Back to the present.
In a forest as large as a country, the shadows seemed to stir. Thousands of creatures ran silently through the dense trees. Some on all fours, some on two legs, and some even on three. Some flew, some hopped from tree to tree, and others ran along the ground.
But whatever they did, they did it completely soundlessly. No twig broke and no dry leaf cracked. No bushes rustled, and no bird was torn from its sleep. They ran through the forest, in the direction of a small village, which was in the far distance.
After a very long time, the forest finally cleared and the demons rushed out. In front of them was an old farmhouse. Two of the demons broke ranks and quietly walked to the farmhouse.
The rest continued to the small village, which lay dark and silent. Quietly, like shadows, the army of Polykenas arrived.
At the same time far away.
Enos yawned loudly. He was tired. He had to take care of hundreds of documents all night. Enos was an official of the city of Glorios and had to take care of the affairs of the city guard. Glorios is one of the 7 capitals of the human kingdom and is gigantic. Enos, to be exact, is one of the 12 chiefs of this city.
As already mentioned, Enos has to take care of the city guard, but not only that. He also had to take care of the prisoners and the tax payments of the region assigned to him.
With a long sigh, he rose from his bed and stood up.
"My goodness, I'm tired."
Grumbling quietly to himself, he went down the stairs to the dining room.
Enos was a slightly smaller, but still handsome man, with a beautiful face. He had disheveled brown hair and light brown eyes, which were underlined with blue rings. For the third time now there was a heavy knock on the door, this time with even more force than before.
"I swear, if this isn't an emergency, I'm going to commit murder."
Enos went to the door and unlocked it and in the very next seconds the massive oak door flew open and a man rushed in,
"ENOS, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"
Enos winced and then looked annoyed at the big muscular man,
"I'm standing right next to you, you hollow piece of shit."
The man, who could only be described as a mountain of muscle, turned and looked at Enos.
"No need to insult me." He said with an innocent face.
"What do you want, Gilfred?"
"Have you forgotten already? We have a council meeting in less than half an hour."
Eno's eyes widened slightly,
"Oh damn, I completely forgot about that. Shit. Let's not waste time, we have to go."
Gilfred hon his eyebrows, and looked at Enos' sleepwear
"I like that enthusiasm, but shouldn't you put on something decent first?"
Enos: "..."
--
The two rode swiftly along the great road. They rode on the two horses that Enos personally trained and raised. Gilfred was on a beautiful bay steed and Enos rode a bright white one. They were solid and proud animals and Enos appreciated them very much.
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Under other circumstances, he would have left them at home in the stable, but the monthly meeting of the 12 chiefs and the mayor began in less than half an hour.
Enos just hoped that the long robe with the logo of the city chiefs, which he quickly put on earlier, would keep away any thieves and petty criminals.
Although humanity was united by the cold war with the other two races and there were no major battles among themselves, there were still some individuals who do not like to obey the laws and committed robberies and murders and rebel against the system.
And because of the division of the planet into three halves, there is a great lack of resources. Especially considering that quite a large part of the human kingdom is an uninhabitable desert. But the same fate met the elves.
Enos didn't worry too much about the bandits or anything. Because not only he but also Gilfred were Ancient Mages and were educated in one of the top universities.
In their world, magic was divided into 6 levels. The lowest level is rank zero or mortal rank. A mortal is the lowest you can be in the rank order, and like the name states you have no magic skills and talent, so to speak.
After that comes the first rank or demi rank, which is the lowest rank of a mage. Mostly these are simple craftsmen or the average soldiers in the army. This is the power of the army and shows their strength.
After that came the second or warlock rank. If you are a warlock, it means you are a complete mage and usually, you get a higher position in the army or politics as a warlock.
The third rank, or master rank, is the upper average and you are either teachers at universities or generals and officers in armies.
The fourth rank is called ancient. Being an ancient means you are already a genius among millions. People of this rank are powerful and important people of the race and are usually holders of large parts of the lands and districts.
But they are to administer them only and not to govern because mayors and regents were in most cases rank five or also called nobles. These are geniuses among geniuses and are the leaders of the empire.
Rank six, or the Messiah rank, is a rarity even in the millennia of the planet. When one emerges, he is without a doubt the absolute ruler of his race. Currently, there are only 3 such messiahs in the world, and this is already an incredible miracle. At exactly the same time, these geniuses have appeared in every race.
It all happened in one month and was one of the most incredible events that ever happened. If only one race had been without one of these messiahs, it would have been torn apart by the other two races. But as fate sometimes played, it kept the balance and three rank sixes were created at the same time. People believe that it was God's work.
Enos was an Ancient, one of the top mages. Because of his talent, he was also allowed to study at one of the greatest universities in the world. It is one of the only five universities that have Ancients as students. Just to be qualified for it, you had to be at least at the master rank. Besides that, you had to take a variety of different tests that tested your intelligence, knowledge, talent, and magical ability. Enos did not understand the mysticism of magic, but you could only advance your rank at universities in certain areas, which is a painful and miserably long process. It is like trying to forcibly break down a stone wall with your bare hands. It was a painful procedure that very few passed.
Although among the bandits and robbers, there were also a handful of underground groups whose leaders are at the Ancient rank, they are mostly very cautious and kept in the shadows, because if it comes out that they are Ancients, the high universities will personally make a move. Since the only way to break through to rank four is in these universities, the person definitely has to come from them. So they feel responsible for it and chase them.
All universities have their own small army, as their places are extremely important for the growth of humanity and its mages. And, of course, the five high ones have a huge force, among which are ancients and even nobles. Only Messiahs are not among them, for obvious reasons.
Enos and Gilfred rode for another 20 minutes and as Enos expected, there were no incidents in between. They rode right into the center of town.
At the inner ring of the walls, the guards opened the gate for the two without even asking them for their identification.
The city center alone was huge. Its dimensions could not be compared to normal cities. It was huge and over ten million people were living in it. The city center consisted of a huge glamorous church and the Council Hall. The Council Hall was also the target of Enos and Gilfred.
When they finally arrived in front of the Kollos of a building, they got off their horses and left them with the stable boy in charge. With the city guard present and Enos' status, he had little concern that his horses would be stolen.
They quickly entered the large building. The guards just nodded at them and let them pass without stopping them.
As they arrived at a certain Room, the secretary got up frantically from his work table,
"There you are, at last, the meeting has already started. Quickly follow me."
Although the two knew this building like their pockets, they had to follow the procedure and follow the secretary, because, without him, one was not allowed to enter this area of the building, since it belonged to the mayor personally.