The Mighty Turk was especially reluctant to give up his position. He had profited by far the most of all the Contracted Monkeys, and was nearly as powerful as King Dorado physically, with the Light Element added to the default Plant he was most familiar with. He had two small gold horns growing down that had replaced his furry mustache, and his pelt was especially fine and feathery, earning him much attention from the females and children, while still no less strong.

The handover ceremony was simple yet formal, each Human and Contracted Monkey stepping forth together. The shining star of spirit presented before to Contract was offered back to them, and Monkey and Human slowly unwound the ancient magic and annulled the Contract formally and without pain, a last embrace from each side clasped tight as the binding magic unraveled.

Then each Monkey King presented an intelligent and inquisitive youngster from their own tribe, all eager and a-quiver with the knowledge that Contracting to the human before them had made their fathers or grandfathers Monkey Kings!

They were all still in Markspace and could chat freely and even emote, but that was not the same soul-deep bond that a Contract represented. There were many tears and pattings with the making of the new Contracts, and the quiet awe as the little Monkeys stepped forward to take the place of their ancestors.

Mighty Turk had an extra gift, as he presented to his grandson a copy of his own Emperor Sharktooth Comb. He watched sternly as the Little Turk quickly scampered over to the reclining Reynard The Most Clever Golden Ghost Eight-Tailed Fox and Descendant of Flowing Silver High Emperor, and Little Turk solemnly began his grooming duties. The Mighty Turk was well aware that he had been personally chosen by Reynard, and why, and was determined that his grandson be no less grateful for the chance than he was!

I could only smile. Mighty Turk and Reynard were still going to be thick as thieves, with the Monkey beseeching his glorious Fox groomee to come by often to visit and be entertained, something Reynard could easily do with free access to the Broom Closet and a Contracted Summon with Void Magic.

The Mighty Turk had matured into the most powerful member of his Bearded Marmoset tribe, and one far wiser and more insightful than most Monkeys. If strength had not been so necessary these past few years, he could indeed have become a Monkey Sage, and he would still seek me out in Markspace to present questions and ask for insights into magic.

His greatest desire was to master the Healing Magic and truly become a great resource for his Tribe and the jungle, and a fine representative of Heaven. Such a great evolution would likely promote him to Monkey Sage himself, as he would know three Elements!

---

The towering Portal shimmered open under the paw of the Night Moon Jaguar Duke, only requiring general Mana to be input to function. The group of impressed Rulers walked through warily, but their tenseness vanished when they felt the Mana on the other side.

The vitality of it was similar to their own Garden taking shape, but oriented in a very different direction, soothing their spirits and filling the air with a sense of peace that their own Garden lacked.

Too, the colors and growth of the Flowers here was breathtaking, only accentuated by the tribes of smaller Birds, Butterflies, and Insects fluttering about.

The Dawnwater Boa and Ripplesong Kingfisher were a little bit anxious to have so many Rulers visiting so suddenly, but Reynard had reached out ahead and assured them of our presence. They were totally familiar with him, as he made a point of looking after all of my ‘holdings’ and chatting everything there up, making very sure they knew how great a being I was, if only because of how totally awesome he was and all the Emperors both of us knew and so forth and so on.

There was a head of a Rivertooth Baron Cayman mounted on the Pyramid now, having wandered into the lake and determined to take it for his own. Unable to kill it, the Dawnwater Boa had used the Glyph to warn me, and I’d sent in Reynard to take care of it.

He and Mighty Turk had crushed the unfortunate and overly stubborn Cayman quite thoroughly, and so all the Beasts of the area knew who they were.

I Hummed along in the Sublime Chord, and the songs of every Beast, and even the swaying of the Plants, instantly altered to Sing along in time as the slightly glowing waters of the lake lit up with radiant sparkles. Reynard led the small parade of jungle Rulers, each of the other Monkey Kings riding a different Ruler, as we proceeded across the waters towards the Holy Waters Pyramid there.

“This is the Guardian of the Lake, and this is her Steward,” I introduced the Dawnwater Boa and the Ripplesong Kingfisher. “We are in one of the border territories under Ice and Fire Luan Emperors.” The Rulers all looked about and nodded, feeling their position on the world as precisely as GPS without effort. “Before you is another Pyramid I have made, using a Light which is not normally found in Nature. You should be able to sense its difference already.”

The Rulers made impressed noises at this. They could indeed feel the strange but welcoming feel of The Light rippling forth from its submerged place in the Pyramid.

“This entire lake has healing effects. Because of this, its waters are sacrosanct, and there will be no hunting, fishing, or killing immediately about its shores.

“I am here today to retrieve the Heaven Seed which has matured within it, and to show you what the Pyramid can do for you.”

We came up to the side of the Pyramid, the Kingfisher settling on one of forty silvery Disks hovering in the area, used as temporary perches by dozens of brilliantly-feathered Avians flitting to and fro, including the towering Dazzling Rainbow Parrot Baron, who actually fit right in color-wise.

Reynard stepped forwards, all eight Tails waving proudly, and the Sublime Chord rose as I pulled the Holy Water Heaven Seed forth.

It did not resist in the slightest, formed of the very harmony of Elements I had designed here, a rippling, glowing ovoid of The Light and Waters, rendered Holy and charged with positive energies no other Seed in the world had ever likely displayed.

The power of the waters gushing through the Pyramid dimmed somewhat as it came forth, but the Pyramid promptly began forming a new Seed, so the power would not dim for long.

My Firefrost and Heaven Seeds emerged, and the Beasts all around who’d not seen that array visibly flinched in awe at the power they represented, struggling to understand how something as small as I could possibly control and contain such pure power... and furthermore, how their might could interconnect with such terrifying harmony and strength!

The interplay of Fire and Frost, of Lightning between Wind and Earth, looked incredibly complex and sensitive to disruption, but the Holy Water Seed slid through the raging energies as deftly as if it belonged there, settling into a shining, trembling ring of Light and Water around my Matrix Core, conducting Fire and Frost back and forth, and forming a neutral basis for Lightning to condense upon and command the Earth and Wind power whose interaction supercharged it so effectively.

A Seven Element Seed Formation, something only a Typeless Mage would be capable of, with the possible exception of Mok Fan if he managed to gain a full seven Elements... which, if his shattering of his Demon Element Stars was any indication, he was certainly going to.

I drew the Seeds back inside me, feeling the rush as the heady new surge of power joined the multipliers in my system.

As the Assay confirmed:

Holy Water Heaven Seed: If your spells have the Good Descriptor, they may also gain the Light Descriptor, and they will gain the benefits of this Seed. All Light Spells x12 damage multiplier.

If your spells have the Fire and Ice/Cold Descriptors, they may also gain the Water Descriptor, and they will gain the benefits of this Seed. All Water Spells x12 damage multiplier.

Dual Light/Water spells x36 damage multiplier instead.

Spells that Heal may be given the Light and Water descriptors freely, and will gain the benefits of this Seed.

Domain Power: All Light and Water Magic within the Domain is considered Holy Water damage and ignores Elemental damage resistances. Holy Water attacks do not harm Good beings, and do double damage to creatures or spells of Dark Mana.

The fine point of that was that they would gain the full benefits of the Seed even without the Descriptors. So, if Water spells were barred from a Domain, for instance... I could still gain the full benefits of the Seed!

Likewise, if some area of utter Darkness forbid Light Magic... too bad, so sad, I still got the benefits of the Seed!

Even more subtle was how utterly domineering its Domain was in close quarters with creatures wielding Light or Water Magic. They literally could not harm me with such spells at all... or any Good people fighting with me. The implications against servants of the Church of Light and any Aquatics was impressive, while the corrosive effects against all wielders of Dark Mana also promised to be a terrifying weapon.

A weapon to be used against Law, Aquatics, and Sin, without a doubt!

The x12 modifiers adding together into x36 was similar to my Firefrost Seed’s multipliers, if not quite so strong. Given the other benefits, I just didn’t care.

Likewise, spells that Healed weren’t restricted to the Healing Element. There were known spells of Light and Water that Healed, if not quite as well as the Healing Element, and Phoenix Fire and Frost could do the same thing. Plant spells were good with anti-toxins and against diseases, Earth spells could set broken bones and were good against parasites and leeches, and even Lightning spells could help soothe nervous ailments, brain damage, and some spiritual injuries.

It was definitely worth calling it a True Heaven Seed, Blessed as it was with the power of The Light, not just mundane illumination.

“Immerse yourselves or stand upon the waters. I will Bring Down the Moon and Stars for all of you.”

My Voice rippled out to cover the lake and beyond, and a colorful wave immediately flowed from the shores and out onto the surface of the lake. Bugs who would never normally dare the surface of the lake alighted on both the waters and the various reeds and lilies floating upon it, Birds skimmed down to settle upon it, while from the bottom various Fish of all sizes and shapes floated up closer to the surface, anticipating what was coming.

The Rulers allowed themselves to sink into the waters around the Pyramid, while the Sublime Chord rose, the blue of the sky peeled back, and the sun blazed gloriously among the stars of the night, sharing the sky instead of ruling it.

Heaven wept, and healing tears came down.

The Sage of Heaven’s Seeds: For each Element past the first present on a spell you Cast, you gain a +100% modifier to your Spell.

If you have all seven Elements, the modifier is instead x10.

If you have a Seven Element Spell and add a Dimensional Element, you add another x5.

If you have a Seven Element Spell and add a White Magic Element, you add another x5.

Any spell with vivus or Good or Heavenbound Wrath riding it was effectively a White Magic spell.

Any spell that employed a Metamagic like Still, Silent, Reach, Echo, Twin, Fastcast, or many other effects was effectively using the Chaos Element. If it used Force, it was using Void. If it had the Thunder Descriptor, it used the Sound/Thunder Element.

It was an unrestricted modifier, so it could apply to ANY effect of the spell, not just damage.

It was one Heavenly Title, that was certain, and the Beasts who bathed in the most powerful Healing spell that had ever manifested on the planet were the first ones to experience it...