June 11th, year 024 Angels Descent
It had been ten days since they had been told how their holiday would be spent, and it was now the day they were to set off to Port Staine. Boarding the carriage with blackout curtains, they settled in for the journey to the teleportation farm.
Peaking around the curtains as they went through Academy City, they could see what had become increasingly apparent recently. There had been a significant uptick in the number of soldiers stationed in the city.
“Sir, why are there so many soldiers in the city?” Daisy asked. Their teacher had revealed war was likely on the horizon, but Academy City was incredibly deep in the Dark Continent. It would almost never be the first target of an invasion force that was yet to even materialise.
“Simple, Benevolence would have only recently gotten back into the holy city of Loom. I am certain when he reports to his fellow cardinals that they will be compelled to commit to war, and they may use their embedded agents to launch a revenge strike against this city.”
“Why would they do that?” Maxwell asked, paling at the thought he may be one of the targets of the Theocracy.
“Well, me, Sloth, Yuu, Elissa and a few other really heavy hitters live here. If they cause chaos here, we will be preoccupied with this place and unable to assist in repelling an invasion,” Alex explained.
“The Theocracy has agents in bed?” Tasha asked. Alex looked at the elf for a long moment before nodding.
“Yes, they have a few… like Mr Cohen, the baker on the middle plateau. He’s one of theirs.”
“Sir, why do you let them stay when you know they are spies?” Kline asked.
“Simple, it’s exactly because we know they are spies. I’d rather we have the spy we know than a spy we don’t. Idiots don’t realise we know all their agents in the city, and they are under strict supervision.”
“If they are under supervision, why do you need so many more soldiers?”
“Simple can’t rule out unknown elements. Only a fool will assume they can see the whole picture. We accept what we know and understand there is a lot we don’t… as is the essence of a researcher of the Order.”
The conversation petered out as they left the walls of the entrance plateau. Mostly because the curtains locked themselves tight to prevent any peeking out. The teleportation gates were one of the strictest guarded secrets of the continent.
“Sir…” Daisy began before trailing off.
“Hmm?” Alex asked, recognising the call to answer a question.
“How are the gates kept so secret if people know they exist?”
“Oh, that… well, their exact location is known only to their guards, and only a few people outside their guard and even then, they must be of a certain strength to be allowed to know about their location.”
“What do you mean?” Bea asked.
“Let me put it this way of the seven Sinful Lords, only four actually know their physical locations, and every guard must be a minimum of a mithril rank or a major in the military. They are no slouches in combat and are bound by soul bind contracts to keep them from revealing it.”
“Do you know where they are?” Maxwell asked.
“Oh yeah… I was Gluttony for a few years and do actually know the seven gates locations. Outside that, I won’t say anymore.”
“So Maxwell, Kline tell us about Port Staine?” Gunter asked.
“Not much to say, really… it’s home, you know?” Maxwell replied.
“The Tower of Pride is impressive in a compensating for something kind of way,” Kline added.
“Oh yeah, it is massive,” Alex added as well.
“You know about Port Staine, sir?” Maxwell asked.
“I’d call it my home away from home. I did spend seven years living there.”
“I suppose that makes sense… did you ever go to the Jormungand River Race? I always wanted to enter the race myself,” Kline asked. This question surprised the class as Kline was usually jumpy, but the Jormungand race was infamously dangerous.
The river itself bisected the continent, separating Envy’s domain from the rest of the continent. It was nearly a mile wide at its narrowest and ran at such a current that it was used for fast transport from east to the west.
It was said that on a good day, one could board a ferry at the Octogram’s Port and end up at Port Staine before the sun had set. The Race itself was where small boats that typically avoided the river due to its currents raced from one end to the other.
Combat was permitted after the halfway point passed Serpents tail isle. It wasn’t unheard of to their to be fatalities from crew just falling overboard. Let alone fishermen who braved the waters with their rods to catch the speed salmon.
“No, never participated in the race. Me and Yuu did consider entering the race a while back, but… well, we had a few drinks too many and kind of went off the beaten path a bit.” The class collectively tilted their heads, not getting the reference he was alluding to.
“Though I’ve already told you how I spent most of my time when I was in Port Staine.”
“You did?” Tasha asked.
“Remember when I told you about my adventurer days and how I took every job that caught my eye? It's the reason I am a real jack of all and master of none. I did everything from cleaning storm drains to butchering work as much as bandit hunts.”
“Oh yeah, now that you mention it,” Maxwell replied as he snapped his fingers in recollection.
“So where are we staying when we get there, sir? I assume Maxwell's father will let us room at the tower?” Bea asked.
“No, he adamantly refused, stating, and I quote. ‘The Tower is only for important visitors’. As if his son isn’t important.”
“Yeah, that sounds like dad…” Maxwell said before looking down at his hands as he nervously fumbled with them.
“Then my family's estate?” Kline nervously asked.
“Your father was very insistent that we not stay in his estate either.”
“Why?” Bea asked, shooting a pitying look at Maxwell and Kline.
“He has his own reasons. Regardless we will be staying in the dorms of the Elementals Compound. I understand Hadean and Gentleman Jack are preparing a big party for us.”
“Wait, if we are going to the Elementals compound, will we meet the rest of the clan?” Kline eagerly asked ever the fanboy when it came to famous adventurers.
“I assume so… so long as they aren’t out on a quest. I understand Meso is currently rooting out a criminal organisation in the east, and Cyano is there to babysit him. So it may be Hadean, Rosy and the rest of their martial units.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The class paused to think this new information over. Clans were typically a temporary thing, where multiple adventuring parties unified to face a stronger threat that a party alone couldn’t handle. The Elementals were no exception; they had formed many years ago when four parties centred around a mage specialised in a different element had joined forces.
They after defeating the threat found they had such synergy that they kept the clan going. They still had other members rotate in and out, Alex and Mimi being two prime examples. But there were still some very famous adventurers that had stuck with the clan outside the core four.
“We are here; dismount the carriage, please,” the driver said as he thumped the carriage's roof twice.
Dismounting the carriage, they approached the barn as they had the first time. This time the size of the party was such that they could all go at once. Stepping onto the raised platform, they waited for the nausea-inducing dizziness to strike.
All at once, their surroundings twisted and warped before spinning around them, coming to a halt. Much like their first time, the room didn’t seem to have altered at all. This was because each farm maintained the barn to be identical, so if they lost it, they could collapse the connections and force people into an eternal loop.
Stepping out into the outside, a number of the class were already retching while only Alex and Maxwell were unaffected due to their more numerous uses of the portal network. There waiting for them were a set of identical carriages with blackout curtains.
“I’m kind of feeling excited now,” Maxwell muttered as he settled into his seat.
“Not been home for ages; I hope the stalls I liked are still up in the trade district.”
“Trade district?” Alex repeated. “Isn’t that district a bit beneath one of your station?”
“Yes, but me and Kline had fun running around where we weren’t meant to.” Kline gave a weak nod as if it was more Maxwell dragging him.
“So Port Staine is divided into districts?” Gunter asked.
“Yeah, kind of like Academy city, but they aren‘t separated by elevation,” Maxwell replied.
“There are big walls between each district with gates you have to pass through. My father told me it was in case the outer wall was breached, the invaders wouldn’t have free reign over the entire city. They would need to fight through countless fortifications just to get to the tower.”
“Makes sense,” Daisy said with a nod.
“There is the Noble District, Trade District, Market District, Port District, Temple District and the Common District,” Maxwell listed off.
“The city has only had its defences breached once, you know?” Kline offered conversationally.
“Is that so?” Alex asked.
“Yeah, it was only because the Lord of Pride at the time turned traitor,” Maxwell explained.
“It was the original family of pride, the Staine family, that did it,” Kline added.
“It’s actually where we get the saying a ‘Staine on Pride’ from.”
“I didn’t know that; I shall lock it away in the ole nogging,” Alex replied, tapping his temple. A thumping on the carriage's roof told them they were nearing Port Staine. With the blackout curtains now no longer locked, the class could look out the window.
The city was large and sprawling. Where Academy city went for vertical elevation, this city spread itself out far and wide. In the very centre stood a monumentally tall tower. Even from the far distance they were already at, it looked truly massive.
“That is Pride’s tower. You know another name for this city is the Clock Town,” Alex explained.
“Clock town?” Maxwell repeated, surprised to learn something about his hometown that he didn’t know.
“Yes, the people in the city use the tower to tell time. It acts like a city-sized sundial, and the roads spreading out from it are like the numbers of the clock. The road in shadow represents the time of day.”
“I didn’t know that… I thought it was just an ostentatious lighthouse.”
“Oh, it is that as well… it can be more than one thing.”
Arriving at the city's gatehouse, they were readily waved through due to the nature of the carriage itself. No one without a high level of diplomatic clout would be using such a carriage with guards radiating such power.
The carriage itself began trundling along through what was clearly the most wealthy neighbourhood of the city. Every house looked like a manor house, and not one was left without decoration. Even what appeared to be garden sheds were ornately built.
“Damned Noble District,” Alex muttered. “Cheeky bastards settled the North Eastern area, so if an invasion comes, they can run away first.”
“They would never!!!” Maxwell protested against the slight of his hometown's nobility, of which he was a member.
“Maybe not, but that was the intent,” Alex replied with a smirk.
One thing the class noticed was the sheer number of soldiers patrolling about. Academy city had a fair few soldiers, but Port Staine seemed to have an entire cohort in this district alone. Seeing their curious gazes, Alex explained.
“They are stationing even more soldiers here, kids… This is, after all, one of the first lines of defence against an invasion.” The carriage trundled along the cobblestone road till it came to a gatehouse where they were actually stopped.
“Ok, get out your adventurer IDs; they can get you through to the Trade District.”
Following his instructions, the class all took out their adventurer tags and handed them to the guard, who slotted them into a crystal device. The device flashed for a short while before coming up with a blue light.
“That lets them know if you have been charged with anything criminal,” Alex explained. The moment they put his tag in the device, it flashed up a bright purple. The Guard scrutinised the device momentarily before hastily returning the tag to Alex.
“What does purple mean, sir?” Daisy asked.
“Means I’ve served time. It was probably bringing up my criminal charges for him to peruse. Must’ve been a fun read,” Alex explained with a very Alex-smirk.
The guard gave a nervous wave of his arm to let them through. The class noticed he was considerably paler than he had been when checking their tags, only causing them to wonder what the hell he had seen.
Continuing along the road parallel to the district wall, the carriage eventually came to a fenced-in compound with what looked like a fortress. The fence itself was made of barred wrought iron.
“Here we are, kids,” Alex said as he stepped out of the carriage in front of the gate.
“Are we not being dropped off inside the compound?” Maxwell asked.
“Heavens, no, these guards value their safety,” Alex replied as he gestured through the bars to the courtyard that was plainly visible.
In the courtyard were a pair of men in light leather armour. One was clearly a titan, while the other seemed to have a humanoid shape. Each held a halberd in their hands. They were clearly in the middle of a sparring session.
Within the blink of an eye, the men cleared the distance between them, and their weapons seemed to vanish from their hands with only occasional outlines. The class recognised this as something Mimi had done, where she moved her weapon faster than the eye could detect.
Every so often, a wave of intense wind whooshed out and caused most of the class to stagger, with only Alex and Gunter being the exception. Bea herself was holding on for dear life to Gunter's shoulders to avoid being blown away.
“Couldn’t they have put up solid walls?!!” Daisy asked.
“They could’ve, and they did. The problem is with a barred fence like this; the force can freely move out. But with a solid wall, it has nowhere to go, and the wall quickly becomes shrapnel.”
“You don’t mean?”
“Yep, they destroyed walls and hurt pedestrians. So they set up this fence to let the waves, at worst, knock anyone dumb enough to walk pon this side of the road over,” Alex explained. Looking around, the class could see pedestrians were indeed crossing the road as they passed in front of the compound for the Elementals.
Opening the gate, Alex walked in with the class trailing behind him, keeping him and Gunter between them and the waves of force emanating from their duelling pair.
“Oi, stop!!!” one of the men shouted.
“You lot tours for civilians are only on weekends,” the towering titan announced.
“You two really don’t recognise me?” Alex asked.
“Is… Is that little Ali?!!!” the titan roared as he swept Alex up in a big bear hug.
“Hey, Biggest Bro Boris,” Alex wheezed as he struggled in the titan's grip.
“Boris? Do you mean he is one-half of the Boris twins?” Kline eagerly asked.
“Indeed we are, lad,” the other man replied. “Name’s Boris pleasure to meetcha,” Boris said as he offered his hand.
“Twins? They are different races and look nothing alike?!!!” Daisy pointed out.
“Yes, we may be different in race and appearance. But we are brothers of the soul. We have the same name, ideology and way about us!!” both Big and Little Boris declared in unison.
“Mimi with you?” Big Boris asked nervously, looking around.
“She isn’t,” Alex replied, causing the double act to wipe sweat from their brows.
“She is one scary beast,” Little Boris declared.
“I’ll be sure to let her know.”
“ALI, PLEASE DON’T. SHE’LL BREAK MY FINGERS AGAIN!!!” Little Boris begged.
“Ok, I won’t… we will just settle into the dorms,” Alex said, gesturing to a set of buildings off to the side. Both Borises nodded in unison, giving a little greeting to each of the class before they went off.
“Ok, gets some good rest. You have all of tomorrow to enjoy the city before we meet your parents,” Alex warned as they each picked a free room to crash out in.