It was a morning like any other, yet in the skies above the formation surrounding the sacred forest, four divine auras gently radiated their presence. They didn’t directly enter, but neither did they show humility. The families only sent common cultivators, without even the title of elders. It was as if their families were sending a message, that the event didn’t deserve much attention and they didn’t care about it at all. However, it was evident that it was symbolic; they didn’t want to lose face in front of the people of this planet.
Langrum stepped out of the barrier and looked up, speaking curtly. "He’s waiting for you, come in."
It was a quick remark, and she didn’t even spare a second glance before turning around and entering. All four of them narrowed their eyes; a mortal hybrid showed them no respect. But they were instructed not to cause trouble and simply entered the place quietly.
Langrum waited for them, and there was no reception. They glanced at the distant city and moved in that direction, but quickly stopped. The whale appeared in the sky, followed by four cultivators behind him.
The elders nearly spit fire; they wouldn’t even let them into the city. They would meet in the middle of the forest, as if they wanted them to leave as quickly as possible. Langrum smirked maliciously; the whale didn’t ask for any of this, she decided, and he simply didn’t care.
No one in the city wanted to be near these families, who allowed the twelve, who were their servants, to cause so much suffering to them. With the whale present, she could act as she saw fit without worrying about the consequences; he trusted her, and that’s why the city was under her care.
The whale approached the four cultivators from the families and looked at them seriously. The four snorted and waved; four portals appeared behind them. Eight figures emerged, one high elder and one common elder from each family.
Among the high elves of Litharion, Azali was present as an elder. Among the humans of Moonlight, the high elder Kaiyka appeared. The other six were unfamiliar faces.
The whale waited silently with a lazy look, not bothering to meet the eyes of those present. Some elders quickly grew furious, but Kaiyka looked at Ruri and, through an exchange of glances and a subtle nod, felt her satisfaction and became internally excited. Then, she broke the ice.
"We’ve come for a friendly conversation. Among the four families, we’ve discussed the recent events, and it’s undeniable that the blame falls on us. The twelve families acted slyly in conjunction with those demons we’ve ignored all along. Thanks to you, everything was resolved before it became something bigger."
She spoke politely, while the others present snorted. It seemed that this woman understood that she needed to act delicately, or the whale could become hostile. Therefore, it was decided that she and the elven elder would lead the conversation, as both of them didn’t care about faces or status.
"Are you here to tell us what we already know? All the people in the city have suffered for nearly a century because of your actions. Do you think empty words are enough?" Langrum roared, approaching the indifferent whale.
Everyone looked at the tall, green woman seriously. They had come to speak with the real leader, but only an unknown person was speaking to them and treating them like trash.
"We will compensate you," said the elven elder Azali, softly. "Unfortunately, lost lives cannot be recovered. But future generations can benefit, and karma will be repaid."
Langrum looked coldly at her. Seeing no malice in that tall elf, she just snorted without responding. She couldn’t be aggressive with Azali. But the other human woman with the cold face was an easier target.
Before Langrum could speak, Kaiyka declared, making a divine ring appear and float towards the green woman.
"We annually provide resources to the twelve families. It has been decided that the resources from the last three hundred years will be given to you." Kaiyka explained calmly. "This formation covering this forest is high-level. If you use what we’ve given you, you can keep it active for ten thousand years. If you deplete all the resources quickly, even our four families won’t be able to force their way in; but it will take a thousand years for everything to be completely depleted."
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Langrum just checked the ring expressionlessly, while the whale remained completely indifferent, as always. That seemed to be just the bare minimum.
"This will benefit future generations, making this place a sacred and safe world for a long time. But for the current generations, we have another proposal," said Kaiyka, looking deeply at the whale. "The twelve servant families lived in a small world close to us, benefiting together from the divine Qi. Now that place is empty and available. You are the greatest force on this ascending planet. We want to offer you the place as a reward."
For the first time, the whale changed expression, clearly enraged. "You want to make us your servants and replace those bastards?"
Azali intervened. "It will be a fair trade. You can use and benefit from that place for a thousand years. We won’t demand anything from you, and you’ll be free and without commitments. After that, we need people to help us. We have a sacred mission on this planet to fulfill. The new generations will be able to work fairly and will benefit; the talented ones might even have the chance to go to the divine world. We have connections with divine sects for them."
The whale pretended to reflect silently for a few seconds. Then, after exchanging glances with Ruri, spoke up. "Those are indeed good conditions. But I want another extra guarantee: During those thousand years, the four families cannot try to create side branches on this planet."
Azali and Kaiyka remained indifferent, but the other three high elders clearly changed expression for a second. The whale and Ruri wanted to confirm something extremely important.
"Don’t be foolish! What do our side branches have to do with this war and the problems?" a high dwarven elder spoke dryly.
The whale turned slowly to him and replied, "I’ve seen how you’ve treated the side branches recently. You don’t value the mortals of this planet, but to me, everyone who lives here is precious. I want to organize the continent and create a safe place for them. Or did you not see the fate of the branches of your families? Almost all of them were exterminated in the worst possible way."
That high elder remained silent, but the fluctuations of his souls didn’t escape Alm and Bruno. He knew perfectly well that the dark karma of the families was directed towards the planet’s branches. It was obvious that they would eventually be exterminated.
It had been about four thousand years since the three branches of the families were destroyed in the war. The main families must have already accumulated a massive amount of karma to eliminate. Spending another thousand years in waiting was not in their plans, hence their reaction.
To their relief, Azali, as a common elder, didn’t know about it; but the high elven elder accompanying her knew and was also annoyed. On the other side, Kaiyka, as a high elder, also didn’t know about it; she mentioned earlier that she was the youngest high elder in the family, perhaps she hadn’t had time to learn about important internal matters.
Both of them were innocent; not everyone in the families was evil. Corin, Vuard, and Loeus, who were with them, were already aware of everything. Everyone understood the significance of that, and now the path was clearer for them. The four of them should stand out in the families and rise as high as possible with their resources, while identifying allies and gathering them.
That high elder couldn’t find an argument to retort. Seeing the silence, Kaiyka sensed something amiss in the air but decided to speak. "Everyone represents their families. If no one has any objections, his demand will be met. A thousand years isn’t a big deal; it’ll be good to have a safe place for when the new branches emerge," said the woman with an unchangingly cold expression. But she felt the stares and narrowed her eyes; everyone looked at her as if she had said something innocent and foolish.
The silence lingered for a few seconds. As no one said anything, the whale waved as if shooing them away. "Great, everything’s been discussed. Just hand over the formation so we can go to the place; then, you can leave."