They agreed to put Formations on weapons and whatnot, but they didn't really have any weapons. No Grey Lizard was a blacksmith, although a lot of them could tailor. They still required materials for that, and I needed to provide them. Either that, or get weapons, armours and whatnot for them, which they could improve. With that established, I said "I have a personal favour though. The armour you see on me, it's already tattered and most of the Formations are broken". One of the Lizards replied, "We can repair it no problem". I shook my head, "Not repair it. I want you to make the best armour you can. The best Formations you can use, I might need them… Unfortunately, I don't have any materials. I can pay you for that with something else though".
The leader replied, "We don't need money, but we are willing to give you some materials for your armour. After all, you shared the knowledge of Elements with us. That alone is a good enough payment". I nodded and started taking off my armour. I changed into the old set of clothes, and asked them to have a look at the ruined set. They each took something and examined it, before passing the pieces between themselves. One of the Lizards asked, "Was this made by us?". I nodded, "Yes, but you might not know her… I mean if Alicia didn't tell you about her". He asked confused, "Her? Oh you mean that child from Olrad? Alicia took her in? That's new, who would've thought".
I smiled, "Yes, Suly is really talented. She placed all those Formations by herself". He nodded, "Yes, not bad at all. Although they are a bit weak, the potential is there". I continued, "The Formation on the cloak, I want the same one or rather better one. Other Formations… You can improve upon them or add something you think is necessary". He nodded, and told me they would take care of that.
I had a few more things to take care of, before I left. "Can you contact Alicia?" I asked. The leader replied, "We can try, but we can't really tell her to come here if she doesn't want to". I was a bit confused, "What do you mean by that?". He replied, "Well, Alicia is one of us, as in us here in this room. More precisely, she has the same position as me. I can't really order her around, and it was her choice to live outside. We usually sent some less prominent members, but Alicia decided she wanted to go". I was surprised for sure. 'To think she held such a high position here' I thought.
Either way, I told them to try. After all, I wanted my sword back or whatever Alicia decided to do with it. I then asked about the last thing. "You are aware what Land of Mirages is, right?". They nodded in reply, while I continued. "I need a way to disperse that mist, or the ability to go inside without being affected". They stayed silent for a while, then murmured something underneath their breaths. Finally, one of the Lizards broke the silence. "That's too difficult". Another Lizard chimed in, "It's not impossible of course, but we would have to be there and that is not something we are willing to do". The leader added, "The Formation required to achieve such thing, would not be that simple and take a lot of time. Not only would we need to leave this place with a considerable amount of us, we would have to stay near the Land of Mirages for an extended amount of time".
The others nodded their heads, except one guy who was still lost in his thoughts. It was the Lizard who told me about Hydra. He suddenly exclaimed, "Wait! There might be a way. Don't forget the Elements. We are still new to this type of knowledge, but we already established some things, right?". The others looked at him, and nodded slightly. He continued, "In that case, what we need is the knowledge about that mist". I asked confused "What do you mean by that?". He replied, "It's simple, we need to know what Elements this mist consist of". Another Lizard added, "We might be able to succeed, and we don't have to go there. If we can massively collect that Element or Elements that the mist consists of, we should be able to disperse it".
I replied, "That is under one condition, that mist must be a Formation. If it's not, collecting a certain type of Element might do nothing to it". He nodded, "We believe that the mist is a Formation, whether that's true or not… You will have to find that out for us". I agreed, this was much better than trying nothing at all. The leader said, "In that case, we all know what to do. We will try to contact Alicia, and improve your armour. It should be ready by the time you return". I nodded, and left the room. I had to take the leg and arm guards with me, as Grey Lizards wouldn't be able to repair them. Besides, I wanted to improve that armour too.
Although I left the room, I wasn't sure how to leave that place. I went back inside, and asked them about it. One of them told me to follow him. The Lizard showed me how to activate the Formations, allowing me to leave their base. Before I left though, he told me to hide myself. He also mentioned that when I returned, I should take extra care not to be followed. I nodded while melding into the shadow, then disappeared from their base.
Shortly after, I appeared outside. 'This Formation is really useful, I wonder if they could make one for longer distances' I thought, and made my way towards Sedon. I could visit Obsidian Mountains on my way, but I decided against that. I didn't want to waste time on detours, as I had no clue what was really going on. My pace wasn't slow compared to before. I no longer trained on my way, there was no time for that.
Time passed quickly. I made it back to Sedon, which changed a lot during the time I was absent. The new walls were taller, more beefy and had a few towers. "Wow, Ama really did a great job" I said to myself. Although the city walls looked a bit. Two sides were taller and more robust, while the old walls looked weak and puny in comparison. The atmosphere inside the city was rather lively, morale high. 'I'm still uneasy about this whole peaceful situation. This is like the quiet before the storm, I just hope nothing major will occur before I get those Formations' I thought.
I also noticed that some people worked on Scorpions. 'My guess is, more people worked on the walls this time. This would explain why the Scorpions are still not finished' I thought, and headed towards the Lizards' area. Harlin was training his soldiers, and helping out Atols as well. 'Seems like Atols and Lizards make good allies. This is good, once they are familiar with each other, fighting alongside will be easier for them' I thought.
"Harlin, it's been a while" I called out. He turned around and smiled. "You look like shit man. What sort of trouble did you cause this time?". I laughed "It's nothing much, I will tell you later. For now, gather your people. I have something to say". He rolled his eyes but assembled his soldiers, while Atols gathered next to me. "Hey guys, you are doing very well. I can see that Olip, Atal and Mani reached their Inner Limits. Good job guys. Olan and Eram, you are not far away from it either. Keep at it, and you will reach it soon. I see improvements in the rest of you too. Work hard, and you can achieve the same height".
The Atols replied "Yes!", in unison. With all the soldiers and warriors gathered, I said. "I need to borrow your weapons, armours and whatnot for a while. We will improve your equipment, to a much, much better standard. Make sure the stuff you give me is the best you have. That way, you will receive the most from it when I return it to you". The soldiers began murmuring among themselves, but Atols didn't really have any issues. All of them dumped their weapons in front of me. "You were the one who provided equipment for us. We have no need to suspect you. We believe in you".
Harlin scolded his soldiers, and handed me his things. I said, "Guys, make sure you label this stuff. I have no way of distinguishing your equipment… Especially that kind of amount". They did as I asked, and handed me whatever they thought was best. I got two full bags of stuff, and I would have to carry all that back to the Grey Lizards. 'Yea... ' I thought. I left the bags there, as I didn't want to carry them on me all the time. Besides, I had to collect more. Shades also needed an upgrade.
I added before leaving, "You guys still have weapons and other things, so you shouldn't be that worried. I will be back as soon as those get improved". I wanted to meet with Crow next, and then a few other people. I also had to repair my own armour, Grey Lizards didn't have access to a furnace, but Sedon had. Using that would be much quicker compared to me building one from scratch. Before I left, I told Harlin to meet me at Crow's place later.
1st chapter of the week. Wow, the ending is soo close now. I can already feel it coming. There will be more "music" chapters, as I'm checking out loads of songs and tracks to apply to certain chapters. Although you guys are behind, I hope you will be satisfied with the future development :D
Fortunately, Crow was inside the city. I told him about my plans, my findings and a way to expose Eterians. "That is great news. If we have a way to disperse that mist, Eterians will be vulnerable. As for the weapon and armour improvements, I will gather the people and tell them about it" he said. I nodded, and asked him about his arm. "I don't complain. It works fine, even though it's a bit disproportionate. That doesn't matter though, do you want me to go with you? You might need some backup there". I declined, "No, stay here. Besides, I need to deliver all that stuff to Grey Lizards first. While they work on improving your equipment, I will go to the Land of Mirages".
He nodded, and silence filled the air. "I'm still worried though. Eterians made no moves… This is bad" I said after a while. Crow replied, "I think that is actually great. We had the time to improve and reconstruct our walls. With the addition of Scorpions, we are much better prepared now. You also mentioned that Vanauts gave up for now, and will stay at the Ruins of Ravan. This is also great news, Boltier has nothing to worry about in such case".
I still felt uneasy, as if I forgot about something. "War is not that simple Crow. Eterians are no idiots. If they are taking their time, that can only mean they are planning something big. This might look like paranoia to you, but I'm alive thanks to that paranoia. Prepare for the worst case Crow. Don't, under any circumstances, drop your guard down". He agreed, before leaving to gather the other Shades. I decided to stay at his place. Harlin was supposed to meet me there.
Before Harlin came over, I saw Lira enter the room. "Came to visit me?" I asked. Her expression was no longer cold and hateful towards me. She replied, "I… I should apologize". I raised my hand to stop her. "No, don't. You're watching out for Crow, I appreciate that. Take care of him when I'm not around". She smiled, and nodded her head. "Since you are here, you can leave your stuff with me". She nodded again, and passed me her stuff. "I still can't believe you actually found them" she said.
I replied, "Well, I almost paid with my life for that… actually twice. Anyway, they will help us, but make sure no one else knows about it. We can't have everyone know about the Grey Lizards. They wish to stay hidden, and I promised to respect that wish". She nodded, and then left to do her own things. Harlin came not long after. I explained to him everything, just like I did to Crow. He was much more shocked compared to Crow.
"You really did find them? Damn" he said. "Yes, but no one is to find out their location. Don't spread that around, especially to Royals. I don't need them interfering". He nodded, "That I wouldn't do. Royals are rather greedy, and worry about themselves a lot. What you said to me in the past… You were a hundred percent right. As long as I'm useful to them, they will keep me. The moment my usefulness disappears, I will be abandoned".
"Yea, I only wished others realised that" I replied. "You mean Lazar, don't you? He always had his own ways of dealing with things. Since Mira died, he always tried to protect everything" he said. I asked, "Suly's mother?". Harlin continued, "Yea. Mira meant the world to him. He changed after she passed away. You see, Mira was really sick, just like Suly. The Grey Lizards had no cure, and having Suly was already dangerous for her. Yet she still chose to have her. Lazar never forgave himself for that, as if it was his fault Mira died. He still talks about you, you know? You changed his life in a way, and he never forgot about it. Him and Suly managed to repair their relationship, only thanks to you. It's just that sometimes your actions are extreme for him".
"Yea, not just for him Harlin. Not just for him…" I replied. "It's fine, we will work it out somehow. First, we need to take care of this war" he added. That was true. I had to stop this conflict. Whether we use overwhelming strength or strategy, the sooner this war ended, the better for everyone. We waited for a while longer, before Crow returned. "I gathered all the Shades, they are waiting downstairs. I told them you will improve their equipment, and although they seemed a bit suspicious, I managed to convince them".
I stood up while replying, "Good. After I collect that, I need to repair my own stuff, and meet with a few other people. Then I will be off to deliver all that stuff. It will take a while for everything to be improved for sure, but you should be alright with the new walls". I looked at them both, then continued. "Watch out, and don't let your guard down. I know you might be happy about this temporary peace, but I just feel it in my bones… Something is coming, I just don't know how big that will be".
They nodded, and followed me downstairs. Loads of Shades waited there already, I didn't need to tell them what to do, and simply took out one of my empty bags. "Guys, make sure you label your stuff somehow. When I bring it back, you might have a hard time finding your things". A lot of Shades smiled, while one of them said "We already did that". I smiled, and nodded as well. With that taken care of, I took the bag back to the training grounds of Lizards and Atols.
I had to take those three bags with me, and run back to the Grey Lizards. 'Boy… I so wish for that Formation, which transported me to and from the Grey Lizards' base' I thought. I then visited the smithy, and repaired my armour. They fortunately had Flash Blurite in stock, so I used it to repair and remodel some of the parts. Although the leg and arm guards looked almost the same, I added a few mobility improvements, as well as more metal to certain parts for better protection.
'I just have to visit a few other guys, and I can be on my way' I thought. My first stop was the medical house, where the six Atols worked on perfecting their medicine or poison making. "How are you guys doing?" I asked. All of them told me about the improvements they made, as well as the state of various herbs. The rare herbs were growing well, but it would take more time for them to fully develop. This meant, none of them could be used yet. "Don't worry about it. When they are ready, store them for me". They agreed to do that, then returned to work.
I visited Ama too. She was enthusiastic about the new walls, and was preparing to repair the damaged buildings. "I have some more time now, since the walls are finished. If you need anything specific, let me know" she said. I didn't really need anything, and told her to focus on whatever she wanted. 'Although, there might be something' I thought. "Ama, can you build a basement… Or rather a shelter. In case we are attacked again, those who are not fit to fight, can take shelter under the ground. This could also serve as a place for treatment" I said.
She nodded, "That is not a bad idea. We can even go a step further, and connect the medical house to the basement. That way, we will have a supply of medicine to treat those in need". I nodded, but warned her. "Remember that there are sewers below Sedon. I'm not saying you can't use a part of that, but be sure that nothing gets obstructed". She nodded while telling me she knew.
I left her to do her work, and went back to the training area to pick up the bags. I could use my Storage Feather to some degree, but still wouldn't be able to fit everything. 'I guess I can fit some stuff there, it will always make it lighter. I will have to ask Grey Lizards about more of such items' I thought. With everything sorted and taken care of, I left the city and headed back to the wilderness.
2nd chapter of the week.
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