The sun was high in the sky, hanging over the council building in Iron Town. It set a warm mood for the council"s latest gathering.
"Before I get started, is there anything unusual for you all to report or anything that needs our attention?" asked Vloz, currently taking the lead role of the council.
Hollen shook his head. "Not that we know of. Thanks to the help of the wildebeests, we"re more organized than ever before as a tribe. Like this, I believe we"ll make a great army."
"Perfect, that"s exactly what we wanted."
"There"s nothing to report about the lake," added Chief Defar. "It"s ecosystem is plenty strong for us to be fis.h.i.+ng daily, so long as it"s regulated."
"Good, then we"ll keep you and your tribe in charge of that."
Chief Gar also shook his head. "I"ve got nothing. There"s still more than enough game surrounding the town. In the future, we"ll have enough natural resources to support a small city."
"Hmm… Then we"ll have to raise more beasts in the future."
"What do you mean?"
"We don"t plan for this city to be small. We"ve already planned for a medium-sized city, the only one in the surrounding territories," explained Vloz. "We want to be a trading hub, and for that we need a city, but preferably at least a medium-sized city."
"Do you think we can actually pull that off?"
"Chief Gar, you"ll have to trust me. It may seem early, but we"ve already designed and laid out how the city will be organized and built, section by section. Eventually, it will incorporate all of your tribes and clans and gain a strong city wall."
Pulla blinked, surprised at Vloz"s ambition. "Really? Can we afford to hire that many humans? It would take at least a decade to become a medium-sized city, maybe two decades…"
"No humans will be hired to handle the building. Us gorillas are stronger and don"t need as many men to get the same job done faster."
"But how can you gorilla"s compete with the humans in terms of building expertise?" stated Puula. "I"ll admit that your house designs are quite advanced, but didn"t you just buy that design?"
Vloz sighed and looked at all the chiefs surrounding him. "We made no such purpose. It was our clan that designed those homes and we"ll start proceeding with further construction once Rathe returns. I can guarantee you all, that our city designs won"t lose to those of the humans. In fact, I"d say we can rival or surpa.s.s them in some aspects."
"I refuse to believe that without proof," stated Chief Gar. "Show me the design, and we"ll understand you better."
"I won"t, you"ll have to believe me. Remember, you"ve all sworn to work together with us to build this city. If you want to back out, then so be it. But if you impede or halt our motives, you can be treated as an enemy of the Iron Territory," stated Vloz, reminding everyone of their situation.
"Either way, we"ll be constructing a medium-sized city over the next year or so," continued Vloz. "We hope that you all can help us reach that goal and share in the glory of the achievement as well. If you don"t want to bet on our ability to do so, please make it known now.""Our Thick-skinned Stallion tribe will be staying and supporting you in whatever the Iron-body Gorilla clan does," stated Hollen, not hesitating in the slightest.
"Thank you, Chief Hollen. Everyone else, please, take your time to think. No need to rush the answer, I can wait."
The other chiefs all looked to each other, sighing in relief to have some time to ponder.
After a couple of minutes, Chief Defar chuckled, "My Small-mouth Frog tribe has never had it easier, and we"ve never grown so much so soon. Thanks to you"re help, My eldest son will be entering the divine cla.s.s shortly and we"ll finally become a clan. For that, my tribe is more than willing to stay and support you in anything."
"Thank you, Chief Defar, and think nothing of the help. It"s what"s best for Iron Town, not just your tribe," reasoned Vloz, still patiently waiting for the others.
"We"ll also stay and help in any way we can," added Chief Eefran. "It"s thanks to you that we"re alive and well. Without your help, the other faction of our clan would have tried to wipe us out. The least we can do is stay here and work together."
"Thank you, Chief Eefran. We"re very glad that your clan is willing to continue lending support."
Only two clans were left, the two strongest.
Chief Gar was in deep thought, heavily weighing out his options. Occasionally, he"d glance at Puula, who had her eyes closed in thought.
Before he could reach a conclusion, Puula opened her eyes and nodded. "We Vanis.h.i.+ng-night Foxes will continue to stay here. Considering your Iron Academy boasts value that no surrounding territory can match, that alone is enough reason for us to stay here."
"But, speaking honestly, the true reason I"m willing to support your clan is because of you, Master Vloz. Your tutoring has helped my daughter grow leaps and bounds. She"ll soon enter the adept plane, but her cultivation only shows signs of speeding up, not slowing down. Thanks to you and the Iron Academy, my daughter was found to have perfect essence and will easily surpa.s.s me in the future."
Vloz smiled. "Don"t worry, I have no plans to stop tutoring her. Once she breaks through to the adept plane, I"ve got more battle arts for her to choose from and more tests to help Netra shape her essence to the fullest."
"Thank you, Master Vloz. For that reason, my Vanis.h.i.+ng-night Fox clan plans to permanently stay in Iron Town. So long as we can become one of the pillars of the soon-to-be city and share in the wealth and glory, then I see no negatives in staying here."
"Thank you, Chief Puula. I can a.s.sure you that we want each of your clans and soon-to-be clans to become pillars in the city, so long as we can work together."
Having said that, Vloz closed his eyes and calmly waited for Chief Gar"s decision.
The lynx still didn"t rush, taking his sweet time to think. It startled the other chiefs, looking like he was actually considering leaving.
"Master Vloz, I have a couple of questions."
"Sure."
Chief Gar asked, "What if, at some point, my clan becomes stronger than yours, what would happen then?"
"Hmm… If you could somehow manage that, then I believe it would be a miracle and your clan should go and find a territory to claim for itself," Vloz answered frankly.
"But what if we can"t back out and already have roots in the city?"
"If you"re asking is whether the gorilla clan will support you and give you the city if you surpa.s.s them, then the answer is no." With a frown, Vloz opened his eyes and looked back to the straightfaced lynx.
"First off, I can guarantee that you won"t be pa.s.sing us. You have two perennials now, soon to be three with our support. We already have five perennials to begin with, three early perennials, one mid perennial, and a high perennial," reasoned Vloz. "And that"s not including the peak elders that will soon enter the divine cla.s.s."
"Second, if you"re asking if I personally would support you, know that I"d sooner slaughter your entire clan in a single night then I would consider betraying the gorilla clan. Is that understood?"
"Yes, I understand," replied Chief Gar, still straightfaced but with a slight frown. He was about to say more, but Vloz interjected.
"I"ll give your clan more time to think it over. There"s no need to force you to decide right now, so take a sun or two to discuss it among your clan. To the rest of you, I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
As Vloz bowed his head, his void choker lit up and four leather bags appeared in front of him. He handed them out one by one to the chiefs supporting him. "Consider this a token of my personal grat.i.tude, not just from our clan."
Each of the chiefs happily accepted the money and thanked him, still curious why Chief Gar was so hesitant to accept the terms.
"Now, let"s get on with--"
"VLOZ!!!"
That booming roar echoed across the town, announcing someone"s arrival to town.
All the chiefs stared in the distance toward that shout, recognizing that voice. When they looked back to ask Vloz what was going on, the leopard was already gone.
On the outskirts of the town, Vloz was das.h.i.+ng with a worried look on his face.
From the sound of Rathe"s voice, Vloz understood that something happened. And it sounded like Rathe was also injured, which only led to Vloz worrying for the others.
At top speed, Vloz quickly reached a panting Rathe, who had two unconscious gorillas on his back, one of which was missing an arm.