Chapter 89: Round Table At DragonHold (Bonus)
A few more days had passed since the day Aiden gave the demon child over to Thamoryn.
The Ravens Grave guild had also been assigned new mission requests, given that they had completed all pending requests.
That was also a new record time for the guild as well. Usually they would take several days to weeks to complete their mission requests before they got new ones.
Well, the new initiates really got everyone working their asses off. This included the captain, Katherine, who had also decided it was time she completed the requirements to become an Arch Magister.
The final requirement to become an Arch Magister was leading a guild into an S ranked dungeon and successfully clearing it with all members still alive.
A feat that was never possible for Katherine, given that her guild members had never been up to the task before. However, with these new initiates, it just might be possible.
Speaking of the initiates, Kayden remained distant from the rest of them, or at least he tried to be, choosing to hang around and complete certain tasks with their seniors, Fred and Sorkin.
Arianna was beginning to warm up to the members of the guild, although she was closer friends with Aiden, whose company she preferred.
Laela had realized and accepted within herself that Arianna’s growing closeness with Aiden made her feel jealous and uncomfortable.
However, she could never truly voice it because she and Aiden hadn’t really talked about going out together or being exclusive to each other.
Moreover, the growing relationship between Arianna and Aiden never really affected how close she herself and Aiden were also getting.
Aiden, on his own part, had come to accept that he made the best decision to give the demon child away to Thamoryn, even though it may not have been the right one.
The rest of the missions and a few other guild quests had left him with more than enough XP for the next scaleborn level.
Though he still let it be so that he could accumulate a bit more. Additionally, he had gained new unshared stat points that reached a total of 18 at the moment.
Every other thing still remained as they were with the system.
Today was going to be a good day for Aiden, given that Elena was to get her new magic item from the research room later that afternoon. Then after that, she would show him the godspell as promised.
The only dent on the goodness of today that would bring annoyance to Aiden would be the lesson class for the newest initiates happening this morning.
They had been given notice of it a few days ago, and this outdoor class was to be handled by Captain Charlotte of the Void Embers guild.
When Aiden asked the older guild members what the class was going to be on, they said it was to teach and show supplementary spells. It was a customary class for all initiates.
Aiden already knew of supplementary spells and how they worked, so this class was of no use to him. This was exactly why it was a "dent." That waste of precious time that could have been used for other things.
...
Later that morning, the initiates of each guild marched out to the open fields where Captain Charlotte stood, already waiting for them to arrive.
She wore a black overall dress and had a large hat over her orange hair, while holding a mage staff. She was also the youngest guild captain.
"Welcome initiates," she said with a cheerful smile on her face. "I’m Captain Charlotte of Void Embers, and today I’ll be teaching you how to make use of your first supplementary spells."
Aiden rolled his eyes from where he stood. He already knew how all of these worked. Some students within the little crowd knew too.
The captain also stated, "I know some of you already know what supplementary spells are, and some are even capable of casting some themselves, but this is a compulsory exercise for all initiates, and I think it would still be good for you to listen."
The class began officially, and she went on to explain what supplementary spells were, their spell levels, understanding the required instructions and channeling the right amount of mana. And then how good mastery of supplementary spells could be of great use, especially in battle.
She proceeded with showing them samples. A basic spell called "Quiet Tongue"
.She explained that the spell’s function was to carry a whispered statement or murmurs from one person to another over a short distance.
Then she gave a more practical instance. "Please come closer," the captain said and gestured to a boy who was at the back of the line.
He arrived at the front of the gathering and stood about 5 meters away from Charlotte.
Charlotte herself then stepped further backwards, creating another 10 meters distance between them.
Then she cast the spell and spoke in murmurs from her distance. What she had whispered was "You can hear me, right?"
And the mage, to his greatest surprise, nodded his head, speaking out to her "Loud and clear, Captain!"
The others still looked surprised at what was happening, and then she extended the spell’s range and whispered in naturally inaudible volumes, "You all can hear me, right?"
The mages glanced at themselves in surprise and back at the captain with nods that proved the affirmative.
The whole point of the spell was that one didn’t need to be too close to whisper a talk into someone’s ears when they could still do it from some meters away.
However, the first time she had used the spell, Aiden automatically copied it, and the system had sent him the right notification to that effect:
[Supplementary Technique Copied: Quiet Tongue]
[Spell level: Basic]
Charlotte then spoke to them and said, "I’ll show one more spell, but first, I’ll need every single one of you to give the Quiet Tongue Spell a try."
It was meant to be an interactive class session.
And one by one she beckoned on them to start coming out to give the spell a try.
....
Meanwhile, a meeting was about to begin at the same time in Dragonhold. This was between the King and his captains.
King Jarius Crowley sat at the head of a round table with the eight guild captains and Grand Magus seated at the sides.
He exchanged glances with Mumbleton, the Grand Magus sitting at his right side, who gave him a nod to go ahead.
He took one breath in and said, "I’ve gathered every one of you here because there’s something the rest of you has to know."
Then Jarius glanced at Ursula, guild captain of the Starry Maidens, sitting to his left side and said, "Please tell them everything as you had told me."
Ursula then stood up, then bowed slightly and said "Your Grace," before turning to the captains and starting with everything she saw.
The moment they heard everything Ursula said, their eyes widened with shock. Some spoke among themselves, and then Greyfus, Captain of the Tainted Bears spoke up, "Your Grace, by implication, we could possibly face threats as soon as other Kingdoms find out about this."
"That is exactly why I have called every one of you here. We’ve searched and waited, but it doesn’t seem like Thyrak is coming back. So we best prepare accordingly," Jarius said with a grim look on his face.
"I mean no disrespect, Your Grace, but why are the other captains only just knowing about this?" Captain Azam of Silver Pegasus spoke up. You could tell he was displeased.
"Because that was my counsel to him," Mumbleton replied quickly. "To keep the news within our ears only. I saw no need to cause panic when it could have been that the Great Black only needed to step away from his lair briefly, and after what felt like nearly five decades."
A chatter among some the captains immediately ensued for a moment until Jarius called out, "Captains! Please."
The chatter died out almost immediately.
"I understand you, Azam, and those of you who share his thoughts. As your King, I render to you all, an apology. But right now is not the time for squabbles. We in fact face a threat already," Jarius spoke, then almost immediately he motioned to a Knight standing at the farthest end of the room.
"Bring him in!" Jarius called out.
The Knight bowed and left through the doors, causing the captains to turn the same direction in anticipation of what next.
A few moments later, Baran and one other knight holding a chain attached to the metal cuffs on a beaten up man had all walked into the throne room.
The knight pulled the captive man all the way to their presence, and then Baran, who stood behind him, kicked the back of the captive man’s legs and commanded, "On your knees!"
It looked like the Grand Magus was already in the know about this as well, so it didn’t exactly startle him as it startled the Captains looking.
"This man you’re all looking at is a spy from the Kingdom of Zahka," Jarius began.