Li drummed his fingers on the desk as he nodded slowly at Alexei. "Where I stand? Why does that matter to you?"

Alexei raised his hands in the air, as if signaling surrender. "I merely ask to divine your impact on this world. It is my firm belief that manipulation of the source will either bring this world to a golden age or tear it asunder. You are a manifestation of that belief – your power can either shatter the realms of men and monsters or unite them. If you are so inclined, I wish to know where you lean towards."

Li narrowed his eyes. "And what if you don't like my answer?"

"I have risked my life countless times and spent centuries studying the source to unite this world to a greater future. The technology and opportunities that it provides can be truly tremendous. It could make it so that there no longer are orphans curled up on the streets, their stomachs empty and their hearts neglected. You can understand if I have reservations if you are bent on destroying this world, but I will not oppose you, for that would also mean my complete and utter destruction, and my life is better served for the greater good."

"Those are awfully noble words for a drug dealer."

"I cannot deny that, but nevertheless, it is the best way for me to gather my power and expand my influence for the time being. I do not miss the forest for the trees. When I plan, my eyes see on the scale of centuries, not years. A little spilled blood now will lead to countless generations of peace in the future."

"I see." Li took a good look at Alexei's face. His red eyes blazed with the fires of conviction. He had the markings of a natural born leader, firm in his beliefs, confident in his words, and sure of his goals. "Well, I'll tell you right now I have no interest in these little squabbles of kingdoms. My farm is my only passion, and all my power lies invested in making it flourish."

"Then you will not interfere with the workings of this world?" Alexei raised a brow. "With such power at your disposal?"

Li shook his head. "Not worth my time. I've seen my fair share of war and pointless conflicts and power struggles between countries. It all turns into a ridiculous cycle of greed that ends up choking the skies and killing the forests. I only realize now how utterly ridiculous they were. No, I will have no part in it."

Alexei shifted uncomfortably.

"Something wrong with my answer?" said Li.

"It is merely that I am worried." Alexei stood up and turned around, facing the back of his study where countless bookcases stared back at him, their innards packed with a medley of differently colored tomes. "The Elves called upon you with the sacrifice at a magnitude that I cannot even fathom. Those attuned with the Source understand when it has been called, and when I felt the shockwave of your summoning, I shuddered in fear, not only at the staggering amount of power you must possess, but because of the immediate question: why were you summoned?

He paced back and forth, shaking his head slowly. "You said they sounded desperate. They summoned you to combat some disaster, some calamity of cosmic proportions that an ocean of blood was burned to draw you here."

"You sure they didn't summon me to try and use me to conquer Soleil?" said Li. "That sounds about petty enough for mortal races."

"I cannot deny that is a possibility considering that the only reason the Republic cannot conquer Soleil is because of its defending Heroes – an Outworld power -, and so it stands to reason that they should attempt to find an equally powerful Outworld power to match, but no.

The cost was far too steep: I doubt that they can ever attempt to channel the Source again at any appreciable scale. Whatever it was they feared, they were willing to give up the foundation of their entire kingdom, the crowning jewel that granted them their steam engines and hulking machines of war, to preserve themselves."

Li sighed. "Look, I'll say this right now if it'll ease answer your questions and worries. I will protect my farm no matter what it takes. If any disaster is big enough that it dares to threaten my livelihood, then I will use all my power to annihilate it. I hope this is obvious, but that goes for you as well."

Alexei nodded without a shred of hesitation. "Of course. And I am sorry to have levied my concerns upon you. As to the matter of my opposition, you shall find absolutely none. I understand that I have committed grievous wrongs against you, sending a messenger with intent to threaten and the twins to harm you, and for that, I shall offer you all the support that I can offer.

Black Vine shall withdraw from all daylight operations. We will fully support you in obtaining the duchess's Contract of the Grasses. We will simply survive off underground distribution provided the duchess does not attempt to halt our operations once she has that little contract of hers.

My investments are diversified and deep. From orphanages to bakeries – my coin builds them up. My title as a count stands firm, granted for excellent service against the demons in the battle for light. Should you want for anything, any political pull or material need, then do not hesitate to contact me."

"You're sacrificing quite a lot here." Li saw that Alexei's face remained stoic and firm, unyielding in his decision to essentially shut down his biggest business enterprise. "You strike me as intelligent. You know that the duchess will crackdown on you. That's the whole point of this contract – to get control. Honestly, it seems like it was either she got the contract with you to nicely ask you to stop the drugs or she gave it to someone else and finally got an excuse to gather up knights and forced you to stop."

"We are both beings of longevity." Alexei smiled faintly. "Some lost coin matters little to me compared to preserving my life so that I may yet rally this world under one united banner. And I hope to make it clear that I owe you my life and all my respect."

"You and I both know that you also want to curry favor with me so that when the day comes, you can ask me for my power."

Alexei bowed his head. "I do not truly comprehend your full form, but from the visions I saw from my swarm, I know to ever fall from your grace is to court a fate worse than death. Of course, I cannot lie and say that if the time comes, I should hope that you will use your power for this world, but that is only my hope: it is not my place to ask of you anything."

---

When Li returned to the cottage, he found himself with a sense of strange uneasiness. When he looked upon the framework of his new stall, humble in its wooden construction and build, and at the farm, still so small with but a few gardens to tend to, he could not help but wonder.

Why did he not use more of his power? Why did he play with these mortals, pretending to go along with their rules? He had discussed with the adventurers about using seeds for offensively oriented elixirs to gain a competitive advantage over pharmacies such as Black Vine when the healing lake was opened to the public, but now that he had used his powers, he had accomplished everything he wished and more.

Li shook his head. He knew why. The more he stepped towards the cottage, the more his thoughts became more lucid. He didn't want to just make a ruckus for no reason. He wanted to grow the farm with his own two hands, not with the power of a game character.

And yet, was that character now not him? Was that not now his nature?

Li stopped in front of the cottage door. The fireplace was still crackling inside. Old Thane was up. Zagan emerged from the darkness and rubbed his head on Li's hand.

'I trust you have taught these bloodsucking curs some respect, master?' said Zagan.

Li remembered the feeling of using his eldritch powers, how the more he used them, the more he felt they belonged to him, and if they belonged to him, why did he not use them as much as he did his hands? They were but natural extensions of him, after all, far more natural than the humanity he strangely clung onto, after all. Even now, he could feel the faint remnants of their call echoing through his head, through his veins, beckoning him to return to whence he belonged.

"I did," said Li. "They will never raise their hand against me again."

Li opened the cottage door and entered. Old Thane was waiting for him, still sitting upright on the table as if he had never left at all. It must have been more than two hours since Li had left, and the old man had kept himself awake all this time.

He pitied the fragile thing. He half considered using [Methuselah], an Ultima-class spell – the highest tier – to encase the aged man in a World Tree to deconstruct and resurrect the him into youthful perfection, perhaps into an existence more than mortal.

Old Thane's ears twitched, and his face immediately brightened into a smile. "Lad! Gods, I was worried something had happened. I went exploring outside and saw that the trusty hound you took in had killed off some thieving scoundrel."

The aged thing rose up and shambled towards Li, his gait weighed down by exhaustion. He wrapped his arms around Li in a quick but tight hug. "It's right wondrous to see you safe and well!" He withdrew from Li and patted his back. "You hungry, young lad? There's another loaf waiting for you at the table."

Li shuddered and shook his head. "Sure, old man, I could grab a bite about right now."

He had forgotten that Old Thane did not wish for his health back. He would hate even more to have his youth back. He had lived a long life already and now merely wanted to face death with a human dignity. Li had forgotten that again, just as he had forgotten when Sylvie had questioned his power to heal the old man.

Li suddenly felt a very human sense of shame as he took a seat by Old Thane. The old man reached out and grabbed a loaf, breaking it and taking a knife to try and spread some blueberry jam on it for Li.

Li reached out and tapped the old man's wrist. "It's fine. I'll do it."

As Li slowly made waves with his knife, applying even layers of dark blue jam, Old Thane said to him, "So lad, I don't mean to pry, but you were gone quite the while. What happened?"