Leon sighed as he finally collapsed into a seat in his portable villa back in the expedition’s camp.

Following his meeting with the ninth-tier tree sprite and his gaining of a new ‘retainer’, he’d led the remnants of his expedition back to the camp where Cassandra and the rest of the Evergolden squad were seen to, and the bodies of their fallen were collected. Leon hadn’t stopped to rest, though, the one-day time limit he’d been given weighing heavily on his mind. So, he’d led his retinue back to the research facility to start combing through it as much as they could for anything they could possibly salvage.

Unfortunately, they didn’t find much. A few bits and pieces of the weapons that Apati had used against them, and Leon had done his best to transcribe the enchantment scheme that covered the inside of the control room, but other than that, the only real salvage they’d managed to find was the facility’s power crystal. It seemed that Apati had been telling the truth when he’d said that all research documents had been destroyed, only existing in his head.

And Leon had let the tree sprites kill him.

He didn’t regret his decision, even though he’d had to endure Nestor’s castigation for something so ‘foolish’. Xaphan, thankfully, took his decision in stride, reasoning that Apati was ‘an untrustworthy fuck boy’.

So, by the time Leon called off their salvage run, it was turning light outside. It was clear there was nothing there except for fragments of golems and Lances—there weren’t even any other intact golems and weapons of any sort kept in storage, Apati apparently having called all he’d had available into service.

Now, Leon sat back, his mind exhausted from the trying day. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since they’d breached the inner warded zone, and he was ready for some rest. Unfortunately, it seemed that rest would have to wait, for he had a new retainer to see to.

He wasn’t alone; the sixth-tier tree sprite was with him, a chunk of amber glistening on its wrist that would allow it to speak with him in a more conventional manner.

“So,” Leon said, wishing he could do nothing more than pass out for a few hours, but resigned to dealing with business first, “do you have a name? I would feel quite awkward just calling you ‘you’, or ‘tree sprite’.”

The tree sprite stared at him with what Leon thought was curiosity. Its head even cocked slightly as if in thought. It eventually answered, “My name isn’t one that’s translatable…”

“But you have a name?” Leon asked. “Something that your fellows used to identify you?”

The twigs and leaves that made up the tree sprite’s ‘hair’ fluttered and for a moment, Leon smelled something vaguely sweet. “… Yes,” the tree sprite said. “We don’t speak like this normally. We use other methods of communication…”

“I figured as much,” Leon replied. “Pollen, something akin to pheromones, and darkness magic, right? And I’m sure more, besides.”

Again, Leon smelled sweetness as the tree sprite’s ‘hair’ fluttered. He guessed that was something of an equivalent to an affirmative head nod.

“That’s interesting,” Leon said. “My and my people’s working theory heading into this place was that everything here was being controlled by some kind of hive mind. It’s interesting, then, to see that your people aren’t as united as we’d thought, and that you even have methods for identifying each other, indicating that you’re all individuals.”

“We impose order upon the forest,” the tree sprite responded, “and to do so, we must act in concert. The… First Growth? The First Growth dictates, and we execute. Peace is thus maintained.”

“Except when it comes to the manticores.”

Sweetness and fluttering; a tree sprite head nod.

“So, you don’t have a name that you can translate, but we’re still going to need to refer to you somehow. How would you like us to do that?”

The tree sprite thought for a moment, and eventually said, “Exotikos. That is the name I will choose.”

“Exotikos it is, then,” Leon replied, smiling.

At that moment, the door opened and Elise, Maia, and Valeria came in, the latter two looking about as exhausted as Leon felt. Only Elise seemed particularly energized. She hurried over and practically draped herself over Leon as the other two collapsed onto nearby sofas.

“Husband!” she exclaimed. “It’s about time you got back!”

Leon smiled and held his wife, then filled her in on Exotikos’ choice of names.

“A beautiful name,” Elise said, and the tree sprite bowed slightly. “What can you do?” Elise then excitedly asked.

Exotikos remained silent for a moment, then answered, “I can order nature.”

“Does that mean you can make things grow?” Elise asked, a predatory smile spreading across her face. “Can you tend to tree groves and the like? Make sure that herbs grow well?”

Valeria added, “Can you fight if you need to? Or would you need to be protected if brought anywhere else?”

The tree sprite shrank back a little, looking a little overwhelmed. Leon smelled something slightly acrid as the tree sprite’s ‘hair’ flattened.

“Take your time answering,” Leon said soothingly. “We’re in no real rush. Are we? How’re our Evergolden partners?” The latter question he directed at Elise, who’d been interfacing with the Evergolden contingent of their expedition while Leon and the rest of the retinue were off salvaging what little they could from the research facility.

“The Princess will be fine, though her ego’s more than a little bruised,” Elise explained. “Her arm… is going to be fine. The arm itself was lost entirely in the blast that severed it, but back in Evergold they’ll have the magic to regrow another one.”

Leon’s left arm tingled again, and it seemed Elise sensed his slight discomfort, for she took his left hand and guided his knuckles to her lips.

“That’s good to hear,” Leon whispered.

“Physically, she’ll be fine,” Elise continued. “Mentally, though? That remains to be seen.”

Leon nodded, and it seemed that this short tangent was enough for Exotikos to relax slightly and answer Elise’s questions.

“Fighting is… not a strength,” Exotikos hesitantly said. “Violence is not something taught by the First Growth. Power should be used to nurture and grow, not harm and destroy.”

“An admirable philosophy, for those that can afford it,” Leon observed. “Unfortunately, my retinue and I aren’t so rich. We’ll protect you as best as we can, but if need be, are you at least willing to use your power in self-defense?”

Sweetness; Exotikos answered affirmatively.

“As for other powers…” Exotikos continued, “I can help things grow. If that is what you wish of me, that is what I can do.”

“What about these?” Elise asked as she pulled the container with the Hesperidic Apple seeds out from her soul realm. Given that she was the one in charge of finding a suitable site for the apple orchard, she’d been holding onto the seeds until the location could be found.

Exotikos looked the seeds over for a long moment. “They are old,” it observed. “But they can still grow. I can help with that.”

“Wonderful,” Elise said. “How about other herbs? Can you aid in alchemy? Can you help with raising other herbs?”

“I think Exotikos has already answered that,” Leon said as Exotikos shrank back slightly again. “We have a good idea of what the sprite is capable of now, so let’s wait until we get back home to start running them through their paces.”

Elise frowned slightly, but accepted Leon’s mild admonishment.

“Now, Exotikos,” Leon asked, “we know what you’re bringing to the table. What are we bringing to your table? Why would you leave this forest with us?”

“Curiosity,” Exotikos replied. “I’ve always wanted to see the world outside the forest in closer detail. The First Growth always forbade travel beyond the limits of the forest. Humans kept trying to enter the forest and killed many lesser kindred. The same would happen to me if I strayed, the First Growth told me. But with you, I have a chance to see what’s outside. That is what I want.”

“Well, we can certainly do our best at letting you see the world,” Leon said with a smile, though he was trying quite hard not to think about the tree sprite they’d killed on the way into the forest. Fortunately, Exotikos didn’t seem too upset over that particular event, and he wasn’t going to question it. “My only real concern is that you might turn around when you learn about my current status in this world…”

Leon quickly filled Exotikos on his political situation with the Director and the Emperors. Exotikos already knew that he was a member of the Thunderbird Clan, though, so Leon counted himself fortunate that he didn’t have to deal with any prejudices there changing their current agreeable situation. He just had to worry about any prejudices that might crop up in the future.

“That sounds… complicated,” Exotikos responded when Leon was finished. The tree sprite hadn’t said a single thing during Leon’s entire spiel, though he’d smelled a few things indicating its change in emotion several times during the explanation. “However,” Exotikos continued, “it is a better thing to be with you than to be on my own, to my understanding.”

[You understand things correctly,] Maia said. [Humans don’t typically take too kindly to nonhumans. Surrounding yourself with humans is the best way to not be killed by them.]

“Then I’m glad I’m here,” Exotikos said.

With that, their brief introduction to the tree sprite was essentially over. Everyone, of course, had more questions, but Leon was fine with putting off their asking until later. Right now, he just wanted to rest and get ready for the journey home.

Exotikos was dismissed, but the tree sprite didn’t go very far. Instead, it just walked outside, rooted itself into the ground, and seemed to turn into a small tree right next to Leon’s portable villa, which still surrounded the Evergolden palace-tree.

Once the tree sprite was gone, Elise said, “You know, if what I’m hoping comes about, then we might’ve made more gains here than are readily apparent…”

“I hope so,” Valeria replied. “As it is, it doesn’t feel good coming to a research facility operated by Leon’s old Clan, and leaving with little to show for it other than broken bits of golem and a bit of tree sprite charity.”

“Blame me for that,” Leon said as he leaned back in his seat. “I had the chance to take Apati prisoner and gain everything that might’ve been in his head, but I made the choice not to.”

“Why not?” Elise asked. A moment later, she added, “I mean, I understand why I would’ve done the same after your story, but I’m curious to know why you decided not to claim Apati? Didn’t you do something similar for Nestor?”

Leon sighed again. “Nestor… was a special case.”

[You say like it’s a bad thing,] Nestor grumbled from his soul realm.

Leon, ignoring him, continued, “He was a Prince of the Clan. His knowledge of enchanting is great. What’s more, the Thunderbird herself recommended that I take Nestor as a retainer to preserve his knowledge. I received no such recommendation for Apati.”

[Is my recommendation worthless, then?] Nestor asked indignantly.

[Yes,] Xaphan simply replied.

Tuning them both out, Leon added, “Apati wasn’t a member of the Clan—at least, not by blood. He was more of an employee. Not quite a vassal like Koukouva or the Blood Thunder Jaguar, but instead directly integrated into the Thunderbird Clan’s administrative structure. He just didn’t carry our blood or power.”

“It can’t have been for that alone,” Valeria said. “I know you, you wouldn’t have turned down the knowledge he promised just for the fact that he wasn’t a true member of your Clan…”

“No, I wouldn’t have,” Leon agreed. “So, consider that he lied to me with every breath he took, and tried to manipulate and blackmail me into doing what he wanted. He may have claimed to be one of the old researchers at the facility, and Nestor backed that up, but what guarantee did I have that he actually had the information that he was promising? I could’ve taken him prisoner, only to learn that he had nothing of value to share—that he lied about that, too.

“Now remember that we were accompanied by an eighth-tier tree sprite. I don’t know how their senses work, I don’t know how much they can see or not. If I wanted to take Apati prisoner, then I would’ve had to contend with it, and all the others in its camp. Eleven other eighth-tier tree sprites, and one that was ninth-tier. None of them fight well, obviously, but that’s still a lot of power to try and overcome.

“Nestor and Xaphan both assured me that I could’ve tried to take Apati if I wanted, but it was a two-fold risk: that of the tree sprite missing it when I captured the dead man, and that he had anything to share. Imagine if I risked everything just to try and take him prisoner, only to discover that he had nothing to share? Imagine if I tried to take him prisoner and the tree sprite noticed, destroying our alliance, and becoming hostile again. What if all that happened, and Apati still had nothing to share?

“These were risks I was unwilling to take for someone so untrustworthy, someone so duplicitous and manipulative. Someone so… so dickish.

“I saw what Apati did to the ninth-tier sprite. Felt it. I wasn’t going to bring someone like that into my retinue. I wasn’t even going to let someone like that live, not with their affiliations with my Clan. If I did, then how could I claim that was building something better?”

When he finished, Elise smiled and squeezed his shoulder, while Maia and Valeria smiled at him from where they were resting. Leon felt sure that he’d made the right decision, though he couldn’t help but deeply regret not gaining access to what Apati offered. But, to retain his pride, he considered it a small price to pay.

Besides, he figured as he glanced out of the nearest window and saw the tree that Exotikos had become, it wasn’t like he was walking away from this expedition without having made any gains. It would just take some time for these gains to flower.

His smile deepened as he thought about the piece of thunderous wood that the ninth-tier sprite had given him. He may not have the research his Clan had done on it, but at least he had two of the things they were studying with him. Who was to say that, especially with Nestor, Elise, and Helen at his side, he couldn’t recreate that research? It would be hard, time consuming, and likely extremely expensive, but if what Apati had claimed about the potential of these things was true, then every second, every coin invested, would be worth it in the end.

---

As Leon stepped out into his soul realm, he could practically feel Nestor’s discontent.

“What’s wrong, dead man?” Leon asked as he approached the table that held Nestor’s ruby. One of the librarian golems—though not the Librarian itself—stood nearby, ready to dictate anything that Nestor needed, and judging by the sheer number of papers littering the table, Nestor had needed quite a bit of help in the past few hours.

The reason for that help lay on the table next to all those papers: the chunk of red wood that sparked and vibrated with contained lightning and thunder.

“You let Apati go,” Nestor grumbled. “Against my recommendation! And then went and slandered me to your… wives.”

“Were you going to say something other than ‘wives’?” Leon asked.

“What? No, of course not!” Nestor exclaimed, though Leon didn’t believe him. He made his displeasure known by unleashing a hint of his killing intent, and Nestor’s ruby dimmed slightly for a moment.

“My attitude towards you, dead man,” Leon said, “shouldn’t make you bitter. It should make you reflective. ‘Why would Leon hate me?’ is what I want you to ask yourself.”

“Be careful going down that road, Leon,” Nestor replied. “Go too far and you’ll be made a hypocrite. That reasoning can be easily abused.”

“This reasoning suits my current purposes, and that’s all that matters,” Leon shamelessly replied as he started leafing through the papers, skimming through the golem’s perfect handwriting. “What have you found?”

Nestor sighed, clearly not wanting to move on just yet. However, he acquiesced to Leon and responded, “I’ve found much. That piece of wood is quite something, I have to say…”

“What are its capabilities?”

“I can’t say just yet, only that it holds an incredible amount of magic power. In fact, it seems to take in and contain power in a way that I haven’t seen any unenchanted, unrefined material ever do.”

“Is it unenchanted and unrefined, then?”

“As far as I can tell, yes. No runes, no signs of magical tampering… It’s no wonder our Clan’s researchers wanted to get ahold of this and figure out its secrets. Something like this can be a powerful weapon in the right hands…”

“A weapon, you say?” Leon asked, looking at the piece of wood with great interest. It was a fairly small piece, but he could certainly make a sword handle out of it if he so wished—which he didn’t. What he wanted to do was learn how to make more of it, then decide what to do with his greater supply. He even already had a few ideas on that front…

“Yes,” Nestor replied. “The stored magic can be released in a great burst. I even think it might synchronize with a mage holding it, drawing in their magic and acting as a kind of battery. Anything more than that would require more rigorous testing.”

“Then make sure to get that testing done as soon as possible,” Leon said. “We’ll have some weeks ahead of us on the return to Occulara, and I want to know how useful this wood might be by the time we return home. I’ll want others to study this thing, too…”

“Don’t rush science, boy,” Nestor admonished. “It moves on its own time, and bringing in more people won’t necessarily make it go faster!”

“Then hopefully it’ll move fast enough to be useful,” Leon said. He had enemies enough without adding the Director to his list, and it was just about time to find out just how welcome he was in Heaven’s Eye, now.

And then, what to do next. No matter which way the Director blew in this wind, there were going to be some changes when Leon got back to Occulara.