Zectas Volume III: Malediction of Veneficatl Valley (3 page)

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Smoke chose to bring Adder, Espion, Laernea, Vijaya, and Ichaival. The others were left behind and started on their action plans against Duke Burmistrz.
He explicitly left Weise, Rasant, and Stark behind to help the residents grow accustomed to them. The Maneators were eventually going to lead their own battalion and they needed to build a good rapport with the militia members.
The Maneators' great strength was also required for the many great architectural structures that Verbrannt was undergoing.
Smoke's expedition party rode on Laernea's carriage and was heading towards Nanahuatl Village. It had been a long time since Smoke saw Darius, and he had missed the old Beggar.
Their ride home was uneventful, except for the occasional pack of burrowed sandcats that would leap out and attack them. The monsters were no challenge at all. With Igniz's enchantment, their increased levels, and improved equipments  killing the burrowed sandcats was a breeze.
The DarkElf tried his Earth Manipulation ability on the burrowed sandcats, but the beasts just ate through his manipulated earth. So, Smoke left all the fighting to his men. He focused on acquiring knowledge from books instead.
Days passed and they finally saw Nanahuatl's familiar borders. An old man wearing Arch Magus clothes stood at the village's entrance.
Darius had sensed their arrival and waited for them at the gate. Smoke immediately noticed his reinvigorated appearance.
"Well look at you." said Smoke with a smile.
Darius opened his arms and pulled him into a hug.
"I'm steadily recovering some of my lost power, but it will still take a long time before I get to even half of my previous power." said Darius.
Smoke was really pleased to hear Darius' recovery. He then introduced Espion to his old friend. Darius welcomed all of them and led the way to Smoke's house.
The residents of Nanahuatl flooded the streets as soon as they heard that Smoke had arrived. He invited everyone to a barbecue party later that day.
Smoke wanted to catch up with everyone in Nanahuatl. He brought assorted meat from poultry, pork, beef, to the exotic. He knew how the Nanahuatlanos loved their grilled meat.
He asked Vijaya and Ichaival to take care of the event. As preparations for the cookout started, Smoke and Darius went inside Smoke's home to discuss his progress.
Smoke began by giving Darius' Beggar Tablet. He also told him about his adventures inside the labyrinth and the three Maneators he created.
Darius listened to Smoke with pride. The old Beggar felt he was listening to the tales of his best friend, Kumbaba. The last Beggar Imperator.
He also told Darius about Sierra's suggestion of creating a guild. He wasn't for it at first, but he knew that there was no other choice. Still, he preferred if his army was purely Zectians rather than Sonstwelters.
Smoke finished his story with his current quest of searching for the Witches of Wysteria. He knew that they were in the desolate lands of the west, but Veneficatl valley's vast land area was a major concern.
"That's why I was planning on visiting Condortl before I head to Veneficatl valley. I want to see how they're doing and maybe recruit them against the Duke."
"That's not a bad idea at all. Also, when you reach the outskirts of Veneficatl you will be able to pass through two villages that belongs to the secret society of 'Inauditas Volucris'."
"You mean the half beast race?" he asked.
Darius nodded. "Yes. First will be the home of the Centaurs, Pferde Village. The second one will be the home of the Simiavulgs, SarurasVillage."
Smoke scratched his chin and asked. "Simiavulgs? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with them."
"They are a race of half man half monkeys, they are very similar to how a Lioumerean looks like. They have the body shape of the human, except they have excessive body hair and their ears, noses, and lips are that of a monkey." answered Darius knowingly.
"How come I've never met a Simiavulg but Lioumereans are almost as common as an Elf?" asked Smoke.
Darius pointed his index to the sky and said. "Ahh... That's a long story, but the short version is that Simiavulgs are extremely supremacists. They think the best race are in all of Zectas is the Simiavulg. Of course, they do have powerful Wizards, dextrous Snipers, and skillful Warriors that haven't been defeated since the time of the Lizardites."
"Hmmm, sounds like they are a very troublesome race." stated Smoke.
The Beggar Legati waved his hand in dismissal. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you can think of something when you meet them."
"What about the Centaurs? What are they like?" asked Smoke.
"They're a really friendly race. Some of them used to wander to the main cities, but two hundred years ago, their Chief banned them from going there. You see, many Centaurs are so enamored by the beauty of the Elves and the Humans that they want to be with them. They would even resort to the dark arts just to be with their beloved." Darius chuckled to himself as he recalled something funny between the Simiavulgs and the Centaurs.
Smoke's curiosity got the better of him and asked. "What's so funny?"
"You see, it's true that the Simiavulgs has never been conquered, but the same thing goes for the Centaurs. The Simiavulgs would go to the land of the Centaurs and they would be driven out as quickly as they came."
"So the Centaurs are also a powerful race?"
The Beggar Legati nodded and smiled.
Smoke beamed at the idea of meeting them. "Now I really want to make those Centaurs into my allies."
Darius pulled out a parchment out of thin air and gave it to Smoke.
"Those are the locations of the two villages. I didn't tell you about them before because you didn't have the ability to cross over the mountain range of Margome, but now you do. The lowest level monster over Margome is at least 150, but I think you and your party are capable enough of handling monsters like those."
"Really? Now, I kinda want to bring Sierra and my entire private army with me."
"I wish I could have told Sierra about Veneficatl valley. I never imagined that the Witches would travel to the desolate lands of the west. Witches usually stay near populated areas. They have a special craving for the souls of young children."
"Well, I'll make sure that their food fetish stops as soon as I see them."
Darius gave Smoke a pat on the back and said.
"I know you will. Now, why don't we see how the preparations are going. All this catching up has made me hungry."
"I'm sure Ichaival and Vijaya have everything prepared."
Dozens of long wooden tables were propped outside of Smoke's home. Vijaya asked Ichaival and Espion to man the grill. Adder was in charge of gathering the villagers.
A few minutes later and all of the Nanahuatlanos arrived. Everyone drank and ate as Ichaival entertained them with Smoke's adventures.
Ichaival portrayed all of the characters in his stories of Smoke's adventures, but it always ended with him and Sharanga kissing.
Everybody laughed as they knew that part never happened. The children all gathered around Smoke and asked whether it was all true. To which Smoke would reply. "What do you think?"
All of the children's eyes widened with amazement as they pictured Smoke's adventures in their heads.
After Ichaival's stories, Vijaya displayed the abilities of her six falcons with aerial aerobatics. Everyone clapped at their well coordinated maneuvers. She ended her performance with her six falcons carrying her into the air.
The barbecue party lasted all night. James Jackal and Howard Hide pulled Adder to a table and initiated a drinking contest with their fellow Condortlian.
Ichaival introduced Espion to all the young eligible bachelorettes in Nanahuatl, while the young men ogled over Vijaya.
Peitro Fischer had Smoke personally tell him the real battles that he experienced inside the labyrinth.
Smoke was tired of retelling the same story for more than a fourth time, but told the old Fisherman nonetheless.
After Smoke freed himself from Peitro's incessant questions, he happily watched everybody having a great time. Nanahuatl really was the best place in all of Zectas. He wished that he could share this with Seth and Donny someday.
 

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The next day, Smoke and his expedition party headed for Condortl at the break of dawn. Only Darius was awake to see them off.
He greatly enjoyed his time with the Nanahatlanos, but he also needed to make some progress on the Witches and recruiting the army for Verbrannt.
It took Smoke sixty days to reach Condortl village on foot, but they had now reached Adder's village in two days as Laernea made Bilis mostly run at top speed.
When they reached the last bend before Condortl, Smoke and Adder expected to see a vibrant village covered in green scales, but they were greeted with broken walls and destroyed houses instead.
The Condortlians were busy picking up the debris and the broken scales from the virile lizards. Until they noticed Smoke's carriage.
The residents flocked around Smoke as he got off Laernea's carriage.
"Praise Cuezaltzin! You're finally here. We've been praying for your return ever since our farm lands died, and now Centaurs have come to attack our village."
Smoke was confused. He thought that the Centaurs were peace loving and friendly.
"Why would they attack Condortl? Did you provoke them in any way?"
Slowly, all of the residents of Condortl came out of their homes. A crowd gathered around Condortl's Savior.
Eldmar, the acting village chief of Condortl, walked towards their village's hero.
"We have done no such thing. We only followed our laws. Then they just came out of nowhere and took our children away. Our Warriors fought back bravely, but even with our best weapons we were still no match against the twenty Centaurs."
Smoke recalled that he left the village with three-hundred Warriors whose levels ranged from 40 to 60. The Centaurs must have been really strong to defeat Condortl's Warriors.
Eldmar proceeded to tell what had happened.
"We were all living peacefully here for a while now. The griffons' numbers greatly fell as they lost their steady supply of virile lizards, but everything changed two months ago."
Smoke and his men listened intently to Eldmar's story, but Adder was most especially attentive.
"We were looking for new farmlands because all of there was no longer any fertile lands east of Mount Aeriloc. A Scout suggested that we cross the mountain. I agreed since there were rarely any griffons left. They didn't find any area that was great for farming near the mountain's base."
Eldmar looked at Adder and said.
"Abaven, you remember of the old legends that spoke about the rich lands near the mountains of Margome?"
Adder nodded and answered.
"Yes, the rich fertile lands said to be protected by guardian spirits. Didn't the Scouts know that it was dangerous to go there?"
Eldmar faced Adder, he shook his head and sighed.
"The leader of the Scouts was your cousin Catalina. She ordered her Scouts to travel to the foot of Margome with her. She always had fantasies about meeting the guardian spirits. Apparently, the guardian spirits were the Centaurs. They guarded that land from the Simiavulgs."
Smoke silently listened but could guess what happened next.
"One of the Centaurs fell in love with Catalina and I was told that she reciprocated his feelings. Catalina established a small colony in those lands. Needless to say, the men and women that she brought with her fell in love with other Centaurs as well."
Smoke nodded as his suspicions were confirmed.
"I immediately asked the colony to return home when I heard about what was going on. Couples of Humans and Centaurs always lead to disaster. I haven't heard from them since. Then a week ago twenty mad Centaurs came and took the younger children away."
Eldmar's face with stricken with sorrow.
"They have taken twenty-four children in the past week alone, and we only have 200 Warriors left."
Adder held onto Eldmar's shoulders and said.
"Don't worry. We're here now. The Centaurs aren't gonna take any more children. I'm sure Smoke will do his best to find those kidnapped children as well."
Eldmar looked to Smoke with pleading eyes.
"Will you help us find the children?"

"Of course I will. We're talking about children here. How could I possibly say no to that?"

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Smoke asked his men to help out with the repairs, while he began setting up a trap for the Centaurs. He took out his Digger's wand and created a trench around the village. He made sure that the trench was deep enough so the Centaurs couldn't leap out of it.
With his Earth Manipulation ability, he created a thin layer of earth over the wide trench and camouflaged it. He could have placed spikes inside the trenches, but he still needed to ask the Centaurs about the children's location. He also wanted to find out why the 'peace loving' Centaurs were kidnapping children in the first place.
Smoke then proceeded to fortify and increase the height of the walls around Condortl. He also made the front gates wider. He wanted to lure the Centaurs to use the main entrance.
As Smoke inspected the village, he found a young boy practicing with a rope and a massive sword. The boy threw the rope over the pole and ran towards the pole with his sword.
The boy's weapon was much bigger than himself that it reminded Smoke of Adder's gigantic double bladed sword Blitzsturm.
The nine year old boy held onto the sword with both his hands and swung at the wooden pole that was shakily erected on the ground. The boy was barely able to do a proper swing, but his eyes shone his determination.
"Hey, you be careful. You could hurt yourself with that."
The boy froze for a split second when he saw that it was Condortl's savior who was talking to him. He immediately bowed down to the DarkElf.
"It is an honor to serve under you, lord Smoke."
"Serve? Don't tell me you're planning on joining the Warriors when the Centaurs come?"
"That's right. I have been training hard. It has been a week since I started and I can tell that I've improved."
Smoke smiled at the young boy. He reminded him of Donny's confidence and optimism.
"What's your name?"
"It's Tracas."
"Tell me, Tracas. Where's your father? Shouldn't he be teaching you the way of the sword and not just hacking randomly on this pole?"
Tracas bit his lips as it began to quiver.
"My father died on the first day the Centaurs came. They killed him before they took my sister Pris."
Smoke gave him a hug and Tracas tried to pull away.
"That's why I've been training day and night with my father's sword. I plan on killing the Centaurs and taking my sister back."
Smoke saw the bloodstains on the boy's hands. It was from hitting the wooden pole for almost a week.
"I see, but in order to train properly you also need to rest. If you like I can teach you how to fight with a sword? But not until you've healed your hands."
Smoke took out a bandage from his backpack window and applied First Aid on the Tracas' hands.
"Alright, now why don't we join the others and have some tasty stew."
Smoke led Tracas to the temporary kitchen that Ichaival created. He asked Vijaya to take care of Tracas while he proceeded with his preparations for the Centaurs.
With his Earth Manipulation ability, Smoke created a fortified tower at the center of the village. He planned on having the non combatants and children inside the tower.
After the completion of the tower, he went back to where Tracas was.
"Listen, I know you aren't done with your training yet, but I have an important job for you to do. I want you to guard everyone inside the tower."
"What tower?"
Smoke pointed to the three story Earth tower that he had constructed. Tracas was surprised to see such a structure come out of thin air.
"So, stay inside the tower and guard everyone, Okay? I can count on you, right?"
Tracas formed a fist and covered it over his left chest.
"Yes, sir! You can count on me."
Smoke smiled and patted Tracas' head.
Laernea smiled and blushed as she secretly watched Smoke take care of the young boy.