Altura

And now we come to the present situation. Altura. I fear that we just broke this peace.

“I broke through the Grand Tree stage, breaking the delicate balance between the six Jewels. And you fought off this invasion, and made a formidable army at the same time. Do you realize that you have more Plants and Plantlings than the Kingdom?” I did not know that. Should I be shocked or happy that I killed a lot?

“And I doubt they will remain there, eventually they will become Treelings and even Trees. I do not know how, but you somehow made a new nation from scratch in a few months. But as any new nation, this one now stands under threat from its neighbors. Or rather it should have.”

“A little over a month ago, I was called upon by the Grand Empress, the now retired ruler of the Dark Empire. I thought it was just a summons from her heir, but it was not. The Empress wanted my help in getting her a very valuable item.”

“And in return she would allow me to kill the sole Peak-Tree beast in her version of the Royal forest, and level up. I succeeded. What I did not realize was the chaos it would cause.” Hmm, so you were just called upon and got a power-up? Ok, that doesn’t sound suspicious at all.

“The Council immediately reassembled the second they sensed my breakthrough, missing only the Kingdom’s Founder. The Council was not happy that I had broken through, and feared that I would break the peace and attack the Jade Sect.”

“Or merely attempt to elevate the Kingdom in power. I am sure the second held far more importance to most of them, I know the Empire would absolutely love to have the Sect destroyed. And then a letter arrived.” So, the Empress called on you, so you could break through and threaten the Sect? Also, info dumpy much? How is it that you seem to go from story to story in talking?

“A letter from the Elder of Spirit asking that you be given a certain part of his forest. The same forest he warned the six rulers away from. And that completely shocked the council. The Elder has never contacted the Council, never in centuries. But now he was doing so to cede land.” I did not like where this was going. Not at all. No one contacted anyone in Xianxia land unless they wanted something.

“The Council called for an immediate investigation into your circumstances, and were quite shocked by what they found. I must say, so was I. Do you know that you have killed more Plants than there are in the Jade Sect and the Kingdom combined?”

“The Confederacy was especially unhappy with what it found. I expect the Shadow Prince will soon face severe reprimand.-” I couldn’t help speaking out at that moment, saying- “Reprimand?!”- What I was going to do to that Prince and his organization would be far more fatal than a ‘severe reprimand’.

— “Yes, yes I know it's not enough to let the Prince get away with things, but I will warn you against killing or targeting him. The Confederacy’s ancestor has expressed his favor for him, and I am not powerful enough to kill him yet. And I do want to.”

“The sleazy disgrace facilitated the destruction of our family. Just for some money. But anyway, we were talking about the Council’s discussion. The Council decided to institute a Seventh Jewel with me as its head. Now before I go forward with the story, any questions?” the ancestor asked. Ok what.

Quick turn. And that last part felt positively unnatural. Seriously, who goes straight to story mode? And then the next conversation. Frankly, it felt like someone was trying to info-dump me. A question might be asked in such circumstances.

Oh, this was going to be fun. “Yes, are you real?” I asked.

And then the ancestor suddenly disappeared from view as I heard footsteps come from beside me. Gotcha!

“To answer your question, yes. I fear that he is real. Just not very good at lying. Apparently there are actually Grand Trees that can’t lie. And that was quite possibly the worst acting I have seen this decade. And it was just getting worse. “ A woman said, emerging from a snow-white portal. So he was actually real, just being coerced? Who was this woman?

A shockingly pale face greeted me as I turned around. Marked by auburn hair, the woman was strikingly beautiful and projected no aura whatsoever. Either she was a mortal or way more powerful than me. And considering that she had just stepped through a portal… I was going to go with powerful.

“So, may I know the reason behind this deception?” I asked, but I had a sinking feeling I already knew the answer. Auburn hair was something I hadn’t seen anywhere in the Kingdom, except in me.

The woman smiled bitterly, saying, “I suppose I can’t escape this meeting anymore. Hello, Altura.”- the woman took a deep breath- “I am your mother.” And yep. Gotcha.

“I know you likely have questions, but please listen to me first before saying anything. About twenty years ago, I grew tired of my life in the Arctics. I longed for more, to see more of the world, and so I left. I just took off and traveled the lands, abandoning my responsibilities as Elder of Frost. Right up until I landed here.” Hmm. So she was someone important back there. Wait Elder, it was her continent, wasn’t it?

“The Kingdom wasn’t even a destination on my list, I was just passing through while visiting Elder Mauriss and his fascinating collection when I ran into your father. The meeting wasn’t the start of any great love or romance.” Well that is apparent.

“I never really felt that way with your father, it was just a fun thing to do. But then something unexpected happened. I got pregnant. And that complicated things. The bloodline I- we- come from very rarely has heirs.” Uh oh I was seeing something coming.

“I was the fruit of millennia of my mother's efforts, but I was not ready to raise a child. Not one that might rule the Arctics in the future. So I left you here and ran. I know now that it was a bad decision, one of my worst in fact.”

“ And I made a lot of bad decisions in my time. And that decision came into culmination when I found out you were in mortal danger a few days ago. I did leave a little sensor after all. So I suppose I am here asking to be a part of your life.” the woman said.

“Why? Why should I let you just hop in and be a part of my life? And you still haven’t explained why you had the ancestor deceive me.” I said. I wasn’t having whatever this woman was selling.

The woman seemed shocked at my rejection, likely not used to people saying no. “Well um. I can cure that disease of yours, I just negotiated a bit of the forest for you from Elder Mauriss and I can kill the Shadow Prince for you?”

“I also have a lot of wealth, our family has a bunch of influence around the world, especially since Mother is one of the nine Grand Elders and there are only three of us in the family. Oh! And I can offer you a bit of support for you in the Elder Tourney!” the woman offered.

“What do I have to do with the Elder Tourney? The ancestor mentioned that, but I don’t see what I have to do with some expensive old contract.” I said, realizing that everything the ancestor said could be a lie.

“Well your ancestor did not quite lie. The Seventh Jewel was just formed, and as such you are next in line to participate in the Elder Tourney. I can’t really interfere with that, all I can really do is help you a bit when you are there.”

“The Tourney is organized and administered by the First Warrior, even Mother can’t interfere. I suppose I could take you with me to the Land of Frost, but you would still have to participate, Mother would demand it of you. And I think it's best to delay your meeting with Mother. I fear that she can be a bit…judgmental.”

So I had a choice between abandoning my duchy and still going to this Tourney and representing my duchy and going to this Tourney? I don’t think the choice was really there.

“But isn’t the Land of Six Jewels allied with Grand Elder Betaca? I doubt she will be happy about losing it.” I asked. I had no doubt that this woman would completely blank on something like that.

“Oh don’t worry about that. I talked to her, she doesn’t care about this Land. I think she feels a little bit scammed, she paid a high price for this Land only to get a bunch of people that died in the first round. The only one that survived was because he hid through the entirety of the round and got disqualified.” the woman said.

I was speechless. No one got past the first round? Not even a single one? What was this the Land of Six Losers? I could see the Grand Elder being miffed about that.

“And I can build you a better city. I learned a little about city building, and I just have to say that your architecture is ugly. Why are there no plants anywhere? The entire thing is just so bland. No, no I think it needs a complete revamp.”

“Even this room, this is supposed to be the liveliest place in the fortress, but just look at it! The basic furniture, No decorations, flowers, or anything to uplift your mood! No wonder that doctor of yours felt the need to give you a lot of those painkillers.”

“Oh I can get some help there too! The Elder of Healing owes me a few favors, I am sure that he would be happy to accept your little doctor as an apprentice.” the woman began talking, showing absolutely no intention of stopping or controlling herself.

Now, what was I supposed to do with this hyper and super powerful mother?