“Look, all I am saying is that your mother is probably the second most pleasing elemental ruler I encountered,” John told Siena, while checking the Attributes of the elemental essence. It was just a double-check, he had already put an Observe on the pool over at the Light Shrine, so none of what he saw really surprised him. “Plasia was a bit nicer, but that’s about it.”

Tapping on the Infusing Matter 2 description, he inspected the details. ‘1 gram per 50 days with metal in the pool, 500 days without. It halved, same as the light essence,’ John thought and considered the possibilities. 1 gram every 50 days was still atrociously low, although how bad it was exactly depended on the metal in question.

Fundamentally, 1 gram of the six metals was the same in volume. Unenchanted and unworked, they had the same density. It was, of course, much easier to enchant Tempi, the strongest air-infused metal, to become lighter, but in the state the pools generated the metals, they all came out at an equal speed. However, because their areas of application were so different, what one got out of them was a bit more spread out.

Schattengarn, taking the example in front of him, was used as a thread and weaved into clothing. It could be shaped in different ways, it was the most malleable of the set after all, but that was the most basic application. Creating a shirt took, as could be expected, a lot less material than creating something more solid like a sword. Poseidury, the liquid water metal, was useful in extremely small amounts because its primary use was as a conductor. It paired nicely with Oblivium, which was the best at actually shaping magic. The black metal had to be present in higher quantities, however. One, because it was solid and therefore provided a better base for the actual piece, and two, because it would hold the actual enchantments instead of fuelling them.

Purgatory was a good example for this. It was in large part Oblivium by nature and had been upgraded with a whole lot more Mithril, a nice amount of extra Oblivium and only some Poseidury. The end result was a glove whose magical damage output was frankly ridiculous, especially since it scaled with the arcane power of its wearer.

Tempi was best for weapon forging and would therefore required high quantities to use, unless someone figured out a reliable technique to ‘glue’ an edge of the ultra-sharp metal to an otherwise normal blade. Solunian was best at defending against magic and therefore made for great plates. Terrium was similar, just that it was better at physical defence.

‘I wonder how their defences compare to Astrotium,’ John thought. Given the rarity of all of these metals, it was difficult to run experiments. ‘Perhaps, once I have enough of all of them, I can feed them to Aclysia and see how much health she loses depending on which material she uses as her outer layer?’ The theorizing was interrupted by Siena hissing at him.

“You only met half of them, so what do you know.” The moonshade elemental continued to be annoyed whenever her mother was involved in any fashion.

“Technically, I met all of them, except for Tempesta,” John responded. “Sure, those greetings lasted, on average, fifteen seconds, but I did meet them.”

“Hardly enough to make a judge of character,” Siena said, and made a cutting motion with her hands when John opened his mouth to respond. “Enough of this. Let’s talk about something more tantalizing. What happened in the time Mother spent annoying me?”

John quickly caught her up on the state of affairs by speaking words and sharing memories. Once he was done with that, he tugged at the awareness of all of his elementals until they gave him the necessary attention. ‘Alright, here is how I want you to organize things,’ he thought and then projected an image into their mental connection.

‘It’s a very loose framework,’ John told them. ‘Basically, the allowance I have been paying you up until now, I will increase that a fair bit and I will expect you to use it to do things with the Elemental Islands. You can run your own courts however you want, as long as you keep the elementals from rampaging around. As an obligation, I want you to oversee future summoners that might get onto the islands. Try to get them to join Fusion or at least pay a sizable amount of money for seeking out a contract here. You know, for using this location only I can provide.’

‘Makes enough sense,’ Salamander agreed and the sentiment was echoed by everyone else. ‘And this Seventh Court thing is just a fancy way to say we’re meeting up for official business?’

‘Essentially,’ John answered. ‘I guess a lot of the elementals will get bored if we don’t throw some stuff at them every now and again, so we might as well give them bread and games. I suppose you can also send representatives to delegate things otherwise. Whenever we reach the last Tier of the Guild Hall, I’ll add a separate area just for this task. Until then, I suggest you hold your meetings in turns. Your choice though.’

‘Uhm, just one question,’ Gnome spoke up, ‘does this mean we’re allowed to modify the Elemental Islands?’

‘As much as the Guild Hall mechanics let you,’ John responded positively. ‘Ah, right, also, do me the favour of replacing the metal I left in the shrines whenever it’s fully saturated and bring it to me. And guard it as well. That stuff is worth potential billions.’

‘Roger, roger!’ Sylph exclaimed. ‘I will tell my girls and my guys what we have to do and I’ll do the stuffs, and with the stuffs done, I will organize a giant cotton candy party!’

‘I’ll take some time to pick up whoever delights me enough to oversee this place,’ Siena chimed in and quickly placed a kiss on John’s cheek. “I’ll see you later tonight,” she whispered, snapping her teeth next to his ear. “I have a lot of frustration to act out.”

“I’ll gladly help you take care of it.” John smirked and gave her a smack on the ass when she turned around. Seductively moaning, Siena smiled over her shoulder and then walked away. She was another woman that had, by prolonged exposure to the Gamer’s perversions, developed at least a bit of a submissive streak. It didn’t lessen the fact that she was a sadist, but the two things could co-exist nicely in the Newman harem.

The other elementals also went ahead and put some finishing touches on their choices of peacekeepers. While they did that, John decided it was time to finally visit the original court of the Guild Hall, the so-called Bramble Court that he was the Earl of.

From the Shadow Island, John went to the Newman Shire and eventually stepped off the road. There was only one easy way to get into the Midnight Forest, that being the bridge in the Commercial District, but for anyone with enough determination and superhuman abilities, climbing over a small mountain to avoid having to walk the extra kilometre was an easy feat.

He entered the fae-dwelling woods from the south and the sky above shifted. The moon was a sickle, not because the earth threw a shadow onto it, but because something else moved in front of it. John wasn’t even sure it was the same moon. For the stars, he definitely knew they weren’t the same. Their position was different and they shone too brightly. Glittering like diamonds, they illuminated his stroll through the trees.

It was quiet. Not eerily quiet. Simply quiet. Quiet enough that he could take the time to marvel at the four women still accompanying him. Aclysia and Beatrice both looked wonderful in the pale light. Their white skin had a pleasant glow to it, contrasting pleasingly with the black parts of their maid uniforms. Rave and Metra were also delicious, even if their tanned looks weren’t elevated by the surroundings. Then again, he could only see Metra’s head, everything else was under armour.

Since everything was so remarkably peaceful, John decided to make that a topic of conversation. “Hey, Jane?”

“Waddup?” she asked, while inspecting a tree in passing. It was filled with tiny houses, but the fairies were nowhere to be seen.

“Since we can now keep the Guild Hall in eternal summer, are you going to lose the tan or are you going to keep it?” he asked.

“Oh, that’s a good question.” Rave looked at her arms to inspect her tan. It was an intense caramel colour, the kind sunbathing Asians tended to get. By comparison, Metra was more like milk chocolate, noticeably brown but more like a dark-skinned middle-eastern girl than someone from Africa. “I don’t really care, to be honest. I just wanna lie in the sun. Whaddaya think?”

“I like seasonal dishes, so I think I would like it if you let yourself go pale through autumn and then ramp it up during spring again,” he told her, and his girlfriend nodded. As much as he liked seeing her tanned as she was at the moment, he did like light meat just as much as dark meat, so getting the change throughout the year was delicious. “Same question in reverse, you think I should keep the tan?”

“Hmmm, I think ya should dial it down a bit and keep it there forever,” Rave told him. “I fell in love with the thin, pasty nerd, but ya look a lot better with some colour on your jawline… but I can’t decide that alone. Imma make a poll in the girls’ chat later.” To this, John could only nod, all of that sounded pretty sensible. He also preferred it if he had a bit of colour, it elevated his Greek god body nicely. Showing off that he was still tanned in winter was also the kind of subtle display of power that he loved.

“Can I finally get this under my skin again, by the way?” Metra asked, knocking against her chest with the back of her thumb. “Or do you STILL think something awful is going to come out of the fucking woodworks.”

“Do I?” he asked himself out loud and it was an honest question. With how oddly peaceful, not to mention empty, the Midnight Forest seemed at the moment, he was prepared for something to rain on his parade. However, Methenia was under his rule and loyal, she had proven that during the Hudson Brawl. If there was something hostile around, they should have at least seen signs of a battle. ‘Then again, I shouldn’t make assumptions about fairies…’ “Do keep it up for the moment.”

“Yes, my king,” Metra groaned and tapped the shaft of her weapon on her shoulder.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I just assumed that this area would be the most trouble, so I’m rather cautious.”

“I get it,” the berserker babe said as she stomped over a patch of mushrooms. “I find it slightly offensive that you think I, Metra, Breaker of Armies, couldn’t beat some fucking fairies to pulp in the nude, but I get it.”

“You’d probably look fantastic doing it,” John hummed, remembering the blonde’s naked body and how her muscles shifted around during movements. Those toned thighs, that magnificent midriff, her petite chest, they were all erotic to behold. Metra was pushing what was still womanly with how fit she was, but John absolutely loved that uniqueness in his, admittedly quite athletic, harem.

Pulling his attention back to reality just in time, John wandered onto the clearing where the Fairy Lantern stood. The floor was covered in golden leaves. They had the colour of autumn, but they were lively and not wilted in the least. By their sheer number, they made for a pleasantly soft footing. The actual lantern was situated on top of a long post of a light brown wood, standing between two dark rocks.

The rest of the clearing was dominated by a circle formed by warped trees. None of the plants grew higher or lower than John’s waist and the branches formed an impossibly stable labyrinth. The trunks of the trees were hollow and open to the air. Out of them flew sparks of energy, golden and purple. Their colour had intensified since John last went to this place.

‘I wonder if that’s connected to the colour of my aura,’ the Gamer found himself thinking, now knowing about that thanks to Lorelei. It could have been a parallel, a phenomenon born because this was his court, or it could have been pure coincidence. With the amount of magic he encountered, meeting certain colour combinations more than once was basically a given.

Methenia danced on the maze, a sight of familiarity amidst the quiet Midnight Forest. Covered in strands of white silk that closely stuck to her body, she was a sight of elegance. Not, however, of sex appeal. She was flat both up and downstairs, her torso and face oddly rectangular and her limbs long. She danced with the smoothness of mercury, but that was all that was sexy about her, from John’s perspective. “The Earl has arrived, how pleasant,” the Bramble Dancer remarked.

“Just here to check what is going on,” he told her. “I notice the Midnight Forest is empty.”

“We heard your order to evacuate, so all went to other courts for the night and the day that follows,” Methenia responded. “I returned at once when I felt the change to my court. I could not have stayed away any longer, even if your orders were to stay away, my Earl. Tradition beckons, you do not need to understand.”

“No, that’s fine,” John responded and put his hands into his pants. “So, nothing unusual is going on? The fairies will return tomorrow night?”

“They will return when the moon is but a circle,” Methania answered. John wasn’t exactly sure how long that would be, since he only had a rudimentary understanding of the way the celestial configurations changed with the passage of time in this space. “You gave us a greater court, more room, more roam, and more space to monopolize and diversify. I am thankful, Earl. Your command of this court continues to be honeyful.”

‘I’m just going to assume that’s a different way to say fruitful,’ the Gamer thought and rolled his shoulders. “There will be no complications with new fairies moving in or anything?”

“The Bramble Court is distinguished. We respect the shadow of your moon, the daughter of shadows that manifests it in her body, her mother of dark, the whimsical dancer of thunder you contract and the many names you carry in your heart, Earl. Few lords would dare to make a ruckus here and they are not welcome to walk through the brambles that I have been entrusted to dance upon.”

“Fantastic.” That was all John had to say about all of that. Odd choices of words aside, that was understandable enough. “I will leave you to it then. The evacuation order is effectively lifted. If anyone wants to return sooner, they are welcome to.”

“They would never!” Methenia screeched in response, as if John had just committed a great affront. “My foolish Earl, that…”

“Careful,” Metra growled.

“Temper your tone,” Aclysia warned.

“Cease,” Beatrice also spoke at the same time.

The three artificial women glared daggers with their green eyes and threatened the one language and tradition that spun across all species: violence. Methenia shut her mouth and John sighed. “If it isn’t appropriate, then they shouldn’t. Anyway, I’ll leave you to it.”

Even if that last exchange wasn’t exactly as smooth as he would have wanted, the Gamer was pleased that there were no negative surprises. After the elemental troubles, he wouldn’t have wanted to deal with fae ones as well. They were just outside the Midnight Forest,when he looked over his shoulder and saw a stark naked Metra.

“Not like there is anything left I would need the armour for, right?” she asked with a challenging smirk. Stemming one hand into her hips, she emphasized her curves and those hips in particular. Behind her, the river that separated the Newman Shire from the Commercial District gently flowed by and past the small mountain they had just climbed over.