Early next morning inside the city hall, a fuming Marquis entered the premises. He dragged the giant axe behind him, leaving a long ditch through the middle of the building.

The sound of his entrance woke the teens up and alarmed the secretary. She shouted at him to pick up the axe, but he did not listen and slowly entered his office while waving everyone in.

The teens and the secretary followed, and after dropping the axe in the middle of the room, Flintbender walked up to his desk, stood behind it as if he was taking a seat, and said: “I’ve heard goblins have infiltrated the city. Do you kids happen to know how they did it?”

“Yes sir, one of them could summon illusions, and another was disguised as one of your soldiers. The exact method they used is unclear, but these seem to be the most likely options,” said Finn.

“I see.” The old Marquis furrowed his eyebrows. He seemed tired and determined all at the same time. “Then it’s about time I go for a swim. Today, this damn ocean will boil with my rage!”

“You will do no such thing!” the secretary stepped forward. “Please call general Goldbeard; he is awaiting your report on the matter.”

Flintbender raised an eyebrow. His secretary was appointed by the general himself, so it wasn’t unusual that she’d snitch on him. If only she wasn’t so capable, he would have fired her years ago.

The Marquis searched under his table and pulled out a purple crystal. He placed his hand on it, the crystal shined, and a moment later, the image of an old dwarf sorting through papers appeared inside it. He was slightly more muscular than even Ivan, with a short, white, well-kept beard, and a fancy mustache pointing up towards his ears.

“Did you ask to see me, General?”

The dwarf on the other side was looking through a document as he spoke. “Yes, Miss Janice was afraid you would go for a swim. Don’t even think about it, Ivan. The city’s defenses need to be consolidated, and we all need to take measures against future infiltrators.”

“Countess Ironhand can take care of that,” said Ivan while crossing his arms.

“Don’t be ridiculous. That’s your job and your job alone.” The General reached his hand towards the screen in order to close the connection. “By the way,” he suddenly stopped. “The kids from Phoenix that helped with this matter, you have rewarded them, right?”

“He gave us two measly gold coins,” Natalie jumped in.

“We’ll have to beg our way back to the academy,” added Michael.

Tommy said nothing but instead tugged at his tattered shirt and pushed Annie forward who was wearing nothing but a glorified blanket.

“My God,” Cyrus let go of his parchment. “Ivan, is this how you treat the children who all but saved your city?”

“But...”

“Shut up! If the other generals hear about this, our reputation will sink straight into the lava pit beneath Trident. You need to rectify this, Ivan, and I mean right now. Miss Janice will keep me updated on your progress. If I hear anything other than praise for your work, I will send your droopy mustache back to bootcamp!”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The connection was interrupted, and Flintbender’s mustache became even droopier. He gave secretary Janice and the teens a look before sighing and resting his arms on his desk.

“Miss Janice, take these lads and lasses to the armory and give them each a rank one weapon. Kids, know that I would gladly give you stronger tools, but they would only stunt your growth.”

Underneath the city hall, there was a basement even larger than the building itself. It consisted of a long hallway leading to even longer rooms, all of them filled to the brim with weapons and armors.

Miss Janice guided the teens to the first of these rooms. It was at least 100 feet long and 20 feet wide, with countless war tools organized neatly into racks and displays.

“Take your time,” said the secretary to the already running teens. Tommy and Natalie started testing out swords against each other, while Michael tore through sets of armor, looking for gauntlets that were up to his standards.

While Luca’s teammates were searching for their own tools, the boy approached Finn who was looking at some bows.

“What did I tell you? You won’t find anything here that’s better than an elf’s bow.”

Luca patted the boy’s shoulder before waving him over to another stand. With a raised eyebrow, Finn followed him to where Annie was rummaging through something.

On a small stand in the furthest corner of the room, there was a pile of around 50 orange crystals of various shapes and sizes. The girl picked one of them, made it glow, and a small fireball shot out towards the ceiling. She picked another, the crystal glowed, and a white light enveloped her arm.

“Hihihi.” The girl giggled while drool fell from the side of her mouth.

“You can only take one,” Finn reminded her. “There are also wands in the other corner.”

“Yes, yes, I’ll go there afterwards.” Wind swirled around Annie’s wrist as she continued rummaging through the pile..

From the side, Luca took out his bow and showed it to Finn. It was dark gray with unusual, flowing patterns carved into the wood. “Look.” He touched a certain part near the center of the bow revealing a small hatch and an opening.

Luca took one of the orange crystals and placed it inside the hatch. Then, he took out an arrow and aimed at the ceiling. As soon as he released the string, the arrow caught on fire and flew towards its target at almost double the normal speed. It embedded itself into the ceiling, drawing the attention of the secretary.

“There are target dummies over there,” she pointed towards a side of the room. “If you cause any more damage, I will subtract it out of your reward.”

“There’s another reward?” Michael peeked his head out of a mountain of armor.

Natalie smacked a longsword out of Tommy’s hand and then asked “Is it gold?”

“Yes. For your efforts, each of you will be awarded 50 gold coins.”

“What!?” all eight teens dropped their jaws.

“Hmph.” Janice placed her hands on her hips. “Of course, that’s nothing to be surprised of. The Marquis wishes to show his gratitude.”

‘Bullshit.’

“Besides, this is not some tiny village you have assisted, my dears. Trident city and the dwarven people always repay their debts.”

[Name: Cyrus Goldbeard

Age: ???

Race: Dwarf

Titles: General of the empire, Strongest of the dwarves.

Abilities: ???

Achievements: ???

Relationships:

* Ivan Flintbender.

* Janice.

* ???

Comments: Reload. Reload, damnit! I’ve seen this one’s status screen before, so why doesn’t it work? Where’s the history tab? What the hell!? I’ve had enough! ... Smashing sounds.]