“First things first,” Elijah said, leaning forward in his seat. Atticus’ assistant had already come by to offer them coffee, and despite Elijah’s attempt to get things moving, he’d waited until he had a steaming cup in front of him. “What have you heard about the meeting last week?”

  As Atticus repositioned himself, he let out a small groan of displeasure. “You should have warned me,” he responded, leaning back. “Those people are a nightmare to deal with.”

  “Sorry,” Elijah said, taking a sip. He was surprised at how richly flavored it was. “This is good. Where did you get it?”

  “A city called Bonga,” he said. “Used to be Ethiopia. But the real secret ingredient is chicory.”

  Elijah nodded. He’d had chicory coffee before when he’d visited New Orleans, but for whatever reason, this tasted different. Not quite as bitter, though just as richly flavored.

  “I definitely need to get some, then,” he said. “Now – what about the deal?”

  As it turned out, Atticus had his hands full dealing with a bunch of world leaders. However, he claimed that they were making good progress toward a deal to manage access to the Primal Realms as well as a plan to safeguard the trees.

  “The real problem is the guilds. They claim they already had a deal in place.”

  Elijah sighed. He’d anticipated a few snags, largely because everyone was flying by the seat of their pants. There was no great plan. Everyone had taken a reactive approach. As such, the previous deal Elijah had made with the guilds was both shortsighted and inadequate for their current needs.

  “Things change. They have to recognize that.”

  “They do,” Atticus replied, taking a sip of his own coffee. He let out a sigh of appreciation. “It’s just a negotiation tactic. We’ll get it sorted out, my friend. Don’t worry.”

  “Sooner rather than later,” Elijah reminded him. “This can’t drag on for years. We need a deal in place.”

  Left unsaid was that, without such a deal, Elijah would be forced to split his focus between protecting the trees and conquering Primal Realms. Considering that they were quickly running out of time, it was in everyone’s best interests to keep his mind on the latter.

  But people were greedy. Self-interest was the default. So, Atticus had his work cut out for him.

  “It will get done,” Atticus stated. He was a jovial sort, but when it came to negotiations, he was just as much of a fighter as any combatant. He would make it work, even if he had to drag everyone over the finish line himself.

  After that, they moved on to the reason Elijah had come. Often, it was frustrating, not being able to identify items himself. He could usually gauge an item’s power well enough, but beyond that, he was lost.

  Thankfully, Atticus was an expert, and not just because of his class. He could have made a good living just from item identification.

  The stone desk – which was a bit of a monstrosity – turned out to be a variant of Atticus’ old identification table. So, Elijah only needed to place the item onto the surface to allow his friend to appraise it.

  The first up was the one Elijah was most excited about:

  “The quality of your loot never ceases to amaze me,” Atticus remarked with a shake of his head. “These gloves are priceless.”

  Of course, they weren’t true gloves. Instead, they were most similar to his Footwraps of the Wild Revenant, and they reminded him a little of MMA gloves. They were fingerless, padded, and lightweight. The biggest difference was that they were quite a lot heavier. In fact, if they weighed less than a hundred pounds apiece, he would have been very surprised. They also featured built-in forearm guards made of hardened leather that could easily turn most blades.

  The guards featured subtle gold inlayed into the dark green leather, though it was so worn that Elijah couldn’t discern the pattern.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Too bad they’re already bound, right?” Elijah remarked.

  “Indeed.”

  Regardless, Elijah wasn’t very concerned with looks. Instead, he most cared about the practical benefits. The attribute bonuses were quite high, even in the context of his recent advancements, but the real advantage came from the traits. He could already think of plenty of uses for Hand of Nature, which he suspected would mix quite well with abilities like Throne of Spores. And Heavy Handed was a nice bonus that reminded him of the Weighted Gloves he’d long since discarded.

  Yet, if Elijah was honest with himself, he was most excited about Absolute Grasp. That was one trait he’d very much regretted losing when he’d evolved Shape of Venom into Shape of the Scourge. And he was eager to test it out to see if there were any restrictions.

  It was too bad they didn’t feature the ability to conceal them like the Weighted Gloves or his Antlers of the Wild Revenant possessed. When he said as much to Atticus, the Merchant just shook his head and said something about a lack of appreciation.

  Next up were the various seeds he’d gotten in the Hollow Depths and the Broken Crown. Most of them were slightly magical variants of mundane plants, usually with modifiers like “depths” or “deep” in the name. Atticus helpfully labeled them all so Elijah wouldn’t get them mixed up.

  There were two standouts, though. The first was an acorn-shaped seed that identified as an Ironpine Seed. According to Atticus, it was a very rare wood that only grew in earth-attuned places.

  “And even then, their seeds are usually only Simple-Grade. This is Low Complex,” Atticus explained. “Where did you find it?”

  “The Hollow Depths,” Elijah answered, trying to remember the exact location. He thought it came from somewhere near the vast subterranean sea he’d passed, but he wasn’t entirely certain. “I wonder if it will grow on the surface.”

  “It should. There are some in the forests to the south of the Elemental Maelstrom,” Atticus provided. If anyone would know, it was him. He probably traded for the wood. “Do you want to sell it?”

  Elijah shook his head. “I’m going to plant it on my island,” he revealed. “I think it’ll fit nicely with some of the other earth-attuned treasures.”

  Atticus just shook his head at the mention of multiple natural treasures. Most people would have been set for life with just one, but Elijah’s island hosted dozens of high-grade treasures. And that wasn’t even considering the naturally occurring plants that bordered on that designation.

  The other interesting seed was predictably the pinecone-like strobilus, which identified as a Void Cone. More importantly, it was a high Complex-Grade item, which was absolutely unheard-of for something of its nature. It wasn’t a stretch to predict that, provided it was cared for properly and the seeds contained within were planted in the right location, it would grow into a Sophisticated-Grade raw material. And not a weak version, either.

  What was even more interesting was its description, which said that it, “straddled the line between the abyss and the domain of the World Tree.” Elijah knew it was a truly unique item, and one with which he wouldn’t soon part, even if he had no idea what he was going to do with it.

  After all, Nerthus had already nixed the idea of planting it in the grove.

  Whatever the case, it was an amazing item, and Elijah was eager to figure out a way to study the tree it would become. Or trees. After all, there were multiple seeds inside the cone. Maybe he’d one day grow an entire grove of such trees.

  Soon enough, they moved on to far less interesting items – like the small hill of armaments he’d taken from various vespirans throughout his time in the Broken Crown. A lot of it had been ruined by ill treatment, but there were enough pieces in there that it took a couple of hours to identify everything.

  Unfortunately, none of it was particularly high quality. Even the various weapons that had been wielded by elites were no better than low Complex-Grade, and their only interesting traits were enhanced durability. Still, Atticus offered to buy the lot, and for a not-insignificant sum. Elijah had no use for any of it, so he had no issues offloading it to the Merchant.

  Maybe Atticus could help the items find a good home.

  Next up was the Soil of Reclamation:

  “That’s it?” Elijah asked, staring at the description.

  “That’s it.”

  He frowned. Aside from learning that it was peak Sophisticated-grade, there really wasn’t much in the way of information. Though even that small bit was enough to tell Elijah that it was incredibly interesting. He just wished he knew what to do with it.

  After that, Elijah only had a few other odds and ends in his Arcane Loop, and none of it worth anything.

  “You truly will pick up anything, won’t you?” asked Atticus, holding up a small, glowing rock. It didn’t emit a speck of ethera, but Elijah had hoped it would be worth something. It was not.

  “I’m kind of a pack rat,” he admitted. “Anyway – I think that’s it. Unless you want to identify some pemmican.”

  “Not today, my friend.”

  After another moment, Elijah asked, “So, how are you doing? How is business? And more importantly, how is married life?”

  Atticus let out another sigh before going into how Selene had changed his life. The most notable transformation was with his diet. “Apparently, she was a health nut even before the world’s transformation, and she thinks diet is very important for high performers,” he revealed. “Lots of fruit and not nearly enough alcohol. She also put a stop to some of my…ah…more revelrous nights.”

  Elijah laughed. “How did you two meet, anyway?”

  “During one of those revelrous nights.”

  “So she knows exactly what you get up to, then?” Elijah asked. “No wonder she wants to put a stop to them.”

  “I cannot argue with that logic. Still…ah, I can’t complain, though. She truly is the love of my life.”

  After hearing a bit more about Atticus’ marriage, talk turned back to business. Chiefly, the founding of Elijah’s charity. He’d chosen to call it the Hartwood Foundation, which, in retrospect, made sense. Still, Elijah had hoped for something less focused on him and his grove.

  When he said as much, Atticus countered, “Your name is what gives it legitimacy. The inclusion of that name has already enticed a host of other donors. None as prominent as you, my friend, but every little bit helps.”

  Elijah rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess that makes sense.”

  “Our operations are still growing, but Selene has taken the lead in managing it,” he explained. “She has some experience with charities, so she knows how to get the most out of your money. At present, we’ve established a dozen clinics – staffed by Healers from the Temple of Virtue – across five different cities. We have also built twice as many food banks, and there are plans for a few schools and orphanages. Trust me – your money will not go to waste.”

  That was a relief. After spending two days healing people in New York, Elijah was well aware of just how much the shortage of true Healers had affected the downtrodden. Filling that gap was the primary reason he’d founded the charity, but feeding and educating people was a close second.

  Atticus went over a few more details before conversation turned to less positive things. “The Daughters of Deianira trace their roots back to Argos, unfortunately. They have since moved on, though they still have a moderate presence in the city,” he stated before explaining that, in Greek mythology, Deianira was the wife of Heracles. She was also his unwitting murderer.

  “What do they want? Why would they hire someone to kill me?” Elijah asked.

  “I don’t know, but my guess is that they wanted free reign in Seattle. There is no better way to get that than to aim someone like you at the man keeping the city under surveillance,” Atticus stated. “But the tie back to Argos suggests that something else might be at play. Something personal, perhaps.”

  Elijah shook his head. “I don’t remember offending anyone here.”

  “It only takes one,” Atticus stated. “I run an honest business, and I’ve lost count of my enemies. Sometimes, it is born of simple jealousy. Understandable. Other times, it comes from being on the wrong end of a business deal. And in other situations, it is the result of misunderstandings.” He leaned back. “The point is that there is no way to know until you ask them.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Elijah agreed.

  “When will you go to Seattle?”

  “A day or two at most. I might go when I’m done here.”

  “Then there is no time to waste,” Atticus said, pushing himself to his feet.

  “Uh…what are you talking about?”

  “Revelry, my friend. Selene will understand if I take one night to entertain an old friend!”

  If you'd like to read more of Path of Dragons, we're almost two full books ahead (book 14 just started) on Patreon. That's 165+ extra chapters, so a ton of extra content for those of you who can't wait to see what Elijah will get up to. Anyway - check it out .

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