Chương 71: Chapter 70 - Politics?

"Well? What is it?" Nythera asked.

"It's a piece of flexible gear alright, three dexterity isn't much but for a flexible item? Very good" he turned the item around in his hands.

"Peregrine Circlet, every ten or so meters your ranged skills will pick up 1% more damage. And its cinder tier, mighty fine, though you gotta watch your ember-frost with something like this." Borris said with a hesitant look.

"What does flexible mean? Spit it out" Nythera jumped with excitement.

"It means it doesn't take a gear slot, if you can find a hat that doesn't mess with it, you can wear both and get both effects. And this thing's effects are… extremely good" Borris sighed.

"Alright go pick out ten items, any ten items, and I'll trade them for this" Borris' eyes betrayed a glimmer of greed.

"Nope, it's mine, I quite like the style, to say nothing of the effects" Nythera's face had turned into a huge grin.

"Fifteen items, and I ain't going any higher" Borris said.

"Give me the circlet, Borris""Alright, you're twisting my damn neck, twenty items" Borris pleaded. She held out her hand and a moment later the circlet was deposited back with her.

"Damn kids, you better watch your Ember-frost scale, don't get too hot again" Borris grumbled. Nythera stuck both the fangs from the serpent into the counter, ends jammed into woodwork "payment for appraisals, this should cover my past dues and how about five ones in the future?" Borris pulled the fangs out of the counter and turned it around in his hands"Stop fucking up my counter, three appraisals and if you bring back more shit like this I'll give you more than just appraisals.

These will make mighty fine daggers" She nodded. Nythera put on the circlet and admired how it looked in the mirror. The white-brown feathers suited her silvery hair well. I look like a ranger or something. Not bad, and the effect is obscene. 1% damage for every 10 meters. So if I shoot from dozens of kilometers away, will I just kill everything in one hit? Obros-ka is a good way to find out.

"Let's go Rowen, the beer is calling me." Nythera said, following Dominic out of the shop. Marco's bar was just getting busy when they all slumped into chairs.

"Oi, Marco, three beers over here" Dominic called out.

"Aye, wait a moment" a moment later three beers were plunked on the table before them "Had a good trip, didya? You all look like shit, drink up" Marco chuckled.

"Cheers" the table clinked together its glasses.

"It was a good journey, milady. Even if it was dangerous, a new dungeon, strata two at that, will serve Myrraval well" Dominic remarked, a look of approval in his eyes.

"You were as useful as ever Dominic, we could not have gotten through that dungeon without you" Nythera complimented back, then drowned her face in another gulp.

"The journey was most productive, but we should secure more protection next time, a few more delvers would be wise." Rowen sipped the beer, barely taking in a mouthful.

"Nythera! I heard you were back, and you skipped home to come straight to the bar? I should have known as much" Shelly said, slapping her on the back. She pulled up a chair a moment later and her own full glass of beer "Now tell me about what happened."

"Well if you insist, we were traveling just fine and then we got attacked by a monster bigger than this building, and only with my cannon did we stop the beast…" Nythera's much embellished tale captured the attention of the bar bit by bit. Nythera had her third glass half finished when Rowen's hand landed on her shoulder.

"Milady, you ought to consider slowing down for the meeting we have called today, if you appear intoxicated at the event, your words will receive more scrutiny" Rowen advised.

"Fine fine" Nythera grumbled over her drink.

"In fact, I do believe it is time to depart, Lawrence should have assembled the council by now" Rowen pulled Nythera up. As she stumbled past the table she leaned in to whisper to Dominic "I got a new fun job for you, wait for the news tomorrow" Nythera smiled, until she was yanked back by Rowen"What in the blazes do you mean? Damn girl giving me trouble I didn't ask for" Dominic looked down into his drink with a frown.

"Oi, What did you just call our Queen?" … The sun was dimming, the outside cast in an orange glow as it prepared to sleep for the night. A glimmer in the sky caught her eye. Not a moment later, a silver falcon clung to her shoulder.

"Where the fuck have you been?" she hissed discretely. His voice was a dull whisper within her mind "I had business to settle with annoyed people, more specifically, people you annoyed. It has been resolved. These islands are not nearly as dead as the people of Myrraval believe them to be" There was a note of smugness. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Other people? Does he mean Kavareth? Or something else?

"I found the flux supply for the communications array and another unit" Nythera hissed back.

"This means you can now use the array. Good, you will need them. Once you insert the supply into the back they should all be functional and connect to any other activated arrays within reach, which should only be the three you collected. Given your propensity for exploration, I recommend picking a trustworthy hand to watch events for you in Grandport and report back while you are away" She droned out Talvik's lecture halfway through as they arrived in front of the townhall.

"Milady" Noah bowed.

"Noah, shall we proceed?" Nythera asked, trying to brush off the buzzed feeling.

"Yes, the others are waiting, having arrived not long ago. I must thank you for coming here yourself. This meeting is of paramount importance and your newly-appointed liaison would be insufficient to manage such matters" Noah said.

"I have much to report this time, some major changes to how things will work around here" Nythera nodded.

"And I must thank you for the migrant solution, one man's trash is another man's foundational workforce. They have been nothing short of exemplary" She met that compliment with a knowing grin. Of course they are, this place is heaven by comparison to Greymere. Nythera strode in with confidence, as if she owned the building. Seated around two tables pushed together was the full council. Aldric scowled at her entrance, Lance and Ollie looked on without a care, and Felix looked pissed.

Aldric's deputy loomed behind him. Nythera took a seat at the head of the two tables.

"Alright, it's time you spit it out, what information was shared at the last council meeting? How dare you deny my deputy a voice on the council, he is my representative. I cannot come back to this blasted city every time you call a council meeting, which seems to be fucking daily these days" Aldric spat.

"Aldric, I have news that will be very important for you at this meeting so if you can just wait I can tell you all the details you need to know" Nythera replied nonchalantly.

"Fine, but it better be damn good, and I am not letting the matter go, we will come back to this issue with my representative." he leaned back in his seat.

"The first announcement I have is that I will be funding a delvers school in Halsbury. We will be using some of the leftover tokens I donated before to build it and tax money to fund it. Halt's newest disciple, Eustace, and Dominic will take control of the classes and train new groups of delvers to clear dungeons and the frontier of fluxspawn" Nythera's eyes darted from face to face, daring any to challenge her.

"This is overreach, you can't expect us to use our tax money for something in only Halsbury. I object to this" Aldric spoke up.

"Ain't never heard of Eustace, but I'll take your word for it, that Halt fella is one mean delver. Shove it up your ass Aldric, this is good for Waketown and Halsbury and by extension the entire island" Felix spat back.

"It's your fault I'm stuck here instead of back in Amplewoods." Aldric crossed his arms and glared back at Felix.

"Aye, let's do it" Noah said, followed by Lance, Ollie, and finally Felix.

"Onto the next then. This is big news for the island" Nythera took in a deep breath "I have discovered a strata two life dungeon within the interior, about a day's journey on foot from The Mirrorwake." Shock lit up on all their faces.

"Well I guess we finally know where the strata two was" Felix could not keep the grand smile off his face.

"Finally, our strata ones can break through, we could push strata three with both this and the quartz dungeon which would make us equal-" Lance paused, deep in shock. Noah leaned forward "Myrraval has all the steps to make strata three delvers now, equal in power to Karaveth" a giant grin sat on his face.

"Amplewoods doesn't have all that many delvers, but the woods have been pretty clear of fluxspawn lately, I'll be sending a few groups to that quartz dungeon. A strata three though? That could make a huge difference" Felix stared at the ceiling, deep in thought.

"Life dungeon you say? That could be good, hell of a lot more useful than fire or ice" Ollie commented.

"That means Waketown will be twice as busy and valuable. You can't just skip over Rustreach, the quartz dungeon ain't far from us either, just through the mountains" Aldric whined. Felix nodded "Yup, Waketown is now the staging point for two major dungeons and has the only port safe from God's Wrath, it might be the most important town on Myrraval before long". Noah had a frown.

"Furthermore I will have Delita implement a Hunting Board in Waketown, Hunters will receive tax breaks for each fluxspawn killed. You are all welcome to participate and set up your own, however I believe that the fluxspawn in the outer island will dry up fast, forcing hunters inland, clearing up the land to be safe for farming" Nythera gave an assertive nod.

"This will be the first major step to taming the interior" All of the mayors gave an "aye", even Aldric seemed to like the idea.

"Too many damn beasts coming down from the mountains, it forces the farming to the coasts, where the storms ravage it" he grumbled. Heads whipped back, noises and shouting was heard from the lobby.

"What in the blazes are they doing out there?" Lance moved to get up. The doors were flung open "I am here to represent my island" The lumberjack flipped the axe over in his hand with casual ease.

"Simon?" Nythera watched as the lumberjack lumbered over to the table and slammed his axe down on it.

"We want a voice, you owe us a voice on this damn council and I came all the way from my lovely trees to be a damn voice!" Simon's eyes darted across the table, searching for opposition. And found none. He pulled up a chair from the edge of the room and sat down at the other end of the table, kicking back and putting his boot up on the table.

"From now on, Fogtown will also get a voice on the council" Nythera reasserted her authority.

"You bring any problems here or are you all bark?" Ollie asked, spitting out his piece of geldgrain.

"I brought important matters!" Simon's axe whipped up his axe in the blink of an eye and it came crashing down in the center of the table. The hatched stood, sticking out of the woodwork. I see, investing in stone tablework and more durable furniture could be wise if the council continues to expand.

"By Kronan's Fist, Fogtown wants a piece of those workers ya'll bringin' in from Vathrial."

"Vathrial?" Aldric sat up in shock.

"Specifics are, We want the fishermen and the loggers, we don't need no farmers or useless mouths, but we could always use more of those two. Let us in those migrant loops you're running" Simon leaned back to stare at the ceiling.

"We need loggers, ya can't just take them all" Ollie shot back. Felix spoke up "Fishermen are wanted in Amplewoods, you can't just take them all""What loops? Migrants? Vathrial? What the fuck is going on here?" Aldric's face was turning red. Flux contorted, twitching in one direction. Toward Nythera. Then it fled, in whirls and streams, leaving the room. All eyes snapped to her.