Chapter 476: Dryad Potions and Crystal Engines

The dryad district of Razorfall City was surprisingly different from the dryad village on Cloudspire, even down to what trees the dryads inhabited. They still favored shady open areas, but without the constant rainfall, the shape of the city was radically altered. Kai marveled at how it was strangely layered, because though the hills were much like any other hilly city, individual trees varied so much in height that the entire place was a vertical maze. It made sense from the air, in terms of sunfall, but on the ground it was a maze.

He was finally walking the city with Razz, able to take his time for once. In addition to catching up on all the details of Rayakan and preparations for the incursion, he'd been able to breathe. For one, he'd finally found that the city's name actually had to do with a specific type of leaf. Sharp, but not really deadly. Apparently the city was beautiful when the leaves fell, which wouldn't be until after the incursion.

"We'll meet up with Juray soon," Razz told him. "She's gotten way deeper into the dryad community than I have, because they actually really want her potions. Apparently it's a fundamentally different approach from the curatives they use."

"Mana instead of chakra, right?" Kai said. He was just making conversation, but Razz nodded as if he'd made a new point.

"It could be, you certainly know more about it than I do. This sort of thing is why Goralia has always wanted a stronger relationship with the Southern Reach, we've just had trouble speaking the same language."

"I know that's a figure of speech, but you literally do."

"Sure, but sometimes I have no idea what they mean anyway." Razz threw up his hands. "I actually get along fine with their merchants, when we're talking money. They even use our Goralian Eagles most of the time. But when it comes to anything personal... Kai, how are you supposed to know what women mean?"

"Uh..." Kai suddenly realized that Razz had been having a different conversation than he was. This wasn't the first time the younger man had tried to broach the subject. "Are you having trouble communicating with dryads in general, or one dryad in particular?"

Razz blushed and looked away. "Alright, you got me. She's a timber merchant, which might not seem fancy, but we need more timber in northern Goralia. She's just... the most beautiful creature I've ever seen. Sometimes I think she's teasing me, sometimes I think she doesn't like me... that's why I had to ask."

"And you didn't ask Juray?"

"We talk about a lot of things, but she would never stop teasing me over this. Besides, I'm not sure she understands how difficult it is for men to understand women. It's like they speak in code..."

Normally Kai would not venture to offer an opinion, but he actually had a little more experience on this issue, so he did his best. "Razz, you have to understand that there's a mix. Some women will just tell you what they want. Some will make suggestions that, yeah, maybe, we should pick up on. But sometimes they'll also expect you to read their minds in a way that's completely unfair. You can't just lump all of those together."

"Okay, that's easy for you to say, but how am I supposed to tell the difference?"

"Does she go out of her way to talk to you? Does she ask you questions about yourself?"

"I don't know, we mostly talk about business."

Kai groaned. "Razz, are you going to tell me you've never had a personal conversation with this woman?"

"We've had extended business discussions!" Razz insisted defensively. "She's much friendlier than everyone else I work with, I just..."

"Invite her to do something that isn't business. Stop worrying about all this if you haven't even tried that. Seriously, her response will go a long way toward answering all those questions."

That conversation would soon go way beyond Kai's expertise, so thankfully they had almost reached their destination. Juray had invited them to a specialty shop in the heart of the dryad district, built in the shade of of a dryad patriarch who was mostly asleep these days. The shop itself could have been from anywhere else in the city, and in fact had a Goralian-styled sign advertising Juray's services.

Inside, he discovered a shop filled with many of the bottles and working tables he'd grown familiar with back in Juray's house, except the walls were covered with living materials. Some of the vines seemed to be growing multiple different types of fruit, clearly some sort of dryad technique.

Juray sat on one side, turning to smile at them, but Kai's attention was drawn by the little old woman who sat in the back. She was tiny, barely coming up to his waist, with wrinkled bark-like skin and thin hair. When she looked up at him, she paused, then had to look higher.

"And I thought you exaggerated." The old woman chuckled and shook her head.

Had they actually spoken about him? Kai felt a moment of concern, then decided that he shouldn't start distrusting Juray now. "You must be Pyrinye," he said, going down on one knee to take her hand and kiss it. "Juray had spoken very warmly about you as her beloved mentor."

She hadn't put it in those terms, but it made Juray laugh and the old dryad cackled. "Can't say I expected it, but so it seems. The saplings don't want to learn the old ways, these days, then a human walks into my life who wants to learn just everything."

"They really do have remarkable techniques," Juray said. "I can't manage many myself, because I just don't have the essence for it, but I'm learning what I can."

"Your soul looked like you'd incorporated something, though?"

Juray eagerly told him about her work, which in part explained the Dryad Crucible in her soul. Apparently it was an alternate method of processing ingredients, wholly separate from her Class, which in some ways allowed Juray to skip over the weaknesses of her Class. He had to wonder just what Omilaena would make of it, since it seemed to be a remarkably strong synergy.

Kai got to chat with them for almost an hour, even donating some blood for use in potions. Apparently Juray had been refining her harsher potions for the Tonjin brothers, among many other projects. Anything he could contribute to that was a positive as far as he was concerned.

But even though they could have talked for a day or more, they were interrupted when Razz received a message through the communication device. He first just glanced at it, then sighed and gestured for Kai to step aside. They took a few steps away from the workstation, but were still within easily audible range.

"The elites say they're ready to take you to Krysal now," Razz said. "Seems like it was some trouble, so..."

"Oh, just go," Pyrinye said. "It's normal for young folks to rush around before getting rooted. I'll still be here... unless I'm dead by then, haha!"

"Alright, fine." Kai rolled his shoulders and realized that between some sleep and time to rest with old friends, he felt completely rejuvenated. "Let's do it."

They gave the signal and this time the method was completely different. Instead of the swirls of Cloudspire techniques or the abrupt jerking of recent teleportation, a door appeared in the air outside the shop. Gorndron stepped out and waved at him.

"Come on then, no sense waiting."

"Actually..." Kai glanced back at the others. "Can we bring them along? What's the harm?"

"The harm is that it gets more expensive the more people you send," Gorndron said. "I'm not even going back with you, now that the connection is established. This is draining some of our strongest mana users, so don't waste it."

As much as Kai liked the idea of traveling around the continent with them, he didn't want to strain the elites when they needed to be preparing for the incursion. So after brief farewells he stepped through the door, and immediately stood atop the walls of Yulthens.

In the time since the great battle, all of the walls had been repaired, yet there was no question the city was far from back to normal. Most obviously the giant banners were missing, and later he realized there were no more floating crystals that used to ornament everything. Those might be for the best, but they hadn't replaced all five of the great crystals, so the city's defenses were massively weakened.

Regardless, he was here for a meeting. Kai didn't have to look far to find the small delegation waiting for him, and fortunately it looked like they had some ship crystals with them. The first person he identified was Krainuun... the little bureaucrat was wearing the same sort of rumbled robes he always did, as if he wasn't the de facto administrator of all the Krysal City States now.

More curiously, he had another elite with him: Enalanis of Magma. After so long not running into any elites he knew, it was strange to encounter one... the man who had tested him for Elemental Nations powers and then declared him a failure. The sight of his hard eyes and flame-like hair stirred up more old emotions than Kai wanted to acknowledge.

Instead he headed toward the little man. "Krainuun, good to see you again!"

"It's good to see you again, but are you going to pick me up in an embrace or something?" Krainuun peered up at him. "There's really no need."

"Fine, glad to see you too." Kai restrained his urge to hug the old man and just grinned. Strange how time made old alliances feel so much more like friendships. "I see you got my request."

"Yes, and I assembled some of the engines we recovered from Cloudspire ships. Unfortunately, I can't offer you construction materials or any of the complete ships. We desperately need those for the defense of Krysal, because our ability to mobilize between cities has been reduced."

"That's fine, that's why I asked for materials from the Wind Union anyway." Kai glanced over to Enalanis of Magma. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"You've already received approval from our allies there." Enalanis spoke as if he didn't even recognize him, or at minimum had no emotions about their first meeting. "You mean to... put some sort of ship together that can cross the oceans?"

"Many ships can survive the crossing, but I need one that can do it fast. That's why we need an engine that runs on qi, and a stronger frame than you make here in Krysal. After seeing a lot of airships in Cloudspire, though, they tend to be for pleasure cruises instead of speed, so I thought Wind Union design might actually be better."

"It's possible." Krainuun nodded as if already making plans in his head. "We should be able to construct something within a reasonable amount of time, but be please temper your expectations, as it won't be tomorrow."

"That's fine, I have more business to take care of anyway."

"Wait." Enalanis of Magma stepped partially in between them, eyes ironically cool. "This is a significant use of resources, troublingly close to the incursion. Are we really going to give up valuable materials and time to be sent off to Cloudspire?"

Kai had known this was coming and tried to shrug it off. "I'll be coming back in the ship and bringing allies. You can keep it afterwards, if you want."

"And why should we believe that you will actually return?"

"Do you really doubt my commitment now? I have even more reason... oh, Krainuun! Cragrila and Nirka are both alive, and we rescued a number of other Krysali as well. We actually found a way to enhance their strength further that could make a real difference in the incursion."

"You're making a lot of promises," Enalanis of Magma said, "for a man with nothing to show but demands. Do you take these seriously, Krainuun?"

The little administrator looked at the elite, glanced back at Kai, then nodded curtly. "I do trust him, and in fact I will use my discretionary capacities to invest in this. I believe the preparation of Krysal is under my purview, is it not?"

Enalanis scowled. "Yes, but you'll rely on us to transport all these construction materials, and teleportation resources are scarce."

"No need." Kai raised his hand to show off the spatial ring. "I can take everything myself, and since you're already teleporting me around the continent, it won't cost you anything extra. It's just a matter of coordinating everything efficiently, and I'll leave that to Krainuun."

After a long pause, Enalanis sighed. "You may think me your enemy, but I am not... merely a skeptic. Some of your requests seem rather risky, in particular those remaining."

"What, materials from the Wind Union?"

"No, monsters." Enalanis turned away from his, gazing east toward the Frontier. "There are not enough roaming monsters remaining to require your help, but your request has been acknowledged. To find the sort of monsters you require... you will need to enter the abyss itself."