Path of Dragons 16 - Chapter 77 - The Good Side of Human Nature (Patreon)

“Do you think it’s a good idea?” asked Imal, sitting on the edge of the bed while she pulled on her boots.  “If we’re attacked…”

“The defenses are back online,” Elijah answered from the attached bathroom, where he was brushing his teeth.  One good thing about humanity taking the Vengeance for itself was that they’d adapted it for human habitation.  That meant that the living quarters had been redesigned to resemble those back on Earth.  Never was that more appreciated than with the bathrooms. 

From what Elijah had seen, most races across the multi-verse used them.  However, the layouts were so wildly varied that he often experienced a mild dose of culture shock upon trying to use them.  Seeing a familiar vanity, mirror, toilet, and shower brought with it a significant degree of comfort. 

And the human expedition’s quartermasters had brought plenty of familiar products with them.  Like Crying Dragon soap.  It wasn’t nearly as effective as the batches Elijah made himself, but the other Druids and Tradesman in the Hartwood Grove could produce a lower tier of body cultivating aids.  In addition, they’d set up a commissary-like situation where people could obtain necessities like toothpaste. 

And Elijah could definitely appreciate good toothpaste.

He didn’t really have to worry about cavities and the like, but halitosis was still an issue.  On top of that, he very much enjoyed the minty-fresh feeling that came with good toothpaste. 

He spat into the sink, then looked through the door.  “They should be able to handle things while I’m gone,” he said.  “From what Furyo told me, the cannons are even stronger than they were during the demigod trial.”

“How is that possible?” asked Imal. 

“Well – do dragons usually use cannons?” Elijah asked.

“No.”

“There it is.  I’ve had my issues with those gun manufacturers from Seattle, but they know their business,” Elijah explained.  “The orc cannons are good with raw power, but they’re inefficient.”

Then, Elijah went on to explain the long history of munitions, running from simple gunpowder bombs to the last iteration of nuclear weapons.  Most of those were rendered useless by the touch of the World Tree, but the knowledge remained.  Many of the engineers and scientists who’d worked in those fields had transitioned into ethera-driven technology.  And they’d had the better part of a century to continuously iterate on their new designs. 

The best example of progress was actually Gunnar’s rifle.  Back when he’d hunted Elijah, it hit like artillery.  Since then, he’d been through countless versions of the same weapon.  On top of that increased power, his class had continued to progress in a synergistic way.  The combined result was that he could punch far above his level, and to the point where he could kill most of Earth’s elite with a single shot.

Not people like Sadie or Miguel.  And definitely not Elijah.  But he was still far stronger than he had any right to be, though that was as much because of his unique training and constant need to improve as it was because of the synergy between his class and his weapon system.

Gunnar himself was an important part of the reason Elijah wasn’t worried about leaving the Vengeance – and subsequently, letting the expedition see to its own defenses.  Alone, he wasn’t impactful enough to ease Elijah’s mind, but his presence was emblematic of the group’s abilities.

There were Cannoneers who enjoyed similar synergy with their cannons.  And people like Anupriya had already made great strides in adapting the ship’s shields, structure, and inherent domain.  According to the Citadel Sage, it was at least thirty percent more defensible overall, and incalculably safer against enemy domains like the ones created by the orc shamans.

“It all comes down to specialization,” Elijah pointed out.  “As powerful as the dragons are, they didn’t come here to build.  The Vengeance was just a last-ditch effort by the K’levehar Clan.  But we had the opportunity to bring a bunch of specialists in here.  They never would’ve survived a normal trial, but this is different.  This is us gaining a foothold.  On top of that, we can continuously funnel new people here.  We’re not cut off like the dragons were.  We’ve got freedom to build something permanent.”

“You realize that none of this should be possible,” she pointed out.  It wasn’t the first time someone had said as much.  Most of the people from off-world found the whole situation troublingly unique, and many of them were waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

The humans were just ignorant enough that they maintained a degree of optimism that made them believe they could be successful.

Were they right?

Only time would tell.  But one thing was certain, Elijah intended to give them the tools they needed to meet that mark.  That was the primary reason he needed to leave – because the next phase of his plan required planting some seeds.

And he would be at it for years. 

Sure, he intended to return periodically, but for the next decade or so, Elijah intended to spend most of his time away from the ship.  Meanwhile, everyone else would be mostly on their own.

He stepped out of the bathroom and grabbed the phone he’d bought back in Ironshore.  It looked a lot like the devices that had dominated Earth before the world had changed, but it functioned almost entirely on ethera.  On top of that, some of the Engineers had developed a plan to adjust everyone’s devices to work on Orveth Kaal.

They’d tried to explain it all to Elijah, but they lost him at ethereal matrices and runic meshes. 

He just trusted that they would do what they were supposed to do. 

“This will allow me to stay in contact,” Elijah pointed out.  “I’m only a call away.  If the Vengeance is attacked, I’ll be back before the defenses fail.”

“I’m not just worried about them,” she admitted, pushing herself to her feet.  She stepped close and put her arms over his shoulders.  As she looked up into his eyes, Imal said, “We’ve spent more time apart than together lately.  Is it so wrong that I want you all to myself?”

Imal wasn’t really the jealous type, but she’d been a bit clingier ever since he’d told her about his dinner with Sadie.  Elijah understood it, too.  Rationally, she obviously knew that he wouldn’t betray her trust, but love wasn’t always logical. 

“I could stick around for a couple more days,” Elijah offered.

She rolled her eyes, then kissed him.  When she broke away, she said, “No.  Don’t.  I know this is important.  Go do your little project.  I’ll try to find something to occupy my time.”

“You could train some of the other mages,” Elijah said.  “They could really benefit from expert instruction.”

“Flattery.  Smart.”

“So, you’ll do it?”

“I’ll think about it,” she answered. “In the meantime, we’ll continue to patrol.”

Elijah nodded.  She and the rest of her group – consisting of Bogoni, Palikina, Okar, and oddly enough, Fiona – had spent the previous weeks ranging around the landmass in search of an orcish presence.  Along the way, they’d found more than a few skiffs clearly meant to be exploration vessels.  The group was powerful enough that they didn’t leave any orcish survivors behind.

However, the general consensus was that their dominance wouldn’t last.  Right now, the orcs were still recovering from their decimation during the previous trial.  Their ability to rapidly repopulate meant that wouldn’t last.  It couldn’t.

Still, it would probably be a couple of trials before they could put together enough deities to comprise a similar army.  That was the only reason Elijah felt that his expedition had a good chance of gaining a foothold.  By the time the orcs recovered enough to truly threaten them, the Hartwood Grove’s people would have begun to touch the deity threshold.

Or that was the plan.

Until then, Elijah knew he needed to give them another advantage.  That was why he had to leave.

So, it wasn’t long before he left Imal behind and headed out through the Vengeance’s corridors.  Along the way, he was reminded of a couple of key factors that sent a surge of satisfaction through his heart.  The first was that, when he passed people, they reacted with smiles, greetings, and even a little polite conversation.  That was such a huge departure from what he’d experienced the last time he was in a populated Vengeance that it originally left him a little nonplussed.

He’d gotten used to it, though.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of gratitude for Sara’s propaganda machine.  In less than a decade, she’d done wonders for the public’s perception of him.  Now, he wasn’t some crazy, standoff-ish, nature-crazed Druid.  Instead, he was Earth’s savior.  A man who’d given everything to help usher the entirety of humanity into a new era.

And they treated him like it.

There weren’t many obsessive fans who’d come along into Orveth Kaal, but everyone there respected him.  That was a nice change of pace.

The second thing he noticed was just how busy everyone seemed.  The contrast with the dragon expedition was stark.  Most of them had come to the ancestral world to fight.  Sure, there were non-combatants there too, but even they were more concerned with personal progress than with building something that would last.

The people from Earth approached things very differently.  They had come to build, to create a permanent foothold.  And most had taken to that task like ducks to water.  Most importantly, they did so with a level of fervent energy and happiness that Elijah had rarely seen.

Humanity had ever been a race of builders.  And in the Vengeance, they were in their element.  That attitude had infected the settlers as well.  Elves. Dwarves.  Gnomes.  Goblins.  It didn’t matter.  They had all adapted to humanity’s drive in a way that made them all but indistinguishable from Earth’s natives. 

While the dragons had focused on building amenities like taverns, restaurants, and even a spa that Elijah had never bothered to use, the Hartwood expedition had spent all of their time shoring up the Vengeance’s defenses.  There was even a contingent of Engineers working on the ship’s ethereal engines. 

It was a remarkable feat of productivity, but it also meant that the entire place looked like a construction zone.  On his way out, Elijah found himself taking a fair few detours and stepping around more than a couple of obstructions.  He didn’t mind, though.  The end results would doubtless prove to be worth it.

Eventually, he made his way to the surface, where he found even more changes.  Not only had the Druids been hard at work cultivating the forest – which was already connected to Elijah in a way that felt almost as potent as his bond with the grove – while Kurik and a few assistants had turned the entire place into an absolute kill zone.

Elijah found the dwarf himself only a quarter of a mile from the entrance.

Kurik looked up, asking, “You leavin’?”

Elijah nodded. “I was going to ask you to come along,” he answered.  “You up for a road trip?”

Kurik shook his head. “Not right now,” he replied, kneeling next to a mound of freshly turned earth.  “The traps ‘round ‘ere ain’t gonna finish themselves.”

Then, he went on to eagerly explain some of the living traps he’d planted across the surface.  Most of them looked like normal plants – and to a degree, that was accurate.  However, when enemies came around, they would explode, either with kinetic force, vines, razor sharp petals, or any number of deadly effects.  Most came with a dose of venom as well, which brought an evil smile to Kurik’s face.

“You definitely enjoy your work, don’t you?”

“What’s not to enjoy?” asked Kurik.

Elijah chuckled, then left his friend to his devices.  Soon enough, he’d shifted into the Shape of the World Serpent and used Dimensional Leap.  In a handful of seconds, he’d covered thousands of miles, but he still had a ways to go before he reached the first satellite fungal colony.

Once there, he would get started on phase two of his plan to colonize Orveth Kaal.  Hopefully, he would have enough time to do it properly.  If he did, then it would change the face of the entire ancestral world.

And he was eager to see it.