Xerte

Xerte was struggling for his life. What a fool he had been, thinking he would be able to handle everyone that came his way. But it had not gone so well. As it stood, he was under attack by too many people, too many Grand Trees to actually put up a proper resistance.

Ok fine, that was not completely accurate, he was killing enough of them, even if it was slow, but the fact remained that he would likely die if things did not change. Xerte just planned to kill as many as he could before he fell.

Another wave of attacks clashed against his dome as he attacked with his daggers. A dozen Grand Trees fell, mostly due to already having been injured by his earlier attacks, but there were more to take their place.

“Do you feel your doom coming, you miscreant?” one of the leaders said.

“Do you feel shame rising up your creeks? Tell me, what do you think will happen once you kill me? Do you think I have no allies? I already killed fifty of your number, how many more will I take before I fall? I assure you it will be enough that you will stand no chance against them.” Xerte said.

“I know that you are low on Qi, you fool! Just give up, and we shall show mercy!” the leader replied. Sending a blast of fire at Xerte’s defenses. The defenses rattled, but held. Xerte sent more Qi to them.

“And you forget that I gain Qi for each person I kill. The blood of your comrades fuels me today. I have enough Qi to break through to Mid-Spirit Tree now! And I intend to spend it all on killing your friends.” Xerte replied, sending another wave of attacks, killing two this time.

The leader yelled in frustration, attacking Xerte’s defenses repeatedly. Just splotches of magma constantly banging against a wall of diamond. Xerte wondered if the leader realized that he had given into anger and was wasting his Qi.

But then again, would it really matter if he did? A few seconds later, the defenses fell as Xerte breathed what he was sure would be his last. Conjuring as many daggers as he could with the last of his QI, Xerte attacked, killing another dozen, but leaving himself defenseless.

Sighing, he waited for his death. At least he did the best he could. An attack emerged from the leader's hand, headed for him, as Xerte closed his eyes. But the attack never hit. Xerte opened his eyes to find a wall of space surrounding him.

“Did the lot of you think you could get away with attacking a member of the Arch Duchy like this?” the angry voice of Speaker Panni sounded out through the wall. Xerte could not see through the wall, it was black, but he could hear what was happening.

The near constant sound of flesh slapping against flesh, whistles of blade and screams of pain sounded out. A few minutes later, the wall fell to reveal the speaker, along with a literal army of Grand Trees.

“Are you alright, Guild Head Xerte?” the Speaker asked.

“Well, alright would be pushing it, but I am alive and that's more than I expected to be at this hour. So it's a win for both of us.” Xerte said.

The Speaker smiled, but it was a sad smile. “The Lightning and Water zones were surfeit with people from the First Warriors faction. I killed the Spirit Tree from the Water zone, but the Lightning one is still missing. The Grand Trees are mostly dealt with,, however. I suspect that not few fell to your hand.”

“And what makes you so sad?” Xerte asked.

“Kerrin. As far as I can tell, he was in a space that exploded. I suspect the other Spirit Tree was there too. The space remains too spatially unstable to traverse.” Panni said.

“What about Norrin?” Xerte asked, changing the subject.

“I do not know who this Norrin is, but if you are referring to the Spirit Tree from Grand Elder Betaca’s faction, she was also caught in the blast and is currently unconscious in one of our camps.” the Speaker said.

“Yes, she is an ally, a member of my organization and not very loyal to her mother.” he coughed out, doubling over. Why was he suddenly coughing?

“I think you should rest, Guild Head, Qi is essential for the body, and you have little of it at the moment. I will answer your questions later.” she said.

Xerte nodded, suddenly feeling very weak. The wait had returned with vengeance, but at least this time, he was waiting for allies, not enemies. And he didn’t even have to wait long, a few minutes later an explosion racked the space, clearing the fog to reveal the Archduchess, standing in the air, her staff aloft.

Aswelth

The next few days were something out of Aswelth’s nightmares. To go to war against a Grand Elder was suicide, everyone knew this, but here he was. The entire Ducal guard was ready, and so was the Adventures Guild. The entire Arch duchy was ready, ready to go to war for its life.

“General, it is time.” Hagril said, his face somber. Aswelth nodded in reply and stepped towards the palace balcony, looking down at the vast capital city. The city had long since expanded to the area that the Archduchess had first received from the Kingdom. A vast city, the foundation of a powerful empire. After all, what else would you call a force that could go to war against a Grand Elder and have a little hope in their heart.

“A very good morning to you, people of Alvere.” Aswelth began. “I am sure that you are, by now, aware why I am giving this speech. As of two minutes ago, the Arch duchy of Alvere is at war with the Confederacy, the newest protectorate of the Oceana.”

“Though we will not be declaring war on the Oceana, we expect to be at war with it anyway. The First Warrior wishes to cripple the Archduchess, thus removing a thorn from his side. To do this, he has to cause the destruction of the Arch duchy.”

“I assure you, he will not succeed. Come tomorrow, the Arch duchy will be present in this world. The Adventurers Guild shall remain here and serve as the military while the Ducal Guard wages the war at our border.”

“The Capital shall be secured by a combined effort of the two. The Sect and Kingdom forces will not be deployed at present, they will defend their respective locations only. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a war to fight.” Aswelth said, leaving the balcony and teleporting to the guard mansion.

The mansion had changed locations and grown in size over the past few years. And had a special massive portal built in to move armies throughout the continent. A portal that was active right now.

Aswelth cleared his throat, causing silence in the mansion.

“I will keep this short. The circumstances of the attack and your part in it is known to all of you, and I feel little need to stretch that. The Arch duchy depends on us today, let us not fail it.” Aswelth said.

And that was it, all that was to be said was done, all that remained was to wait, to wait for the Oceana to attack. The wait wasn’t even long.

“General, the enemy has teleported all around the capital, inside the mines and has deployed various teams on the farms. I suspect that they intend to destroy the industry.” Hagril said.

“Well, what are you waiting for? The war is on!” Aswelth said, taking to the air. Elder Mauriss appeared beside him as they got ready to fight the Oceana higher ups.

A trio of Spirit Trees and a dozen Garden Trees teleported in the air before them, their intent clear. Viola and Duke Reinar teleported beside Aswelth, sensing the arrival too. So, the main forces would be attacking the capital.

A few seconds later, the battle began. Elder Mauriss engaged the Spirit Trees, leading them away as Aswelth flew towards the Grand Trees. A sword cut forced them to dodge as they began attacking. A flurry of water balls headed towards him, their intent unclear. Aswelth doubted that the water balls would actually harm him.

A little fire would destroy them. Aswelth summoned the fire, burning the water, but to no avail, the water balls were not affected. Flying away, Aswelth attempted every element he could think of against them, but he could do nothing.

“So, tricky things, aren’t they?” Duke Reinar said.

“Yes, the water balls are strange, not at all affected by any of our attacks and yet still a Grand Tree level cast. I suspect that they are the result of an art.” Viola noted.

“Can you counter them using the Jade arts?” Aswelth asked.

“I doubt it, the Jade arts are not supposed to work that way. I would suggest leaving them alone instead.” Viola said.

“What?” Aswelth asked, bewildered, “what do you mean we should just leave them alone?”

“The water balls, they’re harmless. Just barely levitating with no force. I suspect that they would make killing the Grand Trees hard even for a Spirit Tree, but are not a threat otherwise. Just a way to make us waste our Qi.” Vila said.

‘So, they have another plan’ Aswelth thought.

Altura

The fight between the vine and me continued in earnest. And with great zeal to boot. The vine tried to distract me a few times, but I wasn’t giving up that easily. I fought back, gaining ground little by little.

The vines grew increasingly frustrated with me, its attacks becoming desperate. But I did not let up. The wait was excruciating. The going slow. But I endured. And I won. As if a star was winked out, the vine died.

I knew it was not completely gone now. The clever thing had escaped to the planet already, but at least for now, I had won. I had defeated the vines, I had won the war for the moon. Now to see how everyone else was doing.

I cleared the fog using my will, finding it very easy to do so for some reason. Perhaps the vines were supporting it artificially? I found Xerte and Panni near me, Xerte sitting on a chair, looking rather pale and ill. I descended there, asking, “So, who wants to tell me what happened while I was away.”

Panni spoke up, “The Lighting and Water zones had the First Warrior’s people. Xerte was injured while dealing with them. Kerrin got stuck with one of the Spirit trees in a spatially unstable area. The rest have been dealt with.” Panni replied.

“And what about our guest here?” I asked, pointing towards the person lying down.

“Koris, your grace, is one of Grand Elder Betaca’s sons. Norrin, his sister, is a member of my organization and has asked that I protect him. “ Xerte said, coughing as he did so.

“I think we should let Xerte rest, your grace, he is Qi-deprived.” Panni said.

“Ok, how about you take me to where Kerrin is.” I asked, “Xerte can rest.” looking at him while saying my last sentence, making it clear that I was ordering him to do so.

“Yes, your grace.” Panni said, teleporting us. The space before me was, as Panni said, unstable. The space was not cracked, reality had fragmented in there.

“As far as I can tell, your grace, this was the work of darkness and space magic. The combination fractured under intense light and caused this`monstrosity.” Panni said.

“Do you know how to heal it? I asked.

“No, your grace.” Pannia answered. I used my spirit eyes to investigate. To a normal spirit eye, the space would look alright, but I noticed something else. The flow was turbulent. The flow lines had blocks in places.

I sensed closer to get a better idea, and there it was. The problem. The light was part spirit, similar to what was released from the crystal I had retrieved from the gorge. But this one occupied space in the river of spirit.

I suppose someone brought it to their spirit space and the light got out after it collapsed. And tried to get back into normal space, but got fixed somewhere in between. The answer was to simply manipulate them, a delicate but doable thing.

I gently changed the properties of every part of light, slowly healing the space. A few hours later, it was done. Kerrin was there, curled up and unconscious.

“Well, Panni, I guess you have another patient.” I said, suddenly sad. The battle had caused a lot of injuries.

“Yes, your grace, I will take him up. Do you require anything, your grace?” Pannia asked.

“No, I will just check my notifications.” I answered. I might as well do it.

System, show notifications.

Qi gained!

Vine root killed!: 500 million Qi

Late-Spirit Tree (1,131,507,896/1,258,291,200)

Ah, sweet, sweet Qi. just a hundred million more and then I would be a Warrior Tree. I wonder if I should try going back down to the planet now?

Grand Elder Artica

Artica sighed as she paced in her room. The duel would not be for hours now, but the news that Betaca had attacked the Arch duchy troubled her.

“Are you sure that there is no way our, Mother?” Adreia asked.

“No, dear. I didn't expect the System to trap us here, either. As it stands, Betaca is the only Grand Elder outside this continent. I can only hope that I was right about Mauriss, and he can stand against her, or we will be done for.” Artica replied.

“Now, do you remember our plans for tomorrow?” Artica asked.

“Yes, mother, I remember them well. Do not engage unless one side is about to lose, but make the first move if it looks like it will be to our advantage. And do not under any conditions engage the First Warrior.” Adreia said.

“And? I remember there being one more. I know you don’t want to follow it, but it is a must.” Artica said.

Adreia huffed. “I am not a little girl anymore, Mother. I know when to run and when not to. But I will not leave you to die.”

“The First Warrior will not give you a choice. I may fall tomorrow, Adreia, and you must run if I do. Run and get enough QI to level up your self, and then come back to avenge me. Do it for Altura if not for me, she still has years to live.” Artica said.

“Oh, I doubt she will need or want me here. I wouldn’t be shocked if she is a Spirit Tree already. “ Adreia said.

“As that may be, but she may still need you to protect her if the Arch duchy falls, and let us be honest, how likely is it that it won’t? A Grand Elder is acting against it, Adreia. The armies alone will devastate them, you saw the land, it's weak. And it will fall.” Artica said.

Adreia shook her head. “No, mother. I would be very surprised if it did. The Arch duchy is not your normal place, not at all. Grand Elder Betaca has no idea what she is dealing with. Not one bit. And nor do you.”

Artica just sighed, Adreia was still young and yet to see the world. The world did not work like that, power was not something that could be made up for so easily. The Arch duchy would fall, and she needed to be there to help her granddaughter when it did.