Chapter 648 Competition
The luncheon party went as smoothly as Wolfe could have hoped, with the Royals all hopeful to see more of the unique spells that Wolfe could offer them, while Wolfe made plans to try to get them to sort out the issues that his world was having.
The fact that the Fae Forest was spreading meant that the mana density was increasing. That was the greatest limitation to the size of the forest itself, and if it had grown that much, either someone had altered the spells on the forest, or the mana density around the forest had increased by enough to support the forest over a larger region.
Both of them were incredibly chaotic options for the locals, but if the answer was just that there were a lot more powerful creatures living in the area at the moment, then it wasn't a problem that would spread widely across the worlds.
But he got the feeling that there was more to it than a bunch of demons that were enjoying magical beds and unlimited buffets were likely to have investigated.
Back in Forest Grove, Cassie could verify that Wolfe's suspicion was correct. She was currently sitting in the communications office, trying to decipher messages that she had received from military units all over the continent.
Normally, the nations on the north side of the mountains didn't broadcast anything at a high enough output for them to receive the messages in the Frozen Wastes, which were no longer looking as Frozen as their name suggested.
The mana density in the Fae Forest had doubled since the Fae contingent had arrived, and there were messages talking about a steadily increasing mana density all over the continent. But that was only a background note for most of them.
The real concern was what the increased mana density was doing to the continent itself. Plant life was blooming all over, with magical plants growing everywhere, and gardens in the Covens growing at shocking rates. But the monsters were growing just as quickly as the plants were, and it was now a common sight to have Rank Two monsters roaming around close to civilized areas.
The extra mana was helping the Witches grow more quickly, but outside the Academy, Sylvan City and Morgana Fortress City, which all had Mana Purification spells on them, the witches couldn't adapt that quickly.
It was chaos, and Cassie was considering making a sternly worded request that their new guests do something about the side effects of their visit.
There was no definitive proof that they were the problem, it could be one of Wolfe's spells run amok after a curse on the Frozen Wastes had broken, but it seemed much more likely that the sudden appearance of over a hundred saint level creatures had altered the world's mana balance.
She was getting close to Rank Four already, thanks to all the extra mana and the amount of time that she spent meditating so that she didn't snap at someone, but that wasn't enough to match up to their guests, even if the rest of the Pentacles were being dragged up with her.
At the moment, the two groups were having dinner in one of the parks near the gate of town, staring across at each other.
"Good evening everyone. I do hate to bother you while you're eating, but it's the easiest time to catch everyone together. It has come to my attention that the presence of so many powerful beings in one spot is causing some unusual effects on this low mana balance continent.
I'm sure that you have all noticed that the mana in the region has doubled since you arrived. Well, that's happening everywhere, and it's causing chaos. The other nations and Covens don't have anyone looking after them, and the magical beasts are growing in power much faster than they can." She began.
"Can you skip to the part where this has something to do with me?" One of the Fae asked.
"I'm hoping that spreading out the powerful visitors might help balance the growth, and I was going to ask for volunteers to go babysit the other nations. I will give each person who chooses to go a generous gift." Cassie suggested.
"Generous gift?" The Fae asked excitedly.
As it turned out, these not so dark witches, who were raising a generation of White Witches, had a variety of superb spells relating to food. Few things in life were more important to the Fae than good food and amusement.
"Yes, we will send each of you with an enchanted bed, a Rank Three Garden charm that you can set up in your chosen location and keep when you go home, as well as a complimentary set of Forest Grove signature robes."
The two sides seemed to consider it for a moment. The price wasn't all that high. They were just getting what they already had here in town, but to keep.
Then they realized that both sides had the offer available, and the tension between the two sides began to rise.
Neither was willing to let the other take over the whole continent. They had just gotten here, and they were hoping to establish a longer-term foothold now that they had realized how much fun this place was. The Fae weren't going to give it up to a bunch of Demons, and the Demons were certain that a bunch of snooty Fae would turn the whole place into some off limits Forest Preserve.
That couldn't be allowed to happen. There were fun witches here, and baby Magi, and Demons that you didn't get in trouble for keeping as pets, and a succubi run casino with a Chimera and a Leprechaun in charge. In short, the place was very close to paradise, and the fact that it was set in the middle of a Fae Forest just made it that much more entertaining for the Demons.
While they glared at each other, Stephanie stepped between the two sides and transformed back into her human form, complete with a hooded black robe armour spell that shadowed every part of her body.
"Why don't we do it another way? The map of the continent has 32 grid squares, you see? We can separate things that way. Everyone gets a grid square, and we can alternate sides to pick. That's sixteen from each side spread out, and more can go with them if you like.
I'm sure they will appreciate the help with any issues they are having, and they will find something that you would like to offer you." Stephanie suggested, holding the map up for everyone to see.
Now that did sound promising. Plus, some of those grid squares contained major cities. In fact, some of them contained more than one major city. Having one of those squares under their control for the duration of their mission didn't sound bad at all.
[Your Majesty. We need more people for the competition with the Fae.]
[Your Highness, we need more people for the competition against the Demons.]
Stephanie didn't know it yet, but a simple suggestion, to have the powerful ones spread out and protect the weak, was about to change their entire world.
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