[Ouroboros' End]
Standing in one of the training chambers of the Sorlus family, Darganth watched as the expressions of Talnar, Esma, and their three sons completely escalated in response to Neandra's celestial mana.
After Talnar had accepted his offer of cooperation, they had followed the man to the training hall they were now in. With only a few additional spells on the walls, this room was then turned into one that blocked spying and celestial mana, ensuring that Neandra's status as an ascendant wasn't detected outside of it.
Once inside, Neandra unleashed her ascendant presence. Celestial mana poured from her, its immense power quickly overwhelming the room. With it, the metaphysical weight of her mana bore down on the mana signature of their surroundings. Whether that be the weak mana presence in their surroundings or the waves of mana that weakly radiated out from Darganth and everyone else in their group, every bit of mana was pushed back into the fabric of existence itself as Neandra's power completely overtook perceivable reality.
Naturally, the sudden weight that fell on their shoulders caused Talnar and his family to tense in fear. Even Ceraia unconsciously stumbled back, the mental preparations she made only helping marginally in keeping her fear at bay. Though what it did help with was the recovery afterward.
This meant that when Neandra reigned her presence back in a moment later, she was the first of her family members to regain their bearing. Her parents and brothers, meanwhile, were still in shock at the revelation. Part of this came from the flippant attitude she had shown toward Neandra and the others, causing worried and perplexed glances to be thrown Ceraia's way, even if the revelation itself was the main factor.
For her part, Ceraia couldn't keep herself from making a snide comment at the second oldest of her brothers for his earlier reaction, "And, do you trust my words now?"
Snapped out of his shock by her words, Talnar quickly stepped in before his children could start to squabble. With his heart beating faster with a feeling of vindication toward his decision, he lowered his head in a bow.
"It is an honor to be granted the privilege of this secret. The Sorlus family won't make you regret the decision."
"We know. Your daughter's actions might have made us aware of your family, but we could've just as well agreed to get the bounty and be done with it. No, you possess a talent for planning and resources that make you uniquely suited to further our plans. And we're naturally interested in rewarding such talent among our allies." Neandra said.
Nodding courteously in response to the praise, Talnar still couldn't fully believe the turn the day had taken. What had started as a negotiation with an unknowing group that, while powerful, still was within what one had to expect on Ouroboros' End had turned into an association with an ascendant. While he wasn't under the illusion that it was an equal partnership due to the difference in power, though he wasn't yet ready to admit so out loud, it still left his family in a better position than just the day prior.
At the thought of his family's place in the realm fragment's power structure, Talnar's gaze unconsciously drifted toward Darganth. With the shock that had also caused the almost overbearing politeness he had shown when talking to Neandra fading, his mind slowly wandered to the dynamics of the group around her.
Hesitantly, he turned to Darganth, "Not to sound rude, but what is your place in this? Dragons don't typically ally with outsiders. And even when they do, they mostly command them."
"Oh, you misunderstand. I might be an ascendant, but I'm not the one who is in charge." Neandra interjected.
Seeing Talnar glance at her in confusion at those words, Darganth added, "Don't overthink it. At least for now, just know that we act as equals and treat it that way. Anything else will only become relevant if your family grows powerful enough to still be helpful once we stretch our plans beyond this region of the astral. Not that we'd abandon you if you didn't, just that your involvement will be limited to our actions in this region."
Adding the last sentence after a short delay, Darganth watched as Talnar's expressions shifted once his talk about different regions of the astral set in. Whereas he had nodded along at the start, when Darganth started to hint at the extent of their ambitions, his interest rose. And as he thought about it for a second moment, such plans made sense.
Even when compared to his initial assessment that placed Neandra easily among the ten strongest mortals in the realm fragment, an ascendant's ambitions would naturally be far above even those. And while he couldn't know how grandiose their plans were when compared to the three other ascendants, nor how Darganth factored into those plans, he knew that the greater the impact they left on the multiverse, the more opportunities he would have to benefit from it.
"I guess that is a good reason not to slack off just because we now have your support." Talnar said, more so thinking out loud than speaking with anyone in particular.
Overhearing those words during her own conversation with Esma, Allaire threw in some advice, "Certainly. Though, as long as you aren't relying on us too much, you can certainly also ask for our help. And that offer isn't solely in regards to the personal power of any of you but equally so, if not more so, in regards to the growth of your businesses."
"Our influence is what can help you the most, so I guessed as much. But it's good to have confirmation of it and the knowledge that your offer isn't so limited." Talnar answered gratefully.
Esma nodded along to those words, "It'll depend on how many of you help, but that'll be a major boon. Not to mention the opportunities if we could even lend your Starweaver from time to time."
"Rather not, I'd like to keep it ready at all times. But if we get our hands on another one, we could talk about it." Darganth responded quickly.
Frowning slightly, Esma nonetheless understood Darganth's position. The strategic value of a Starweaver did give many options, even if she herself would argue that the value it could generate with just one voyage for one of their businesses was worth more.
Simultaneously, their short exchange drew Jennia's attention toward them. Apologizing to Yldra, with whom she had been talking, she pushed off the wall she was leaning against and injected herself into the conversation.
"Alternatively, we could combine that with our plans to get a base by rethinking the latter a bit. From what I've gathered, there are quite a few pirate groups nobody is gonna miss, of whom at least one already hates us anyway, and we do have someone who might know about some of their bases." Jennia said, her gaze drifting toward Ceraia.
Talnar's expression sharpened at those words. Turning his gaze toward his daughter, he panicked slightly as he watched the interest flash across her face.
"And there are reasons why they are still around despite that. If we're seen with one of their ships, it would take just one moment in which Neandra isn't here for my family to be wiped out, so please don't. Furthermore, I can arrange a property that'll cause you less trouble if you want, so attacking one of them is an unnecessary risk." Talnar said.
Before Darganth could think about it, Jennia countered, "It would also help us build a reputation."
Darganth raised an eyebrow at this. Not because of the idea to make themselves known to the people of Ouroboros' End by taking out some of the unsavory elements active in the realm fragment was new to him, but because Jennia's words gave him a new idea. While he was inclined to agree with Talnar's assessment of his wife's idea, it was more so due to the appearance such aggression would have.
But at Jennia's words, an idea formed in his head, prompting him to turn to Talnar, "Five seconds ago, I actually would've agreed with you, just not for the same reasons. The appearance of Starweavers can be changed, though I also wouldn't have left enough of any organization I attacked in one piece for it to still be a threat. The optics of such an attack, however, would've made me hesitate."
Pausing for a moment, Darganth let his words sink in before he continued his explanation.
"People get scared when someone shows the willingness to use force to get their way, even if it's against someone they themselves hate. So while it would help us make ourselves known, the kind of reputation that would create would hurt our plans. Self-defense against someone who attacked us, however? That spreads word of our power without painting us in a bad light." Darganth said.
"So you want to bait them into attacking you first?" Talnar asked, to which Darganth nodded.
Pausing for a moment, the Sorlus family patriarch fell silent as he thought about the idea. Momentarily thinking about the actual fighting, he briefly glanced toward Neandra and chided his own stupidity to even consider it as anything other than a foregone conclusion before turning his attention to everything around it.
Mentally going through every pirate group he knew of in search of one where he knew of something that could be used to bait them, he was surprised to actually find a good option. And it wasn't even something he learned due to his daughter's escapades, something that was even more surprising considering he otherwise interacted little with pirates and their like, but something an acquaintance had told him in connection with a plot of land the man had been trying to sell.
Still, while that meant that the plan could actually be implemented, Talnar still wasn't all that confident, "Do you really want to do it this way? Pirate groups are often well-connected and know how to use these connections. All it would take is a good enough rumor about some of the treasures you looted from them, and half the planet will be after you. I wouldn't even put it past them to forge some documents to create some justification for their initial attack, likely by claiming whichever building you end up using as your base. There might be a central authority that's managing land rights, but they're only really relevant for freshly risen mythic ranks at most. And many pirates have at least some reputable connections, so your reputation might still suffer."
These words surprised Darganth. For one, he hadn't really expected there to be any central authority that managed land rights, but that was something he'd think about more later. In the moment, he was more interested in what Talnar didn't say anyway.
"You already have an idea." Darganth said, confident enough in his deduction to not even pose it as a question.
"Maybe? Probably? Yes?" Talnar answered, his thoughts shifting even while speaking and resulting in three different answers being strung together, "There's something I heard from an acquaintance I occasionally do business with, but I'd have to ask whether that situation still persists. But what about my uncertainties?"
"Well, if you're worried about any rumors they might create, then we just have to make our bait flash enough to draw in not just our target but as many others as possible. Let's see them spread their lies when representatives of the ascendants contradict them.
As for any greedy fools that might attack us? Let them come, they'll have dragonfire raining down on them without Neandra even having to act." Darganth said with a battle-hungry grin.
Standing in stunned silence at Darganth's confidence, Talnar's shoulders sank as he let out a sigh of resignation a moment later.
"Alright. My idea comes from something one of my business partners mentioned a few months ago. Apparently, he's been having problems with a group of smugglers who have been trying to get a piece of land that he owns. Though it's at the edge of one of the undeveloped parts above the Hollow Sea, so it isn't anywhere nearby." Talnar said.
This location name was something Darganth recognized. From the scouting missions Irsyr had ordered, he knew that the Hollow Sea was a subterranean body of water that was infamous for the unpredictable conditions below ground and the unstable ground above. Due to that, the area above and around it was the second least developed region of the realm fragment's planet. But with a massive body of water below, it nonetheless wasn't anything close to the barren and lifeless rocky expanse that was the natural state almost everywhere else across the planet. Instead, everything from savannas, over grasslands, to entire jungles filled the terrain.
Of course, that didn't mean that the area was any less inhospitable than the planet was in general. But whereas the problems most of the realm fragment faces can be circumvented by importing food and the other necessities the place natively lacks, the Hollow Sea had twisted the land around itself so much that much of it had become unlivable by anyone who didn't adapt to the changes.
"What kind of problems?" Darganth asked a moment later.
"At first, just insultingly low offers. But about three months before we had last met, they had apparently become more aggressive. The thing is, the property and everything nearby that lies outside the nearest city is overrun with monsters. So while the smugglers want it, likely to expand their nearby base into the Outlands, they seem to believe the investment of clearing out the monsters themselves is not worth it."
Nodding steadily, Darganth grinned at the opportunity, "That's practically perfect."