Altura

I shivered as I stood before the hole, waiting for it to say something. The temperature here was cold, colder than it had ever been before. I didn't even remember it being cold before, but now it was.

The hole finished forming and spoke, its voice slow and measured. “Tell me, Archduchess, where do you stand? Do you continue protecting your subjects? Today I ask you, Archduchess, what are you?”

What am I? A puzzling question. I would have just answered with ‘Archduchess’ if the hole hadn’t mentioned it in the same sentence. I doubted it would make such a mistake. No, there was more to this than I was seeing.

What was I? I was a diplomat, a planner, I was…an administrator today. Just yesterday, I had been a warrior. But not today. Today, I was an administrator. Now do I answer the hole? But how could I be sure? I couldn’t. I suppose that was the thing about the hole. The catch. The answers would always just be guesses.

I am Altura. I am administrator of these lands, today I plan its future, its present to the best of my abilities, so tomorrow it may prosper.’ I answered.

‘A satisfactory answer, Archduchess. Barely so. But your wisdom still pulls you through. But beware the day you come to regret your speed. Remember, cultivation is a steep climb to the peak, it matters not if you cross the lower levels fastest, what matters is whether you reach the peak.’ the hole said as it disappeared, leaving behind a fruit in its place as I broke through to Mid-Treeling stage.

But I would have been foolish to ignore the hole’s warning. I had been rushing things, leaving a mess. So many plans, so much had been left behind as I rushed through the stages. Perhaps it was time I calmed down a bit. Before I failed a question.

Xerte

Xerte looked towards the gathered merchants with amazement. How did they make such interesting things? Xerte could never even think of how to connect two things, but here these merchants were making new weapons, trinkets and devices.

“Is the Archduchess in, honored Adventurer?” a merchant asked.

“I fear that she is currently in the midst of a breakthrough and cannot meet you. But if you are here to ask about the loans, then I shall save you some time. The Archduchess mentioned them in the latest meeting, they are going to be implemented in a few days. I am sure you will be contacted about them soon.” Xerte answered.

A look of relief appeared on most of the merchants' faces, most of those here had spent a considerable amount of their resources to make their stuff.

“Thank you, honoured Adventurer for your guidance. I shall retire to my house now.” the merchant replied as he moved away, followed by the rest of the merchants.

“No need, I am already done.” The Archduchess’ voice called out from behind him, surprising him.

“Ah, Arcduchess, it is an honour to meet you.” the merchant said, hurriedly bowing.

“Please, be at ease. I apologise for the delay in the loans. I fear that the war put things a bit behind schedule. But I can now offer much more in loans. Please show me your wares, I will hold a general call for the rest of the populace in a few days, but there is no reason you cannot get the benefit of an early application.” The Archduchess said.

Why would the Archduchess do this? Would it not be better if everything was done together?

“Thank you, your grace. I have this humble weapon to present. I noticed that a large number of soldiers used both the spear and the sword, so I merged the two to make this, a spear-sword! The back is retractable and can be retracted when it has to be used as a sword.” the merchant said as he handed the spear-sword to the Archduchess.

The Archduchess held it in her hands, tapping it once. The spear-sword shook, making him fear it would break.

“The wood is too weak. The mechanism is good, but it makes the staff too fragile. The weapon would break apart in a fight. I would suggest using better materials to compensate. Submit a list of materials in a few days, if they are satisfactory and practical then I shall approve your request.” the Archduchess replied.

The merchant nodded as he retreated back out. Xerte then realized that the man likely knew the flaw in his invention, if it was already workable then he would be selling it, not asking for more funds.

The merchants formed a line as they offered their wares to the Archduchess. A strange wheel-like device with rotors inside that the Archduchess called a fan was next in line to be approved. After that there was one that offered a sword to the Archduchess. A fine one. The Archduchess offered to make him a cultivator if he proved that he could consistently produce swords of such quality consistently.

An hour passed and then another but the Archduchess just stood there, assessing each and every offer to come before her. Finally, the line ended, and her work was done. A total of thirty seven projects had been approved, by all accounts a large number.

“Come, we need to gather a committee to assess these things. I think Corten and Serlok from the Administrative Wing, Farrell from the Ducal Guard and Garret and Horrun from the Adventurer’s Guild should do.” The Archduchcess said as they left to get them. An hour later another Sub-Organization had been founded.

But the day had far from ended. The duchy was growing, prospering, and its Archduhcess was working hard to ensure that it was growing in the right direction.

Adreia

Adreia sighed as she looked towards the men gathered before her. A bunch of Saplings and Plantlings. Not even a Plant. But she would make these good anyway, there was no way she was going to let them bring disgrace to her family name like they had. And then she would have a talk with her daughter about taking up the family name.

“I know that you are wondering why you are here. The reason is simple enough, my daughter asked me to make a spy organization. And you have been chosen to fulfill these roles. Do you agree?” she asked, her daughter had insisted they be given a choice.

Why she was so insistent on taking their opinions, she would never understand, but at least it was a step up from where things had been a few days ago. Though she had yet to ask her about what memories she had received, she was sure they had some very valuable information. The duchy was proof of that after all.

“No objections? Good. Now I will be assessing each of you and making a plan to turn you into the best spies I can, form a line now.” she ordered as the soldiers formed a line.

Nervous messes the lot of them. How were they going to infiltrate into enemy nations if they couldn’t even stand her presence? At least they weren’t quivering yet.

Adreia extended her senses into the first one. A normal constitution. A basic Soldier seed. Well, this was going to take a while. Over the next few hours, Adreia used her sizable fortune to change these soldier’s constitutions to be more suitable to their new task. Now none of them would find themselves bottlenecked before the Treelig level at least.

After ordering all of them to meditate on their gains and hopefully advance their cultivations a bit, she picked up her communicator and called back home.

“Elder! How are you?” An eager butler’s face greeted her.

“Well. Can you get Sir Norvane without alerting half the castle Rogrige?” she asked. The butler was a horrible gossip that couldn’t keep a secret to save his life.

“Yes, your eldership! I shall call him at once!” The butler said as he disappeared. A few minutes later he emerged with a young looking man wearing a pink t-shirt and shorts.

“Adreia! I did not expect you to call me! What makes you call upon me today?” the young Elder of Healing said. The man was about double Adreia’ age but still considered to be in the same generation as her.

“I remember you owing me a few favours. Pay up. I want you to take a boy as your disciple and teach him well.” she said.

Norvane’s smile froze at her words, his face morphing into a more serious expression. “And where would this new disciple of mine be?” he asked.

“The new Seventh Jewel. The Land of Six Jewels. Get here quickly, I can’t wait. And get some of the Rotere instructors with you. I am making a little spying ring and the recruits need training.” she said.

The Rotere was her mother’s spying organization, one of the best in the world. The only reason she had lived long enough to be this powerful was because the Rotere had protected her. Now they would protect her daughter.