Zectas Volume V: The Sequestered Seminary of Sawtorn (39 page)

"Baskog, you said this was King Aquila's Castle, right?" asked Atiman. "Why does it say Summer Home?"
"I don't know," replied the Night Templar. "That's what the book told me."
"See? I knew we couldn't count on Baskog to get his facts right!" screamed an angry Puthaw.
 

* * * * * * 

A sandstorm cleared up, which revealed a four-story ruined castle carved out from the side of a mountain. This ancient structure was part of the lost city in the scorching deserts of Grand Malodorant Dragonis.
Yet, its formerly abandoned streets were now filled with a bustling crowd of Sonstwelters and Zectians. All of them were busy doing business in front of medium-sized tents to ones that were extravagantly large. Most of these were owned by newly formed guilds.
The common stalls were filled with the finest armor, weapons, accessories, and potions. With one glance, any passerby could tell that these were expensive items.
After only a few months of being discovered, this place had become the largest rally point in the east. One of the main reasons people were drawn here, was due to the lack of taxes from any of the established kingdoms.
Because of this, this rally point received a daily arrival of fresh meat. Hundreds of Zectians and Sonstwelters arrived from the Kingdoms of Thanotl, Thayotl, and Matotl. They wandered through the streets, all looking for the next big score, gambling that they would make it big here.
Among them, were an Assassin and a Priestess.
"This place was discovered by Tristan and his DracoRicco members," said one of the new arrivals.
"Ironically, this was also the place where Tristan disbanded his guild," added a Paladin who walked behind them.
The Assassin then gently patted the Paladin's shoulder and said. "Hey, my name is Bon. How would you like to—"
The Assassin was rudely cut off by the hand of the Paladin. "Not interested," he said, and moved away from him.
"Ora, try that guy," Bon said to the Priestess, who stood next to him.
"Um. Excuse me, Sir. I just arrived here three days ago," began Ora. "And I was wondering if you would like to join me on a quest? The rewards are pretty—"
"Sorry, I'm busy," interjected the Paladin, cutting the Priestess off.
Ora let out a sigh.
Then, a muscular Cavalry Knight walked up to her. "Um, Miss? My name is Zhertva. I'm new here, and I don't have anything valuable to sell or trade. But I am interested to hear about this quest of yours."
"Really?" asked a delighted Ora. "That's great. Do you have a party with you?"
The Cavalry Knight paused, and studied the Priestess closely, as if scrutinizing if this was a scam. "No, I'm alone," replied Zhertva.
"Oh," said Ora, the disappointment in her voice clearly shown. "Sorry, but you alone won't be enough."
The Priestess walked away.
"Hey, wait," called out Zhertva. "I just wanted to try my luck here. Can't we look for other party members instead?"
Ora stopped walking, turned her head at him and said. "I've been waiting here for two days now, and the quest needs at least nine people in it."
"Then, that means we just need seven more," said Zhertva. "Does this quest need to be Sonstwelters only? Or can we hire some Zectian Mercenaries?"
"Just Sonstwelters," replied Ora. "And I already have one more companion," she said, pointing to the Assassin called Bon.
"Six, then," said Zhertva. "If you let me join this quest," he added.
"Why do you want to?" asked Ora.
"I need to make more money," replied Zhertva. "I may not look it now, but I used to have four Zectians in my personal army."
Ora's eyebrow raised. "And where are they now?" she asked.
"They died on the boat ride here," said the Cavalry Knight. "Even my golden jackal died, and he was very precious to me."
"Oh, sorry to hear that," said a sympathetic Ora. "You've already had your share of losses. So, you really shouldn't do this quest."
"But that's exactly why I need to," explained Zhertva. "I reached here because I had those Zectians act as my shield."
"That's why I need money to buy more," added Zhertva.
"I see. That makes sense," said Ora. "Alright, you can join us."
Bon suddenly pulled Ora away from Zhertva. The two of them began whispering, inaudible for the Cavalry Knight to hear.
"Fine!" yelled the Assassin, crossing his arms in protest.
Ora then smiled at Zhertva and said. "Welcome aboard! But I need you to help us recruit more people just like you."
"Of course!" replied the Cavalry Knight. "So, is this quest strict about only being nine Sonstwelters? Or can we have more?"
Ora and Bon turned to each other, as if speaking with their eyes.
"More than nine should be fine," answered Ora. "But I think fifteen should be our limit. We don't want too many people dividing the loot, now do we?"
"Right!" said Zhertva. "Oh, and this is just me being proactive," blurted out the Cavalry Knight. "But what about putting up a sign. You know, something like: Looking for Zecs to buy Zectians? Join us, now!"
Ora visibly shuddered, but nodded with a forced smile. "Alright, let's do that."
After putting up signs, they gathered a total of twelve members for Ora and Bon's Quest. Including Bon, Ora, and Zhertva; the party had four Priests, two Assassins, two Paladins, three High Wizards, and one Cavalry Knight.
"Good, this should be enough," Ora said to the assembled party. "Before I share the Quest, let's move outside the encampment. We don't want other people stealing our rewards, do we?"
With that, twelve Sonstwelters gathered outside the ruins of the forgotten city.
"This should be far enough," said Ora, and shared the Quest with them.
A notification window popped up in front of the new recruits.

Without hesitation, all of the recruits chose 'Yes.'
"Bon and I will not take part in any of the treasures we may find there," said Ora. "But in exchange, we will take the Wyrm Queen's head as our share of this Quest."
"Is that Wyrm head expensive, or something?" asked the other Assassin in the party. "Because if it's worth five times the entire hoard, then I don't like it."
"We just need it for a series quest," explained Bon.
It took a few minutes for the new party members to discuss amongst themselves.
Zhertva took command of the new recruits, and spoke in their behalf. "Fine! We all agree with your condition."
And so, all twelve members of the hunting party set forth to vanquish a Feuern Wyrm Queen.
 

* * * * * * 

After three hours of travel, the newly assembled group arrived in front of a cavernous cave opening.
"We're here," said Ora.
Being a Priestess, she motioned for the Knights to enter first.
However, Zhertva and the other Knights did not comply.
"Ladies first," said Zhertva.
With an exaggerated shrug, Ora walked in. A few seconds later, the rest of the party members followed her. The party members saw an expansive cave with the height of over ten-meters and a width of over thirty.
A notification window popped up, to signify that they had entered another place.

Ora used an illuminating spell to light their way. The other Priests in their party did the same, while the Mages used a similar ability.
"What kind of monsters are we expecting here?" Zhertva asked Ora, as they walked further in. "Are there other types other than wyrms?"
"Just one," replied Ora.
Suddenly, skeleton warriors and trolls charged at them from the dark shadows of the cave.
"I thought you said there were just Wyrms here?" asked Zhertva and slashed the closest skeleton warrior next to him.
Their High Wizard party members also released a torrent of spells, which illuminated the cave with bright colors and spells.
Zhertva's sword went through the skeleton warrior with ease, and the monster instantly vanished.
"They're illusions," said Bon, and casually stepped forward.
Hit by their Wizard members, the skeleton warriors and trolls faded back to nothingness.
"It's right here," said Ora, leading the party towards the next corner. "Bon and I managed to catch a glimpse of it, and estimated that about nine people were needed to take it down."
She stopped, and signaled for everyone to keep quiet. Popping only their heads to take a peek. There, they found a flaming orange dragon without wings. It looked peaceful, curled in a deep slumber.
"We estimate it to have a length of seven meters from head to tail," explained Bon. "But the girth of its body should only be one and a half meters."
"My, that's one big wyrm," whispered Zhertva.
"Yes, it is," said Bon. "But look at the treasure behind it," added the Assassin, pointing to the mountain of loot the feuern wyrm was guarding.
"And all you want is that wyrm's head, huh?" asked Zhertva once more.
"Yes, that's all we ask," answered Ora.
"Alright, let's do this, then," said Zhertva. "So, what's the plan?"
"Nothing fancy," began Ora. "Knights in the front, Healers and Mages in the back, and Assassins for back and head attacks."
The other Priest party member was about to cast buff spells on everyone, but Ora stopped him. "Let me do it, you save your mana for healing," she said and proceeded to cover them with her magical abilities.
As all of the party members finished their preparations, they readied themselves mentally to face the feuern wyrm.
"Wait," called out Bon. "If one of you are attacked and about to die, just run until here," he said, pointing to the place where they were. "Ora will be able to heal you here."
"Okay, okay. I think we've all got it," said Zhertva. "Let's go!" he yelled out, calling the attention of the sleeping feuern wyrm.
"Raaaooooor!" roared the awoken feuern wyrm.
"Why did you do that?" asked Ora. "Now, it knows we're here."
"Simple, so that I can direct its attention to you, Two," replied Zhertva and pushed both Ora and Bon in front of the wyrm's mouth.
The Assassin and Priestess stood still, while the feuern wyrm extended the length of its body, towering over the two Sonstwelters before it.
"Thanks for telling us about this place," called out Zhertva from behind them. "Don't worry, we'll equally share the loot amongst ourselves, and find the series quest related to this feuern wyrm."
The mages fired their spells at the wyrm, but the wingless dragon remained unaffected. Instead, it focused on Ora and Bon.
In one fell swoop, it wrapped its thick body around the Assassin and the Priestess, squeezing out their life bars.
"Wizards, aim for its head," called out Zhertva, as he led the charge at the wyrm's body.
The Knights' swords did little damage to the wyrm, as its name and life bar were displayed, Truffatore (2,458,000/2,500,000 HP).
Truffatore ignored the other party members, as it was about to finish off Ora and Bon. Both of their bodies were sent crashing against the cave walls.
Bon's body vanished, and Ora's shortly followed seconds later. Yet, their bodies did not disappear in the same manner as when a body normaly fades out of Zectas.
"Looks like they were much weaker than I thought," said Zhertva out loud. "But we can still do this," he added.
However, Truffatore had other things in mind. Moving its body fast beyond its size, it coiled its thick girth around the Knights in front. Only Zhertva was able to dodge the wingless dragon's attack, but just barely.
CRACK CREAK CRACK
The sounds of their bones being crushed echoed in Silok Cave.
Healing lights and magical attacks came towards Truffatore's direction. The Heal spells were directed at the Knights while the offensive ones attacked the monster's eyes.
"Acccck!" cried out Truffatore, the attack on its sight proved to be effective, or so they thought.
It did momentarily stop the dragon from crushing the Knights, but not because it was hurt.
An irritated Truffatore squeezed the final hit points of the ones caught in its body. Yet, before they died, it opened its mouth, revealing it wide enough to fit an ancient bison inside. One by one, it wolfed down the Knights. 
"Run!" Zhertva yelled at the Priests and Mages, but they remained standing still. "No! It can't be! It has a stunning abili—?" were his last words as Truffatore devoured each one of them there.
The cavern fell silent.
"Kaaacck, kaaak, bleaak," came the sounds of Truffatore, as it regurgitated the equipments of its invaders.
TING DING TING TING DING
Swords, shields, boots, wands, and rings fell into a pile of sticky gunk.
Then, Ora and Bon stepped out from the entrance of Truffatore's treasure hoard.
"Looks like middle tier items," said the Assassin.
"Well, what do you expect from low level Sonstwelters?" asked the Priestess. "I bet none of them even went beyond level 120."
"Tell me about it," said Ora. "They didn't even catch me stunning them earlier," he added and chuckled. "And that Zhertva guy thought that it was Truff who had the stunning ability!" he said and laughed some more.
"Raaaooooor!" roared the flaming orange dragon.
"Oh, shut up, Truff!" said the Assassin. "Has Tristan come back yet?"
The wingless dragon obediently curled down and shook its head.
"You think any of them realized what we were up to?" asked a worried Ora. "Maybe they'll talk about us in the forums, and then we won't be able to gather any more people to feed this big oaf," she added, and pointed to the orange dragon.
"Relax, Aurora, I'm sure all of them are cursing about being killed," said the Assassin. "Not to mention that there is no save point here!" he added and snorted.
WOOOSH WOOSH WOOSH SHOOOOOO
A Paladin Lord logged in, and appeared in front of the treasure hoard. "Oh? Aurora! Bones! You just finished another batch?" asked Tristan.
"Where have you been?" asked Aurora.
"Sorry, it took a while," said Tristan. " I was reading up on this DarkElf named Faux. He's suppose to be better than Smoke."
Aurora crossed her arms and asked. "Just how many more do we need before Truffatore grows to the next level?"
"Wait, let me check," said Tristan and opened a window. "About a thousand."
"Then, you do that by yourself!" cried out Aurora. "You can count me out."
"Come on, Aurora. It's not like these guys didn't deserve it," said Bones.
"These guys did, but we can't expect all of the new arrivals to be like them," she argued.
"And I still don't like how you're copying Smoke's idea," Aurora said to Tristan.
"I may hate the guy," said Tristan. "But his strategy works."
He paused and clenched his fist. "I still can't forget that smug look on his face, pretending to be a Novice outside a city! He really thought he could fool me?"
Tristan took in a deep breath to calm himself.
"Get over it already, it's been well over a year!" exclaimed Aurora.
"Good thing we didn't sell our low level equipments," said Bones, trying to steer away from the sensitive topic of Smoke. "It works great, in luring in people like Zhertva."
"Who's Zhertva?" asked Tristan.
"A Cavalry Knight that used to own that sword," replied Bones, pointing to the pile of equipments with gunk.
"Truff, add this to the pile," Tristan ordered the dragon. "And get out of that wyrm form."
The orange dragon lowered its head in obedience. Crimson flames then covered its body and a pair of large wings sprouted out on its back. Next, came out its arms and legs, with sharp claws on its ends. A set of majestic horns popped out of its head, forming the shape of a crown. When it was done, Truffatore had the spitting image of Valdurath, one of the twelve legendary dragons of Zectas.
"Hm," said Tristan, while examining the dragon. "You're still about a fourth of your father's size, but don't worry, we'll get there."
"You know, I still say Smoke wasn't trying to trick—" blurted out Aurora, but quickly stopped herself when she saw Tristan's eyes glaring at her.
"So, what were you saying about this... Faux character again?" asked Aurora.
Tristan raised his eyebrows, and decided to allow Aurora's clear attempt of changing the subject. "Apparently, he became a Vice-General in Vitzytl Kingdom and defended its capital city from a horde of Orks."
"That sounds really impressive," said Bones.
"It was," said Tristan, but then he chuckled. "Until everyone discovered that they were being played by the Orks. I mean, who gets tricked by a dumb race like the Orks?"
"Um? Why? What happened?" asked Bones, as Tristan had not fully explained the situation.
"Faux is now in a pile of turd," began Tristan. "Because they redirected all of their forces to one city, the other cities of the Kingdom are being attacked by the Orks."
"And what happened to the cities?" asked a worried Aurora.
"I don't know," replied Tristan. "It hasn't been posted in the forums yet. I think they're still being invaded as we speak."
"Oh! So, you were just reading things on the forum," said Aurora. "You know, those things aren't always reliable."
"I know that!" said Tristan. "But it just makes me laugh."
"What does?" asked Bones.
"How others make this Faux person to be on the same level as me, Amahan, and Smoke. I mean, even Smoke wouldn't fall for such an obvious diversion."
"Is it really that obvious?" asked Aurora. "I mean, if I had information about the capital being invaded, I would have probably done the same thing."
Tristan gave her another annoyed look.
"But it's really surprising that you think highly of Smoke," she blurted out. "Why do you think he wouldn't be fooled by this?"
"Hmmp! That's simple," replied Tristan. "That cunning bastard always has something up his sleeve."
Meanwhile, Bones was looking through their hoard of items. "Tristan, do we really need to stick to Sonstwelters alone? Why don't we bring in some Zectians?"
"No!" yelled both Tristan and Aurora simultaneously.
The two of them looked at each other and laughed.
"Bones, it doesn't really do us any good if we brought in Zectians," explained Tristan. "Most of the Mercenaries here don't have any decent equipment, and we need to keep increasing that treasury."
"Fine!" said Bones. "But I still don't get why we had to disband the guild though," he said grumbling to himself.
"Alright, I'll tell you," said Tristan. "You see, I plan to have us three sit on top of the world."
"How?" asked Bones.
"Amahan has ten members in his Decane guild, right?" asked Tristan. "And what's better than a guild of ten? An even more elite guild of three members of course!" he said with a smug face.
"That sounds interesting," said Bones. "But I don't think we can take them head on by ourselves."
"That's why after Truffatore grows up, the two of you will be getting your own dragons," said Tristan.
"And what about Smoke?" asked Aurora. "What do you plan to do against his private army of Zectians?"
"Bah! You can forget about him," replied Tristan. "All his good for is his sneaky tricks."
The Paladin Lord angrily shook his head. He grumbled and clenched his fists.