Path of Dragons

"Don't talk to me," Carmen groaned the moment Elijah walked in. His first stop had been the build-site for the Great Forge, but when he'd found it vacant, he'd rightly assumed he could find his sister-in-law working in her original smithy. He stepped inside, watching her bang on what looked like it would one day become a sword. After only a few minutes, she let out a sigh, then shoved the cooling blade back into the forge. Then, she turned around, put her hands on her hips, and said, "Just standing there and watching me is even worse. What do you want?"

Elijah verged on complaining about her tone, but after only a glance, he thought better of it. With her pallid skin, the flexion of her jaw, and the bags beneath her eyes, he assumed that she'd had a rough night. So, he cast Soothe, channeling it through his Crook of the Serpent Healer. The staff he held was still damaged, but because he'd been so careful about when he used it, it was still functional.

Which brought to mind another task that required Carmen's input. "Better?" he asked.

"God. I envy you so much sometimes," she said, already perking up. "Just a little spell, and no hangover."

"If it makes any difference, most of the alcohol around here won't do much for me anyway. I'd have to drink a dozen gallons of the local beer before I actually got drunk," he said. "And even then, it'd fade pretty quickly. Best I can hope for is a brief buzz."

"There's always stronger alcohol out there."

That was true. He could always return to Valosta and find that Distiller if he wanted something that would knock him on his back. In addition, Ironshore probably had a few people who could make something potent enough to affect him. Thankfully, he'd never been anything but a social drinker, so he didn't feel the need to seek them out.

"So, what do you want?" she asked.

"I can't just be here to check on my sister-in-law?"

"No. You always want something. Spit it out. You've got until that blade finishes reheating."

"Wow. Okay," Elijah said, running his hand through his hair. It had gotten a little longer of late, and he needed to get it cut. Another task to add to his to-do list. Before he could fall down that rabbit hole, he focused on the reason he'd come to Carmen. "I want your help. Mostly with building a hot tub."

"What? Seriously?"

"Well, it's a special hot tub."

"You came to me because you want a hot tub," she remarked.

"You can use it too. Miggy as well. Nerthus probably wouldn't want to – I don't know how spryggents react to that kind of thing, but I'm sure he'd be fine. And I guess if you want to invite a friend, it would be okay. But not –"

"Elijah. Focus."

"Oh. Right," he said. "So, I got this natural treasure during the Trial. Seed of the Ash Lotus. According to Nerthus, it needs water. Like, well, a lotus. He says that it'll create a lot of heat, too. So, the idea is to build a hot tub that will help with cultivation and stuff. Probably. But mostly, it'll just be relaxing."

Then, before Carmen could interject, he told her what he needed. He'd thought a lot about it, and if he was going to build a hot tub, he wanted to do it right. That meant lining the thing with dragonstone, which was the most potent building material he'd found so far.

"It won't take much of it. Just a few dozen paving stones. I'll get you some more to replace it when –"

"You don't have to worry about that. Ramik has already agreed to set up a quarry," she said. After that, she explained her expanded plans for the Great Forge and how the city of Ironshore intended to subsidize it. Establishing the quarry would take a little bit of an investment, but the potential gains from such a ready source of high-quality stone, not to mention the Great Forge itself, were too high to ignore.

Complicating matters was the dark elf threat – after all, they were still out there between Argos and the abandoned city of Norcastle – but they had plans to combat that as well.

"Why the look of surprise?" Carmen asked.

"I don't know. I guess in the back of my mind, I kind of expected to have to deal with that myself," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Other people are competent, too, Elijah."
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"I know. I just…well, I guess I feel a little dumb now. Anyway, will you help?" he asked. "And let me remind you that I just cured your hangover. Out of the goodness of my heart. I'll also provide transportation."

"Okay, so – first of all? I'm not letting you drag me through the sky. I'll take a boat like a sensible person. And second, I didn't ask you to cure my hangover."

"C'mon, Carmen. We're family. You wouldn't refuse to help family, would you?" he asked, giving her his best puppy dog eyes. It clearly didn't work, but then again, it almost never did. "Also, can you fix this staff? I have a friend who had some magic putty that she kept using on her armor – I kind of volunteered you to make her a new set, by the way, but that won't be for a while because she's halfway across the world and –"

"Elijah. Breathe."

"Oh. Sorry. So, the staff?"

As it turned out, she had no issues mending it with one of her abilities, but she did caution him that if he broke it again, it would probably be a total loss. That was fine with Elijah, because he didn't intend to use it during battle. Just for healing.

"So, the hot tub?" he asked after she handed staff back to him.

She sighed. "Fine. Just give me about two hours to finish forging this blade into shape, and then I'll head over. Take the stone you need from the build-site."

Elijah grinned and threw his arms around his sweaty sister-in-law, thanking her profusely before she made it clear that the longer he spent professing his gratitude, the longer it would be before she could help him. After that, he headed out and gathered the stone he needed. The pile was much diminished from when he'd gathered it for her, but there was still a significant amount left. So, he collected what he needed, shifted into the Shape of Sky, and headed back to the island.

It was a bit awkward, flying with so much weight, but after using Savage Might, he managed it all the same. Transporting it via boat would have probably made a lot more sense, but Elijah's well-worn hatred for that form of travel kept him from even considering it. It would've been so much easier if he could have just used the anchor, but he didn't want to buy another ring for such a short trip.

He dropped his burden just outside of the grove, then landed with a heavy thud. After that, he shifted back into his human form, then headed inside the circle of trees to find Nerthus. Thankfully, the spryggent had recovered from the previous day's exertions, and what's more, he'd already found a spot for the hot tub. He called it a hot spring, but Elijah was under no false impressions as to the intended nature.

Regardless, once the site had been identified, Elijah got to work digging. He did so in the form of the thorned sentry, using his Domain of Vines to assist in the process. Nerthus busied himself by redistributing the soil elsewhere, keeping the area tidier than any dig site Elijah had ever seen. What's more, he helped to ensure that everything fell within the exact parameters he'd established in his plans.

Elijah was impressed with how precise Nerthus was, but he wasn't really surprised. The spryggent was nothing if not anal about the arrangement of the grove, so planning new features fell within his wheelhouse. He'd even worked to reroute a portion of the nearby stream to provide the water. How he'd managed that, Elijah wasn't certain – he could see it via One with Nature, but he couldn't determine precisely how it all worked – but when it came to that kind of thing, he was more than willing to trust Nerthus.

Finally, once the hole had been dug and refined, Nerthus used one of his powers to seed a bed of moss that was meant to filter impurities out of the water. It grew rapidly, especially when Elijah pulsed Nature's Bounty for a few seconds, and just like that, it was ready for the stone.

Thankfully, they finished only a few minutes before Carmen arrived, and together, they hauled the stones into place, and she used her crafting skills to shape the stones into tiles.

"We want to enchant these, right?" she asked.

"Yeah. Just durability, I guess," Elijah answered.

"Do you know the runes for purity and fire?" Nerthus interjected. Carmen said that she did, adding that she wasn't as proficient with such complex designs. Given the size of the hot tub, it turned out that she didn't need to be quite as precise as she usually was with armor or weapons. So, over the next hour, Elijah acted as manual labor as Carmen worked on the tiles, carving a complex design that, when everything was assembled, looked like a glittering flame. She even used some blood tin for the inlay, which Elijah knew would make the final product that much more powerful.

Finally, Nerthus guided Carmen as they set up the rest of the filtration system, which would allow for a steadily cycled flow of pure water. Once that was done, Carmen used her abilities to bond the tiles together into a water-tight whole.

She stepped back, her hands on her hips as she admired her work.

"That was actually kind of fun," she said. "And it gives me some ideas for the Great Forge. Ugh. I still don't like that name. It's too specific. With our new plans, we need something a little more inclusive."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out," Elijah said.

"I hope so," she agreed. Then, she turned to Nerthus, asking, "Ready to see if it all works?"

Nerthus answered, "I am already working on completing the feeder system."

Only a few seconds later, the small hole at the bottom of the tub bubbled with cold, clear water. Over the next few minutes, it filled until, at last, the water leveled off at around five inches before the lip.

"How do you control the flow?" Elijah asked, still focusing on what was going on below the surface.

"Magic," Nerthus answered.

"Very informative," Elijah grumbled while Carmen let out a chuckle. "For the record, you were better at this when you didn't have a sense of humor. Seriously – you're not going to tell me?"

The answer to that question was a definitive no.

"Fine. Is there anything else I need to do with the Seed of the Ash Lotus?" he asked, giving up on understanding Nerthus' system.

"Yes, of course. Give it to me, and I will ensure that it has a proper environment," Nerthus said. "Come back tomorrow morning, and spend eight hours nurturing it via Nature's Bounty and Healing Rain. After that, it will be capable of supporting itself. However, the spring will not be truly functional for at least a month. Perhaps as long as two."

That was a bit disappointing, but Elijah accepted it. After thanking Carmen and offering to fly her back to Ironshore, which she refused, Elijah returned to the center of the grove. Now that the hot tub project was all but complete – except for his task tomorrow – Elijah felt he could finally focus on other, arguably more important plans.

The first was his staff, which he couldn't really work on until the sapling had finished growing. Nerthus had planted it the day Elijah had revealed the Shard of Nature's Might, but it would be some time before it was ready. Notably, Nerthus had refused his help in nurturing its growth, claiming that it needed a delicate touch rather than a hammer blow.

So, with that, Elijah headed to the glade they'd selected for the Frozen Oak, which Nerthus had planted the day beore. It was on the other side of the island, and when he arrived, he felt that the temperature had already begun to drop. For a while, he remained in the clearing, using his spells to promote the growth of the tree. It would be a few months until winter, so the rest of the plants would need to wait until then, but Elijah was still excited by the project.

As he nurtured the Frozen Glade, which was what he'd begun to call it, Elijah sank within himself and focused on his Soul Cultivation. He didn't carve any new channels, but instead, he set his mind to establishing the pattern he'd already learned. In addition, he veered a little off the prescribed course, following his instincts almost as much as he stuck to the pattern. It required intense concentration, but over time, he put the finishing touches on his theory regarding Soul cultivation.

The patterns espoused by the guides would work perfectly well, but if he wanted optimal results, he had to put a little of himself into it as well. In addition, he remembered his previous theories about where Soul cultivation would eventually go, and he incorporated those into his pattern as well.

Finally, by the end of the day, he realized that he was almost ready – at least from a mental perspective – to take that next step. For that, though, he needed to complete his preparations in the cave, then make certain that all of his other plans were ready to grow into fruition as he spent the time necessary to push his Soul to the next tier.

To that end, he returned to the grove, ready to continue his work. All the while, his time constraints continued to weigh on his mind. If everything went according to plan, he would have more than enough time, but there wasn't a minute to waste.