Chapter 229: Aeon of Expansion

Year 229 (part 2)

***

We selected a large, mostly deserted desert on the furthest north of the Sandpeople’s domain. My goal was more mana, and to do so I needed trees. I could spawn desert adapted trees, and convert some of these deserts into ordinary land where normal, more productive trees could form. 

So, a largely deserted desert was fairly ideal for me. The sandpeople loved sandy deserts, but only if they were not too far from bodies of water. 

They also preferred warmer climates, and the cold deserts further north were also not ideal. The only reason it’s their territory, was because it was at the far end of their territory, too far from both the Centaurs or the humans. 

The administrators of the Sandpeople handled the transfer quickly, the golden plaque from the Great Pyramid itself was indisputable. We had our papers within days, the administrators worked hard and pretty much dropped everything else to give us the necessary documents. 

All because the Great Pyramid’s will is absolute. 

“Their behavior is very much normal!” Lumoof laughed. “You should observe the Valthorns when you grant them an order personally. Their reaction is entirely, entirely normal.”

Once all that was sorted out Lumoof traveled personally to the location, to place the seed.

The cold in the fringe territories of the Sandpeople was actually quite comfortable. My immunity to weather effects and terraforming abilities meant I could easily alter the temperature and makeup of the place. 

I recall when I placed my seed on the Mountainworld and set up Branchhold, I got access to another color of my Soul Forge. I wonder whether the same would happen now.

Each full will of the world had the ability to grant access to Soul Forge? 

“Well, let’s see.”

My seed emerged from Lumoof’s palms like magic. I felt the seed touch the cold sand, and then, my seed drilled into the ground. I felt a sudden but not overwhelming surge of mana, as the seed creates new roots.

Roots that immediately soaked in the mana of the new world, of Threeworld. After being in multiple worlds, I could largely feel slight differences in the nature of mana. It’s not a significant one such that it changes the ‘type’ or ‘quality’, but in a way, it’s like how water somehow tastes slightly different in different places. 

It’s still water, perfectly drinkable. 

Normal mana that is produced by almost everything can be said as a blended form of mana. It’s the potpourri of everything, the neutral element in the world. 

Star mana, demonic mana, void mana, blood mana and normal mana. 

I had learnt of the existence of a type of blood mana recently, as some of the Ularans visited and salvaged old, destroyed dens. With the Valthorns providing protection and support, they had nothing to fear of the demons, and so they could freely travel to where their old Ularan dens were, and look for ancient documents and text.

Some were lost forever. But burying magical books in this canyon-like, water-scarce world was a surprisingly good way to preserve them. 

The truth is, even normal mana can be separated into elemental types of mana, which all fall under the greater ‘normal’ mana pool.

It is an imperfect mental image, but I imagine elemental mana as the equivalent of flavored drinking water. Water with certain flavors accentuated. 

Star mana, in this concept, is a little like carbonated, condensed high pressure water. Powerful, but dangerous in the hands of those not able to cope with it. 

Demonic mana is dirty, sludge like water, like wastewater. 

Void mana is kinda like oil, or grease. Or maybe a kind of alcohol. I haven’t quite truly understood what void mana should be. 

So, in this image, each world’s ‘drinking’ water has a slightly different flavor, the ratio of elements and other components do differ in minute amounts.

“Nothing yet.” The ground and the sand shook, and a tree sprouted out. I felt my mind connect to my new clone, and now I saw through it. I had a decision, now.

What did I want to do on Threeworld?

I spawned trees all around my new clone, and soon realized they produced decent quantities of mana, despite how terrible the land was. 

I had thought there was some correlation between the health of a tree and how much natural resources it had, to the mana it produced. This did seem true on Treehome, though the gap wasn’t that big. A cactus produced mana. A shrub in the steppes produced mana. 

“Master, trees produce mana best, when the species or form of the tree is the form that is optimally adapted to its environment. An alpine tree in an alpine world would produce more mana than an alpine tree in the desert. A desert tree would produce more mana in the desert world than in the tropics.” My artificial minds stepped in to correct. They handled all the nitty gritty aspects for me. 

“But we also influence the natural state at the same time?” I have some environmental tweaking powers after all.

“Yes, so over time it’s possible to cause trees to be less optimised to its environment through our modification of the land.” That was a little strange, and meant ‘terraforming’ this land was usually unnecessary if the goal was only to gain mana. 

So, do I intend to build a city here, like how I did on Mountainworld? 

Or would this solely be a mana-producing facility?

My council advised that as it is, they already have their hands full. We were expanding on Tropicworld (formerly known as Parasiteworld), managing Branchhold, managing the Central Continent itself. 

A full town was unnecessary, and I didn’t really want to upset the balance of power between the three factions, either. 

Therefore I decided to go low key, and start modifying the terrain underground. It was partly inspired by the Ularans, and it reminded me of the century when I had New Freeka dig up underground bunkers. 

It was fairly easy to create a perpetual mist that obscured the presence of the trees, and the entrance to the underground chambers was through my [subsidiary trees]. With my [Root Tunnels], and the help of earth mages and builders, we created underground homes, offices and stores. 

In time, this would be a bit like a secret military base, where my operatives in the Centaur and Sandpeople-lands could return to recharge.

But-

Still nothing on the soul forge front. 

Then again-

[Clone deployed on Threeworlds - You are now able to receive the souls of those from Threeworlds, and also the soul fragments of the Threeworlds’ heroes]

***

Freshka is now at least a hundred years old. This city was named a good hundred and seventeen years ago, and so much has changed since then. Patreeck also began serving me a hundred years ago. It honestly didn’t feel that long. Thinking back, it felt like just remembering something that happened a year, or two ago. 

The Six Ports fell to my rule slightly over a hundred years ago too, and that was the beginning of the Empire. I’ve seen my vision expand from a little village, to a region, then a continent, and now, the entire world. 

My trees landed on every large significant piece of land of Treehome, and truly, now deserved to be called, Treehome.

The world felt more vibrant, more... alive. 

And as I covered more and more of the world, my trees, now extending to all major areas of the other continents.

Ngeh. 

In hindsight, the speed from the rebirth of Freshka to what was my tree’s spread to the entire world was exceptionally fast. If I had to ‘fight’ to conquer the other lands, I think it would take a long time, but the thing about trees is we are always perceived as invisible. We are always a background element.

Except when there are evil trees, but that has been quite rare even in stories. 

Now that my trees reached everywhere, I had a title.

[New Title Unlocked : One Who Covers the Surface World]

In an instant, I felt something extremely powerful reach out and pull on my will.

Greetings, Tree. 

The voice was in my mind, just as sudden as the voices of others. It was a little like Lilies, but more gentle, more motherly. 

I was roused by a notification, and I awoke to find a tree had claimed my surface world. You have the faint whiff of my fellow sisters and brothers, how strange.

“Hello.” This was a sensation familiar to me. It was when the Will of the Tropicsworld reached out to touch me, and when the Will of the shattered Cometworld touched me. “I am speaking to the Will of the World?”

Yes, but I am no will, but a relic of the creation of worlds, the residual thoughts and structured processes, a system left behind to operate each world. 

I felt a tugging sensation, and at that moment, I could feel that tugging sensation reached out to touch many others throughout the world. It touched normal trees, people, everyone. 

> The will of the world awakens. < Lilies quickly pinged me. > We felt your presence close to it. < 

< I am speaking to it. >

> Fascinating. We would love to speak to it again. < 

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How strange indeed, you have seen the demise of my sisters and brothers, and restored the structure of my consumed brothers. 

“Are you reading my mind?”

No. Merely reading the minds of those around you. 

From what it answered, it seemed the Will was merely an AI. It doesn’t actively resist intrusion by the demons, and that was why the demons could consume the core. The world is a bio-magical life creating machine, and the Core of the world is but the vessel and controller of the machine. 

You’ve gained powers quite like mine, and you had a chance to consume my will. Make me a part of you. But you did not.

“I did not.”

Strange, but the Great System must have offered something else. 

Now that I was speaking to the Will of the World, I wasn’t sure what I wanted it to do. “Are you able to control your movements in the void sea?”

Void sea?

A long pause, and I felt its tendrils touch unprotected minds. 

Ah. The primordial soup. I could, but I am not allowed to. 

“Not allowed?”

Your understanding of us is not flawed. We are bound, controlled by rules. Those rules dictate what we do, and what we cannot do. It binds our actions, our decisions. Perhaps, if you one day claim one of my sisters, or myself as a part of you, you may instruct us accordingly, but now, I cannot do so.

“What happens if I do?”

An enemy of the other worlds. Your presence will be forever marked by our curse, just as these “demons” are forever marked by the collective curses of my brothers and sisters.

Interesting. The more I discover, there clearly seems to be some thought put into the design of these wills of the worlds. Is that why the demons become enemies everywhere they go? That everyone feels them? That the worlds reject their presence because of that ‘taint’ or ‘marker’.

“Then, I want knowledge. Tell me what you know of the “demons”.”

We know nothing, except that they carry the markers of destroying my siblings. Those are clear for us to see, and so we resist. Their presence stinks. It is foul. We know not of their history, we know not of their origins. We only know they are an enemy, and we tell the system to reward those who slay them.

“You can tell the system things?”

We submit a notification, and the system decides what it decides.

That’s not helpful. “What happened in the past? To the Margmarian Dwarves. To the Dragons?”

My children come and go. They died, or changed. That is the way. 

“If I merged with you, would I get marked?” I may not be able to get the Will of the World, but then again, could Lillies or Reefy or Aria get it? 

If the Great System grants you the option, the choice, no. What comes from the System is law. 

“Then what are gods?” 

Every system must have those who create the rules, modify the rules, those who punish the rulebreakers, those who maintain the systems as they are, and operate them.  Every system must react to the forces acting on it, lest it perish.

Gods are those who create and modify the rules, and those who punish the rulebreakers. 

Those who reach the point where the System judges them worthy, are offered a choice, and-

Wait-

Oh. You have not had the choice.

“The choice?”

To be bound by the System’s Pact, in exchange for the Powers of the System. 

The implication was clear. At some point in our levels, we will face a choice with the system, and I wonder whether the Pact is the same pact that restricted the gods, like Aiva, from doing what it wants. If so, were Aiva’s words a warning to me? To be wary of the system’s pact?

But- why?

***

Merchant guilds had always existed since I first came to this world, but it is in the great era of peace that merchant guilds gained strength and accumulated wealth to rival kingdoms.  

With the enhanced rule of law on the central continent, that, as it was on Earth, empowered guilds, and these guilds eventually formed alliances. 

As a military-educational-magical organization, we did business with guilds, and as our demands grew, the guilds grew with us. Over time, guilds amassed wealth, hoarded and stored in various places where they could not be stolen easily. First they gained wealth, then they purchased power. 

They hired the best adventurers money could buy. They attempted to sway the trained Valthorns, to some degree of success, with money and rewards, to work for them. 

The structure put in place for the Valthorns was massive. 

Dedicated healing, defensive outputs, focused training and equipment, and guided opportunities. For those who aspired to reach the 100s, money was not that useful.  Influence or money didn’t buy access to the level 100 to 140 dungeons. Influence or money also won’t buy access to the kinds of unique weapons we make. 

In a way, the Valthorns were stuck in the system, and that unless a large quantity of them left, it’s hard to replicate it outside on their own. 

Even if they could, they didn’t have access to the other worlds, or the unique materials, or the higher grade classes, or the various experience boosting abilities I had. 

I didn’t realize it. 

It was this system that made it very hard for them to quit, even if they were not loyal. 

That didn’t stop the merchant-guilds from trying, because a single level 85-90 Valthorn was a huge powerhouse, even if it didn’t seem that way. They did have some luck in recruiting retired Valthorns, though all of them were smart enough to ensure that none of their assignments would directly put them in conflict with us. 

After all, they’ve seen the monsters we had to fight, they know what we have at our disposal, and our willingness to deploy it. Many Valthorns are also familiar with our spying division. Their role has increased of late, as Treehome settles into a new status quo.

Still, it was interesting to bear witness to the first large scale guild wars, where a merchant guild actually attempted to overthrow a kingdom that blocked its shipments. Right up to the last moments, I watched the merchant’s leaders wonder whether we, the Valthorns, would intervene. We didn’t, so long as they played by the rules. 

It was well in the news, and a hot topic for discussion.

The rise of the ‘merchant-nations’, as they called it.

Our non-interference in that one incident, unfortunately, set off a race.

It set off a wave of merchant-guilds, many prosperous and very wealthy through decades of trade on the Central Continent, to plan to use their financial might to overthrow kingdoms and nations on the other four continents.

The kingdoms of the Central Continent, are generally wealthy, safe, and are also able to hire mercenaries, which made them relatively tougher opponents for the guilds. The nations of the other continents were relatively weaker, and don’t have easy access to the high quality weapons produced by the Central Continent’s many industrial cities.

It naturally led to some concerns from my higher council, who wondered whether this would jeopardize our status quo. 

The four temples, mainly Gaya and Hawa, were quick to spin this as some kind of ‘proxy invasion’. 

We thoroughly denounced it, and claimed that the central continent’s merchant guilds are also open targets. The other nations are free to attack the merchant guilds, so long as they obeyed the rules of engagement on the Central Continent. 

This was controversial, of course.

The guilds were able to do what they did, because their finances were secure. Safe in the various Valthorn-controlled cities of the Six Ports, or Freshka. 

No one attacked a bank in Freshka or the Six Ports. 

Rather than seen as protecting the guilds’ finances from retaliation, I therefore ordered that the property of any merchant guilds that waged wars on other kingdoms, not to be subjected to our protection, and any funds held with our Valtrian Order’s trade departments be returned to the respective guild’s own banks and vaults. 

But it was still a lopsided arrangement. 

The Central Continent was safer, stronger, and the merchant guilds of the Central Continent were able to work out a temporary understanding not to attack each other, while they focused on their target nations on the other continents. 

The age of Guild-invasions and expansion had begun. 

A part of me wanted to just let it happen, to witness the consequences. 

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