Because I most likely won't be able to update tomorrow while driving to our vacation spot I thought I would finish editing this chapter and post it tonight.
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It only took about eight horses for the convoy to arrive outside of the tower but when looking at the map I noticed that the group was more than twice as large then I was told it would be.
"Sir" A soldier called while running up to me "There is a problem outside the tower"
"What problem?" I questioned.
"An earth kingdom general also arrived with a battalion of soldiers"
"Shit, I didn't see them on the map" I said quietly "Is commander Zhao already there?"
"Yes sir he is trying to mediate right now"
Chuckling at myself at the mental image of Zhao the moonslayer, Zhao the conqueror, Zhao the invincible trying to mediate between the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation.
"I'll be right outside, I will exit through the front entrance so they can expect me there"
I watched as the fire nation soldier ran back the way he came. Giving them time to prepare would be better than me having to mediate an argument that's currently going on. Changing back into my normal shirt and pants I waited about fifteen minutes before making my way towards the tower entrance.
'Alright stay calm and confident' I encouraged myself. Having to mediate between two groups has me a bit on end, especially because these two groups are currently at war.
Stepping out of the tower entrance the first thing I noticed is the split in colors. On my left is a large group of carriages, animals, and people covered in clothes the color red. Then on my right is another group standing in a loose formation clothes the colors green and brown, most with carrying weapons. Then in the middle of both groups is Zhao looking extremely pissed off at everything which made me chuckle a bit at his misfortune. He quickly spotted me then loudly announced it.
"The tower master is here to answer your questions" he said deflecting the attention to me.
Two men quickly approached me. One was dressed in a red robe, he had Hazel eyes, along with a hat going from there next to a bit above his head ending in a point, kind of like the ones the fire sages had in the TV show. He was also quite old judging by his grey goatee and crows feet on his eyes.
The other was significantly younger though still has a long stocky black beard. He wore plate armor with green fabric coming from underneath and the Earth Kingdom symbol on the chest. He was also quite muscular compared to the skinny Fire Nation Advisor.
The Fire Nation Advisor introduced himself first.
"I am Dao Mu, a royal advisor to the fire lord" he said with a tone of superiority one only gets from long years in a high office.
Looking annoyed at going second the Earth Kingdom representative introduced himself.
"I am General Go Rehi here as a representative of Omashu" he said in a hard tone, but lacking the superiority.
"It is good to meet both of you, I am Callum Master of this Tower. I heard there was a disagreement, so I came to see what exactly was wrong" I replied.
"Of course, there is a disagreement" the Advisor Dao Mu started "This area has been a part of the Fire Nation for over a decade, the earth kingdom has no right to send an army here"
Face going red General Go Rehi yelled "You are in the Earth Kingdom you have no right to the lands no matter what you claim"
"I am sorry to inform you Dao Mu" I said purposefully forgoing the title "I invited the earth kingdom to participate in the tower, in fact I spoke directly to King Bumi about it"
Looking like he was about to argue, Dao Mu opened his mouth but closed it when Zhao interrupted him.
"Advisor Dao Mu, General Go Rehi" he said, choking out the last name "I suggest we move this discussion to a more comfortable area so that we can discuss things with the Tower Master" he said.
"Right, you are Commander Zhao, lead the way," Advisor Dao Mu said.
General Go Rehi just nodded and grunted. Turning to both their people they gave strict orders not to interact with one another then we all followed Zhao through the tower entrance. Once we arrived inside both the General and Advisor craned their heads in every direction to get the best look they could. Eventually we came up to the large tent Zhao had been using for meetings. Inside was a long table and some Fire Nation regalia.
"Please, everyone take a seat" Zhao spoke.
We all sat down at the table. Me and Advisor Dao Mu sat at the ends of the table. While Zhao and the General sat to either side of the table.
"Alright I will start off by informing you of the rules of the tower" I started "The first rule is that you cannot prevent people from entering the tower, the second rule is that you cannot attack other participants within the tower"
"And if we break these rules?" This time it was the General who asked.
"You could lose access to your status either for a time or permanently. Any further action will get you banned from the tower completely. If that isn;t enough then there are worse things than just banishment" I said hardly.
"You would threaten the Fire Nation?" The advisor questioned.
Seems like their pride is bigger than expected. Before I could even respond to the Zhao spoke up.
"I would be careful if I were you Advisor, I have a few men who can't even enter the tower anymore because of their stupidity"
Advisor Da Mu's face went completely red but luckily he had some sense as he kept his mouth shut, banning him would cut off a source of tower points for a bit of time.
"I want to know what this tower can offer?" General Go Rehi asked.
At this question the Advisor called down a bit and looked to me "This tower can grant power greater than you could imagine"
"So, I have been told by King Bumi, but the specifics would be nice"
"Alright then if you could open your status by simply saying the word please" I responded then waited for them to do so.
"The status sheet you see takes your strength and skills then puts them into numbers that you can understand" I answered.
"Meaning?" Advisor Dao Mu interrupted.
"For example generally the skills are ranked between one and ten, in the case of firebending someone with the skills at one is only able to spurt out a small amount of flames. On the other hand someone with the skill at ten would most likely have the same amount of power as your fire lord" I explained. "The same goes for tour attributes, if someone has a ten in it then they are at the peak of human ability but outside of the tower it is extremely difficult to raise an attribute to ten not to mention multiple would be impossible for a normal man"
"And with the tower we are able to break this barrier?" General Go Rehi asked.
"Yes you can break this barrier, in fact there is already one person who has broken this barrier concerning their strength"
All three looked surprised at this "Who is it" they asked simultaneously.
"It is the first person to enter this tower" I answered cryptically. "And it's not about breaking that barrier it's about going far beyond it, even someone without bending can gain greater strength then any bender"
"Is this true" Advisor Dao Mu asked Zhao
"To my knowledge this is true though I have yet to see it myself" He answered.
"There is one thing that I would like from you guys though" I interrupted.
"Whatever it is, the Fire Nation would be happy to provide anything you desire," Advisor Dao Mu said, quickly changing his attitude.
"The same goes for Omashu and the Earth Kingdom," General Go Rehi quickly offered.
"As I am pretty sure you have heard, the tower is for every nation and I even plan to invite the northern watertribe here as well. No, what I need from you concerns the area surrounding the tower" I paused for a moment to let them come to their own conclusions.
"You wish to develop the land," Zhao exclaimed.
"Correct you are, I wish to build a town in the surrounding area to facilitate trade of items from the tower as well as draw people into it" I stated. "Something that I think the earthbenders would be helpful for"
"Hmm, I think I can convince the men to do that, with the benefits the tower gives it seems that establishing a permanent residence would be a good idea" General Go Rehi said.
"The Fire Nation has already been developing plans to do the same," Advisor Dao Mu said, trying to match the younger general.
"That is great" I exclaimed "Feel free to design it how you see fit but I must warn you since this is or the development of the tower if either side interferes with the other then there will be consequences"
"I do have a favor to ask about this though?" Advisor Dao Mu asked.
"What is it?" I inquired.
"I have heard from the men that the second floor consists of a forest, do you mind if we use the lumber from the forest? The surrounding area is sparse in large vegetation so it would go a long way to developing the land" He Answered.
Knowing from previous experiments that the wood could be taken out of the tower I was quick to answer "Be my guest, but even though the trees will grow back in just a few weeks I would ask that you don't take too much at one time"
"I can agree to that"
Seeing the Omashu General hesitating I turned to him saying "you are welcome to use the wood as well"
"Thank you, Tower Master," Go Rehi said.
At that point a soldier entered the tent and approached Zhao.
"We are in an important meeting, this better be important or I'll have your head!" Zhao yelled.
Startled the soldier answered hurriedly "You told me to let you know when you messenger hawks returned with the requested items"
"Aww it seems my scrolls have arrived" I said.
"Yes, it seems so" Zhao said then turned back to the soldier "What are you waiting for run and grab them"
"Yes sir" the soldier said, turning and running back out of the tent.
"Well, I think this was a productive meeting don't you agree" I said standing from my chair.
"It was indeed," General Go Rehi replied.
"I will be indisposed for the next few days so I hope that you can get to work quickly" I said.
"One more thing," Zhao interrupted.
"Yes?" I questioned.
"I will be taking some of my higher level men to get to the class stone when appropriate" He answered.
"That is fine so long as you don't bother the family there it will be alright" was my answer.
At this point the soldier returned with two scrolls and tried to hand them to Zhao who gestured to hand them to me. Taking the scrolls I said a quick bye and teleported to the edge of the fifth floor. Opening them up I couldn't help but smile.
"This is going to be awesome"
{what the scrolls looked like in attached comment}