Ramik invited Elijah to breakfast, but he was forced by his full stomach to refuse. Instead, he left the goblin mayor to manage his city. For a while, he just wandered. Mostly, he stuck to the docks, where he spent almost half an hour admiring the huge ships and busy workers. Whatever anyone else had to say about the people of Ironshore, they were industrious. From the mines to the whalers, and everyone in between, they knew how to get work done. It was a commendable quality, especially in the context of everything else Elijah had seen. In more than a few cities, the bulk of the population was content to get a few levels – enough to protect them against most diseases – then settle in for a longer life than they ever could have expected before. Complacency was a real problem. Elijah understood the draw, too. He had plenty of experience with the apathy that came from a lack of purpose. Most people just weren’t built to strive. Sure, they could do so in bursts. And many would go on and on about their plans for tomorrow. But humanity as a whole was afflicted by the disease of procrastination, and a good many would only do as much as they needed to acquire a life of relative comfort. There were a lot of others who’d go in the opposite direction. Elijah usually surrounded himself with such people. Not by conscious choice, but rather, because those were the ones who ended up with power. Especially in a world where nepotism wasn’t really a path to strength. Would that always be the case? Obviously not. Already, he’d seen what he could do to help people with cultivation, and Elijah wasn’t so naïve as to believe that others couldn’t offer their own assistance. Even something as simple as proper advice could put someone on a very different path. But for now, everyone who had power had gotten it of their own accord. Even Nico, who was easy to see as a parasite, had worked for his power. Hopefully, the world would figure out how to manage human nature, or Earth would have a long path ahead of it. In any case, after only half an hour, Elijah felt the children gathering in the grove, so he leaped into the air, bounded higher with Cloud Step, then transformed into the Shape of the Sky. By that point, he was hundreds of feet above even the tallest building in Ironshore, so he escaped the worst of the residents’ notice. He flapped his wings a couple of times, then sped across the strait to his island. He circled above the grove a few times before deciding that everyone had arrived. Then, he swooped lower, transforming back into his human form, then touched down at the base of the tree. He even managed a superhero landing, which he hoped would impress the children. When he looked up, he saw that it had. They stared at him with a mixture of awe and fear, eyes wide and mouths agape. He’d have preferred more of the former than the latter, but he guessed that both were useful. There were twenty-three kids there. Almost a third of the total number of new members of the grove. Nara was there as well, looking as patient as ever. She had plenty of experience dealing with children. “Gather ‘round,” he coaxed, straightening to his full height. “Not too close. I need a little room.” The kids tentatively approached. The elven children were clearly more anxious than the others, which wasn’t surprising. Despite seeing him in passing, they’d not really interacted with him. “I’m Elijah Hart. Some of you know me,” he said, focusing on Rosabella. She was only a little taller than she’d been when they’d first met what felt like a lifetime ago, but her features had matured. As a gnome, she’d never grow much larger. Elijah got the impression she was the oldest among the group, though there was a good chance that came from her commanding demeanor. She had long since established herself as the leader of the group from Ironshore, and Elijah suspected the elves would soon defer to her as well. Such was the force of her personality. “But I think it would be helpful if you’d all go around and introduce yourselves,” he said. He pointed at an elven boy that couldn’t have been more than seven years old. “Starting with you. Tell me your name and something about yourself.” “Uh…I’m…I’m Elendel,” the boy answered after a few moments. His voice quivered with every word. He looked to his friends for support, but they offered none. “People usually just call me Del. I…I don’t know what else to say.” Elijah had expected as much. He sat, crossing his legs casually. “How about this? What’s your favorite animal?” “I like turtles,” he answered in a small voice. “Me too!” Elijah said. “Did you know I can turn into a turtle?” “Do you want to see it?” Elijah asked. “Awesome. When we finish the introductions, we’ll head over to the beach. How’s that sound?” he asked. The young elven boy nodded enthusiastically, though his smile was still shy. Elijah hoped that seeing the Shape of the Sea would break some of the barriers he’d erected. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from NovelHub. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Some of the elven children had lost parents. Siblings. They’d been through so much, and Elijah only wanted them to feel safe and welcome. To that end, he went through the rest of the children, and as it turned out, the “tell me about yourself” portion turned into a “what’s your favorite animal?” competition. Most of them, Elijah had heard of, but a few were clearly native to the region where they’d built their village. Or, in some of the older children’s cases, their home world of Kashii. Once they’d finished introductions, Elijah led them on a little field trip across the grove. He didn’t go toward the dock, but rather, to the beach near the tunnel that led to the cultivation cave. As he did so, he pointed out the island’s natives, paying special attention to the fluffy bunnies and even getting one of the foxes to approach. Predictably, the kids loved the cute and cuddly animals. Even when they moved on, the fox continued to follow one of the children. From what he could tell, the foxes weren’t particularly aggressive. They could defend themselves, and they certainly weren’t tame. But they were far more tolerant of people than any mundane fox would have been before Earth’s transformation. Their nature walk took almost an hour, and during that time, Elijah was once again reminded of just how magnificent the island had become. Normally, he crossed the territory as quickly as possible so he could get wherever he was going, but in doing so, he neglected the wonder of it all. Seeing that reflected in the children’s faces was enough to remind him of what he’d been missing. Eventually, they reached the beach, where one of the crabs drew the children’s attention. The dull creature approached them curiously, though Elijah knew better than to allow it to get too close. It wasn’t equipped to distinguish between friend and foe, after all. So, he held it at arm’s length as he described their development. “They started off only a few inches across,” he explained. “About as big as Rosabella’s hand.” Helpfully, the gnomish girl held up her hand, a self-serious expression on her face. “Right. But by the time I washed ashore, they were almost a foot wide. Do you know what my first experience with them was?” None of the children ventured a guess. “They tried to eat me!” “I ran away, and they stayed on the beach,” he went on. “But then I had to worry about surviving. Nobody was around. I had to find food and water and shelter. Even then, I wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for the panther.” He went on to give the kids a sanitized version of his first year on the island. He held back on the brutality of it all, focusing on his experiences with the wildlife. When he had finished, he asked, “So, who wants to see my turtle form?” Every single hand shot up. “Okay – clear the way. I need about…I don’t know. Fifty feet or so.” Nara helped usher the kids to a safe distance. Then, Elijah shifted into the Shape of the Sea. Most of the children had already seen it. In fact, he’d given the elves a ride on his back the first time they’d visited the island. But he suspected that, back then, they’d been too afraid to truly appreciate it. They were not so terrified now that they had grown more comfortable with him. Certainly, they approached with some tentativeness, but it wasn’t that long before they were climbing across his back like he was a jungle gym. “Okay, who wants to go for a ride?” he asked. The kids shouted in excitement, and he headed into the surf. In moments, he’d accelerated to about a quarter of his top speed. Any faster, and the kids would likely go tumbling into the ocean. As it was, they were forced to grip the ridges of his shell to prevent that eventuality. It was almost an hour later that Elijah swam back to shore. Once the children had disembarked, he shifted back to his human form. “Pretty cool, right? Who wants to see my other shapes?” As it turned out, they were even more excited about that than Shape of the Sea. Elijah showed them all each form, though they elicited very different reactions. For Shape of the Sky, there was awe. With Shape of Thorn, fear. And the scourgedrake form sent a few of the children to cower behind Nara. But the real hit was Shape of the Master. Elijah wasn’t sure if it was because that form was so much smaller or if, with its salamander-like features, more approachable. Whichever case, the kids loved it. All in all, the presentation of his various forms took the better part of four hours, some of which was devoted to explanations of their origins. He didn’t know much about any of them, but he told the kids what he’d discovered. He also explained their purpose – keeping the gorier details to himself. And in the end, it accomplished precisely what he’d intended. Not only did it ignite their sense of wonder, but it was also educational. Maybe even formative. Then, he showed them some of his other spells. The kids loved the sunflower that came with Blessing of the Grove, but the biggest reaction came when he used Nature’s Design to usher a juvenile tree to adulthood, cramming two years’ worth of development into half an hour. They watched it all in awe, entranced by the display. Even Nara was impressed, though Elijah suspected she was capable of doing something similar. He still didn’t know her class, but he’d already surmised that it was not devoted to combat. As such, it didn’t take a leap of logic to suspect that she was dedicated to management of the grove. When he finally finished, the kids were absolutely exhausted. It reminded him of his youth, when he’d spent days at the beach with his family. The combination of excitement, the hot sun, and manic childhood energy was uniquely draining. The young members of the grove ended up like that, and when they returned inland, they were like zombies. Thankfully, they didn’t have far to go to get home. In many cases, their families had relocated to the grove. The others boarded a boat meant to take them back to Ironshore. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel_fіre.net For the ones who lived in the grove, Nerthus had completed the first block of dwellings, which he claimed were temporary in nature. Soon, he intended to reveal his plans for a proper settlement. Elijah awaited that with a mixture of awe and dread. The first, because he knew it would be impressive. The second, because he suspected it would require his input. And with everything else he had going on, he didn’t have time for that kind of thing. Even spending the day with the kids – as valuable as it was – was probably a waste of time. But he didn’t regret it. Not only had it given them some context for their future, it had also served as a cathartic moment for Elijah. He’d just spent weeks purging his mind of trauma, so he knew just how important adding good memories to the mix would end up being. Now, though, he needed to shift his focus. The Primal Realms awaited. So did the situation in Seattle, though he expected it would be a while before Gunnar uncovered the root of the conspiracy to kill him. If he didn’t just flee, though Elijah didn’t believe that would happen. Oddly, he trusted the assassin to keep his word. Probably a mistake, but he felt strongly about it. “Thank you,” Nara said when the kids were gone. “You didn’t have to do that much.” Elijah grinned. “It was my pleasure. Is there anything else that needs my immediate attention?” he asked. “Good. I’m going to spend a couple of hours in the hot tub, then get some rest,” he informed her. “Because tomorrow, I need to get back to work.”