Seroie, the capital of Elbrim, one of the three great kingdoms in the Sarifal region, it was the pride and joy of all the people of Elbrim.
Normally it would be bustling with activity and rife with trade, the smell of fresh food would attract all, the well woven fabrics and beautiful tapestries dazzling all newcomers.
But, that was not the case today.
It was a time of war and chaos, the threat of the orc invasion was already here. And so, the city was in grim silence.
Those who could leave have already left and now only soldiers and special personnel were allowed to move in the city during certain hours.
The gates of Seroie were all closed including the main gate, the towering wall had soldiers patrolling it at all times and the towers along the city wall were all filled with soldiers and weaponry.
Fortunately their party was not just any group of people, they had two True mages! There was no need to even mention the crown Prince himself.
However the instructions were clear to not reveal themselves yet the only mention that they were doing the bidding of the Octarine tower, and showed off some papers. They were already prepared by senior Ron.
Once they were passed through the towering gates they stepped onto streets designed and built to make those walking them feel insignificant. There is a palpable sense of power and vision on display here that he had not seen before.
Buildings reach skyward, and if they work, he noted the intricate and precisely late paving stones being tread under his boots, this was levels above the level of technology and architecture that he had seen in this world.
The capital city was divided into three rings. Each ring was surrounded by a high wall. The first ring was the most populated and the biggest one without contest. This is where most commoners live and work.
The inner ring was for the nobles and merchants, and it was much smaller, but you know it was it any less attractive than the outer ring, hear the streets or wider in the buildings grander.
Suddenly they heard the sound of a trumpet blast and a cry of "Make way!" They quickly moved to the side. Thundering hoof beats popped up the street as a man clad in blindingly polished armor rides past a great cape of deep, rich, purple streaming behind him.
In his awake rights, more like him, but still more richly adorned, and at the more leisurely pace. Intermits trundles a gilded carriage with crests and motives, democratic what can only be high nobility.
The escort guards vigilantly shield the carriage from any approach as they move steadily along.
The last ring the capitol houses to important locations, perhaps the most important in the entire kingdom, the royal palace and the personal tower of the court mage.
The palace was massive in scope and design, it was a castle in and of itself. Clearly, it was designed to stand a siege even if the entire city were to fall.
However, they did not enter the castle in an upright manner, instead, the prince contacted some people in the Noble Circle, and they were led through a series of pathways that were more like a maze to the back door of the castle.
After all the prince was not officially out of the kingdom, currently a body double was taking his place in order to hide the prince's disappearance.
Only a handful of people knew that, in a time of war this kind of information could do severe damage to the moral of the soldiers and citizens alike.
Of course when the prince's identity was revealed everyone went into shock and revealed funny expressions. It couldn't be helped, a royal identity was powerful even for mages.
Moreover, he was the prince of a great kingdom that was directly related to a master mage. Great kingdoms were not to be underestimated.
However, there was a recently spreading sentiment among the mages, that is great kingdoms are not that great after all since Elbrim was struggling against mere orcs.
Before they entered the castle, Esdras looked behind it, there was a huge, beautiful garden, tended to buy many servants and slaves. But what interested him was what was beyond it it was the residence of the master mage.
Unfortunately, he couldn't get a good look at it because it was hidden by the woods. But maybe if he was lucky, he might be able to meet my him in the Royal Castle by chance.
Within the castle, they were immediately assigned to their accommodations, and the prince went ahead himself.
Esdras and the rest separated, and washed up. They were also given new pairs of clothes, and they were served with great delicacies, roasted duck, and pork chops, glazed with a honey onion and garlic sauce.
They watched it all down with the finest of wines, the Frostdrop wine. After lunch, Esdras requested an extended map of the kingdom in the surrounding areas from one of the servants his request was immediately fulfilled.
When he was alone, he finally started replying to seeing that, was always on his mind, since he learned of the movement of the orcish army and the invasion.
After he learned of the history of the invasion and the movements of both parties, he felt that there was something wrong. It was only not when he could put everything in his mind, physically that he was able to realize what that was.
In fact, other than the victory against the Duke, the orcs did not have the same momentum. Although on the surface, it looks like they were unstoppable. There were several instances in which they defeat seemed inevitable.
However, when that happens the armies of Elbrim would always make some kind of mistake, or there would be delay in orders, or perhaps the army would attack the wrong location.
If something like this happened once or twice, then it could be dismissed as bad luck.
But the fact that it kept happening was very unusual, this can't be called a coincidence anymore It is a deliberate design.
Would confirm this to him was not a bad feeling or a mere hunch, it was the movement of the troops after the orcs managed to breach their way through to the capital.
The crawling path and Menhier what immediately retake I need the troops that were already organized and have already closed of the supply route of the orcs did not chase after them.
It had to be known that with this position, Elbrim good launch a pincer attack, targeting both the front and the back of the orc army! Even a child would understand this, however, none of that has happened yet.
Instead, the orcs continue their march to the capital unopposed.
The only place is where the differences were titled what actually the sides, this prevented the orcs from deviating from the path to the capital.
The orcs are not actually attacking the capital from this angle, it looks like they were actually driven here.
However, one had to take a step back at this point. Why? Why would Elbrim do this? He he struggled to think of any gains that they could have by doing this.
The damage suffered by the nation was not just so little that they could shrug it off easily. It was without mentioning the political damage and standing of the entire nation has fallen.
If Elbrim what's to recover from this, it would take decades, at least in his opinion.
But assuming that they were not doing this for fun, then they must have something of equal, or even greater value to gain. Otherwise it wouldn't make any sense.
Esdras then remembered some of the prince's drunken rant, about conquering the whole Sarifal region.
He felt that the Chi laid there, but he couldn't put his hand on it. Because the more I thought about it the more that didn't make sense. Losing this much prestige would make their goal even harder.
Forget about that they would have to worry about maintaining their position if they survived this attack.
He did not have much time to rest before he was summoned to meet with the sub-tower master. He was not alone of course everyone involved with that mission was called too.
And an even more luxurious room than the ones they were housed in, they met her, face-to-face.
She was even more in chanting in person, her mastery over the element of fire was clearly displayed in every move and gesture. Sitting on a cushion chair she smiled at them, and the bowed.
"Rise, you kids have done a great job, I understand that this mission was not easy, but I am glad that I have given you the responsibility because you proved your abilities and managed to perform adequately, considering this was your first mission."
"Thank you, master!"
All of them replied at once.
" no need to be too tense, as promised that awards are yours. But I will never neglects those who perform their duties."
"However…"
"I don't understand, something… when did you two advance and become True mages? And both of you are dual elemental mages too, that is very… fortunate. Something that most people could not possibly achieve in a lifetime was at youth by the two of you."
Although the words sounded complimentary, Esdras was able to detect what was said between the lines. It was suspicion.
"As far as I know, even with the right talent, a breakthrough still requires a decent amount of mana stones. I wonder how that happened?"
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