Evolution: A Warlock’s Rise To Power

Lucan was back in Shadowsweep talking to Edgit Hammerstone. The majority of the small mine was excavated and now there were only small fragments left.

"Do you want your share in crystal or gold?" Lucan asked.

"If it is the same to you Lord Quilldrake, we would prefer crystal."

"Then take what's yours when you want it. I will deal with Oar's portion for now."

"Thank you, if you want to continuing mining in the future, let me know."

"Yes, I am very interested. I will send a few locations to you in the next couple days, take a look and let me know if you would be willing to work for the village again."

Edgit left and headed straight to the warehouse to tell the others while Lucan stayed on his porch. A few minutes later Raze appeared before Lucan. He couldn't prove it, but he swore that Raze had been watching and waited for the instant his eyes were shut while blinking. Harvin was standing beside him.

"Lucan, you found yourself a good architect. I have also signed on Harvin's build team to help with construction. If you need anything, else let me know." Raze said.

He disappeared into thin air before Lucan had a chance to say anything. The warlock rose from his chair and properly greeted Harvin before inviting him inside.

"Did your negotiations go well, hopefully the old man didn't screw you too bad."

"Ha, no it was fine. He accepted my offer with no complaints."

"Oh, I see." Lucan guessed that Harvin needed to raise his prices.

"I was told you had a way to Avalon that I could use to come and go."

"Yes, but first, there is something I require of you. For the duration of this project I want you to become my follower, that way you can always reach me, and I also need you to swear not to reveal the blueprint of my castle to outsiders."

"Sure, Raze told me to expect that." Harvin said, taking Lucan's hand.

They spent the rest of the day talking. Harvin had come with many pictures, designs and colors. He was doing his best to understand Lucan's tastes. They talked about the village, where he saw it heading, what worried him. Harvin took in all of the information to perfect his castle design for Lucan. Harvin informed Lucan that Raze had insisted on one requirement. Lucan's castle was not to be taller than Raze's palace. It could reach higher into the sky but from base to tip, it could not be taller. Lucan laughed and said it wasn't a problem.

When the sun set, Harvin said he would have some basic designs in a few days and left through the Shadow Tunnel to retrieve his crew. Lucan needed to swear everyone to secrecy before they began.

When Lucan woke, they next day he contacted Lisel.

[Things are going well with the Golem Guild. A minor brawl broke out yesterday and both sides are gearing up to respond as we speak.]

[Great, but I am actually reaching out for a different reason.] Lucan said into the coven chat.

[What can I do for you?]

[Raze has informed me that your Queen would be very interested in purchasing what I have to offer. Can you tell her I wish to meet?]

[I don't know if she will want too, but I can pass on the message.]

[Thanks.]

Lucan sat on his patio reading about formations and waiting for a response. An hour passed when lights started flashing out at the transfer point, several people were coming through even though it was set to private. They had the power to override his status as Lord of Shadowsweep.

He didn't delay and went straight to the transfer point.

A tall shadow elf with long hair, wearing regal armor stood before 10 heavily armored shadow elves.

"You must be Lord Quilldrake." Said the first shadow elf. "Nice to meet you, I am Todarn Abyssin, King of the Shadow elves. My lovely and gorgeous wife suggested I come here and buy whatever you want to sell me. She told me to give you a fair price. Oh, isn't she just the best, I am the luckiest guy in the world. Aren't I boys?"

"The king is blessed."

"He has wonderous fortune."

The knights parroted whatever the king wanted to hear.

"Yes, nice to meet you." Lucan said while giving the king a bow and wondering if he was under some sort of spell.

"Lucan, can I call you Lucan?" The King said while putting his arm around Lucan's shoulder and starting to walk down the street. "Lucan, what do you have that has attracted my goddess's attention? Please let me buy it, she will be so happy when I return. Oh, I can't wait." The king was on the verge screeching like a schoolgirl.

Lucan looked backed to the guards who tried to hide their embarrassment. One knight stepped forward. "The king has always been like this. He is an idiot when it comes to his love for our Queen."

"Hey, Chuck. I am standing right here. Have some respect for your king, do you want to be demoted?"

Without batting an eye, Chuck the knight said his well-rehearsed line. "Are you saying I should hide my king's level of love for his wife?"

"What?! No! Never! The world must know that no man loves his wife as much as I love mine. I LOVE YOU MY DEAREST!" The king screamed to the sky while the knight fell back into position.

When the King eventually saw what Lucan was selling it took the knights 15 minutes to calm him down. He went on and on about how excited the Queen of Shadows was going to be. Lucan sold half of the mana crystals to the king. He would pay 250,000 gold to Lucan every month for the next 5 years.

Lucan would rather have been paid in full, but he understood that they couldn't remove every gold coin from their nation just to pay him. Gold was likely to lose value as players rose to higher levels. In this way, the deal was bad for him, but he did manage to push the price a little higher because of it. And the reoccurring income would give the growing village stability over the next 5 years.

He had given Shadowsweep the best chance to bloom. To finish off the last of his errands, Lucan and Renia took a good amount of medium grade mana crystal fragments and sold them to Grand Magister Faylen.

Lucan took the money from the sale and bought large amounts of metal, fabric, leather and basic supplies. He had to call several people from Shadowsweep to help carry all the bags. Alasan would hire some blacksmiths in the village to start building uniform armor for the guards.

As Lucan sat on his porch reading, he was pleased to hear the villagers excitedly whispering to themselves as they passed. The people gossiped about a castle, there were 3 different expeditions hiring people to mine outside of Shadowsweep. There was even a hunting party planning to head out for a month and do some monster hunting in the Forest of the Lost.

Since the addition of the transfer point, the hunters were now able to sell what they recovered from the forest creatures at greater prices. Hunting was no longer necessary for food but taking down powerful creates proved to be a lucrative job.

That evening Lisel posted a new thread in the forum and made an announcement to the coven. The players that had been plaguing the Goblin Plains had left and returned to the Material Plane. The low-level followers of Lisel and Hellfire returned to the hunting ground. With allied players nearby Lucan was able to return as well.

Since all the players fighting in the plains were friendly with each other, if one group saw another getting overwhelmed, they wouldn't hesitate to step in and help. Nobody wanted to die in the Eldritch Battlegrounds where the death penalty was doubled. Lucan made sure that he could always see a group nearby and it kept him from having any close calls.