Novel Full Chapter 780 780 Welcome To Sylvan
Wolfe happily made his way from town to town, and then searched the area with his mana sense and some Earth Magic to see where he should link with the Fortress City.
It only took a few seconds to realize that Priya had already prepared for his arrival, and there was a tunnel dug a kilometre out from the city walls, and a large underground staging area already built, just waiting on someone with the time and magic to come finish the project and link them to the other towns as planned.
[Priya, I’m incoming at the underground highway entrance if you want to come visit for a bit.] Wolfe warned her as he approached, flying down the freshly created tunnel to save energy and increase his movement speed.
[You are making the tunnel yourself? I thought that we had agreed that the witches would get to it when they had time? I will be there in twenty minutes.] She replied in his mind, and he could feel her frustration and eagerness as she worked to get something prepared before his arrival.
Wolfe slowed down to give her more time to prepare and get out of the city to the meeting point with whoever insisted on following her. She had been roped into a Family leadership position, from what Wolfe recalled, so she wouldn’t be able to get away easily, but it would be good to come visit again, and see how the big city was doing after everything that had happened to the villages that supplied it.
With Priya there to rebuild the defences and the fields, it shouldn’t be in too desperate of a condition, but there were no guarantees that they would accept all the help that she could offer. Self-interest and politics got in the way of countless great plans.
Wolfe felt Priya approaching with a large group of lower ranking witches, only a few Rank Twos and the rest were all still at Rank One, but that was probably the Family Elders from Sylvan Coven. Their positions were all in danger at this point, as the new generation would be approaching Rank Two at lightning speed these days, with the chance that some of them might make Rank Three within the next few years and leave the Elders floundering around at the bottom of the power-based hierarchy.
When his new road met the staging area, Wolfe found exactly what he expected. Priya with a bunch of old women, waiting for him to arrive. But he also found something surprising. There was a Rank Six water Fae there as well, and he hadn’t sensed her until he was within a few dozen metres.
That was an incredible hiding skill, as not many creatures were able to hide their power signature well enough to escape his notice.
“Greetings, Coven Leaders, good afternoon Guardian.” Wolfe greeted them as he arrived.
Everyone looked a bit confused at the title of Guardian, but Wolfe was looking right at the Water Fae when he said it.
“Are you not the Guardian here?” Wolfe asked the Fae with a hint of confusion.
“Nope. Officially, you are. I just live here. It’s much easier that way, but how did you detect me? Nothing should be able to tell what I am.” The Fae asked in a musical voice that seemed to mildly hypnotize those around her.
A siren, that must be what she was, with a voice so lovely that it was known to lure sailors to their doom as they jumped overboard to be closer to her.
“By your mana signature, of course. You are hidden very well, but a Magi has an impeccable sense for mana flows and disturbances, so I noticed that you were suppressing your presence too much. If you let a bit more out and appeared as a slightly stronger Fae, most wouldn’t question it at all, but to a Saint, there is no hiding your power.” Wolfe explained.
The Siren nodded her head, understanding that it was a matter of species and power that found her disguise, but now the Witches were all very suspicious about how she ended up in a position of power without them knowing.
They had brought her along as an assistant, and they hadn’t even known that she was Fae, much less one powerful enough that Wolfe would mistake her for the person looking after the city.
“Well, we will take care of that confusion later. It is an honour to have you here, Saint Noxus, welcome to Sylvan Coven. We heard over the radio that you have linked the border towns with this wonderful road, and we were hoping to hold a banquet in your honour tonight to celebrate.” The Coven Leader, an ancient witch too old to have gained much from the cleansing of the Bloodline Curse, announced.
“I don’t see why not. I can finish with the linking of the towns along the southern coast tomorrow.” Wolfe agreed, unwilling to insult the old witches so soon after meeting them again.
He had left here on good terms last time, and a fancy dinner was a great excuse to spend an evening with Priya, since she had been stuck here for an extended period of time as her Family’s new leader.
“You know, with the road linking you, the travel time between here and Forest Grove is only a few hours by truck. You could commute and come stay in your own bed again.” Wolfe suggested.
Priya winked at him and the Siren giggled in amusement.
The Fae’s musical voice was deliberately subdued to restrain the magic as she spoke. “You know, you could just upgrade her bed here, since you can fly around so much faster than anyone else travels. Then you could be the one to commute, under the guise of doing your duty as the Sylvan Fortress City’s Guardian.”
Priya nodded in agreement. “Yes, you’re not just in charge of Forest Grove anymore, you need to split your time between both places.”
Wolfe smiled and shook his head. “I’m actually the Guardian for the entirety of the Frozen Wastes now. Plus Sylvan Fortress City, and perhaps all of Sylvan, as I have only met town protectors along the way, so I’m not sure if there is an actual Guardian assigned to the rural areas.”
The Siren smirked at Wolfe as he explained. “That sounds like many beds to warm. You might have to start travelling with bodyguards.”
Wolfe gestured back down the tunnel. “I do. They’re just hiding so that you don’t make them work. But I will make sure that she gets all dressed up for the party later.”