18 Harvest Festival (6)

Absolute silence filled the inside of the chief's house in Greenwood Village, save for the three sounds that echoed from the phantasms of deities behind Seran. After a moment, the phantasms, and the two silhouettes behind them dispersed into several clouds of mist that were quickly absorbed back into the white-haired lad's body before William reactivated [Inspection Immunity]. The first person to break the silence was Seran, who simply cleared his throat, which was enough to pull the two elves' heads out of the clouds and back to reality.

Brannon suddenly looked like he had aged decades as he sunk back into the chair, visibly exhausted and flabbergasted. "I feel... ancient all of a sudden... and extremely weak..." After the backlash of having his ability forcibly broken, the elf man had to get his breath back, which was now easier after the crushing pressures of the phantasms had left.

Layla looked haggard but was in much better condition that Brannon, as she had become a Magic Swordsman before she ascended the throne, so her physique was much stronger than the non-combatant Fate Reader. "When we visited the Monastery of Fate, one of the Sisters told us something. People with powerful bloodlines, upon sufficient purity, will create a phantasm of their bloodline's original ancestor. The purer the bloodline, the clearer the phantasms would be, and some abilities that were made for the bloodline itself would be empowered by them. A hero's descendant would be able to create a phantasm of their hero ancestor, and it would reflect the moves of the descendant if they used one of the abilities made by the hero. Demigods would also make phantasms of their godly parent, which could empower almost any ability..."

Brannon said, "At the Monastery, there are many statues of the gods... your phantasms match 3 of them... Poseidon, Terra and... Zeus... As for the two vague forms behind them, I assume one is Demeter from your Greenwood blood, while the other... I don't know, it was too hard to see... Before now, I wouldn't have been able to take you seriously, but... such an abnormally powerful demigod... I'd be a fool not to at least believe in you a little..." He coughed a little, a bit of blood leaking from his lips.

"My apologies, but I wouldn't have been able to convince you otherwise..." he channeled a great amount of mana into a spell before holding his hand palm up in front of him, "[Grand Restoration]." The spell converted the mana into pure life energy, which spread through the house, reinvigorating and healing the bodies of everyone within it. Once the spell ended, the four people in the house felt full of energy and without any fatigue.

"You used [Grand Restoration]? That's a Tier 5 spell of Life Magic! Only Grandmaster Theurgists can use that spell!" Layla had already been given several shocks today, yet Seran still seemed to have more.

"I'm a wild card. Anything is possible. If you want to know why I can make magic such as what I said earlier, then I'll also tell you I have the ability [Spell Creation]." Seran smiled, not minding that he was telling major details to them.

"I see, that makes it much easier to believe... as long as you have the affinity, you should be capable of creating any magic..." Brannon pondered, stroking his chin in thought, "I honestly can't find any major flaws in your confidence anymore... There's a phrase about demigods with 100% pure bloodlines: to tell a lie is not in their nature, unless it is to protect another. Having seen your bloodline phantasms, which are so clear that they're nearly physical, I'll trust in that phrase, especially since it was once said by a predecessor of the Oracle, who had been a companion of a hero centuries ago."

Seran calmly said, "I don't mind you telling your trusted advisors, or the elven council members, as it will make it easier for them to believe your decision. I've never intended to hide my abilities, since if I hide too much, it will cause far more problems than being well-known, with some exceptions." He leaned forward a little before he continued, "Anyway, shall we discuss the terms of our alliance? I honestly wish for it to be of mutual benefit. The city I build will easily surpass even ancient sects in power over time, with endless amounts of inventions and innovations. As such, other than my people, you and your people will benefit from them before others."

"My only problem with that is that we aren't city-dwellers. Even if some of those creations aren't meant for cities, trade is very hard because of the forest being... well, forest. There are no roads to connect us, and we can't create any without harming the forest." Layla had quickly regained the bearing of a monarch, frankly stating the biggest problems in one go.

"Once I master space magic, I intend to create teleportation arrays. I'm sure there are several groups of elves living in large communities in your realm, right? With the tree-shaping magic that I'll create, they'll be able to form towns. With my arrays, I can connect them to your biggest settlement, then connect that to us. This would solve the trade dilemma. As for the problem of the city-dweller items, even the nature-dwelling elves will benefit from nearly everything, I guarantee that."

Brannon interrupted the two as he said, "Teleportation arrays are extremely expensive and nearly impossible to create. One has to be at least a Sage in Space Magic to make them. Only the ancient sects and the biggest cities on the continent even have them. If you could make them so easily, you'd revolutionize trading and diplomacy."

Seran nodded, "I am aware. I would only do it for major cities outside of your realm, though, since I can't build other transportation methods through the forest. I will wholeheartedly help your people, as I will always do for my allies."

Layla thought over what Seran said before she replied, "This sounds heavily weighted towards us rather than you. This is hardly a fair deal..."

"Don't worry about that. I know what I'm doing. This is the best deal I can come up with. Anything else that happens, we can discuss when it comes up. I'd like to ask you to stay for a week, so you can fully see that I will keep my word. Ah, I should also add that the life magic that I'll invent will also make elves capable of having nature aid them in battle, which would make you extremely hard to defeat in areas with lots of plant life, not to mention here in the Primeval Forest. You might be nearly invincible here with it."

"Wait, really? That's even more incredible than just the tree-shaping magic on its own!" Brannon nearly stood up from astonishment, before Layla pointedly looked at him to sit back down.

The elf queen sighed, massaging her temples, "I can't in good conscience turn down such a deal, especially when it will benefit my entire race as a whole... I'll have to take you up on your offer to stay for a week though. I can't immediately say no, but I would like to witness the truth with my own eyes first. My people can also remain here for a week, so it isn't just the two of us watching it."

Seran smiled widely, "Great! Unfortunately, I don't have a place for your people to stay, but I can make one quickly."

Layla shook her head, "Don't worry about that. We camp out as we travel, usually. We can continue to do so for now."

Etienne stood up and stretched, "Ah, my bones need some exercise after all of that. I'm going to go enjoy the festival. Seran, don't do anything stupid." He gave his son a look that made him hold his hands up in surrender before the chief left the house.

After going over the minor details of the alliance deal, the remaining three then exited the house, heading back to the party, where the two elves would have to spend a long time explaining what just happened and why they would be staying longer than usual.