea knew Tasar, of course, so that had been a business-as-usual introduction. Peron and Yura knew of her, though, so that was a bit bigger of an event. None of the people from Treehome had ever met Kromolok before, but they certainly knew of the Inquisitors of Rozeta. That particular meeting had been an event that Kromolok handled well.

And then Erick and Treehome got to talking shop.

That conversation was just a repeat and solidification of the groundwork which Syllea had already laid. At that time, Erick had debated bringing up the prognostication battle Teressa had fought against them, but he decided to let it go. Yggdrasil had heard all of the conversation Erick had had with Poi the day before, but when Erick asked the big guy about it, Yggdrasil didn’t really have any thoughts on the matter. So Erick backed away from that topic, too, letting Yggdrasil be a kid for however long that would last.

After the meeting with Syllea, Peron, and Yura, Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye came forward, and so did the [Scry] eyes of the Arbors. Erick had expected them to appear in their avatar forms, but they were obviously greeting Yggdrasil at his own level. The avatar forms would come later.

In a situation that was exactly like a bunch of adults greeting a child, but with a brief moment for the Arbors to pay their respects to Kromolok, Erick introduced every single Arbor to Yggdrasil, through their [Scry] eyes, and through mappings and images. Yggdrasil would know where each Arbor was located, and how to locate them himself, so he could [Scry] them whenever he wanted, and so they could know his [Scry] eye when he came calling.

And now their whole group was here, looking at riverbank sites. The Arbors of Treehome had joined Erick and everyone else, of course, continuing to follow along as [Scry] eyes.

Yggdrasil didn’t like the first planting site, which was 75 kilometers down the river from Treehome. That first spot had been a wide expanse of water where the river bunched up, right before it started running again. It wasn’t deep enough. Yggdrasil could easily turn that shallow lake into a deep lake, though. The Arbors even told him as much. But, no, Yggdrasil wanted to see the other options.

The second site was better, located 95 kilometers downstream, where a tributary that ran across a large swath of the Forest met up with the Restful River. A lot of the rarer monster fish truly started to appear in the depths of those blue waters. It was too well fished, though, with a great big fishery located just upstream of the waterways, and Yggdrasil did not want to disturb the people already there. No one spoke out against his choice, though this was the spot that Treehome had truly hoped that Yggdrasil would pick. With a few strategic dams, this land would make for a great lake.

This third site was located 10 kilometers beyond the real edge of the Forest, where only the powerful or the crazy deigned to tread and some of the tallest trees began to rise a good kilometer into the air. The trees weren’t that large directly near the Restful River, for people did occasionally come down this far to fish and those intrepid fishermen had beaten back the Forest for generations upon generations. If Yggdrasil were to choose this spot then he would be directly competing against the Forest for land space. That didn’t seem to disturb Yggdrasil though, for he had heard stories of the Forest from Erick.

Erick got the impression that Yggdrasil wanted to try living on the edge.

The small stones of the riverbank shifted under Erick’s feet as he walked forward, Yggdrasil’s iridescent white [Scry] eye floating at his side. The big guy would occasionally dart away to see some site, and come back rather quickly after a brief investigation. Erick recognized that behavior as rather normal ‘hiding from the terrors by running to his father’. Yggdrasil was doing that a lot.

But at least he was rushing out there in the first place.

Erick said, “I’ll still be there with you at Candlepoint, Yggdrasil, and I’m going to be around for a long time besides that. Anywhere you pick is a good choice.”

Yggdrasil eyed him a bit, then decided to go back to exploring. Instead of coming right back, though, he continued to explore, rapidly vanishing into the depths of the Forest, out of sight. Erick smiled at that, and he smiled again as the [Scry] eyes of the other Arbors glanced around, wondering when Yggdrasil would be back. When it became apparent that Yggdrasil was not coming right back the Arbors, like a flock of birds disturbed, rapidly disappeared into the Forest to go looking for the kid.

When they were all fully out of sight, Erick thought out loud, “And now it’s just us small people again.” As Ophiel killed a monster just out of sight with a flashing zap of [Fulmination Aura], he added, “And the monsters, I suppose.”

Chieftain Yura said, “I have never had quite this easy of a stroll through the Forest.” She hiked her silver robes of office up as she stepped over a larger rock, saying, “It’s a nice walk this time of year, before winter.”

Peron said, “The last time I went for a walk around here it was more like a fighting retreat. And that was thirty years ago.” Without the slightest hint of displeasure, he sounded rather amazed as he added, “I suppose this is the power of a Wizard.”

“I can certainly do a lot, but Kiri could do this same thing,” Erick said. “Syllea and Tasar could as well, of course.”

Syllea laughed a little. “I would have to level this place to do what you’re doing right now.”

“There is a lot of power in precision.” Tasar said, “Spotting and killing monsters out of sight and out of mind is quite a power.”

Erick shrugged. “It’s just—”

Yggdrasil’s iridescent eye came floating out of the Forest on the other side of the river. He had somehow gotten on the other side without Erick looking, but the other Arbors had followed him, for they came out of that side of the Forest, too.

Yggdrasil sailed across the rushing water, his voice loud and clear, but only to Erick, ‘I want to be here, Father!’

Erick stopped walking. “Here?” He gestured to the otherwise unassuming lands filled with monsters, deep water, and distant, tall trees. “Right here?”This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

Their whole party stopped, and they rapidly caught on to what was happening. The chieftains grinned, ready to see Yggdrasil grow tall. Erick suspected that the chieftains were ready to leave the Forest, too, for they were currently reliant on others for their safety, and they were walking alongside a known Wizard. Everyone else was actually rather comfortable trudging along in this part of the Forest. Poi trusted Erick enough to not worry about getting left behind, or anything like that, while Tasar, Syllea, and Kromolok were all powers in their own right. To a lesser extent, even Bayth was comfortable in these ‘deep’ woods.

Yggdrasil’s eye bobbed up and down; ‘Yes, here!’

“Okay!” Erick asked, “In the water? On the beach? In the Forest a bit?”

Yggdrasil moved out into the river and Erick had an Ophiel follow. Yggdrasil stopped in the middle of the deep, rushing water, and Erick knew that that was the place.

Erick said, “We’ll relocate a bit and I will plant you here, Yggdrasil.”

A handful of [Teleport]s later, or in Erick’s case a Benevolence step, and the group had repositioned to a rocky prominence five kilometers upstream. The river twisted past the trees to the northwest, vanishing behind a few curves of coastline, but Erick still saw the planting location through Ophiel. Some of the Arbor [Scry] eyes remained there to watch from ground zero, but most reappeared closer to Erick. The eyes of Arbor Holy O’kabil and Wyrmrest repositioned to be by their chieftains.

Yggdrasil did not reposition, though.

In that moment, Erick considered putting up a [Hasted Shelter] and talking to Peron and Yura about the prognostication battle. It had not been the first time he had considered broaching that topic.

But.

No.

Yet again, Erick decided against that.

He turned to Kromolok, asking, “Ready?”

“I’m ready when you are,” Kromolok said, as he placed a hand on Erick’s shoulder to prepare to channel mana. ‘And you don’t have to worry about them and that prognostication battle. I already spoke with them.’

‘Ah... Okay.’

Peron did not look any different; no shame, or remorse, or anything. Erick wondered when, exactly, Kromolok had had a talk with the man, but it had to have been after Erick had invited Kromolok to the meeting. Yura looked similar to Peron, but perhaps there was some remorse there. Whatever the case, this trepidation of Erick’s was unhealthy. It was one thing to worry about a nebulous threat, and another to worry about a specific threat.

Erick wasn’t sure which type of threat he disliked more.

Anyway. He needed to implement some anti-abuse protocols for Benevolence prognostication when he got back to the House. For now, though, he got on with it. Erick reached through Ophiel, targeted a part of the riverbed 5 kilometers away from his own body, and cast.

The Forest rumbled as though a mountain had descended, breaking everything.

Erick had never cast Yggdrasil so close to the land and he briefly wondered if he had fucked up a great deal.

The ground shook, buckling upward and down as mana flowed out of Erick, into some other place, into Yggdrasil. The river crashed upward. Kromolok funneled power into Erick, and that was necessary, for sure, but Erick had gained double the base Mana which he used to have. He was actually able to see Yggdrasil’s eruption without blacking out this time.

White lightning coalesced out of the distant Forest, rising above the green like frost spreading over a lake, seemingly growing fast enough and large enough that one could easily think that the ‘explosion’ would reach all the way here; that Yggdrasil’s growth would encompass the entire world.

One day, the big guy probably would.

Dragon-sized roots crashed to the right of Erick’s party, ripping into the Forest and throwing the land upward mere seconds before the exact same thing happened on the left. Roots danced through the rushing river, winding up and down, briefly reminding Erick of Rozeta twisting through clouds; solid stone and rushing water proved about as effective as impeding Yggdrasil’s as clouds did to the Dragon Goddess of the Script.

The rocky prominence underfoot began to tilt a little.

Somewhere between one glance and the next, Peron vanished. Erick was pretty sure he had [Teleport]ed away, but then he came right back, only missing his footing a little bit. He did not fall, though. No one fell, even when the rock underfoot tilted even further left.

Peron was probably the only one looking down at the ground, worried about his footing and about falling into the roots all around, but even he looked up when the blue sky turned to white and green, with rainbows all around. Yggdrasil stretched overhead like a cloud of color manifesting, and then solidifying. A minute after Erick cast, Yggdrasil finally stopped pulling at his mana.

Kromolok took his hand away, smiling a little as he looked up, saying, “I think he’s gotten bigger.”

“He is.” Erick said, “Every single day—”

A lightning flash of gold fire ripped through Erick’s chest, echoing through his Benevolence-lightning filled mana veins, crashing back into his core. And then the moment passed. Gold fire settled back into a net across Erick’s core, and Yggdrasil’s maximum number of summons increased from 5, to 6.

Erick breathed a bit.

It hadn’t been that bad this time—

A great big iridescent eye popped into existence just ahead and Yggdrasil’s voice carried on the wind, “Hello, Father! I am here now!”

It was kinda funny to see Peron panic a little, and to see Yura gasp, and to witness all the other small reactions all around.

Erick smiled as he said, “Hello, Yggdrasil. Welcome to Treehome!”

“I have already widened the river! Come see!”

Erick conjured his [Teleporting Platform] and walked onto it, saying, “I suppose I will, then! Anyone else want to come?”

“Of course!” Kromolok said, joining Erick.

Soon, like a bunch of adults going to see what the kid was up to, everyone was on Erick’s Platform. He flew them all toward Yggdrasil’s trunk which rose in the distance like a white pillar-mountain. The sky was a lightning storm of branches wreathed in green clouds of leaves, shining through with rainbow sunlight.

Yggdrasil towered over the kilometer tall trees of the Forest, bathing the world in light.

The rest of the meeting went rather smoothly, with Yggdrasil asking questions about how to move the land, and Erick showing him a few tricks with [Stoneshape]. Thanks to the big guy’s size modifiers, the normally Large spell effectively became a Super Large Area manifestation of will, shoving the ground of the Forest down, while simultaneously lifting up (comparatively) smaller trees here and there, breaking them.

This actually led to Yggdrasil freezing and almost crying, for he had never broken something else that he wasn’t trying to break. Erick consoled the big guy for a little while, telling him that he could fix it all with some of his weather control and rain, but not to do that right now. He would have continued to help Yggdrasil sort through that trauma, but he had done enough to dry the big guy’s tears, and he could tell that the other Arbors really, really wanted to step in. They refrained from butting in until after Yggdrasil stopped worrying and Erick stopped talking, though.

And then they began to talk to Yggdrasil about all sorts of things. About how to move around dirt and stone so that no one got hurt. About the various types of stone and what they meant for supporting life, and structures above them. How to manage a watershed and how to control springs in your area so that water only came up where you wanted it to spring forth. About how to join the Arbor [Telepathy] group.

With emotions running brighter, Yggdrasil began to get the hang of [Stoneshape]. Erick was worried that Yggdrasil had forgotten all of their own lessons with that magic, but that worry vanished when Yggdrasil loudly declared that he remembered talking about this with his father, and that he had just forgotten. Erick proudly watched as Yggdrasil’s iridescent white eye flew around, followed or led by 12 other [Scry] eyes of various colors and sizes.

Yggdrasil was in good hands—

Er.

Branches.

Erick sighed a little, then said, “So that’s that, for now. Thank you, Yura, Peron, Syllea. Please let the Arbors know that I am thankful for their instruction, too.”

Yura smiled brightly, saying, “Arbor O’kabil is still thankful for the record player you made for her. Have you had any luck making any new designs?”

“I’ll be making a lot of new, useful things as soon as I can get around to them.” Erick said, “I’ve been rather busy, though.”

Yura smiled, knowing some of the difficulty that came with running a nation. “I can only imagine how difficult it must be to make a nation from scratch. Here at Treehome, we—” She glanced upward.

Holy O’kabil’s [Scry] eye, which was a misty thing wreathed in frost and fur, zipped down from the sky, alongside the vine-trailing [Scry] eye of Arbor Nosier. Both of them were giggling, having just come from Yggdrasil’s own [Scry] eye, still high up there.

A massive swath of the Forest between Erick and Yggdrasil’s trunk simply vanished, revealing a stretch of water that hadn’t been there until now. Before Erick could wonder what had happened—

O’kabil happily said, “Your child is fantastic, Erick! He’s ‘blipping’ around the Forest to carve a space for himself!”

“A wonderful little shorthand; that term ‘blipping’!” Nosier joyfully said. “Thank you, Erick! Thank you for bringing him here.”

Erick felt his heart swell at the bare happiness in their voices. And yet, Erick knew he needed to remain a little bit serious right now, so he said, “I know you’ll treat him right, and show him things I never could. I’m glad I was able to bring him here.”

O’kabil tried to turn a bit serious, too, but she still could not keep the mirth out of her voice. “Please do not hesitate to question us, for I am sure we will be asking questions of Yggdrasil and answering his questions in turn. We’ll take good care of him, as I am sure you will, too.” She added, “I have to say, I was worried about the seal upon him, but this probably is for the best. There is nothing wrong with going slow.”

Erick stood a bit straighter. “Thank you for the trust, O’kabil.”

Nosier spoke a bit seriously, too, as he said, “You might want to think about breaking that seal in the next ten years, though. He will become independent even if you don’t wish him to be.”

Erick had been prepared for that sort of admonishment, so he said, “When the time comes to consider separation, I will.”

It was Nosier’s turn to be surprised. O’kabil’s [Scry] eye simply looked vindicated, though; smug, possibly. Erick wasn’t sure how he could tell as much from a free-floating eyeball, but the smugness was rather evident for all to see.

Nosier turned a bit contrite, saying, “It would probably be a bad idea to break such a seal while we’re still worried about Melemizargo’s sanity, though.”

Erick smiled. “Yes. That is the main concern, there. The Darkness seems to be doing a lot less than he normally does, though, so that has been good for us all.”

“I’m still worried about that soul slime’s Truth.” O’kabil asked, “Have you heard anything about that?”

“I have not.” Erick said, “I’m sure that when Melemizargo wants the world to know what he is doing with that, he will simply show us.”

There was a collective breath across the Platform of varying severity; the only ones who didn’t react were Kromolok and Poi.

Softly, O’kabil said, “Well that’s enough doom and darkness for the day.” She succinctly said, “Yggdrasil is wonderful. We love him already. Please build a house here soon, and drop by the hotel whenever you wish! —Ah. But also please inform us when you wish to drop by, first. I want to treat you to a proper feast. We all do, really— Ah!” Her eye briefly turned toward the sky, and then back. “It was wonderful seeing you again. I must attend to Yggdrasil.”

Erick smiled. “And I must get back to Candlepoint. Busy busy!”

O’kabil and Nosier both nodded then their [Scry] eyes rushed upward, trying to find Yggdrasil again—

Yggdrasil was easy enough to find, for he was like a large, iridescent orb surrounded by a cloud of [Scry] eyes from the other Arbors, flying against the backdrop of a world of green fire and solid white lightning. O’kabil and Nosier raced after him to rejoin the flock. Erick wished them well.

And then Erick turned his attention back to his immediate surroundings.

Peron ceremoniously said, “I wish you well with your kingdom creation.”

Erick responded, “And I wish you well with your expansion of Treehome.”

Peron said, “The lands between Yggdrasil and Treehome will be undergoing a transformation, but Yggdrasil’s lands remain his lands. We will abide by the agreements struck.”

Erick moved in and stood by his couch. He decided to go on the offensive, since these people already had. “I did not get a chance to participate in the former talks after Portal attacked and killed the Farms of Spur. I do hear that Mayor Silverite got some good deals out of that horror show, though. So what sort of deals do you bring me today, to make up for that previous mess?”

“If you feel that we owe you something for the actions of people who have already been punished, then perhaps we were wrong in approaching at this point in time,” Rohi said. “Perhaps we should simply leave.”

Erick smiled, then called the man’s bluff. “Leave, then.”

Sarai stepped forward. “Please excuse my compatriot. We are prepared to make amends in whatever way you wish, for we are here to be granted a set of Gates. Our desire is to do what we’ve already been doing for centuries; connecting the scattered islands of the Letri Ocean and the grand city of Eidolon to the Wasteland Kingdoms, the Crystal Forest, and the Greensoil Republic. Portal is prepared to offer generous terms in exchange for a franchise-type system.”

Erick got right to it, saying, “It’s 1.5 million per Gate —which is two Gates— and I get 15 gold per ton shipped, and 5 gold per person who passes through.” Erick said, “If I gain good cause to believe that you are fucking with me, then I will rescind your franchise network and give you nothing in return. I will, of course, give notice and ample time for you to fix this expected fuckery, but the threat stands.”

Erick had not forgotten about what Portal had done to him and the Farms of Spur, but the fact remained that if he did not let Portal into the Gate Network in some capacity, then Portal would go to war with him. It would not be a war they could win, but it would be a war they would have to wage for reasons of politics, economics, and population.

They could, of course, surprise Erick and not go to war, and decide to do something completely unprecedented. That way led to chaos, though, and Erick was trying to be less chaotic these days. The person he was today was not the person he had been back when he had threatened to cut Portal off from a theoretical Gate Network and caused them to go to war the first time.

The numbers he cited could use some adjustment, though; Erick knew this already.

It was a decent offer, too, at being drastically cheaper than the costs of boats and warriors to keep the waters clear, and all the other assorted costs of plying the ocean.

They’d still keep some of those boats around, though, for ‘last [Teleport] shipping’; Erick had already decided that he would never provide full Gate Network access to the entire world. Only large places would qualify for a Local Area Gate Network. Smaller places would still need to go to ports to get goods.

If Portal accepted this offer, or one similar to it, Portal would transition from being stewards of all ocean shipping across the Letri Ocean, to stewards of the LAGN of the Letri Ocean. It would be a rather large transition, but they could still transition. They’d need a lot of people to oversee the LAGN, too, so not many people would be out of a job if they made efforts to transition. These Local Area Gate Networks did not run themselves, after all.

From Erick’s perspective, this was an absolute no-brainer of an offer.

It was not a truly kind offer, like the one Erick had given Silverite, but Erick expected to be bargained down quite a bit.

Sarai moved to stand with Rohi, saying, “Your starter numbers are large, but they are intriguing. What does a franchise of a Gate Network look like to you?”

Erick sat down.

The two people from Portal sat down, too.

And then Erick said, “A ‘franchise’ is roughly correct, though I have not thought to call it that before now. I’ve been using the term ‘Local Area Gate Network’; LAGN. For the Letri Ocean, for Portal, I envision you setting aside a large stretch of land at Portal, and I will fill up that land with Gates to your major ports. I won’t do last-[Teleport] Gates, meaning you might, at most, get ten Gates, but wherever you wish to put those Gates is up to you. Travel will flow through the hub of Portal. In addition, you will get an embassy here in the Gate District, along Gate Road, with a similar dispensation of the four-Gate system which I have given to Stratagold.” Erick added, “The 15 gold per ton, 5 gold per person, is what I will get for this system. I don’t care what you get; you can charge whatever you want to administer your LAGN.” He finished with, “BUT! My current maximum range for freely creating [Gate]s is about 1,500 kilometers away from Yggdrasil, and Portal is 3200 kilometers away. I’m not sure that the Benevolence will allow such a LAGN for you at this moment in time, because you don’t have Yggdrasil at Portal in order to increase my range, and I am not willing to plant him there.

“In ten months I might be able to make a LAGN for you, at Portal, but for now, the only thing I can offer is an embassy here in the Gate District, and the four Gates that go with it. You are still required to pay the normal rates for transport through those, and then again for all the other Gates you use here in the Gate District.”

Rohi and Sarai sat in contemplation.

Then Sarai asked, “Pardon me, I must converse with my partner.”

Erick nodded.

A [Telepathy] tendril linked the two Trademasters together.

A minute later Sarai broke that connection, then asked, “For the LAGN, is that 10 month timeframe solid?”

“It’s a rough estimate based on current trends. From the various math and calculations others have given me, and depending on several factors well outside of my control, I should be able to freely reach Yoril in a century, but it’ll only take three or four years to freely reach all of Veird. Ten years to reach the moons. But as of right now, Gates from Portal to here can be done as early as tomorrow.”

Sarai breathed in a bit.

Rohi solidified, narrowing his weathered eyes at Erick. “Your rates are too high. 1 gold per ton, 50 silver per person. That’s the normal rate for [Teleport] services.”

Erick smiled a little. “I’m not offering [Teleport] services. I’m offering [Gate] services.” He dropped his smile, and repeated his offer, “15 gold per ton, 5 gold per person.”

“You are skipping over some large details, Rohi.” Sarai sought to strike at Erick’s compassion, saying, “We are amenable to this time table of getting a LAGN for the Letri Ocean, if you agree to follow through with this plan when the time comes that Yggdrasil can reach that far. Before that, though, an embassy in your Gate District would allow us to trade with your city of Candlepoint, and allow your people of Candlepoint to visit Portal, to trade with us as well. If we are to agree with constructing an embassy, we would ask that you agree to, and lock in, some lower prices for your LAGN, both for buy-in and for normal trade use. We can make Candlepoint truly shine, if you agree to some better terms and can truly promise that we will get control of whatever sort of Gate Network, Local or otherwise, you establish around the Letri Ocean.”

“Now that sounds like something I can get behind.” Erick dropped his prices, “A million per paired Gate, 8 gold per ton, 3 gold per person. In ten months I might be able to make Gates out of iron instead of platinum, but I haven’t quite figured out how to keep iron from rusting when magic goes through it. That third generation of Gates will be considerably cheaper.”

Sarai allowed herself a small smile, though it was rather put-upon.

Erick hadn’t really lowered his prices at all.

The Upper Trademaster of Portal was a shrewd woman who used every emotional trick she could to get what she wanted, like playing off of the rather gruff Rohi and wearing that revealing outfit, but she had been reevaluating her stance with Erick ever since they started talking. She had come expecting to woo him, at least a little, but her beauty was not that impressive—

Okay.

Well.

Yes.

She was impressive.

Erick was having something of a hard time not looking. But he wasn’t going to fall for that. Sarai had been veritably throwing herself at him this whole time, what with her sultry voice and all the rest of her, but Erick wasn’t going for it.

Sarai tried one more tactic.

She looked to Rohi, saying, “We can meet him a bit closer. What do you say?”

Rohi seemed to relax a little.

And then he flicked off the top button of his sailor vest, revealing more of his own amply muscled chest and wiry grey hair. He looked Erick in the eyes, and his voice was an easier, slightly happier thing than it had been. “Could we come to something less harsh regarding the Gate District option, and all the ones to follow? How about 250,000 gold per Gate? 1 gold per ton, 1 gold per person?”

Erick froze—

Sarai smirked a little bit, knowing she had finally drawn blood.

Rohi was happy too, but his joy was much more subdued. He was glad that his own, newest and unsaid offer, had actually worked. He was actually very happy with this new situation... Which was an odd turn of events!

—Erick thawed, and started judging.

Sarai shrugged, happily saying, “If he’s not to your liking right now you can always [Reincarnation] him into a more suitable form.”

Erick’s brain briefly shorted, but before he could reboot and complain about all the things wrong with what Sarai had just said—

Rohi said, “I’d marry you in a snap of the sails, if that’s what it takes to get Portal forgiven for the actions of those who are better off dead and forgotten.” He shrugged, adding, “I’d marry you anyway if the option is open. Marrying Portal to Candlepoint, to eternity, is a good move both politically and economically. We’ve been shipping across this world for centuries, after all. We know how it’s done. How to do it right.” He looked at Erick, and that look had a fire to it. “I know how to do you right, too.”

Behind Erick, Tasar sighed a little. Poi acted like nothing was happening.

And to Erick’s side, standing beside the couch, Zolan grinned a little, barely stopping himself from chuckling at Portal’s absolutely brazen attempt to get in good with Erick.

“... Okay. SO! This is wildly inappropriate,” Erick said, even though his cheeks were turning rather red. “If you think this will change my prices, then you are mistaken.”

Erick’s complaint was obviously not strong enough. He realized this after he had already finished.

Sarai knew this, too. She casually said, “And yet you have not rushed off, or declared us unwelcome. Indeed, I think you understand the nature of your position rather well. Archmage— Wizard Flatt. Everyone in the world is after you, as one does with Wizards, but the nature of this particular chase happening in this room is rather different. Perhaps we are merely the first to pursue you in this particular way? From your reaction, I assume we are—”

Sarai stopped talking, for Erick had waved a hand.

Rohi simply flexed a part of his body at Erick, which almost caused Erick to forget what he was saying. Sarai had done the same thing earlier, but Erick had managed to completely ignore that because it could have just been a small, completely normal thing. This time, though, Erick recognized the flexing under the pants for what it was.

It was weaponized sexuality.

Erick tried to move the conversation back to numbers, saying, “I am not sure where you got those 250,000, 1, and 1 numbers—”

“We’re spying, like everyone else,” Sarai admitted.

Rohi said, “If you wanted your meetings here, and with Silverite, to be in private you should put up some [Ward]s.”

“... Your honesty is appreciated.” Erick added, “And I appreciate that you are not scared of me, and that your offers are real.”

Sarai said, “Of course they’re real, and of course we’re not scared of you. We know who you are more than most, Wizard Flatt. Unless a person like Caradogh Pogi comes along to disrupt your life and your goals, you will always be a benevolent man. Since we have divested ourselves of every single person who was like that in the purge of Pogi’s life from our kingdom, we have nothing to fear from you at all.

“Except for you accidentally taking the livelihoods of our people away, as you already almost did.

“But!” Sarai said, “Since we are here, and since I have explained this, and since I see that you understand that you putting up a Gate Network in the Letri Ocean without us, or you cutting us off from such a system, would lead all the people we support to disaster, then there is absolutely no reason for us to be anything less than cooperative with each other. The only terms to work out now is the exact nature of our cooperation with each other, and one of the best ways to ensure cooperation is through political marriages. Thus, we are here.”

Rohi said, “I wouldn’t mind being a woman, if you prefer.”

Sarai added, “And I wouldn’t mind being a man. The wrought change all the time, and I always wondered what it would be like to—”

Erick waved his hand again, and the Trademasters fell silent.

After a moment, Erick collected his thoughts, then said, “Zolan will conduct the rest of this meeting.” He stood.

Rohi stood, opening his mouth—

But Sarai stood faster, saying, “Even if you do not accept these larger offers, we would like to purchase monster kill services and to establish a working relationship between our nations.”

“... Acceptable.” Erick said, “Zolan will still conduct the rest of this meeting.”

Both of the Trademasters looked like they wanted to object, but Erick would have none of it, and they recognized that. They had said their piece, and now, they were here. Erick gestured for Zolan to take over, and then he left the room.

As Erick walked down the hallway, away from the meeting, he heard Zolan say something about desperation not being a good look.

This was untrue, for desperation had worked very well for Portal. It had almost worked completely. But Zolan was working them over now with the proper words, and Erick did not go back and countermand his castellan for the man’s little white lie.

Erick was too deep in his own thoughts, anyway. Portal’s ploy had worked too well for them. As Rohi had sat there, being himself, and Sarai had laid down those truths, also being herself, some primal part of Erick wanted to partake of the honest offer. Some part of him wanted to enjoy the life he was making, instead of working all the time.

But, at the same time, Erick loved his work. He was making the world better.

War seemed to loom less and less as days went by, and nothing happened.

... And Portal’s offer had been completely sincere. They were ready to marry either of Sarai or Rohi off to Erick, if Erick had shown the slightest real inclination to accept either offer.

But...

He was worried.

Of assassination? Of giving in to a really good offer? Of what? What, exactly, had caused him to run off so fast back there? The brazen attitude of it all? Maybe a little bit, but there was more to it. A lot of things bothered him about that meeting, actually.

Erick wasn’t quite sure where his thoughts were going, or the nature of his thoughts, but they were all jumbled up and unwilling to be organized. He eventually thanked Tasar for her time, as he sometimes did when the work day was over, and then he opened a [Gate] back to his home on Yggdrasil—

“Wait a moment, Erick,” Tasar said.

Erick paused, the [Gate] hanging open in the air before him.

Tasar continued, “You’re going to receive a lot more offers like that. People are going to start throwing themselves at your feet for what you can do, debasing themselves in any way that might work. I hope you can prepare better for the next time such an event happens.”

“Ah... Yeah. I sort of dropped the ball back there. That was...” Embarrassing that it had been thrilling? Erick said, “I wasn’t expecting that.”

Tasar said, “If you would pardon my unprompted [Telepathy]; you are too tense. You need to do less work and more relaxing so that such an offer doesn’t unbalance you so much in the future. Or, you could accept such offers as simple sex, so that people know how to approach you when they want to debase themselves. If people do not know how to approach you, then they will start to get truly creative. That back there? That was not nearly as creative as those people thought it was.”

Erick’s eyes went a bit wide. “Are you speaking from experience?”

“Oh yes. Very much so.” Tasar said, “Centuries ago, back when the t-station network first got passed around I had some embarrassing experiences with people who were very desperate and similarly willing. Only a few sexual things, thankfully, but when I told people that money and security at the t-station spots was all it took to get one, that cut down the number of incidents by 80%. I still get some sexual advances now and then, but a [Teleport Other] into the nearest body of water is generally enough to reinforce that that avenue of inquiry is unacceptable.”

“Ah. Yes. I could have blipped them into the lake. I had forgotten about that.” Erick said, “Thank you, Tasar. And... I probably should have some more solid Gate Network numbers, shouldn’t I. I shouldn’t allow myself to be bargained.”

“And methodology for getting a Gate; yes.” Tasar added, “But if you do feel like giving in to some of those lewder offers, then be sure that they’re not through politically-motivated people like that. Otherwise? Yes. Give in sometimes. You’re way too tense. It’s just sex... Maybe don’t do the [Reincarnation] thing that they were angling for, though. That would get weird.”

Mirth bubbled up inside of Erick like the dawning sun. To know that Tasar had given in a few times made him feel a lot better about his own near-collision back there. Erick smiled to himself as he walked through the [Gate], saying, “Thank you, Tasar. I’d like to talk more about the possible threats in a negotiation room another day, if you’re willing.”

“When you get those Cooks up and cooking we can share a meal again at a proper restaurant, and I can tell you some of the more embarrassing stories.”

“I’ll hold you to that!” Erick said, already feeling less freaked out about Portal.

As the [Gate] shut, Erick realized that it was still very odd that this was how the meeting with Portal had gone; that this was what the new worry assailing him from the Pearl Kingdom. Hot sailors and hot Trademasters, throwing themselves at him in a bid for power! Weird! Would other people follow in their footsteps? Erick hoped not.

... Mostly, he hoped not.

Poi said, “At least the offer was honest.”

Erick gushed, “It’s still so weird!”

“People get so much weirder than that, Erick. I have seen some shit, believe you me.”

“Multiple things can be true at the same time.”

Poi just laughed.

And Erick did, too.