《Arcane Transmogrification (Book Two of the Pentacle Series)》


 Chapter 1

    Across a large expansive room, the futuristic workstations that line the perimeter have all gone dark, save the largest one found in the front of the room. A lone man can be seen, hunched over the long console. Sitting in one of the two chairs, he occasionally looks up at the multitude of screens that illuminate his face. The man seems to attack the buttons and nobs before him, fighting some unseen foe. A muted and eerie light seeps through large cracks and fractures that mar the once pristine surfaces of the room around him.


    The man looks over at a side screen displaying the outline of a young man¡¯s body, and sighs in relief, ¡°Finally, It¡¯s made it past the heart¡­ Wait, it¡¯s about to reach the connection¡­ Shit, it¡¯s spreading faster!¡±


    The room suddenly shakes violently and the man swears again as he reaches out in time to catch a half empty cup of coffee from spilling across the console. Lifting the cup to his mouth, his movement is arrested as he squints, seeing something in the large screen in the center. Reaching out across the console he turns a dial and the sounds from outside can be heard. The forest is deathly silent, except for the whimpering cries of a being who has long past lost the energy to scream. The image is marred by a clear but wavy film. Muttering can be heard as the man presses another button. The image in the screen goes dark then returns, clearer.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    What is revealed is the view of a tranquil forest scene. Only it is displayed at an odd angle. Trees grow from the bottom left side of the screen up to the top right.


    Movement, a small shadow can be seen, pushing its way out of the brush of the forest floor. When it steps into the light, filtering between the leaves of the canopy, it is clearly a creature that has seen better days. One arm is missing before the shoulder and its grey and long eared head is slightly caved in on one side. The short creature makes barely any noises as it shambles its way over towards the screen. As it gets closer, it is obvious to the man watching, that the shadows that hide the creatures eyes are unnatural. It stumbles and a jerk of its head angles it high, the light of the sun touching everything but the dark orbs, and the smoky black clouds that orbit them in its skull.


    The man mutters to himself and tries a few new buttons, ¡°No magic, no magic¡­ Where is it all going!¡±


    His head jerks around and suddenly he lunges for a chair in the center of the room. He quickly grabs hold of the two joysticks embedded in the armrests. With frantic movements he manipulates the controls. As seconds pass, his movements become more and more desperate. The decrepit creature falls down just feet away and begins crawling forward, filling the screen with its gapping maw. The man slams his fists into the armrests and screams as he realizes he is helpless to change the fate of what lays before him.


    Futility and anger wage a war in his cry, ¡°No not again! Damn it, Danny! Not again!¡±

 Chapter 2

    Light from the waning moon struggled to illuminate the forest floor. There in the understory a large cat lay curled, sleeping. The peaceful scene was interrupted as a young teenage boy slowly lifted his head from the middle of the mass of fur.


    Looking around dumbly, the boy, Danny, stopped to stare at the moon above. Just looking at his gaze, one could tell his thoughts were not about anything lunar in nature. The ghost leopard eventually lifted her head and, purring, rubbed her face on the boy¡¯s back. This seemed to wake the boy from his daze. He turned and smiled at the cat¡¯s display of affection. Reaching out he rubbed behind her ear where she liked it the most.


    Danny¡¯s hoarse voice croaked out, ¡°Hey girl¡­ what happened¡­ where exactly are we?¡±


    A voice spoke out from the darkness, *You flew pretty far after that explosion, then struck the tree above you. The large broken branch covered in your blood is where you stopped.*


    After looking quickly around, Danny turned to the cat in shock, ¡°Phantom, you¡­ you can speak now? It just used to be feelings, emotions, and memories. I can hear your thoughts like words now!¡±


    The cat licked her lips and laid her head down, not taking her eyes off of him.


    *What? Ohhhh! Yes, I have always been able to speak with you. You just been too stupid to hear me... Meow.*


    Danny excitement faded as he paused in thought, ¡°Did you just think the word ¡®Meow¡¯ at me? Wait... why do you have a masculine voice?¡±


    The boy squinted and leaned closer to the cat. Lifting her head, the cat rubbed her face against his before laying it back down again, this time choosing to look away.


    Danny face contorted in outrage, ¡°Cranny, is that you!¡±


    Danny ears were assaulted by the howls of laughter from the now all too familiar voice. Waiting for the laughter to end, Danny just sat there, not amused in the least.


    When the laughter finally died, with a long sigh to finish it off, Danny asked, ¡°You done now?¡±


    *Oh you should have seen the way you turned and looked at that cat¡­ Meow!*


    The laughter came back with a vengeance. Throwing his hands in the air with defeat, Danny laid back against the cat, to wait it out again.


    *Sorry, sorry, it''s just been a long day and I needed a good stress reliever.*


    Folding his arms, Danny replied, ¡°Well, I''m glad you¡¯re feeling better, but that doesn''t answer my question about what happened.¡±


    *Of course, I was going to try and catch you on your way back into the land of consciousness but things have been crazy. Come to your sanctuary and I will show you what I mean.*


    Danny rubbed the cat¡¯s back and told her, ¡°I will be back in a bit.¡±


    Focusing on the unnatural calm he now feel permitting his body, he quickly fell into a meditative state.


    In this world, all creatures of significant intelligence can gain access to their mental sanctuary through meditation. The benefits of the mental sanctuary come in the form of increased intelligence, agility, or strength.


    As he had expected, Danny came into his mental sanctuary sitting down in a chair at the center of a large room. While it had once looked like the bridge of a science fiction starship from a poorly budgeted B-movie, it now appeared sleek and refined. Though, everything had odd angles and there wasn''t a curve to be seen anywhere. Lighted crystalline channels ran uninterrupted between every surface. Where the control panels used to consist of buttons and nobs, they now had holographic keyboard floating above them. The old monitors that lined the front of the room were replaced with holographically projected ones. All it needed was an overabundance of lense flares and Danny would expect to be the lead actor in his own blockbuster movie.


    Two chairs sat at a long console in front of him, below the holoscreens. Danny looked to the one on his left, seeing Cranny sitting there working away. When Danny had reached a milestone with his sanctuary infused intelligence, he received a split consciousness in the form of his previous, Earth, self.


    Noticing something out of the corner of his eye, Danny looked over to realize the other chair was occupied. Looking around the room it finally registered that the room was filled with other people, working at the different stations. Having watched a plethora of sci-fi movies in his previous life, it was almost expected that they be there.


    Cranny turned around and smiled, ¡°Welcome Danny, to Sanctuary 2.0.¡±


    The other chair in front of Danny spun around and a woman, he vaguely recognized, looked at him in surprise. She quickly stood up at attention and saluted, shouting, ¡°Captain on the bridge!¡±


    The activity in the room came to a complete halt as everyone stopped to stand at attention, saluting in Danny¡¯s direction. Danny looked around, unsure of what to do.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Erratically nodding his head to the room, Danny stuttered, ¡°Uhh¡­ um¡­ as you were?¡±


    Everyone immediately turned and got back to their assigned tasks. Danny looked over at Cranny incredulously. The other man was smirking over a cup of steaming coffee.


    Putting down the cup, Cranny cleared his through and began, ¡°Where were we, a yes. After being impaled on that tree you eventually fell to the ground. You had a large wound in your shoulder and multiple bone fractures and breaks all across your body. As expected, there was also extensive internal bleeding. I used nearly all of your mana with air affinity to avoid the branch from piercing your heart. I quickly came to the realization that you would die from your injuries before I could use your slowly recovering mana to heal you.


    With that understanding, I decided to use that large mass of mana we had been storing outside your body for days. Unfortunately, you were in no shape to help me separate a smaller portion of it to use, and I couldn''t manipulate that much mana the way I really needed to. So, I just compressed and centered it on the wound at your shoulder. Stopping the blood loss was the most important step, we could always heal your bones later


    It easily healed your shoulder and the rest of your body. I expected the excess mana to just eject into the air around you but it didn''t. I didn¡¯t even use half of it¡­


    It was quiet there for a few moments, then you started screaming, and I thought you would never stop. You eventually passed out. Now, the excess mana did something to you. I tapped into it for a moment and it felt kind of like an extreme burning sensation. It was all centered on your shoulder and slowly started to spread. It was consuming all the mana you were regenerating, and I was operating on only reserves and my natural connection to your body. Before whatever that change was reached it, your heart almost gave up due to the strain. A few of your other organs decided they didn''t like what was happening either. It was everything I could do to keep them all going. Once, the change reached your connection to the source of mana, it started to spread even faster.


    That was when I noticed the zombie goblin. It came from, what I assume, was the direction of the battle. Danny, it was inches from you when Phantom showed up and tore into it like a blender. Phantom was bleeding from a few places but it looked like she had faired a lot better than we did.


    In all the chaos with the goblin I almost forgot to keep your body going. Then the change reached your brain and everything went white for a while. When it all came back, I found myself here. When I noticed we had mana again I started up some of the little protocols I created previously. That''s when they showed up. Air scan, earth scan, and mana sight all created one of them. Not very talkative bunch, but every time I thought of something else I wanted to do, another showed up.¡±


    Danny looked around the room again and asked, ¡°Did we hit the second triangle with intelligence? We shouldn''t have been that close.¡±


    Cranny shook his head, ¡°No, but our intelligence did rise a bit. I think the presence of the crew is part of your upgrade.¡±


    Danny tilted his head, ¡°Upgrade?¡±


    Cranny nodded, ¡°There have been a lot of changes, and not just to your sanctuary. Here, look at this.¡±


    A holographic, three dimensional display of Danny¡¯s internal body appeared in front of him. Nothing looked different to Danny.


    Cranny reached behind him and dragged a holographic keyboard around so he was still facing Danny and the holographic display.


    ¡°As you can see, nothing has changed much from this view. Your mana regeneration doubled. Which is fortunate because any more and I wouldn''t have been able to keep up. I have no clue how much mana you can store now because we still haven''t topped off the tanks yet.¡±


    Danny interrupted, smiling, ¡°My regeneration ONLY doubled! I''ll take that.¡±


    Cranny cringed, ¡°I didn''t finish. About a quarter of your mana regeneration is being lost to your body.¡±


    Danny looked confused, ¡°How can I lose it to my body? Where is it going?¡±


    Cranny zoomed in the holographic image and Danny was shocked to see it zoom in further and further. A grouping of cells were visible, doing their thing.


    Danny¡¯s jaw dropped, ¡°Is this live or just a recreation.¡±


    Cranny nodded, ¡°it¡¯s live. Our cells have been changed on a fundamental level. My current theory is that our body uses mana now as an energy source. All operations that used chemical energy have been replaced. We are still mostly water and carbon, but there is a crystal like nature imbedded throughout our body.¡±


    Zooming in further the cellular walls could be seen. Danny remembered from biology, how the outside looked bumpy, kind of like the surface of a basketball. There was also the proteins and lipids sticking out, doing various functions. Danny didn''t remember what they all did. Now, there was something new. Interspersed evenly across the wall were crystal like structures.


    Danny leaned in alarmed, ¡°Are those viruses!¡±


    Cranny shook his head, ¡°No, those are now natural components of our cells. I haven''t figured out their purpose yet. Now, look at your mitochondria.¡±


    The view panned over to a something that looked nothing like a mitochondria. It looked like someone froze a bean and it grew countless ice crystals on its surface. Particles of light were flowing into it as streams of energy shot out to various parts of the cell.


    Cranny didn''t wait for a response from Danny, explaining, ¡°Took me a while to realize what that thing was. I can only assume magic is being absorbed naturally from where it is stored in our body, and is then processed in some way, before being sent to the various parts of the cell. Why it needs to be processed, I don''t know. The mitochondria is supposed to handle a few other important processes so I don''t know how that is being affected. The rest of the organelles in your cells have the same crystals dotting their surfaces. Your DNA now includes nucleotides with a crystal structures, especially at the ends. In summary your body is now a highly efficient magical machine.¡±


    Danny didn''t know what to say and just shook his head.


    Getting up, Cranny motioned for him to follow. ¡°Let''s go check out the rest of the sanctuary.¡±


    Danny paused at the door to the hallway as he realized something, ¡°Cranny, I have a body here now."


    Cranny had stopped on the other side of the doorway to let a woman pass, "Yes, like I said, lots of changes."


    Danny looked back at the woman who had just come through the door, "Wasn''t that woman... Isn''t she that actress¡­¡±


    Cranny looked back quickly and interrupted him, ¡°Yep, that''s her, let''s go.¡±


    Looking around Danny continued, ¡°In fact all the women here are famous actresses... Didn''t you say you created all of them. Look over there. Didn''t we used to work with her at the lab. I remember us having a crush on her?¡±


    Cranny eyes widened and he jerked his arm up to look at his empty wrist, ¡°Look at the time, we need to get going. There is a lot more to show you!¡±


    ¡°Wait, why are all the men in red uniforms? Hey, they are the only ones in red uniforms.¡±


    Cranny¡¯s voice called out to him through the now empty doorway, ¡°Hey Danny, you gotta come look at this!¡±

 Chapter 3

    Danny walked out into the hallway of the sanctuary to see it had taken on a similar appearance to the bridge. Gone was the familiar tall rectangular shaped hallways and in its place was a pentagon with an elongated top.


    Danny couldn''t help but ask, "Are all the rooms sci-fi themed as well? What''s up with that?"


    Cranny slowed down and pondered this for a moment before replying, "Yes, the rest of the rooms have taken on this similar appearance, accept the library. Just the wooden paneled walls of the library now have a crystal pattern inlayed. I can only guess that this look is a combination of our interpretation of our upgrade and our overall desire to see our previous technologically inclined world. I believe the technical term is overcompensation."


    Danny nodded to this as they reached the door to the mana room. The door here was not the two panels that separated affair, like the one to the bridge, instead it was in the shape of a pentagon that opened like an iris.


    Walking through they entered a small entry room with another pentagon shaped door on the other side. To the left was a holoscreen with a plaque above it that simply read, "Runic Lexicon (6)".


    Cranny pointed at it and explained, "This is how your runic language skill is represented. Tell the screen what you are looking for and the appropriate runes will appear. I suspect we will need to find more of these at some point. I am surprised we were not given more by the order, but I suspect that was a test of some sort. Stupid of them if you ask me."


    Moving to the other door in the room Cranny paused before entering. The expanding iris doorway revealed a spherical room with large pentagons all over it like a soccer ball. The doorway was situated in a way that it looked lightly down into the room. In the center was a massive hovering crystal structure that fluctuated between all the colors of the rainbow. Along the walls, a ring of pentagons halfway up the sphere appeared to contain different people.


    Cranny jumped into the room and, to Danny surprise, floated to the crystal in the center. Gesturing for Danny to follow, Cranny waited until Danny had made it safely across.


    Cranny patted the glowing crystal and explained, "This center crystal represents your mastery of mana manipulation."


    Danny''s eyes couldn''t have opened any further, as Cranny continued, "It is without a doubt an effect of the change you underwent. While I would call this a serious cheat, the path to getting this was not one I would care to repeat. I haven''t yet had a chance to determine what this mastery means." Cranny gestured to the ring of pentagon "cells". These are your magic affinities. Come with me so you can meet them."


    Floating across the room, they stopped themselves in front of the cell labeled, "Fire Affinity (6)". Inside the cell was another Danny, in his appearance as it was on this new world. Flames poured from black flesh of the lower half of his body and from half way down his arms to his hands. The top of his head was black as well, with flame like hair lifted up in the air similar to a candle¡¯s flame. The rest of his flesh had a red tinge to it and his eyes glowed with a soft red light. Danny couldn''t help but imagine the destruction he could wreck if he could take on this form. The fire-Danny turned to him with a feral grin and reached out a hand as if welcoming him. Danny was surprised as he had assumed these were immobile apparitions, symbolic Danny manikins that showed the different affinities like the latest fashions.


    Cranny led him around the rest of the center circle. Each affinity¡¯s version of himself was different and seemed to display a different personality. Cranny could not elaborate any on what this could mean. The degree at which each version of himself was altered depended on his affinity level. While earth, water, and nature affinities matched fire affinity¡¯s level of change, storm, lava, and cold affinities only showed changes to the hands and lower legs. Air affinity was now level eight and his entire semitransparent body seemed to be surrounded by a layer of swirling air.


    Nature affinity was the oddity by having two versions of himself. One was covered in the bark of a tree while the other version looked almost like Phantom.


    Once they finished with the center, Cranny gestured upwards. Above them, the uppermost pentagons were all a bright white with a crystal pattern inlayed. The topmost pentagon was a pure white cell. As they neared, Danny could see a version of himself whose skin barely looked any different than his current self, except it had a crystal pattern faintly glowing across it. The only other differences were that his eyes glowed white as an aura of pure light emitted from his body. The cell was labeled "Harmony Affinity (7)". Danny looked to Cranny in confusion.Stolen story; please report.


    "I sort of changed the name myself. This used to be life affinity until we received access to its opposite, the newest affinity. Thinking about what the two truly meant resulted in the change," Cranny explained.


    Danny looked around, not seeing what he was looking for, asked, "What are you talking about? There are not any other affinities."


    Cranny pointed at the crystal in the center, "I spent some time in here before you woke up. I realized that any affinities that are polar opposites are separated by line of sight here.


    Drifting towards the bottom, they rounded the center crystal to see a swirling mass of darkness. Danny recognized different sized pieces of the pentagon walls swirling and breaking apart. Danny paused before gliding towards the cell at the bottom. This was his sanctuary, it couldn¡¯t hurt him, could it? He started to panic when he realized that the cell in the middle of the dark whirlpool was hard to discern, and feared he would be swallowed into the nothingness. His body bounced lightly off a wall of pure blackness. Nothing could be seen below him.


    Danny was about to turn around to question Cranny, when a pale ghost of a face quickly rushed from the void to stop before him. The face had a grin that caused Danny''s skin to crawl and pure black eyes that proclaimed the insanity that was barely kept inside. Danny unconsciously pushed away and drifted back towards the center crystal. As he drifted, Danny noticed dark veins ran jaggedly through sickly and pale flesh, appearing like dark cracks in neglected porcelain.


    Danny didn''t breathe again until he had touched the crystal, and snakingly whispered, "Wha... what the hell is that!"


    Cranny seemed to look everywhere but down at what Danny was referring to. Cranny shrugged uncomfortably, "When we disrupted the goblin shaman circle from casting the massive dark spell that would have assuredly destroyed the caravan, I think we took in a bit of that mana into ourselves and gained an affinity for it."


    Danny shook his head, "Can we get rid of it? What is it exactly?"


    Cranny looked increasing uncomfortable, "I do not think we can rid ourselves of it. When I saw how it changed you into¡­ Danny Freako¡­, and then how the goblins used it, a name appeared in bright letters before fading into nothingness... ''Entropy''."


    Gesturing to the top and bottom of the room, Cranny continued, "While one fortifies and brings things back as they should be, the other corrupts and tears them apart into nothingness."


    Danny looked confused for a second, "Was there a number next to the name?"


    Cranny shook his head, "No, there wasn''t. I can only come up with two theories on why. Either the Magi who created these sanctuaries didn''t know about this affinity, or they purposely avoided rewarding anyone from gaining skill and understanding in its use¡­ Based on his appearance compared to the others, our affinity is pretty high."


    Danny shuddered, but had nothing to say to this and stared blankly at a far wall.


    "Common Danny, let¡¯s go look in the entrance room. ¡°


    The entrance room had once looked like a large study, long bookshelves held all his accumulated knowledge and skills not associated with magic. A desk once set to one side with a triangle within a triangle above it. Now, the room was another white sphere of hexagons, except this on was traversable by a metal walkway that stretched across the room. On the other side of the room, the walkway ended in a large circular metal ring. What could only be described as a wormhole funneled away from the metal circle far into the distance.


    Cranny took Danny to the center of the room where the walkway bulged around a circular work station. Out of the top of the workstation rose three clear tubes towards the ceiling. The first tube was was labeled ¡°Strength¡±, and a copper looking liquid could barely be seen bubbling up from the bottom. The second tube was labeled ¡°Agility¡±, and the copper liquid almost reached halfway up it. The last tube, ¡°Intelligence¡±, was twice as tall as the others. The bottom half of this tube was filled with copper and it glowed brightly as energy raced through it. The top half of this tube was filled over half way with an iron liquid. The glowing effect of the bottom half did not extend to that of the top half.


    Danny nodded at the tubes but then looked around in confusion, ¡°Where did all the skill books go?¡±


    Cranny typed into the console and video images of his different skills displayed on the hexagon sections of the rooms wall. Skill names and their levels displayed below them. Each hexagon cycled through different skills. ¡°Nothing really new, just presented in a different way.¡±


    Danny watched this a while before he turned and walked up to the wormhole and asked, ¡°Why even have an exit when I can come in and leave from wherever I want?¡±


    Cranny walked over next to him, ¡°Danny, before you go back I have one last thing to tell you. Something I figured out during your upgrade.¡±


    Danny glanced over at him, ¡°Hmmm?¡±


    ¡°Your sanctuary isn''t in your mind, it''s with me in the source.¡±


    Danny looked over at him in shock, right before Cranny pushed him through the wormhole.

 Chapter 4

    Light from the early morning sun had barely begun to illuminate the forest floor where a group of vultures had gathered for a feast. Ripping and tearing into the flesh they fought over the choicest pieces. Not having been able to get to the crowded corpse, the smallest vulture turned as it smelled fresh drying blood nearby. Hopping over to the other body, the scrawny bird could tell it was still alive but with all the blood, it was sure to be dead soon. Pecking at the area with the most dried blood the bird was surprised when it was abruptly knocked away.


    ¡°I''m not dead! Get off of me! I''m not food!¡±


    Danny shot up waving his arms and legs around without aim. Birds flew into the air and feathers fell to the ground like black snow. He took a minute to look around and gain his bearings.


    Cupping his hands to his mouth he yelled, ¡°Phantom!¡±


    Danny waited a few moments for the cat before he noticed the smell coming from the half eating rotten goblin.


    ¡°Gross¡­ Cranny, was kicking me out really necessary?¡±


    *No, but morning was coming and we need to check on the caravan. Plus that one vulture was about to kick you out anyway, so I did you a favor before he really went to town.*


    ¡°¡­.so, you¡¯re not really part of me?¡±


    *Nope, I am apparently a construct of the source. Two personalities can¡¯t occupy one mind without serious psychological ramifications. Think of your sanctuary and, by extension, me as part of a remote magical server enhancing you.*


    ¡°So if I lose my connection to the source¡­¡±


    *You will lose me. But don''t worry, as you will be dead anyway, since you now run off of mana.*


    ¡°Cranny, you really missed your calling as a motivational speaker.¡±


    Cranny chuckled and then there was a brief moment of silence. Small birds flew above the canopy, calling out to the morning.


    Danny, scratched his arm and asked, ¡°Do you think I have enough power now?¡±


    Danny was starting to wonder if Cranny had heard him.


    *I think we are almost there? Let''s see how strong these elves are. They are all born with their mana unlocked already. Maybe they have knowledge that will give us the edge we need.*


    Danny nodded, ¡°Let''s go see back. I hope they survived.¡±


    Cranny didn''t have to ask him who ¡°they¡± were.


    *I¡¯m sure they are fine, don''t worry. Don¡¯t tell them about your upgrade. I don''t know if that Arya will let us go to the elves if they find out. If you want to try anything, I would suggest experimenting a bit now before you go back.*


    Danny really wanted to head back and check on his friends, but he needed to figure out what changes occurred before doing that. Who know what trouble he could cause?


    ¡°What''s first, Cranny?¡±


    *Try and use your magic like you have been. I will monitor what''s happening on this end.¡±


    Danny nodded and cast a fireball, stone spike, air blade, and grew a small tree from a sapling.


    Putting his hands on his hips, Danny pondered as the mana used seemed to go a bit further but he couldn''t tell how much of his mana he had used. He still wasn''t used to the changes to his body.


    *That¡¯s interesting, try writing your name with flames in the air about two meters away.*


    ¡°Whaaaa? Ok, I will try, but you know that I have never managed to make anything more complex than simple shapes¡­¡±


    Danny gathered mana and started to manipulate it into a ¡°D¡± and then tried to make an ¡°A¡±. Danny was shocked how easily it was.


    *Danny, stop what you¡¯re doing. I want you to try something else. Draw a dotted line with mana and continuously cast light on each dot outwards as far as you can.*


    Danny didn''t question him and did as he was told. The dots of light started popping briefly into existence in a long chain that suddenly started wobbling around as they traveled out into the distance.


    "I couldn''t see through the trees any further to cast, but I can tell that I can cast farther away, can''t I?"


    *It''s better than that. You now have an area of around five meters where you can cast with little to no focus. After that the distance increases to somewhere around 500 meters, but at that range your spells would require massive amounts of mana to be effective. You would also have to be able to see that far, so it would not be very accurate. It is perfect for our scanning magic, though.*


    "Wow, that¡¯s crazy! Can you sense the caravan? I can sense what the scanning spells pick up but there is too much for me to focus on."


    *Yes, I see them but there doesn''t seem to be much movement. They appear to be staying put.*Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "Alright, I want to test things out further, but we need to get back. Where is Phantom? Are you picking her up anywhere?"


    *Nope, maybe she got tired of the stinking corpse... and that dead goblin over there.*


    Danny ignored him and started calling out, but the cat must have wandered off too far to hear.


    "Cranny, can you point me in the right direction for the caravan?"


    *Here let me try something. Keeping you alive during the upgrade gave me the idea for being able to communicate with you by hacking into your ear''s sensory cells. I am going to try the same to your eyes."


    "What are you going... Ahhhhh!" Danny covered his eyes with his hands.


    *Sorry! Sorry¡­ I had that turned up to high. Try it now.*


    Danny cautiously blinked and finally opened his eyes to look around, "What am I supposed to be seeing?"


    *Turn your head until you see a faint flashing light. That will be in the direction you need to go."


    Danny turned his head in the direction he thought he had flown from and noticed what Cranny was talking about.


    "Thanks!" Danny took off in a jog towards the faint light that appeared in the distance.


    Allowing his worries about the girls to surface, he took off at a fast pace. He had used a lot of his reserves to heal himself and was worried about how far he could make it in his current state. He was surprised after five minutes of jogging that he wasn''t getting tired. His muscles had a slight ache but there wasn¡¯t the burn he was used to feeling when pushing himself. He wasn''t even breathing very hard.


    Speaking without strain, Danny asked, "How far did I exactly fly?"


    *You flew pretty far, but you had traveled a ways down the road to stop the group spell the goblin shamans were casting. I am taking you right back to the caravans location. Looks like they moved further back down the road.*


    "Why am I not tired, or needing to breathe hard. This is kind of freaking me out."


    *Remember, you are not getting tired because you are using mana instead of chemical energy. On top of that you don''t really need oxygen anymore. There might be a few processes that require it, but your lungs are not very useful now except for when you want to talk or smell.*


    Being distracted by what he was just told Danny almost tripped over something.


    "Wait, so how much of my mana am I using right now?"


    *Right now, you are only cutting into the amount of mana you regenerate, and not taking out of your reserves. When resting your body eats about a quarter of the regeneration, right now it¡¯s getting near half.*


    "So, I now have super speed!"


    *No, you have super endurance. Stop trying to run and think. While you are puttering along for the marathon, your enemies are going to catch you before the 200 meter dash is even finished.*


    Danny shrugged and mumbled defensively, "It¡¯s still super."


    Danny took off at a run and burst from the forest onto the road. The other side of the road was a vast clearing, filled with burned trees and underbrush. Dead bodies were littered everywhere.


    This wasn''t the merchant clearing the caravan had started in day before. Looking back to the north, Danny could make out the merchant clearing, filled with more corpses and the remains of the earthen fortifications the wizards had hastily put up. Past that, Danny thought he saw a massive crater in the ground. Large forest trees had been blown backwards away from the center of a large explosion of force.


    Turning to the South, the remnants of the caravan were huddled behind a new earthen fortification. Looking like a small square fort, the wizards had obviously had more time to work on this one. Figures could be seen watching from stone towers erected at each corner.


    As he approached he was hailed to by a soldier watching from the northwest tower. Word was passed, or shouted, down and part of the western wall opened to eject the Basalt trio, followed by Ivy and Brooke.


    The large wizard opened his arms wide, "Danny! We thought you escaped back to Diadem. It got crazy there for a bit, but it wasn''t anything me and my little ladies couldn¡¯t handle.¡±


    Arya stopped a distance away, eyes boring into Danny'', "Yes, why are you back and why are you covered in dried blood and scorch marks?"


    "Oh, these? Crazy story, you see I was..."


    Arya interrupted him, "Danny, not long after the beginning of the battle there was a large explosion near the rear of the enemy formation. You wouldn''t happen to know anything about that would you?"


    Danny, sighed. He had had enough of this farce. He didn¡¯t know if it was the almost dying that was pushing him over the edge, but he was tired of playing the complacent fool he had grown accustomed too.


    Cranny tried to interject and prevent what was about to happen, *Danny, don''t forget what we talked about...*


    Danny wasn''t listening, "Fine! I was going to lie, and make this easy, but apparently you want to get me in trouble for saving your asses. Yes, I stopped the goblin shamans from releasing some dark ritual spell they were cooking up to kill you all. Then I was ejected into the forest and hit my head on a tree and woke up only a few minutes ago. Scream at me all you want, but all I care about is where they keep the food is around here? I had to heal quite a bit and I am starving!"


    As he stomped away he glanced out of the corner of his eye. They were all staring at him in different states of shock.


    Arya seemed to be recovering the fastest, her eyes squinting dangerously.


    Danny, quickly walked back up to the woman. Jabbing his finger repeatedly into her chest, he fiercely whispered, "Oh, and before you begin. Go ahead, threaten me or my family again and I am out of here. I am sure after I show the elves what I am capable of, they will be able to help me get my family safely out of Diadem."


    Wizard Basalt looked angry when Danny started jabbing his wife with his finger but then looked over at his wife in confusion at Danny''s accusation."


    Arya looked confused as well, "Threaten your family? Who threatened your family?"


    Danny lost some of his bluster, "The Umbra... through instructor Meadows..."


    Arya looked at her husband, who shook his head, "Danny, we never heard about this. We were just told to keep you safe at all costs and to do our best to not let the elven queen lure you away. What did Meadows say to you exactly?"


    Danny went over the conversation he had with Meadows.


    Arya, looked at him with concern in her eyes, "Danny, of course they don''t want you to try and stay with the elves. We know they are sorcerers like you. Why wouldn''t you want to stay with them?"


    Danny looked around, "Bu... but then why did Meadows take a drink and act like what she was saying was really hard to do?"


    Wizard Basalt scoffed, "Danny, everyone knows how Meadows gets when a new batch of recruits graduates. Can''t go near her for days while she mopes. You were the last one for her to see off. So there at the end she probably really wanted to jump across the desk and give you a hug. I was told she had orders to pay special attention to you. She may have seem strict but she secretly is a big softy."


    The wizard reached out and patty Danny affectionately on the back. Which meant Danny almost fell forward on his face.


    Arya steadied him by grabbing hold of Danny''s shoulder, "Danny, you are going to become an even more powerful sorcerer one day... Well, if you don''t kill yourself first. What good would it do us to make you an enemy by threatening you or your family...? Come on Danny, let¡¯s go get you some food. We can''t have you wasting away.


    Danny was numbly led into the fort. The opening in the wall closing behind them.

 Chapter 5

    The inside of the makeshift fort was filled with tents. In the middle of the tents was a space set aside for a cookfire. Next to the fire pit was a canopy set up with stone tables and benches. Danny could make out carriages and wagons crammed in the far back corner. An occasional soldier or wizard could be seen moving quietly between the tents. The atmosphere of the fort was very subdued.


    Wizard Basalt turned to the group, "Girls, why don''t you take Danny to get cleaned up, get him some food, and then come meet us at the healer¡¯s tent."


    After the Basalt shadow moved off, Brooke rushed over to give Danny a hug.


    Brooke looked down at his torn clothes and all the dried blood, "Are you sure you do not need to go see the healers?"


    Danny shook his head, "Nah, I am good. Just hungry."


    Ivy traded places with Brooke. When Danny thought Ivy wasn''t going to ever let go of him he asked, "What''s going on, where is Jade?"


    Pulling away from him, Ivy pushed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes and looked to the side, "Jade was injured pretty badly during the attack. She''s in the healer¡¯s tent right now, and she is recovering. After she is released, we might need you to... help her get back to her old self."


    Danny looked alarmed, "What, She got hurt! Why don''t we go see her now?"


    Brooke put a hand on Danny''s arm, "She is doing fine now. She fell asleep right before we were told you were waiting outside. Her aunts and uncle are with her now, so let''s go get you cleaned up and get some food in you before you collapse. You are nothing but skin and bones."


    Danny started to argue but his stomach chose that moment to start grumbling, loudly. "Alright, a quick bite and then we will go see Jade."


    The girls led him to their tent. Danny noticed it wasn''t the one they had been using before the attack. There were two pallets inside and Danny recognized his backpack in thefar corner. Brooke brought in a bucket of water and a wash cloth. The girls gave him some privacy to clean up and change into new cloths.


    The cookfire was a long pit with a pot boiling on one end and meat cooking on a spit on the other. Brooke and Ivy went over and waited in line while Danny sat under the canopy in an empty spot. The food consisted of bread, soup and a slice of cooked deer meat. Danny dug into the meal. Brooke and Ivy had eaten earlier and were just drinking tea while waiting on Danny.


    While cutting into his slice of meat, Danny asked, "So what happened to Jade?"


    Brooke answered, "Things were pretty rough there from the beginning. If they had just attacked with the undead goblins, we wouldn''t have had any problem handling them. The undead ogres and mountain troll really pushed things in their favor."


    Danny interrupted, with a piece of meat in his mouth, "I saw that, Wizard Basalt flew in the air and killed that mountain troll with one hit. That was so awesome!"


    Brooke nodded but didn''t share any of Danny''s enthusiasm, "Yes, it was really impressive, but things got worse after that. The shaman started to raise our own dead to fight against us. Fortunately, we hadn''t suffered too many losses at that point, but it was still disturbing to see. Then, after you stopped the ritual spell and caused that explosion we were immediately flanked from the east. The explosion knocked over more than a few people and everyone was distracted. I think they were waiting for something like that to happen, and used it to catch us by surprise. A group of shamans leading another mass of undead ogres and goblins attacked our flank, right where Ivy, Jade, and I were stationed. We really hadn''t seen much of the enemy and then there were suddenly dozens of them climbing over the wall. Jade was behind us with her bow and saw that Ivy was distracted fighting some goblins. Ivy didn''t notice the ogre coming up behind her. Arrows really don''t affect the undead much and so Jade pulled Ivy out of the way at the last second. That''s when the ogre grabbed Jade instead. A few soldiers managed to make it over to Jade and kill the ogre and goblins attacking her, but not before they had ripped her arm off."


    Danny put his fork with another piece of meat down on his plate. He was suddenly not very hungry anymore.


    Swallowing, Danny looked around and asked, "How many are left?"


    Brooke answered again, "After the battle, there were a dozen dead and around thirty wounded. Of that only one wizard was killed."


    Danny noticed that Ivy had been quiet all through this and pushed his plate away, "Well, I am done. Let''s go see Jade."


    Ivy got up quickly, "I am going to go find you a pallet for tonight. The wagon with our things loaded on it was caught in the attack and some of our stuff was destroyed."


    Danny watched Ivy walk away before turning to Brooke, "She blaming herself for Jade?"


    Brooke nodded. Danny reached out and put a hand on her arm, "How are you holding up?"


    Brooke sighed, "I am worried about Jade, and I want Ivy to snap out of it... She won''t listen to me."


    "I will talk with her later, but I want to see Jade. Where is the healer''s tent?"


    Brooke led Danny over to a long tent near the south side of the fort. As they approached the large tent there was the sounds of a large commotion going on inside. The sides of the tent started moving erratically and a group of three wizards rushed out of the entrance. Wizard Basalt emerged next from the tent, carrying Jade in his arms. His wives followed him out shortly after with their weapons drawn, slowly backing out of the tent.


    Lieutenant Cove, with a group of soldiers, rushed over, "What is going on!"Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Arya didn''t lower her weapon and glanced over her soldier, "One of the recovering soldiers killed one of the healers. She bit through the wizard''s neck and then attacked the patient on the pallet next to her. I engaged her only to realize she had been turned into one of the undead."


    Lieutenant Cove turned to the three healers standing behind the Basalts, "How did that happen?"


    The oldest of the three wizards stepped forward, "Ever since the battle, we have been fighting an infection that barely responds to our healing magics. Anyone that was attacked by the undead seems to have contracted this disease, but it is one we have not seen before."


    "Why was I not informed of this!" Lieutenant Cove barked.


    The older wizard hesitated, and then stood up straighter, "We were too busy treating the patients to come and inform you of a infection."


    Danny had heard enough and walked over to inspect Jade, who still lay unconscious in Wizard Basalt''s arms. Her skin was very pale and her veins were standing out in relief.


    *Danny, look at this!*


    Danny''s vision changed to his mana sight. Normally using mana sight in the forest would overwhelm Danny''s vision with innumerable bright dots. Each one representing a creature''s connection to the source of mana. Instead, only Jade''s connection was visible. Danny figured Cranny could filter this now. Besides her connection, there was a dark mass slowly spreading through her body. Danny had been hoping that the undead they had seen before were just conjured undead. It was clear this was more of a magically spreadable zombie infection. The soldier that turned undead must have succumbed to the entropy magic or died. Danny needed more information.


    While Lieutenant Cove continued to interrogate the healers Danny tried healing Jade. His harmony affinity seemed to stop the spread of the entropy curse but it didn''t push it back. No matter how dense he made his mana it only served to halt the spreading curse.


    Danny turned away from Wizard Basalt and muttered to himself, "There has to be a solution..." Danny couldn''t bear the thought of losing her.


    *I hesitate to suggest this... What about the harmony-Danny from the sanctuary? That might be more than just a symbolic representation of your affinity.*


    Danny continued to mutter under his breath, "I thought of that... what about all these people?"


    *We don''t know if it will even work. If we can do it, they will eventually find out about it. It could be Jade''s only chance.*


    Danny could see he had very few options. Reaching out he tapped on Wizard Basalts shoulder.


    The large man turned to him, "Danny, can this wait till we get this situation sorted out here?"


    Danny whispered, "Jade is in serious danger and I want to try something to help, but we can''t do it out in the open."


    Wizard Basalt stared at Danny for a moment before looking down at the girl in his arms. The wizard walked forward to brush up against Arya, "We need to take Jade and Danny to our tent."


    Arya looked back confused, but then nodded. Singling to the other two wives and Brooke they slipped away. Lieutenant Cove barked orders for the healers to go back into the tent and figure out what was happening. She stationed guards inside with orders to kill any that turned undead.


    Danny was surprised no one stopped them, but figured it was because they could cure any diseases that popped up with magic or alchemy. Based on the books in the wizard academy it was obvious they barely understood how diseases spread.


    Danny, Arya, and Wizard Basalt carrying Jade entered the tent while the rest stayed outside.


    Wizard Basalt gently laid Jade on pallet, "Why is Jade in danger Danny?"


    Danny sat down cross-legged in front of Jade, "She and everyone else attacked by the undead have been cursed. The dark magic you saw the shamans use is now slowly spreading through her body."


    Arya squatted down next to Danny, "The wizards said their healing magic wasn''t working."


    Danny nodded, "Yes, healing magic just halts it for a moment and then the curse keeps spreading. I might be able to do something to help her. I will warn you now that I will look different."


    Wizard Basalt sat down on the ground next to Danny, "Look different how?"


    Danny shrugged, "its best if you just see it for yourself. Now, I haven''t done this before so it might take me a while to figure out how. I will probably talk to myself a bit. I tend to do that when working through a problem."


    Arya looked askance at the boy and stood up, "Alright, we will give you some space. I will be right over here on the other pallet. Let us know if you need anything."


    Wizard Basalt also stood up and sat on another pallet in the room. Both of the adults didn''t speak and he could sense them quietly watching him.


    Danny looked down at the girl. She normally looked so tall next to him. With her curled up on the pallet, with a missing arm, the girl looked so small and frail. Danny knew he had to make this work.


    Running a hand through his hair he muttered, "Where to begin? Do I just cast harmony affinity on myself? That will just heal my aching legs and, uselessly, the rest of my body..."


    *I think that might have actually changed. With your upgrade, I have wondered if you can actually heal individual cells if you want to. I have been too worried about possibly using all your mana over a theory.*


    "Well, we can test that later. How do we change? Is it the crystal structures in my DNA?"


    *I have been going over all your changes and if it''s your DNA, then I don''t have a clue where to even begin. My money is one the crystal structures in your cellular walls. I am scared to wonder what would happen if you pour too much mana into your mitochondria.*


    "Alright, there is just one problem. I do not think I can focus on all the crystals in my cells."


    *Your magic follows your intent so that shouldn''t be a problem. I am just worried that you don''t have enough mana for your whole body. Just try focusing on your hand. Remember, it''s the crystal in your cells and not your cells you cast it on.*


    "How much mana should I use?"


    *I honestly don''t know, how about half of what we have saved up so far?*


    "No, a quarter. We might have to try multiple things."


    Danny took a deep breath and grabbed a quarter of his stored mana. Focusing on his right hand he cast harmony affinity, specifically targeting the crystals in the cellular walls.


    Danny screamed as an intense pain stabbed into his hand like a thousand tiny needles. Rubbing his hand gently Danny muttered, "That didn''t work. Maybe it isn''t the crystals."


    *Danny, one more try. Focus on the crystals in your whole body this time.*


    Danny looked back at the two adults in the room. Both looked concerned and he smiled reassuring at them before turning back to Jade.


    Danny muttered as quietly as possible, "Maybe you should tap into my pain sensors in my hand so you can also enjoy what just happened."


    *Danny, we don''t have time to be weak! This is for Jade.*


    "...Fine"


    *Use half your mana this time.*


    "Half?"


    Cranny didn''t respond. Danny gave up waiting and started taking deep breaths, preparing himself. He couldn''t afford to let his fear distract him. Danny steeled himself and cast half his mana as harmony affinity on the crystals all across his body.


    Danny had closed his eyes after casting, expecting an intense pain all over his body. Slowly opening his eyes he looked around. He hadn''t felt the intense pain like he had with his hand. He also didn''t feel the healing affect harmony affinity normally caused.


    Looking down at his hands he didn''t see any of the changes he expected.


    "Did it not work?"


    *Something is definitely happening to you, give it a bit more time.*


    Danny turned around and asked Wizard Basalt, "I think I got it to work but it seems to be taking a while. Do you notice anything different about me?"


    Wizard Basalt shook his head, "No, what am I looking for agai..."


    Arya drew in a sharp breath and pointed at his face, "Danny, what is that!"


    Looking back down at his hands he saw they now had faint crystal like pattern forming all over his skin and a glowing white aura was growing from out of his body.


    Smiling, Danny held up his hands, "I hope this works."

 Chapter 6

    Danny looked down at the aura that had stopped growing from his body, "I thought it would be more than this... Why is it so weak looking?"


    *Not enough mana input? I don''t know! Wait, let me check the mana room... Yep! Harmony-Danny''s is bigger.*


    Danny threw up his hands and just barely resisted verbally lashing out at his second consciousness'' choice of words. Before he could let out more than a frustrated growl, Cranny interrupted.


    *Hey, air-scan and earth-scan are not working. I don''t think we can use other affinities in this... aspect mode. Don''t try, you will just waste more mana like I just did. Wow, we are getting low.*


    Danny decided it would be best to ignore the voices in his head. Looking down at Jade he reached out with one hand and the white aura around his body stretched towards her with his intent. As his aura surrounded her body it lit up like a transparent hologram. Instead of a single image like he would get with scanning, it was a constant feed. Danny was pleased to note there wasn''t any discernible drain on his resources for doing this.


    The entropy curse was still spreading, and things had escalated. It had just reached her source connection and apparently was using that to spread even faster. Fortunately, the presence of Danny''s aura halted any further movement by the curse.


    Danny focused on attacking the curse with his aura and the two opposing forces went to war. Where the two sides met, grey mist evaporated and his aura was quickly gaining ground. The problem was, that his aura was shrinking in the process.


    Trying not to lose his focus, Danny muttered, "Need. More. Mana."


    *Oh! Right... I will try infusing what we have left into the crystals around your cells. Here goes!*


    Danny could see his aura visibly swell, but it wasn''t much. Danny could only focus as sweat ran into his eyes. Eventually the last of entropy curse was finally purged from Jade''s body. Danny let out a sigh and collapsed backwards on the ground. He help up a hand and noticed the harmony-aspect was still activated but his aura was very faint.


    Wizard Basalt and Arya rushed to Jade''s side.


    Wizard Basalt turned to Danny, "Is it done boy, is she free of the curse?"


    Danny just nodded mutely, too mentally exhausted to speak. Waging a war in three dimensions was not something Danny could say he had tried before.


    Arya whispered reverently, "You even completely regrew her arm."


    Danny sat up with this revelation. Looking between the two adults, he could clearly see Jade now sported two arms.


    Danny grabbed and pulled on his hair, "No, that wasn''t supposed to happen!"


    Arya looked back confused, "You... didn''t want her arm to grow back?"


    Shaking his head, Danny explained, "No, I didn''t. Well, at least not yet. We have how many more cursed in the healer''s tent? The mana I just used took me a night and most of today to accumulate. How am I supposed to treat the rest of them?"


    The wizard and his wife looked at each other for a brief moment before the wizard shook his head. Arya turned to Danny, "You are not going to be able to treat them Danny. Given how quickly the first one turned, I doubt we have much time left. Especially since doing so would reveal your secret."


    Arya rose and left the tent without another word. Wizard Basalt reached down and took his niece''s body into his arms once again, "Thank you Danny... Since she joined the order I have always tried to keep an eye on her, but she is always been a clever one. My little jewel."


    Danny was staring at the ground shaking his head, "Is there no way for me to get more mana? I can''t just sit back and watch all those women... turn into... those things!"


    The wizard put his niece back down moved over to squat down in front of Danny, "Boy, wizards have been trying for years to exchange mana. Even mana stones filled by one wizard, will not be useable by another."


    Danny stared at the wizard and thought about his words, when an idea struck him, "Wizards! I''m not a wizard!"


    Danny jumped up and ran out of the tent. In the dark of the night, only Brooke stood outside the tent as he bolted out. When she tried calling out to him, he was already gone. Danny weaved between the tents, heading for the carriages and wagons in the corner of the fort. Running up to a familiar one, he didn''t bother to nock and threw open the door. It was empty. Turning around he looked for something to give away where his quarry was, but all the tents looked similar.


    A soldier, stationed to guard the wagons and supplies walked over to Danny with a lantern in her hand, "What are you doing here Wizard Creek? Is that some sort of light spell?"


    Danny, seemed to register the woman''s presence, "Where is the ambassador?"


    The soldier was startled by Danny''s urgency and shook her head, "I haven''t seen where they put the ambassador''s tent. I would ask around or speak with the Lieutenant if that doesn''t work."


    Danny didn''t wait to thank the woman and took off towards the north side of the camp. The command tent was as nondescript as the rest of the army''s tents except for the Diadem flag flying on a pole just outside the entrance.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Danny rushed into the tent, "Lieutenant, where is the elven ambassador? I must see here immediately!"


    Lieutenant Cove looked up at him from where she had been speaking with Arya. Danny had barged in right as she had been in the middle of receiving a sealed letter from the leader of the Basalt Shadow.


    Arya ignored Danny''s interruption and addressed the lieutenant, "Make sure this is given to the general directly. No one else is to see its contents."


    Getting up, Arya turned to leave and ushered Danny out with her, "Please, don''t speak until we get back to my tent."


    After moving quickly back to the Basalt''s tent, Arya and Danny found the entrance guarded by Wren and Brianna, the other two wives of the Basalt Trio. Both women looked shocked when they saw Danny. Whispering she addressed the two, "Secure the tent, I will fill you in later."


    Entering the tent, they found Brooke and Ivy waiting with Wizard Basalt. Both of the girls made startled noises when they saw Danny enter. Arya silenced them with a look. Jade still lay unconscious on the same pallet from before.


    Waiting until she could get Danny to sit down, Arya addressed him, "Danny, the ambassador and Leaf took advantage of the battle to slip away and finish the rest of the journey on foot. I am sorry, they will not be able to help you. I wish we could save these soldiers, but we do not have any other options currently available. Now, we are going to go and continue on to the elvish lands. It''s too dangerous to stay here, especially since they got a good look your appearance this night. I really wish you had stayed in the tent and waited for me to return. Everyone, lets pack up and leave immediately."


    Danny barely registered anything Arya had said past the elves having left. He hated the fact that he had the capability to heal those women but could do nothing about it. This new aspect ability was obviously meant for someone with a large reserve of mana or huge regeneration abilities. Plus he had to go and waste it on regenerating Jade''s arm.


    *You actually didn''t use much of the aura to regenerate her arm. Maybe ten percent of the mana you put into it. That''s not enough to save someone else.*


    Danny looked up to realize that Brooke and Ivy were gone and the Basalt Shadow was packing.


    Arya looked over to see him looking around, "Danny, do you think you can return to how you normally look?"


    Danny stared at her dumbly for a second before looking down at his arms. He was still in harmony aspect form with its faint aura.


    *Danny, I don''t know if this will work, but just use the rest of the aura.*


    Danny looked up at Arya, "Hold still."


    Reaching out he touched Arya''s arm as the woman looked at him warily. It didn''t take long for Danny to find numerous improperly healed breaks across the woman''s body. One does not take up a career this hazardous without it leaving a story to tell. While harmony magic allows the medically untrained to treat serious injuries, it only works as efficiently as the person who wields the magic understands it to. Danny was shocked when his aura ran out before he could fix all the issues he found.


    Arya nodded her head, "Good, back to your old self. Go to your tent and gather up your things. Hurry now, my husband will carry Jade, till she wake up."


    Danny turned to leave, but Arya stopped him, "Danny, I am sorry we can''t do anything for the soldiers. You know I would do whatever we had to if there was a chance?"


    Danny looked back at her and frowned, then nodded before turning back to leave.


    Returning to his tent he had only visited briefly that morning, Danny found the girls waiting on him with their things already packed away.


    Ivy pulled him down to sit between her and Brooke on the ground, "Danny, thank you for healing Jades arm. Is it true you also stopped her from turning into one of the undead?"


    Danny nodded, "Yeah, it was really difficult. If Jade was any indication, it will take me most of another day to have enough mana to cure another person. The rate it was spreading in Jade, I wouldn''t be surprised if the rest of the woman would survive the night..."


    Brooke pulled Danny over into a hug, "Well, that''s it then, no use fretting over it. You have my thanks for saving Jade. Let''s get your things and pack up the tent... Hey, you never told me you could glow! I''ve seen flying bugs do that at night but it was just their butts... Wait, can you do that glowing thing again, I need to check something."


    Danny fell over as he swatted Brooke''s hands away from trying to pull down the back of his pants, "Stop cheering me up, I am trying to be dark and brooding! Ivy help me here!"


    Danny looked over to the other girl for assistance but instead found Ivy already leaning over him, with a predatory smile.


    Danny''s eye''s widened, "No! Not that!"


    Tears were streaming down Danny''s eyes as he crawled toward the entrance to their tent. Arya stuck her head in and looked down at the two girls who were relentlessly tickling Danny. Shaking her head, she said, "Girls, that will have to wait till later. I hope you can be a little more discrete when we slip out of the camp tonight."


    Ivy and Brooke immediately stopped and sat up, "Yes ma¡¯am!"


    Danny just rolled over onto his back and laid there breathing heavily.


    Smiling, Arya, "Hurry and pack up the tent, we are leaving."


    With the light from the moon as their only source of light the two groups left the security of the fort and slipped out into the forest. They did not dare travel by the road, as it was surely watched by their enemies. They hadn''t traveled very far when Wizard Basalt spoke up to let everyone know Jade was finally waking up. Everyone stopped to gather around where she was being carried in the wizard''s arms.


    Jade opened her eyes slowly as if the moonlight was actually the blaze of a midday sun. Her bright green eyes almost seemed to glow in the soft light. Recognizing everyone she smiled weakly.


    Wizard Basalt walked over and sat her down on a fallen log nearby. Jade kept an arm on the wizard until Ivy and Brooke sat down on either side of her.


    "Why am I so weak?" Jade said as she wobbled between the two girls.


    Danny laughed, "You don''t just grow a new arm from nowhere. I am sure you will be weak for a while until you can get more food and exercise in." Thinking a bit more Danny added, "Your bones might also be a little weaker."


    Jade looked at Danny with a frown and then tears started rolling down her eyes.


    Danny looked around unsure what he said wrong.


    Jade reached out her arms to him, and he quickly knelt in front of her and gave her a hug.


    Jade pulled back enough so he was looking into her eyes. Jade''s voice cracked as she spoke, "I was so worried, Danny. There was that explosion and I knew you were out there somewhere. Then when I was in the healer''s tent they either changed the subject or lied about where you were. Danny..."


    Jade hugged him as hard as her weak arms could as she cried.


    Danny craned his neck, as much as Jade would let him, to look at everyone for support in what to do. Everyone just quietly smiled as they watched them, waiting for Jade to finish. Some of the girls were wiping their eyes.


    Danny could hear someone blow their nose loudly, but it was as if they were far in the distance.


    *Awwwwww, Danny, please say we can keep her! Oh, and we need more tissues and popcorn when you next go to the store, we ran out.*


    Danny leaned his head down into Jade''s shoulder and subtly rolled his eyes.

 Chapter 7

    The forest at night was a place of darkness broken only by small pools of light. Large clouds moving across the sky would only briefly allow the moonlight to shine down on them, causing the mind to see illusionary figures in the distance. The wind had picked up as a cold front had moved in.


    Jade had finally released Danny and they slowly continued on their way. Jade refused to leave Danny''s side. The two thin teenagers walked hand in hand, one supporting the other. When Danny had healed himself he had used a considerable amount of his body¡¯s resources, but Jade''s healing had really put a strain on her body. They agreed that it would be best for her to walk a while before Wizard Basalt would carry her again.


    In the quiet of their march through the trees, Danny worried about where Phantom had gone. Wondering why she hadn''t returned.


    *Sorry, I don''t remember seeing her get hurt by the zombie goblin but I couldn''t see much from where we were laying on the ground.*


    Danny would just have to hope she returned on her own, eventually.


    *Hey, I am going to try and experiment while your mana is already low.*


    Danny didn''t dare reply with Jade practically leaning on him, and just nodded.


    Danny could sense his mana being used without his conscious effort, like when Cranny would scan with air or earth.


    *We can heal specific parts of your body now. It works using the crystals surrounding your cells. I didn''t focus on the crystals but they contained the mana activated to the parts that needed healing. This used all the mana stored in those cells effected, but this is definitely an improvement.*


    Danny nodded his head in agreement as Jade''s mouth opened with a huge yawn.


    Wizard Basalt walked up next to Jade and patted her on her shoulder. She looked over at her uncle and frowned, holding tightly to Danny''s arm. Her uncle chuckled and picked the girl up before she could do anything. Danny looked over to see her pouting before the rocking of the wizards lumbering gate slowly rocked her to sleep.


    By morning they still hadn''t stopped and neither had the cold wind. Infrequent drops of rain could be felt whenever they were not directly under the canopy. The forest hadn''t changed much in appearance and Danny wondered if the elves had made it safely back home.


    Arya called for a halt and told everyone to put up their tents. Danny suggested making them a place in the trees and Arya said they wouldn''t rest here for long. She did ask him to put up some cover around the location they had chosen. While the Basalt women took turns being on watch everyone else got into their tents to rest.


    They put Jade in the tent with Danny and the girls. Ivy and Brooke placed their pallets next to hers to make sure she didn''t get to cold. Danny was frustrated to find he wasn''t tired at all. After half an hour he got up and left the tent. Maybe getting something warm to drink would help him sleep.


    If it wasn''t for his air scan he wouldn''t have spotted Brianna Basalt, sitting on a large limb of a nearby tree. He waved to her and then realized they hadn''t started a fire, since they wouldn''t be staying long.


    Brianna swung down from the tree and silently walked over to him, whispering, "You alright, Danny?"


    Nodding, Danny replied, "Yeah, just not tired. Not even a little."


    Brianna nodded, "It has been an eventful couple of days." She smiled, "I figured you would be in there snuggled up with my niece."


    Danny smirked, "I would have if she had woken up before we put her down, but she slept through it all. Hey, if you want to go sleep, I can watch. We are breaking again at noon, right?"


    Brianna hesitated, "I wouldn''t mind that, but I don''t want you missing sleep if you are tired. You did use a lot of mana yesterday. My husband always sleeps like a rock after he uses a lot of mana. Takes all three of us to get up the next day."


    They shared a chuckle at that and then she went inside her tent after checking the area one more time. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Danny climbed up to the branch Brianna had vacated. He had yet to reach the agility to match the ease that the woman had shown getting down. His weakened state obviously didn''t help.


    Danny asked barely under his breath, "Why am I not even the least bit tired?"


    *Well, it looks like you don''t need to sleep.*


    Danny rolled his eyes, "Yes, thank you captain obvious."


    *No, Danny, you don''t understand. You probably will never need to sleep. Ever again. Well, maybe if you sustain some sort of brain damage and we don''t heal it in time.*


    Danny thought about this for a second, "Wait, can''t I sleep if I wanted too?"


    *Your mind was already enhanced by the intelligence attribute. Then your upgrade happened and now your whole body is more efficient than ever. As far as sleeping whenever you want to, have you ever been wide awake and still was able to go to sleep. I never did. Maybe if we used something from alchemy. Can you get addicted to potions? I wonder if there are health potion support groups?*


    Danny ignored his last comment, "Well, I guess we can always train at night, and no one else would have to stand watch. I actually feel better with us using air scan than relying on someone else falling asleep or missing something in a blind spot."


    *Yeah, I would have loved this ability back when some of my favorite videos games first came out.*


    Danny nodded, "I miss those too. I wish we at least had more books to read. This whole, books costing a small fortune thing is killing me. Also, no one writes fiction here yet, or maybe the whole extreme cost of knowledge is suppressing that as well¡­"


    *Oh, yeah. Since your upgrade I have started assigning a measurement to your mana regeneration. I still have no clue how much mana your body can hold, but based on gut feeling it is a ridiculous amount.*


    "Alright, so give me the numbers we have then."


    *I randomly assigned your mana regeneration four units of mana per minute. Remember that your body uses a quarter of that so you really have three mana per minute, so using four makes it easier. Based on how much it costs to use some of the spells we started with, or regeneration is slightly above the lowest wizard. I tried to factor in for our advanced affinities, so this is all purely conjecture.*


    Danny grumbled, "We need to find a way to gain more mana. This is ridiculous. What is the use of all this storage we supposedly have if we can''t gather enough mana to utilize it. My aura when using the harmony aspect was nothing compared to what it could be."


    *True, but you are storing everything instead of your body¡¯s storage filling and you wasting potential regeneration. By the way, your harmony affinity has increased to level eight when you were healing Jade.*


    Danny smiled, "Well, not wasting regeneration is good. The new level helps a little. We are close to mastering that one."


    *So it has been about ten hours since we used up most of your magic healing Jade. Let''s see what you can do with a little over 1,000 mana you have accumulated.*


    "Is that a lot or not?"


    *It''s about ten times as much as we could store previously, so as I said, your change isn''t completely a lost cause. Don¡¯t forget, there is still more room to store more.*


    ¡°Wait, shouldn''t I have more mana than that?¡±


    *Yes you should, but I have been using air and earth scan, and your body goes from using one mana to one and a third mana depending on how much you are physically exerting.*


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Danny sat up, "Maybe this isn''t so bad after all. Right, let''s try another aspect!"


    *We are on watch and we can''t use air scan unless we try the air aspect. Plus, we don''t even know what that will do to your ability to use air scan...*


    "Well, then we won''t use it for very long."


    *Alright¡­ then which one should we try, Air?*


    "Flame on!"


    *I don''t know... we are in a forest, pyro.*


    "We have used flame affinity in the forest plenty of times. We will literally be part fire. I am sure we will be able to control it."


    *Famous last words...*


    Ignoring him, Danny jumped carefully down from the tree and walked over into a small clearing nearby, "I will not use that much mana, so stop nagging."


    *Fine, just let me handle the mana then. Let''s use... 100 mana and see what that does.*


    Danny felt part of his mana disappear and like before there was no immediate feeling of change. Watching his hands and arms closely he eventually noticed that his skin was darkening.  After a few minutes his hands and arms looked black and coarse like coal. Pulling back his shirt he noticed the skin on his chest just looked red.


    Danny waved his arms around, "Where is the flame aura? Did we not use enough mana?"


    *Maybe it is a safety measure in case you are inside a wooden structure or riding something when you activate it? I don''t know, try using flame affinity on the ground in front of you.*


    Danny focused and flame erupted all over his body to coalesce onto the ground in front of him. It was strange as he didn''t feel the heat of the flame.


    After a few seconds smoke suddenly obscured his vision. He went to yell and obscenity when he inhaled the smoke and started coughing. While he didn''t panic enough to run aimlessly around, he did lose control of the flames as they burn brightly through the smoke.


    *Stop inhaling smoke, you don''t have to breathe, dummy! Stop, drop, and roll! Stop, drop, and roll!*


    Danny was too scared of causing a forest fire and ignored Cranny¡¯s last suggestion. Plus, he wasn''t on fire, he was the fire. The smoke abruptly cleared and Danny could easily see the forest around him. The flames surrounding him dwindled away as his aspect died. The grass around him was burning and a low hanging branch was on fire. He quickly reached out and used flame affinity to pull the heat from the surrounding smoldering plant life.


    Coughing Danny turned around, only to find everyone had woken up and gathered in a semicircle around him.  A few of them even had their weapons drawn.


    Danny smiled sheepishly and weakly said, ¡°Hey everyone¡­ I discovered how to use my flame aspect. It lets me surround myself in fire. Though, I didn''t expect all that smoke.¡±


    No one was responding and that''s when Danny realized everyone was looking, wide eyed, down at his legs. Confused he looked down to see that, not only was he back to his old self but all his clothing had burned away. He was buck naked.


    Danny quickly looked back up to see Wizard Basalt silently chuckling while turning back to his tent.  The wizard¡¯s wives smirked while having apparent coughing fits behind their hands. They quickly choose follow their husband.


    Ivy had a single eyebrow raised as she looked him in the eyes. Jade had her hands over eyes but Danny noticed she was doing a really bad job of hiding the fact that she was peeking. Brooke unabashedly stared at his¡­ ¡°magic wand¡±.


    Brooke looked up, smiled, and said, ¡°Hmmm, it¡¯s a good thing you¡¯re so pretty.¡±


    Everyone but Danny broke down into fits of raucous laughter. Danny opened his mouth and looked around quickly, unsure how best to defend himself.


    ¡°The cold front blew in¡­ This is a normal response to the cold!¡± Danny tried his best cover himself.


    Brooke took a few deep breaths, so that she could stop laughing long enough to add, ¡°But I thought¡­ I thought you said¡­ that you were just surrounded by flames¡­ did you miss a spot?¡±


    Danny made a frustrated noise and fled into his tent to the sounds of uncontrolled laughter.

 Chapter 8

    The peace and quiet of the Great Forest was suddenly disturbed by a loud slap that reverberated through the dense woods.


    Danny tried to ignore the sting in his back as Wizard Basalt laughed next to him. The evening after Danny''s attempt at using his flame aspect found the two shadows trekking through the Great Forest. Arya told them that they should soon be nearing the edge of the Great Forest, where they merged with the Elven Forest. A great river, called the Wisteria, separates the two forests from one another.


    Wizard Basalt wiped a tear from the corner of his eye as he asked, "So you just thought your clothes wouldn''t be burned by fire?"


    Danny rolled his eyes and wished he could be anywhere else at the moment, "Yes, how was I supposed to know there wasn''t some sort of protective barrier for my clothes. It didn''t burn my skin!"


    Wizard Basalt smirked as he looked at Danny''s head, "You forgot about your hair."


    Danny went to run his hands through his hair, as was his go to when frustrated, only to find the now familiar bald head. Well, there was a small bit of stubbly hair, but according to the girls you couldn''t even see it.


    *Danny, I confirmed your new hair has those crystal structures in it as well. Maybe it won¡¯t burn up next time¡­ Or it might explode! Try it now and let¡¯s see!*


    Danny shook his head and thought back to when he had conjured some water in one of his bowls. Only to be horrified to find out that his eyebrows were gone too. The girls tried to sooth his ego by saying it made him look mysterious.


    Wizard Basalt''s loud laugh echoed again through the forest, "Mysterious, oh those poor girls. They sure are trying their best."


    Danny made a pleading look to the older wizard, in hopes he would give him a break.


    The wizard smiled at Danny and looked conspiratorial forward at the females who had apparently given the two some distance to speak alone. Danny noticed the change in mood and watched him closely.


    Wizard Basalt leaned closer to him and whispered, "I am going to let you in on a little secret. You know, they actually teach the lady folk in the order early on how to handle us wizards."


    Danny looked skeptically at the wizard, unsure if this wasn''t a prank.


    The wizard nodded, "It''s true, I found the instructional book one of my wives had, when I first joined the order. It covered topics like positive reinforcement and distraction techniques. Ways to keep a wizard happy, content, and not rebelling. If I hadn''t looked through it thoroughly I wouldn''t have noticed how they all seemed to have read the same book."


    *Ha! I bet it was titled ''Ten Easy Steps to Keeping a Good Wizard'', or better, ''How to Turn Your Evil Wizard into a Good Wizard''.*


    Danny scoffed and jokingly added, while trying to shock the wizard, "Sure, and I bet there is a section on how to handle us in the bedroom as well..."


    Danny, having decided the wizard was pulling his leg, had turned to look ahead. After a few moments of silence he turned back to see the wizard looking at him with a smirk and eyebrows raised.


    Danny gave his full attention back to the wizard, "No, you¡¯re kidding... right?"


    The wizard looked ahead and seemed to check where the rest of their group was, "If you ever find your girl''s copy of the book, I know I have been real appreciative of the last section covered in the book. They probably have it hidden away in some secret compartment in their packs."


    *Oh, oh, I got it! How about ''Bewitching your Wizard: Bedroom Magic''.*


    Continuing to ignore Cranny, Danny began debating if looking for this supposed book was worth getting caught. If it even existed. It did fill some gaps on how this society functioned the way it did without most men revolting. Still, there had to be more than a few men that would seek more than what the society allowed them. Maybe, the fact that only wizards were seen rising to great heights reinforced contentment with "locked" men when they found favorable marriages. A case of if you don''t know better, you can''t expect better.


    They made good time by themselves, and didn¡¯t stop but for longer than six hours at a time. Danny decided to wait till later when he could try his other aspects in private. A few mornings later the sound of rushing water could be heard through the trees. It wasn''t much longer before they came upon a river that had to be well over 200 meters wide. The part of the river they came across was not the least bit calm. White water rushed around rocks and fallen trees that stuck up from the water.


    Before anyone could comment, Wizard Basalt walked to the edge and lightly stomped on the ground and began thrusting his hands forward as if he was practicing punching. Large, rectangular sections of stone rose up from the riverbed. Once they had reached a few meters above the water, the sections seemed to merge. The group backed away as the water in the river was displaced, and quickly flooded up near where they were standing. A few rectangular steps later and the group made their way across the bridge. The surface was slippery with all the spray from the river, and they had to walk carefully.


    Once they reached the other side, another stomp from the wizard had the bridge began sinking into the ground. Arya stopped a little ways from the river, where it wasn''t so loud, and everyone gathered around her.


    Arya announced, "We are now in the Elven Forest so just assume we are already being watched. Please be respectful in anything you do. Danny, please no more fires."


    This brought a few chuckles from the group, even Danny joined in.


    Danny nodded, "Yes, ma¡¯am, we are definitely being watched." He then started pointing, "There are three elves over there, two over there, and another three behind me."Stolen novel; please report.


    As he announced them, the supposed elves stayed hidden except for the group of only two. An ancient looking male elf and a younger female elf stepped out from where they were hidden. The ancient elf had a face that was heavily wrinkled with extremely long drooping ears. He was wearing robes made from some material that mimicked the bark of a tree, and in his long pale hair he wore a laurel of vines that looked to be made of a metal. The female elf was young and beautiful, like all her kind seemed to be. She wore armor that looked to be crafted to camouflage her in the forest, and she carried a long bow and sword.


    The ancient elf smiled towards Danny as he raised his hands outward, greeting them, "Indeed, I welcome you all to the elven lands. I am pleased to find the story that was brought to us of the human sorcerer was indeed true. Using the magic of the wind to sense those around you is not a simple feat."


    As they had discussed elven customs beforehand, Danny and his group bowed low to the old elf.


    Arya replied, "Greetings to you Elder. Please let me introduce my family."


    After Arya introduced the two shadows the old elf nodded his head, "I am Elder Rising-Breeze-Felt-On-The-Wings-Of-The-Falcon. As I have been warned beforehand by our scout, Leaf, you may call me Elder Breeze. Unlike Leaf, I would rather choose my own name than have your young sorcerer pick it for me."


    The young female elf next to him turned, alarmed, "Elder Rising-Breeze-Felt-On-The-Wings-Of-The-Falcon, this is unheard of and you deserve..."


    The Elder raised his hand and interrupted her, "It is fine. I am old enough to choose what I do and don''t deserve."


    The female elf bowed at his words.


    An obviously nervous Arya stepped forward, "Elder Rising-Breeze-Felt-On-The-Wings-Of-The-Falcon, we have no intentions of circumventing decorum and apologize for my future nephew if his actions have caused any disrespect."


    The Elder turned to her with a small smile on his lips, "Your "future nephew" has caused no disrespect. In fact, in the short few days since my grandson''s return, Leaf has become the talk of the forest. Now all of the elves, especially the younger ones, have taken it upon themselves to create their own informal names."


    Danny couldn''t help but ask, "Elder Breeze, I am curious. If your people have not had a custom of using informal names, then were you always formal, even in front of friends and family members?"


    "No Danny, instead of using a proper name we would just call them ''friend''," Elder Breeze gestured toward the female elf next to him, "or granddaughter''. Isn''t that right, Sparrow?"


    The female elf just blushed and nodded while smiling at her grandfather.


    Danny looked thoughtful as he nodded in his understanding and bowed, "Thank you for the explanation, Elder Breeze."


    Elder Breeze smiled at Danny, only for it to fall from his face to be replaced by a look of alarm. Walking over to Danny, Elder Breeze grabbed his hand and the elf¡¯s vision slowly traced up Danny¡¯s body and into Danny''s eyes. Danny was unsure what was going on, but Arya had not covered this in the ¡®Elven Customs for Dummies¡¯ discussion. He was honestly getting very uncomfortable with the invasion of his privacy.


    Danny tried to take his hand back, surprised by the strength of the old elf, "Elder Breeze, can I please have my hand back?"


    The ancient elf seemed to come to his senses, "Ah, yes my child. My apologies..."


    As Elder Breeze stepped away he looked down deep in thought. Sparrow looked at her grandfather in concern.


    Turning suddenly back to Danny''s group, the Elder distractedly spoke barely loud enough for everyone to hear, "Everyone¡­ welcome again and please follow us. We are not far from the carriages awaiting to take us to the palace, where the queen and the rest of the elders are patiently awaiting your visit."


    Unsure what had just happened, Danny followed the others as they traveled further into the elven forests. Danny was expecting the trees here to look different, but it almost appeared to be a continuation of the Great Forest.


    *What was up with the old fart holding our hand and looking longingly into our eyes?*


    Danny shrugged to himself, confused.


    *My money''s on him noticing your recent upgrade. They probably have something similar to mana sight. He could tell we used air affinity... We can only see raw mana. We need to get him to show us how to do that.*


    They emerged from the forest to find a dirt road and three carriages awaiting them. Looking up and down the road, Danny didn''t see a reason why they chose this spot to stop. Probably because it was closest to where his group had entered the elven forest.


    The groups were split up and Danny got in with his shadow into one of the carriages. As soon as Danny sat down on one side, Jade pushed her way forward to sit next to him. Danny figured the girl''s recovery must be going well. That was until she promptly fell asleep on his shoulder. In fact after the other two girls closed the curtains, it wasn''t long before they had given in to slumber themselves. Danny hadn¡¯t really had much opportunity to ride in a carriage in this world. These noble girls obviously were used to this mode of travel. So, Danny was the only one still awake, left with only his thoughts. Danny peeked outside the carriage to see more of the same forest. The light that was let in by this caused Jade to start fussing in her sleep. Danny decided it was best to keep the curtain closed.


    Hours passed as Danny tried to ignore the drool slowly wicking through the shoulder of his shirt, and the loud snores coming from Brooke''s corner of the carriage. He was pretty sure someone had passed gas, and he took a little time to practice his innocent face. The rest of the time Danny spent quietly talking with Cranny about how best to handle his flame aspect.


    *Danny, check this out!*


    Looking out the carriage window, Danny saw what must be the elven capital. He thought it was odd that there were no city walls or obvious defensive structures. The city seemed to just suddenly grow right where the trees stopped. The outskirts of the city consisted of beautifully crafted homes of wood and stone. There was an obvious attempt to make each home appear organic or natural. Like an earth and stone hillside, with growing moss, or interlayered logs of wood, made to look like a small grove of trees. The thing that surprised Danny the most was what comprised the center of the city.


    *Danny, they have trees filled with mana!*


    Danny reached over and pulled back a curtain all the way, to see they were now moving through a city made of living trees. Each building was made of numerous trunks rising from the ground to twist around each other in an elaborate dance. Whether it was one large tree or multiple smaller trees braided together, Danny couldn''t tell. Some of the structures were as tall as three stories while others were squat and short. Each one looked natural in its placement, giving Danny an uncanny sense of rightness.


    Looking up the canopy was filled with leaves of different colors that seemed to refract the light that passed through them.


    Through his mana sight, Danny could see mana coursing all throughout the trees. There was something else about what he was seeing that he couldn''t put his finger on.


    *Danny, their cellular structure is similar to yours!*


    An image of the inside of one of the trees was suddenly inlayed over Danny''s vision. He could see the same crystal structures imbedded throughout the cells structure.


    *The mitochondria look like yours and their chloroplasts look changed as well... Maybe they use mana to generate carbohydrates. They actually need to ¡®breath¡¯. This is crazy!*


    Danny shook his head, but didn''t have time to dwell on it anymore as their carriage came to a sudden stop. The girls all awoke and looked around, confused.


    Brooke rubbed her sore neck and asked, "What''s going on?"


    The door opposite to Danny opened and a male elf in bright green armor politely greeted them, "Welcome to the royal palace. When you are ready, please step this way."

 Chapter 9

    The lights in the room flickered on and off, on and off. Danny stood transfixed by the door, brushing his hand across a patch of brightly colored moss. Each pass of his hand turned a bulb of tree flesh, hanging from the ceiling, into an orb of light. When the lights turned off the moss took on a bioluminescent property.


    "Danny, what are you doing? You are going to make yourself go blind playing with it like that..."


    *Wait, what did she just say?*


    Brooke stood in the entryway to the guest room assigned to Danny. Danny wished the elves used something more substantial than the heavy fabrics covering doorways. Danny turned to stare dryly at her while still turning the light on and off repeatedly. The staring contest began.


    Danny finally gave up and blinked first. Turning in frustration he pointed up at the ceiling, "How is that doing... that! I can''t do that with my affinity aspect. I have to change my whole body, while this... this tree can change just a small portion of itself. That would be an extremely useful ability."


    Brooke nodded her head, obviously pretending interest, "Yes, your right, it would... So, you going to come eat supper with us or play with your room all night?"


    Danny stopped staring at the ceiling and sighed, "I''m coming. Just let me go to the bathroom and I will be there."


    The guest room provided to Danny in the palace was spacious. The rooms shape was best described like a bread bun. There were no corners, the walls, ceiling, and floor were all one continuation of each other. Leaves grew out of the ceiling, which made zero sense from a light gathering role. Though, with the fresh air, it could help parts of the building not feel so stuffy. Furniture was crafted by hand and consisted of a bed, dresser, desk, and small table with chairs. A opening exited onto a balcony overlooking the elven capital.


    The bathroom consisted of an attached, much smaller, room with a toilet, counter with sink, and a large tub. They all had more moss activators that turned the water on. The tub even had a special activator that heated the water. How they got the tree to use flame affinity without burning itself was going to be another thing to drive him crazy figuring out.


    After stepping out into the hallway outside his room, Danny headed down toward the large entryway to the guest wing of the palace. This doubled as a sitting room and dinning room for non-official functions with visiting guests.


    Everyone was already gathered around the table and apparently waiting on Danny to arrive.


    Danny had expected to be rushed off to meet the Queen and the Elders immediately when they arrived, but apparently it is considered rude to rush things when visitors had just come on a long journey. Palace guards had guided them to their guest rooms and the palace staff had shown up immediately after to make sure everyone had what they needed.


    While the Basalt Shadow had received a room to themselves, Danny had been separated from the girls. Danny had expected the girls to argue, and they looked like they wanted to, but they kept quiet about it in the end. Danny didn''t want to be rude and followed the palace guard to his private room. Which turned out to be a good thing in the end, since he would have driven the girls crazy studying the lights in the room.


    Danny was surprised to see they were not going to eat by themselves tonight. The Basalts and the girls all sat on one end of the dinning table while a group of elves took up the other side. Danny recognized Leaf and Elder Breeze, but Danny had not met the other four elves at the table. Danny¡¯s vision flared as Cranny highlighted a number of other individuals hidden around the room. Danny assumed these were here for the protection of the additional elven dinner guests.


    The elves stood to greet him as he approached the table. The Basalts and the girls quickly stood as well.


    Danny paused, unsure what was happening, until Elder Breeze moved over to guide him towards the far side of the table.


    "Danny, it is good you were able to join us. Please let me introduce you to everyone."


    Danny looked around and mumbled, "My apologies for making everyone wait."


    Elder Breeze''s hand moved through the air as if swatting a fly, "Don''t worry about it. You already know my grandson Leaf."


    Danny smiled at the young male elf, "Hey Leaf, how are the ears? None of those odd things I mentioned happening?"


    Leaf smiled, "No Danny, they are better than ever. Thank you again."


    The Elder waited for the two to finish before directing Danny over to the four elves he didn''t know. The strangers had gathered on the side Danny had been approaching, where the only empty seat was next to Ivy. The elf who would be sitting on his other side from Ivy was a tall boy who, if he was a human, would appear to be in his twenties. He had bleach blonde hair and vivid crystal blue eyes. He was dressed in what Danny assumed was a military uniform, dyed to match the color of his eyes. His face was almost classically handsome, with chiseled features and high cheekbones.


    The Elder gestured to the young elf, "Danny, this is Prince Hawke, heir to the elven lands."


    Danny, while bowing politely, did his best to hide his surprise at a male being able to inherit. No one had mentioned this to him and they did not cover that in the elven culture and language book he had read back at the academy. This place was starting to look better and better. Though he didn''t fail to notice the girls stealing glances at prince. He thought he might have seen Brooke lean over to get a better look at the backside of the prince.


    Doing his best to hide his jealousy, Danny greeted,"It is a pleasure to meet your royal highness."


    Prince Hawke''s face split into a huge grin as he nodded to Danny, "It is good to meet the one who saved the life of my best friend here, Leaf. Please if you ever need anything, just let me know."


    Danny bowed again, "Thank you, but I did not save him on my own. I could not have done it without, Ivy, Brooke, and Jade."


    The Prince nodded and smiled towards the girls, "Of course! I have also extended my offer to each of them as well."


    "Your highness is too kind."


    Turning to the two that had walked over from the other side of the table, Elder Breeze introduced them, "Danny, this is the commander of the elven forces, Prince Consort Barrow and this is Princess Willow."


    Danny bowed to both of them individually, as he had been instructed beforehand.


    The Prince Consort was impressive for an elf. Most of the elves he had seen looked lithe and built for speed. The Prince Consort was not only taller than most, but he looked like he was also built for ripping trees apart with his bare hands. He had the whole ruggedly handsome thing down to perfection, with dark hair and eyes to top it all off. He also wore a military uniform, but unlike the Prince''s, he wore a sash that crossed his chest with different medals and insignia sown into it. His collar also sported golden leaf pins shaped like the leaves of the tree they were currently inside. While his demeanor was polite, Danny couldn''t help but notice the Prince Consort was looking at him as if gauging a potential enemy.


    The princess looked to be around the same age as Danny and the girls. Her beauty was a cut above the rest, and that was saying something for one of the elven race. It was obvious, she took after her father. Dark blonde hair and aqua marine eyes sat on petite face with fine features. She wore a gown that flattered her petite figure. The princess tried to smile at Danny but couldn''t seem to stop the confusion from showing on her face.


    Before the Prince Consort could speak the princess suddenly stepped closer to Danny, looking above his eyes, ¡°Are humans supposed to lose all their hair when they become druids?¡±


    Danny was too humiliated to speak and tried to shrink in on himself.


    The last elf, a statuesque woman who had yet to be introduced, reprimanded the princess, ¡°Daughter, that is no way to speak to our guests. Can''t you see you have offended him greatly. You will apologize immediately!¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The princess looked shocked and turned to Danny, contrite, ¡°My apologies, Danny, I did not mean to offend you. I just haven''t seen a human without hair above their eyes... and on their head.¡±


    Danny, face still beet red, nodded and mumbled, ¡°It¡¯s alright. It will all grow back soon.¡±


    Elder Breeze was frowning, but quickly put a smile on his face before directing Danny to the woman who had just reprimanded the princess, ¡°Danny, it is my pleasure to introduce you to her majesty, Queen Kestrel.¡±


    Danny quickly bowed as low as he could, ¡°It is an honor to meet you, your majesty.¡±


    The queen was tall and had the bearing one would expect of one of power. When Danny had walked into the room the way she carried herself left no doubt about who she was. She wore a long flowing gown that hugged the full curves of her body. Her beauty would be unrivaled except for odd scaring that appeared to radiate from her left eye. Whatever had caused the scaring must have damaged her eye as well, because Danny had yet to see her open it. It was a testament to her appearance that this did not detract from her overwhelming beauty.


    The queen was turned so her back was to the table when she suddenly opened her left eye. Inside was what looked like a polished stone. Tiny fractures along the stones surface started to glow.


    The queen closed her eye after a few moments and smiled at him, ¡°Danny it is an honor to meet one such as yourself. I see now that Elder Breezes¡¯s initial assessment was correct and you are more than what we had been informed.¡±


    The Basalts visibly tensed upon hearing these words spoken by the queen. The girls looked unsure of what was happening but followed the Basalts lead. The walls of the room shifted as elven guards, completed covered in the camouflaged armor Danny had seen before, seemed to grow from the tree wall behind them. Each guard had a hand ready to draw their weapons.


    The queen frowned and raised her hand in the air, ¡°Hold!¡±


    Turning to the Basalts, the queen spoke calmly, ¡°Do not worry, we are not barbarians to just take him away from you. We hold our alliance with your people to important to do that.¡±


    The Basalts visibly relaxed, but Danny doubted it extended much further than that. The elven guards faded back into the tree, though with his mana sight, Danny could see them standing there, watching.


    The queen called for everyone to return to their seats and dinner was promptly served. The food was delicious and and soon everyone seemed to forget the tense moments from before. They kept to mundane conversation topics, asking about his family and the academy.


    Sitting next to him, the prince turned to Danny, ¡°So Danny, you said your hair would grow back?¡±


    All the individual conversations around the table stopped as everyone focused on him.


    Danny had been coached beforehand on what he was and wasn''t allowed to say. Seeing as the elves seemed to know something about his new abilities, he figured his origins were the only thing he would remain silent on.


    Taking a sip of the watered down wine that had been served with the meal, Danny cleared his throat, ¡°Yes, recent events have led to me attaining new ways of using my magical affinities.¡± Danny proceeded to explain to them his first attempt at using flame aspect. Instead of laughing, the elves seemed shocked.


    Elder Breeze spoke up from across the table, ¡°That was very dangerous, Danny. You could have burned yourself alive.¡±


    Danny nodded, ¡°Yes, but I had reason to believe otherwise.¡±


    Elder Breeze hesitated before continuing, ¡°If you wish to try another of these aspects then please have me or one of the other elders there in case something happens.¡±


    Danny smiled, ¡°I would like that very much, thank you.¡±


    The elder nodded to him, smiling.


    Danny spoke up again, ¡°I can''t help but ask, are there elves here like me? You seemed to recognize what I am when we first met.¡±


    Elder Breeze started to speak but turned with a questioning look towards the queen. The queen who had been listening and bowed her head as if deep in thought. After a few moments she seemed to have come to a decision, ¡°I would like to speak with Danny alone with Elder Breeze if possible.¡± With this said the queen looks across the table at the Basalts.


    Arya takes a long time, while her gaze switches back and forth between the queen and Danny. The entire time, not a single emotion is expressed. Even as she finally replies, ¡°Yes, of course, your majesty.¡±


    The Queen and Elder Breeze stand with Danny quickly rising to follow them. The three leave the guest wing of the palace but do not travel far before entering another room. Servants are inside removing sheets from the furniture in the small sitting room. A few extra chairs are taken away, as the three sit down in the chairs left behind. A servant brings in a tray with tea, setting it down at a short table set between the three. A large window overlooks a small courtyard that holds a small pond and garden in a bend of the palace''s base. Music starts playing from somewhere outside, a string instrument of some kind.


    The queen picks up a cup of tea and Elder Breeze and Danny followed her lead. Taking a sip the queen spoke softly, ¡°Danny, what I am going to tell you is a secret normally only told to royalty and the Elders. I am going to take a calculated risk and tell you this secret as well. I hope we can find a way for my people to become someone you can trust and depend on as well.¡± The queen paused to take a sip of tea before continuing, ¡°Now Danny, while I would like for us to begin on a relationship of complete trust, I hope you understand that should you divulge what I am about to tell you with anyone else, you will become an enemy to the elven state. This is a condition placed on all who hear what I am about to tell you. Since you are a human, I will also add the condition that our alliance with your people will be dissolved. Do you understand what I have told you? This is your only chance to back out."


    Danny didn''t wait and nodded, "Yes, I understand. I will keep your people''s secret safe and understand that should I not, myself and my people will suffer for it."


    The queen didn''t respond immediately and studied him for a moment. Standing she walked over to the window and looked at the courtyard below. Turning to Danny, she gestured for him to join her.


    Once Danny stood beside her the queen began her tale, "Before the great cataclysm our people had groves all over this world. Our people were only found in those locations suited to growing our sacred trees. The rest of the races believed us to be religious zealots, as we would allow no one to enter our cities, our sacred groves. We fostered this belief by giving the great source of all mana the name Gaea.


    All of this subterfuge held a purpose, and that was to hide the weakness of the Elven people. We elves are born with magic and for the rest of our lives we require mana. These sacred trees produce tremendous amounts of mana which they store in their roots, branches, and leaves. We elves can access this mana to use as our own. We do this because while we can store more mana than humans, we do not generate much mana through our connections to the source. It is a pitiful amount and our bodies use mana for a specific purpose."


    The queen took a deep breath, as if what she was preparing to climb a steep hill, "Our longevity is a byproduct of us storing mana in our bodies. You humans have a taste of this, living two or three times what you should. Elves can exist for millennia. The more magic we store in our bodies throughout our lives, the longer we can exist. These bodies of ours use significant amounts of mana in order to do this. The sacred trees provide this mana, and we in turn protect the trees and aid in their proliferation. That is until the great cataclysm, when the last ascendant of the royal lineage died halting the advance of the invaders so his children, my ancestors, could travel to this secluded grove. This palace you see around you is nothing compared to the great sacred tree that housed the royal family of ages past."


    The queen lapsed into silence, looking lost while staring out at the tree that grew around the small courtyard. Danny thought about asking her a question, but decided to wait for her to collect her thoughts.


    The queen blinked and shook her head slightly, turning to look at Danny, "My great grandfather was the last ascendant of the royal line, and he died so we could live on. Since then, there have been no more ascendants to come out of the royal line. Every so often an elder would ascend and be welcomed into the royal family, but they too have not produced an ascendant since the great collapse."


    Danny interrupted her, "Excuse me your majesty. You keep using the term ascendant, but I don''t know what that is. Who were the ascendant?"


    The queen looked confused, "Danny, you are an ascendant."


    Elder Breeze spoke up from his chair, "Your majesty, I believe the humans call them variants."


    The queen''s mouth opened, "Oh, that''s right!"


    Danny was thinking how he hadn''t seen a variant since he had changed so he couldn''t confirm it himself. He never bothered to look to closely at one with his mana sight before, because he was too busy trying not to die.


    The queen interrupted his thoughts, "I tell you all this with a purpose. The sacred trees of this city are all that keeps my people from living short lives like the humans who have not unlocked their mana. Our people can maintain the sacred trees we have, but only the ascendant could induce them to propagate. These trees would grow uncontrolled throughout the world if left to their own devices, so our ancient ancestors locked their ability to procreate without our assistance. This unfortunately has led to our own slow and eventual fall into abject mortality. The more elves that are born the fewer trees there are to sustain them. The shorter our lives, the more young that are born each year. It is a cycle that only has one ending.


    Our people are capable of becoming truly unlimited beings, but that is changing. Danny, will you help us gain back our birthright? We will gift you all that we have, wealth, artifacts, weapons, armor..." The queen paused and spoke quietly, "I will even give you my daughter''s hand in marriage. In exchange for my peoples freedom from this fate, I will give her to you. Like most nobles, our people only marry to form an alliances between houses. Marrying my daughter would cement your place among my people."


    Danny was rendered speechless by the weight of what was being asked of him. He finally gathered his thoughts enough to give a reply, "How do you even know I can do this?"


    Elder Breeze moved over to join them by the window, "Given the sensitive nature of this knowledge, nothing was written down on how to accomplish this task. You, of course, will not do this alone. I am certain with your apparent genius and the full experience of the elders, we should be able to accomplish this."


    The queen added, "Once the task is finished, you will be granted whatever you choose as your reward."


    Danny turned to look out the window while he pondered what he should do next.


    *Take the princess! Just look at her mother if you want to see into the future! Maiwage, maiwage is wot bwings us togedur... then there was something about twu wuv?*


    Danny rolled his eyes. Turning back to the two awaiting elves, Danny bowed low, "I will be honored to help your people, your majesty."


    *In exchange for the princess!*

 Chapter 10

    The next morning found Danny following a liveried elven servant through the halls of the palace towards the wing reserved for the Elders. Like the rooms, the surfaces of the hallway were not sharply angled, but unlike the rooms, the hallway did not have any leaves on the ceiling. Smooth bark, arching across from one wall to the next. Paintings, tapestries, pottery, and other artwork decorated the sides and walls every few feet.


    The night before, after his meeting with the Queen and Elder Breeze, Danny had followed a servant back to his room. Everyone had apparently retired for the evening and the dinner table was already clean and spotless. Danny hadn''t been surprised when Arya had walked into his room shortly after, looking to find out what happened. Danny knew the walls could literally have ears, so he kept things simple and truthful. He told her he had been asked to do something important for the elves. Something only he could accomplish. In exchange relations between their two countries would improve and he would be personally rewarded. Before she could ask, Danny explained that he would become an enemy of elven state and the human/eleven alliance would be dissolved, should he ever explain what it was he had to do.


    Arya accepted his explanation better than he thought, but only had concerns that what Danny was doing could give the elves too much power. Danny had already thought of this and explained that he believed it was better to have a stronger and grateful ally than a weaker one. Arya obviously didn''t like all the unknowns but admitted she would have to trust his judgement. Danny was a little shocked by this as he would have figured she of all people would question his judgement.


    Danny continued to follow the palace servant through the twists and turns. Everything about the palace screamed organic. There were no straight hallways or even level floors. He passed a window to find they had traveled up a floor without him realizing it. His air scanning ability had shown this would happen but he figured he would recognize the elevation change somehow.


    Walking into a large atrium, Danny could see light pouring in from windows high up the walls. One side of the room was taken up by a large round table, and around the table sat around two dozen elves in robes. The other side of the room held rows upon rows of bookshelves. A small space was left open at the end of the bookshelves for studying, filled with tables and chairs. Danny immediately veered towards the knowledge awaiting him on the shelves. He had only made it a few steps when there was a cough behind him.


    The liveried servant spoke nervously, "Honored guest, please continue on this way. The entire elder council is awaiting your presence."


    Danny frowned and looked back towards the bookshelves for a few moments before continuing on towards the other side of the room.


    Looking around, all the elders were advanced in years and he was surprised to see the male/female ratio of the table seemed to be split evenly. Danny recognized Elder Breeze when he stood up and walked up next to Danny. The servant left the room, and that''s when Danny realized there was only the elders and himself present in the room. Elder Breeze looked to the entryway and nodded to an elven guard standing there.


    Clearing his throat Elder Breeze addressed the room, "Esteemed council members, I would like to introduce you to Danny Creek. Originally he was to come to us as the first human sorcerer to do so since the great cataclysm. Now, I would like to introduce you all to the first known human ascendant."


    Reactions around the room varied from shock to disbelief. Elder Breeze settled everyone down and called on two of the more senior members of the group to come up and verify his claim. A female elder came up to stand close to Danny and stared at different parts of his body before confirming the claim. The other elder seemed extremely skeptical and reached out to place his hand on Danny''s cheek. Danny suddenly felt odd.


    *Danny! I don''t know how, but he is stealing our mana!*


    Danny yelled out in alarm and on instinct tossed the elder away from him with a blast of air that radiated from his body. Currents of wind surrounded him and he turned to find the offending elder on the ground looking back at him with wide eyes.


    ¡°Do not do that again!¡± Danny¡¯s voice seemed too loud to his ears as the sound reverberated of the walls.


    Two guards appeared in front of the elder laying on the ground, their swords drawn.


    ¡°Danny! Please calm down! Danny!¡±


    Danny turned to see Elder Breeze yelling at him, while crouching a few meters away from where he had been a short while ago. Danny glanced around to find the room in chaos. Many of the elders were standing from their chairs and each had a pair of guards standing over them with weapons drawn.


    Danny closed his eyes and centered himself in order to calm down. Eventually pulling the winds into himself he realized he had activated wind aspect on impulse. Looking down his body was almost transparent. It also felt lighter and added an almost fluid quality to his movements. He was pleased to find his clothes, despite a few tears, relatively intact. It looked as if his clothes were both trying to cling to and fly off of his body.


    ¡°Danny I apologize for my council member''s actions. I had no clue he would attempt something like that.¡± Elder Breeze was standing closer to him, but was still obviously wary about approaching the boy.


    The elder that had stolen his mana rose and bowed low towards him, ¡°Ascendant, I apologize for my actions and my doubt. Please, just tell me how and I will make amends for the wrong I have done you today.¡±


    From what Danny had been told before, elders rarely bowed more than their head to anyone, except the ruling monarch. This elder was shoving his pride aside in exchange for Danny¡¯s forgiveness.


    Danny took a deep breath, staring at the elder still bowing towards him, ¡°Just don''t do that again unless I give you my explicit permission. Now, let''s talk about how I''m going to try and return your people to their former glory.¡±


    The bowing elder raised his head and nodded it reassuringly at first, only for it to fall in shame at Danny''s last words.


    Everyone settled back into their chairs and their personal guards faded into the background. When Danny started moving towards the chair, placed there for him, he was surprised to find he naturally floated above the ground. He forgot he was still in air aspect and would have to get rid of the excess air affinity stored before he would return to normal. He stopped moving his legs as he was still trying to move by walking. He willed himself towards the chair.


    *You look like a ghost!*


    When Danny went to sit in his chair he found his butt wouldn''t settle on the seat cushion. After trying to pull himself down a few times, only to float back up again, he gave up and relaxed. Many of the elders openly stared at him while others looked markedly uncomfortable with his new appearance.


    Elder Breeze was looking at Danny with an amused smile, ¡°Danny, on behalf of the elder council, thank you for agreeing to help our people. Now, we have a few questions before we begin that effort. First, how did you achieve ascendancy? You see, our histories tell us that the youngest elf to achieve ascendancy, did so around the age of 750 years. Only after the good part of a millennia of using large amounts of mana is it normally expected to reach the point you are at. The transition to ascendancy is a slow and gradual one that takes just as long as it does to start.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Danny had expected this question and had prepared an answer, ¡°I was gravely wounded after stopping the goblins from casting a dark affinity ritual spell. I used the last of my mana to slow my decent through the forest from the resulting explosion. When I came to later I was alone, healed, and physically weak. Then there was pain, nothing but pain. We I woke up it was dark and almost morning the next day. I found myself changed into an ascendant.¡±


    The elder discussed this for a while, some theories came close to the truth. When asked, Danny answered with the truth, just omitting anything Cranny had done. They then asked Danny about his education, family, and finally his affinity levels. To say they were shocked upon hearing his affinity levels would be an understatement. Of course he did not mention the entropy affinity.


    Elder Breeze was civilized enough to look uncomfortable when he asked, ¡°Danny, the last question I have for you is one that is considered rude, and you can refuse if you want to. Have you exceeded any attribute thresholds?¡±


    Danny was not surprised they asked this even though most people did not give out this information, as it could give an enemy or rival and edge.


    Danny paused for dramatic effect, ¡°Yes, my intelligence passed the first threshold.¡±


    ¡°What was the gift bestowed upon you?¡±


    Danny shook his head, ¡°I won''t tell you unless someone else tells me what they got. Information for information.¡±


    Elder Breeze looked confused, ¡°The gift bestowed is the same for all members of the same race. For intelligence, Elves receive the ability to perceive time at a decreased pace, humans can split their concentration, and dwarves can create a space in their mind to train and test their skills safely. The effects on the beastman races are still unknown to us.¡±


    Danny nodded, ¡°I also received the split concentration ability.¡±


    Elder Breeze looked confused, ¡°What kind of education did you have to get these high of magical affinities, yet not know about attribute thresholds?¡±


    Danny shrugged and slowly started to rise up towards the ceiling, ¡°The kind where knowledge is expensive and your teachers don''t truly understand what is you are capable of.¡±


    The elders all agreed humans were strange creatures.


    They broke shortly after for lunch, with Danny agreeing to meet back in the council chambers afterwards.


    Danny flew down the hallway. Active movements used up mana allocated to air aspect, while floating didn''t. More than a few servant and guards looked up in alarm as he flew by to quickly for them to react.


    *The three guards they assigned us are struggling to keep up.*


    ¡°They know where I am headed and I am sure this will be a nice change from just standing there all day.¡±


    *It¡¯s crazy how easily it is to manipulate the air around us in this form. Do you think we could do this in our natural state?*


    ¡°I don''t know, maybe. Well, at least not for long. Mana put into this aspect goes a lot further than in our natural state. If we do test it, let''s just try it over a body of water in case I fall. How much mana did I put into this aspect? I was a little upset and didn''t pay attention.¡±


    *You had about 12,000 mana saved and you grabbed about 7,000 of that when you activated your aspect. Then after your tantrum, you only had 5,000 left. So at this rate you should be able to fly around for another twenty minutes before you turn back.*


    "Works for me, let''s go show the girls!"


    Danny flew into the guest wing past the Basalts sitting in the atrium with an important looking elf, and then down to the girls room. Flying in through the open doorway he found the room empty. Turning back he flew into the atrium where the Basalts were eyeing Danny warily.


    Danny looked around the room, "Hey, where did the girls go?"


    Arya recovered first, "Danny, what are you doing?"


    Danny flipped over so that everything was upside down, "Flying."


    Wizard Basalt started chuckling at Danny''s antics, "I assume that''s your air aspect then. You will find the girls in one of the courtyards surrounding the castle. The elves have allowed them to train under some experts here. Something about your wives needing to be able to keep you safe." The wizard winked at him.


    Wren Basalt spoke up, next to her husband, "Danny, the elves have never allowed a human to train under them. What exactly are you doing for them?"


    Danny turned right side up and straightened out his clothing, "Nothing I can talk about without serious consequences. I am going to go find the girls, bye!"


    Danny took off out one of the large windows before they could ask any further questions.


    Danny flew out into the cold open air and felt the midday sun warming his skin. Looking back, he realized each opening in the tree held a few layers of air over it, trapping the air and heat inside. This aspect allowed his air scanning ability a new level of detail he wasn''t used to.


    After Danny was done contemplating, he couldn''t help but shoot off into the sky, flying as high as he dared. While Danny wasn''t scared of heights, he did have a healthy respect for gravity and his limited mana. Looking down, he could see that the city radiated outward like a five petal flower. Maybe the different area''s had a purpose.


    Danny flew back down to the palace and noticed a few guards staring up at him through the leaves, with bows drawn. Suddenly unsure of what he had been thinking, Danny slowed down outside of what he hoped was their bows range. He wasn''t about to test the skill of elven archers. Three familiar guards ran up into the bowers of the tree and the archers quickly lowered their bows. Moving closer Danny spotted three familiar heads practicing in a courtyard below.


    Jade had her bow out and was shooting at a target while dodging things being thrown at her by an older female elf. Brooke and Ivy were sparing together while a male elf looked on with arms crossed.


    Danny flew down towards Jade as she was the first to stop in order to catch her breath. The instructor helping her noticed Danny and looked up in shock. Danny held his finger up to his lips and the instructor nodded dumbly. Jade was busy studying her shots and missed their interaction.


    Danny floated upside down and right above Jade, and tapped her from behind on one shoulder. Turning around she looked around further before turning to her instructor. The older woman had a horrible poker face, but to her credit didn''t look up at Danny once. Tapping her shoulder again, Danny couldn''t help but laugh after Jade whipped around in confusion.


    Looking up at him, her frustrated face quickly slipped away into one of confusion. Still laughing, Danny floated lower to kiss her nose. Jade, recognizing him, jumped backwards and flushed a bright shade of red.


    Noticing the commotion, Ivy and Brooke ran over to them, along with their instructor.


    Brooke was laughing, "Danny, what are you doing up there?"


    Danny turned right side up and floated over to Brooke, "I was trying out a new aspect when I realized it was lunch time. I was wondering if you three wanted to eat with me."


    Brooke looked to her instructor, who shrugged and gave her a nod. Smiling she turned back to Danny, while trying to act nonchalant, "Sure."


    Danny smiled and looked at the other two girls, "You two ready?"


    Jade''s face had returned to normal and smiling she said, "Yep!"


    Ivy though looked concerned, "Yes..."


    Danny raised his hands and all three girls screamed as they rose into the air. Bands of wind swirled closely to their bodies, holding them in place. Danny turned and headed towards the guest wing with the three girls in tow.


    Forgetting something Danny turned and waived to the two instructors, "Thank you for agreeing to train them!"


    Jades instructor just stood there, mouth agape, while Ivy and Brook¡¯s expressionless instructor numbly waived back as the four floated up into the air.


    *Danny, at this rate you have two minutes to get them there. I will add more mana to the aspect if needed.*


    Danny nodded and called out to the girls, "You wanna see the city?"


    Jade and Brooke excitedly screamed, throwing their hands into the air, ¡°Yes!" "Let''s do it!"


    Ivy looked like she was drowning in the air. Danny stopped them and floated her over towards him. Grabbing her arms he pulled her into a hug until she calmed down.


    ¡°Ivy, are you alright now?¡±


    Ivy was taking short breaths while looking everywhere yet nowhere, all at once, ¡°No, please, can we just get down.¡±


    Danny looked at the other two girls who looked disappointed but nodded in agreement.


    Danny pulled her up into his arms in a princess carry, ¡°Alright, we will go to lunch. I won''t let go of you until we get there.¡±


    Ivy swallowed visibly and nodded her head that was now buried into his chest.


    Danny chuckled at the girl who always seemed to have it together. He had to admit this side of her was very cute.


    *Now we know what to do next time she gets mad at us!*


    They all floated over through one of the large atrium windows in the guest wing.

 Chapter 11

    Danny made sure to set Jade and Brooke down on the floor of the guest wing''s atrium first before he began lowering Ivy and himself down.


    *You realize you just wasted over a day and a half''s worth of mana regeneration, just to fly around and annoy everyone.*


    Danny rolled his eyes.


    The Basalts had watched everything from the window that faced the courtyard the girls had been training in. The elf they had been speaking with was gone, only to return now with the elven queen and princess in tow. The three female elves walked in right as he reached the ground, where he slowly began the process of untangling the beautiful human girl in his arms. Of course, the death grip Ivy had on him made it all the harder. Ivy unsteadily walked towards the nearest chair where she promptly sat down with her head between her legs.


    Walking towards him the queen beamed, "Danny, you didn''t tell us you could fly!"


    Danny was a little stunned by the queen''s sudden closeness, and before he could speak a blur ran past the monarch and flew into his arms. Danny barely managed to catch Princess Willow, who now occupied the space Ivy had recently left. Danny was thankful the princess had on a short sleeve blouse and long skirt that only came to her knees. A full gown, like the queen was wearing, would have made the elven girl even heavier and awkward to try and carry.


    The princess looked up at Danny while bouncing in his arms, "It¡¯s my turn, my turn! Let''s fly!"


    Danny looked around for assistance with what to do, only to be met by the amused looks from the adults and glares from the two girls that were not currently incapacitated.


    Jade stepped forward, crossing her arms, "Princess, you do not have to be in his arms to fly. You can fly with him while standing next to him. That''s how Brooke and I flew with him."


    The princess looked over at the tall human girl with a sudden annoyed look in her eyes.


    Snuggling further into Danny''s chest, she smiled towards Jade, "No, I want to fly like this! Danny, you are so... fluffy and comfortable in this form."


    Danny looked pleadingly towards the queen for assistance with her daughter, only to see the smug and calculating look she was giving him be replaced with feigned innocence.


    "Danny, would you please take my daughter for a small flight around the palace? The silly child has been trying to fly ever since she started using her air affinity.*


    Danny was debating how to handle the situation when he remembered Cranny''s most recent words. His aspect form should disappear with just the smallest bit of usage. He could claim he had run out of mana.


    *Annnnnnd I added 1,500 mana to the air aspect, so you have at least seven minutes of uninterrupted princess time. Don''t worry, I already calculated her weight from you holding her. You can thank me later.*


    Danny did his best to hide his sudden frustration and questions on if there was a way to recrystallize a certain someone.


    "Yes, your majesty.


    Princess, I only have enough mana for a few minutes so we can''t stay up too long. Also, Jade is right, you can fly next to me. That way you could actually feel like you were flying."


    *Spoil sport...*


    The princess seemed a little reluctant at first to leave her place in his arms, only to quickly jump down and bounce excitedly as she stood next to him. Danny realized, now that she wasn''t next to her giant of a father, that the princess was actually slightly taller than him. He also realized all the bouncing was very distracting.


    Looking back to everyone in the room, Danny remembered protocol and bowed to the queen, "We will be back shortly, your majesty."


    The queen waived demurely as they flew up and out of the window. Danny took the princess for a few turns around the palace before flying higher so they could see the whole capital.


    "This is sooo awesome, Danny! Though it is really cold up here." The princess hugged herself and started to shake.


    "I am glad you like it, princess. Here, let me try something I saw the sacred trees do."


    A large bubble of air surrounded the two. It had two layers and kept the wind out. It should keep them insulated with their body heat raising the temperature. Danny noticed the sun still felt hot on his skin. He would have to be careful and let the hot air out soon or they might start broiling in there after too long.


    "Please Danny, call me Willow. Well, at least when we are alone."


    Danny looked to the elf next to him, who appeared nothing more than a young girl having the time of her life.


    Danny slowed them down once they were high enough. Willow looked around, taking in everything she could. The city extended far out below them. Elves could be seen moving from building to building, like tiny ants.


    "So, your mother offered me your hand in marriage as a reward if I can help your people. I didn''t really have any plans to do such a thing. I was wondering what your thoughts were on the matter."


    *Have you ever heard of easing into something, Danny?*


    The princess stopped looking around excitedly and replied without turning back to face him, "I don''t know honestly. My family expects me to marry someone for political gain. Mother has been pushing me towards you lately... I don''t know."


    Danny flew around so they were facing each other, "You seemed to be real cozy to me down there just now."


    The princess smiled ruefully at him, "Yes, because I wanted to do this!" The princess spread her arms wide and leaned back as far as Danny''s magic would allow her, before she toppled over into a flip that brought her back up where she was.


    "Ah, I thought that was just something your mother made up to get us alone together."


    Willow shook her head, "No, she didn''t lie, but I have no doubt she did it to get us alone together. Danny, do you want to marry me?"


    Danny shrugged, "I don''t really know you past the beautiful elven girl who likes to fly. I mean, I don''t even know how old you are."


    The princess laughed, the quality of her voice seemed to change, it seemed richer more refined, "Mother was hoping I could get you to fall in love with me before you asked that question. I don''t mind telling you the truth. I don''t want to be stuck with someone who balks at something as silly as an age difference."


    When the princess didn''t continue, Danny crossed his arms and looked at her, with one eyebrow raised.


    The princess looked away, "I will be fifty four in a couple of weeks."


    Danny uncrossed his arms and frowned, "Hmmm that does cause a problem."


    The princess looked up warily, "It does?" The princess''s face hardened, "Oh, well that''s a relief then, I will..."


    Danny interrupted her, "That is not enough time to get you a decent gift that I know you will like. As I said before, I barely know you. I can''t go offending one of the elven royalty. People have gone to war for less."This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The princess looked back at suspiciously, "Wait, so you have no problem with my age? I am old enough be your mother."


    "No, I don''t have a problem with your age. Actually, I am pretty sure you are older than my mother."


    Willow looked shocked and offended all at once, "Excuse me, little bald boy, but I don''t think the best way to win a woman''s heart is to mock her age!"


    Danny looked around with mock confusion, "Who said I was trying win your heart?"


    Willow looked agape at him, "Wha... why not! Is it the age thing again? You humans and your hang-ups on age. If we elves did that, our population would dwindle and we would quickly cease to exist."


    Danny shook his head, "What about you? You really ready to latch yourself to a ''little boy''?¡±


    *You forgot bald.*


    Ignoring Cranny, Danny continued, ¡°What I can''t fathom is why you would want to marry me?"


    Willow looked at Danny like he had just told her he was really from another world, "Really, Danny? You don''t think I would have a reason to want to marry you?"


    Danny shrugged, "Yes, your people are pressuring you to because I am an ascendant. You would become a chain that shackled me to the elves like those three girls down there will to the humans. Except, I have no interest in political marriages. Yes, my fianc¨¦es are children of council members, but they are not recognized ones. So, marrying a princess would be up there on the list of things to avoid at all costs."


    The princess stared at him for a second, "What are you talking about? You are already marrying a princess..."


    It was Danny''s turn to look confused, "Wait, who are you talking about?"


    The princess looked uncertain, "Ivy... Ivy Diadem. Third daughter to the current head of the Diadem family. Even though they claim to only head the council as equals, it is in reality more like our arrangement with the council of elders. My mother rules and they only advise. We have the decency to not lie to our subjects like that.¡±


    Danny floated there unmoving for so long that Willow reached out and dragged herself over to him.


    "Danny, are you alright in there?"


    Danny''s eyes finally seemed to focus and looked over into hers. He seemed to be studying her face closely as he pondered the ramifications of what he was just told. He couldn''t help wondering why the girls would keep this from him. He thought they were close enough to not have secrets. Well, he also had secrets¡­


    In a moment of irrationality he numbly told Willow, "I am actually around forty years old so your only about ten years older than me."


    Willow looked really worried, "Danny, what are you talking about?"


    Even though the princess kept talking, Danny tuned her out as he tried to figure out what his next move was.


    *Just so you know I have been adding more mana to the aspect. This bubble is cool but is a huge mana suck. We have more time for you to freak out but we are going to have to cut it short soon.


    So, what are you going to do here, Danny boy? I guess I should have seen the Ivy thing coming. Oh, and you do know you can just think about what you want to say to me and not actually verbalize it, right?*


    Danny seemed shaken from his current thoughts, *Wait, really?*


    Cranny laughed, *Yeah man, I''m actually surprised and kind of embarrassed you haven''t tried that yet. Everyone is really starting to worry you¡¯re going a little soft in the head.*


    *And you let them keep thinking that when you could have just told me!*


    *Hey, it gets boring up here. We need to add an arcade room, OR a room to practice curling! You know, that sport where they sweep the ice and bump the funky looking clothing irons together.*


    *Cranny, what are we going to do about this?*


    *Well, I guess we make the room big enough and figure out how to make a Zamboni. Of course neither of us has a license¡­*


    *Not that! This princess drama, crap, we are apparently already up to our necks in. Ahhhhh*


    *Danny calm down, your buddy here has it all figured out.*


    *You do?*


    *Yep! But you have to answer a couple of questions first.*


    *I swear Cranny, if this is another set up to¡­*


    *Just answer the damn questions!*


    *¡­Fine!*


    *How many princesses did I marry or even date in my last lifetime?*


    *None...*


    *How many chances did I take when the rewards were just as outrageous as the risks?*


    *Not many?*


    *None, Danny. The answer is, none. Do you want to stay with the girls? Can you just drop them and stay with the elves or run off to live in the wild?*


    *Well, no. We have been through so much together and I¡­ I don''t want to leave them.*


    *Good! Do you think it was the girls who chose to hide Ivy''s identity? Do you think they are the ones pulling the strings?*


    *Well, obviously no.*


    *So if we marry Ivy and the girls we are going to be fighting the Diadems for control of our lives. Ivy doesn''t seem to be the type to go against her family''s wishes.*


    *True, so what is your solution, Cranny?*


    *Dueling princesses!*


    *That doesn''t even make sense, then we would just have twice the headache with both races trying to control us.*


    *Exactly, Danny! They would both have a claim to you and have to agree on everything. This would all be through your wives, so we would have to make sure they were on our side.*


    *But what if they have already thought that far ahead. Well, I wouldn''t put it past the elven queen to have thought that far ahead.*


    *Then ask the princess while we have her all to ourselves.*


    Danny looked up to see Princess Willow was just floating there angrily staring at him.


    Danny smiled, ¡°Excuse me your highness, but can I actually marry you and the girls both? Wouldn¡¯t that violate one of our people¡¯s laws?¡±


    The princess''s frown didn''t go away, ¡°Oh are you talking to me again?"


    When Danny just smiled and nodded she rolled her eyes, "No elf has been in a marriage with a human before, at least that I know of. There also has never been an elf marriage with more than three members. Not sure how I feel about that one. So, there is no law, human or eleven, that would prevent this type of union.¡±


    ¡°Then who decides what I do if I was just to marry you?¡±


    Willow¡¯s frown turned into confusion, ¡°No one. Well, except in times of war. All elven citizens are ''free'' to do as they wish, unless they break the law or are conscripted into the army. You would be given a high rank in our army if you were conscripted.¡±


    Danny frowned, ¡°So whose army would I join if I married both you and the girls.¡±


    Willow seemed to weigh what to tell him before speaking, ¡°If my people were in danger right now, would you help them?¡±


    Danny didn''t hesitate, ¡°If I am able to help and I have no unresolved issues with your people, then I would help, anytime, without you even promising to marry me. Maybe even if we were on less than agreeable terms.¡±


    The princess smile somehow managed to brighten up the cloudless noon day, ¡°don''t let my mother know that, or she won''t let me marry you.¡±


    Danny raised an eyebrow, ¡°So you want to marry me now?¡±


    The princess smirked while feigning indifference, ¡°I¡¯m leaning that way. Most of the elven nobles my mother was considering before you are all so pretentious and dull. They all think I should be lucky to have the opportunity to marry them. You on the other hand, question why I would want to marry you. I can''t help but think a younger, dare I say moldable, husband who sees me as the one to lose something in a possible marriage as favorable situation.¡±


    Danny frowned, ¡°What about my previous question on whose army I would be expected to join?¡±


    Willow shrugged, ¡°My mother would not think twice about threatening the alliance¡¯s existence over forcing you to stay with us. You saw how quickly your people sent you here, despite your great potential. They need us a lot more than we need them.¡±


    Danny thought about what she said for a moment, ¡°Why are you telling me this? You could help your people the most by withholding some of these things.¡±


    The princess shrugged, ¡°Look, if there is a chance you agree to marry me I don''t want to spend the rest of our lives with you resenting me. Of course, I will refuse you if something you want is detrimental to my people or their future.¡±


    Danny couldn''t help but ask, ¡°So, your people don''t believe in divorce?¡±


    Willow suddenly pushed herself across the space separating them with her own air magic, using Danny¡¯s magic to stabilize herself. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, she dragged his face an inch away from hers, ¡°Danny, some say an elf cannot lie, the truth is much different. An elf¡¯s word is who they are. To go back on a promise, especially one made before all, is to admit you and everything you are is a lie. Those that go back on their word are never trusted again. You should think long and hard before you dare make me an outcast to my own people, Danny Creek!¡±


    Danny thought that was a little extreme but he figured it could also be useful. Danny grabbed the princess¡¯s hands and kissed each one before gently pushing her away. The princess seemed unaffected by his actions, but didn''t fight him.


    *Cranny, I like that she is being cooperative. Do you think we can trust her?*


    *Trust her? Not yet. I still think we will be in a better place to control our own lives, if the two countries are too busy fighting over what to do with us. Hey, if you don¡¯t like her, there''s always the prince."


    *....*


    *Uhhhh, I was just kidding, Danny.*


    ¡°Willow, would your mother accept our betrothal if I also made her swear that your people would not seek to dictate my actions, nor that I would be bound by your rules of conscription into the army?¡±


    The princess didn''t have to consider this long, ¡°Danny, she won''t like it, but if you give back our people their near immortality, she will probably agree to anything you ask.¡±


    Danny nodded, ¡°Speaking of immortality, how bad is the issue really? Your mother gave me an idea but I would like to know your opinion.¡±


    Willow frowned, ¡°My family, is the only ones who are allowed to keep their mana reserves at full. Then there are the elders, the nobles, and last the skilled craftsmen and warriors, in that order. They all receive half of what those before them get. The elders monitor the mana of every tree and make sure everyone receives their allotted amount.


    There are those on the fringe of our society that barely get any mana at all, so there is motivation to rise in status. We are a naturally long lived race and even with mana we all age to our physical peak at the same rate. The mana does slow our physical aging once we look around an age thirty human. That is until the mana can no longer sustain us, then we begin to wither and die.¡±


    Danny nodded, ¡°Thank you for telling me all this¡­ Wait, what happens when I get all old and wrinkly? Are you ok being married to an old bald human?¡±


    Willow tilted her head, ¡°Danny, you¡¯re an ascendant. Unless you get fatally injured, no one has ever seen one of your kind die of old age. With your potential and immortality, who else would be a better candidate for me to marry?¡±

 Chapter 12

    Danny and Willow landed in the guest atrium to find everyone already eating lunch. Jade waived for Danny to come sit in the empty spot between Brooke and her. Danny smiled to the princess before heading over to the table, trying his best to ignore the thought that he could easily outlive every single person at the table. Danny noted that Willow went to sit in the empty seat next to Ivy.


    As Danny was sitting down, the queen asked, "How was flying? You two were up there for a bit longer than I thought you would."


    Willow beamed, "It was awesome, and Danny took me so high we could see the whole city!"


    Jade looked over angrily at Danny.


    Smiling, Danny leaned over and whispered, "If I have enough mana I will take you and Brooke later tonight. I don''t think Ivy will be up for flying again anytime soon."


    Jade seemed slightly mollified by this. Turning to Brooke, he found she had heard what he said to Jade and was smiling excitedly.


    Danny hurried to eat so he wouldn''t keep the elders waiting. He was about to take another bite when Ivy and Willow suddenly burst into hysterical laughter. Looking over he saw the two of them look his way before huddling together and laughing quietly again.


    Cranny grumbled, *I hate when they do that...*


    Danny looked over to see Brooke shaking with silent laughter. Danny tried to give her a menacing look but it only made her laugh out loud. Reaching under the table cloth, Danny squeezed Brooke''s leg, right above her knee, as hard as he could. Brooke shot up in her chair and glared daggers at Danny. He could feel her hand reaching for his leg.


    Danny jumped out of his chair and grabbed his drink to take a last swig, "Excuse me everyone, but the elders are probably already waiting for me. I just need to grab my bag from my room."


    Danny heard Brooke mutter, "Coward..."


    "Danny, I want to come too!" The princess jumped up from where she sat next to Ivy.


    Danny''s eyes grew like saucers, "Uhhh, that''s not necessary, your highness. It will probably just be boring druid talk all afternoon." Danny flew down to his room to grab his things, but he could still hear everything in the room like he was still standing there.


    *Danny, I figured out how to pick up vibrations in the air from far off and convert them to sound. I am pretty sure I can do the same thing but in reverse. That would be better than the loud speaker spell the Archwizard used. We can totally freak people out with this!*


    *Awesome! Well, not about the freaking people out thing.*


    Danny heard Jade speak up in the other room, "I want to come too..."


    The queen sounded apologetic, "I am sorry Jade, but this really something that only Danny has been allowed to participate in. No other humans are authorized to know about what they are doing."


    Jade spoke quietly, "Yes, your majesty."


    The queen¡¯s voice gained some excitement, "How about I take you three girls shopping! The Basalt ladies can come as well."


    Then there was too much talking at once for Danny to try focusing on it anymore. He grabbed a bag he had requested from the servants. Placing an extra pair of undergarments in his bag Danny wondered how much it cost to have his own servant. Then he remembered he had Cranny.


    *Hey!*


    *Cranny, how much magic is left?*


    *About 1800. That''s like 30 minutes of air aspect. Don''t know how much we will be able to do with nature. Oh, we reached level nine affinity with air affinity!*


    *What, really!*


    *One more and we will have mastered air affinity. I wonder if something will happen?*


    Danny reached the atrium and saw that things still hadn''t died down. Danny floated up to the ceiling and started inching towards one of the windows when he noticed something was off.


    *Cranny, how much mana is left in air aspect? Now, that I think about it I am going to try and sneak out the window before they spot me. No way can I make it to the hallway past all...*


    Danny, fell to the ground on top of a small table in the sitting area opposite the dining table. The room went deathly silent as Danny stood up and groaned in pain. He instantly healed himself before grabbing the bag off the floor where it had fallen.


    *Cranny... you bastard.*


    *Whaaa, what did you do! I just noticed something... I will tell you about it later. Why can''t you just check on your mana on your own?*


    Before anyone could rush to his side, Danny addressed everyone, "I ran out of mana and fell. It happened. I am alright. I am going to the meeting with the elders now, and I will be back later."


    Everyone was quietly watching his progressed with different degrees of the same worried look.


    When his path to the door came close to where the queen was standing, he stopped and bowed, "My apologies for breaking your table your majesty. Please let me know how and I will repay you as best I can."


    The queen smiled weakly, "Think nothing of it. I didn''t like that table anyway, so I should be thanking you instead."


    Danny bowed to her again and continued towards the door.


    "Danny, wait for me I am coming with you!" Willow ran up next to him and smiled like nothing untoward had just happened.


    "I thought you were going shopping with everyone else?"


    The princess put her hands behind her back and rolled back and forth on her heels, "Nope."


    "Are you sure you¡¯re as old as you claim?"


    The princess''s only response was to stick her tongue out at him.


    Danny and Willow walked into the elder¡¯s wing to find Elder Breeze waiting for Danny in his seat at the council table to one side.


    Elder Breeze noticed them immediately and stood to walk over to them, "Danny, I hope you had fun with your new aspect. Did you have time at all for lunch?"


    "Yes, sir."


    The older elf smiled, "Good, now let''s go this way. You will only be working with a few of the elders as we have many responsibilities. I apologize, as I have already taken too much time away from my duties and won''t get to assist you personally."


    "Of course, I understand, elder. I tend to prefer working alone anyway, but will welcome any assistance the elders can provide."


    Elder Breeze took them down a hallway to a large room that appeared to be set aside for training. The two elders who validated Danny''s ascendancy the day before, were waiting inside.


    "Danny, I apologize we didn''t have time to introduce everyone yesterday. This is Elder Frost, who is our most senior member, and her expertise is in the use of nature magic on plants. I am sure you remember Elder Cardinal, who is in charge of our library. Elder Cardinal is also a descendant of the last ascendant.*


    Danny bowed to both of the elders introduced to him.


    Elder Frost spoke first, ¡°Hello Danny, I will help you as much as these old bones can.¡± The elder had more wrinkles than any elf Danny had seen so far. Danny could easily imagine there was a sharp mind behind those tires eyes.


    Elder Cardinal nodded his head hesitantly, ¡°My apologies again for my actions earlier today. I was told that was something they could only do with my grandfather. I should have warned you, and I was in the wrong.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Princess Willow spoke up, ¡°Uncle what did you do!¡±


    Danny bowed again and interrupted whatever was about to be said, ¡°All is forgiven, I hope I did not injure you when you fell?¡±


    Elder Cardinal smiled genuinely, ¡°Thank you for your concern, Danny. I am healthy as can be expected for one my age.¡±


    The princess looked at both of them, as if to say they would be explaining later.


    Elder Breeze clapped his hands, ¡°Good, now that introductions are in order. This room is for your use, and so that others can find you while you are working. The two tables by the door are for any research material you wish to keep here. Please use the small dining table over there for any food or drink you bring in. We want to prevent any damage to our library records. Lastly is the area through the wall here.¡±


    Danny was confused, they seemed to think this would take a while. He should be able to take this in a few hours at most. Growing a new tree had never been hard for Danny, but he decided to be polite in case they knew something he didn''t.


    Elder Breeze led them through an archway and into what Danny could only describe as an indoor yard. Water ran out of one wall and through a small stream into a pool. Danny realized there was soil here as grass was growing wherever there wasn''t water.


    Elder Breeze explained, ¡°We keep this training room simple so those learning nature magic can show off their creative abilities to their fullest. Before I leave Danny, I was hoping I could see your nature aspect. We have only heard stories past down from those that survived.¡±


    Danny nodded, ¡°Sure, but I am afraid I am a little low on mana.¡±


    Princess Willow admitted sheepishly, ¡°I might have begged him to take me flying for far too long.¡±


    The three elders chuckled at this.


    Elder Frost gestured Danny over to one of the walls, ¡°Danny, put your hand on the tree here and reach out and touch its mana.¡±


    Danny hadn''t tried this as it never occurred to him that it would do anything. Any attempts he made in the past to affect someone else''s mana resulted in nothing happening. Though, this time when his mana came in contact with the trees, he was surprised to find his mana flowing into his body. The rate was about three times his normal regeneration.


    Danny couldn''t help but exclaim, ¡°Wow, this is amazing! You do this all the time?¡±


    Elder Frost nodded, ¡°Yes, and you have been approved to use all the mana you need for this project.¡±


    Elder Breeze added, ¡°Though please keep all recreational uses to your own personally regenerated amounts.¡±


    Danny nodded while keeping his hand on the tree.


    *Cranny, do we have enough to try nature aspect?*


    *Yeah, this time I want to try starting with a lower amount of mana and adding as needed.*


    *Sure, but you are in charge of that. I don''t want to break anymore of the queen¡¯s furniture.*


    *Oh, Danny. I forgot to tell you. Anything we scan with nature affinity we can mimic with our nature aspect. So we have a sacred tree aspect and an elf aspect!*


    *Wait, we can scan with nature affinity? Since when did you start doing that?*


    *I tried it on the tree last night while we were experimenting and then while you were holding the princess¡­*


    *Why on earth did you think to do that to the princess? We could have insulted her if she noticed!*


    *Don¡¯t worry! I did it while we were flying and she totally missed it.*


    *Alright, so let¡¯s use the sacred tree nature aspect then.*


    *Starting with 50 mana and adding from there*


    *Wait! I almost forgot.*


    Danny turned to the three elves, ¡°I don''t know how best to say this. Since I do not want a repeat of what happened when I used flame aspect, I am going to remove everything but my boxers. I say this because I don''t know how your culture feels about nudity.¡±


    Danny didn''t know what they called them on earth in the past, but here they were a loose fitting shorts made of linen, or boxers to him. They came in the fun colors of white, tan, and white.


    The elders all looked at each other, before Elder Breeze shrugged saying, ¡°We have no problem with nudity if you would rather remove all your clothing. We don''t want you to harm yourself for our sakes.¡±


    Elder Frost chuckled, ¡°Plus boy, it isn¡¯t like you got something I haven''t seen yet.¡±


    Elder Cardinal looked at Elder Frost in reproach.


    Danny turned to see Princess Willow staring at him with a polite expectant smile on her face. Though, Danny could swear he saw laughter behind her eyes.


    ¡°Alright, then. But I am keeping my boxers on.¡±


    Danny went to the other room where he left his bag and stripped to his boxers. When he walked back in he couldn''t help looking for Willow¡¯s reaction. She looked a little shocked, but not in the good way.


    ¡°Danny, why are you so skinny!¡±


    Danny looked down at his exposed ribs, ¡°Oh, when I healed myself after the battle with the goblins, I had to use a lot of internal resources. I had a good sized hole through my shoulder.¡±


    Elder Frost made a tisking sound, ¡°We will make sure the palace staff knows to give you extra during meals times.¡±


    Danny smiled at her words, unsure what to say.


    *Alright Cranny, do it.*


    Danny felt a small amount of mana switch locations in his body. He could now describe it best like when one emotion suddenly turns into another. Nature magic is wild and free. Like his other aspects, nothing happened at first. Then Danny felt a change begin at his feet. Looking down, he watched as his flesh became scaled as bark formed on his epidermis. He started worrying as he began losing the sense of touch whoever the bark spread. His feet elongated and dug into the soil. He could feel a pull begin at his feet and spread upwards as his body changed. He was relieved when his boxers stayed on as it spread up his waist. Once it reached his arms and hands it had already covered his head. Like fire affinity, his nature affinity was level six and the bark skin was not as pronounced on his upper chest, shoulders, or neck. Why those were the last to change, Danny couldn''t guess.


    He could move his body fairly easily from the knees up. His feet were apparently rooted to the ground, which was a tad nerve racking.


    Elder Breeze stared at Danny fascinatedly, ¡°Amazing! How does it feel?¡±


    ¡°A bit like I am wearing a thick full body suit.¡±


    Danny felt pressure on his arm and turned to see Princess Willow rubbing the skin there.


    She looked up at him, ¡°Did you feel that?¡±


    Danny nodded, ¡°I felt a pressure but no detailed sensation like I am used to.¡±


    The elders all walked up to touch the skin on his arms and hands.


    Elder Frost looked like a kid on Christmas morning, ¡°Your bark is like the sacred trees!¡±


    ¡°Yes, anything I observe with my nature affinity, I can mimic.¡± Danny hoped he hadn¡¯t just lied, with the two tree aspects he had, so he added, ¡°I am sure there are exceptions, but I haven''t found one yet.¡±


    Elder Frost clapped her hands together once and laughed happily.


    *Danny, I am going to try some things. You keep up the public relations.*


    *Sure¡­*


    Danny address the group, ¡°So do we have an idea how to propitiate a sacred tree? I spent last night trying a few things in my room and the courtyard below.¡±


    Elder Breeze nodded, ¡°Yes, the guards informed me of your actions, worried you might be hurting the tree. I told them to come get me if you suddenly looked worried or injured yourself somehow...¡±


    Elder Breeze stopped talking to look up at Danny¡¯s head.


    Danny nervously ran his hands over his head and was surprised to find thousands of thin pliable twigs growing out of his head. Each twig had something growing out of it at regular intervals. Danny, unthinkingly, plucked one and was surprised it didn''t hurt. Bringing it in front of his face, he saw a small leaf like the ones on the sacred tree.


    *I think that is your hair. I don''t know why it''s doing this on its own. I was messing with your roots. Though, I don''t know how permanent this ¡°hair¡± it is.*


    Danny was going to reply when he felt a new sensation, mana and something else started to flood his body from his feet upwards.


    *Oh, wow! We were just getting water and nutrients from the soils but I had our roots spread out and accidentally merged with the sacred tree below. It''s giving us mana and we are directly tapped into its nutrient flow. Your mana regeneration is now up by 20 mana a minute! With what you normally generate that almost seven times your normal rate.*


    Danny was shocked and got lost in the sensations coursing through his body.


    ¡°Danny!¡± Someone was pushing on his chest, but Danny was too lost in the feel of his body filling with mana and nutrients. It felt like his was lying in a warm river that was racing past his body.


    Someone pushed his face hard and Danny instinctively reached out to them, ¡°Stop that!¡±


    Danny opened his eyes to find Willow trapped in a cage of branches seemingly suspended in the air in front of him. The bark like skin of his left side and arm had grown thicker and swelled, apparently in order to support the weight of the new branches and the princess. Willow looked at him through the branches, scared and in shock.


    Once again Danny found himself surrounded by the palace guards, who were always present, but hiding in the background.


    One guard in particular stood between Danny and the princess, weapon pointed at him, ¡°Ascendant, please release the princess.¡±


    Danny couldn''t see the guard¡¯s face through the helmet they wore. When they spoke the voice might have sounded feminine. Danny took a deep breath and focused on lowering the princess and retracting the branches he had created. He was able to lower and release the princess by growing the branches further, but the branches wouldn''t retract after that. Realizing what he should have done form the beginning, Danny released the new growth from his body. He thought his hand had stretched to create the cage that surrounded Willow, but it must have just been how his brain interpreted how to direct the new growth to trap her. He was lucky he didn''t try and attack her.


    Willow stood up as the branches surrounding her collapsed and turned to look at Danny warily.


    Danny bowed as low as his aspect would allow him, ¡°I am sorry I did that Willow. I was lost in all the new sensations and reacted improperly when I wasn''t allowed to enjoy them. Can you forgive me?¡±


    Willow crossed her arms, protectively, and nodded silently. A couple of guards checked on the princess¡¯s condition before fading into the background.


    Elder Frost and Breeze stood next to each other talking as Frost wrote notes in her journal.


    Elder Cardinal had his hand against the wall, ¡°Still, no change in the rate he is siphoning mana, though it is the largest pull I have ever observed.¡±


    Elder Frost stopped writing, ¡°Danny, it is not uncommon for elves to become lost in the power one feels when first drawing on the sacred tree¡¯s mana.¡±


    Elder Breeze walked over to also check on the princess before turning to a dress the room, ¡°I will be leaving you now. Please let me know of any resource you all might need and let''s not directly interact with Danny while he is focused, unless it is absolutely necessary.


    Danny, thank you for taking on this task for us. Just let someone know what you need, and we will do what we can to acquire it.¡±


    Danny thanked the elder before he left.


    Turning to the room, Danny smiled and asked, ¡°So, my esteemed colleagues, what do we know about growing a new sacred tree.¡±


    Danny looked between the two elders. Elder Frost seemed suddenly consumed by her notes while Elder Cardinal gave Danny an uncomfortable look. In a last ditch effort Danny looked to Willow to only have her shrug.


    Elder Frost cleared her throat and looked up from her notes, ¡°Due to this being the ultimate secret of our race, it was passed down verbally from ascendant to ascendant. Since they rarely died, except in battle or an accident, no one thought to write it down, even when the cataclysm happened. Our attempts at normal propagation have failed and can only assume it is truly something an ascendant can accomplish.¡±


    Danny looked around concerned, before saying, incredulously, ¡°Seriously! So, we have nothing to go on?¡±

 Chapter 13

    A number of elven tomes rested on the petals of a large flower growing out of the ground, like a small table, under the shade of a small tree. The flower was white with a translucence that shimmered when light shown through its petals. It also gave off a sweet fragrance that filled the large room it was growing in. Next to the flower a small tree started to shake before turning to reveal the face of a teenage boy.


    Danny shook he head slowly, the leaves growing out of his thin branch like hair moved back and forth and tickled his back.


    ¡°Still no luck, Danny?¡± Princess Willow sat down on the petals of the large flower, which surprisingly supported her weight.


    Danny rubbed his hands through his hair, ¡°I knew this tree would be different, but it might as well be a squirrel compared to all the other trees.¡±


    Danny looked over to see the princess had been rubbing his back sympathetically. He hadn''t even felt her doing this, but he still smiled appreciatively.


    Looking down at all the dead twigs sticking out of the ground, Danny reviewed all his failed attempts at growing cuttings of different parts of the tree. The cuttings seemed to grow, but quickly died when mana wasn''t supplied to them. The sacred tree generated mana from its connection to the source, which was located where the trunk started and the roots ended. These cuttings didn''t create their own source connection and Danny was oblivious to how that would work. He had nervously grown excess cells inside the source and tried to use those, but the cells might have well come from the furthest branches of the tree.


    Danny looked over to Elder Cardinal, ¡°These are all the books with reference to the sacred trees, what about ascendants? Maybe I can glean some insight from those.¡±


    Elder Cardinal looked up from the book he was studying, ¡°Of course, though most are just histories and family records.¡±


    Danny turned to Elder Frost, who was inspecting some of his dead cuttings, ¡°Seeds are the only thing that I think would work. I was excited when I got this flower to grow out of the tree, but there are none of the sex characteristics I expect to find that would produce a seed. You told me the fruit was seedless right?¡±


    Elder Frost stood up and wiped her hands on her robes, ¡°Yes, there are no seeds in the fruits. Those fruits are the main staple of our diet and are in most of the foods we prepare. If there was a seed in one someone surely would have noticed it in their food.¡±


    Danny reached up and through his connection with the tree had a branch rise up from under the flower, between two of its petals, and curl a meter above the top of the flower. A large pink fruit grew from the curled end of the new branch. It swelled to the size of a watermelon before stopping. Danny frowned while studying its internal structure with his nature affinity.


    The princess spoke up next to him, ¡°Danny, its supper time. You can work on this some more tomorrow.¡±


    Danny, deep in thought, turned to look at her and a few seconds later her words seemed to register, ¡°Oh, is it that late already?¡±


    Looking up Danny realized the room had a dozen of those ¡°bulbs¡± that emitted light set evenly across the ceiling. Danny remembered those were on his to-learn list.


    Danny turned to the elders, ¡°My apologies for keeping you both here so late.¡±


    The two elders embarrassingly conceded they had both lost track of the time as well.


    Elder Frost smiled, ¡°It has been so long since I had a good challenge. I am just glad I can be of some help.¡±


    Danny nodded, ¡°Yes, your insights and Elder Cardinal¡¯s knowledge of the records have been very helpful. Eliminating failed theories can only lead us to pick the correct path.¡±


    The bid their goodbyes and Danny used the last of his mana to grow four bouquets made from smaller versions of the flowers and leaves. As he changed back into his natural form, he pulled the shirt he brought over his head. Leaves fell from his head and littered the ground below him. Danny sighed at his destroyed boxers that had torn when he grew extra bark around his waist throughout the afternoon. Yet another aspect that could cause sudden uncontrollable nudity.


    ¡°Danny, your hair stayed!¡± Princess Willowed said excitedly while inspecting his new locks.


    Reaching up Danny and felt the new hair that now covered his previously bald head. The hair felt different, smoother.


    Smiling he turned to the princess, only realizing she had just watched him get dress. Danny couldn''t help but feel embarrassed, especially with his emaciated condition.


    Trying to act like it didn''t bother him, Danny blushed while asking her, ¡°So, how do I look with hair?¡±


    Willow smiled, ¡°Much better! Especially now that you have eyebrows. I have to say you are very attractive¡­ for a human.¡±


    Danny rolled his eyes, ¡°Sorry I couldn''t be born with a perfect features like you elves.¡±


    The princess stopped Danny from moving towards the door, ¡°Danny, we look this way because we have such high intelligence. Before the magi created the sanctuaries we were only slightly better looking than your kind.¡±


    Danny was surprised by this and honestly exclaimed, ¡°Wow, then either you were already beautiful before or your intelligence attribute is ridiculously higher than mine.¡±


    The princess started walking ahead of Danny towards the door, and sounding annoyed said, ¡°Danny, please do not feel like you have to flatter me, unnecessarily.¡±


    Danny was pretty sure he had seen a blush creep up on Willows face. He didn''t think his words were that strange. He was sure she had heard them before from countless suitors. He had been hoping to trick her into telling him her intelligence level.


    *Wow, Mr. Casanova! Where did that come from? We interested in girls finally?*


    That reminded Danny and he ran back to grab the bouquets and ran after Willow.


    Handing one of the bouquets to Willow, Danny saw her smile down at them, happily.


    ¡°Danny, these are lovely, thank you.¡±


    ¡°They are an apology for earlier, I didn''t mean to scare you.¡±


    Danny was happy when the smile didn¡¯t leave Willows eyes as she looked over at him.


    Danny and Willow returned to the guest wing, but Danny was surprised when Willow bid him a goodnight.


    ¡°Did you just come get me for supper? You could have sent someone else.¡±


    ¡°I honestly wanted to see if you all had made any progress.¡±


    Danny frowned, ¡°Sorry, I was only able to eliminate a bunch of things that won''t work.¡±


    Willow smiled, ¡°That''s still progress. You are doing fine, Danny. No one expects miracles.¡±


    The princess leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, ¡°Good night, Danny.¡±


    Taken off guard, Danny almost forgot to respond, ¡°Good night, Willow.¡±


    Danny couldn¡¯t help but watch as she walked away.


    *Danny, your life is sooo much better than mine was!*


    *Yeah, well she is probably just doing it under pressure from her mother. Remember the whole being told to get me to fall in love with her bit?*


    *Hmmm, I don''t know. If she was doing that then she was also faking an elevated heart rate, blood pressure, oh, and her eyes would dilate when she looked at you.*This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    *Cranny, you were scanning her again?*


    *Yeah, only the elders seem to notice it. I wonder if it''s a skill they have?*


    *Yeah, well anyway, all that could easily be because Willow associates my appearance with my powers and she was nervous I wouldn''t fall for her womanly wiles.*


    *Danny, the way I see it. If that''s the case, then she uses you and I get to enjoy having a princess.*


    *Why is what I want not even considered in that statement?*


    *Danny, I am pretty much your sub-consciousness. Get over your hang-ups on the whole marrying multiple woman. No one else seems to have one. You want to marry the princess.*


    *But what about the girls? What are they going to say?*


    *Honestly, right now they are probably wondering when you are going to turn around and quit staring at the princess¡¯s remarkable royal rear end.*


    Danny froze, *Why didn''t you tell me they were behind me!*


    *Because you have poor multitasking abilities and, plus, things are more interesting this way!*


    Danny turned around slowly to find all three girls staring at him. While Ivy and Brooke looked displeased, Jade looked livid.


    ¡°Hi girls¡­ look what I brought for each of you!¡± Danny held out the bouquets.


    No one moved.


    "Come with us, Danny." Ivy turned around and Brooke and Jade followed behind her.


    Danny lowered the flowers and looked back down the hallway, "Better give me some privacy for this next part."


    The three guards appeared and bowed, "Your secrets are safe with us, Ascendant."


    Danny shook his head, "I''m sorry, but I cannot trust you, not yet anyway."


    The guard closest to him bowed, "We will stay far enough to not hear."


    Danny nodded and entered the guest wing to follow the girls.


    He sensed the girls in his room and when he entered, Danny announced, "All guards leave the room. You are welcome to wait outside."


    Five guards materialized around the room and walked out into the hallway.


    The girls looked shocked and confused.


    "Are you not a guard?" Danny turned to look in one corner.


    A guard materialized and bowed, "My apologies, Ascendant."


    After the guard left, Ivy started to speak but Danny held up his hand. A double layer of air surrounded them, effectively cutting off the sound from either side.


    Danny looked to Ivy, "It is safe to speak now."


    Ivy looked around the room as if to find more guards hiding somewhere, "I thought they just followed the queen."


    Danny shook his head, "You each have at least two following you at all times."


    Jade shuddered and crossed her arms. Brooke just looked angry.


    Danny took the initiative, "I was planning to talk about this with you three, but I haven''t had the chance. It seems a lot can happen in a day."


    Danny told them about the last reward the queen offered him the day before. The girl¡¯s emotions ranged from uncomfortable to frustrated.


    Jade stepped up to him and touched his arm, "Are you going to accept the offer, Danny"


    Danny shrugged, "I wanted to hear your three''s opinion as I do not know what would happen if I chose either way. I barely know her and she admitted her family is pressuring her to convince me. I didn''t want to make you mad, and then she went and kissed me."


    Jade looked to be almost in tears, "So, you wouldn''t want to marry us anymore?"


    Danny shook his head, "No, the offer was for her to join us."


    Jade looked like she had just ate something sour, "Oh..."


    Ivy sighed and sat down on his bed, "Even with us married to you, they would use her to take you away."


    Danny nodded, "I asked Willow about that and she said that if I can do what they want me to I can demand stipulations that absolve me from obligations normally required of one married to the princess."


    Brooke walked over and punched Danny hard in the arm, "Willow, huh?"


    Danny nodded, "She asked me to call her that, sorry."


    Brooke pursed her lips, "You like her don''t you?"


    Danny shrugged, "I won''t lie. I tried to get to know her today so I could find out what kind of person she is. She at least appears honest, but I know, we just met."


    Ivy scoffed, "Yeah, I don''t know about this... Can we bring Arya into this conversation?"


    Danny looked up at her, "I would rather like to know what you three think before we speak with her."


    Jade spoke quickly, "I don''t want to share you with anyone else!"


    Brooke nodded, "I''m with Jade."


    Ivy stood up and started walking to the door, "We might not have a choice..."


    Danny grabbed her arm, "Ivy Diadem, I know you want to stay true to your family, but I want to know what you think, not your family."


    Ivy looked back at Danny, scared and worried, "Who... who told you?"


    "Willow"


    Ivy looked down and frowned in thought.


    Danny pulled Ivy back over to the bed and sat her down, "Ivy, is it true what they said? Are you all but in name a princess? I thought your connections to your family were severed when you joined the order?"


    Ivy shook her head, "That is something said but rarely followed for my family. I am still in line to the high seat of the council, if something were to happen to my sisters. Even though we are put into harm¡¯s way, it has always been beneficial to have a daughter hidden inside the order. Besides training in the martial arts, I am taught what I would need to know in case I must rule one day."


    Danny grabbed one of Ivy''s hands, "One of the things I was going to ask you three was would you be willing to leave the order and potentially Diadem and follow me?"


    All three girls quit breathing at this point and Danny patiently waited.


    Ivy stood up, "No, Danny. We can''t do that... I... I want to say yes, but I have to think about my family. I have obligations. It is what I was trained for all my life."


    Danny shook his head, "How many third daughters have had to assume the high seat in the council?"


    Ivy looked confused, "Well¡­ Danny, my family expects this of me!"


    Brooke shook her head, ¡°Danny, we can''t¡­¡±


    Jade was oddly silent and not looking at anyone. Brooke and Ivy seemed to notice this as well.


    There were many things Danny could do or say at that moment to change the girls¡¯ minds, but he just couldn''t do it. Now that he knew how strongly at least two of them felt, he had no doubt they would come to resent him later. They were too important to him now to just cast aside.


    Danny hung his head down, "Go get Arya."


    Ivy looked very scared, "Danny, please understand!"


    Danny still had her hand and brought it up to his lips, "Don''t worry Ivy, I do understand. Go get Arya and decide our next step."


    Ivy looked sick while she nodded. Getting up she left the room.


    Danny got up and walked to the edge of his bubble. His movements slowed slightly as he passed through the double layer of stilled air.


    Turning to the nearest hidden guard, Danny stated, "I need you to stop Arya''s guards from entering... You can tell the queen we are discussing her final offer. She will know what I am speaking of."


    The wall where Danny was looking moved as the vague shape of a head could be seen bowing, "As you wish, Ascendant."


    Ivy returned with Arya and they all entered the bubble with Brooke and Jade waiting. Danny made sure Arya''s guards did as he had asked.


    Arya looked around at them, "What is going on here? Danny, did you duplicate the magic on the doors and windows?"


    Danny nodded, "We should be able to talk freely here."


    Arya looked confused out the door to his room, "Why are the guards allowing this?"


    Danny shrugged, "Because I asked nicely."


    Ivy touched Arya''s arm, "Danny was offered the privilege of marrying the princess if he solves whatever it is they have him doing. The princess even said he would be able to add whatever stipulations he wants."


    Arya turned to stare at Danny, "Did you give them an answer yet?"


    Danny shook his head, "Not yet. I wanted to hear the girls¡¯ opinion first."


    Arya nodded and walked over to look out Danny''s window, while she thought. Danny was surprised to see the normally stoic woman start biting one of her nails.


    Turning around Arya stood so she could see all of them, "The diadem..."


    Ivy interrupted, "Danny knows, Arya. The princess told him about my mother."


    Arya looked annoyed and sighed, "Ivy''s mother and the Umbra gave us explicit instructions for a number of scenarios, like this one. You will accept the queen''s offer."


    Jade and Brooke made sounds of shock, while Ivy took the news in stride.


    *Danny, now part of me wants you to tell the queen no just to spite them all. Well, just a small part though.*


    Danny spoke up defiantly, "Arya, the girls do not want this. I do have a say in this matter."


    Arya looked at Danny and barked out a laugh.


    Danny frowned, "What?"


    Arya shook her head, "Those two... never go against them unless you hold all the cards."


    Danny didn''t like where this is going, "My family right?"


    Arya frowned, "Yes Danny, but not in the way you are thinking."


    Danny growled, "Then what is it?"


    "If you marry the princess you, Ivy, Brooke, and Jade will be kicked out of the order. Then when you next visit Diadem, Ivy¡¯s mother will tell you what happened."


    Danny eyes widened as he walked over to the women, ¡°You mean¡­¡±


    Arya held up a hand to interrupt him, ¡°She didn¡¯t tell me what, just that it was something very important to you.¡±


    The girls looked concerned and Danny just frustrated.


    Arya explained, "The elves know who we are and about the order. They will make that a requirement to leave the order if you agree to marry her. Danny, you will not be the only one with stipulations."


    Brooke asked, "Why would they give up Danny, and us, just to marry the princess?"


    Ivy spoke up, "Because it would be like two royals marrying. Our alliance would be sealed with the marriage."


    *Alright, I didn''t see that coming. Danny, you need to be careful here.*


    Arya nodded, "You four will become the most important people in the two nations. And it is all thanks to Danny."


    Danny couldn''t help but feel sick at his stomach, "What will happen to us then, if I agree to say yes."


    Arya shrugged, "Whatever you want, I guess. They will make requests of course, but I doubt you will reject us or your new extended family members."


    Danny looked out the window nearby, thoughts of just escaping in his mind.


    Danny could feel the metaphorical corner at his back, "Girls you can tell me to say no."


    Ivy shook her head, "Tell her yes."


    Brooke shrugged, "Danny, we need the elves help. Things are getting worse out there. Elven scouts returned today with news. The goblins attacked Crossbark yesterday. The city held out from the attack, but more of those undead started showing up. The scouts say the town thinks they have the outbreak under control. They eventually used the same tactics that Lieutenant Cove''s platoon came up with after we left. They kill anyone attacked before they can turn. They already lost at least a quarter of the town¡¯s population."


    *Danny, I know what you¡¯re thinking. Even with all the mana you have stored from the tree, you could only save a few hundred.*


    Jade was frowning but mumbled, "Tell her yes."


    Danny sighed and canceled the bubble, "Jade and Brooke, do you want to take that tour of sky I promised you? Ivy, I figured you would rather sit this one out, unless you want to go?"


    Ivy looked sad, "Sorry, I want to go with you."


    Danny smiled at her, "Hey, we can do something later. Just me and you."


    Ivy smiled at this, "I''m going to hold you to that."

 Chapter 14

    Jade and Brooke seemed to forget the tense moments before as they screamed in excitement as they raced through the air. Danny was in his air aspect with the girls on either side. He was glad it was so windy or he would have gone deaf from the stereo squealing.


    "Do you two want me to put a bubble around us, you two have to be getting cold now."


    "Don''t you dare!" "No, go faster!"


    Danny could only laugh at the two.


    *Danny, there is something strange in the neighborhood!*


    A huge grin split Danny¡¯s face, as he stopped their movement and turned towards the white blinking light that appeared in his vision. Taking off as fast as he could the girls seemed to think Danny had finally given into their demands. Many elves looked up that evening in an attempt to find the source of the high pitched squealing that seemed to come from the heavens.


    Past the edge of the city, the forest seemed almost orange. The setting sun was giving the sky a red glow. As Danny got closer, he saw multiple blips of a green color appear all around the white blip.


    *Some elves have surrounded her. I don''t think they have taken any action yet.*


    Danny landed them a short ways away from Phantom¡¯s and made sure Jade and Brooke were safely on the ground as well.


    "You two stay here, I need to take care of something." Danny floated quickly towards the commotion.


    The two girls were busy laughing from having such a good time, and Brooke yelled after him, "Seriously Danny, you should have just gone before we left.¡±


    There was a sharp rise ahead and the elves had cornered Phantom against it. Danny could tell that something wasn''t right with her the second he saw her. Phantom looked every bit the cornered feral cat.


    The elves looked agitated, but none of them had tried anything but prevent Phantom from slipping away.


    One of the elves turned to Danny, "Ascendant, please stay back. This animal is sick. We think she might be infected by the goblins foul magic."


    Danny released the last of air aspect in the form of a blast that blew through the area and carried his command to the rest of the elves present, "She is mine, leave her to me."


    Never taking his eyes off of Phantom, Danny cooed, "Hey Phantom, hey girl. I am sorry I didn''t go back to check on you. Let me help you.¡±


    One of the elves moved to stand in his way when Danny activated his harmony affinity. The sky had darkened further since arriving but that was changed when a bright light filled the forests understory. The elf that had moved to stop him, halted in awe as Danny walked past him.


    Phantom growled at Danny and bared her fangs. Now that there was enough light Danny could clearly see the war playing out below the surface of Phantoms flesh. His harmony affinity only confirmed it when his aura lashed out to surround the cat.


    A wound in Phantom''s side seemed to fester with a dense entropy affinity. From there it was spreading to the rest of her body. The only reason she had survived this long was that she too had ascended. Harmony affinity filled the rest of her body and warded off the encroaching darkness. Though, he could quickly tell she was losing the ground, albeit slowly.


    The curse seemed to not be able to spread towards the cat''s mana source, which was pumping out more harmony affinity. Instead the curse spread up and down Phantoms sides where it had reached her head.


    Danny had gotten close enough and the cat jumped at him, easily knocking him down and biting deeply into his shoulder. Danny could tell the cat had easily grown twice as large since the last time he had seen her. Phantoms mouth effortlessly bit from his neck down to his arm. Concerned for what the elves would do, Danny expanded his aura beyond them, in hopes of obscuring the elves sight.


    Danny found it odd he didn''t feel any pain and just continued to remove the curse from Phantom''s body.


    He was grateful to find she must have some control of herself, as all Phantom did was bite down. All it would have taken was a quick shake and she would easily snap Danny''s neck.


    Through his affinity Danny could suddenly sense dozens of wounds appeared all over Phantom''s back. Danny screamed, "Hold your fire! Hold!"


    He had already healed the festering wound and he quickly moved his focus to her head. As soon as Phantom''s head was clear of the curse she quit biting down on his shoulder and got up. Whining in discomfort she collapsed on the ground.


    Retracting his aura back down to just Phantom, Danny stood up and continued to focus on the cat. He rubbed her fur as he pulled the arrows that had embedded themselves deeply into the cat''s flesh. Phantom jerked with the removal of the arrows but the pain must have been dulled by the use of their combined harmony affinities.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Finally finished, Danny collapsed against Phantoms side, and the ghost leopard rested her head on his back. Danny looked out of the corner of his eye at his torn clothes and blood covered shoulder. He could tell the bite marks had already healed. He confirmed a suspicion he had that this aspect automatically healed his body when damaged.


    *Yeah, but don''t depend on it too much, Danny. You will eventually run out of internal resources to replace the flesh that was lost.*


    Danny just nodded into Phantoms fur, mentally exhausted.


    "Danny!" Brooke and Ivy ran over toward them.


    Danny looked over to see Jade crying and even Brooke had tears in her eyes.


    Brooke picked up Danny like he was made of straw and turned him so she could check his bloody shoulder. Finding him in one piece, she grabbed him into a hug that caused his harmony aspect to abruptly end. Pain returned to Danny''s world.


    "Brooke! Ribs!"


    Even in the now darkened woods, Danny could see Brooke''s blush, "Sorry, Danny!"


    Jade moved forward to worriedly inspect at Danny¡¯s shoulder.


    Danny smiled, ¡°I''m fine now Jade. Phantoms back!¡±


    Looking at his shoulder, Danny added, ¡°There goes my last duster.¡±


    Phantom rose up and pushed her way past Danny to nudge Brooke and Jade. The girls hugged either side of cats head, cooing and petting her. The cat had been just large enough for Danny to ride before, now she could probably carry two of them.


    *Danny, I am sorry, I never checked on her after she saved us from the undead goblin. I was just too busy trying to keep you alive and then there was all the upgrades to deal with. I should have spared a second to scan her.*


    *Cranny, it¡¯s alright, she''s fine now and back with us. I should have gone back for her but we were in such a rush.*


    One of the elven soldiers moved forward and bowed to Danny, ¡°I am in command of this patrol, Is everyone alright?¡±


    Danny nodded, ¡°Yes, we are all safe and my familiar, Phantom, is free of the curse she was under.¡±


    Some of the other elves had moved forward and seemed transfixed by Phantom. A few made gestures of respect or bowed towards Danny¡¯s furry companion.


    The elf looked uncomfortable, ¡°My apologies for allowing your familiar to be harmed by those under my command. I will take full responsibility for what transpired.¡±


    Danny shook his head, ¡°You were just trying to protect me from what obviously looked like a threat to my life.¡±


    The elf bowed again, ¡°Thank you. We had orders to protect you at all costs. I feared we had failed. We had Phantom contained and was waiting for one of the elders to come and confirm what was wrong with the sacred beast. Some of them recognized the curse from the descriptions in the recent reports and wanted to go against our traditions and immediately put the sacred beast out of its misery. I am grateful we did not make that mistake.¡±


    Danny¡¯s smile faded, ¡°As am I. We will be heading back now unless there is a reason you need us to stay?¡±


    The elf¡¯s head shook, ¡°No, good night. I will send some of my people to escort you back to the palace.¡±


    Danny looked over at Phantom and took a moment to decide, ¡°No, thank you. I don''t think they will be able to keep up. Brooke, Jade, get up on Phantom. We are heading back.¡±


    Brooke climbed up on Phantom, behind Jade and looked down at Danny with disappointment, ¡°I was hoping to fly some more.¡±


    Danny put a hand on Phantoms head and activated air aspect, ¡°Who said we weren''t? Hang on.¡±


    Wind wrapped around the cat and the girls, keeping them securely on. They all rose up in the air and took off slowly towards the palace. At first Phantom was tense with arms and legs splayed outward, but once they cleared the treetops she started trying to run. While this action made them wobble a bit, Danny didn¡¯t stop her as it seemed to calm the cat down.


    They reached Danny¡¯s window and Phantom was almost too big to for through. The cat quickly bounded around the room and promptly declared Danny¡¯s bed as her own. The bed groaned and sagged in complaint at the weight of the large beast. Danny flopped down next to her and the cat turned to lick Danny¡¯s face. Wiping his face on the covers Danny looked around to find it was just Phantom and him in the room now.


    Danny turned to the cat and extended his mana and connected to Phantom¡¯s mind with his nature affinity. Over the next half hour Danny and Phantom shared their experiences since they were separated.


    Through memories and emotions, Phantom shared how she had also been caught up in Danny¡¯s massive spell to heal himself. Before he had healed himself, Phantom had quickly returned to find him on the ground. Then a few minutes later all she felt was pain as she fell to the ground and blacked out. She had no memory of her transition after that.


    *Danny, the other variant beasts we fought were ascended as well. Maybe beasts can skip unlocking their mana all together and go straight to ascension. I''m guessing, either this is a natural process for them or there is a better chance for the beasts to survive the change.*


    Phantom continued showing Danny her memories. She had awoken before Danny, to discover the undead goblin almost upon them. Maybe it coincidence or maybe instinct that awoke her, Danny was grateful for whatever it was. Phantom had been disoriented at first, and the undead goblin was able to bite into her shoulder before she could finish it off. Phantom felt pain at the site of the bite but otherwise felt no ill effects from it.


    Phantom¡¯s ascendance brought about a great hunger but she resisted long enough for Danny to wake up, before she ran off to hunt. Over the next few days, Phantom knew only hunger and sleep. Danny found this odd as he didn''t or couldn''t sleep anymore.


    *Look how large she is now, and in such a short time. I bet this is why she had to rest so much. Apparently even this ascendency state has its limitations.*


    By the third day, Phantom¡¯s never ending hunger lessened enough for her to realize something was amiss. One whole side felt wrong. Danny had expected pain or a feeling of sickness. Phantom reaffirmed that, besides the bite that hadn''t healed, she just felt off. She struggled over the next day to reach where she knew Danny was. The wrongness spread to her head and that¡¯s when she had to start fighting for control. Getting to Danny soon became her only coherent thought.


    Danny hugged the cat around her neck, Phantom purred and pushed back against him. Before the ascendancy, Danny would normally go to sleep at this point. Last night he had spent it experimenting with nature affinity, but had held off using nature aspect till he was with the elders.


    A guard materialized at his room¡¯s doorway, ¡°Ascendant, the queen apologizes for not coming to you in person. Recent events are taking up most of her time. She would like to express her happiness at you being united with your familiar. She requests yours and Phantom¡¯s presence in the throne room tomorrow morning after breakfast. A servant will come by to take you there.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Tell her I will be there.¡±


    After the guard left, Danny grumbling thought, *I wonder what that is all about? I got the impression she had been keeping our presence here low key¡­*


    *With us flying around every day? She probably just wants to show off Phantom.*


    Danny got up out of bed, ¡°Come on Phantom. Let''s go find some supper.¡±

 Chapter 15

    Danny and Phantom walked into the atrium of the guest wing. The girls were talking in the sitting area with the Basalt women, while Wizard Basalt was busy eating over at the dining table.


    Ivy saw the two enter the room and called over, but to Danny''s chagrin, it was just to Phantom. Hearing the familiar voice the cat quickly ran over to greet Ivy. The rest of the females gathered around to lavish the ghost leopard with much affection.


    Danny just stood there watching with a pained look until he heard a raucous laughter coming from the dining table. He turned to see the wizard watching and chuckling at Danny, while shaking his head. Bits of food flew out of his mouth as he failed to reign in his mirth at the dejected look on Danny''s face.


    Danny scowled at the older man, which only made him laugh harder. Danny sat down next to the man and grabbed a plate and started filling it from the abundance of food still left in the middle of the table.


    Wizard Basalt swallowed the significant amount of food that was in his mouth, "Danny, I see you found the girls little kitten."


    Danny smirked while taking a bite of some sort of pie that was filled with meat and a delicious tasting fruit, "Yes, she is quite the popular one with the ladies."


    "Is that jealousy I hear there Danny?"


    Danny turned to the wizard, "Yes. Yes it is."


    The older man nodded, "Good! I was afraid with that with that princess around you would be forgetting about my little Jade."


    Danny smiled and shook his head, "Never, sir."


    The wizard slapped Danny on the back and then got back to work on the large bird he apparently was eating by himself.


    "Wizard, I saw you fight that undead mountain troll during the battle in the forest. That was awesome! How did you train yourself to be so strong?"


    The older man stopped eating and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his duster, "Danny, I only have one affinity, earth. Because of that I felt I would need to have something else to support my magic. I decided that strength was the way to go. My wives are all swift and deadly with their blades and bows, so I took up the heavy lifting to offset that.¡±


    Looking around conspiratorially the wizard continued, ¡°Now, this next part I didn''t tell you because I was only able to get it out of my wives were young and easily swayed by my manly charms.¡±


    Danny looked at the man in doubt of his supposed charms, but chose to keep silent so he would continue.


    ¡°Danny, there is something they don''t tell wizards because they want us to focus only magic, even in the order. In Diadem, the men have their roles and the women theirs. What I discovered, was that the benefits of strength and agility attribute bonuses provided by the sanctuary are all dependent on the condition of one¡¯s body.


    After long years of study, the people of Diadem discovered that a person who has reached halfway to first threshold in strength has fifty percent more strength than they would normally. Those that reach their first threshold have one hundred percent more strength. Now, fifty percent more strength on my body verses yours, Danny, would have drastically different results. More muscle, more benefit."


    Danny was ready with a question, "I noticed agility makes you taller, strength makes you more muscular, and intelligence makes you..."


    The wizard smiled and batted his eyelashes, "Prettier?"


    Danny laughed and nodded.


    Wizard Basalt, "You are right on all cases, yet you don''t have everything. Strength makes your muscles more efficient and take longer to start regressing. Agility makes you taller, but it also makes you more limber, and helps you store more energy in your body. The vanity of the Magi made sure intelligence made one more attractive, but it also increases the amount of information you can store in your head, and how quickly you can access it. All attribute bonuses are about increasing efficiency, well except the pretty part. It appears the first tier of every attribute raised some aspect by one hundred percent."


    Danny shook his head, "Are there added benefits when you reach the thresholds?"


    Wizard Basalt nodded, "Yes, for the strength threshold, we never lose muscle growth, which if one is not careful cause a person to get too large. For the agility threshold, we get an extraordinary sense of danger that allows us to instinctively respond to threats we normally wouldn''t be aware of. Danny, I suspect you already know what happens when someone crosses the intelligence threshold."


    Danny stared at the wizard before answering, "Yes, sir, I am."


    Danny decided not to tell the older man about his knowledge of the other races. He didn''t want to give up information provided by the elves. Especially when the guards were listening.


    "I am surprised you haven''t asked me about this before, Danny."


    "Well, I was always focused on my magic till now, and instructor Meadow always just gave me more tasks when I bugged her with questions.¡±


    ¡°Yes, she is expected to reinforce the division of labor. Well, my wives and I were a special case, when they couldn¡¯t dissuade me from training.¡±


    ¡°Wizard, I now find my physical abilities are sorely lacking. Could you give me some tips on how to increase my strength? It seems like that one is the hardest to raise. Most skills seem to have agility as well as strength."


    "Yes, that is true. There are not many known skills that just raise strength. I can make you a list of skills to raise, but will you have time to train while you are helping the elves? I thought you were not finished."Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "No, sir, I am not finished helping them, but I find myself not sleeping as much lately and I think the exercise will help."


    "That would do it. But you might want to gain a bit more muscle before you try anything on my lists¡­ Danny, let us know if you want to talk about something. I know I have had many a sleepless night from things I have seen and done in this line of work. Just come find me and I will be happy to speak with you."


    Danny smiled at Wizard Basalt, "Thank you very much, sir, I appreciate that."


    The two then tucked into the rest of the food left on the table.


    Later that night when everyone else had gone to sleep, Danny and Phantom made their way down to one of the courtyards. Danny had gotten the promised list from Wizard Basalt and decided to spend his nights training his body. He was getting tired of people pointing out how skinny he was.


    *Yeah, you are looking more lady man than lady¡¯s man.*


    *Shut up, Cranny!*


    Danny didn''t want to disturb the elven trainers this late at night and decided to try what he could on his own. At first he thought about using nature affinity, but he wanted to build strength. So he decided to try earth affinity, which then led to him to the decision that it was time to try his earth aspect.


    Standing in one of the moonlit courtyards of the palace, Danny found a place that was set aside specifically for training. The area didn''t have as much grass as the others and was in a corner out of the way. Danny cast a light spell that should last a few hours. Having all this excess mana was great. Phantom wandered over to a nearby tree and laid down in its shadow.


    Danny looked around the courtyard and remembered his guards that were always there. Sighing he resigned himself to this fate and stripped off all his clothing. He paused with his boxers around his ankles.


    *Wait, why didn''t I just go to my research room in the elder''s wing?*


    *Did you say something closet exhibitionist?*


    Danny let a frustrated growl and finished undressing. He was in a secluded corner of the courtyard and his guards would just follow him to the research room anyway.


    *Danny, we only have level six in earth affinity so the change shouldn''t be as drastic as nature, more like fire¡¯s.*


    *Alright Cranny, let¡¯s do it.*


    After a few moments Danny''s skin started to darken. Smooth skin bulged to be replaced with rough craggy rock like striations. Danny noticed that his flesh also felt denser, heavier.


    *Once again, no aura with this one. Danny, this stuff almost seems like a natural armor. Do you think you could add another layer to your body?*


    Danny focused on his skin and imagined an inch layer of stone covering his body like a knight¡¯s armor.


    The earth bulged below his feet and started to undulate. It was but a few seconds before stone rose out of the ground and swelled around his feet. It only started at his feet like a large tumor then slowly thinned out as it moved upwards. Once it had covered his entire body from the neck down.


    "Ahhhhh!"


    There was a large crack as the rock still connected with the earth broke and Danny fell sideways under the weight of the rock covering his body. The rock didn''t shatter like he thought it would and still clung to his flesh. Once the stone had formed over him, Danny realized there was no way for him to move. Even though he imagined individual armor pieces, the stone seemed to fuse.


    Danny could just manage to see Phantom out of the corner of his eye. Obviously alarmed, she stood up and her ears were pointed as high in the air as they could go. Padding over to him slowly she sniffed his hair and face for a bit as her harmony aura flowed out of her body to inspect Danny.


    After a few seconds the cat''s aura retreated and she blew out all the air in her lungs in a huff. Danny''s stone, noodle like, hair fell, partially covering his eyes. Danny could just barely make out Phantoms retreating backside, as she exited the courtyard.


    Danny did his best to not be offended, while focusing on his joints and imagining gaps forming. It didn''t take long for the stone at these locations to break up and slough off.


    Danny then tried to get up but found the weight was still too much for his scrawny self. Danny struggled for a bit longer before admitting defeat and removing the stone from everywhere but small bands on his arms, legs, and waist. He wasn''t ready to completely give up and knew he just needed to increase his muscle mass. In fact, this is what Wizard Basalt suggested.


    Danny began going through a basic calisthenics workout. It didn''t take long for his muscles to burn. He wasn''t physically tired, his muscles had just been damaged enough he knew he needed to stop. Danny was thinking about using harmony affinity, but hesitated.


    *Cranny, do you think I have eaten enough to repair my body with harmony affinity? I don''t want it to start eating my muscles to repair the damage I have done."


    *I was thinking about that too and I want to try something. Switch to nature aspect and tap into the palace¡¯s nutrient feed.*


    Danny could see where this was going and, quickly used the rest of his earth aspect, switching to nature aspect. Extending his roots out to the sacred tree, Danny tapped into it and waited.


    *Yep, that confirms it, Danny. Nature aspect boosts regeneration. Harmony affinity definitely wins out though for use during emergency situations.*


    *How fast is it, though?*


    *Looks like you will be good to go in an hour.*


    *Wow, really?*


    *Yeah, though I suspect that''s an effect of you being tied into a sacred tree.*


    Danny waited for the aspect to run out before heading for the elder¡¯s wing and his research room. He might as well study what books he could while he was resting between workouts.


    Danny hadn''t had much of a chance to read the day before, while testing different propagation methods. Now he stood there in his sacred tree form, reading an elven tome, detailing their understandings in nature magic. He was learning a great deal.


    As he knew, nature affinity could bridge a mental connection between the caster and a target. Telepathic communication between people was possible as well. Danny couldn''t wait to try that one out, though it depended on how open a person was to the caster. Sentient races were harder to do this with.


    Nature affinity could also speed up any process that occurred naturally, like healing. He started looking for a way to grow his muscles magically but that wasn''t a natural process as the muscles had to be stimulated in some way first. Danny did stumble upon something even better.


    Danny was excited to find that one could also speed up aging, but bummed it couldn''t reverse it. Due, to its significantly high mana cost, this was usually used to speed up the growth of mounts or livestock during times of war. Though the author noted that the immaturity of the animal was quite apparent when doing this, and there was definite psychological aspects to consider.


    *Hey, Cranny? What do you think about making ourselves physically older? I doubt they know if we will actually ever physically age older than a thirteen year old.*


    *I want to say yes, but not too much older.*


    *So... twenty five?*


    *Danny, Jade is only fourteen...*


    *Uhhhh... alright how about eighteen.*


    *Still sounds creepy...*


    *Cranny, what do you think I plan to be doing with a fourteen year old? Plus, I''m mentally somewhere in my forties now. It has been officially "creepy" for quite a while now.*


    *True, alright. Eighteen... wait! Do you think the book means a calendar year or the time it takes to make an elf look a year older?*


    *I will look for a spell book so we can be as accurate as possible.*


    Danny followed a reference in the text to another book he was provided on nature affinity spells. These runic spells were similar to what wizards would use, as their mana was too chaotic and hard to freely manipulate on their own. Apparently, even the druids found need to develop runic spells to control the amount of magic used. Especially in extremely delicate magic. He found the spell would age an elf by a single year. It was scalable by changing one of the layers of the rune.


    *Danny, now that I think about it, maybe we should ask one of the elders about this before we try anything.*


    Danny didn''t respond and spoke out loud to the seemingly empty room, ¡°Here goes nothing.¡±

 Chapter 16

    Danny came out of his room with Phantom and looked down at his clothing that now barely fit on his larger frame. He had managed not to screw things up with the aging spell, but forgot that this was the age range where some people hit another growth spurt. He went from around 166 centimeters to 180 centimeters.


    He was extremely happy with his fourteen extra centimeters, except that it made his pants look like long shorts. He found a shirt that was styled a little long, so besides the uncomfortably short sleeves, he wasn''t showing off his stomach. Well, all he had to do was raise his hands and that would change.


    He had been able to get in the equivalent of six full workouts that night. Knowing that he could start healing himself the moment he took on the sacred tree aspect, Danny had pushed himself harder than ever before. There was a noticeable change to his body now besides the aging. Where he was just scrawny looking before, he now was scrawny with noticeable muscle definition. Danny decided he would take it.


    *Awwwwwwww, my wittle man is growing so big a stwong!*


    Danny walked into the dining area of the guest wing to find the girls eating at the dining table. They had been talking animatedly about their training and shopping with the queen, when Ivy looked over when she noticed Danny enter the room.


    Ivy''s face scrunched up in confusion, "Danny?"


    Brook and Jade turned their heads to see what was going on.


    Jade''s mouth just hung open and froze there.


    Brooke jumped up and ran over to him. While she was looking him up and down, Danny was pleased to find he was taller than her now. Well, only slightly.


    Brooke smiled while tugging at the bottom of his shirt, ¡°First your hair, now this. I have heard of growth spurts but this is insane, Danny. What did you eat?¡±


    Danny explained to them about the spell and how he tested it carefully before cranking it up to growing by years.


    ¡°Yeah, going a year at a time must not have as much change as it does for a human. I''ve had growing pains before but that was almost torture.¡± Danny chuckled, but quickly stopped when he saw the girl¡¯s reactions.


    Ivy looked at him incredulously, ¡°Danny, why would you want to age yourself? You will just die that much quicker¡­¡±


    Brooke, looked over at him, ¡°I don''t mind the change as long as you promise not to get any more older than us.¡±


    Jade blurted out, ¡°Change me too Danny!¡±


    Ivy and Brooke looked worriedly towards her, while Danny asked, ¡°What? Why?¡±


    Jade stood up and stomped over to him, ¡°Because I wasn¡¯t the youngest, and now that I am I don''t like it. Make me older too!¡±


    Danny shook his head as he was forced to look up at the taller girl, ¡°Jade, sometimes I forget you¡¯re the youngest because you are so tall. You don''t want to do that.¡±


    Jade didn''t look pacified.


    Danny screamed in his head, *She is like three centimeters taller than me! She is fourteen for crying out loud!*


    *Danny, you can''t win them all... So we will just have to find more ways to cheat.*


    Arya spoke up from the entryway into the guest wing, ¡°I would like to know why you would shorten your life as well.¡± The rest of the Basalts stood behind her.


    Danny had sensed them, but hoped that they would give the girls and him some privacy.


    Danny didn''t turn to recognize Arya¡¯s presence, ¡°Jade, I am not going to age for a very long time. You know I am different now. One of the things I gained was a long life, like the elves. I see now I shouldn''t have done this. I would take it back if I could but I can only make myself older, not younger.¡±


    Arya walked over and stood next to them, ¡°What else has changed about you Danny? I was hoping you would eventually open up and tell us but I feel there are things you have been hiding from us.¡±


    Danny collected his thoughts and opened his mouth to speak.


    ¡°Excuse me ascendant the queen awaits you and your familiar in the throne room.¡±


    They all turned to see a livered servant waiting in the entryway to the guest wing.


    Arya turned back to Danny, "Also, what is this ¡®ascendant¡¯ title they keep calling you?"


    The servant cleared his throat, "The queen is requesting that you do not delay."


    "Arya, I will explain it all when I get back."


    While she didn''t say anything else, Arya did not look pleased.


    Looking over at the servant, Danny asked, "Do you have anything I could change into? My familiar ate my last duster?"


    The servant bowed, "Clothing and a room near the throne room has been set aside for your use."


    Danny turned around, "Phantom! Where are you!"


    The ghost leopard jumped through one of the large windows and dropped what Danny thought was half a dead deer at his feet. It was only the back half so he took a guess. The cat licked the last of the blood from her nose and sat there proudly.


    Danny couldn''t help but stand there agape, "Phantom, you do not have to go hunt for every meal. They bring us all the meat we want. Now look at the mess you made!"


    Danny was sure the cat could sense the tone of his voice but she just looked bored instead of chastised. She lifted a paw to start using it to clean her head.


    Frustrated, Danny flung his hands in the air, before turning to the servant again, "We are ready. Could you have someone put that away for her to eat later?"


    The servant nodded and turned, "If you will follow me this way."


    Danny waved to everyone as he and Phantom followed quickly after.


    Once again, Danny was impressed and confused by the logic behind the palaces layout. Though, if it was attacked, the invaders would have difficulty moving around and coordinating.


    The servant stopped and opened a random door, "This is the room prepared for you and here are the clothes that were just delivered this morning. The queen personally asks that you wear this robe."


    Danny nodded, "Ask not tell. I get it."


    The room was just another sitting room, like the one the queen, Elder Breeze, and he sat in the night they first arrived. The clothes provided for him were laid out over a long table to one side of the room.


    Phantom moved over to a corner and curled up to take a nap.


    The servant went behind Danny and started to lift Danny''s shirt.


    "Hey, now! What are you doing?"


    "I am helping you dress, your ascendancy."


    "That''s alright. You just wait outside. I will come get you if there is something I can''t figure out."


    "Of course. If you will excuse me."


    Danny nodded the man out and closed the door.


    Turning back to the clothes, he immediately noticed they had prepared some type of formal robes for him. The robe was different shades of brown and green, and looked to have multiple layers, but there really was just a single layer. Opening at the front, it was held closed with clasps hidden on one side.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    A design had been embroidered on the back. A dark green bird of prey taking to the sky with a floating yellow crown above his head, the merged symbols of the houses of Kestrel and Diadem.


    *Soooo, it looks like Arya and the queen have reached a conclusion. You going to wear it, Danny?*


    *They want to mark what''s theirs...*


    *Danny?*


    *What? Yeah... I got nothing else to wear and it is only just a piece of cloth. They can try to control me, but those days of being dependent upon them are coming to an end. There is just one more thing here I want before I leave.*


    Cranny sounded hopeful, *The Princess?*


    *No, she is just a perk, well potentially.*


    Danny touched the robes, *Actually, it feels odd, but not in bad way.*


    *Wow, it''s made from the sacred tree. Danny, the robe''s fibers have those crystals embedded in them.*


    *Like the guards armor?*


    *Yeah, we need to find that camouflage spell they use. It would take too much concentration to keep up along with everything else.*


    Danny started putting on the robes. They were surprisingly soft. He wondered what part of the tree they used to make them. There were no pants so he just left his on. The robe hung down right to his ankles.


    *Cranny...*


    *They knew your size even though you grew... the guards!*


    There was knocking at the door to the room.


    Danny sighed and went to the door. The servant stood outside along with Elder Cardinal.


    The elder smiled upon seeing him, "Sorry Danny, they are running a bit late and sent me out to keep you company."


    "What exactly is going on, elder?"


    The elder walked over and sat in one of the empty chairs, "Just the meeting with the noble houses. They do not have any official say in political matters, but without their support the queen can''t rule. So, she puts on this little show every so often to keep them happy.


    With the new reports of goblin attacks, they all but demanded to speak with her. They are taking their normal complaining to new extremes. Frankly, I was glad to get out of there."


    Danny sat down in the empty chair across from the elder and gestured at his robes, "So she wants to make it official. I haven''t even solved the problem she asked of me. Plus, I spoke with the princess about establishing some rules on what your people can expect from me."


    Elder Cardinal looked at him, "I share the others opinion that you will solve this issue for us. It is only a matter of time."


    Danny appreciated the vote of confidence, but that was a bit much.


    The Elder continued, ¡°As far as the verbal agreement the Queen and Lady Basalt have drafted, I understand it leans greatly in your favor.¡±


    The elder reached into his robes and pulled out a few leafs of paper and handed them to Danny.


    Danny took some time to read over the documents. Danny was pleased to see they wrote the document with his wishes in mind.


    Cranny grumbled, *About damn time¡­*


    The agreement would make Danny and his wives essentially political immunity. As long as whatever Danny choses to do is considered beneficial to the host country, they will support him in whatever capacity they can. There was also language about how they would handle the event that additional ¡°members¡± join his group. Of course they reserved the right to ¡°expel¡± him from a country should he violate major laws.


    *Works for me, Danny.¡±


    Elder Cardinal looking closely at Danny, "You aged yourself, I see. Are you sure you wanted to do that?"


    Danny nodded, "Will I age on my own?"


    The elder shrugged, "We don''t really know. Most ascendants were already old. Maybe you will age until you have matured completely, then stop. I would suggest not aging yourself too much or too frequently. Some things should not be rushed, Danny."


    Danny bowed in acknowledgement to the elders wise words, "So, what are the nobles complaining about now."


    "After the goblin threat it fell back to complaining about the usual. The peasants have been noticing for a long time now they are not living as long as the nobles. They do not know about the mana rationing as we have been doing it slowly over the years. 500 years ago, we easily explained it away as pedigree. With our numbers growing rapidly, we have had to decrease the amount rationed. The difference is getting too extreme."


    "How, is the decreased lifespan created more elves?"


    Elder Cardinal looked down and sighed, "Danny, you will find this out eventually. Elven women are only fertile twice a year. On the winter and summer solstices. Well, that was true until we started rationing mana. The less mana an elven woman stores, the more frequent she becomes fertile. The winter solstice isn''t even upon us and one of the noble women in there just became pregnant. That is another reason this meeting isn''t going so well. The nobles are being affected. They don¡¯t even realize we are rationing their mana."


    Danny turned on his mana sight and looked towards where he had seen the doors to the throne room. There were a number of lights representing an individual¡¯s connection to the source, but he couldn''t tell the pregnant woman''s from two people sitting next to each other.


    That gave Danny a question, "Elder, when does a... creature gain their connection to the source?"


    The elder pondered this for a moment, "There was one druid who specialized in domesticated animals. She noted in one of her journals that a connection formed not long after mating."


    "Elder, have you really read all the books in the library?"


    The elder smiled and nodded.


    ¡°How long would that take to do?¡±


    The elder pondered, ¡°Years.¡±


    Danny smiled to himself, then had a thought, ¡°Elder, can all elves see mana?"


    The elder shook his head, "Not all, just the ones that use mana regularly for many years. Most established druids can see or even sense mana usage."


    Danny''s eyes widened as he came to a sudden realization. Walking quickly over to the corner of the room, he hesitated before removing his pants from beneath his robe and activated his nature aspect.


    Cranny whispered, *...closet exhibisionist.*


    *Shut up, I think I am on to something.*


    As he activated his form, Danny noticed that his new robe hardened and took on the same aspect as him. It didn¡¯t interfere with his aspects initial form.


    Putting aside investigating his robe¡¯s new properties for later, Danny created a number of sacred tree flowers and fruits on the wall in the corner he was in. Scanning them with his nature affinity still revealed nothing, as he suspected it would.


    Releasing his nature aspect he switched to harmony aspect. Scanning with this revealed nothing as well.


    "Elder, the sacred trees are not natural are they? They were created, engineered."


    The elder nodded, confused and unsure where Danny was going.


    *Cranny! Go look in the mana room real quick.*


    *Sure, hang on. Alright, what am I doing in here.*


    *Look in the crystal in the middle.*


    *Danny, this thing is really bright. I am going to go blind looking into this thing.*


    *....*


    Cranny sighed dramatically, *I will at least have those bright blobby things blocking my vision and hanging around for hours, annoying the crap out of me.*


    *Cranny, just tell me what you see inside.*


    *I see nothing but light, brightness, and more light. Wait! Something just moved in there. Let me bang on the crystal a bit.*


    Danny could hear a loud banging noise, like someone hitting the side of a bathtub.


    *Ahhh!*


    *Cranny, what did you see!*


    *Danny, that bastard gave me the finger!*


    *Alright, that''s definitely another of my aspects in there. I know because I always have that reaction when I see you. I think we need to put mana into the crystals in my cells.*


    *Danny, I do that every time we change...*


    *Just start loading them with mana until something happens.*


    Cranny grumbled but started doing as Danny said.


    *50... 100... 250... 500... 1,000... how much mana we going to load you up with, I don''t want you explode.*


    *How much do we have saved up?*


    *Well, a little after 110,000 mana it started to slow down. Instead of it feeling like storing it in a metal tank like before, it''s more like we are storing mana in a balloon, now. There is increasing resistance, but we have not completely stopped storing mana.*


    *Well, then don''t stop charging them then, Cranny.*


    *Alright, 2,000... 3,000... 5,000... 10,000... Danny, I think we should stop and try something...*


    Danny''s body exploded. Motes of bright light flew everywhere, swirling and bouncing off of each other.


    Danny screamed, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


    Cranny screamed, *AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!*


    Elder Cardinal had started to doze off and woke up screaming, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


    Phantom looked up sleepily, yawned, then went back to sleep.


    Danny stopped screaming to look down at his hands. He was radiating light that seemed to constantly change color and his whole body was translucent. Finally looking up he could still see the motes of light moving and swirling around him. They floated and filled up the entire room. He could see mana flowing all through the tree and the elder, who was now standing up. It wasn¡¯t just the mana lines in the elf¡¯s body he could see, but mana escaping his body to join that in the room.


    *Danny. If I had a heart, I would have just gone into cardiac arrest. Let''s not do that again.*


    Danny could only silently nod his head in agreement, not really paying attention.


    Elder Cardinal¡¯s timidly spoke up from across the room, "Danny, are you alright?"


    "Yes elder."


    Elder Cardinal looked more scared than before, after hearing Danny speak.


    Danny dismissed the elder and looked back towards the sacred tree flowers and fruits he had created before. The fruits had mana running through them, but nothing different from the rest of the tree.


    The flowers were different. First of all, Danny knew fruits should grow from a flower. So the fact that the fruits of this tree grew separately was very peculiar. The base of the flowers had a strange void of mana in them. In fact, Danny could see mana flowing into it like some sort of arcane black hole. Like a real black whole, he really couldn¡¯t see the void, just the mana flowing into it and seemingly disappearing.


    "Elder, can your people grow these flowers?"


    "Yes, we can grow the fruits and flowers. We can make small modifications to the sacred trees, but we can''t make them grow any further. That happens all in the first year of planting them."


    "Wait, do I need to be there to help the tree grow once we plant the seed?"


    "No, a group of druids usually handles the shaping. It is easier that way. More scrutiny and less chance of mistakes that can''t be fixed later. Well, mistakes that would require an ascendants help."


    Danny looked back at the flower and couldn''t help thinking about his brother Greg. They sealed off his connection to the source in an attempt to unlock his mana. Does he now have one of the vortexes swirling where is connection used to be? Will enough mana eventually unlock it? He was sure he would have heard of a man formally sealed gaining his connection back. He would probably have to ask Arya later.


    Danny reached out and started pushing his mana into the void of one of the flowers. The void greedily sucked up everything he gave it.


    After a few seconds, Cranny complained, *Danny, that''s a lot of mana already. We just passed 50,000 mana.*


    Danny stopped as the flower began to twitch and move. The petals of the flower twisted upwards, closing off the view to the inside. A few minutes later the petals fell off.


    Danny didn''t notice when Elder Cardinal had moved to stand next to him, "Danny, is that... is that what I think it is?"


    Danny smiled to himself, *Finally, it¡¯s me time.*


    *Uhhh Danny, right now is not the best time for that.*

 Chapter 17

    The large double doors to the throne room opened and a liveried servant announced to the room, ¡°Ascendant, Danny Creek of Diadem.¡±


    Danny walked in through the doorway to see easily the largest room he had visited in the palace. The walls went so high that the tree started to twist in on the room and there was no discernible ceiling. The multitude of colorful leaves, hanging from different intervals, seemed to add to this lofty affect.


    The walls were decorated with long tapestries and rugs covered the floors. A long stretch of pale green rug connected the doorway, Danny stood in, to the bottom of the dais where the queen sat on her large throne. The throne looked grown from the sacred tree and not carved, as he first suspected. To her right sat the heir, Prince Hawk, and to her left her husband.


    Danny looked around and spotted Willow sitting next to Elder Breeze and Elder Frost to one side. He also noticed the elven ambassador to Diadem sitting there as well. The rest of the room was filled with other finely dressed elves. Every single one of them looking at Danny with expressions ranging from curiosity to suspicion and disgust. Danny was a little surprised by the later reactions but had to admit it had to be expected.


    Elder Cardinal slipped in behind Danny and walked around to sit with the other elders.


    Danny had stopped just inside the room to gather his bearings and reassure Phantom to wait outside, for now.


    As Danny walked forward the elves Danny passed suddenly made noises of shock. Following their eyes to his back, Danny remember what he was wearing.


    One elven woman in particular stood up and pointed at him, ¡°Your majesty, what is the meaning of this! This¡­ human is wearing a perversion of the symbol of our royal house.¡±


    Before the queen could respond, another elf stood up. He was, of course, beyond handsome and spoke with a refined air, ¡°I see what is going on and I will not allow it! Your majesty, you promised me the princess¡¯ hand in marriage. Now, you are throwing her away to this¡­ boy!¡±


    Others in the room stood and started yelling, struggling to make their own voices heard. Danny stood there in the middle of it all and patiently waited to see what the queen would do.


    Rising out of her chair and taking the time to smooth out the voluminous dress that she was wearing, the queen raised a hand daintily to her throat, ¡°SILENCE!¡±


    The sound reverberated around the room and Danny could tell the sound was immediately muffled to his own ears.


    *Thanks, Cranny!*


    *Anytime*


    The nobles around the room were cowering and covering their ears. Danny noticed the royals and elders were not as affected.


    The queen turned to address the noble male elf that had spoken up second, ¡°Lord Pine, would you please remind me when it was that I ¡®promised¡¯ you my daughters hand in marriage.¡±


    Lord Pine, who was still wincing in pain, looked suddenly worried ¡°Did I say promised, your majesty? I must have misspoken! My, my most sincere apologies.¡± With that the lord bowed low to the queen and sat down as if to hide his presence as much as possible.


    Watching the lord sit there a bit longer the queen turned to address the rest of the room, ¡°As you have told me countless times and in numerous ways this morning, the sacred trees we have are not enough to support our current or future population. Noble Houses, I present to you the answer to this problem.¡± With that, the queen gestured towards Danny.


    The whole room turned again to look at Danny.


    Danny hid the annoyance from his face but thought, *Cranny, why are we trying to help them again?*


    *¡­Princess?*


    *Try again.*


    Danny could hear the smile on Cranny¡¯s face in his next words, *Power!*


    Danny walked toward down the aisle and stopped short of the dais. Bowing low to the queen he spoke loudly, ¡°You requested my presence, your majesty?¡±


    The queen smiled and bowed slightly towards Danny before sitting down again in her throne, ¡°Yes Ascendant, thank you for joining us this morning.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Turning to her daughter, the queen gestured for Willow to join them, before the queen descended from the dais. Grabbing Danny¡¯s left hand and Willows right, she brought them together between her own hands, ¡°Elders and assembled gentry. I would like to formally announce the engagement of my daughter, Princess Willow, to ascendant, Danny Creek.¡±


    The room broke out into scattered applause, and Danny could see more than half of the nobles sitting there, not clapping. Danny also noticed that the side with the most clapping, chose to sit nearest the elders.


    The queen raised a hand for silence, ¡°I would also like to announce that the marriage will be held within two weeks¡¯ time on Princess Willow¡¯s birthday.¡±


    *Well, they are moving fast. You think something happened, Danny?*


    *Doesn¡¯t matter, since we now hold all the cards¡­ well seeds.*


    The room broke out into applause, but was noticeably more subdued than before. Definitely not a popular decision even among the queen¡¯s supporters.


    A lady from the side opposite of the room from the elders stood up, ¡°Your majesty, I feel I must protest this decision. We nobles have so few children already. Our kind cannot afford to have part of our royal bloodline cut off unnecessarily.¡±


    Before the queen could speak Danny stepped forward and addressed the lady directly, ¡°What is the required quota of elven children I will be required to have with the princess to appease you?¡±


    The lady looked at Danny, not appreciating his apparent jest, ¡°Ascendant, humans and elves cannot have children.¡±


    Danny made an obvious show of looking around confused. Slapping his forehead, he acted as if he had just realized that the woman was referring to him. Looking down, he covered his forehead with one head while shaking it despondently. All the while he was laughing loudly as if there was a joke only he understood.


    When he raised his head the room broke out in noises of shock.


    Danny had activated his nature aspect, but in his elven form this time. Danny¡¯s hair took on a finer quality and his features became sharper and more refined than they had been before. While his high intelligence had rendered him extremely attractive, his elven aspect somehow refined this look even further.


    Turning to Willow, Danny asked, ¡°How do I look?¡±


    Willow just stood there with her mouth agape.


    Danny¡¯s confident smile fell, ¡°That bad, huh? I tried it out before and didn''t think I looked that bad¡­¡±


    The queen recovered first and quickly whispered, ¡°You look very handsome, Danny.¡±


    Danny rolled his eyes, ¡°Thanks a lot, mom!¡±


    The queen couldn''t help but smile at this.


    Danny reached into his new robes and pulled something out of a side pocket, ¡°Here your majesty, could you hold this while I speak, it¡¯s getting heavy.¡±


    The queen was too confused by the sudden request and automatically accepted the object.


    Quickly walking to the middle of the room Danny raised his hands, ¡°You see, I am not a human or an elf. I am something even better. Now, I consider myself a fair sort of person, so if more than half of you have a problem with me marrying the princess we will call it off. Let''s do this with a raise of hands. All opposed with the marriage raise your hand. Come on, get them paws or whatever you elves have in the air.¡±


    The nobles looked around uncertain until a lord, who hadn¡¯t spoken yet, defiantly looked at Danny and raised his hand. Then others hesitantly joined him, until a good bit more than half of the room had their hands raised.


    The queen, who was busy looking at what she held and had missed what was going on, asked excitedly, ¡°Danny, is this a sacred tree seed?¡±


    ¡°Danny looked back distracted, ¡°What? Oh yeah, I made that in the sitting room before coming in here. Elder Cardinal watched me do it¡­


    Now, could you please keep it down, your majesty, we are trying to hold a vote here.¡±


    Conversation broke out all across the room as Elder Frost stood to rush over to the queen, ¡°Did you say sacred tree seed?¡±


    Danny was glad Elder Cardinal had kept the news quiet, even from his fellow elders, like Danny had requested. The looks on their faces was too priceless.


    Inspecting the large seed in the queen¡¯s hands, Elder Frost announced, ¡°It is a sacred tree seed!¡±


    The throne room exploded into a cacophony of talking and excitement.


    Danny looked around the room in feigned annoyance, ¡°QUIET!¡± Well, he was slightly annoyed that he couldn¡¯t use his air affinity for boosting his voice while in nature aspect.


    Everyone stopped and looked towards him in shock.


    Danny stood there and let the silence sink in for a moment, ¡°Now, raise your hands if you don''t want the princess and me to marry.¡±


    The room stood deathly still as it seemed no one dared to move. Then one lord started to raise his hand. A blur of motion a half second later and the chair was oddly empty.


    Looking around and seeing no one else opposing him, Danny clapped his hands once, ¡°Good! Your majesty, this completes our arrangement and I look forward to our wedding, Princess Willow.¡±


    The queen just nodded to him with a huge smile on her face.


    Danny turned his head to the side, ¡°Phantom!¡±


    The double doors slammed open as the massive sacred beast ran through to stop next to Danny and lower herself.


    A lady stood up, ¡°That¡¯s a sacred beast, and it¡¯s ascended!¡±


    A few of those who had opposed Danny¡¯s presence before grew even paler. While some of them did not hold to some of the old ways, the elven populous in general did. Knowing they had tried to go against one favored by this creature would not go over well.


    Looking around, Danny waved to no one in particular as he jumped on the cat¡¯s back, ¡°If anyone needs me I will be in the library catching up on some much needed reading.¡±


    Danny paused, *That sounded a lot cooler in my head¡­*


    *Danny, this would be the perfect point to yell something badass and ride off! Instead you bust out with a nerd alert! Seriously?*


    ¡°Danny! Wait,¡± Princess Willow ran across the room to catch up with him.


    Danny looked down at her then reached into his robes again, ¡°Oh, I almost forgot! Happy early birthday! Sorry, I didn''t have time to wrap it.¡±


    Danny handed the, now shocked, princess another sacred tree seed before Phantom bounded out of the throne room.


    *D... Danny! You are supposed to pick her up on your steed, kiss her in front of everyone, then ride off and make sweet hot princess lov¡­. Ahhhh! You are useless!¡±

 Chapter 18

    A few days later, light from the windows above filtered through the numerous bookshelves and cast competing geometric patterns across the walls and floor. A single book started to shift the move, seemingly on its own. A tree limb grew out of the shelf and lifted the book over to where a stack was steadily growing next to Danny in his tree aspect. Once the book was placed one the stack the tree limb fell to the ground and broke into multiple pieces.


    Elder Cardinal came into the room and sighed in frustration, ¡°Danny, just tell me or one of my assistants what you want and we will be happy to get it. You are creating a huge mess with these dead tree limbs everywhere.¡±


    The leaves in Danny¡¯s hair rustled as he turned to look around for the elder was, ¡°Sorry elder, I get distracted and did it without thinking. Do you have anything on earth magic, specifically metals?¡±


    The elder left and returned shortly with a number of books, ¡°Here you are¡­ Danny, are you even reading that book? You are turning the pages way too quickly.¡±


    Danny would look at each page in a book for only a few seconds each. If there was a diagram or picture, he would linger for a few extra seconds.


    Danny did not turn away from the book, ¡°Yes, I found out that I can memorize a book without actually having read it. Then I can look over it later when I have more time. Here take this.¡±


    Danny handed the elder a sacred tree seed and then reached up to turn the page without missing a beat.


    Danny had found he could gather enough mana to produce a seed every day to a day and a half. That also depended on how much time he spent connected to the sacred tree in his nature aspect.


    He had seen the elders try to create the seeds from the trees flowers themselves, but no matter how much mana they infused, nothing would happen. Danny had made the decision to make as many seeds as he could until he read every book in the elven library.


    The girls were understandably put off by his choice to seclude himself for days in the library, where they were not allowed to visit. The princess came by every now and then to try and convince him to leave for a while and see them. Danny told them he would only leave when he was finished. Though, at night, after they had gone to bed, he would secretly train adding more and more stone to increase his body''s strength. Physically he already stronger than he had ever been before.


    Elder Cardinal looked down at the seed confused, ¡°Why don''t you take the time now to read the books?¡±


    Danny shook his head, ¡°Things are escalating out there. I feel bad enough as it is taking all this time to memorize these books. Given this rate, I should finish in about four days.¡±


    The old elf shook his head, ¡°Danny, there is no reason for you to be concerned with the goblins. Our army and the humans are actively working together to stop the threat. Though the weather has definitely turned for the worst, with all this snow. That should hopefully slow down the goblins as well.¡±


    Danny made a less than convinced noise and continued turning pages quickly.


    Seeing there wasn''t much conversation left to be had here, the elder went to go find someone to clean up all the broken limbs strewn everywhere.


    A massive hammer flew through the air striking the snow covered ground. An explosion of soil and snow flew in all directions. Danny lay on the ground near the new crater in one of the palace''s courtyards. He was in his earth aspect and was covered in a stone armor that included his new robe. In his hands was a dull stone great sword that currently shook as Danny tried his best not to pee himself.


    *Can you actually urinate in the aspects? Oh! Flaming pee! Hurry, switch to flame aspect! That will teach that overgrown gorilla...*


    Danny scrambled to get up, his movements slower with the new "armor" he could wear, "Was it really necessary to hit that hard, Wizard. We are just supposed to be training?"


    Wizard Basalt was picking something from his teeth while leaning on his hammer, "Danny, you said you wanted to get stronger. I am definitely not jealous that you can turn your whole body into stone... No, that is definitely not it. Now get ready!"


    Danny raised his great sword in time to block a blow from the hammer. His first lesson had been how to redirect a blow instead of trying to take it head on.


    His first lesson had also lasted all of five seconds, which ended with Danny laying in a Danny shaped depression in the ground. His stone armor cracking and falling around him. He remembered the wizard laughing at his injuries and sarcastically explaining how healing magic works.


    Blow after blow rained down on Danny, spinning to one side he tried to change the pace and get behind the older man. Wizard Basalt, chuckled and used the shaft of his hammer like a pool cue and shot it behind himself and into Danny''s stomach. While the blow wasn''t that powerful, it was enough to disrupt Danny''s attack.


    Danny came to a stop and let his frustration out, "How are you so...."


    "Agile? It''s called agility, Danny. I didn''t just train strength," The wizard paused to think, "I just mostly trained strength. Also, there is no substitute for experience."


    With that the Wizard went back to wailing on Danny.


    While dodging and parrying, Danny thought about how over the past week or so, he had advanced quickly on a number of skills. Still he could tell Wizard Basalt was holding back.


    His intelligence benefit from the sanctuary was increased when ''Elven (spoken)'' and ''Elven (written)'' had advanced to journeyman rank (level six), ''earth affinity'' rose to level seven, ''nature affinity'' made it all the way level nine.


    His new exercise regime, with the increasing level of stone added, had netted him increases in strength as ''hauling'' increased to journeyman rank. After training with Wizard Basalt, his stone armor gave him three new levels in ''heavy armor''. The wizard had also given him pointers that allowed him to get to level three in ''war hammer'' and the first level in his current weapon ''great sword''. What really drove this fast increase was Danny''s ability to train multiple times a night. The elven guards took turns sparing with him, giving him pointers and tips of their own.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    A good fear of the Wizard Basalt''s hammer had upped his agility as well. Run and dodge rose to journeyman rank, while jump rose to level five.


    His strength bonus had gone from barely anything to a quarter of the way to the first attribute threshold. He now had twenty five percent more strength than he would have from just training his muscles. His agility now boosted his body by almost fifty percent. His intelligence was a quarter away from the second threshold. That thought alone excited Danny and made him impatient to find out what would happen.


    His thoughts were unfortunately interrupted.


    "Danny! It''s time to get ready, are you serious going to be late again? Brooke, Jade, and I have already gone over our roles for tomorrow. Hurry up," Ivy leaned out of a nearby window.


    Wizard Basalt stood up straight, "Better get going boy, don''t want to start any wars by angering an entire royal family."


    Danny grudgingly nodded and quickly ran to go get ready.


    On the north side of the city a new palace was being grown. The tree was already as tall as a two story building, but it would take many more months to get it as high as the elves planned it to be.


    While the druids didn''t have to be present during the entire growing process, the queen had apparently commandeered them in their off time to help with preparations for the wedding. Druids were busy growing small flowering trees and bushes all around an area set aside for the event. Danny was shocked by the size of the area being prepared and realized they must be planning for every elf to be able to attend.


    The queen was personally directing servants and druids creating what looked like a massive summer garden in the middle of the snow covered field.


    Danny walked over to the queen, and noticed she was also handling her other duties at the same time. Her husband, Commander Barrow, and some military looking advisors were speaking with the queen and they were inspecting at a tattered piece of black cloth. Since the queen was facing away from him, Danny could make out the design on the material as she held it up in study.


    The black cloth held a strange looking symbol. To Danny it reminded him of one of those circular mazes. Except the symbol looked like someone didn''t finish the maze.


    *Cranny, why does that look familiar? I can''t place where I have seen it though.*


    *I got nothing for you. Was it something before I was created? I will look through your memories.*


    Princes Willow called out from behind him, "Danny, you made it on time for once!"


    The queen quickly lowered the material and the advisors left with the black cloth, while her husband stayed behind.


    Danny smiled towards the princes, "Good morning, Willow."


    The deceptively young looking princess ran up jumping and hugged Danny around his neck. With her momentum, they spun in place.


    Prince Consort Barrow stared daggers at Danny behind his daughters back.


    Sensing Danny tense up, Willow pulled back and frowned, "Danny, don''t worry. This will be great. We will have so much fun together! You are not having second thoughts are you?"


    Danny was surprised how fragile the older girl suddenly looked and quickly reassured her, "No, never. You just surprised me is all."


    Smiling she moved forward to crush her lips against his. Danny quickly melted into the sensation of the girls soft lips.


    Cranny was cheering and there was a strange sound like an applause track playing in Danny''s head. Then klaxons started blaring and Cranny screamed, *All hands, battle stations!*


    Danny, lost in the feeling of Willow''s lips, started to chuckle at Cranny¡¯s apparent joke when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.


    If Barrow was staring daggers before he was now melting Danny with eye lasers. Danny couldn''t miss the hand reaching behind the man''s large back and the handle of a weapon coming up with it.


    Before Danny could really react, the queen shoved an elbow into her husband¡¯s side and his face quickly went back to a polite smile. This was actually scarier to Danny, for some reason.


    Unaware of what had just occurred, Princess Willow stepped back happily, "I wish your parents could be here for this. I would like to meet the people who raised my new husband."


    Danny frowned sadly, "Yeah, me too. I know my dad would just be making jokes the whole time while my mom was trying to keep him..."


    That''s when he realized where he had seen that symbol before. To be precise that symbol wasn''t complete. It was obviously a message. One that only a few people would recognize.


    Cranny picking up on Danny¡¯s thoughts asked, *Why would they advertise that though?*


    Willow looked concerned, "It''s alright Danny, we will go visit them as soon as this whole goblin situation is wrapped up, right mom?"


    The queen smile, "Of course, we will help you go wherever you need to Danny. Just let us know."


    Danny looked over at the queen and consort, "Where did you get that black cloth you were looking at before?"


    The queens smile fell and she paused before she replied, "That was nothing, Danny. Now, we need to go over what is going to happen tomorrow. There are a few intricacies to an elven wedding I am sure you havn..."


    Danny walked closer to the queen, "No, tell me about the cloth."


    Commander Barrow stepped in between the queen and Danny, "Danny, the cloth, and other like it, were being held as standards for this new goblin army."


    The queen turned to her husband, ¡°Barrow, not now!¡±


    Danny ignored the queen, "I thought the snows were stopping any actions by either side?"


    The queen put a hand on her husband¡¯s arm, squeezing, but Barrow shook it off, "No, the attacks have not let up. There have been heavy casualties on both sides. Crossbark is gone, Danny. The humans are still holding it as a military staging point, but they were unable to save the town. A good number of the remaining citizens escaped."


    Danny looked contemplative, ¡°Have they attacked your people like they have been Diadem?¡±


    Burrow shook his head, ¡°No, they seem to only be focusing on Diadem, and we don''t know why. Diadem has blamed us for stirring them up.¡±


    Danny shook his head and looked back towards the south, ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. They would have attacked Diadem regardless. Your involvement might have stopped them from having enough time build up an army to overwhelm us.¡±


    Barrow openly scrutinized Danny now.


    The queen moved closer to Danny, ¡°What do you know about this, Danny?¡±


    Danny didn''t turn around, ¡°Like you, I am older than I look. I was born with the memories from my previous life still intact. I suspect me being here was an accident. Diadem has told me not to tell anyone about anything I know, but I suspect it is too late¡­ I need to go to these ancient ruins and find the one responsible for this.¡±


    The queen shared a look with her husband, ¡°Danny, please understand. We can''t afford let you go there until the threat is over. You are too important to endanger. We can promise to bring anyone you wish to question.¡±


    Wind surrounded Danny¡¯s body as he activated his air aspect, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, there are things that should stay in the dark¡­ Phantom!¡±


    Danny flew through the air towards the southeast. Landing on the outskirts of the capital, he waited until Phantom arrived at his side.


    Patting the cat¡¯s neck, Danny looks back towards the palace, ¡°The girls won¡¯t be able to keep up with us and it looks like the elves will just try and stop me. That means it just you and me, Phantom.¡±


    *We are running on half empty, Danny. I think we should approach this like a scouting mission. Get in and, if it gets too crazy, get out. The beast wolves were what tipped off the goblins when the elves went there. We avoided the goblin¡¯s wolves before, but this will be inside their territory.*


    Danny frowned, *We can travel on Phantom to conserve mana.*


    *Danny, t0hey are almost here!*


    *That was what I was counting on.*


    Jumping on the cat¡¯s back, they raced off into the forest.

 Chapter 19

    On the ramparts of an ancient and crumbling fortress, a hobgoblin in a black duster stands alone before an army of goblins. Interspersed among the goblins are hobgoblins in their long black robes. The hobgoblin in the black duster screams into the morning air, blasts of freezing water vapor punctuate his every word. When his speech finally comes to an end the goblin army howls in response, raising their crude weapons into the air. The sounds of the bloodthirsty horde echo against the mountainside.


    Danny and Phantom huddle in the alcove of a tree where they have waited the past day. The trip there had been two and a half days straight of Phantom running tirelessly. The closer they got, the more goblin patrols they had to avoid. Phantom had no trouble reaching the ruins of the fortress. Traveling along the tops of the trees, they easily avoided detection by the wolves that were being ridden by the goblin patrols.


    Only a few trees had managed to grow this close to the fortress and the rest had been cut down. Danny had used some of his nature affinity to get them across a few of the larger gaps between the trees.


    While Danny was observing the goblin encampment, he was actually waiting on his pursuers to catch up. Not needing to stop and rest probably gave Phantom the biggest edge in speed.


    The fortress was circular in shape with four large towers situated half way between each point of the compass. Three of these four towers had collapsed and only the southwest tower remained mostly standing. One of the collapsed towers had a large plume of smoke rising from it.


    There was a center keep, but many of the walls had fallen and you could see what remained of the rooms inside. The outer walls of the fortress were intact save a few points where someone, probably the goblins, had filled it in with loose stone.


    A few hours later, after the goblin army had left, Cranny announced, *Danny, it¡¯s show time.*


    The fortress still had a sizable force that had remained behind, and the only thing that stopped Danny from letting loose was the fact that there were probably prisoners inside. There was also that hobgoblin in the duster he needed to have a chat with, otherwise Danny might have already attacked on his own and cut loose without restraint.


    Danny rode Phantom down the canopy of the trees and began to make their way around the back side of the fortress from where they had been waiting. This terrain was rocky and steep, not affording them many places to hide.


    He could sense the approaching force and, as they all entered the range of his senses, was shocked by their sheer numbers.


    *Yep, looks like they can¡¯t live without you, Danny*


    There was no alarm, no goblin scouts rushing back to warm the fortress.


    The noonday sky grew dark as hundreds of arrows almost completely blocked out the sun.


    Danny urged Phantom towards a crumbled section in rear of the fortress he had spotted. This wasn''t a hole in the wall, as much as a steep incline they could use to scale the walls.


    The mass of arrows fell into the fortress and along its walls. Danny timed his entrance immediately after the first volley. When the sky only brightened for a few moments, he knew he didn''t have much time. Ducking into a walkway running under the ramparts, Danny found a safe place from the next flight of arrows. Just as they came to a stop, arrows fell like a sudden spring shower. Already, many arrows and dead goblins littered the ground and Phantom found the footing challenging.


    Unfortunately this location was also being used by a half dozen goblin soldiers. The two groups stared at each other awkwardly for a few moments.


    As Phantom tore into the nearest two, Danny leaped off and activated earth affinity, covering himself with stone armor. Phantom''s quick reaction distracted them long enough for Danny to pierce the remaining four with spikes of earth.


    Where the earth used to move slowly it now sprung out of the ground at Danny''s command. With the goblins now dead, Danny realized the walkway under the ramparts used to be a hallway. The part of the collapsed wall they used to enter with had also collapsed this hallway on one end and removed the inner wall.


    Danny quickly moved towards the uncollapsed portion of the hallway. His earth aspect gave him a detailed view of the fortress layout. The fortress had been built to survive a siege and those who had built it, dig deep. Sensing a large room far below, Danny headed for that, but not before closing off the way he came in.


    This was the plan he devised. Physically cut up the fortress into bite sized pieces while the elves caused a distraction.


    Most of the goblins that had survived the rain of arrows were huddled in the exits to the courtyard. The hallway Danny entered, wrapped around the entire fortress and only way down into the bowls of the structure was through a large doorway on the north side.


    Any entrances were quickly sealed as Danny passed them by them. He simply pushed any goblins lingering in these doorways, out into the courtyard. He and Phantom made quick work of any goblins they encountered that couldn''t be herded or corralled. Danny couldn''t help but find it odd they didn''t come across any hobgoblins.


    *Why so down, Danny?*


    Danny grumbled internally, *I spent all that time learning those two handed weapons and I can¡¯t use them.*


    *Then make a one handed weapon.*


    Danny sighed, *Nah, I just don¡¯t feel like it.*This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Cranny mumbled, *Apparently, I didn¡¯t have to look very far to find a princess¡­*


    Danny stopped, *What was that?*


    *Oh, look at that! Were here.*


    Stopping at a particular spot in the hallway, Danny sealed off the way they were headed as well. Making sure it looked like a collapse from the other side. Focusing on the ground, Danny created a stairway headed downwards.


    The storage room they entered was empty of goblins but filled with raw unprocessed ores. Danny knew where they were getting the materials to make those crude weapons from.


    He still had another two levels to go down to, but the floors had not been built on top of each other. They spread out towards the center of the mountain. Each floor held a single main hallway with multiple branching hallways. Different sized rooms littered each branching hallway.


    Danny peeked outside the ore storage room and down towards the main hallway. Goblins were quickly filing by, armed to the teeth. The stream of little green bodies seemed to never end. It looks like they will be keeping the elves busy for a while.


    When he and Phantom first stepped out into the hallway, a goblin happened to spot them, but the crush of bodies behind it quickly pushed it along. Danny waved and sealed off that portion of the hallway he was in. Why take unnecessary risks if you didn''t have to.


    With Danny''s knowledge of the fortress'' layout he easily made his way in the direction he needed to go, by passing through the rooms and avoiding the main hallway. This first basement floor seemed to be mostly storage rooms. When he got near the end of the floor, he encountered a surprise.


    He knew he was about to enter a large room, but it was in his path taking a straight shot down to the end of this floor. As Danny opened the wall into the new room, he was met by two goblin soldiers guarding a mangy looking dwarf who was shacked to the nearby wall.


    A couple of other, smaller goblins, were apparently assisting the dwarf as he worked at a forge. One was carrying a crude sword over to a massive pile of weapons while the other was sharpening the swords as best he could. The smoke Danny had seen coming from one of the crumbled towers up top, had been from a vent to the smelter taking up a corner in this room.


    The room was like an oven and Danny wondered how the dwarf and assistant goblins hadn''t turned into jerky by now.


    Danny had immediately closed off the doorway to the room and Phantom had quickly dispatched both the guards. The two assistants ran and cowered in a corner. As Danny walked over to the dwarf, Phantom ran towards the occupied corner.


    Danny touched the shackles on the dwarf''s feet and they fell off, "Good day, sir. How are you? My name is Danny."


    The dwarf hadn''t moved a muscled when Danny and Phantom walked in, and seemed scared to death of the cat just killed his former assistants.


    Turning around, the dwarf looked closer and began to eye Danny cautiously before speaking in elvish, "Why are you speaking in human, Mr. Elf? I only know dwarven and elven. The names Dain. Thank you for releasing... is that armor made of stone?"


    Danny had forgotten he was still in his earth aspect and released it. Pieces of stone fell to the ground around him.


    Danny switched to elvish, "I am actually human but I know elvish as well. How did you wind up here?"


    Dain tenderly inspected his ankles, "I was with a dwarven delegation to the elves, hoping to see if they would let us do a bit of prospecting in their lands. We was hoping to form a sort of business partnership with anything we find. Figure with the elves buying all their ores and metals from us, they wouldn''t mind us providing the goods a bit closer to home.


    Blasted goblins took us by surprise and knocked me over the head before I knew what was what."


    Reaching out with nature aspect, Danny scanned the man for injuries. Using nature aspect he did his best to heal the cuts on the man¡¯s ankles, from the shackles. There were a few other signs of poor treatment he had received from the goblins.


    Being the first dwarf he had seen, Danny scanned the man''s body with his mana sight. He was surprised to find that, while the dwarf''s mana was unlocked, it all seemed to flow along his mana veins only to be ejected from his body once it got near his skin.


    Not really the time to go much further into this, Danny asked, "Do you know if there is anyone else being kept here, and where is the hobgoblin with the black duster?"


    The dwarf frowned and shrugged his shoulders, "When they caught me, they brought me here and I work, sleep, eat, and shit here. I am a miner, not a blacksmith. I know a little about metalworking but just repairin things. Which is good in a ways, as all I can make are some shoddy swords and armor for them."


    Danny pondered on what to do with the dwarf and decided it best to just bring him along.


    Dain quickly agreed, "Better safe with you then trying not to get captured again by those little bastards!"


    "You know how to fight?"


    Dain shook his head, "My clan have been miners for generations. We are not trained to fight."


    Danny had Dain follow behind Phantom and him, and call out if someone was flanking them. Dain made sure to grab one of his newly finished "swords". Danny reactivated his earth affinity, and reopened the door. A gathering of goblins on the other side started to move into the room when they were engulfed in a forest of earthen spikes.


    Dain whispered to himself, "Gonna give me nightmares for weeks, the earth killin like that isn¡¯t natural."


    Not wanting to really inspect his handiwork too closely, Danny pushed the impaled goblins to either side and sealed the hallway. In the last room across from Dain''s they were able to descend through the floor again.


    The second basement floor was obviously meant for use as a barracks, as dozens pallets littered the floor.


    Frowning, Danny created a stairway down and cautiously looked for traps or an ambush.


    The hallway was empty and when he checked the surrounding rooms they were too all empty. Danny frowned, as this was going far too smoothly. The goblins on the floor above, apparently didn¡¯t realize he was making his own way through their home.


    Moving through the second floor was uneventful. Danny made sure to close off all the hallways he went through, just in case.


    After opening a whole to the third and final floor, Danny was greeted by, what he slowly realized was, a mass of naked female goblins.


    Danny was about to kill them when he noticed the door to the room was sealed with iron bar door, like a prison. The female goblins all looked up at him in fear. The poses some of them took when cowering triggered a connection in Danny''s brain.


    Danny looked over at Dain, "They are all being kept locked in here."


    Dain made a disgusted face, "Why in the elements would they do that?"


    Danny squatted down and thought for a second, "The soldiers up top were all males. I think all the hobgoblins have been male too..."


    Dain shook his head, "That doesn''t make any sense, the female goblins are the warriors, not the males."


    Danny shrugged and decided to change the location of his hole, then he made an enclosed staircase that led right down to the branch hallway of the third basement floor.


    Once again, they were greeted by empty hallways. Apparently everyone, who wasn''t sleeping, was sent up to fight the invading elves.


    Danny took the time to check all the cells, only to confirm each was filled to capacity with what he was now suspecting were pregnant female goblins. He was shocked that they had not left any guards behind at all.


    Danny heard a loud explosion come from somewhere above and dust fell from the ceiling, "The elves are inside the fortress. We don''t have too much time."


    Dain looked up confused, "Elves? Wait, Time for what?"


    "I need you to wait out here and don''t come in unless you have too."


    Danny walked quickly as he skipped the last few branching hallways and opened the large double doorways at the end, Phantom padded along silently behind him.

 Chapter 20

    Past the double doors the hallway opened up into a large chamber. This room followed the same utilitarian design as the rest of the fortress, except instead of torches, stone sconces held the light crystals that illuminated the hall.


    On a raised area on the far side of the hall was a long stone table on which three bodies had been laid out carefully. Thirteen stone chairs, that matched the table, now were positioned in a semicircle on the lower floor facing the entryway. In each was a hobgoblin that seemed surprised by his sudden entrance.


    As Phantom came to a stop next to him, Danny looked around for any other threats, only to find female goblins chained to the walls nearest the entryway. These chains were attached from their hands to the walls above their heads. Not wanting to drop out of his earth aspect, he could only guess these females were either being tortured or brought here to be impregnated. There was not a single goblin soldiers to be seen.


    A smiling hobgoblin in the center most chair spoke up in strangely fluent elvish while raising his hands gesturing, "Welcome honored guest, to the future of the goblin race. Please, call me Bozhidar."


    The hobgoblin who had spoken stood up, his black duster moving fluidly around him. There was nothing overly impressive about this particular hobgoblin, compared to the others in the room.


    Danny took a chance and released his earth aspect to inspect them with his mana sight.


    Every hobgoblin in the room had a mana lines and stored mana in their bodies just like the human wizards who had been unlocked with one of the ancient keys. Their mana lines bulged irregularly and their mana storage was inconsistent.


    Danny remembered back to his unlocking ceremony and an offhand comment by one of the wizards officiating the event. Someone had lost a key and they didn''t know where it had gone. Danny had a good idea where it went and now who had stolen it.


    Bozhidar''s smile fell from his lips as Danny released his aspect, "You really are him, are you not? The one who stole my father''s birthright. The one who was born with all the gifts my father carefully crafted. The one my father curses his every waking hour¡­ Creek."


    Danny frowned, not because what was just revealed to him, but that this wasn''t the one responsible for his fate, "Where is your father? He and I have much to discuss."


    Bozhidar looked behind him, "Father was frustrated with our short lifespans and poor position in this world and made plans for his future. His future and those of my two older brothers."


    Turning back to Danny, the hobgoblin sighed, "Before my father left, he handed over his kingdom to me and set for me two tasks. Grow strong and kill the thief who stole what was his.


    I have to thank you, Creek. I had lost hope when I heard the elves had finally decided to come out of their forest to wipe us out. Father was right when he said they were cowards, only striking in the shadows, rarely risking their precious long lives. Now, before I die at their hands, I can at least grant my father¡¯s wish."


    With his mana sight Danny could see all thirteen preparing spells. Bozhidar led six of his hobgoblins in casting some sort of complicated ritualistic spell, while the other six started rapidly fired fireballs and small bolts of entropy aspect at Danny and Phantom.


    Danny and Phantom stood perfectly still, as the spells were turned aside from them with air and harmony affinity magic. Danny found he could easily keep up with them and his maxed mana manipulation allowed him to use only the amount needed to divert the spells.


    Behind him, Danny ignored the screams of pain and terror a few female goblins made, as they were hit by these rogue spells.


    Bozhidar''s ritual spell completed and the six goblins assisting fell to the ground, dead. The spell shot forward and struck Danny and Phantom''s position, surrounding them in a swirling mass of black energy.


    Panting, Bozhidar could only look on in confusion as the black mass of entropy magic began to swirl in a tight ball. The blackness of the spell started to take on other darker colors. Then those colors became lighter until the whole spell looked like a giant soap bubble. Multiple colors undulating and moving across the surface of a sphere.


    The whole spell suddenly fell inward to reveal Phantom and an apparition, Danny in his mana aspect.


    Danny hadn''t wasted his day waiting in the tree by the fortress. He had Phantom use her harmony aura while Danny had tested his mana aspect to block her magic. That was when he discovered he couldn''t just block her magic in this form.


    Danny absorbed all the mana from the ritual spell into his body then reached out to the seven remaining hobgoblins, who were in the process of pulling elven swords from their robes. Danny easily sealed their connections to the source of mana and all seven fell to the floor unconscious


    Danny wasted no time in releasing his mana aspect and walked past the prone bodies of the hobgoblins, "Phantom, please take care of them."


    Pausing for a second, Danny looked back and raised Bozhidar''s body on a pedestal of stone, "Except that one."


    Phantom didn''t respond and only licked her lips.


    Walking up to the table, Danny found the gruesome and decaying remains of three women. Something had been done to preserve them, some sort of mummification or drying. Ignoring the odor, Danny inspected the bodies closely.


    The center body looked human except was short of stature. Danny wanted to bring Dain in here to confirm she was one of the dwarfs he was traveling with, but needed to make sure no one else saw these bodies.


    The body to the right was taller than a human and broader as well. While the skin was pale in death, he could tell the green tint was not due to any bacteria or fungus. His guess was this one was an orc.


    The body on the far left was a little short for a human. The fur that covered large parts of the body and the dog like ears gave away the fact that this wasn''t a human either.


    Thought, each body had one thing in common. On their lower abdomen was the same large rune consisting of three interlayered circles. The same rune he had seen as a baby, carved into his mother¡¯s flesh. Except now, Danny could see the completed rune as it was not marred by a jagged "X", marking out the rune.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Danny stood there for a few moments, just staring at the runes.


    *Danny, they are making their way through the fortress, albeit cautiously.*


    Danny stood back away from the table and took on an aspect he had yet to really try. The temperature of the air around his body rose and his flesh turned a bright red or a deep black.


    Squatting down, Danny touched the floor. A bright red glow slowly spread until it completely covered the floor under the table. Then the table started to sink into the ground. Before the top of the table had reached the floor, the bodies on top easily caught fire. The dried and decaying flesh easily combusting. Danny just watched until their body parts were consumed by fire or melted into formless mass that seemed to dissolve into the lava.


    Once it was done, Danny looked down to realize the table had been melted down and around his feet. Lifting them he shook them out while walking back towards where only Bozhidar now waited. Danny noted the heat had driven Phantom back to the entrance to the room, where she watch Danny silently. Under his control, the lava easily left his feet and Danny released the aspect after walking a few more steps.


    Ignoring the suffocating heat, Danny placed his hands on either side of the still unconscious hobgoblin. Activating nature aspect, Danny''s features turned into those of an elves.


    Focusing, Danny did what he told himself he wouldn¡¯t, and entered Bozhidar''s mind with nature affinity.


    There was a token resistance at first, but Danny''s mind was an unstoppable force by this point. His high intelligence quickly analyzed any resistance and effectively countered it without effort.


    Memories of the hobgoblin''s past flooded Danny''s mind. Bozhidar grew up in a brutal world where only the strong were kept and the weak thrown away. Growing up under the shadow of his two older brothers had made him strive to prove himself to his seemingly deranged father. Bozhidar only saw his father as one with the greatest strength.


    By the time Bozhidar was born, all the female goblins had already been turned over to the baby goblin making machine. Every goblin male had been tested with the key that had been stolen from the humans. Of course the goblin soldiers were not aware of what was to be their fate, once they reached a battle.


    Danny had been wrong. The entropy magic didn''t create the undead. It corrupted the living. Those completely infected with this magic were driven mad and attacked others, only to spread this magic on to them. It was like this magic was created for use against the highly populated and enclosed human towns and cities. Entropy magic also would allow a goblin to keep fighting even when gravely wounded by deadening pain receptors and causing atrophy to any cut blood vessels.


    Moving back to Bozhidars father, Danny learned that he was called Hadrian and insisted he was the true ruler of Diadem. In one drunken evening, Bozhidar heard his father muttering about his birthright and his younger sister stealing the throne from him. Danny also learned that Bozhidar had received a second target, or targets. The current ruler of Diadem and the entire Diadem family.


    Connecting the dots, Danny knew if this was true, then it explained why the Diadem family would want to keep this such a national secret. Plus the whole mind or soul, whatever it was, transfer magic. It could not be allowed into the wrong hands.


    Danny dug through the rest of Bozhidars mind but didn''t find anything else helpful besides learning the few offensive entropy spells Hadrian Diadem had taught the goblins, including the ritual spell that would consume everything in a radius depending on the ¡°souls¡± it consumed.


    Danny was frustrated to find Hadrian had made sure the transfer ritual of his and his son¡¯s into their new bodies had been private. Bozhidar had followed his father¡¯s orders and waited outside the large chamber till an attendant opened the door to report it was finished. Then at his father¡¯s instructions, Bozhidar killed those left in the great hall. Three infants were born shortly after and taken away in the care of a female goblin nursemaid and a pair of trusted hobgoblins. They would make sure the infants made it to their respective species. Even Bozhidar didn''t know which child was his fathers, but Danny noted the dwarven infant had been suspiciously given the ancient key to take with it.


    Nothing had been written down or saved that hadn''t been carved into flesh. Hardrian had made sure that there was little to follow him with. Well except the order he had given Bozhidar to dispose of the women¡¯s bodies. The young hobgoblin had chosen instead to preserve and revere the body¡¯s, planning to hold off on their disposal to a later time.


    Looking up from Bozhidar¡¯s face, Danny saw Phantom was no longer alone. Dain and a group of elves, including Commander Barrow, now warily waited on Danny. Without looking back down, Danny aged the cells in Bozhidar¡¯s brain, the hobgoblin dying peacefully in his sleep of old age. Since he was in nature aspect, this had been the quickest option.


    Noticing the air wasn''t as hot anymore, Danny figured he had been inside Bozhidar¡¯s mind for some time. Wiping of his hands on his robes, Danny silently walked over to the waiting crowd.


    Commander Barrow was the first to speak, ¡°What did you find?¡±


    Danny shook his head, ¡°About a week ago, three sets of two hobgoblins, a female goblin, and an infant left here and traveled in different directions. There was a dwarven, orc, and a dog or wolf beastman infant. We need to get these infants back or we will have another issue similar to the goblins here.¡±


    Barrow looked confused, ¡°What did they do to these infants?¡±


    ¡°The one responsible and two of his sons transferred their minds into the infant¡¯s bodies. I am sure they have some end goal that includes the annihilation of the Diadem family. Past that, the ones here didn¡¯t know.¡±


    Barrow turned and started issuing orders and a few elven soldiers quickly moved out


    Turning back to Danny, Barrow said, ¡°Let¡¯s head back, you can''t keep my daughter waiting forever.¡±


    Confused Danny looked at the man, ¡°I got the impression you didn''t want me marrying your daughter?¡±


    Barrow frowned, ¡°I didn''t. Then you were honest with us about who you were. Well, still a bit cryptic but closer to the truth than we had before. Then you went and took on goblin infested fortress and forced my people into clearing it out for you. I wasn¡¯t expecting that one. I half expected to deliver your remains to my daughter.¡±


    Barrow continued, ¡°Plus, what made you think my opinion really mattered when my wife and daughter are both dead set on the marriage happening? A good commander picks his battles, and that was one I had already lost.¡±


    With that they all started heading back to the surface. The Elves quickly surrounded Danny protectively.


    Dain and Phantom walked over to him, and the dwarf looked him over, ¡°Weren''t you just human?¡±


    Danny looked down at his elven aspect and shrugged, too mentally exhausted to care changing, ¡°I¡¯m not really one to be picky about my race.¡±


    The dwarf had no response to this as they walked up to the second floor.


    Danny asked Barrow, who was now walking in front of them, ¡°What about all the goblin females?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about them, we will take care of them.¡±


    Danny found he didn''t care to ask for further clarification.


    They made it to the surface and they whole place was devoid of signs that there had been a battle. There were no bodies, arrows, or scorch marks to be found.


    *Wow, the walls and floors are now filled with the bodies of the dead. This whole place is a tomb. Danny, let¡¯s not piss these guys off any further.*


    *Yeah, you have a good point there.*


    Danny climbed on Phantom¡¯s back, ¡°How much trouble am I in with my fianc¨¦?¡±


    Barrow turned to him with a rare smile, ¡°I would come back with some sort of gift, and I don¡¯t think seeds will work this time.¡±


    Danny asked, ¡°So does this mean I get to call you ¡®dad¡¯ now?¡±


    The smile fell from Barrow¡¯s face and he turned to start moving his troops out.


    *Crap, Cranny! What do I get her as a present? We were never good with the gifts for the ladies.*


    *Yeah, and there isn¡¯t a local drugstore with a decent gift card and candy selection nearby... Oh, how about a pet goblin!*


    *No.*


    *Flowers?*


    *We did that already.*


    *Gift Card?*


    *You¡¯re not even trying. This is your precious princess remember, Cranny?*


    *¡­.Lingerie!*

 Chapter 21

    A rabbit¡¯s head popped out of its burrow, as it inspect surroundings. The fur of the white bunny hid it well in the thick layer snow covering the ground.


    Taking a few cautious hops out into the open, the rabbit stopped once more to ascertain that the Close was clear. One of its ears swiveled to one side and the rabbit¡¯s nose twitched nervously.


    The small mammal suddenly leapt a foot in the air, seeming to turn mid jump, and dived back into its barrow.


    Hundreds of blurs rushed past through the trees and along the ground. It was hard to make out what they were as no sound was made, no trees or snow disturbed.


    A few moments later a large cat carrying a small bearded man, moved silently through the forest. Well, it would have been quiet if the dwarf on the cat¡¯s back wasn¡¯t groaning and complaining incessantly.


    ¡°Dain, how have you still not gotten used to riding Phantom, even after three days?¡±


    Still in his elven form, Danny landed a few feet in front of the cat and moved to follow along side.


    ¡°There¡¯s no blasted saddle! I swear to, Ahhh!¡±


    Danny rushed over and caught the short man before he slipped off.


    The dwarf seemed to find insult in Danny¡¯s assistance grumbling, ¡°Are you sure this is faster?¡±


    Danny smiled patiently, ¡°Yes, much much faster than the first four hours when you refused my offer to ride Phantom.¡±


    The dwarf huffed and looked insulted again, but kept quiet.


    An elven soldier appeared and somehow bowed while keeping pace, ¡°Ascendant, we are almost there.¡±


    Danny replied, ¡°Yes, I know.¡±


    The soldier pointed above and to one side, ¡°The commander would like to speak with you, privately, before we get there.¡±


    Gesturing towards the dwarf, Danny ordered, ¡°Don¡¯t let him fall off.¡±


    Danny couldn¡¯t see the eleven warriors face, but Danny thought they was going to argue about their newly assigned duty.


    Danny cocked his head to the side, ¡°Should I keep the commander waiting while you look for someone else to do this simple task?¡±


    The eleven warrior froze, ¡°No, Ascendant. It will be done.¡±


    Danny looked backwards, ¡°Dain, I will see you in a bit. We are almost there, so don¡¯t fall off.¡±


    The dwarf just nodded from where he had his head buried in in Phantom¡¯s fur.


    Leaping into the air, the branches of the nearby trees moved to make up for any of Danny¡¯s physical shortcomings. Danny moved higher in the canopy and quickly moved to where Commander Barrow waited at the edge of the clearing that looked over the elven capital.


    Not turning to greet him, Barrow said, ¡°Danny, let¡¯s talk.¡±


    Danny shrugged and the branch the eleven commander was standing on widened and two chairs were created from woven branches.


    The commander sat down, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Danny took the other chair, ¡°Does this have to do with most of the capital being congregated in front of the new palace?¡±


    Barrow turned to look at him, ¡°You can really sense that far?¡±


    Danny just nodded.


    The commander just shrugged and shook his head incredulously, ¡°I¡¯m sure you have a good guess as to what my wife and daughter have prepared in advance for your arrival. They don¡¯t want a chance for you to get away again.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you stop us?¡±


    Barrow looked away, ¡°I wanted to give you a warning.¡±


    Danny eyed the man suspiciously.


    ¡°Don¡¯t use my people like that again. Yes, we would have tried to stop you before. Now that we know we can¡¯t, just let us know your plans so we can work together.¡±


    Danny shrugged, ¡°Sure thing... dad.¡±


    Barrows frowned, ¡°I was also hoping my warning about what was going on down there would scare you off.¡±


    The older elf paused the added, ¡°I lost almost dozen elves in those elements damned goblin infested fortress. Thing should be a smooth spot on the rocky hillside by now. We were lucky they had sent most of their shamans with that force that you said left earlier. Danny, planning ahead could have saved their lives. I wouldn¡¯t have risked them like I did if I knew you were safe.¡±


    Danny didn¡¯t look at the man. ¡°Thank you for sending a detachment to help stop that goblin force. When I saw that flag I knew who was responsible and I will make sure to repay your people for those elves¡¯ lives. They will not have died in vain, though it looks like I was too late to stop the one responsible for this. I will hunt him down and finish this once and for all. I promise you that.¡±


    Commander Barrow sighed, ¡°With our help of course.¡±


    Danny nodded, ¡°Of course.¡±


    Barrows stood and started walking away, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this over with.¡±


    Danny nodded and silently followed.


    The entire elven capital had gathered in the clearing before the newly growing palace. There were no chairs as elves sat under and in the trees that had been recently grown to fill the spring like garden. Flowers of every color grew throughout the space and the snow had been somehow removed to allow every to stay dry.


    Elder Breeze stood, in formal looking robes, near the side closest the new palace with Princess Willow standing beside him. Princess Willow wore a long flowing gown made from the multicolored leaves of the sacred trees. Her dark hair was twisted in a complicated braid that made it look more like the vines of a tree. Flowers from the sacred tree were woven into her hair.


    Near the front, the Basalts and Danny¡¯s Trio sat to one side. Wizard Basalt had lifted some stone for them to lean against. They all wore formal attire that had been gifted for them to wear for the event.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    On the opposite side, the queen sat on a raised bed of vines that supported her. The queen¡¯s gown was more subdued than the princess¡¯. Prince Hawks sat to her right on the soft grass, in his usual formal looking uniform.


    As the newly arrived elven warriors filtered into the crowd, Prince Consort Barrow walked over from the side and sat down to the queens left. After a few moments the crowed quieted down and silence descended.


    Phantom walked through the clearing to the delight and awe of the elves gathered there. The cat stopped near the front and deposited a dwarf next to the Basalts.


    ¡°Ahhhh, where did you take me you mangy caaa....¡±


    Brushing himself off, Dain looked around at the gathered crowd, who were all staring at him. The dwarf ducked his head low as he could and remained silent.


    The queen leaned over to her husband, with a look of concern, ¡°Where is he? He is coming...¡±


    There was a slight shaking to the earth and many called out in gasps of surprise. The sacred tree, that was to be the new palace, began to grow slowly then quickly picked up pace. Before everyone¡¯s eyes the tree rose higher and higher.


    Behind the growing sacred tree, Danny was in his sacred tree form. Long vines and roots extended out from him and into the nearby sacred trees that made up the buildings around them. Danny himself had merged with the roots of the new palace. Mana coursed through his body like a raging river.


    Drawing mana from all the trees he directed it towards the new palace. Next to him, Elder Frost held drawings of the planned layout and answered any questions Danny asked. He had managed to spirit her away without anyone noticing by contacting her telepathically. Danny now wondered how many of the druids used this method without him noticing.


    The palace rose to the height planned in the drawings, and then kept growing.


    ¡°Danny, that is it, we do not know if the tree can support any higher.¡±


    Danny smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I can sense what it can handle. Though, I might have to increase the foundation a bit.¡±


    Most of those gathered on the other side of the tree were now on their feet looking up in either alarm or awe. As the sacred tree grew higher, the base began to push outward towards the gathering. Elder Breeze seemed to come to his senses and dragged the princes away. Soon half of those gathered had to move back or be forced so by the ever expanding tree.


    Finally after thirty minutes the tree stopped growing. Twice the size planned by the elders, the sacred tree now stretched high into the sky past where anyone on the ground could see. A large hole opened in the base of the tree and a massive elaborate staircase grew down from the hole. One could look inside and see a large entryway with hallways and staircases leading in different directions.


    Danny, in his natural form, and Elder Frost appeared in the entryway and descended the stairs.


    The gathered crowd pressed forward to try and get a better look inside.


    Turning to the crowd, Elder Breeze called for order and had everyone gather at the bottom of the grand staircase. Elder Frost moved into the crowd while Danny stopped next to Elder Breeze, opposite Willow.


    Willow seemed unable to stop smiling at Danny, and he easily returned the sentiment. Willow started to move towards him but Elder Breeze held up a hand and the princess reluctantly returned to her spot.


    Raising his hands in the air, silence descended on those gathered, and Elder Breeze began, ¡°Here beneath the greatest of our sacred trees, I call upon Gaia to share her blessings in the union of these two souls. Princess Willow of the elven people and Ascendant Danny Creek of Diadem. We all now bear witness to not only the union of these two individuals but the union of our two races.¡±


    Elder Breeze paused and before he began again, something floated past his face. A petal from the flower of a sacred tree landed on the ground in front of him. All those gathered looked up to see the sky filled with descending petals of the sacred tree.


    Everyone could only stare up in wonder at something never seen before. Elven children started running around, laughing, as they tried to catch as many petals as they could. Elder Breeze looked over at Danny, who just smiled and shrugged. Danny looked back at Willow who just looked at him with smoldering eyes.


    Clearing his throat, Elder Breeze gave up trying to control the merriment of the crowd and took out a long flat piece of wood made from a sacred tree. It was only three centimeters in width and the elder had Danny and Willow press their arms together so that their left wrists touched.


    Laying the long piece of wood across them, the Elder Continued, ¡°By the blessing of the goddess I hereby join these two together as one.¡±


    With this the elder cast a spell and the long stretch of wood wrapped itself around their two wrists. An intricate pattern appeared inlaid into the wood and then the wood brightened visibly before dividing in two.


    As the crowd cheered, Danny lifted up his arm to look at the new accessory. The pattern on the band stopped at a flat portion where it had been connected with Willow¡¯s.


    Danny wondered if this was one of the most literally metaphorical ways to shackle two people together in marriage.


    *Danny, incoming!*


    Danny looked up in time to catch Willow as she leaped into his arms and kissed him.


    The crowd roared in approval and music started playing.


    That all seems to be drowned out to him, as Danny kissed his new wife.


    *Cranny, I got married!*


    *And to a princess! One down, many many more to go.*


    Danny could hear Cranny¡¯s evil laugh echoing in his head.


    Willow pulled away from him and led him over to their waiting families. The queen and prince welcomed him to their family, while Barrow just slapped him on the back... hard.


    The Basalts all congratulated the two and then moved on to give them some space for the next well-wishers.


    Danny¡¯s Trio all looked happy for them but a little subdued.


    Ivy piped up, ¡°Congratulations Willow!¡±


    Willow smiled at the three girls, ¡°Don¡¯t look so down, it will be your turn soon.¡±


    Ivy smile was strained, ¡°Not for another couple of years.¡±


    Danny shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t see why we have to wait?¡±


    Ivy shook her head, ¡°We cannot get married until everyone is sixteen and Jade is only fourteen.¡±


    Jade looked visibly crushed and tears quickly filled her eyes.


    Danny was contemplative, ¡°I thought the rules were written to prevent marrying boys off too young. I thought the rule was only that the male had to be sixteen? I¡¯m technically around eighteen now.¡±


    Ivy thought about this for a moment before rushing over to the Basalts.


    Brooke was trying to console Jade the best should could when Ivy returned with a smile on her face, ¡°We can get married when we return to Diadem!¡±


    Jade rubbed her eyes and looked up, ¡°Really?¡±


    Ivy nodded excitedly, ¡°Yes, the age rule does only apply to boys as wives are rarely, if ever, are younger than the husband.¡±


    Willow beamed, ¡°That¡¯s excellent news!¡±


    Everyone exchanged hugs before Danny and Willow were led off toward the waiting line of eleven well-wishers.


    After hearing congratulations from what must have been every living elf, tables and chairs appeared with a feast waiting to be eaten. The rest of the evening was filled with dancing, songs, and merriment. People filed in and out of the new palace, marveling at its size and complexity.


    The queen ended the evening by thanking Danny for helping their people grow the new palace and leading her people in the destruction of the goblin threat. Then wishing him and Willow a happy marriage, she sent the two into the newly grown palace, to the sound of the cheering crowd.


    Servants led them to one of the larger bedrooms near the ground floor. Guards were already posted at set intervals.


    Danny had learned in the elvish archives how the lights and heating bulbs were created. He was able to recreate these as he grew the palace, it was almost as if all he had to do was suggest what he wanted and the tree responded accordingly. Unfortunately he couldn¡¯t recreate the same affect in his own nature form¡­ yet.


    What Danny hadn¡¯t grown was a large four posted bed and other furnishings for this room. The elves must have snuck these in during the wedding.


    The bedroom door closed and he and Willow were alone in the room. The princess looked around, taking it all in, before turning to Danny.


    ¡°Husband... I was wondering how long I was going to wait before getting to say that.¡±


    Danny smiled at the beautiful young elven woman, ¡°My apologies, my wife, I had unfinished business that required my sudden attention. You have my complete attention now¡±


    Willow looked contemplative and turned away from him, ¡°I do don¡¯t I... the question is, how can I keep it that way.¡±


    Before Danny could reply, the princess reached behind her back and the gown she was wearing slid to the floor. She was not wearing anything underneath. A few more tugs and the flowers spilled down onto the floor as her long dark hair cascaded down to pool around her posterior.


    Looking over her shoulder, princess Willow smiled at Danny¡¯s expression, ¡°I¡¯m suddenly very tired, but I really need a shower first. Would you mind giving me a hand?¡±


    Danny eyes were glued to her royal backside and he looked up dumbly, ¡°I... uh sure.¡±


    Willow sauntered into the room¡¯s adjoined bathroom as Danny could only watch.


    *Danny, get in there now and stop acting like this is the first princess you have seen naked!*


    *But this is the first princess I hav...!*


    *Just shut up already and go!*


    Danny jolted out of his stupor and rushed through the bathroom door.

 To Be Continued?

    Greetings readers. I apologies for my absence as I have been busy with that whole life thing. How I wish I could lay in bed all day doing nothing but reading and writing stories.


    Alas, my significant other has requested I show something for my time/efforts spent typing in my phone/laptop and not spent paying attention to her or my varied offspring. As I was only half way listening at the time, I can only assume she is referring to some form of monetary denomination.


    With that, I must confess that I have sold out to the gods of greed, the lords of loot, the barons of bullion, the dukes of dinero, the hobos of... h... hash?Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Transcendental Misappropriation: (Book One of the Pentacle Series) Kindle Edition


    Now available on Amazon</a>


    Arcane Transmogrification: (Book Two of the Pentacle Series)


    Now available on Amazon</a>


    If you like this work please support me by purchasing a copy. Otherwise, I really hope you enjoyed the story up till now. If the book sells well I will finish the second book and put it up for sale as well. I have no plans to put any of the third bookup on this website. I really have appreciated all your comments and support during this adventure.


    All the best,


    Robert Harper