CHAPTER 142: FIRST PICK [1]

Two months of calm did not change Clayton’s habits.

He kept to the same schedule that he created for himself as soon as he finalized his goals since getting his Aspect and returning to earth.

All he did was ramp up the intensity and add a pinch of more consistency

He woke up before dawn, walked the walls of the Rootsite, and he listened to the roots. He trained till sweat darkened the bark along his ribs. He spoke with guards and growers and healers, then he stared at plans until the sun burned low.

The Third Trial was close. He could feel it in the pull of the Heartseed. It was a steady drum now, not a whisper.

After he defeated Korrath, he felt the resonant hum clearer than ever before. And he still remembered the requirements that he saw after entering the Nexus vault with his companions.

Trial Three allowed a minimum of only three challengers, and a maximum of five. This meant that Clayton couldn’t carry an army into the trial, though he never intended for that from the beginning.

He would take five.

That meant four people would follow him, and the rest would hold the line at home. After the recent fame that he gained after killing Korrath, Clayton knew that leaving his Rootsite behind was dangerous, but it was not a choice.

It was a necessity.

If he wanted to get answers to all the questions that he had, he needed to challenge the third trial of the Genesis Protocols. Besides, despite how powerful he currently was, Clayton had no delusion that he was strong enough to take on the true big players of the world yet.

The greatest warriors of humanity, the strongest Verdant Lords were those who already attained the exalted Verdant Waden Rank.

This is why tonight, he decided that he would choose the first.

But first, he needed the Rootsite to stand without him. Before leaving to challenge Trial III, Clayton wanted to fortify the Rootsite even more.

The Verdant Spire rose like a tree wrapped around a tower. Roots gripped alloy, vines linked balconies like bridges, and bioluminescent flowers lit the paths.

Inside the top hall, a green map covered the floor, a living moss that cut into districts of Atlanta and New Chicago. Thin vein-lines pulsed where supply ran. Brighter knots marked wells, clinics, mills, and watch posts.

Clayton knelt by the map.

He touched a pulsing knot and closed his eyes. The Aphid Network answered, flooding him with small sights. He saw tin roofs and lamp glow, even a sleeping child, and a patrol warming hands near a root-fed brazier.

The city was alive and under his shade.

He stood and spoke to the circle around him; Lorn, Veyra, Kaelin, Soren, Harrick, Mirra, and Torren. All Luminous Seed, all trusted.

"We may be gone for weeks," Clayton said. "Maybe more. The Third Trial will pull hard and long. If I want to challenge it, I have to start preparing now, not later."

No one argued.

He pointed to the outer ring on the map. "First, beacons."

"Night Spires?" Kaelin asked.

"Yes. Twelve." Clayton tapped each point. "We anchor living pylons here, here, and here. If a beacon falls or sees enemy movement, it sings through the roots. The whole network will know in a breath."

"I’ll place the first four before dawn," Kaelin said. "No one will see me."

"Take two Initiates," Veyra said. "If you trip something ugly, I want you to come back."

Kaelin gave her a look, then he shrugged. "Fine. One."

"Two," she said.

"Two," he agreed.

Clayton moved his finger inward. "Second, supply caches."

"Already started," Harrick said. "We have five dry stores under the mills. Two more under the west steps. Enough ember-grain and fungusfruit to keep the city five weeks even if the markets go dark."

"Double it," Clayton said. "Seal three caches under earth. No metal doors, all of it should be fortified by roots".

Harrick nodded.

Clayton continued. "Third, rotations."

Soren crossed his arms. "I’ll break the watch into six blocks of four hours. No one stays on post more than two blocks per day. We stagger meal times so a random strike cannot catch an empty wall."

"Run drills," Clayton said. "Ambush, fire, null, stampede, I want every likely scenario accounted for. I don’t want them being caught lacking in the case of an emergency when I’m not around".

"Understood," Soren replied. "I’ll arrange it".

"Such a plan is extremely brutal to regular Awakened, it’ll push them to the limits of their endurance and willpower... but it’s brutal but clean," Torren said with a grin.

"Brutal saves lives," Soren answered.

"Fourth, medical," Clayton raised four fingers.

Mirra straightened. "We’re low on silver moss and burn paste. I can stretch the roots, but I need fresh ashcap and blue film."

"Take four runners," Lorn said. "Use the north shade path. I’ll grow a veil over the trail."

Mirra nodded. "I’ll train twenty more hands for field dressing. They won’t be healers, but they’ll keep people alive until one of us arrives."

"Good," Clayton said.

"Fifth, shields," Veyra added. She touched three inner knots on the moss map. "These plazas are chokepoints. We build sliding root walls and hinged thicket gates. We also shape arrow lanes, and we mount thorn-cannons on the ledges."

Torren laughed softly. "Listen to the archer planning walls."

"Walls buy me time to shoot," Veyra said, unbothered.

Clayton met her eyes. "Do it."

"Sixth, eyes," Kaelin said. "I’ll seed shadow marks in the alleys. If a spy follows our lines, the marks will drink their footsteps. If they come in numbers, the marks whisper to me."

Clayton turned to Lorn. "Seventh, hearts."

Lorn understood. "I’ll keep the city calm. I’ll make sure that food lines clean, and that clinic lines are short. No rumors without correction, no fear left to rot. If a whisper curdles, I’ll be there first."

Clayton nodded once.

He looked at Torren. "Eighth, teeth."

Torren’s smile sharpened. "Green Wardens are ready. Four squads, eight to a squad, all Initiate Ember and above. If something pushes, we’ll hit back hard immediately. If something bigger tries the walls, we cut it down."

"Ninth, laws," Soren said, surprising them. "While you’re gone, we need simple rules. Curfew lines if alarms sound. Non-combatants to the second level. Fighters to markers three and five. No running into the streets, and no hero charges. Afterall, we don’t want foolish deaths all in the name of playing hero".

Hearing that, Clayton could not help a smile splitting his face. He remembered a time when Soren was exactly what he just described.

’I guess it’s not just me who’s growing,’ he thought. ’We’re all growing’.

"Write it," Clayton eventually said. "Keep it short."

Soren nodded.

Clayton looked around. "That’s all that I have at the forefront of my mind, is there anything that any of you wants to add?"

"Two more," Veyra said at once. "Bunkers and bridges, very important".

Clayton nodded seriously. "Yes," after a bit of thought, he added. "We can shape three deep bunkers under the Spire for children and elders. We can also plant three living bridges between rooftops so people can cross if the streets flood with enemies or fire."

"I’ll grow them," Lorn said.

"I’ll test them," Harrick added.

"And I’ll stand on them," Torren grinned.

"Last thing," Kaelin said. "I want decoys, false rootlines and dummy patrols. If someone maps our habits, let them map," he grinned. "Afterall, all that they’ll map is lies."

"Do it," Clayton said without hesitation. He didn’t even need to think to understand how that could be important to the defense of the Rootsite.

The room went quiet. Now, the plan felt solid. It felt like a spine.

Clayton drew Regalia and pressed the blade to the map. The weapon’s thorns bit gently into the moss. A pulse raced out from the point and lit the beacon sites with soft green. The plan bonded to the network.

"With this, the Rootsite will hold," he said. "It will hold even if I’m gone a month, even if I’m gone two."

"You plan to come back, right?" Torren said.

"Of course, I do," Clayton answered.

No one doubted him.

And then, they finally hit a critical stage of this conversation and council meeting... who stays and who goes?

They didn’t have to say it aloud. Despite the fact that they all acknowledged that the defense and protection of the Rootsite was paramount, and the fact that protecting it was for the greater good, in the end, they were still humans.

And one thing about humans is that humans have desires. Humans are inherently selfish, and if they even somehow manage to suppress this innate feeling, still, desire was a thing.

In the world of the Genesis Protocols, challenging and surviving trails meant power. In this era, power was the deciding factor over every other thing.

By challenging Trial III with Claytons’ grace, not only will they get the chance to return as Verdant Warden rank Awakened warriors if they survived, but they’ll also get the chance to become Verdant Lords anchored to Clayton’s will.

All of these realities said one single truth... power, and they all desired power. The meeting finally reached the point to address the problem of desires.