The elves were incorporated into the Human Empire. Since they had many sovereigns and six celestials, Varian didn't allow these powerhouses to roam free.
For starters, he modified the restrictions around their habitat and allowed them to move freely in a much wider location.
Then he solved a couple of menacing beasts that were harassing the elves constantly. Out of the nine beasts he slaughtered, three were peak rank 1. But strangely enough, he didn't struggle as much as he expected.
But there was one battle he did struggle with. He still wasn't sure if it was a rank 2 beast or just something in between rank 1 and rank 2.
It's a giant serpent—so long that it could cover the entire home tree of elves multiple times! To put it into context, if it coiled itself, it'd envelop an entire modern city!
Things went out of control and Varian thought of retreating. But the artifacts gave him that little push which ultimately helped him win.
With that big boss slain, Varian prepared to end this little tour and prepare for some serious work. But the elves had some interesting news for him.
Varian decided to learn about it in a fancy restaurant—the most famous one in the common capital of elves.
It's built on a tall, thick tree with pink leaves and purple fruits and oozed sweet nectar every other day.
These fruits were helpful in improving one's physique. Of course, since elves exclusively awakened in one of the elemental paths, it's only a supplementary item for them.
'But if body awakeners use it, it can be quite the boost. Especially level 6s…' Varian found himself once again thinking of how to make his civilization stronger.
It's almost common these days that whenever he saw something or met someone, his thoughts would always go back to 'How can I use this to help everyone grow stronger?'
He hadn't told others about the ticking time bomb yet. Whenever he's frustrated, he resorted to thrashing Haedon with the most creative of curses.
But for now, at least, he didn't want to ruin anyone's mind with the bad news. Humans finally got peace and they should at least enjoy it for a while. Of course, he wasn't letting the powerhouses slack in the slightest.
He threw as many high awakeners as possible into Hortus. He asked, no, he almost warned them to not waste any time. Thankfully, they're all working hard and making full use of the time flow difference.
By now, it should be almost four or five months in there.
In addition, he'd opened up the ruins to them. And he even instructed the World Will to give them appropriate protection when they venture into dangerous areas.
Adding to all this was the rapid production of special potions by research groups headed by Kyle.
Every day, he's getting news of more and more breakthroughs. But the transformation at the top was still lacking. Humans lost too many high awakeners in the war.
So, Varian's optimistic plan was to recover to the pre-war strength in half a year—though for the people who actually practiced inside, it'd be close to four years.
Of course, there'd be differences.
Thanks to the precious herbs available in the ruins and Hortus, there'd be way more Sovereigns. But no matter the advances, Celestial Rankers would still be a distant dream.
Excluding Sarah and Sia, it'd take at least two to three years in the most optimistic estimates.
"…Thanks to you, I can rest assured about a big issue nagging me," Varian said to the lady elf sitting in front of him with a genuine smile.
"M-Me? I didn't do anything but since you say so, t-thank…" Aqualina, the water elf elder, stuttered and lowered her head, blushing furiously.
Despite her age, she looked very young, like someone in their late twenties. Even for an elf, she's stunning. Maybe due to her water path, she was usually very calm and seemed reliable.
Not now though, she's pretty flustered now.
"I didn't mean you specifically, it's all the six elders, the celestial rankers." Varian coughed lightly and said.
"Eh? Ahhh!" Aqualina's ears drooped slightly and she nodded with an embarrassed face. "My bad."
Varian shrugged and put his hands together on the table. A crystalline seed floated out of his sleeve and flew in front of the water elf. It's one of the artifacts—Nature Seed—the amplifier of all elemental powers.
"T-This!" Aqualina's blue eyes lit up and she almost grabbed the crystalline seed. Coughing lightly, she sat back and nodded at him. "I'm certain now. This is indeed the treasure mentioned in our records."
Varian waved his hand. "Go on."
Aqualina moved around the crystalline seed with a curious face and continued. "It's the strongest treasure we've ever built. It's built from the seed of a World Tree and each World Tree has only one seed—ever."
"So?"
"So? This is very, very, very precious! It can do a lot of things! Amazing, mind-blowing things, Your Majesty!" Aqualina slammed the table with her palms and leaned forward, her eyes gleaming with a crazy light.
As her face was about crash onto his, Varian put a hand on her forehead and pushed her back into the seat. "It's just a booster now, not bad, but nothing amazing."
At those outrageous remarks, Aqualina slammed the table and leaned forward once again before Varian smacked her back into the seat. This time, her forehead was a bit red.
"Is this elven thing or what?" Varian gave her a weird look. "Just sit the fuck down and talk."
"I…I…" Aqualina wanted to cough up an excuse but nothing came to her mind. In the end, she sighed and slumped in her seat like a deflated balloon.
"Its effects are not great because it's very worn out, Your Majesty. You have to repair it. Once you do, it can help you all the way until the peak of Celestial Rank." The water elf said with a wry smile. "That's what our record claims."
"I suspect exaggeration. Myths and legends tend to do that."
"We elves don't. We are one of the few races that followed devas to this barren place. Our ancestors weren't weak, you see. If that treasure you called Nature Seed is indeed their creation, I'd expect it to be that good." Aqualina's eyes were brimming with worship when she mentioned her ancestors.
No doubt, if the Ares tribe or later known as the Devas, came from one of the six most important tribes to ever exist, then their subordinates would also be damn good.
It's just…
"Can I get repair this thing to its former state then? Else it's just dead glory." Varian was indifferent to these things.
If it's another time, he'd be fascinated by this new race. But he'd a rope around his neck and it could tighten any day.
"Uh? To the former state? It's only in legends…we can follow the instructions and try, but…" Aqualina brushed the locks of her hair behind her pointed ear and gave him an embarrassed gaze.
Varian looked up to the ceiling with an exasperated expression. "Thanks for wasting my day, you…"
He drew a long sigh and swallowed the words in his mouth. Getting up from his seat, he waved his hand. "Whatever, bye."
"Wait!" Aqualina screamed at the top of her lungs and spoke faster than any human rapper ever did. "It has all the key materials intact. It's made by my ancestors, it's made to be durable, and it should be self-repairing! It just needs some side materials! But none of those are available here. If you could just find them somewhere, it's possible to…restore the elf treasure, possibly to the fullest extent."
Varian blinked in confusion before he comprehended the words she spoke.
To be fair, they had been conversing in Deva script that the system had drilled into his brain at some point in the ruins. He's not very familiar with it yet.
"I'm leaving tomorrow morning, get me the list of the ingredients by then." Varian stretched his arms and walked out of the restaurant.
The elven children ran in the streets, giggling and playing games with their powers. Snowballs, fire planes, lightning letters, earthly statues, light and darkness games…the kids were having the time of their lives.
"A-Are you leaving already?" Aqualina smiled at the kids through her disguise and turned to him, confused and worried.
He came, fought, won, and conquered. Now he's leaving? Just like that?
"A team of delegates will be arriving here before I leave. They'll survey this domain and conduct some discussions with you. You're still the rulers of this place, but you'll be following my rule." Varian said calmly.
"E-Elves do not like sudden changes. We are a very stable race." Aqualina bit her lip and said.
Varian looked her in the eye and said in a voice that was almost a whisper. "Well, a war is coming, Aqualina. If humans get destroyed, then you're next. Not a single elf will be spared. If you want to survive, you have to change. We don't have the comfort of taking our time."
"With who? You already quelled the beasts outsi—"
"Those are bugs compared to the enemy who'll arrive one day. I beat all six of you by myself but even if a hundred of me gather, I have no certainty of beating one of their many military commanders." Varian laughed at the absurdity. "Now don't freak out, I do have a plan but that doesn't involve anyone not training."
Aqualina nodded stiffly. She didn't exactly get what he was talking about. Panic was one thing she felt but confusion was the larger thing that filled her mind.
"I know, after the meeting, Elven sovereigns and high awakeners will go to practice in a special place." Varian nodded to himself and pointed at the kids running in the wide streets.
"And select a bunch of good students, young seedlings that need to be trained. We can partner them up with human students and drive up their competition."
The first steps for a larger integration began.
