A thousand miles away from Trident city, within the deep ocean, there was a simple cave with a not so simple interior. The slightly large entrance led to a long tunnel that slowly spiraled downwards. It was intersected by hundreds of other tunnels which led to even more paths, towards living quarters, mines, slave quarters, laboratories, training areas, and even an auditorium.
Behind this auditorium, there was a single office carved within the stone. It was huge and spacious, with numerous crystal orbs stacked neatly on coral shelves near the walls and a large table in its center.
On the table, there was a head-sized purple crystal showing a dwarf with a droopy mustache who was shouting profanities. He threatened to boil the entire ocean, turn the monster legions into fertilizer for Trident’s soil, wipe their leader out of existence, so on and so forth.
The owner of the office did not pay much attention to these threats. He kept a straight face so as to not antagonize Ivan further while tapping his tail on the pavement to pass the time.
This man was not human. He had a long snake tail where his feet should have been and no reproductive organs to speak of. His skin was of a light, grayish blue, he lacked irises and his eyes were black as night. His fin-like ears wiggled from time to time, allowing water to pass through the gills behind them.
“This is the last time, Saul! If your fish people pull one more stunt like this one, I swear to God...”
The dwarf cut off the connection, most likely after smashing his crystal to bits.
“Phew.” Saul chuckled while turning towards his attendant who was hiding in a corner of the room. “He sure can talk. Did you catch the fugitive?” There was something unnerving about the tone of his voice, as if he was talking to food, not a person.
“No, milord.” The attendant wrapped his snake-like tail into a spring and bowed from on top all the way to the bottom. “We have identified the culprit as Moonlit Caroline, adoptive daughter of that accursed man. She killed all but one of the soldiers we sent to capture her.”
Saul's smile faded. His serious expression looked like a mix between a day-old corpse and the personification of death: sunken cheeks, pale skin, no eyebrows or eyelashes to speak of, only a stiff pair of lips angling creepily towards his chin. “Well, send more soldiers. We cannot allow her to awaken her father.”
“It shall be done, Milord. What would you like us to do about the dwarves?”
“Do you want Flintbender to boil you too?" Saul's smile suddenly returned. "No, forget about that old fart and stick to the plan. Oh, and double the assassins’ budget for the decade.”
“You mean the adventurer’s guild, Milord?”
“Oh, I like the sound of that. Excellent rebranding, triple their budget.”
“Should they continue targeting the nobles?” asked the attendant.
“No no no,” Saul shook his head in an exaggerated fashion. “We run an equal rights organization here. From this day forth, target only children and teenagers; I don’t care about their background. Tell them to focus especially on the academies’ brats.”
“It shall be done, Milord.”
“Excellent.” Saul clapped his hands. He then grabbed the purple crystal on the table and swallowed it whole. His lips angled way upwards, and as he spoke, two rows of serrated teeth moved up and down as if chewing the water.
“The empire's been getting a bit cocky, hasn't it? The next time dear Ivan bothers me, wouldn’t it be nice if he were dressed in black?”
[At the same time within the empire]
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The atmosphere in Trident city was tense. Butchers rushed towards the wall to assist with processing what was left of the monsters. Spies and informants quickly left the city to send news of what happened to every corner of the empire.
As news of the goblins’ infiltration spread throughout the city’s masses, people locked themselves in their houses, leaving only when absolutely necessary. The authorities did not bother dissuading them, since the countless coffins that were stacked on top of each other near the morgues had reached such numbers they spilled into the streets.
There was nowhere to bury so many people within Trident, so they would need to be carried to the mainland. Worse yet, the identity of many of these people was unknown. Their graves would likely not have names and their loved ones would only know that one day they went missing.
Fortunately, Janice, Flintbender’s secretary had been adamant about keeping the number of academy students to the absolute bare minimum. Ivan too didn’t think the battlefield was a place for children, so only three quests had been handed to the empire’s most prestigious academy alone.
This should have ensured only the most talented fighters were sent, yet half of these young prospects had died during the conflict. The other half were carefully tended to by Janice, desperate to avoid the academy's wrath.
Luckily, for a bunch of dirt-poor peasants from the country-side, a single gold coin was a Godsend. Now, each one had a bag holding 50. It was enough to bring a tear in Natalie's eyes and make even the church backed Luca stare in awe.
“We should drop by Shallow Creek and give some to our parents,” said Tommy and everyone nodded in unison.
“May I suggest our delivery service?” said Janice. “There is a refund policy in case of an accident and our delivery rate is 100%.”
“How come?”
“Hercule Stoneheart’s father is in charge of the service and his methods are notoriously brutal, I mean efficient and respected throughout the land.”
It was enough said. Everyone sent 14 gold coins back home, 10 to their parents and four to their teachers. An additional two gold coins were spent on supplies for the road and a place in a caravan heading straight for Phoenix.
For once in their lifetimes, they were no longer poor and could travel without worrying about bandits or wild beasts. Of the remaining funds, 30 gold coins were placed in the Chavez national bank as per Luca’s advice.
“They have offices in all major cities, and with the human general’s backing, safety is guaranteed.”
At the end of the day, the teens had only four gold each in their pockets, but it was already more money than they had ever owned. They looked forward to a relaxing trip, although unfortunately, their friends would not join them.
After a nostalgic trip via bubble and boat, after finally reaching dry land and meeting up with the caravan that was waiting to take them to Phoenix Academy, Finn and Luca shook hands goodbye. Behind the elf, his two teammates showed bitter smiles as further behind, their friends’ coffins were being placed inside a wagon.
“We’ll meet again,” said Luca. “I may take that third exam a bit later, but I expect to see your half-breed face front row in class.”
“Sure,” Finn smiled. “If you guys ever need any help...”
“Hmph.” The elf turned his back. “We’ll drop by the Holy City on our way back. The church won’t let its investments go to waste.” He waved everyone goodbye and walked away without a second glance. Finn could tell what face the boy was hiding, but there was sadly nothing he could do to make it better.
As Luca’s carriage and wagon left for the south of the empire, the other team’s caravan went straight towards the middle. For once, there was nothing to do but rest and chat with the other travelers.
Finn spent the time on the road in front of their carriage, talking with the old coachman about the various products and specialties of each corner of the empire. Inside the carriage, Annie spent her time either talking to a little girl, meditating on the various forms she had seen in the armory’s crystals, or most often both.
Sometimes, flames would pop out of her eyes, or a water bubble would appear out of nowhere. Fortunately, the little girl was mesmerized by the magic and kept asking for more.
Inside another carriage, Michael and Natalie were having some time for themselves. Although, as soon as the caravan stopped for the evening, Natalie would go talk to the other girls, while Michael chose a random tree and punched it until everyone went to sleep.
Unfortunately, although Tommy only wanted to rest in peace, he was a bit too popular with the ladies for his own good. During the journey he was dragged into the maidens' carriage, and when the caravan stopped, they would cling to him like he was made out of honey.
At a certain point, a bear attacked the caravan, and Tommy sliced it in half, upping his reputation 10-fold, much to his dismay. Yet, besides this attack and a band of bandits which Michael and Natalie beat halfway to death, the journey was blissfully uneventful.
Many days later, Phoenix Academy’s castle appeared on the horizon. The teens raised their guards once more and prepared themselves for combat. After all was said and done, they still had one more exam to pass, and if what they had learned from Luca was true, this one could very well be the hardest.