The gold of the two Kings' robes stood in stark opposition. One was made of black gold ore, overflowing with earth element fons, and the other was made of silk created from the leaves of the golden Gofer tree, overflowing with wood element fons.
Around King Odo of Eternal Rock, a visible aura of earth fons in a yellow hue contrasted with the green wood element aura emitted by King Alefel of Fortress Veridia. The two retinues stood face to face, watching their sovereigns measure and test each other.
"Not bad, kid! It seems you've gotten a bit better at controlling your royal aura."
"No doubt I learned from one of the best. You know, Uncle, the advantage of being the nephew of Odo, the Wall of Eternal Rock, carries great weight."
"That was a long time ago; my bones don't even remember what it was like to run unimpeded through the battlefield. Leaving sentimentality aside, has everyone arrived?"
Silence ensued for a fraction of a second as Alefel clenched his jaw, and after a heavy sigh, he replied:
"Aegir is still missing. The only one who dared to be late for the assembly."
Odo nodded thoughtfully.
"Aquilon is as essential to the supercontinent of Eretz as Fortress Veridia. It makes perfect sense for Aegir to resort to ways of making that point clear."
Reluctantly, King Alefel nodded in disapproval.
"So be it! Let us go to the meeting chamber; the others are already waiting."
The two Kings climbed the stairs of the most imposing set of buildings in the center of Fortress Veridia. Its height was impressive, and its cylindrical towers were a landmark, their hanging gardens with golden Gofer wood leaves punctuating the landscape with golden trees.
As they ascended and passed through the main corridor with staircases leading to the upper floors, the side walls drew attention with their mosaics of various flowers. Each was a masterpiece of Fortress Veridia, the fruit of their direct manipulation of the wood element, possessing diverse properties and effects, ranging from healing to strengthening vitality.
On the fourth floor, at the end of the corridor, thick dark-red wooden doors opened into a luxurious chamber. In the center of the cylindrical chamber was a beautifully crafted round table inlaid with various ores and fons essences, as well as a fist-sized ether crystal at its center.
Around the table were seven chairs arranged to evoke equality, already occupied by Kings Cassian of Ignis and Håkon of Aetheria.
"It's about time! I don't have time to waste on bureaucracy, Alefel; we should have started the assembly hours ago," the King of Aetheria demanded, standing up the moment he saw the Kings entering the chamber.
"Patience is a virtue you have always lacked, Cloud Knight," King Odo retorted with an exasperated air.
"Humph! A mummy like you, Odo, can talk about patience; after all, with one foot in the grave, all that's left for you is to wait and do nothing significant," Håkon needled with a look of disdain.
"Majesties, I believe the greatest purpose of this assembly is mutual cooperation. If even before we are all seated, we are already ready for war, then the Noble's Council deserves to rule all mortals in Eretz," Cassian countered, ending the argument once and for all.
Once everyone was seated—some reluctantly—and King Alefel was about to speak, the door was opened by a herald who announced the arrival of King Aegir of Aquilon.
The dark-blue royal cloak shimmered with water fons, crafted in azure essence; it was like seeing someone wearing water itself. Aegir's steps were firm, and his regal posture exuded an air of authority, like someone accustomed to not being questioned.
The King of Aquilon, the city-state that rivaled Fortress Veridia in importance, entered the chamber and sat across from King Alefel.
A vein pulsed in the temple of the King of Fortress Veridia as he looked at his rival. Controlling his voice as much as possible, Alefel glared at Aegir and said:
"You are late, Your Majesty."
The comment earned a sarcastic look from the King of Aquilon, who apologized with a half-smile:
"I ask for forgiveness for making you wait, Majesties; urgent matters in Aquilon detained me longer than expected. But now that I have arrived, let's get straight to the point: what is the best way to seize the opportunity presented to us to subjugate the Noble's Council?"
Without allowing any other King to respond, Alefel stepped forward to counter Aegir's question, which had been asked purely to provoke him, since he was the host and the
conduct of the assembly was his.
"We cannot simply ignore the fact, Majesties, that all city-states know mortal lives were used in the cultivators' trap as if they were nothing. Meat shields, with no real purpose—that is how they treated us."
"King Alefel is right; the population expects an answer. The immortal cultivators were once ephemeral and distant entities. Now they are executioners close at hand, with the power to eliminate anyone anywhere. This has always been a fact, but now it is general knowledge and cannot be reversed," King Håkon pointed out in agreement, showing the extent of the problem they had on their hands.
King Cassian, aiming to stand out, chose to go against the obvious facts, offering his vision on the matter:
"I agree the population deserves an answer, but confirmation from their rulers would only serve to cause more panic. Trying by all means to pin this exclusively on the Master of Space would be best. Obviously, coordinating with the cultivators for this would be the best path. In the end, it is not whoever gives the best answer to the population who will rule, but whoever proves capable of navigating this disaster before the cultivators. After all, without their permission, there are no rulers."
The discomfort following the King of Ignis's words was instantaneous. They all knew they were appointed Kings, their dynasties forged amidst so many others raised by the cultivators, and that at the slightest misstep, their heads would roll. Plotting a power shift was as much an opportunity as it was walking on the edge of a knife.
"Well spoken, King Cassian. The most important point is not the population, but the cultivators, since they are the true sovereigns of the human race," King Aegir declared in a gesture of agreement.
Soon the table was divided between those who used the population as a parameter for their next steps and those whose only parameter was the cultivators.
Hours passed without any resolution, further increasing the divide between the Kings present.
"We won't get anywhere this way. I suggest we wait for the Kings of the North and South Polar to join us before we proceed," King Odo advised.
"We do not have time to wait for the northerners. The Noble's Council is meeting, and every delay favors their plans while we don't even have a plan," Aegir stated.
"Well, I see no other course of action but to wait for the northern Royalties. Staying in this impass—" Before King Alefel could finish his sentence, a roar followed by a violent tremor shook the entire city-state.
The Kings stood up with difficulty, seeing the look of shock and fear in each other's eyes.
Guards came running into the chamber, as did members of the royal retinues.
"I want a report on the extent of the damage and the probable cause! Send the information to the meeting chamber core!" Alefel bellowed, imagining several scenarios.
Less than two minutes later, the captain of the royal guard entered the crowded room with a rectangular wooden object with green veins. Inserting the object into the side of the table near King Alefel, he reported:
"Majesty, the royal guard informs that the tremor was felt throughout the entire territory. The various warp posts scattered across the four fiefs suffered direct influence, being interrupted in full operation. Aside from the warp networks that interconnect the entire city-state, there were no other significant incidents beyond minor material damage due to the tremor."
Nodding to the captain, the King lightly touched a symbol engraved on the table, which instantly triggered a green glow in the ether crystal at the center of the table. A large-scale projection of the city-state and the forest on its eastern border completely took over the table.
"Show the current situation and the extent of the damage. Then, run a simulation of the warp interruption point furthest away for what appears to be the first one affected," Alefel skillfully commanded, showing the ingenious mind that had transformed Fortress Veridia into an essential pillar for mortals and immortals alike.
"Yes, Master..." The response caught the Kings present by surprise. The voice seemed to come from the table.
"Is that an artifact spirit?" King Håkon was the first to speak; being the leader of the most developed mortal nation in Eretz, legendary artifacts and advanced techniques were common to him. But even he had never interacted with an artifact spirit, as that was a technique of the cultivators.
"Of course not. Artifact spirits, even low-grade ones, could manage the entire lives of the more than 800 million inhabitants of my kingdom. I possess no such thing. This is my humble and limited version, a crystallization of human intelligence, responsible for managing the center of Fortress Veridia and monitoring the warp network throughout the city-state. It is merely an operational intelligence, far from the artifact spirits of the immortals, capable of managing even absurd amounts of fons," Alefel explained.
As they spoke, several points on the projection flashed in different shades of red, indicating the degree of damage. Then, the projection began to ripple from a specific point toward areas further east, near the forest border.
"Spatial disturbance detected on the eastern border. Probable source originated in the Forest of Beasts. Intensity suggests the anomaly's propagation came from the center of the Forest of Beasts or the edge of the Forest of Death."
Upon hearing the report, a shiver ran down the spines of the Kings present. No mortal would have the power to cause such a disturbance, which could only mean one thing: the affairs of the immortals in Eretz had arrived at their doorsteps.