Zectas Volume V: The Sequestered Seminary of Sawtorn (29 page)

"I think you better get this one yourself," said Smoke.
Ouragan chuckled. "Behind this door lies the answer you've been waiting for," he said and turned the knob.
When Ouragan opened the door, they saw the back of a slender woman emanating ruby flames in the shape of a massive phoenix.
'Forget about looking like a noble, she looks like a phoenix goddess,' thought Smoke, as he stared at the back of the 16th Magietrois Florissant. 'That must be the full effect of Xantico's Inheritance. I wonder if I'll ever reach that level?'
He snapped out of his musings when he heard Magietrois Florissant speak. "You have done well to win the championship again," she said with a fiery authority.
Smoke could not place it, but he felt that Magietrois Florissant seemed familiar. Yet, he quickly dismissed it, as she was about to face them.
"How many times has it been since you've won your first time, Ouragan?" asked Eleve, dressed as Magietrois Florissant, shrouded by the phoenix goddess flames.
"I just got lucky, Magietrois Florissant," replied Ouragan. "By the way this is, Faux. He begged me, so he could come and see you."
Smoke stepped closer towards the Magietrois Florissant in phoenix fire.
"Eleve! You were Magietrois Florissant all along?" asked Smoke. He felt betrayed, but somewhat relieved. Now, he could ask her his questions.
"Why do you know her real name?" Ouragan asked Smoke in surprise.
"She is my Flame Master," replied Smoke. "But I never expected her to be Magietrois Florissant."
"Faux, now is not the time and place for that," said Eleve in full apathy.
She then turned to Ouragan. "I'll be moving you to the Vitzytl Kingdom Royal Treasury. So, you could bring back one of the King's relics."
"You ready?" Eleve asked Ouragan.
To which the Prime Wizard nodded with all earnest.
"Remember, you will be automatically teleported back after ten minutes," added Eleve. "So, be sure to hold onto your item by then."
PLOP
Ouragan disappeared, only the fiery afterimage of an old HighElf remained in his place.
"Congratulations on making it this far, Faux," said Eleve. "I really thought you might beat him—"
Yet, she was rudely cut off. As soon as the Magi Gagnant Champion vanished, Smoke berated his target.
"Eleve! Why didn't you tell me that you were Magietrois Florissant!" yelled Smoke.
"Well, because you came to me asking to be trained. No one has been to the Florissant Seminary in a while," she said in her most lonesome voice.
"There, I am not Magietrois Florissant, but Eleve Dawkins," she replied with sincerity. "Quite frankly, I don't like to be the Magietrois Florissant, anymore," she added.
Smoke did not respond, but only looked at her with betrayed eyes.
"So, I welcomed you as a fellow Florissant Apprentice," explained Eleve. "I also cherished the fact that you know me as me, and not as some legendary figure."
"I guess that sort of makes sense," said Smoke. "But you should have told me that you were the current Florissant."
"Maybe you're right," said Eleve. "But what's done is done."
"Anyway, you can ask me any questions now," she told Smoke. "I promise to answer it to the best of my ability as the 16th Magietrois Florissant."
Dozens of questions entered Smoke's mind all at once. What happened to the previous Florissants? How long has she been the 16th Florissant? How does she choose her successor? Does she get paid being Florissant?
Yet, out of all these questions, one stuck out above the rest.
"Do you know any living Thaumaturges?" Smoke asked Eleve.
"Aren't Thaumaturges supposed to be legends of the past?" responded Eleve.
Dismay instantly over came over Smoke's face.
"But let me take a look in the restricted sections of the Kingdom's libraries. They have a lot of rare books," said Eleve. "Maybe I'll find something there."
Despite hearing her optimism, Smoke crossed his arms and let out a deep sigh.
'What a bust,' he thought, discouraged.
PLOP
As the Prime Wizard's time had run out, Ouragan suddenly reappeared in front of Smoke and Eleve. He was carrying a plain clay-jar.
"Out of all the things in this country's treasury, You picked that?" Eleve asked Ouragan.
"Uh-huh," replied Ouragan with a smile. "I think it will look great next to my set of clay-plates."
"Smo— Faux, are you done asking Magietrois Florissant?" asked Ouragan.
"I am," somberly replied Smoke.
"Then, I guess we better be going," said Ouragan. "Meeting Magietrois Florissant only involves acquiring the King's treasure."
"I'd like to stay here and talk with Magietrois Florissant some more," said Smoke. "Maybe she could take me with her, when she goes to the Kingdom's libraries."
"I could do that," replied Eleve. "But not right now."
She then created a teleportation circle made of flames.
"You see, there is someone else who would like to meet you both," she explained. "He was only expecting to see Ouragan right now, but he did tell me to summon Faux as well."
Eleve then pointed for both Smoke and Ouragan to enter the teleportation circle.
"Who are we meeting?" asked Smoke.
"Where are you taking us?" asked Ouragan.
"The two of you are heading to King Kajou's secret chamber," explained Eleve. "I heard that he has a special request for you both."
After hearing this, Ouragan immediately stepped inside the casting circle. Smoke followed suit with a heavy heart. He would have rather scoured through the Kingdom's libraries than meet its King.
"Don't worry, Faux, we'll talk again soon," said Eleve.
PLOP PLOP
With that, both Smoke and Ouragan vanished in front of Eleve. They left nothing but a faint fiery afterimage of themselves.
As Smoke's and Ouragan's afterimages vanished, a small figure stepped out from the shadows.
"You're acting has greatly improved," said a girl's voice. "I truly believed that you were sick of being the 16th Magietrois Florissant."
"Thank you, Mistress, but that was just acting," replied Eleve and bowed down to the hidden figure.
"Of course, it was," replied Eleve's Mistress.
"Forgive my rudeness, Mistress, but why didn't you tell him who you really are?" Eleve asked the girl.
"Why should I? He hasn't even told us his real name," replied the girl with a smirk. "Besides, the time isn't right," she added.
"I guess he'll be in the dark for a little while longer," said Eleve.
"But strangely enough, I do understand him," added the girl. "Sometimes people have to lie in order to do the right thing."
The elderly Eleve did not respond and only bowed down before her young Mistress.
"I’ve kept hidden from the Brotherhood of Beggars all these years," she said. "But, maybe, I'll show him my true self," mused the young girl. "If he clears the King's Quest?"

While being teleported, goose bumps went up and down Smoke's spine. His entire body tingled with energy, which left a lingering feeling. He had teleported numerous times, but he knew that he would never get used to this.
As usual, it took a few seconds for his eyesight to adjust after materializing into the physical realm.
Before he could get a good footing of the surrounding, Smoke heard a scratchy high-pitched voice.
"Prime Wizard Ouragan, once again you are the champion of the Tournament!" 
Squinting his eyes, Smoke finally saw who was talking. It was King Kajou himself, ruler of Vitzytl Kingdom. He sat on a chair made of pure amethyst, which glowed a low purple light.
At once, Ouragan went down on his knees before the King. "It is my pleasure and honor to be summoned by, your Highness."
Smoke quickly followed the old HIghElf’s example and knelt down next to him.
"Elementalist Faux? Is that you?" asked the King. "I didn't know you were going to be here. I almost didn't recognize you without your ruby mask."
Just then, Smoke realized that he forgot to put the Paradox Mask back on.
"I Didn't expect that you would be a DarkElf," added the King. "Almost all the Mages I know are HighElves." 
"But I guess this saves me the time of explaining it to you as well," went on King Kajou.
Slightly moving his head upward, Smoke replied. "I am but your humble servant, King Kajou. Would you prefer it, if I put on the mask? Just say the word and I shall do it." He reached for his mask and presented it to the King.
Yet, Smoke involuntarily gulped down after greeting the ruler of Vitzytl. He tried his best to conceal the surprise from seeing the King up close. The beard of the small hairy Monarch was not just that, rather it was also partially made up of his long nose hair.
King Kajou combed his beard with his right hand and stroked its full length close to his chest. "Is something the matter, Faux?" he asked.
"Nothing, your Highness. I am simply in awe, of being in the presence of your greatness," replied Smoke.
"Hahaha," chuckled King Kajou. "Yes, I do tend to have that effect on people. Oh, and I don't mind that you show your face. You're not as dashing as me, anyway."
"But let me get right to it," began the King. "As you know, my Queen Ella is beyond compare, but what you might not know is that she is originally from Thanotl Kingdom."
King Kajou paused and went back to stroking his beard.
"Thanotl Kingdom? Is that the one in the east? The only other Kingdom in the Sawtorn Continent?" asked Smoke out loud.
Suddenly, the King stood up on his feet, revealing that he was only slightly taller than the kneeling Smoke and Ouragan. "How dare you interrupt me while I was still stroking my imperial beard!" he yelled with authority.
The old HighElf hurriedly lowered his head to the floor. "Please forgive Faux's rudeness, your Highness," quickly interjected Ouragan. "He is originally from Chayotl Kingdom, and does not know of our customs."
Posthaste, Smoke did the same and pressed his head on the floor. "Apologies, your Highness. Please feel free to punish me if I have wronged you."
"Hmmp. People from Wysteria are really impolite," said King Kajou. "You have your King to blame for that, I guess. It's fine, Faux. Get up. You too, Ouragan."
Both Smoke and Ouragan stood on their feet, and towered over King Kajou.
"On second thought, I prefer that you kneel down again," quickly added the King.
Without uttering a word, Smoke and Ouragan knelt back down.
"Anyway, my wife... is actually the younger sister of Guwapo," said the King. He then paused and went back stroking his beard.
It took a while before the Monarch finished. When he did, Ouragan quickly spoke up. "By Guwapo, do you mean King Guwapo of Thanotl Kingdom?"
"Yes, that's the guy," said the Ruler with clear sarcastic enthusiasm. "Protector of Thanotl, Upholder of Justice, self-proclaimed most handsome King."
"I didn't know that," said Ouragan.
"Oh, yes. Guwapo has the galls to claim that title," angrily replied King Kajou. "Even though there are other Kings who could easily qualify for it."
The news of Queen Ella being the princess of Thanotl was new to Smoke, but he doubted that the old HighElf was in the same boat as him. After all, he was a Beggar Evocati.
"Anyway, Ella was betrothed to me even before she was born," said King Kajou. "When my Grandfather Gagnant XIII defeated most of the Orks of Sawtorn, the only other kingdom left was Thanotl."
"If my grandfather didn't wipe out almost all of the Orks, I bet that kingdom would have disappeared as well," added the Vitzytl King. "Anyway, as a show of gratitude, King Matalas promised him that our bloodlines will be mixed. The younger Thanotl King offered him the first princess of their Kingdom."
Amidst his explanation, King Kajou suddenly laughed. "King Matalas was a very sneaky man. You see, during his time, their direct descendants were all male."
"Now, I don't know what my grandfather was thinking, but the old man accepted Matalas' offer," explained the Monarch. "Since he was already married to my grandmother, and it is against Tlaltezin's will to have more than one wife, he agreed that the first princess of Thanotl will be married to his son Linus, my late father."
King Kajou, amused at his own story, sat back down in his amethyst throne. "Grandfather Gagnant XIII lived until he was ninety-seven, but even then Thanotl still did not have a princess."
"So, on his deathbed, my Grandfather told King Matalas that their first princess will marry whoever is next in line to the throne of Vitzytl," said King Kajou. "Then, my father, who was now sixty at that time, was made to marry the richest Merchant of Sawtorn, my beautiful Mother Gnomemonia."
Smoke then turned to the side of the wall where the King was pointing to. There, hanged a lifesize portrait of a stout female Gnome with saggy wrinkly skin and frizzled brown hair.
'I see,' discerned Smoke, as he realized where the King got his looks.
"My Father, being the obedient son that he was, married my Mother without question. If only my Father was half the man my Grandfather was," said the stout King with disgust. "Of course, this marriage meant that all of my Mother's riches went to the further development of Vitzytl Kingdom."
King Kajou then stared with adoring eyes at his mother. "Unfortunately, my father and mother died on a sailing trip. They were heading for Vizzu Kingdom to attend a wedding. Apparently, my Aunt was to be married off to the King there."
The Ruler of Vitzytl then let out a deep sigh. "I became a King at the young age of twenty-five. I practically didn't know anything then. You see, I was still living with my Mother, who took care of everything for me."
King Kajou then ran his fingers through his brown fizzled hair, as he attempted to brush them into place. "Mother said that I needed to stay with her inside the castle, as my handsomeness is too far ahead of its time, and would most likely overwhelm the common masses."
Smoke slightly lowered his head and avoided eye contact with the King. He bit his lower lip hard, as he tried to suppress himself from laughing.
"Some of the counselors under my Father's rule were kind enough to take care of me, and guided me on how to run a kingdom," continued King Kajou, giving no attention to Smoke and Ouragan.
"Of course there were some, who I did not like the way I ran things," said King Kajou. "But it was good that they immediately decided to leave their posts, and were assigned to a better place."
"I digress. I've been blabbing long enough," said the King. "Anyway, two years after I became the King, Thanotl Kingdom gave birth to its first princess," he then pointed to another lifesize portrait on the opposite wall of his Mother. "She's so unique, isnt she? Unlike my Mother, she has a different kind of beauty. Some would call it inner beauty, I guess?"
"We got married when she turned sixteen," said King Kajou. "And on that day, the Kingdom of Vitzytl and Thanotl officially became allies."
"After we were married, a Scribe from my Kingdom and one from Thanotl walked up to us. They carried two halves of the same scroll," said the Monarch. "On it was the location of a secret temple that my Grandfather Gagnant XIII had built just for this day."
The King then pointed to the map of the Sawtorn Continent. On it was a long demarcation line in between the kingdoms of Vitzytl and Thanotl. He then pointed to a small dot at the center of the line.
"That's where this secret temple is," said King Kajou.
He then turned to Smoke and Ouragan. "So? What do you two think? Can you two do it?"
'Do what?' thought Smoke. 'All you've blabbed about is why you have a beautiful wife.'
Smoke did not dare speak out, worried that he might anger the King again.
"I'm sorry, your Highness, but I don't follow," said Ouragan. "What would you like us to do, again?"
"After everything I said, you still didn't understand me?" asked the King incredulously, and let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine! I'll shorten it up for you. I want you two to secure the secret temple, I fear that robbers might be near its vicinity."
'What? You never mentioned any of that before,' thought Smoke.
Suddenly, a notification window popped up.
 

'Is this really it? It's even ranked as Level C!' angrily thought Smoke. He had envisioned several challenging Quests from the King, but being hired as a security guard was not one of them.
"Of course," replied Ouragan and bowed down before the King. "Also,  please accept my apology for not understanding you earlier."
The old HighElf lowered his head once more. "I will gladly accept this honor," added Ouragan, and then lightly punched Smoke on the shoulders.
"Same here, It is my pleasure to serve you, King Kajou," said Smoke and bowed down before the King.
"Good, good, I knew you two would not disappoint me," said the Monarch.
Then, another window popped up.

"I shall have a hundred Warrior Guards accompany you on this vital mission," said the Ruler of Vitzytl. "They'll be stationed in front of the eastern gates of the city, waiting for your arrival."
Smoke and Ouragan bowed to the King once more.
With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the two of them towards the flaming teleportation circle on the ground.
"Now, return to where ever it is you came from," ordered the King. He then stared at the portrait of his Gnome Mother and said. "Mother, why didn't I marry someone who was beautiful on the outside?"
 

* * * * * * 

Both Smoke and Ouragan were teleported back into the chamber where Eleve was, but the 16th Magietrois Florissant was nowhere in sight.
Then, a small flickering light caught Smoke's eye. He went close and found a letter pinned on the wall.

Without hesitation, Smoke read its contents as the progress bar completed instantaneously.

'Great! Now, I really have to go on this side quest,' Smoke groaned from within. Normally, he would have welcomed sidequests, but his priority was to resurrect Sharur and Laernea.
While he was reading Eleve's letter for the second time, he suddenly got startled by Ouragan.
"Waaah!" shouted the old HighElf and let out a strong gust of wind in the chamber. Smoke thought that Ouragan had gone ballistic.
"That useless bastard is going to be the downfall of this kingdom!" screamed the Prime Wizard of Vona City.
"He keeps hanging on to the vicious victories of his Grandfather, and the depleted wealth of his Mother. He completely ignores the pleas of his people," ranted Ouragan. "The Ork Hordes have greatly increased in number, and now he sends a hundred of our strongest melee fighters out to guard some forgotten temple!"
Before Smoke could react, Ouragan turned to him. "Smoke, can I leave this harebrained quest to you? I have more important things to do than guard some dusted building."
"Funny, I was going to say the same," chided Smoke.
"I'm not in the mood for jokes," said Ouragan with a straight face. "I was hoping that the King would put us on a mission to wipe out the growing Ork Horde."
"Tsk!" sounded the old HighElf shook his head and clicked his tongue. "I sure hope Cynar's Ork Hunting efforts have been fruitful."
"Alright, I'll lead the Warrior Guards, but can I find Eleve first?" asked Smoke. "And maybe visit a library or two?"
"No!" screamed Ouragan. "King Kajou is an impatient prick, and if he ordered us to do this, then those Warrior Guards should have already been waiting since an hour ago."
"Is King Kajou really that bad?" asked Smoke.
Ouragan grunted loudly. "You don't even know the half of it."
"The truth is, there used to be seven kingdoms in the Sawtorn Continent," began Ouragan. "And there are only two main reasons why there's just two kingdoms left now."
"The first one was because of the ruthless Ork Hordes," explained the old HighElf. "They killed citizens and pillaged cities like there was no tomorrow. Those Orks moved from Kingdom to Kingdom after they've fully consumed everything it had to offer."
The Prime Wizard paused and strongly shook his head in disapproval. "And the second reason was because of King Gagnant XIII and King Matalas."
"King Gagnant XIII took advantage of the suffering kingdoms that were recently attacked by the Orks," added Ouragan. "With barely enough defenses left, he rode into the dying kingdoms and conquered them."
Ouragan temporarily stopped talking and led Smoke outside the underground chamber.
"You better head for those Warrior Guards," said the old HighElf. "I'll tell you more about Sawtorn's history along the way."
Smoke looked at him confused, but followed the Beggar Evocati's lead anyway.
"After subjugating the fallen kingdoms into Vitzytl, Gagnant XIII used Gnomemonia's wealth to rebuild their defenses and conscript the worn out residents into his own soldiers," explained the Prime Wizard. "The conquered citizens were brainwashed into thinking that the Orks were the real enemy and signed up with revenge on their mind."
"How rich was this Gnomemonia?" asked Smoke. "How was she able to do all that? Especially if they did this for each of the conquered kingdoms?"
"Ha!" snorted Ouragan. "She could afford all of it, because the conquered lands were all turned over to her. She then sold them off to the other rich nobles for a higher profit."
"The conscripted soldiers didn't even know that their homes were already taken away from them," said the Prime Wizard. "How would they? When they were assigned to the frontlines of the battlefield."
"And what about the Thanotl King? Matalas was it?" asked Smoke. "What did he do?"
"King Matalas knew of the Ork Hordes rising power. So, he convinced King Tanga of the neighboring kingdom to serve under him, and become an Arch-Duke of Thanotl instead,"  expounded the Beggar Evocati. "After King Tanga agreed, King Matalas invested wealth of the two kingdoms into strengthening their defenses. In the end, not one of their cities were destroyed by the Ork Hordes. In fact, the Orks suffered almost half their numbers when they fought against Thanotl Kingdom."
Ouragan then paused and looked at Smoke strangely. "Now, that you mention it, it appears like it was the perfect trap for the Orks."
"What do you mean?" asked Smoke.
"Well, King Gagnant XIII was steadily chasing after the worn out Ork Hordes," said Ouragan, forming a fist with his right hand. "And King Matalas was waiting for them with his impenetrable defensive army," he added, fully opening his left palm.
Ouragan then smashed both his hands together and created a loud impact.
PITI
"The injured Orks had nowhere else to run," said Ouragan. "And in comes, King Gagnant XIII riding on his high horse annihilating almost all of them."
"The story always made it seem like King Gagnant XIII was the real hero, but I'm sure he couldn't have done it without King Matalas' own actions," concluded Ouragan.
"Wait, if King Gagnant XIII was such a bad guy? Why did you and the Beggar Brotherhood leave him alone?" asked Smoke. "Why did you allow him to continue his rule?"
"I never said he was a bad guy," reasoned out the old HighElf. "I just said he was a ruthless manipulative bastard."
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Smoke.
"For King Gagnant XIII, it didn't matter to him how he did it," explained Ouragan. "As long as he was able to protect his kingdom."
After the brief history lesson on how the Sawtorn Continent came to be, Ouragan and Smoke reached the end of the tunnel. The old HighElf then pointed him to the direction of the eastern gate. "Those Warrior Guards should be waiting for you there."
"Alright, I'm going, but I need more information about all of this," said Smoke. "Do you have any books I could read?"
"I'll have someone send over a couple," replied the old HighElf. "'But, it may take a while. So, don't count on it anytime soon."
"Thanks! I'd really appreciate it, if it arrives sooner," said Smoke.
"But, let me just tell you this," said Ouragan. "Since I'm only a Beggar Evocati, I can only speculate."
Ouragan paused. "The reason the Brotherhood allowed King Gagnant XIII to rule was because he ruled all of his people fairly, including those he conquered. None of them were attacked by Orks ever again. Well, until he died that is."