Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK TWO STUBBING AUGUST 15)-12-5. No Such Thing as Selflessness
“Good question,” Elijah responded, thankful that Isaiah was willing to play his unwitting part. “The answer comes with two sides. The first follows from my explanation. Keeping the Primal Realms under control helps everyone on Earth and prepares us for the next crisis.” He leaned forward, his hands on the table. “In case everyone forgot, I live here too. My family lives here. My grove is here. And I want to protect this planet just as much as the rest of you.”
“From what?” asked Ram Khandu, his voice more of a sneer than anything else. “Do you know something we don’t?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Then there may not be another crisis?”
Elijah shrugged. “I don’t know, but are you willing to bet on it?” he asked. “I’m not asking much, here.”
“What is the other side?” asked Isaiah.
“Power.”
“There it is,” said Ram, throwing his hand up.
After that, the room erupted into conversation. Elijah allowed it to go on for a few moments before he raised his voice and stated, “There is no such thing as complete selflessness.”
That shut them up.
“Do you help one another for no reason?” he asked. “Isaiah, did you put that Summit together out of the goodness of your heart?” He turned to the leader of the Conclave. “Hu Shui, did you put those Spires in the desert without expecting anything in return?”
The black-clad spatial fighter gave him a cold smile and said, “The business dealings of the Conclave are our business, Mr. Hart, and no one else’s.”
“I’ll take that as a no,” Elijah replied. “My trees connect to my grove, and they help to empower it. That’s it. That’s all they do. That’s how I benefit. My grove grows stronger, and we solve a problem before it presents itself.”
“What do we get out of it?” asked Davu Adebowale.
“My good will,” Elijah stated evenly. “Isn’t it enough that I’m the only reason any of you have a chance of living through this?”
“That’s –”
Elijah cut Gix off. “Are you going to sit here and tell me that you can conquer these Primal Realms alone? Do you truly believe that you can control their output afterwards? Because if you do, I’ll call you a liar, right here and now.”
“Our ethereal engineers have made great progress with our own prototypes,” Isaiah spoke up. “We feel confident that we’ll be able to solve the ethereal overflow problem soon.”
“And in the meantime?” Elijah asked. “Do you think you have the power to conquer the Red Marsh when it’s at full power? Because I don’t. Even if you all worked together, I doubt you could even reach the Primal Realm.”
That was no exaggeration, either. Even Sadie, with the best Ironshore, Argos, and Svetogorsk had to offer, couldn’t reach the Primal Realm. And that was with the bulk of the trolls’ forces being hampered by illythiri resistance.
Isaiah pointed out, “You said it yourself. You live here too.”
“Which is why I’m offering to help in the first place. It certainly didn’t come from magnanimity,” Elijah stated. “I want this planet to survive. To thrive. I’m sacrificing priceless natural treasures for it. The proper response is to thank me.”
“While you continue to grow stronger,” Shanala pointed out.
“Is your goal for the entire planet to become your grove?” asked Gix.
Elijah shrugged. “I haven’t thought that far ahead. But so what if it was? Can you name a better place to live than my grove?” he asked. “Most would kill for an opportunity like that. But no. I don’t think this will turn the whole of Earth into my grove. I’m not that kind of Druid.”
“What kind of Druid are you?” asked Davu.
Elijah locked eyes with the man. “The kind that gives this world a chance at survival.”
For a moment, no one said anything. Then, he laid out what he wanted. The gist of it was that he needed protection for his trees – specifically the one near the Broken Crown, but also for ones to be planted in the future. Elijah couldn’t do it himself. He just didn’t have time. Nor did his allies have the manpower to spread themselves so thin.
So, he proposed the formation of a force meant to fill in those gaps.
“They will also enforce the schedule,” Elijah suggested.
“Schedule?”
“Primal Realms are a leveling resource, just like towers,” he stated. He no longer feared that entrants into the Broken Crown would learn his weaknesses. Nor did he have the means to monopolize the other Primal Realms.
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The off-worlders present nodded along, and Gix added, “On my world, they are tightly controlled. No one gets in without permission.”
“That’s what we want here,” Elijah said. “Each faction represented here will get a slot, which they can use however they want. Use it yourself. Sell it. It doesn’t matter. But each slot is more than just an opportunity. It’s an obligation. If you fail to conquer the Primal Realm two times in a row, you will forfeit the next slot.”
He went on, detailing his plan for organization. In truth, he wished he could take credit for it, but most of the details had come from Nara’s home world. It wasn’t ideal, but to Elijah, it was clear that the way they were doing things wasn’t going to work.
“What about the Chimeric Forge?” asked Isaiah.
“That’s mine.”
“But –”
“It is mine,” Elijah repeated. “I may allow others to use it, but that’s an entirely different conversation.”
Thankfully, that wasn’t a sticking point. Not surprising, considering that Elijah held all the cards. They couldn’t conquer the remaining Primal Realms without him, and they certainly had no answers for keeping them from overflowing. They could at least recognize that much.
Over the next hour, they continued to discuss the details, but in the end, everyone agreed to the plan. Not willingly. There were holdouts, but the fact that no one wanted to be left behind, they had little choice but to go along with Elijah’s proposal.
Still, everyone wanted input as to the details, which bored Elijah to no end. His mind wandered until, at last, he stood and said, “I think we’ve made a lot of progress here. I’ll leave you all to work out the remaining details. Send them to Atticus Ariti in Argos when you’ve finalized your portion of the proposal. Once he approves it, I’ll give it a look. And if it works for me, we’ll have an agreement.”
“Ariti?”
Elijah nodded. “I’m sure you all know him. Or of him, at least.”
He didn’t think Atticus would appreciate being used as a lawyer stand-in, but Elijah wasn’t sure who else could fill that role. Perhaps Ramik, but he already had enough on his plate. Besides, with all the money Atticus had made off of him, Elijah didn’t think there was much room for complaints.
After that, Isaiah took control of the meeting, calling for a short break. Probably a good idea, considering that lunch time was fast approaching. Everyone broke away, likely to speak to their advisors and underlings.
Well, everyone but Isaiah himself.
Once they were alone, the leader of Seattle asked, “Is that what you wanted from me?”
Elijah nodded. “It was perfect.”
His previous message to Isaiah hadn’t been complicated, but despite their adversarial relationship, he’d agreed to play his part.
“Then it’s time you came through with your end of the bargain,” said Isaiah.
“You will receive a dossier with everything my associate discovered. The Cliff’s Notes is that you have half your city working against you,” Elijah explained. “But most importantly, there are multiple criminal organizations operating out of the Undercity.”
“I’m aware.”
“One of them hired an assassin to try to kill me,” Elijah stated. “Tried to make it look like you were the one doing the hiring, too. The way I see it, the idea was to point me at you like a nuclear warhead. I’m not sure what the overall goal was, but I can tell you it wouldn’t have been good for you.”
“You have names? Locations?” Isaiah asked, trying to mask his alarm. For a man like that, whose whole world revolved around being the best-informed person in every room he entered, the idea that there were threats right under his nose was a shocking development. Of course, his face remained expressionless, and the only indication of his panic was a slightly quickened pulse.
Even that didn’t sound quite right.
Probably because the man’s entire heart had been replaced by a machine. Indeed, at least half his body was artificial. It was a marvel of engineering – both mechanical and ethereal – and Elijah couldn’t help but feel impressed.
Or that would have been the case if he didn’t recognize the aura for what it was. He had no idea how Isaiah had gained an elder core, but it had become increasingly obvious that he was well on his way to becoming a true mechanique.
Elijah wasn’t sure what to think about that. On the one hand, he’d spent quite a lot of time having a cautionary tale concerning chimera and mechaniques hammered into his head. On the other, he didn’t feel any sense of wrongness about Isaiah. Sure, he didn’t like the man. He probably never would. But he didn’t feel unnatural.
“We will,” Elijah said. “I intend to head to Seattle soon.”
“Let me handle it,” Isaiah responded.
“No.”
“It is my city,” the man growled challengingly.
“And they tried to have me killed,” Elijah countered, keeping his Mantle of Authority under wraps. His instincts told him to let it loose in a show of dominance, but he tamped that notion down. “I have every right to hold them accountable.”
Isaiah, recognizing that he had no leverage, said, “Wait until I’m there. Give me that, at least. We can handle it together.”
Elijah frowned, but he replied, “Fine. But if it comes to me wiping them from the face of the Earth…”
“I won’t stand in your way,” Isaiah assured him. Then, in a cold voice, he added, “In fact, I will help.”
Elijah didn’t think he’d need any help, but he decided not to fight him on it. Partly, because it was just easier – after all, Seattle was still Isaiah’s city. But also because he had been victimized by the plot almost as surely as Elijah had been. He deserved the opportunity to make it right.
After that, they agreed to meet in Seattle once Elijah had taken care of some other tasks.
In the wake of that agreement, Elijah said, “I know we haven’t always gotten along. You don’t like me. I don’t like you. But that doesn’t mean we can’t work together for the betterment of our planet.”
“I agree,” said Isaiah.
That marked an awkward end to their conversation. For his part, Elijah was satisfied with how things had gone down, so when he left the Small Hall, he felt a lot more hopeful than when he’d entered. Chester was waiting for him outside, but Elijah told him that he could make his own way.
So it happened that he found himself heading back into the city proper. However, he didn’t end up back in the hotel or to one of the many restaurants he wanted to visit. Instead, he went to the slums.
Elijah knew that he had eyes on him. The guilds would have been moronic not to watch his every move. But he didn’t care. His destination wasn’t sensitive information. In fact, there was a part of him that wanted them to know where he went. Perhaps if they saw his response, it would inspire them to do better.
So it was that Elijah found himself entering a modest clinic manned by an overworked Healer.
“No ethera,” the woman said. “Come back tomorrow, but be early. Otherwise, you won’t get healed.”
“I’m not here for healing. I’m here to help,” Elijah said, using Grove Conduit.
That got the Healer’s attention. Her eyes snapped up at the influx of vitality and regeneration. “What is that? Who are you?” she demanded.
“Just someone who wants to help. Over the next few hours, we need to get as many people in here as we can. Treat it like I have infinite ethera. Can you help me help as many people as possible in that time?” he asked.
“I…I think I can.”
“Good,” Elijah said with a grin. “Let’s get to work.”
12-5. No Such Thing as Selflessness
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