Lord of Annihilation

Standing amidst a busy street filled with Travelers of varied races, Riker turned to face the party of three and politely spoke

"I'll get going then. Thank you for the ride."

In response, Lucius, who was now awake and healthy, simply nodded his head, while Olivia and her new partner, Thorn, who was sheathed in her waist, vocalized their thanks.

Ka'lor'ah, being the curious person she was, asked a question, "Is it fine for you to simply abandon that house of ours? There were some pretty valuable plants and other expensive stuff in there. Also, don't you need money, clothes, weapons, and other stuff? What's your plan after this?"

Sighing ruefully, Riker sported a light smile and patiently answered her question. 

"I'll be fine. I have a lot of money stashed up in some anonymous accounts. As for that house, there's nothing of real value in there. I simply grew those plants out of amusement."

Spending the last two days with the group made Riker seriously wonder how one person could have so much energy and so many questions. He had spent nearly every waking second in Ka'lor'ah's company, answering numerous questions and discussing various topics.

One odd thing that he had come to notice in these past two days was that Ka'lor'ah seemed to possess a very wide and rich base of knowledge. However, this base of knowledge was purely theoretical and lacked actual, practical knowledge.

For example, yesterday, when the duo was discussing fauna and common medicine born from it, Ka'lor'ah was completely clueless about this topic. 

However, when the conversation later switched to a higher, rarer variety, Ka'lor'ah's knowledge was far greater than his own. To recall, Riker was a bonafide Doctor, with professional training!

As such, as enjoyable as he found talking to a knowledgeable person, Riker also found it to be equally tiring. 

While it would be considered incredibly rude to say this out loud, a small part of him did feel glad to get away from this party.

"As for my plans…" Riker looked towards Lucius when he spoke of this matter and continued, "I'll first seek an opportunity to ascend into the next Stage. Watching the Rule battle between Lucius and the Living Weapon, cleared up some of my doubts and showed me a path forward."

He then straightened up and performed a proper bow facing Lucius.

"Thank you for your guidance. You have given me more than I could ever hope for in these last two days." 

He then remained bowing, waiting for Lucius' answer.

A few seconds passed and the atmosphere turned awkward. 

Riker did not straighten from his bow as he felt it was necessary for Lucius to give his acknowledgment. Having inadvertently learned from him, Riker felt the necessity to pay his respects.

Lucius on the other hand, stood silent and simply watched Riker with a detached expression. He did not really care for Riker's thanks, and thus felt this entire ordeal to be pointless.

Just as the thirty-second mark approached and neither of them seemed to show any movement, Olivia, who was standing beside Lucius, gently nudged him with her elbow. 

When she saw Lucius turn towards her, she quietly mouthed a sentence, 'You'll have to say something for him to leave.'

'Why?' Lucius asked.

'Just do it,' Olivia concluded with a smile.

Still unsure of why, Lucius decided to take Olivia's advice and replied to Riker, "No problem."

Hearing those words, Riker straightened up and flashed a brilliant smile. He then nodded towards the two ladies one last time.

"May the shade of the World Tree always fall upon you," giving his closing lines, Riker turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

"Until we meet again," A final line faintly resounded within the party's ears.

Staying in the same position for a few seconds, Ka'lor'ah then turned to face the remaining duo and cheerfully spoke, "Well, I'm going to miss him. We really had some very interesting chats."

Olivia, having a pondering expression on her face, asked, "Will he be able to successfully ascend into the next Stage?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Lucius answered, "Probably. He is close and does have the required talent. It will all come down to how good he is at seizing opportunities."

"So, what's our plan? Where are we going next?" Ka'lor'ah asked. 

"While the chances of us being caught are low, we still have to leave this Elvenheim as soon as possible, given what he did back there," she looked at Lucius, insinuatingly. 

Blatantly ignoring her gaze, Lucius calmly answered, "We will head further inland into the middle regions, into the Land of the Giants. That will be the final training destination before we head towards the Alcana Empire."

He then looked at Olivia with a gaze carrying great expectations and continued, "You will undergo your ascension into the next Stage there."

Feeling his expectant gaze on her, Olivia audibly gulped before nodding her head.

"I will not let you down," she solemnly promised.

"Of course you won't. You've got this!" Ka'lor'ah flew before Olivia and intervened with a light-hearted tone. She then balled up her fists and continued, "Don't worry too much. You've already got half a foot inside the next Stage. Now you just got to get the other half in."

"Now then, enough of this serious and heavy talk. Didn't you want to talk to the shipping companies and mercenary groups about some stuff?"

"Yes! I almost forgot about that!" Olivia exclaimed, having forgotten about that.

Sporting a smile, Ka'lor'ah then flew near Olivia and paired her tiny arm with hers. Tugging on her arm, she then exclaimed, "What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"

"I'm going to go back to the ship," Lucius casually replied and turned around.

"Nonsense! Go to the ship and do what? You've already slept enough. Now come with us!" Ka'lor'ah leaned towards Lucius and paired her remaining arms with his.

Holding both Lucius and Olivia in either of her hands, Ka'lor'ah then flew forward with the excitement of a child. 

----------

After walking the wide, well-constructed streets for a few dozen minutes, the party arrived in front of a large, decently-furnished, light-brown wood-patterned building, sporting the sign; Goods Shipping and Traveler Services Office.

Looking at the large crowd entering and exiting each of the eight, wide doors of this office, Ka'lor'ah remarked, "Wow, it sure is busy, huh?"

"Well, let's head in!" 

Joining the crowd, the party ascended the short set of stairs and walked into the building. A few moments after they stepped into the door, a small, black orb arrived before them and projected a holographic screen.

The image of a beautiful female elf wearing neat service attire appeared on the screen. The image then started to move and greeted them.

"Welcome to Rivendell, travelers from afar. I see this is your first time entering this establishment. What are you looking for and how may I assist you?" the elf politely spoke.

"Whoa! This is amazing," Ka'lor'ah spoke with shining eyes. Flying closer to the screen, she carefully inspected it and remarked, "This is my first time seeing such a thing. Is this a recorded image?"

A strained smile appeared on the elf within the screen as she answered, "Not at all, Traveler. This is a live image." 

"Whoa! A live image!" Ka'lor'ah exclaimed once more. She then folded her hands and absent-mindedly muttered while nodding her head. 

"I suppose that makes sense. The Elves are, after all, not that advanced on the mechanical tech side. They have to depend on artifacts and arrays to maintain a basic level of functioning."

While Ka'lor'ah's speech was directed towards herself, it was more than audible for the elf within the screen. Her smile became even stiffer and a trace of annoyance appeared on her face.

In a passively aggressive tone, she asked once again, "Could you please tell me, how you would require my assistance?"

Detecting her tone, Ka'lor'ah narrowed her eyes and dispersedly replied, "Wow, the customer service here is really sucky, huh?" 

Dropping the smile, a cold expression appeared on the elf's face, as she monotonously spoke, "Dear customer, if you are here to cause trouble, then I suggest you leave the premises. Offenders will be forcibly removed."

A threatening aura curst out from within the orb. 

The crowd moving around the party suddenly stopped, as the various other customers looked at this scene with piqued interest and curiosity. 

"Wow, they sure have the balls to cause trouble in the capital city, huh? You don't get to see such a scene very often."

"Tch, tch, they must be new here. Do they not know about the basic code of conduct within an elvish city?"

"Three fine beauties. I would like to step in and help, but doing so will only draw trouble onto myself."

"Beauties? Hah, you should go and get your eyes checked out. Look at how boney and furless they look. True beauty lies in one's meat and fur!"

"Found the furry!"

Hushed discussions sounded out from around them. 

Currently, a circle had formed around the trio's party and the floating orb. None of the onlookers seemed to have any intention to step in and help them resolve the conflict but rather settled to take to the sidelines and watch the show.

Lucius' eyes had turned cold and his signature murderous aura was faintly being released. The shadow underneath his feet was larger than usual, and a faint cry rang from within.

Just as the situation seemed on the verge of exploding, Olivia stepped in and calmly spoke.

"I'm terribly sorry for the words of my puppet there. She was only animated recently and therefore is very curious about her surroundings."

Taking a few more steps forward, Olivia continued her speech with a smile.

"We do, in fact, require your help. You see, I am the representative sent from a newly ascended race. We have some ingenious products that we would quite like to trade and are looking for some proper shipping channels and markets. How do you say you help us?"

The moment Olivia finished talking, silence descended within the surroundings. Her words were unflustered, confident, and oddly resounding that the surrounding people found themselves unconsciously paying attention to her.

After the initial moment of silence, the crowd exploded.

"Miss! Over here! We are from the Universal Shipping Company! We would like to—"

"We are from the Delta Group! A newly ascended race should partner with us for—"

"You, the furless lady! Please forget my previous words! Now that I see, you are indeed beautiful! Heh, heh, our Beastly Instincts group provide unparalleled service for—"

One after the other, the people belonging to the various shipping groups and companies rushed towards Olivia. Their eyes collectively contained the light of greed and opportunity.

Olivia, however, ignored their cries and continued to stare at the screen.

The beautiful elf on the screen seemed to be shocked for a moment before quickly recovering her calm. Sporting a polite smile once again, she spoke, "Well then, please allow me to guide you."