NOVEL NEXT Chapter 158: The Signing Ceremony
As Gaia oversaw the contract writing as a neutral party, Bahamut read the completed document, then vacated the seat.
As Bahamut made a signalling gesture, Carl sat down and was about to sign it when he remembered the test they had given Gillian and smoothly transitioned to using the pen to scan the document as his eyes flooded with divinity.
"I appreciate you keeping me on my toes guys, but maybe don't use binding documents to do it."
"Consider it a sign of good faith, we trusted you to take the time to examine such an important document personally." Bahamut chuckled.
"So that's what it was. I was curious as to the manner of treachery Gaia would participate in, but I find it comforting she is simply trying to educate the newly ascended."
"I agree, I gave her a child, so I'm happy to know they'll be educated properly."
As everyone pinched the bridge of their nose, Illum groaned. "First, your phrasing is easily misconstrued, offend the wrong immortal and you'll have an eternal enemy. Second, I figured there was some manner of prior relationship, but please note a mediator is supposed to be truly impartial."
"Oh. Sorry, I have no excuse but a measure of ignorance."
"I planned to sign the agreement anyway, so the mediator is of no consequence on this occasion, but for others you should simply call an immortal you are acquainted but not familiar with. The important thing is your speech, every word must be unmistakable in its meaning and be no more or less vague than intended."
"Yeah, Kyubi will punish me for that, she made it her personal mission to erase that bad habit. To clarify, I used my creation to make the one she named Rhea and adopted."
"So that's it. News of your heir is beginning to spread, and some gossipy entities have noted the human who often visits."
"Hear that Carl, our time together has become a scandal."
"Yes, I get the point, I should have been more transparent in my movements."
Klaire gave him a hug. "Especially since you have us already, you'll end up with jealous eyes wishing curses upon you."
"I said I get it Klaire. I'll make sure to be more transparent, I didn't know I'd garnered enough attention to cause a scandal and I can't afford to lack that level of self-awareness." By the time he was done speaking, Gaia had finished redoing the contract and each party took a turn reading it, before signing it.
"I don't know about everyone else, but I'm ready for something a bit more relaxed." Carl sighed as he desperately tried to hold onto his facade of a born-leader.
"What would you consider relaxed?" Illum asked, genuinely intrigued as they already discussed Carl's plan to convert unowned realms to neutral places of rest and relaxation.
"Hot springs, vids, playing with the kids. I also like creating things as you can see... You said elves are mostly infertile, forgive me for overstepping, but I'd be happy to create a child for you two as well."
Bahamut slapped him over the head as Klaire, Gillian and Gaia laughed.
"Actually, if you could, that would put our peoples minds at ease and greatly improve their impression of you. If you could make it so I would carry the child, even better." Eldorlora said, speaking out for the first time of the day.
"Well, actually that's what I meant in this case... I can see what makes it hard for elves to conceive."
Everyone stopped laughing and looked at him with deadly seriousness.
"Explain Carl."
"Well, it's your divinity channels, they're delicate and narrow due to the density they contain. By any chance, do you notice weaker elves have higher fertility?"
"Indeed, it's always been a point of study for our kind."
"The divinity channels in your abdominal structure are scarred and damaged, they have to be more rigid because to avoid damage under the strain of pregnancy..."
"...Which makes them more susceptible to damage in strong elves..." Illum finished, looking at his wife.
"To make it worse, elven women are trained in combat as well, we often sustain injuries in our youth." Eldorlora said, with a hint of despair.
"Luckily, I can see the channels clearly and I think I can repair the damage. I will need some hair and a construct of your combined divinity to do this though. Hopefully you two can replicate what I do for your people."
"Carl, how painful will it be?"
"Unfortunately, there is no way to numb the pain, it will be excruciating. We could render you unconscious, but it wouldn't ease the pain, just stop you flailing."
"Do it." Eldorlora's determination spoke volumes for a desire she had long given up on.
"With all due respect, I need to insist you both discuss it further, I'm dangling a life changing choice in front of you..."
"He's right dear, this is a dream of both of us, but it is untested and may have unforeseen consequences. We can't make this choice lightly or impulsively, not to mention the impact on our people and species as a whole."
Eldorlora gripped Illum's hand with a strength that made him wince. "Do you have a room we could discuss this in?" She spoke without looking away from Illum.
"If it's going to be an aggressive discussion, the sparring hall is just opposite the front door. If it's going to be calm, then you can have it anywhere you want.
It was then that Kyubi returned, asking what she had missed and Klaire caught her up. She told Carl off for being vague but then turned to the two elves. "Sorry for being blunt, but do you really have a choice?..."
Kyubi went on to confirm that from what they had spoken about in idle chatter, it sounded like elves were growing stronger with every generation. This with the revelation that the elves strength is tied to their infertility, made it clear the elves were in an extinction spiral.
"Kyubi, a little insensitive..." Klaire whispered, before Kyubi finished with an outburst that rendered them in agreement.
"I don't care, if Carl has to watch them die when he could have helped, he'll blame himself and revive the species anyway. At this point, they're just being selfish leaders and self-destructive."
"Well, I guess that does add up, but maybe say it nicer..." Klaire grimaced, knowing that it didn't change the fact she was acting a bit rashly.
"Well, Kyubi just made the point I was going to make... Illum, if there are consequences, we must accept them and bare them for our people's sake."
Illum looked to Carl with an unusual expression of pleading vulnerability.
"I could take some hair from each of you, mix it into a child for you. It would be a temporary fix I couldn't keep up indefinitely though and it could be worse if your species becomes dependant on my abilities."
"He's right dear, but I can see you need time and I'm sure Carl won't be applying a time-limit to his off-"
"I won't, but I should tell you, I'm going to be meeting with Gilgamesh and pulling away from them tomorrow."
Illum tensed, then jerked away from Eldorlora to grab his shoulders. "If that Warmonger filth tries anything, call and I will bring every elf, from gatherer to god to see you to safety. You are a shrewd man, you just made yourself invaluable to us. I thank you for keeping this until after the signing, otherwise it would have felt like signing my species over to you."
"Hey, don't panic, I already have my ways of dealing with getting away safely and I'm only going to try and keep the separation amicable."
Illum and Eldorlora both grunted, with even more disgust than he'd seen people express toward Nergal. It was such a visceral reaction in fact, that Carl suddenly found himself interested in the autobiography Gilgamesh had been recounting at their last meeting.
Carl thanked them for the fresh insight and motivation to listen to his egotistical monologue, which was good since he recognised the man's displeasure at being cut short and unable to finish telling his life story.
"Carl, we were going to wait until later, but we discussed it after the girls fell asleep. We want you to change our natures, now we're all going to be married it would be wrong for us to do so, with me merely lusting after Kyubi and with her in constant fear of her's."
"You're sure?"
Kyubi and Klaire both nodded and the elves asked what was meant by changing natures and Carl and Klaire finally gave them a full run-down of their abilities. Which left the already impressed elven gods utterly awestruck, albeit briefly before that awe turned to pity.
"I envy no man whose path requires such power, the "Hero" title is clearly far weightier than any of us imagined..." Illum spoke with the wisdom of countless years, recounting how he had seen proof many times to prove that an individual's power is never greater than they need to fulfill their purpose.