Xerte

“I am grateful, you know.” Karrie told him as she rested on the wall.

“I am aware of that, yes.” Xerte answered. The woman’s family had settled in, consisting of seven children and an injured old man, Xerte had to wonder how she was able to provide for them all.

“But I still ain’t gonna trust you peeps. The door is gonna be shut tonight, ain’t nobody gonna get away with peeping into my tent.” Karrie threatened, making Xerte laugh.

“I will make sure to tell everyone that peeping into your tent is not a permitted activity. Though I have to ask, how did you…” Xerte said, at a loss for framing the question politely.

“Have so many children? Oh, that ain’t a secret. I had been in the…lesser fields after me da got recruited and me ma sold me off to feed my brothers. After he rolled back in, he cut ‘em off and bought me back. The children were thankfully free, though, the Empress’ laws and all of that.” Karrie replied to his surprise.

The question wasn’t the one that Xerte wanted to ask, but the answer shocked him nonetheless. Karrie being a slave hadn’t occurred to him.

“Actually, I was wondering how you provided for them all. I must know if you engaged in any form of criminal activity.The business, from what I could see, was not doing well enough to support all of you” Xerte said, sighing.

Karrie’s face cleared, saying “Aye, that's all right. The old man might be useless, but he does get a pension from the Empress. A rather handsome one at that. Not enough to feed us all, but enough that it can help us live on my earnings.”

“And that is a pleasant prospect. Though I suppose it is lost now?” Xerte asked.

“Aye, not that it was gonna remain if you didn’t take me in. The guards would’ve killed me alright. But I couldn’t leave me friends like that. Not into that situation. So I decided to be selfish, for once. “ Karrie said.

“How’s the market in the Arch duchy? Can an old mother still earn enough?” Karrie asked, laughing, but her eyes were serious.

“I would wager yes. And even if you do not earn sufficiently, the Department of Minors can support your children.” Xerte answered, trying to be reassuring.

“Well, ain’t that a surprise. The Arch duchy pays me to take care of me kids? What an interesting idea.” Karrie remarked, “Perhaps you could tell me more about this Arch duchy of yours, if it ain’t too much work, that is.”

And so the two of them talked. The conversation took hours, and eventually migrated to Xerte’s tent, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Karrie might not have been educated or cultured, but she had her own specialty. Xerte was quite impressed by her, and her ability to come with solutions to what he would have deemed impractical situations.

But eventually she had to leave, her father could only take care of the children for so long. And so Xerte sat there, all alone in his thoughts. But not for long, for soon he was joined by none other than Karrie’s ‘da’, a hand stuffed in his coat, obviously carrying something important.

“How may I help you today, sir?” Xerte asked.

“Ah, yes, I would, uh, like to exchange this for gold. I know that’s not yer job, but I think ye might be interested in this.” the old man said. Xerte noticed that his manner of speech was far more formal than Karrie’s, though it made sense considering he had served in the military and had to have interacted with nobles.

“What is it, sir?” Xerte asked. The honorific just…felt right. The old man, though, seemed shocked at it.

“Um, it is a reward I received from the Empire for my service. The thing is supposedly from the Gorge and is only found there. I don’t know how much it is worth, but could you ugh…ask someone?” the old man requested, holding out a weirdly shaped crystal.

Xerte took it and examined it. The crystal was just like crystals were, hard, a bit reflective and otherwise useless. The crystal had decorative value he supposed, it had a nice amber color too.

“The crystal is said to glow when Qi is poured into it, honored Adventurer. The property has fascinated a lot of the Empire’s nobles over the years.” the old man added.

Huh, that might be interesting. Xerte added a little bit of Qi into it and felt it get stored inside as the crystal lit up. The automatic refill activated and Qi was back in his spirit space, so at least the loss wasn’t permanent. But one thing stuck with him. The crystal absorbed Qi. A property the Archduchess had wanted. And was offering a million gold for.

“I think it would be best if I didn’t take this, sir. I will instead give you this pamphlet” Xerte said, removing a copy of the million gold task.

The old man took it, confused at first, but his eyes lit up as he read it.

“I suppose the crystal qualifies, honored adventurer?” the old man asked, his eyes eager.

“I cannot answer that, the Archduchess decides what qualifies. But it is worth waiting for. And keeping it safe.” Xerte said. The old man nodded as he got up. Xerte hadn’t noticed it before, but he was missing a leg, the leg replaced by wood.

“I want to thank you, honored adventurer. Karrie might think that people knew and accepted her, but I know better. The only ones that really knew were Kwarrisa and her lot. I lived in fear there that someone would find out, and we would be out on the street again. I hope that the Arch duchy will at least give us a second chance.” the old man said as he left.

“I hope it will too, sir. I truly do.” Xerte replied as he relaxed on his chair. The Archduchess would be happy. Xerte knew how much she wanted the material, though the fact that it came from the people would be troublesome. The previous conversation with Karrie had clued him on how hard it was to trade with them.

But that was for the Archduchess to manage, not him. In fact, he didn’t really have any duties after returning. Though he was in command here, he was really just an Emerald Adventurer. An 18-year-old Plant that had no idea what he wanted to be.

The encounter had been an eye-opener for him. A day before, he would have never imagined that something worth so much would come from the father of a former slave living in poverty. Or that there were such activities going along right under his nose.

The slavery angered him, and he had already ordered a complete investigation of all merchants. A total of thirteen slaves had been found, divided among three merchants. The three had been arrested and would be charged with kidnapping, slavery and improper conduct in violation of the convoy rules. Norvithius would then decide what to do with them.

But he was not done. Or rather his mind was not, his work was, for all purposes done, the investigation still had a few places to go through, but it was, for all purposes, done.

A question had appeared in his mind that wouldn’t go away. What did he want to do? Just go about his life as an Adventurer, no goal in sight? Join the Ducal guard? Run a business? What was he supposed to do?

The encounter with Karrie had made him remember things, things he would rather forget. Karrie reminded him of his mother. Oh, she didn’t have any other children, but she was much in the same condition.

In truth, Xerte had no father, his biological father was gladly dead. Clan Head Welters was not worth the air he breathed,, and it was a pity he had lived as long as he had. But he was still lost.

Xerte picked up the communicator and called up his mother. The two of them had grown distant, not because of some disagreement, they just…didn’t meet each other as often.

The call went unpicked for a few minutes before his mother picked up. As usual, she must have forgotten it somewhere and search for it in whatever pile it was in.

“Xerte! I did not expect your call!” his mother said, her face as beautiful as it had always been. What did they call her? The beauty of the valley?. “What is on your mind?” she asked.

“I was just missing you, Mother. I had a rough couple of days.” he replied.

“Well you were bound to, tell me who is the lucky girl?” she asked, smiling, throwing Xerte in for a lurch.

Xerte just stared at her, flabbergasted. How had she connected his words to there?

“Oh come on! Are you telling me that you don’t even have someone you like yet? How am I going to have a grandchild if you don’t get someone?” she asked.

“I have enough to do without getting with someone, Mother. How about you tell me how your days have been, Mother?” Xerte asked.

“Oh, you know how it goes. I wake up I draw, I eat, I draw some more and then go to sleep. The most interesting thing I do is argue with that shopkeeper. Did you know he stopped accepting silver? Just gold, he says.”

“Thankfully, I was able to exchange the silver for some spirit stones. Should shut him right up. Though I expect I will be overpaying him for a while.” his mother began.

Ivanka Yarin might have gotten out of her stint as Clan Head Welters’ personal maid, but it had still left a mark. A vapid hate of gold was one of them. The entire house was devoid of the color, and she refused to trade in it. The fact that it was so common now made her avoid the market even, preferring to go to a less trafficked shop in hopes of running into it less.

Xerte sighed as his mother went on to describe the things that she had encountered. But his mind was not there, not truly. The conversation had reminded him of a childhood dream he’d had. To protect the weak.

To protect everyone that was in situations similar to his mother’s. As he grew up he realized that it was not a practical dream, there were too many people with vested interests to stop. And more than that, the rescued would need a home, and if he rescued them he could not provide it.

But he did know somebody that could provide it. And had shown willingness to do so. The Archduchess. But did he still want to? To spend the rest of his life-saving people? The answer, sadly, was no. The Xerte back then had not seen what life had to offer, he had now.

And how much could he even accomplish alone? The answer was little. Not as a Plant he could not. Or even as a Treeling. But, if he had the chance, he wanted to find a way. A way to help those in need.

Xerte’s mind went into overdrive as he tried to think of ideas, he could put up tasks in the Adventurer’s Guild, fund a place for them to stay in the Arch duchy with his ample fortune, he could even fund some underground groups to help them escape. An underground movement.

A vision started forming in his head as he was transported into his spirit space. And there his Plant changed, the colors faded away, leaving behind a sparkling silver. The color of purity. A notification appeared before him as a hole formed in the Plant.

Seed metamorphosed.

Soldier → Noble defender.

And then the hole spoke,

‘Tell me, Xerte of Alvere, why do you live?’

And Xerte answered the question.

‘I live because I want to. I live because I have something I want to do.’ And just like that, right under the nose of the Empress, Xerte Yarin, bastard son of Clan Head Welters, broke through to the Treeling stage. The stage of the Grand Dukes themselves.