Zectas Volume V: The Sequestered Seminary of Sawtorn
Page 35
"Commander Faux, in behalf of everyone, I would like to thank you for everything that you've done," began Bon. "I know that we've only been together for a couple of days, but we've never had a more trustworthy Commander such as you."
Then, a notification window popped up.
+ Intimacy with Bon and the rest of the Warrior Guards has risen to 'Revered Leader'
"No, I'm the one that should be thanking you," said Smoke. "And I hope that your stay here will be peaceful."
As most of the Warrior Guards resumed eating, Bon spoke to Smoke with a lowered volume. "By the way, I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier."
"Huh? What did you do?" asked Smoke.
"I mean from when I met you the first time," explained Bon. "I should have known better than to judge you by your looks."
"Oh, don't worry about it," replied Smoke. "I get that a lot. What's important is that you'll lead your fellow Warriors well."
After settling in the one-hundred Warrior Guards in the Temple of Xantico, Smoke bade them all farewell and good luck. He left Malentendu Forest on foot, and when he sensed that no one was following him, Smoke leapt up and glided back towards Votl City.
* * * * * *
Excited with his discovery of the Florissant Journeyman receptacle, Smoke glided fast with the winds. He rode them at top speed, wanting to know more about the Temple of Xantico.
'Nanti Pin,' he chanted in his mind, curious as to what it could be.
Two hours passed, and Smoke was already halfway to Votl City. Still filled with his musings on the connection of the temple to Florissant.
Suddenly, he got distracted when he spotted several large dust clouds gathering on the far north.
Enlarging the window of his map, Smoke found out that there was no city, no village, not even an OrkElf colony up in that direction. There was supposed to be nothing there but the barren Mountain ranges of Tagung.
'I'm so far high up, it shouldn't hurt to investigate,' he reasoned.
With one large twisting motion of his Wings of Cologus, he changed his direction and headed for the desolate ridges.
As he got nearer, he melded his mana with Igniz and used his Telefax Vision to zoom in on what was causing the dust clouds.
Focusing in closer and closer, Smoke trembled at their sight. He estimated more than two hundred-thousand Orks riding on dirus wolves, which were three times larger than normal. Yet, the ones who were running after them on foot, number about five times as much. A tidal wave of green savage monsters equipped with mauls, mallets, axes, and other double-handed great weapons. The other terrifying thing about the Orks was that a single one of the UrukHais was as tall as one story house.
As he scrutinized the massive horde further, Smoke realized that the ones who were running, were actually much smaller.
Opening his acquired knowledge window on Orks, Smoke discerned that these two-meter tall versions were from the Ork Tribe called MoriHai. They were said to be the scavengers of the Orks. These smaller green monsters would often ransack the villages that were previously attacked by the stronger Orks.
'This is what Ouragan was anxious about,' Smoke thought. 'The Ork Tribes working with one another.'
As he followed them towards the mountain ranges of Tagung, Smoke spotted a large circular formation made up of Orks.
'They were gathering on the foot of one of its mountain. I need to get closer. I need to know why these two Ork Tribes are here,' decided Smoke with conviction.
Synergizing with Igniz, he increased his gliding speed by creating a lift of hot air below him. He had experimented on this before, but found it wasteful in term of mana consumption, as it barely dented the experienced bar on his Fire Manipulation. Its sudden burst of speed, however, proved useful for times like this.
Landing far away from the gathered Orks, Smoke got out his Digger's Wand and dug a tunnel towards the green monster council.
With his Earth Manipulation now at Master Level, excavating a passageway one kilometer in length was a trivial task for him.
Using his Cunning of the Dire Fox to guide him, Smoke stopped when he was directly above the council of UrukHai and MoriHai. In order to hear them better, he drilled a miniscule hole right under their feet with his Earth Manipulation.
"Nagkar tapukir tarar drei parar migbago tag Generalir," said one of the Orks.
'Oh, that's right! They talk in Orkish!' remembered Smoke, and slapped the forehead area of his mask.
"Nyar kinsari nimani angir efuli? Sa tanir Colonier?" said another Ork.
With no idea what they were talking about, Smoke pressed the timeframe button. He wanted to record this and translate it with an Orkish to Human language translation app. Of course, he does not have the app yet, as it was expensive and never needed it before.
"Akir asur Colonier, Wertlosmorder, Akir vutar si Wertolosvati! Syar angir efuli! Syar langi angi andunayir katungdiri." added another Ork.
"Akir, Wertlosrauber, uyunir kanir Wertlosmorder's pagvuto. Ikuwa Vergewaltiger?"
"Valhallir moir drei. Vastur makir iyotar akir. Walviri kun kinsari angir efuli Generalir."
His ears piqued as soon as he heard the familiar name. Wertlosvati was the name of Cynar's father, the Ork Colonel who got away.
The Orks went on mentioning Wertlosvati's name. Smoke listened in on to thirty-minutes more of this conversation, until he recognized another word.
"Sulingir natur angir Votl! Kuran na akir na angir onying amo!" screamed an Ork.
A few pieces of loose rubble fell on Smoke's face, as a thunderous cheer erupted on the surface.
'What on the world are they talking about Votl?' wondered Smoke, but whatever it was, he knew that it was not anything good.
With more than thirty-minutes of conversation to translate, Smoke logged out from inside his newly created tunnel.
* * * * * *
An invigorated Nash stepped out of the game pod. It had been a while that he was this excited to leave the realm of virtual reality.
He sat on his chair and hurriedly turned on his computer. Searching through the Zectas website, Nash clicked on the Orkish translation app.
"$3,500!" exclaimed Nash.
'Who in the world would buy this thing?' he wondered in disbelief. He then found the number of times the app was bought and saw its counter displayed one.
He debated within himself whether the conversation he heard from the Orks was worth that much. Even if he did learn the Orkish language from a book inside Zectas, there was no way for him to convert a language that he heard before. This was the only way for him to understand the green giants of Sawtorn.
'Looks like I'm going to be schmuck number two then,' he thought and added the Ork translation app to his cart.
After installing it and integrating it with his recorded video from the tunnel, another button appeared,
"We've gathered here today, to elect a new General."
"And who do you think is worthy to be one? Which one from the four Colonels?"
"As one of the Colonels, I, Wertlosmorder, support Wertlosvati! He is the only one in my opinion who could lead the Orks to be great again."
"I, Wertlosrauber, second Wertlosmorder's opinion. What about you Vergewaltiger?"
"Do whatever you want. As long as I get to raid places with pretty Elves, I don't care who takes up the post of General."
Nash listened on to their conversation on finalizing Wertlosvati's promotion to be General of the UrukHai.
Then, he heard the next highlight of the Ork Summit.
"Now, that I am elected as your General, we will stop our petty attacks on villages! Let us invade their capital Votl!"
Nash assumed that it was Wertlosvati talking.
"Together with our MoriHai brothers, we shall storm their city and lay waste to their entire Kingdom!"
After hearing his translated video, Nash hurriedly shut down his computer.
He ran downstairs and drank a glass of water.
"What's wrong, Nash?" suddenly asked Donny from behind him.
Distracted by the Ork's plan to invade Votl, Nash failed to notice his youngest brother eating a bowl of cereal in the kitchen.
"I think there's going to be a big war in Sawtorn really soon," replied Nash.
"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Donny. "Don't you get an insane amount of gold and experience during those kinds of events?"
"You do, if you're on the winning side," replied Nash. "Otherwise, it could mean total annihilation."
"Great! Then, just be on the winning side," said Donny.
Nash stared at his brother, dumbfounded. "You're right. Thanks, Donny, I better go back in and make sure that happens."
* * * * * *
Traveling at his fastest, Smoke exhausted most of his mana as he boosted his flight speed in his synergized state.
He found himself back in Votl City and immediately headed for the King's Castle.
At the heart of the amethyst city, stood the capital of the capital, King Kajou's castle. From above, Smoke saw the massive maze garden, four swimming pools, a horse track, and a ten-meter tall statue of the current King himself.
'Palatial,' was the only word that came to mind.
Learning from experience, Smoke did not intrude inside the castle walls. Instead, he landed in front of its gates.
"Halt! State your name and your business here!" said a Warrior Guard in black.
'Not this again,' groaned Smoke.
"I'm here to see the King. My name is Faux. Finalist of the…" began Smoke, but was interjected.
"That's Sir Faux!" said another Warrior Guard and pushed the other to the side.
"A pleasure to meet you in person, Sir Faux," said the Guard and shook Smoke's hand. "Sorry about this guy. He doesn't follow the Magi Gagnant Tournament."
'Wow! I didn't know I had fans,' thought a surprised Smoke, remembering how the audience in Pulper arena heckled and booed him.
"And apparently, doesn't even bother to read the daily instructions," added the Warrior Guard. "Didn't you read the memorandum that Sir Faux was to be allowed entry into the Castle anytime?"
The ignorant Guard shrank back. "I read it," he said shamefully. "But I had no idea who he was."
"Fine, fine, just let me in already," said Smoke. "I need to see the King, now!"
Escorted by the Warrior Guard who adored him, Smoke was rushed inside. The walk across the expansive castle grounds took a few minutes, but despite his rush he failed to notice the time, distracted by the expensive decorations.
'Just how many Avendre Mercenaries' debts could I pay off, if I sold that statue?' wondered Smoke, looking at a pure golden sculpture.
After ten minutes, Smoke found himself waiting behind the throne room door.
"Wait here, Sir Faux. I'll inform the court adjutant of your arrival," said the Warrior Guard.
"Alright, thanks," replied Smoke and waited to be announced.
It took longer than he expected for his name to be called. Then, he heard the sound of what he discerned to be a heavy staff against the floor.
TUG TUG TUG
The throne room door was then opened.
Smoke expected to see a crowd of nobles inside the King's court, but found it empty. Only King Kajou, who sat on his throne, awaited him.
"Faux! That was quicker than I expected," said the King. "Where's Ouragan? Did he stay behind the temple?"
"Um, no," replied Smoke. He paused as he thought about what to tell the Monarch. "He went back earlier ahead of me. After we secured the temple, of course."
"Of course," said the King. "So, were there any robbers there? Is the temple still in its pristine condition?"
Before Smoke could answer, the King went on and stroked his beard. He quickly bit his lips and stopped himself from talking. He stared down at the floor, as he tried to push away the cringe-worthy image of King Kajou stroking his long nose hairs along with his beard.
"Well, Faux? I'm waiting for your answer," said King Kajou.
Smoke looked up and found that the King had stopped touching himself. "I'm afraid that it is covered by a thick forest and needs a bit of dusting up," replied Smoke.
"And what of the inside?" further inquired the King.
"I don't know," answered Smoke. "The temple is completely sealed."
"Is it, really?" said the King. "Hm. Guess I'll have to find another vacation spot for this year's anniversary."
"I beg your pardon?" asked Smoke, confused whether he heard the King correctly.
"I was actually looking for an exotic place for me and the missus," explained King Kajou.
'All of this was for securing his vacation spot?' thought Smoke. 'How selfish could he be?'
"But your, Majesty, I had the Warrior Guards remain there," reasoned Smoke, recalling the subordinates he left behind. "Should we call them back?"
"No, let them stay there for a while," said the King. "Who knows? Maybe there will be thieves there."
Then, a notification window popped up.
+ Completed Quest: On Call Security Guard
You have successfully secured the secret Temple of Xantico.
Rewards:
* Intimacy with King Kajou has increased to 60
* 50,000 experience points
'What? This is all I get for almost a week of doing that Quest?' thought Smoke in disbelief. 'The Intimacy with the King barely even moved.'
"Now, if you're done with your report, you can leave," ordered King Kajou, and dismissed Smoke with a wave of his hand.
"Wait, your Highness!" exclaimed Smoke, overwhelmed by his emotions.
"You dare raise your voice to me?" threatened the King, standing up to his full height of 142 centimeters. "Do you know who I am?"
Smoke quickly lowered his head to the throne room floor and begged. "Please forgive me, your Majesty. But I have urgent news, and you need to hear it."
King Kajou sat back down on his throne and guffed. "You're lucky that I've taken a liking to you," he said. "Otherwise, you would have been exiled from my entire kingdom."
"Thank you for your benevolence, your Highness," said Smoke.
"Well, go on then," said King Kajou. "What is this urgent news that I have to desperately hear?"
"It's about the Ork Horde," began Smoke. "The UrukHai and MoriHai Tribes have joined forces and they're planning on invading Votl City soon."
Smoke then explained what he heard on the Ork Summit further. King Kajou shriveled into his throne, profusely sweating. He kept on stroking his beard, but Smoke failed to notice and kept on talking. Yet, despite this, the King did not stop Smoke. He allowed him to continue with his imperative update.
"Are you really sure of this?" King Kajou asked Smoke. "How do you even know how to speak Orkish?"
"Well, I know a little bit," Smoke lied, but he planned on acquiring a book on the Orkish language soon after.
"Then, we better call all the kingdom Generals here at once," said the King.
The short Ruler of Vitzytl stood up and walked over to a piece of red rope dangling high from the ceiling. He had to stand on his toes to reach its tip.
Looking at it, Smoke noticed that the rope stood out of place in the entire throne room.
KLANG-KLONG KLONG-KLANG KLANG-KLONG KLONG-KLANG
"Forgive me, your Highness, but what is that sound?" asked Smoke.
"Those are the sounds of misery and death," replied King Kajou, "Those are the war bells which have not been rung for almost a hundred years."
SHUP PLOP SHUP SHUP
Suddenly, Smoke's Cunning of the Dire Fox picked up four new individuals. He turned around and saw two elderly HighElves, one long-haired tiger Lioumerean, and a DarkElf.
To his surprise, Smoke knew all of them by name. They were Eleve, Ouragan, Trottel, and surprisingly enough, Chrysopelea.
"What are you doing here, Chrys?" Smoke asked the only other Sonstwelter in the room.
&nb
sp; "It's a long story," answered Chrys. "Basically, after the tournament was over, I went over to Vectas City and challenged its Prime Wizard for the title."
"I read that I could get summoned by the King," added Chrys. "I just never thought that it would be so soon."