Book 2: Chapter 59 (Patreon)

Small waves crashed against Orrin’s feet as he gazed at the horizon. Arandir’s retreat was half a mile in the treeline but the elf spent much of his free time at the rocky beach. The older elf stood by Orrin’s side, content to wait patiently.

When Orrin had made his first trip as an official delegate of Dey two weeks ago, Arandir had been delighted. Although he was still dealing with a war with Odrana, the fallout from half the council turning out to be traitors, and the surprise announcement from the lords of Dey that a Demon Lord had risen, Arandir had left the main city and brought Orrin to his home. Leanthun was put in charge in his name.

Orrin could not think of Arandir’s home as anything but a treehouse, no matter how beautiful it was. Despite its small size, it had windows and balconies to spare. Orrin half-wondered if the house had been built as an excuse to simply watch the surroundings and escape to the ocean. Not that he minded it at all. His trips to Arandir’s home were a welcome respite.

Although he had fought against taking the job, Silas had convinced Orrin that he was the best person for the job. Arandir and Silas had negotiated various small trifles over the last week, with Orrin’s ability to jump from city to city making the normal back-and-forth negotiations seem laughably slow. Silas had even offered to double the stipend the delegate job was paying due to the progress they’d made.

Silas had even let Orrin train with the teachers brought in for Madi and Daniel. He seemed to have accepted that his daughter was going to be an adventurer and hired the best he could find. Madi and Daniel spent hours drilling with weapons and spent their nights doing magical theory homework. There was even a history teacher for Daniel so that he would understand more about the world they lived in. Orrin had been able to do some weapon training but the [Swordmaster] had tried to kick him out after he kept dodging the attacks. [Way of the Water] simply wouldn’t let him parry when he could duck.

The lord of Dey also had spotters out, looking for any high-experience, low-threat monsters for him, Madi, and Daniel to kill. They’d only gone on two outings but Orrin was so close to leveling he could taste it. Another thousand points and he’d be at level eighteen.

“Orrin, did you hear my question?”

Orrin snapped his attention from the sea, giving a guilty smirk to Arandir. “Sorry. What did you ask?”

The elf kicked his foot in the water and smiled gently at Orrin. “How much more time do you believe Lord Catanzano will waste?”

Orrin turned his mind back over the conversation they’d been having. The latest missive had been about sending elven archers to train the guards.

“I think he doesn’t want to ask for too much from you. You are still at war and have to protect your people.”

The war with Odrana was a technicality at this point. Silas hadn’t wasted time and sent runners to both Lord Sanerris of Odrana and the current various leaders of Veskar telling them of the Demon Lord. He was attempting to rally as many nations and people of Asmea as he could. Orrin would call it fear-mongering but since he had the Quest from the System to defeat the Demon Lord, he wasn’t going to decline any help they could get.

Odrana hadn’t attacked the forest since that time. A few soldiers, less than a hundred, had been left to ‘guard’ the elven forest but the majority of Odrana’s forces had been recalled. Silas hadn’t told Orrin or Daniel what was going on with Sanerris yet. The fact that the stop the war Quest hadn’t completed was enough for Orrin to guess that the leader of Odrana wasn’t giving up just yet.

Arandir knelt and picked up a few small shells. He handed half to Orrin before he chucked one into the distance. “There will not be anyone left if the Demon Lord is coming for us…”

Orrin knelt and felt the water, resting his palm against the surface. Still in a squat, he twisted his body and launched his own shell, skipping it across the small waves until it launched high. Almost as far as he got it.

Arandir laughed. He laughed more out here by the sea than he had in the city. “Did your skill do that or did you?”

“Didn’t you say that a skill is just a manifestation of your potential?” Orrin countered.

“I might have. I do occasionally say something wise.”

The other benefit of the new job was that Arandir was teaching him. There wasn’t a curriculum or even a linear set of topics. They’d converse for a few hours while Orrin’s mana refilled for his jumps back to Dey, discussing spells, stats, and skills. Orrin didn’t divulge any more specifics but Arandir had an uncanny way of steering a conversation toward ground that bore fruit for Orrin.

“The [Swordmaster] that Sila— Lord Catanzano hired for Daniel doesn’t want to train me. He despises my fighting style. Your suggestion that I should train in water gave me a little insight though.”

“You used a fighting skill to throw a shell?”

When Orrin had activated his fighting skill while wet, the movements of each form had seemed clear and easy to follow. Once Orrin activated the training room, Styx’s teachings had felt second nature. He’d breezed through the last two sessions but hadn’t tried for the fifth. The normal “Continue or Save Progress” bar had been replaced. Orrin checked his status.

[Way of the   Water]: 20% 4/20 completed. Test your progress and unlock the first Gate?

Warning: Failure Three   (3) Times will result in all progress being lost.

He hadn’t found anything about his skill in the books of Dey. Arandir had noted that his fighting style seemed to be related to water. He had told Orrin about elven monks from before the Calamity that had trained their bodies under waterfalls, moving through their stances with the water crushing them all around. Orrin had done the same. Not in a waterfall but while standing in a shower.

He stood up from his crouch. “I understand the water a little bit better if I focus with it. But honestly, the waves aren’t that big and I’ve skipped stones before.”

Arandir sorted the remaining shells, dropping all but one. He held it in the palm of his hand. “Lord Catanzano can have ten elven archers to train his guards. We will not supply any bows.”

He raised the hand that wasn’t holding the shell and pointed his palm toward the horizon. “Tell me, Orrin. How far do you believe this shell will travel?”

Two weeks ago, Orrin would have guessed. He’d tried the first few times that Arandir had posited these types of questions.

Arandir’s magic was based on life concepts. In the dungeon, he had simply reversed the life of monsters, making them explode from the inside. He could manipulate the internal workings of monsters but also was a sort of healer by profession. He’d told Orrin that every magic had two sides, even if you couldn’t find it right away. Fire could destroy a forest but cauterize a wound. Orrin thought of firefighters creating backfires to stop the spread of a wildfire. Literally fighting fire with fire. The examples were endless.

That type of magic wasn’t good for doing something like throwing a shell far and the old Orrin would have simply guessed the shell would land approximately where the last one had. He’d learned his lesson though.

“That depends,” Orrin answered with Arandir’s favorite response to nearly any question. “Tell me more.”

Arandir laughed again and Orrin noticed a dozen small minnows swim closer as he did. The magic within the elf drew life to him.

“What would you like to know?”

Orrin had been playing these games for weeks. Arandir was trying to get to a point but the conversation had been taking a few turns today. “Are you going to throw it with or without magic?”

“You are asking the wrong question.”

Orrin frowned for a minute and then smiled. “Do you mean how far would it travel if you throw it or how far will it travel with the tide and movement of the ocean?”

Arandir nodded and held the shell up between his fingers. “If I dropped this shell here or threw it, the waters would move it by nightfall and your answer would be incorrect.”

Orrin let out a groan, dramatic enough that Arandir knew it was fake. “You’re saying the question has no right answer?”

“Remember what I told you. When someone asks you a question, they also give you a glimpse into themselves. Why would I ask you this question?”

Orrin shrugged. “To confuse me? I’m not sure.”

Arandir was quiet. Orrin checked his status and saw his mana was nearly full. He could make it back to Dey and meet up with Amir for some afternoon coffee.

“I asked the question so you would know there are times when no answer is correct,” Arandir said softly, breaking Orrin from his daydream of hot java. “Lord Catanzano tiptoes around the question he wants to ask. Will the elves go to war and fight the invasion in the Pass with the humans who have ostracized us for centuries?”

Orrin wasn’t stupid. He’d heard the nervous talks of the guards around the Catanzano house. He knew how stressed Silas appeared each day and how hard Daniel and Madi were training. The fact that Odrana hadn’t attacked the forest in weeks meant even Lord Sanerris was worried to some extent about the impending Demon Lord attack. At first, he’d been sure that everyone would travel to Dey and put up a united front against the attacking demons. Two weeks later and Odrana wasn’t responding to missives. A third of the leaders of Veskar had sent a pittance of money to help with the effort, the second third demanded proof, and the last third hadn’t responded at all.

He tried to put himself in Arandir’s shoes. The entire world had stood back and watched as Odrana attacked the elves. The elves who had been corralled into this forest and were routinely snatched up as slaves. “I’m not sure I’d be able to do it.”

Arandir’s brow furrowed. “Do what?”

“Forgive all the humans and fight with them,” Orrin said, taking his remaining shells and dropping them at his feet. “I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to say this but I don’t think it would change your mind. Silas… I mean Lord Catanzano wants a dozen elves to help defend the Wall. That’s what I’ve heard. I don’t think anybody in Dey expects you guys to leave your forest and fight. From what I’ve seen, even your weakest warriors could take out a hundred of our recruits. We have bakers training with spears and florists practicing with bows. They’ll have a few months if we’re unlucky, maybe a year if our luck holds out.”

Orrin waded to the shore and sat down on a rock that they’d sat and chatted on before. He needed his feet to dry before he put his socks and shoes back on. Arandir stayed in the water.

Once his mana was topped off and his shoes were back on his feet, Orrin waved to the old elf. “I’m heading back. I’ll meet you here again tomorrow, alright?”

“Orrin, wait a moment.” Arandir made his way out of the water dropping his robes as he finally cleared the waves. “I want to send my own request to the lords of Dey.”

“Do you have a letter?” Orrin glanced around but saw nothing. Everything was usually conveyed through letters. “If it’s important, I don’t want to mess up the wording or something.”

Arandir shook his head. “I don’t think you will forget it. I want to request lodgings for a thousand elves be made available on the northern outer Wall.”

It took a minute for Orrin to realize what he meant. “You’re going fight with us?”

The elder held up a finger. “On one condition. You have told me that you still have not spent any of the Administrator Points. Is this still true?”

Orrin felt the noose tighten. “Yes…”

“I want you to tell me everything about the available Administrator abilities and I want your promise that you will consider rebuilding the Administrators if you can.”