Elijah leaned back with a sigh, his breath misting in the cold morning air. Over the past week, snow had accumulated, practically forming a cocoon around him. And not for the first time, he missed his Cloak of the Iron Bear.

Sure, he’d brought blankets with him to Svetogorsk, but they were mundane and unequal to the task of keeping him warm in such an environment. How anyone chose to live there permanently was a mystery to him. He could appreciate a crisp winter as much as the next guy, but nearly year-round freezing temperatures were a little too much for his taste.

The only solace was that the frigid temperatures weren’t nearly cold enough to truly hurt him. The climate was just incredibly uncomfortable and more than capable of ruining his day. But at least his time had not been wasted, evidenced by the sapling that had taken root only a few feet away.

After spending almost a month on the tree on Chimera Island, Elijah had managed to cut the development time down to two weeks when he’d planted another tree near the Elemental Maelstrom. Then, that time had been further reduced with his third attempt near the Eternal War Primal Realm. And he expected that the next iteration would come to fruition even more quickly, though he could feel that he had begun to push the boundaries of what was possible.

Fortunately, his efforts had also born unexpected fruit. He’d passed the threshold to level two-oh-one after finishing the elemental tree. Upon completion, Elijah had been a little surprised to see that it presented much differently than the Chimera Island tree. Featuring a trunk that felt like petrified wood and leaves of fire and ice, it was surrounded by a perpetual wind – firmly establishing its elemental nature.

And from what he felt of the Svetogorsk tree, it was much different than either of the other two. Indeed – it almost looked like nine trees in one, each featuring a comparatively slim trunk that twisted around its fellows, fighting for prominence.

Conflict. That was the theme of the Primal Realm, and the ambient ethera followed suit. The tree just took its cues from its surroundings. He wanted nothing more than to remain in place and continue to study it, but his responsibilities remained as numerous as ever. And now that the tree verged on maturity, Elijah was done. Any further attention would be wasted.

So, he pushed himself to his feet for the first time in nearly ten days. The piled snow tumbled all around him, but rather than awkwardly climb his way free, he chose to leap into the air, use Cloud Step, then leave it behind. He landed only a couple of feet away from the tree, which had grown to more than ten feet tall. Seeing it in person – as opposed to using Soul of the Wild – was eye-opening, and he suspected that it would one day end up like the combative tree he’d encountered in the Trial of Primacy.

Maybe it wouldn’t even need protection.

But that was a hope for another day. For now, it was vulnerable, which was why, only a half mile away, there stood a new fort. Like Svetogorsk itself, the structure was no-nonsense and built like a concrete bunker. Dozens of strong soldiers stood guard along the wall walk, and many more patrolled the grounds. In short – it looked precisely like what it was – a military stronghold.

And it was one built specifically to keep his tree safe.

Thankfully, he hadn’t been the one to negotiate the deal with Svetogorsk. Instead, Sadie had taken the lead on that one, going directly to Ivanka to work out the details. As it turned out, they didn’t even demand anything in return. Just that Elijah respect their sovereignty. Given that he’d never considered doing otherwise, it was an easy concession to make.

He didn’t hurry as he headed toward the fortress, but it still wasn’t long before he was telling the commander – a short and stocky man with a build that made him resemble a dwarf – that he was finished. That revelation was met with characteristic stoicism, so Elijah soon headed back to the city.

His entry came with no heraldry. Just a few aggressively suspicious glares that were the non-verbal equivalent of someone saying, “Move along.” Elijah had no interest in tarrying, so it wasn’t long before he reached the city’s hub. There, he found Sadie having breakfast in the common room of the local inn.

He slid into the seat across from her, then plucked one of the sausages from her plate. That earned him a glare, but he stubbornly continued his nefarious plan by popping it into his mouth.

“You’re going to pay for that.”

“I know,” he replied with a grin as he chewed the savory bit of sausage. “What is that? It tastes like pork.”

“There’s a pig farm somewhere around here,” she answered. “They even have bacon.”

“Nice,” Elijah said as an oddly combative server approached and took his order. He responded by ordering the same thing Sadie had. As it turned out, the result was what was described as a traditional Finnish breakfast including scrambled eggs with fresh dill, served with a dollop of smetana – which was a sort of Russian sour cream. Rounding out the meal was a fried sausage known as mekkara, fried potatoes, and some rye bread. There was also a small serving of pickled beets that Elijah didn’t touch. The rest of the meal was fantastic, though.

“Did you finish?” Sadie asked. “Or is this just a break?”

Elijah nodded, taking a bite of the rye bread, which had been smeared with what felt like a half gallon of butter. Around his food, he answered, “All done. The trees should be self-sufficient now.”

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“So, what’s the plan from here on out? Should we go down to the Hollow Depths?” she asked.

Elijah couldn’t help but frown. As much as he knew the trolls were a problem that needed solving, he did not look forward to doing so. From what Miguel had described, just finding the Primal Realm would be a chore, and that wasn’t even considering what they might find inside. Given everything he knew about the situation outside, the Primal Realm itself would likely be much more difficult than anything else he’d ever experienced. So, to say he wasn’t really looking forward to it was a vast understatement.

As it stood, though, he’d already taken care of many of his obligations. Not only had he planted his trees, but he’d also met with Atticus about his deal with the Conclave. At the same time, he’d had his Riftseed appraised. Apparently, it was a powerful treasure that could be used to upgrade items. Doing so required the intervention of a skilled and knowledgeable Alchemist, but the possibility was intriguing, nonetheless.

In addition, he’d also worked with Nerthus on a few new projects within the grove – mostly just lending the spryggent some extra power in order to build an infrastructure to better deal with Elijah’s use of Grove Conduit.

Their efforts had not gone to waste, either, and Elijah found that his locus had continued to expand, and more rapidly than ever before. Nerthus claimed it was an expected turn of events, but to Elijah, it felt far too fast. At present, it reached more than halfway across the strait to Ironshore, which meant that sooner, rather than later, the city itself would be incorporated.

And he didn’t know how he felt about that.

He’d also spent a week just tooling around the grove and assisting in any other way he could. That meant dealing with the kids, which he found both frustrating and rewarding. The former because they were still adolescents, and that meant that not only had their brains not fully developed, but they tended to walk around with the belief that they knew everything – while knowing almost nothing. But seeing them break through with their cultivation, one after another, was one of the most gratifying experiences of Elijah’s life.

Of course, they had the combined help of both Elijah and Nerthus pushing them forward, but it was still quite an accomplishment to achieve any sort of progress in cultivation before they even chose their archetypes. Unfortunately, most were limited to advancing their bodies to the Wood stage; anything else was just too much for them to handle.

Apparently, that was how cultivation usually worked. In the early stages, most people found cultivating the body the easiest. That changed later on, according to each person’s talents. But to find someone who could smoothly advance all four aspects was a rarity.

That was how Elijah knew Miguel was special.

The young man might have neglected his cultivation while training with the dark elves, but he seemed determined to make up for it now that he’d returned to the island. And given his unique connection to the grove, his progress had been remarkable. Already, he’d advanced all aspects to the second stage, with his core having reached the third.

True, like the children, he had the advantage of Elijah and Nerthus ushering him forward. In addition, the environment was perfectly suited – especially with the increased attributes he received from being in the grove – but Elijah knew that Miguel’s progress was remarkable.

He’d hit a wall, though, and from everything Elijah had seen, it was one his nephew wouldn’t cross until after he ascended.

“Are you even listening to me?” Sadie asked, throwing a hunk of sausage at his forehead. It hit with a greasy splat.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I mean, no. Kind of. I was just thinking about what comes next.”

“And what do you think I was talking about?” was her next question. “We need to find the troll Primal Realm in the Hollow Depths. I think that should be our first priority.”

“Yeah. Probably. But I just can’t help but feel…I don’t know. If all we do is jump from one Primal Realm to another, I think the situation here on Earth could get out of hand, if that makes any sense.”

“What do you suggest? I can’t imagine you want to run around playing politics.”

“Well, there are two things on my mind,” he admitted. “Well, there are like a thousand things on my mind. But two are relevant here.”

Then, he went on to explain what he was thinking. The first thing concerned the issues he’d witnessed during his travels. It seemed that every time he closed his eyes, he pictured the situation in the slums of New York. The exhausted Healer. The beggars. The people society had left behind.

And New York wasn’t unique, either. Not in that respect, at least. Everywhere he’d visited, save for Argos, featured similar issues. The harsh reality was that many people simply weren’t suited for the new world. Many had made the wrong choices with their archetypes or classes, picking options for which they were unsuited or ones that simply had no real use. Others had experienced so much trauma that they’d shut down. And as always, there were those who just didn’t want to put in the work, preferring instead to do the bare minimum it took to survive.

The end result was a startlingly unequal society that didn’t need to be. Sure, in the immediate aftermath of the world’s transformation, leaving those people behind was just common sense. If someone couldn’t – or refused to – do their part, then they were just dead weight. But now that the immediate needs of basic survival had been met, society needed to once again adapt.

Of course, complicating that was Elijah’s firm belief that society couldn’t do all the heavy lifting. People had to be willing to help themselves.

The reality was that he simply didn’t know the answer. But he wanted to figure it out, to help where he could. So, his solution was a plan to establish an organization that would assist those in need.

Curiously, Sadie didn’t have much interest in that. Sure, she would help people where she could, but devoting any amount of significant time to charity just wasn’t the sort of thing she wanted.

“I’m a fighter,” she said. “That’s how I’ll help people.”

After that, he moved on to the next issue, which was that he was worried about the army waging war in the New York area. Sure – he’d told the guilds that they needed to handle that themselves, but after seeing the human cost of their campaign of conquest, Elijah felt motivated to do something about it.

“That seems a worthy cause. You’re much better suited for scouting than I am, though,” Sadie said. Ever since fighting through the Eternal War, she’d been much more combative. He’d hoped that spending time in the grove would help mitigate some of that – and it had, to an extent – but that edge was still there. Perhaps it would be permanent. “Once you find them, I will join the fight.”

Elijah nodded. But before he could speak, he felt something through his locus.

“What is it?” she asked, seeing his change of expression. “Are we in danger?”

He shook his head. “Nerthus needs me,” he answered. “Something with the grove. Can you get back on your own?”

She told him that she could, and that she would return as soon as possible. That was enough for Elijah, so he wasted no more time in using Roots of the World Tree to teleport himself back to the island.