Before Sam could respond, Alari and Jorn returned, the former holding an iridescent suit of armor, and the latter, a strange bladed whip. It was a weapon that Sam vaguely remembered, from some video game that he had played. An urumi. Made of incredibly flexible steel, it had an edge like a razor, and the flexibility of a whip. Perfect considering Elvras' elemental path. It was like a metal wave, beholden to the whims of its wielder.

Elvras held out his hand, and the weapon flew out of Jorn's grasp. It unfolded in the air, sparkling in the light as its blade was exposed. Then the hilt slapped into Elvras' hand, and the weapon started to glow the deep blue of the open ocean. All around the king, the ground trembled, waves passing through it as his elemental domain extended.

Alari let go of the armor, and Elvras stepped forwards. It split apart into a dozen different plates, before flashing through the air to surround their owner. Elvras snapped his fingers, and the armor collapsed around his skin, sheathing him in a crystalline bulwark. The armor liquified, and the joints filled out, leaving the king completely surrounded, no weak spots visible.

Alari and Jorn took a knee before their ruler, smiles on their faces. They were clearly happy to see Elvras back in fighting form.

"Thank you," Jorn mouthed to Sam. "This means a lot to us."

"You're welcome. It was the right thing to do."

By that point, Alran had deemed it safe enough to return, the captain of the guard slinking around the corner like a wraith. He sped up, pretending that he had merely been walking. "Greetings, my king."

"Ah. Alran. I was wondering when you would show up." Elvras took a few steps towards the man. "You made yourself scarce during my conversation with…" Elvras gave Sam a look. "I never actually got your name. What is it?"

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"Sam. Sam Atlas."

***

The next few weeks passed by in a blur. Sam and Elvras got to know one another better, both finding a quick friendship growing. Without the malign influence of the Dreamer cultists still clouding his judgement, Elvras was revealed to be a more measured man than Sam had initially thought. His fixation on training had fallen to the wayside, replaced with concern for his kingdom. While not especially talented in the realm of cultivation, the king was still decently powerful, enough to be able to give Sam a good fight. Not that they did fight, instead turning their ire on the cultists.

Sam's third layer quest had been to help Elvras defeat an enclave of cultists, about ten thousand miles from the capital. They hid themselves in the midst of a swirling hurricane, making it especially hard to enter for all but the most powerful of cultivators. The winds were far faster than any Earthly counterpart, and the entire maelstrom was filled with dense clouds of Dream elemental energy, a strange mix of Light and Air magics. The former allowed for the depiction of various illusions, whereas the latter lent them some weight.

The two cultivators were more than a match for their foes, with Sam simply forcing his way through the cloud wall with his superior stats. At the same time, Elvras had sliced through the fortress with his urumi, the weapon lengthening until it was like a tidal wave. Vast amounts of seawater gathered around the weapon, lending it enough weight to carve through a mountain.

Needless to say, a few illusions did little against the combined assault. Sam was injured a few times, not having any prior experiences with the powers of the cultists, but his durability was enough to simply brute force his way into learning. One of the favored techniques of the cultists was to conceal their weapons, using fake armaments in one hand, while their real ones were hidden in the other.

The cultists were quite experienced in shielding their workings from the ephemeral sights of other cultivators. After all, simple illusions barely needed any energy investment. They weren't trying to bust through mountain ranges, or split seas. Simply hiding a sword was barely distinguishable from the normal energy densities of the real world.

Still, in the end, they were just weapons wielded by mid E Rankers, and not much of a threat to someone like Sam. After learning the trick, he never fell for it again.

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