Chapter 2025: Oak Ditched

While most of the Clan Leaders and Elders were busy with the dinner event, Father Oak quickly realized that he was not going to get a break from the challenges and arguments that led to fights inside the trial grounds that Karl had gifted him.

If they didn’t do something about the situation, he was going to be stuck here for weeks, which might have been his daughter’s intention from the start.

While she was a curious and independent green dragon most of the time, Oak was still very much a Daddy’s Girl at heart, and now that she had him here, she was extra excited to show him everything that they had been doing.

"Ooh, ooh, look at the new pastries that we’ve developed at the kitchens. They’re shaped like little dragons, and they’ve got a cream filling, and puffed rice so they crackle when you bite into them, like crunching on tiny fluffy bones."

The old dragon laughed at his daughter’s enthusiasm.

There weren’t many things that could get a dragon her age so excited, but Oak had always been a bit of a foodie, as were most Green Dragons. But the pastries were made with Divine Cooking, and the flavour profile was incredible.

"You know, eventually I do have to go home, I have duties," he reminded her.

"Of course father. Just another year, no two. Two years will be fine for a visit, right? I don’t get to see you at all these days, it’s even worse than when we were still on the battlefield."

Her father laughed at her whining "It hasn’t even been a month. The last time that you were deployed, it was for six months. You’d think that you have it hard here."

"The opposite. When times are hard, I have nothing to share, it’s all the same. But we get to have so much fun, and you’re not here for me to tell you all about it."

He knew that he couldn’t stay. She knew that he couldn’t stay. But that didn’t mean that she was just going to let him go home within a single day of coming to help out. If she could just keep him around for a few more days, she would have so much fun.

"Why don’t you gather that Seraph and the Karl so that we can make a permanent arena?

It appears that this one is not going to see any less traffic in the near future, and I am the one holding it open. I will donate my efforts to make a Legendary arena for the Darklight Host here, and then my duties will be done, and I can spend a bit of time exploring with my daughter before I return to work."

Oak cheered as she grabbed his hands, and then paused as she realized that everyone was still inside at the show.

"They’re both hosting guests. But I can get you Cara and Rae. Rae isn’t a Runecrafter, but she knows things about arenas."

That made her father laugh. Yes. A Blood Destruction Demonic Spider would know a thing or two about arenas. And everywhere else that combat and death were a possibility, really.

"Alright, I will do all the work, as long as they can add the spells that make the arena truly local."

Oak nodded. "Cara can do that. She’s a bit of a brat, but she knows so many of Karl’s skills that she can definitely help us make the arena perfect."

Oak called for Rae and Cara, who both arrived within half a second, eager to see what sort of fun plan the green dragon had come up with. Being Oak, it could be nearly anything at all, and there was nothing off the table. She might have even decided to pick a fight with someone over an insult, Rae hoped.

The odds seemed small, but if the other person was weaker, she wouldn’t beat them up herself. It would be embarrassing.

Oak saw the excited look on the spider’s face and patted her on the shoulder.

"I can see that you’re hoping for a fight, but no. We’re going to make a permanent arena so that I can show my father around town. But Karl and all the others are busy with the dinner meeting, only I managed to escape."

Meaning that she simply hadn’t shown up when Andrea called.

A fact that surprised nobody.

Not even the group that she was supposed to dine with was shocked that the green dragon had flaked out, once the Dark Elven Priestess who took her place explained that she had been distracted by new Divine Pastries. So, they were happily dining with the construct, who was actually helpful about answering their questions, and discrete enough that she would not give away any secrets.

Trying to pry the secrets out was way more entertaining than trying to guess what was real and what was delusion when speaking with a clearly stoned green dragon.

And they usually were when they were forced to do something they considered boring.

But right now, Oak was doing something highly entertaining. Her father had agreed to let her help design the exterior of the new arena facility, which they would place a few blocks away, in an open lot that the previous Clan had never developed.

It wouldn’t be huge, at least not on the outside.

But Cara knew all the runes to make the larger interior, and she just needed to grab a fraction of Karl’s attention to bring him into the construction and make it work.

The [Pet Space] spell was not one that she could use on her own, it was an exclusive. But she could write out all the runes, and then get Karl involved so that the spell worked without him having to do anything but be present.

It was the perfect plan.

All that they had to do was decide how much fun stuff the rest of the arena needed.

They had already built a really cool one in Zilaz, which would be the basis for this one. But with slightly better spells involved, and a much higher ranked barrier.