Chapter 7
I had gotten swept up by all of this. It was easy to lose track of just what was going on.
So many new and fascinating things. Magic was Real! I could make little Robo-Buddies!
Amazing as the was, none of that changed the fact that I had been at least stolen from home, I had maybe even died.
Yeah, I know they said I hadn't, but how could I understand that?
What was my family doing? Was my Sister okay? Was George?
Sure, Lumiar said Ruger was being taken care of, but how would I know that? Even if he was, I still missed him.
I was on the verge of crying, but I choked it back, that was no way for a grown man to behave. I had to get a hold of myself.
I started gulping air rapidly, uncontrollably.
What was this?
I stopped and tried taking deep breaths. My diaphragm muscles kept spasming. I started getting dizzy, light headed.
I did the best I could to cast healing, thinking maybe it would help.
Perhaps the weakest Regrowth I had cast to date washed over me, but it did help.
I shook myself off. Yeah that wouldn't do.
Whatever it meant, whatever was going on, I had to face it on my feet.
I had to be more like those Khalai I was watching, no fear, no hesitation. What was it they said, "My Life for Aiur." Awesome. If I wanted to take control of my situation again, that's the way to be.
Of course, they had something to believe in. Something to fight for. What did I have?
I'd like to think Meadran, Lumiar and I were getting along pretty well, and I could see the theoretical importance of cleaning up a World. Was that enough?
It would have to be, for now. I'd make it work, I'd always managed to find a way to fix things before.
I could do this.
I started walking again.
The air was even thicker with Mana by the time I got back to the Tree of Life.
Lumiar was resting with his head of his paws, eyes closed.
There were little balls of light dancing through the air. Mesmerizing.
I shook my head to clear it.
'Young One, I trust all went well with the Nexus?'
I told him about it.
'Ah good, we shouldn't need to cross purposes too much. It is time to teach you about Wisps.'
Long story short, the Wisp were kind of like the Kaldorei version of a Probe.
They was Mana formed with purpose, or maybe even cleansed spirits of depart ones. They seemed whimsical, almost childlike.
The Golden Wisps were for making and harvesting wood. Four of them could combine together to form a tree, then a Golden wisp could form a bond with a tree over time to slowly but safely harvest wood from it. The tree even benefited from this growing larger and faster than it would otherwise.
Sometimes the Trees they formed would be Treants or Tree People, but it was rare maybe a 2% chance of it happening.
Later they would gain the power to turn trees into Treants or "wake them up" as Meadran put it.
Otherwise they could build structures out of the Harvested Wood.
The Silver Wisps could work with stone and could entangle, with a kind of ethereal root system, already established mines for Gold and Other Metals. I could see some synergy there with the Probes, the Probes could find and build a mine, and the Wisp could wrap it up.
Could could build infrastructure like paths, lights and gates. Later they would be able to build certain important command structures.
Ten Silver Wisps could combine into a new Moon Well, to spread Mana and Water. Magical Irrigation, what a World, I'm in.
Five could combine into a kind of moving statue. While they were rooted in place, they could throw minor Mana Bolts at things. So defensive then? That could be useful.
Also Other Wisps could bound with the Statues to change their effects and make them stronger.
Blue Wisps existed to spread Mana. They could do this slowly by just dancing in an area, or rapidly by exploding. The explosions were quite potent for such a small thing. A useful tool for defense as well.
Five Blue Wisps could combine into an Elder Wisp. These were more focused. They could fight with simple spells.
Best of all they could go unnoticed for as long as was needed. Only a Strong Mage or Druid could sense an Elder Wisp if it didn't want to be found.
These would be my first backup, as I explored the World.
I asked Meadran if he could direct things while I explored, after all, it would be ridiculous to waste that time idle.
'I can spawn Wisps on my own every so often, but nowhere near as fast as under your direction. Of Course, I can order the Wisps to build things, and if you give permission I can even order the Probes and the Nexus.'
Yeah, that was probably a good idea. I had to leave soon to find out where I was. To figure out the scope of the task before me.
'Outpost can you read me?'
'Executor. Awaiting Orders.'
'Add Meadran to the Command of Nexus resources.' I tried to emulate the stead voice of the leader I had witnessed.
'Acknowledged! Welcome Commander Meadran.'
"HO HO!" Meadran rumbled out loud.
"Beep, Beep." One of the Probes had found me.
"What was that?" I asked.
It repeated it's beeps, "Found Hydrocarbon Source. Show?"
"Lead the way Little Buddy."