Proofread by Thomas F
"The gate will take you to Kairos, the hidden city," informed the woman as she stood beside the gate.
I simply nodded and walked toward it, while inside my heart beat wildly. I will be going to Kairos, the hidden city, which only a select few ever get to visit.
There is a reason, it is called the hidden city.
I reached the gate—wrought of grey crystal, its surface alive with shifting light. At its heart yawned a hollow core, filled with a wavering veil of water that shimmered like living glass.
There is not a single rune, I could see. It's not an artifact, but a magical construct.
I took a step inside; I shouldn't do this without asking about it. Teleportation gates are dangerous. It is a spatial travel, where the slightest mistake could tear me into a million pieces.
There is no dearth of powerful people who have stepped inside and disappeared forever.
I didn't ask a single question; I am not even thinking about it. All I am thinking about is getting to the destination, but it's going to take a while.
I entered inside and everything darkened. It was the darkest I had ever seen.
Even the teleportation gates in Archmage towers were nothing but flash.
The darkness lasted for eleven seconds before the flash of light appeared, and I found myself standing on the grass in the middle of a garden.
It couldn't help but surprise me. I had expected to appear at another teleportation gate, but instead, I found myself outside, with not a single sign of any tool around.
Around me was a garden, the most beautiful one I had ever seen. It feels like every blade of grass here is on purpose; there is not even a hint of imperfection here.
I didn't hesitate to admit. It is more beautiful than the mist garden that surrounds my legacy.
"Welcome to Kairos, Lord Silver," a melodious accented voice rang out in my ears, and I turned to my right.
There I saw the woman sitting in a lounge chair, looking at me with a smile. She looked to be in her twenties, around twenty-one, twenty-two.
She has long green hair that feels like the actual shade of forest, with streaks of black mixed in it. Her eyes are heterochromatic, with one being a vibrant green and the other a dark black.
She has an angular face with high cheekbones, but nobody would call her an elf, nor do they look human.
They are too delicate. Like god had carved it himself.
Aside from the beauty and strangeness of her features, she didn't seem different from a human or even an elf. She didn't have any features that I have seen in paintings and murals.
She seemed to read my thoughts as her smile became knowing.
"Your excellency, Aurialeth," I greeted with a faint bow.
I could have used the ancient title and used the real name, which I can pronounce. Greeted the way Bell had made me practice, but I decided to go with a modern way.
I used the name they use in the outside world, instead of their real one.
"Take a seat, Lord Silver," she said, looking at the garden chair in front of her. "Thank you, your excellency," I replied, before sitting down on the chair.
The weaved garden is simple, with a small table situated between the plants. On the table is a familiar file, the same one I had sent her.
She didn't speak immediately, nor did I open my mouth. It has nothing to do with strategy; I am just busy gazing at the most beautiful garden I have ever seen without moving my eyes from her.
"That is one good artifact you have," she said, looking at the ring on the back of my hand. "It is," I replied, with faint pride that I couldn't help but leak out of my voice.
She smiled at that; there seemed to be meaning to it.
"I hope you will develop it well. Forge seeds are things of wonder, but most people couldn't develop them to their full potential."
Her words sent a shiver through my body.
I have never told anyone outside about it; only a few people, who are the most trusted, but here this woman was able to know with a single glance.
I felt bare and wanted to run away. Lest this woman uncover more secrets, but I forcefully calmed myself.
"I will try," I replied, keeping my voice as even as possible.
She didn't say anything to that and picked up the thick dossier from the table before looking at me.
"I have to say, you have quite an ambition, Lord Silver," she said finally, regarding me with an inquisitive smile.
"What is a man without an ambition, your excellency?" I replied, meeting her eyes with quite conviction, despite feeling the storm in my heart due to her earlier words.
"Can your legacy even support that? The amount of essence required to grow such a large number of plants would be colossal. It would be akin to the essence produced by the four average Grade IV thrones," she asked.
"Well, five, if we used the specific plants," she added, looking at me intently without losing a smile.
I am not surprised. I didn't mention the amount of essence it requires. Though I had guessed it would be at most worth three average Grade IV thrones.
Five might make me sweat a little, but I could manage by making a few adjustments.
I didn't reply to her question. Instead, I took out the folded page and gave it to her. She took it, but arched her brow in question.
"This is a blueprint of the new tower; around 70% of it will be covered with the power of legacy," I stated.
A moment later, the page flew out of her hand, and it unfurled, before pale green covered it. A few seconds after that, a 3D blueprint appeared.
A surprise couldn't help but appear in my eyes. It was a standard blueprint, but she created a three-dimensional model of it within seconds, and the thing is, I didn't sense any magic at all.
I may not feel mana as sensitively as the mages, but I am very sensitive to spells. If mana took form, I would sense it, but here I didn't.
I looked at her and saw her studying the blueprint with focus.
She did that for over a minute before she turned to me with her eyes serious.
"You are declaring that around 70% of this will be covered by the power of legacy?" she asked. "Yes," I replied.
"Will the core of your legacy be able to absorb all the emotions released in it?" she asked. "Yes," I replied, with a slight smile leaking out of my lips as I saw the shock flash in her eyes for a fraction of a second.
"To build this, you will have to close the legacy for around a year or more," she pointed out, and I smiled. "It's why I have the pawn. It will be enough to support the growth of nascent plants." I replied.
"To do it efficiently, we will need to grow the vines first. Using diluted essence directly will be enormously inefficient," she stated, and I shook my head.
There is another thing, I didn't mention in the dossier.
"There is no need for vine; I have gotten the skills to send it into the area around the legacy directly," I replied while I took out another file and handed it to her.
I didn't mention these in the dossier because I didn't want it to leak.
There are only five people who know about these abilities: Carla, the three, and Valentina.
She read and she read faster; faster than me. She flipped page after page, and once more, shock appeared in her eyes.
She finally finished and turned to me; I could feel the heaviness in her eyes. That feels kind of suffocating. Not suffocating, but I felt like I was being looked at by a hazardous monster that could eat me up.
Looking at her, I could feel nothing. The only thing I could think of is instincts that are screaming at me.
"It seems like I have to throw away the offer I had prepared," she said, not with regret. A smile appeared on her face, a genuine one. It's clear she had thought something.
I was about to ask her when she got up.
"Come, Lord Silver, let me show you something. That very few get to see,"
Hearing that, my heart began to beat excitedly, and I got up without hesitation.
As I did, a silvery rectangle with a translucent screen appeared in front of me. She boldly walked through it, but I hesitated for a moment before following.
I am shocked to my heart, because that was no tool, but a spell.
Teleportation spells are hard to cast, but that's not what shocked me. What is shocking is that it is not a targeted spell, but a stationary spell, and that is another league above in difficulty when it comes to teleportation.
There was only a moment of darkness before I appeared in the real world.
Around me stand tall trees, but when I looked at them, a shock appeared in my eyes. These are trees with a glittering fungus over them.
"Is it Rekam Agarwood?" I asked, looking shocked at the tree. It is one of the rarest trees, very hard to grow. Alchemists are mad for it, willing to pay any price for its wood or essential oil produced from it.
"No, it is Vireth Agarwood; it's much rarer and harder to grow than Rekam," she replied, shocking me further.
She began to walk, and I followed, looking at tens, no hundreds, of Vireth Agarwood trees around me. All of them are mature or near maturity.
Soon, we passed an invisible boundary, and things became hotter with brighter lights.
The trees changed as well; they are still agarwood, but a different kind. However, considering the emotions they evoke, they are just as precious as the earlier agarwood trees.
We walked silently, passing through an invisible biome to another.
I looked through nine species of agarwood before the tree changed to sandalwood. I recognized this one as I read about an incident related to these trees.
A century and a half ago, in Nezar, two kingdoms had fought over it when they discovered a few hundred of them at the edge of an extreme magic region.
"What is this place?" I asked after a few minutes, with a voice full of wonder. I have witnessed enough wealth to spark a war between the kingdoms.
I felt I was only seeing a fraction of this place, which shook me even further.
"This is my family's grove." She replied simply.
Aurialeth roughly translates into Emerald Forest. It is a High House that specializes in plant magic. They have knowledge and the spells that not even Archmage City has.
They are an ancient house, far older than Archmage City or any kingdom on the continent.
Only a few places, such as Belnin or Daeot in the Baxzar dominion, could be compared to them in age.
"It is magnificent," I complimented as we stepped into the valley of colorful roses. Some grow openly, while others grow in small, invisible biomes.
"It took effort, generation after generation. Even when it was destroyed, my family built it over and over," she said with her voice going quiet.
For a few minutes, there was silence before we reached the lake that was filled with lotuses and lilies.
"I will offer you these rare plans, the legacy seeds of the vault, some of which only our house possesses in the whole world, experts and resources to grow them," she stated as she turned to me.
It excited me like never before; I wanted to shout out loud and jump in joy.
This will help me tremendously. Far more than my original plan. As I had thought that, I became somber; This woman will not give me this without strings attached.
"In exchange?" I asked after a long silence.
"60% for a century, 30% in perpetuity," she replied. The strings are greater than I thought—no, not strings, but bloody ropes.
"Or we could go back to our old deal, with plants you had proposed," she added, but she knows as I do. That proposal was dead the moment I stepped in here.
"20% for the century and 10% for perpetuity," I replied, but she laughed.
"I am sure you talked to others. Did they even propose a hint of something like this?" the woman asked, and I simply shook my head.
She is right; the others might provide me with a proposal, but not this. On the continent, no one has such a collection. There is also the issue of trust.
Her house is mostly fair in dealings. It is just experience, but also my own research and information from Bell.
"I am offering you very generous terms. Given the risks your city possesses," she said, and this time, it is my turn to laugh.
If they give me this, they will damn well make sure they get their investment back. Nothing short of an incursion will stop them from getting what they are promised.
It won't matter whether the undead conquer the city, or the Imperials, or Tabes.
"Fine, I will be more generous. Half for a century and 25% for perpetuity," she offered.
"25% for the century, 15% perpetuity," I replied, and her expression turned serious.
"That is just insulting, Lord Silver," she said. "This is all I can offer, your excellency, or we could go back to the old deal as you suggested," I replied firmly.
I want it and I am willing to sign even a perpetual contract, but on fair terms.
They might have precious plants that only they have, but I have the level of essence that only I could produce and do without any restrictions.
They will not find anyone other than me.
These plants are precious, and they would become even more valuable after absorbing the essence.
I could only imagine what others are willing to pay for these things. Forget selling, just the news of it would attract the talent from all over.
Also, I am not bluffing when I said I am willing to go back to the old deal. I will, if she disagrees.
"40% for the century, 25% perpetuity," she stated. "No," I replied. As I had already stated, I will not be able to offer her more than what I already said.
She can take it or leave it.
"Fine," she finally accepted, and my heart started to beat again. I might have been stone-faced, but my heart had stopped waiting for her answer.
It is a fair deal. I will acquire precious plants, which will yield centuries of returns on their investment.