Anneliese had gone to talk to Elenore, and after, she intended rejoin the research teamâArgrave could feel her presence inside the parliamentary hall in his sisterâs office. Raven hadnât been lying in saying that theyâd become a closed loop, sharing everything. Argrave had been lying in bed trying to think of what was to be done next to prepare when Durran came to him, spouting a rather outlandish idea.
âIt was Garmâs idea, not mine,â Durran clarified as he stood in front of Argrave.
âWell⊠what⊠I mean, how⊠whatâs the limit?â Argrave pressed, incredibly eager now that heâd heard the idea. He rose up off his bed. âHeâs really willing to do that? If there were anything to get second thoughts about, this sounds like it. Weâre going to have an army of the strongest people in history at our disposalâthatâs what youâre telling me?â
Durran held out his hand as if to calm Argrave. âJust judging based on what Llewellen cost him, he suspects the upper limit for this matter is about thirty people. Still⊠he claims heâll be able to remake them perfectly, A-rank ascension and all.â
Argrave felt like he was getting dizzy with greed after hearing that. âIâm almost tempted to ask if heâs exaggerating.â
âCheck him with Anneliese, I suppose. I wouldnât put it past him.â Durran shrugged. âThere are two limits to it, though, insofar as resurrection goes. He needs either the location they died, or the location where their body is. Buried in the ground, mummified, cut into a thousand piecesâso long as the body ended up somewhere, he can catch their impression. He said itâd be best if their ashes were cremated and scattered, because that would extend the ânet,â so to speak.â
Argrave tapped the table. Though he had admittedly first thought of Castro, the man had died in Sandelabara. That place was buried beneath magma, now. With the limitation, he couldnât be retrieved. But even with that limitationâŠ
âI think I should help him pick the right people,â Argrave proposed.
Durranâs face scrunched up and he crossed his arms. âHe was pretty adamant about doing this on his own after we get the body parts.â
âHell, Durran.â Argrave paced around his bedroom. âWe could bring back just about anyone. I could scan through the wiki for days picking out the right people.â
Durran held out a cautionary hand. âFor my sake, I hope you be carefulâheâs very attached to doing this, and if you try and usurp his role, Iâm not certain he wouldnât kill himself just to get back inside my head, torment me.â
Argrave briefly weighed if it was worth pissing off Durran to exert control over the project, but dismissed the ideaâhe didnât care to make things tenser than they already were. Orion still hadnât even spoken to him, and Elenore kept an unpleasant distance between them.
âHeâll at least speak to me,â Argrave hoped.
âIâm sure he will.â Durran nodded. âConsidering how enthusiastic youâre being, I assume you donât have any objections about this?â
âNone at all. Rather, Iâd have an objection if you didnât go, now that I know Garm is fully willing.â Argrave rubbed his hands together. âDonât worryâI managed to change Garmâs mind once before. I think I know how to get through to him.â
âI donât think I sounded worried,â Durran said disaffectedly. âIâll look forward to it. Iâm sure the illustrious Argrave, leader of the Blackgard Union, king of Vasquer, ruler of all the Great Chu, will succeed where I failed. He can overcome any challenge, after all.â
âSo, not only do you want me to kill myself, but you want me to do so on your terms? Good gods, Argrave. How selfish can you be?â
Argrave tried several different approaches to influence Garm into choosing the people that Argrave could find in the wiki bestowed to him by Erlebnis. Every response was more or less an iteration of the above. He was adamantly opposed to allowing anyone other than himself have the final say in who was brought back. Argrave, in a small bout of paranoia, thought that Garm might be bringing back some people that might aid him in doing something nefariousâgathering mischief-makers for a coup, perhaps.
To kill his paranoia, he brought Garm before Anneliese, disrupting the research team. She confirmed Garmâs honesty that his sole intention was merely to prepare a force that was willing and able to enter into the Shadowlands. All that Argrave ended up looking was foolishâand Durran, who had warned Argrave, mocked him about that fact.
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âI think thereâs only one thing you should worry about,â Garm said as he stood besides Durran, both of them ready to depart. âYourself. The people that Iâm bringing back arenât small players. Theyâre people that shaped the world, in one way or another. Even you, with all your fancy ways, canât necessarily tame them so easily. Theyâre born leaders who reached the top of their fields. Very few of the people Iâve chosen thus far actually died in battleâinstead, they often died in bed, having never fallen.â
âI get the picture.â Argrave crossed his arms, realizing Garm had a point. These people would have some difficulty accepting him as their leader.
âAnd as youâve proven, youâre very persuasive,â Durran continued to joke.
As Argrave rolled his eyes, a voice cut into their conversation.
âBring back my grandfather.â
Argrave, Durran, and Garm all whipped their heads to the right. Onychinusa sat on the grass inconspicuously.
âI want to talk to him,â she explained further. âI want him to see me. You have to give that to me.â
Garm looked at Argrave. âWho the hell is she?â
âLast of the imperial family of the ancient elven empire Llewellen was a part of,â Argrave explained quickly. âHi, Onychinusa. Hope youâre well,â he greeted cordiallyâshe barely acknowledged him with a wave of her hand. He pointed at Garm. âSheâs right. Far as I know, that man did die in bed.â
âAh. Emperor Balzat.â Garm nodded, then walked closer to Onychinusa and squatted. âListen, woman. I donât take requests. If heâs worth bringing back, Iâll bring him back. If heâs not, I wonât. Simple as.â Garm tapped his chest. âEvery time I bring someone back, I spend a little more of my life. Itâs my artistryâmy final work. I donât care who your grandfather was. All I care about is the product.â
Argrave was certain that Onychinusa was going to burstâshe wasnât known for her patience. But to his surprise, she tore up a clump of the nearby grass, and then vanished into magic. Argrave exhaled in relief.
âJust give it some thought,â he insisted. âAnd good luck. As for you, Durran⊠I hope you find some answers about your ability. I had Lindon to help me discover mineâyou, though⊠think about who you really are. Think about what youâre capable of, and what drives you.â
Durran smiled. âThatâs the troubleâpinning down what Iâm capable of. Itâs a rather gargantuan undertaking.â
Several days passed without much word from either Garm or Durran. Elenore was keeping in touch with her husband, but apparently Garm was insisting that he not disclose too much information. It was a rather disconcerting turn of events given how much stock Argrave had in Garmâs idea. Ordinarily he mightâve called upon Elenore to extract a little information out, but things remained somewhat frigid between them despite Argraveâs attempts to show his warmth.
Annelieseâs work in the research team, meanwhile, continued to flourish. Their efforts led to several advancements which, while not the target, were immeasurably useful. Countless defenses against illusion magic developed for those without magicâand the Hall of Enchantment eagerly adapted them to sell nationwide for profit. Besides that, the research team even submitted a formal request to Argrave to head to the Burnt Desert to speak to one of the southron elves. They hoped to examine and experiment with their strange illusion magic that defied conventions.
Given what Erlebnis had compiled on the subject, Argrave couldâve taught them all himselfâstill, he did manage to talk Florimund, leader of the last of the southron elves, into paying a visit. Last time theyâd spoken, Argrave had claimed that the elf would hear his name again someday. The witty veteran took great pleasure in reminding Argrave of that fact, boisterously telling tales about far Argrave had come, and how skinny he used to look, before joining him in Blackgard. Argrave was pleased to see their community continuing to flourish under Durranâs âgovernment,â which only consisted of several completely autonomous communities protected by his wyvern riders and Argraveâs own forces.
But once Llewellen had finally caught up to the rest of them, and began to take part in the research team⊠everything was flipped on its head. He ruthlessly closed off other routes that people had been exploring by showing them how they ended. His knowledge was so sweeping, and his points so robust, that very few could genuinely challenge them. Anneliese had a deep respect for the man whoâd taught her the A-rank ascension sheâd used, so she lent him considerable authority to conduct the team.
He steered them away from study of illusion magic toward druidic magic. Llewellen had barely stepped a toe onto the field when heâd departed, but after only a few days, commanded an impressive mastery over the field that even most Veidimen couldnât contest. Only Rowe was his superior; even Argrave wasnât privy to how Rowe had tamed a dragon, despite having Erlebnisâ wiki at his disposal. Once the team began to examine the control of animals, they hit something of a snagâbarring the Veidimen, few present knew and understood druidic magic. It was overcome quickly enough.
Complex philosophical debates arose as they all delved deeperâhow were elves and men actually different from animals? What lent druidic magic control over animals, while exempting humans? Indeed, a rather dark question took hold. Could men and women be controlled just as the animals were? It was a very grim road to tread, and many questioned if such research should even be allowed.
Anneliese reminded them it was this very prospect that threatened Vasquer, and as such, it was necessary to proceed.
With Llewellen as their shepherd, on the eighth day, people began earnestly experimenting on how to seize and control the minds of mortals, only so that they might find out how to defend against such a thing. While the notion chilled Argrave, his attention was diverted to something else.
Garm and Durran had returned. And they had brought a rather large retinue.