Elder Cultivator
Chapter 1280

Less than half of the defenders within Ratna’s territory were now from her own sect. The Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance were quite sizable with a long history, but they hadn’t followed the same methods of growth and prosperity as the rest of the Scarlet Alliance for terribly long. A thousand years of intentional widespread development instead of focusing the resources on a few individuals provided far different results- and overall it was clear that the individuals at the top didn’t suffer.

Along with the fleets, a number of powerful individuals joined Ratna. First, there was Ylvali and the S.A.S. Starstriker. The captain and crew had continued to grow stronger over the past century, strengthening the physical connection that the Scarlet Alliance had with the midfields. And while part of their plans had been made obsolete because of the new spatial distortions, it was still very comforting to know that western travel was safe. Furthermore, they did send some portion of the fleets through the normal route so as to not give away their secrets too easily. Keeping people guessing was important.

As for the others, Chidi and Aconite were assigned to help the eastern part of the Alliance. If Chidi could take down Yann, then the assault from the Fearsome Menagerie would fall apart. However, his presence was actually meant for a different individual, Sudin. Whether the Twin Soul Sect Domination cultivator had weakened with his reincarnation, maintained his power, or even grown more powerful somehow, Chidi could deal with him. He had a high probability of killing any Domination cultivator he came up against- which was by design. He was a specialist, and Negation was the most terrifying for those who were strong.

Even if he could only manage widespread negation for a few moments, Ratna had observed his abilities grow over time. The rate at which he acclimated to new and chaotic energies had increased, his duration of negation was longer, and he could cover more area. Besides, if he could actually reach a foe it didn’t matter whether he had one second or ten to kill them- they could easily die. Combined with Aconite who was prepared to fight alongside him with poisons that didn’t need upper energy to be effective, they were a deadly duo. Alternatively, they could function independently depending on the needs of the battle.

The reason Chidi was to target Sudin specifically was simple- if all energy was negated during the time of his death, Sudin couldn’t actively control the process of his reincarnation at all. At best, he might return to the normal process- but they planned to disrupt that as well, if they could.

Ratna was looking forward to their plans coming to fruition, which was about the time that Everheart attacked the southwestern border. The Swirling Swarm came not long after, plunging the area into chaos.

Ratna was thrown into disarray. “Why did it have to be now?” She was speaking about Everheart in particular, but of course the answer was simple- because this was the worst time. “Normally, we might manage some sort of negotiation, but he won’t even talk with someone who isn’t important,” Ratna sighed. “And we can’t afford to send either of you,” she commented to Chidi and Aconite. “I can’t leave the front either, obviously.”

“I could go,” Aconite suggested. “I’m less critical to the plans here. He will likely respect me enough to speak.”

Ratna pondered that. She supposed Everheart wasn’t going to treat a wolf any worse than a human. Perhaps he might even be more inclined to listen to her. He had a new turtle, apparently, and he frequently gathered large menageries. Though the more someone was a person, the less likely he was to be particularly well inclined towards them.

“We can try to contact Vari,” Chidi suggested. “She can contact him north of the Scarlet Alliance.”

“How long will that take?” Ratna asked. “I don’t want to lose a dozen systems waiting.”

“Probably a week,” Chidi admitted.

That was fast. Normally, Ratna would have been elated. “That includes sending a message?”

“BHCP,” Chidi pointed out.

“Well at least we wouldn’t have to hide it from Everheart himself, so it’s not that big of an issue,” Ratna agreed. “Go ahead and call him.”

Soon enough, they gathered the local Bear Hug and explained the plan.

“Okay,” Bear Hug said. “What do I tell him?”

“Her,” Ratna clarified. “You’re to talk to Vari and tell her to go speak to Everheart regarding a cessation of aggression.”

“Why?”

“Because we don’t want to be attacked.”

“I understand that. Is it not okay for me to talk to him, then?”

Ratna shook her head. “We’re not sending you to go meet Everheart. He might not even talk to you.”

“He’s talking to me right now. But I’ve been good and I haven’t said anything!”

Ratna took a moment to recenter herself. “Who is talking to you right now?”

“Everheart.”

“Which one of you? Where?”

“On Second Gift.”

“He’s already there?!”

-----

“I can talk to you now,” Bear Hug said. They were speaking sounds, which was hard. Fortunately, they didn’t have to do that in many places at once. “Ratna doesn’t want you here. Can you please leave?”

“No.”

“Umm… pretty please?”

“No.”

“I think during negotiations you are supposed to give a counteroffer,” Bear Hug said.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“We’re not negotiating.”

“But Ratna told me to ask what you want! What do you want?”

“Power. Territory. Respect.”

“I respect you, Mr. Everheart,” Bear Hug commented. It was a good thing they had been given an energy reading for Everheart, because he didn’t look at all like… any of the previous options. But that was supposed to be normal. This one was tall and thin, but still young. Or at least not wrinkly. Bear Hug wasn’t good at reading physical features. “But I do need to know what you want before you’ll leave.”

“I want Second Gift.”

Bear Hug vehemently refused. “You can’t do that! It was so much work to get it here. Do you want some fishies?”

Everheart strolled over to the indicated pond. “They’re rather mediocre.”

“I worked hard to make sure they grew big and strong! You’re mean.”

“Yes,” Everheart agreed. “So…” he suddenly began making energy gestures, in addition to his speech. “This is how you speak, isn’t it?”

“Anton taught me! Do you want to learn? It’s really easy. Just include your intent in everything and people will understand even if you say things funny. I bet you can do it because you’re strong!”

“Anton taught you, did he? Tell me about that.”

“Abioye helped him come up with it! I couldn’t speak or hear but I could sense energy and they thought that it would be a good way to speak to lots of new people. Hey, do you know the mace lady?”

“The mace lady?”

“That one! Keep going! Stretch! There she is.”

Bear Hug directed Everheart to Luksa. “I do know the ‘mace lady’,” Everheart confirmed.

“Tell her to stop ripping up plants or I’ll get mad!”

“You should tell her that yourself.”

“I did and she kept doing it! You’re important and in charge, right? Make her stop.”

“Why should I?”

“Do you hate plants?”

“Not particularly.”

“Then you should make sure they’re transplanted correctly!”

“Hmm. A fair point. Luksa… please follow the guidance of that bloblike individual near you.”

Bear Hug bounced up and down. “Thank you. You want plants, right? It seems like you want plants.”

“That is certainly one thing we are here for.”

“I will help you get some. But you can’t have them all because we need them! You didn’t answer if you wanted any fishies. I can also get you bugs, and bears, and a whale! But only one whale.”

“I’m sure there is more than one.”

“You can’t have them. We’d run out of whales,” Bear Hug said. “You can have twenty bears, though. We have too many in one spot.”

-----

“Okay, we’re done,” Bear Hug said.

“What did he want?” Ratna asked.

“Pretty much everything. I gave him what he wanted and he left.”

“You-” Ratna caught herself. Actually, she would have accepted quite a lot to make Everheart leave. The fact that Bear Hug had misconstrued her intentions might be her own fault for not explaining. She knew they thought differently, after all. “How much is ‘pretty much everything’?”

“A whole lot. He took two whales. But I convinced him to take the old ones we didn’t need as much, even though he won’t be able to get new whales from them.”

“... How many whales were there?”

“Umm… it will take a while to count.”

“Don’t bother,” Ratna said. “What else?”

“A hundred and one oaks! I don’t know why he wanted the extra one, but he took them from all over the countryside so it’s fine. He didn’t want any fishies, but he did take some crabs and some herbs and-”

“That’s enough,” Ratna said. It was her fault for asking. “Did anyone get hurt?”

“A bear bit one of the tenders,” Bear Hug explained. “He had to bandage his finger.”

“Was anyone killed?”

“Umm… I think Everheart is going to kill most of the animals.”

“But not people?”

“Everyone said not to attack. So I told everyone else.”

That was the right call. Second Gift was well defended- but not prepared for sudden Everheart intrusions. “We you able to convince him to withdraw from our territory?”

Of course, Bear Hug had not. Because Ratna hadn’t asked. This was why she normally didn’t relegate diplomacy to plants. On the other hand, Bear Hug had somehow convinced Everheart not to scout the whole planet for resources- and also stopped him from taking the whole thing. He could doubtless do that, if he set his mind to it- and Ratna might not have been able to reach him to stop him.

She still didn’t like that he could just get into the core of her territory without being intercepted, but this was an opportunity to learn and improve. And as far as interactions with the man went, as long as they only discovered the vaults of a planet or two had also been mysteriously drained in his passing Ratna could truly consider it a win. She would obviously rather have lost nothing, but that was impractical. Especially at the current moment.

-----

That individual known as Bear Hug sure talked a lot. They revealed information about Anton- most of which Everheart already knew. The language would be useful to know for future interactions in case he ran into any further… instances of the individual. He certainly hadn’t expected to see someone with clones that was so… ignorant. It was humbling, in a way. Clearly, he needed to step up his own learning if he wanted properly appear impressive.

It was nice of them to gather what he wanted. Technically, he could have gone around the planet and swept up everything and he would have gotten far more… but he did understand the delicate state of the planet. Honestly, he found it quite intriguing how upper energy was being converted to lower energy. That wasn’t something he would have ever even considered. Snatching the planet would be a waste- it would be a one time victory. He could gain so much more knowledge and further resources by being patient. And avoiding battle was nice. Everheart was never concerned for himself, but he didn’t like having to replace subordinates. Even if he tried to pick the best, they still occasionally perished.

Bear Hug sure talked a lot. About things that Everheart didn’t even ask. Like how mean the Tilki clan was and how some Sudin guy was supposed to be super dead but was super not dead. Amazingly, Everheart hadn’t been able to get the location of Ratna or more importantly Chidi confirmed- though he was fairly certain she was on the eastern end of the area. Still, a wounded Domination cultivator in the Tilki clan… Everheart recalled a few incidents with them in the past. Maybe it was time to get some revenge.

Even if that injury was decades old, the fear of nearly dying to a strange cultivator in the form of Chidi would stick. Everheart might be able to exploit that. Besides, he had a couple systems near there that weren’t living up to their full potential.

As for Sudin being alive, Everheart was already aware. He’d considered taking the man out himself, but it was more amusing to see him struggle. Still, the man was tenacious like a cockroach. Everheart had been quite certain it was a permanent death, and misjudging that was embarrassing. He’d have to triple check this time.