Managing their burgeoning empire without Perry around was more difficult than Ari had been expecting. Not that she told him.
Yes, he visited. Their time in his ‘shop’ was every bit as wonderful as always. Unfortunately, she needed more of that time to conduct business than she preferred. There was less time for spells, experiments or ‘tearing about’ in the dune buggy. Instead she was dealing with the waves of refugees that only seem to be increasing every day.
Victims of their own success.
A quick update of her interface delegated a dozen tasks, her mind processing them at an even higher speed than Perry could’ve managed, thanks to the celestial third Order spell Augmented Mental Threading. One her father had requested she hold off from sharing for the moment. Perry had been painfully understanding when she’d explained it to him.
Couldn’t he have been at least a little upset? She had been livid with her father. His understanding had undercut that.
Shaking her head, Ari sent off another batch of reports, summarized to the salient points.
Unfortunately, Ari could only delegate so much. She didn't have enough skilled people to delegate to. There were only so many administrators willing to come to Cape Aeternia, no matter how much mana they had to offer.
Mages… if mages were capable of being skilled administrators, Ari wouldn't have a problem at all. They were drowning in mages these days. A good problem to have, though not one she’d planned for. Despite her father’s rather thorough training, somehow they’d missed that particular hiccup.
Ari pulled up her display in one eye while discussing reports with Alister. The man was a godsend, yet had barely awoken. It was good he’d become a mage, but he hadn’t put much time into ascending. Like most of their staff, he was too busy.
Even with her spell active, talking with him only took a fraction of her attention.
The real problem wasn't finding skilled administrators. Skilled administrators could be found easily. Convincing them to move out. Finding those that the mages and other ensouled would listen to, that was...
Ari's thoughts ground to a halt as she stared at Alister.
He’d become a mage. She’d been thinking about it backwards. Everyone wanted to be ensouled. Even professional administration.
While they might not be interested in pay… how many could she attract with the promise they’d ascend? It wasn’t even random chance. With the systems Perry had repaired, it was ensured.
She looked at her reports again, at the number of ensouled citizens who were gaining power simply by existing within their borders. Not for much longer.
“Alister, we’re setting up a cordon around Mistvale. Only approved personnel. It’s a strategic asset, it’s time we treated it as such.”
“It might be challenging to enforce such a blanket ban,” Alister noted, even as he started drawing up the paperwork.
“Doesn’t need to be perfect. And don’t bother trying to keep the mages out. But let’s stop turning every random citizen into one. If they want to earn it, we’ve got our schools starting, right? The ones for developing our citizens? We can use those as filters.”
“They’re in their fourth week. I believe,” Alister said, shuffling several pages about with faster than human speed. “Ah yes, here’s our first report on the literacy rates. Better than I feared.”
When she accepted the page from him, Ari winced. It was well under half. And most of those had come from Spellford. “I’m afraid to ask what you were expecting.”
“Less than an eighth with post-academy equivalent comprehension,” Alister said, using his pencil to point to the lower section of the page.
“That is pretty good,” Ari admitted, nodding. And overall literacy would be brought up quickly. Spells could help with that. Her father had approved a cousin spell to Perry’s beloved Review Scroll back in Spellford several decades ago. While it was limited to once per target every six months or so, Imbue Page would help get through the trickiest part, allowing them to add a basic working knowledge of three-hundred or so words. They certainly had enough mages to cast it.
Unfortunately, it didn’t solve the problem. Not yet.
“We need to entice more administrators. The lake is how we’ll do it,” Ari said, putting the page to the side.
“While it does offer a splendid view, I don’t understand how it’ll help our efforts.”
Ari grinned. “Are you still on your first spell slot?”
Alister blinked at her. It didn’t take long for understanding to dawn, his eyebrows drawing together. “That could work. However, we may have several people come for ensoulment, only to leave once they’ve awakened.”
“Good thing that’s not all we have to offer,” Ari said, casting a version of Second Quill to print off the plan she’d worked out.
“Guaranteed ascension to… Pegasus?” Alister said, clearing his throat. “In exchange for a ten year contract? My lady… these terms are too generous. We’ll have more applicants than we could reasonably accommodate.”
“Let me handle the applications. Draw up required qualifications, make it a point based system,” Ari said, waving her hand, a simple Minor Gust spell stacking the paperwork. “Now. What was next?”
“I must admit some concern about elevating so many mages to Pegasus,” Alister said, clearing his throat, apparently unwilling to move on so easily.
"They won't be true mages," Ari said, getting a raised eyebrow from Alister.
“How is that?”
“They won’t be part of the Shaper’s guild. And Perry’s already set a precedent for limiting spell access for non-combatants. Administrative spells will be provided for free, they’ll have to earn the others, just like the rest of our mages.”
“Ah. Yes. A mage is only as good as their spells.” Alister started writing once more.
They tackled a few other minor issues, then ended their meeting. Finally free, Ari ran off to her two hours with Perry. It was good, having solved the worst of her issues before their time together. Even so, before she knew it, he was going off again, gallivanting around the southern part of Terra Vista, hunting monsters. She didn't envy him the hunting. It would be fun if they were doing it together, however.
However, if wishes were mana she’d be a Djinn-souled by now. Another thing that was ever so slightly annoying: her beloved was already hunting down his integration sacrifices while she couldn't even find the creature she needed to defeat to reach Hydra-souled.
That it would also count as one of her sacrifices did temper the anxiety somewhat. Further appeasing her worry was Nexxa’s struggle. To have the Hydra-souled come to her for advice after wrestling with the simple task of building a spell to harvest imp skulls whenever one was slain had reassured her.
Not so long ago, Ari would’ve found advising a Hydra-soul on spell-creation rather daunting. It was funny how her perspective changed after dealing with a threat such as an Abyss Emperor. A shudder passed through her at that thought. That had not been a pleasant day. Nor had the events prior. She rubbed loosely at her neck. She’d mostly moved on from but the sensation would resurge once in a while.
“You okay there?” Perry asked, hand on her shoulder, squeezing. For all that he could lack in some areas, she did appreciate that he saw her. That was a trait not so common amongst the other suitors her father had attempted to arrange.
And had she ever been correct about her father’s gloating. He’d hid it well, but when Perry hadn’t been looking, he’d near constantly wiggled his eyebrows. Ari pushed the thought to the side. There was other stuff to deal with.
“Just phantom chills.” She took his hand, kissing it before pushing to her feet and looking around the empty shop yard. “We don't have much time left today. There are a few things we should do before you have to leave.”
Perry nodded and they got on with the business of running the Empire, much as he refused to call it such. With how rapidly the rail lines were expanding, the nearer parts of the Frigid Peaks were solidly under their control.
“Do we really have rails halfway up the high road?” Perry asked, looking over the map.
“Yes. Though we haven’t extended far from it yet. Too unstable. The initiative is making progress with the new beacons though.”
“The ones for extending the barrier?”
“Yes. They’ve found a way to imbue the oath from your origianl beacon into the copies. There are questions as to why it makes the enchantment easier to reproduce, but the results speak for themselves,” Ari explained, waving a hand and projecting an image with Display Page, an old first Order spell she’d dug out again after realizing how useful it was when working as part of a team.
“Damn. At this rate we really are starting to look like an empire,” Perry said, rubbing his nose.
“You were right not to declare us so. With our current relations…”
“Yeah. Hopefully we’ll soothe their egos. Hunting wasn’t how I expected to be spending my time here, but at least I’m able to bring back more materials.”
Ari nodded. The materials were useful, but every one he kept was one less he could use to return. “We are still thriving. The challenges are… managable.”
“Wouldn’t be able to do it without you.”
They shared a moment, heads leaning against each other, hands held.
Then Bevel came crashing in, Nexxa not far behind her. The latter plucked her adopted daughter up and spun her about before she could interrupt, but Ari and Perry joined in the fun anyway.
Successfully distracted, the last hour passed quickly. They left his Memory Palace into the regular world. As they escorted Perry to his spell anchor, her augmented reality came back. It was the one thing Memory Palace didn’t offer. Not until he reached Djinn-souled.
For the moment, that was for the best.
Escorting him to his Home Spark anchor, Ari watched her paramour turn into sparks, a small smile tugging at her lips. Then the three of them split up, each returning to their own tasks.
Information flowed in and Ari’s mind stretched to accomodate.
In the short time they’d been inside, several reports had accumulated. A flick of her fingers reviewed them, though there was one she had to see to in person.
First thing the next morning, she boarded a train that resembled a ram, traveling to Falith’s camp.
The Matriarch of the pale elves with no horns had once more requested her presence. The woman always made the hair on Ari's neck raise. It wasn’t her power either. There was something unnatural about an elf with no horns. She’d never met others like them. True, humans didn't have horns, but they had different builds. And their ears were cute and round. Even the shorter stockier elves from the deeper parts of the Frigid Peaks had horns, even if only vestigial nubs.
As Ari arrived on the train outside Falith’s camp, she suppressed another shudder. They didn’t even have signs they'd ever had horns, no matter how much they otherwise resembled elves.
Once more Ari shook the unease off as she disembarked near the matriarch's camp, nodding to Bevel as her daughter dashed off to round up her new friends.
At least one good thing had come from not being able to rely upon an attendant. Using one was no longer a viable choice as every attendant interpreted the matriarch’s requests incorrectly. At this point both Ari and Sidhe were certain it was an intentional on the part of Falith. All they had were theories, but Ari agreed it was most likely a power play to ensure the matriarch maintained access to those in charge.
Sure enough, Falith dragged her through another exhausting negotiation only to settle on what she was in the first place. "Tea, tea my dear?" Falith asked as Ari sat down.
Ari nodded, being thankful Bevel had come along. Her daughter might not be in the meeting but simply having her in the camp improved Falith's mood.
“It is good she visits. Much better for her than hanging around with those twisted soul-bombs spawn the Fores’thall foisted upon us.” Falith said, taking her own seat. There’d be a few minutes of this, to appease the woman. Gossip and complaints, most of which Ari had heard before.
Ari didn’t blame the young elves for their condition, even if the idea of Bevel spending time with them did terrify her. But Ari was learning to live with that too. “My mages promise me they’re making excellent progress on untangling the enchantment. Once they do so, it will only be a matter of time before we can restore them.”
Falith made some noises of disbelief, before moving onto other gossip while Ari considered her minor ommision. Their mages studying the trapped souls of the children had found a workable solution. Just a few hours inside the sarcophagus and they’d be able to untangle it. All they needed was for Perry to send back the detonation sequence the matriarch had built in, so they didn’t set it off. Even so, they were searching for other solutions, in case the matriarch of house Fores’thall didn’t offer it up.
"My dear, you look a great deal overworked," Falith said, drawing Ari out of her thoughts and back into the moment.
"Oh no, I'm hardly overworked,” Ari said despite having recently thought she could use more time to herself.
"Are you certain? You know I have quite a lot of experience handling my family. If there's anything we can help you with, simply let me know dear."
Ari wanted to snort at that. Considering how much difficulty the woman had already given her in regards to pretty much everything, she couldn't see her help being better or offsetting the amount of additional hassle the woman caused.
“Thank you for the offer. I will consider it,” Ari said, not at all planning to do so. Though there was a niggling little voice that said Faltih was precisely the sort of labor she’d been moaning she was short on. Treacherous little thought that it was. Still Ari knew better than to trust Falith with that sort of power. She was far from being overwhelmed or overlooked.
Oh heavens, forgive me if that thought comes back to bite me, Ari thought subtly tugging twice on her braid to unjinx herself.
The matriarch continued sipping calmly, even as Falith once more expounded at length on her and her family’s usefullness.
Once the meeting with the matriarch was over, Ari got to spend time giving a dragon a tour of their burgeoning empire.
Ari was wondering if maybe she could find a way to join Perry’s hunt afterall.