Zectas Volume V: The Sequestered Seminary of Sawtorn (7 page)

Smoke quickly put down the first two books, and picked up the last two entitled "Menacing MoriHai" and "Malicious MadoHai".
Their acquired windows popped up shortly after.
 

Smoke smiled, pleased at the freshly gained knowledge he learned about the Orks. He appreciated how his high Wisdom stat allowed him to acquire books at tremendous speed. Otherwise, this would have probably taken him hours to learn.
He was then taken aback when Cynar suddenly patted him on his back.
"Done already? Wow! I've never seen anyone read books that fast before," said Cynar. "Not even Ayert."
Then, a notification window popped up.
 

"Um," Smoke mumbled, confused on the increase of Intimacy. "So, when are we doing it?"
"Right now!" said Cynar and ordered Smoke to leave the room.
After they stepped out, Smoke and Cynar passed a corridor filled with dungeons. Smoke spotted Jack stuck in one of them, but this cell was four times larger than the one Geisel was in.
"Jack, you're locked up as well?" asked a surprised Smoke. As Jack was supposedly Cynar's best lure, he thought that the boy had better living conditions.
"Don't worry about it," replied Jack with a forced smile.
"This is Jack and Daniel's room," Cynar said to Smoke. "Well, used to be Daniel's. Apparently, the boy was caught by some Sonstwelters the other day and was killed. He was good too, but nowhere as good as Jack though."
Cynar laughed and winked at the locked up boy, and turned to him. "Don't worry, Jack, I'll find a replacement for Daniel soon."
"Come, Faux, we have to hurry. I think we have less than a day before the UrukHai leave the Pass. You do know how to ride a mount, right?" Cynar asked Smoke.
 

* * * * * * 

It only took them two hours to reach Waylay Pass. Smoke was surprised to be riding on a dirus wolf. He thought that Cynar and his army of OrkElves would be running to get here, but all of them were riding on dirus wolves.
Smoke, Cynar, and three-thousand OrkElves stood on top of a hill overlooking the recuperating UrukHai Orks. The long-spears of the OrkElves made for an artificial forest patch, as they littered the skyline with wood. Whereas, the Orks below were feasting on raw meat, circling around their looted bounty.
'Just how rich is Cynar?' wondered Smoke to himself, amazed at seeing such a large mounted army. He secretly hoped that Sierra and the rest of his guildmates back in Wysteria were doing just that, raising a large mounted army. He especially enjoyed riding bareback on the dirus wolf, as this was his first time doing so.
"Faux, where do you need to be in order to block off Waylay's exit?" Cynar asked Smoke.
"On top of one of those mountains should be fine," he replied, pointing to the specific spot.
"Alright, do you need to take any of my men?" asked Cynar.
Smoke studied the masked Assassin's expression. Looking at Cynar's eyes, he could tell that he was excited to go to battle.
"No, I'm good by myself," answered Smoke.
"Good, we will attack them as soon as you close off their escape," explained Cynar. "But, Faux, you still have to fight. Don't think your job is only to close off the Pass, do you hear me?"
"Yeah, I hear you. Don't worry about it. I'll fight, alright!" meaningfully answered Smoke.
Smoke expertly rode his dirus wolf up the mountain, and reached the peak in less than ten minutes. "Good boy," he said to his mount, stroking its thick fur.
"Stay here," he ordered the dirus wolf, and proceeded to do his job.
'I just have to go after Cynar. I don't think the OrkElves will attack me after I kill him,' thought Smoke to himself. He made a promise with himself not to intentionally harm OrkElves, as a respect to Sharur and Jinggu. He took a deep breath, and focused on the task at hand.
After having trained his Earth Manipulation to Advance Level 9, Smoke began sensing which particular sections to move in order to get the most result. He started removing crucial points of the cliff, creating Waylay Pass.
In only two minutes, Smoke was ready to let out the full power of his Earth Manipulation. Standing directly above the pass, he pointed his hands down and started a landslide.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE
Large boulders rolled down both mountains, as their entire mass slid down. Smoke casually rode on top of the fast moving ground, carefully controlling the earth around him. Dust clouds covered the entire scene, preventing anyone from seeing what he was doing.
When the dust settled, Smoke stepped out of the landslide, prepared to attack the Orks.
However, the UrukHai were already busy. Cynar and his mounted OrkElves charged at the injured Orks with fury.
The OrkElves used their long wooden spears as lances, and struck the Orks from a safe distance. In the first clash alone, more than a hundred Orks were felled.
From his estimate, Smoke counted less than seven-hundred Orks remaining. Their red life bars mostly indicated less than 30% of their maximum potential. The injured Orks were either maimed or bleeding, which made recovering their HP next to impossible.
'Good thing these Orks don't have a Healer,' surmised Smoke.
However, the savage battle waged on. The half dead Orks did not falter. These green humanoid monsters wielded their mauls with massive strength, flailing them like they were made of paper.
OrkElves flew off their mounts, left and right. Most of them left with less than 50% of their life bars, while others, who were unfortunate enough, were instantly killed.
Thinking that this was the perfect moment to strike, Smoke frantically searched for Cynar. He spotted the masked Assassin facing off against the largest Ork he had ever seen. He assumed that he must be the Colonel of this Horde. A dark green Ork, more than three meters tall, brandished a double-headed axe.
The Ork's life bar indicated (843,754/1,200,000 HP), and his name was Wertlosvati. To get an advantageous position, Smoke closed in Cynar and the Ork.
"Finally, I found you," snarled Cynar at the Ork.
"Ash durbatulukir, ash krimpatul," replied Wertlosvati.
"Stop speaking Orkish!" yelled Cynar. "I know you can speak Lacerta."
"How? How you become knowing of this?" asked Wertlosvati.
"I've been hunting you ever since I learned your name," replied Cynar. "I built an army just so that I could kill you."
"This? All this for me?" said Wertlosvati. "Weaklings all you are. Rely on magic, spells, traps, and tricks. But pure force you cannot defeat."
Cynar suddenly threw one of his knives, and it struck the Ork Colonel on his chest.
Yet, Wertlosvati remained unfazed. He casually pulled it out. The knife only inflicted 800 damage points.
"Do you remember Quelle Village?" asked Cynar. "It used to be a part of Vona City, but now it's nothing more than a rubble."
"With many many many places we be attacking, why I bother remembering their useless names?" answered Wertlosvati.
Suddenly, Cynar vanished. The masked Assassin appeared behind the Ork Colonel, and Cynar began stabbing his green skin with two knives.
However, Wertlosvati expertly grabbed hold of Cynar's head and bashed it to the ground. He repeated it, four more times. Cynar's life bar displayed (534,000/650,000 HP).
Wertlosvati screamed at Cynar. "Puny man! Think this is enough to kill me? Think you are strong?"
Cynar's mask was removed, revealing his face. He had brownish-green skin and pointy ears. The masked Assassin, the King of Thieves was actually also an OrkElf.
Wertlosvati was about to smash Cynar's head on a rock, but the Ork was interrupted by Smoke. An earth-pillar struck Wertlosvati from behind and sent him flying over four meters away, while still clutching his massive axe.
Smoke quickly ran to Cynar and helped him up.
"Faux, leave him alone!" yelled Cynar. "He is mine!"
"But, Cynar, it'll be better if we fight him together," said Smoke. His plan was originally to double cross Cynar, but after seeing that he was an OrkElf temporarily changed his mind. Also, listening to the Ork Colonel infuriated Smoke even more.
Cynar vanished and reappeared behind Wertlosvati, blindly striking the Ork with the same attack as before.
Wertlosvati caught Cynar's neck and dangled him in mid-air. "Oh! You are Orkling? Orklings are weaklings, reason why we name you so. But you weakest I have seen."
Smoke let out an earth spike in front of Wertlosvati, but the Ork deflected it with his double-headed axe. He was about to launch another attack, but his Cunning of the Dire Fox sensed several Orks approaching from behind.
He quickly took out his Digger's Wand and dug a trench in front of him, stopping the Orks' charge. He quickly dug another trench where the Orks were standing and trapped them below.
Smoke then quickly turned around and faced Wertlosvati and Cynar, pointing his wand at them. Yet, the Ork was nowhere to be seen.
He only spotted a sprawled, half-dead Cynar on the ground. He ran to him, still pointing his wand at the OrkElf.
"Where is he, Faux?" asked Cynar. "Where did that bastard of a father go?"

Seven in the morning, at the freezing parking lot mall, an encumbered Nash had a hard time breathing. Donny was straddling his back and his arms were squeezing Nash's neck hard. His almost fourteen-year-old brother had insisted on joining on his date with Sherry, and was now playing a prank on him.
"Donny, be careful," Sherry said with concern. "I think Nash is already turning blue."
Nash even tried dissuading Donny by telling him that they were out to get ice cream on a cold morning like this. He thought that such an obvious ploy would turn his brother off, but Donny still persisted. The younger Smoak wrapped his arms around Nash's windpipes, tightening it even more.
Both of them knew that Nash could easily throw his brother off, but they also knew that he wouldn't do that, not with the hard pavement, which could easily harm Donny.
"Nah, he's just trying to get your pity," replied Donny. "When we were younger, he could hold his breath for almost two minutes."
Nash stood still, patting Donny's arms. It was not until he slapped Donny's back, that his younger brother finally got off him.
"Donny, that was a little too much," said Nash, gasping for air. He squatted on the parking lot, and placed his head between his knees.
The younger Smoak knelt down next to Nash. "I told you I liked Sherry, but you still went ahead and made her your girlfriend. But don't worry, that was the last of it. I squeezed out all of my feelings for her into your neck."
Donny patted Nash on the shoulder and laughed innocently.
Sherry hurriedly went over to Nash and checked on him.
"I'll be going ahead," said Donny, and led the way to the ice cream shop. "By the way, Nash, I hope you came prepared, because I plan to binge out today."
Nash shook his head and gave Donny an amused grin.
"It's my fault, you know," he explained to Sherry. "I took the girl he loved away from him."
This time, it was Sherry's turn to slap Nash's shoulder. "Stop it. Don't encourage him. I was just being friendly. I didn't think his crushing on me would turn out like this."
"Nah, he was just like that because you're here," answered Nash. "Anyway, he promised me, that was the last time."
"So, why did Donny decide to get ice cream today?" asked Sherry.
Nash shrugged. "I don't know the whole story, but I think it has something to do with getting a week off the intensive training he has with Master Cacoy."
After they opened the door, the cold breeze entered the shop with them. The ice cream shop was almost empty, except for the servers and a mom with her little girl at one table, near the heaters.
They quickly spotted Donny sitting at the counter. Nash could tell that Donny would keep ordering as soon as he finished with his current sundae.
Seeing as the place was almost like a ghost town, Nash led Sherry towards the nearby table. He quickly pulled up a chair for her, and then sat on the one across her.
Shortly, a plump woman with a cone-shaped hat went over to give them shop's menus. "Hi, my name is Maves, and I'll be serving you this cold morning."
"It certainly is," replied Sherry, her body was slight shaking.
"Do you want me to give you a minute? Or do you already know what you want?" Maves asked the two of them.
"A hot cup of Earl Grey tea for me," said Sherry.
"I'll have the same," added Nash quickly.
"Good choice. On a cold day like this, something hot would be great," replied Maves. She then leaned in closer and whispered to both of them. "I'm not judging, but that kid over by the counter must have a screw loose. He already ordered five sundaes in advance."
The plump server gave them a smile and went to get their orders.
Sherry quickly blasted her questions about Vitzytl Kingdom.
"So, how were the Orks? Were they as scary as the videos?" she asked Nash.
"Way more," answered Nash, shaking his head.
"Those uploaded videos don't do them justice," he added with a shudder. "There's even this Fear status that you get inflicted with, caused by their Horde Intimidation. But you do get a resistance to it, after a couple of encounters with them."
Sherry nodded, her eager, smiling expression made it clear she wanted to see them for herself. "Oh, talking about videos, what do you plan to submit for this month?"
Nash scratched his head. "Don't know. I can't give out that I'm in Sawtorn, so, no clue at all."
"You still have a week, don't worry about it," encouraged Sherry, grabbing hold of his hand.
"But tell me more about the battle of Waylay Pass," asked Sherry. "It sounded very exciting when you called right after, and what was that about Cynar? I would have never seen that coming."
"Exactly! Now, I have to come up with another plan to free his captured children. I mean I don't want to actually kill him."
"But if you're forced to, do you think you'll do it?" asked Sherry.
Nash shrugged.
"I don't know, but I really don't want to. I understand that he's just out to get revenge on the Orks, and my Intimacy with him has also been steadily increasing. Sure, his methods are wrong, and he physically harms the captured aristocrats, but he hasn't killed anyone of them," Nash absent-mindlessly blabbed on about Cynar.
"So, if he does kill one of his captives, you'll kill him?" she asked with uncertainty.
Nash looked away. "Definitely... maybe?"
Feeling uncomfortable with their topic, Nash quickly tried changing the subject.
"But the Orks give out insane amount of experience points. In fact, I gained a level after finishing off the remaining ones. Although, I was already at 78%," said Nash.
"Really? So, what's your level now?" she asked smiling, but the envy in her voice gave out a bit.
"Level 109, but I didn't distribute any of the points," he replied. "I think my Wisdom stat is pretty decent enough as it is, but I don't know if I should increase my Int or my Strength?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get the picture," said Sherry. "But what about your bag of gems? Did you get those back?"
"No," sourly replied Nash. "I've been looking around Cynar's lair, but found nothing that resembles a treasury room."
"But what about Verbrannt and everyone else?" Nash asked Sherry. "How is everyone back home?"
Sherry let out a small laugh. "It's not what I expected it to be. Mamelon is still out, and hasn't been back since she left about two weeks ago. At least, all of her Avendre are intact, though."
Smoke nodded passively. "What about Adder and Ledur? What are the two up to?" he asked with more earnest.
"Adder took his special unit of Condortlians and Centaurs and went on some special hunting expedition," answered Sherry, uncertain. "He didn't tell me where he was planning to go exactly."
"Ledur, on the other hand, has broken his vow of silence for countless times now," chuckled Sherry. "He has taken his nephew, Neffe, under his wing."
"Really? The young Volataur?" asked Nash, surprised.
"But it's Guro's methods that are bothering me, though," suddenly expounded Sherry. "She's been expanding Verbrannt's land at an exponential rate. I fear that we might not have enough manpower to defend all of it soon."
"But she isn't neglecting the training of the Avendre under her, right?" asked a worried Nash.
"They're pretty much on the same level as those under my Druids," replied Sherry. "Oh, and wait till you see them."
Sherry then paused, and stared intently at Nash. "You will come back to Verbrannt after a year right? I mean three months in the real world."
"Hopefully I'll find the Magietrois before then. But, in-case I don't find them, yeah," answered Nash with conviction. "I'll be back in Verbrannt before the war breaks."
An awkward silence passed between the two of them.
"Jinggu still hasn't returned, huh?" suddenly blurted out Nash, despite already knowing the answer.
"Yeah, we tried calling him, but he just keeps ignoring us," somberly replied Sherry.
"The other core members are doing well, though," she quickly added.
Just then, Maves arrived and brought them their hot tea.
"Here you go, dearies," she said smiling.
Donny then pulled up a chair and joined them on their table.
"Oh, you were with them?" asked Maves, her plump cheeks turned a bright red.
"Yeah? Why?" innocently asked Donny.
"Nothing," replied Maves. "Just thought you were alone, is all."
"Nah, I'm with them. Can you just bring the rest of the sundae here?" Donny asked Maves.
"Sure, I'll bring it right away," replied Maves, making sure to avoid eye contact with both Nash and Sherry.
After the plump server left, Donny turned to Nash. "So, I hear a congratulations is in order."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" asked Nash, apprehensive.
"About Tristan of course. His guild just got disbanded," answered Donny. "Well, at least one of my friends' brother said so. He says he's a member of the DracoRicco and it isn't out yet in the forums, but it's suppose to be real."
"Why? What happened?" Sherry asked Donny.
"Don't know, something about the last of their men dying on another suicide quest, or something?" replied Donny, uncertain.
"Huh? Imagine that, the first Sonstwelter to get a city and lose it, and now his entire guild is also gone," said Nash out loud.
"Yeah, imagine that." added a bothered Sherry.
Nash could tell that Sherry was not concern for Tristan at all, but that she worried for her Verbrannt and their own guild.
"Don't worry, we're not the same as them," Nash said to Sherry.
Then, Donny's third sundae was placed in front of him. Maves promptly left as soon as she served the ice cream.
"Wait, does this mean that it's just Nash and what was the other guy's name again... Amahan fighting for domination?" asked Donny eagerly, in between devouring his sundae.
"I wouldn't really consider myself in the running, that's just what the people in the forums decided for themselves," explained Nash.
Suddenly, Sherry's phone alarm went off.
"I've got to go," she said to the two Smoaks.
Nash quickly stood up, and finished his cup of tea in one gulp. "Sherry, I'll take you home. Donny, you're alright to stay here by yourself, right?"
He quickly fished for two hundred dollars in his pocket, and gave it to his younger brother.
"Oh, and give Maves a generous tip," chided Nash. "I think she likes you."
"Quit it! I may like older women, but not that old," snarled Donny.
"Nash, it's okay if you want to stay with Donny," offered Sherry. "I'm fine going home alone."
"But I can't, I also have a lot of things to work on back in Diebe Den," explained Nash.
 

* * * * * * 

The pungent air of Diebe Den was still something Smoke could not get use to. Even here in the special chamber that only Cynar, Ayert, and himself supposedly have entered.
He tried integrating his special gas-mask into his earth-mask, but he could not make it work properly. This made listening to Cynar's winded explanation about Orks very difficult to stand.
Cynar suddenly slapped Smoke's shoulder. "Faux, hey, are you paying attention?"
"Yeah, yeah. Of course, I was," quickly answered Smoke.
"Really? I don't think so," flatly declared Cynar. "Perhaps you want to talk about something else? I have been talking on about Orks for a while now."
Currently, Smoke spent most of his time in Zectas searching for his bag of gems, and for a way to free the children. However, he only had decent progress on the latter.
"Something else, huh?" asked Smoke, focusing on the reason he was in this continent in the first place.
"How about the Magietrois? Do you know anything about them?" he eagerly asked.
"Magietrois? Sure! I mean they're suppose to be the saviors of Sawtorn," began Cynar. "In fact, I heard that if you won the Magi Gagnant Tournament, you'll get a chance to meet them. Or at least know something special about them."
"Really?" asked a piqued Smoke. "You're not pulling my leg, right?"
"Pfft. To be frank, I'm not completely sure," replied Cynar flatly. "But that's what I heard from one of my sources in Vona City."
"Hm," said a grinning Smoke, thinking about how to enter the tournament.
"You look interested," observed Cynar. "Do you want to be in the Gagnant?"
"Yeah, I think I do," honestly replied Smoke.
"Then, what about this. You said you're only here for another day or two, but what if you stayed until we finish off Wertlosvati?" suggested Cynar.
"How does that exactly help me be in the tournament?" asked Smoke with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, there are two ways you can join," began Cynar. "First, take part in a city elimination and be a representative of that city. Or, second, help me kill my father, and I'll give you a blank document, stating that you are a part of the contest. Of course, I'm still waiting for my scouts to find the bastard, so, it might take awhile."
Smoke studied Cynar's expression, he wondered whether there was a catch.
"I suggest you take the second one, since the last city eliminations has already ended," stated Cynar.
"And why do you have this special document?" asked Smoke.
"I've 'procured' it from one of the Wizard's officiating the tournament," Cynar said, while making imaginary quotes in the air with his hands.
"Alright, I'll stay, but I hope you allow me to train my abilities and leave me alone during this time," demanded Smoke with authority. "If you can’t agree to this, then I'm gone. Even without your special documents."
Cynar nodded and offered his hand to Smoke. "I don't have a problem with that."
Smoke shook his hand, and a notification window popped up.