178 A Steady March (2/2)
”I know my opinion isn't weighed like a fancy scientist's is, but please hear my me out if you wouldn't mind. There are only two gialgathens we all know that can make earthquakes happen on demand. One of them was thrown into silver territory long ago. The other disappeared without a trace.”
He raised a hand, ”I'm not the only person to suggest this, but I believe Emagrotha has tread out of silver territory. Her body must be full of them disgust'in yana, and they have clustered into an abomination. It's out on the loose, and the gialgathens aren't doing a thing about it.”
Thisbey steepled his fingers, ”How many times must we bow and suffer before these monsters until we put a stop to it. To every patriot on Giess, I let you give the answer.”
Kessiah closed the footage, ”See that?”
I dragged my hands down my tinted facemask, ”Yup.”
Kessiah bust out laughing, ”Hah! Your fat ass is making everyone think Emagrotha is coming back. Damn, I knew you were getting up there in weight, but sheesh.”
I rolled my eyes, ”Oh yeah, go ahead and laugh it up.”
Tohtella walked up, her arms crossed, ”What is this about Thisbey?”
Kessiah raised an eyebrow at her, ”What, asking questions to us lowlifes now? Oof, how the mighty have fallen.”
Tohtella frowned, ”Please answer my simple question?”
”Sure thing miss high heels. Thisbey's starting rumors that Emagrotha is coming back. From what I've seen on forum posts and a few social media sites, people believe it.”
Tohtella cupped her chin, ”Really now...I might be able to use him for something useful for once.”
Kessiah leaned forward, ”Oooh, really now? Do tell.”
Tohtella walked back and forth,
”We discovered that Lehesion may be the cause of all the turmoil with the silvers. Informing the public that he caused it would ruin a hero of the espen people, inciting riots and mass hysteria. On the other hand, everyone already villanizes Emagrotha.”
I raised my hands, ”So we pin it on Emagrotha to stop people from blowing up on the gialgathens.”
Tohtella gave a curt nod and one of her amused grins, ”Precisely.”
Kessiah shrugged, ”Better make sure you keep up with the news then.”
Tohtella looked down on Kessiah, ”And why is that?”
Kessiah scoffed, ”Thisbey's going to spin whatever you say to fit his own story. It's going to be a publicity war between you two.”
Tohtella's eyes hardened, ”I will win it, I assure you.”
Kessiah leaned back, crossing her hands behind her head, ”Eh, do what you want. Glad to help out my superior.”
Tohtella stared at her. The Speaker snapped, ”All you did was watch tv. You have no reason to be smug.”
Kessiah smirked, ”Really? When's the last time you watched tv or checked out some social media?”
Tohtella grimaced. Kessiah nodded, ”Yeah, that's what I thought. What about you Daniel?”
I shrugged, ”I don't know. Maybe a decade?”
Kessiah raised her hands up, ”There ya go. If it was so simple, why didn't you do it first?”
Tohtella gripped her petite hands into tiny fists. She stayed silent though.
”Aaaaand that's about what I expected. Next time you want to look down on someone, just look in the mirror.”
I looked between them, relishing in the afterglow of Kessiah's speech. Tohtella sighed, ”I...I misjudged you.”
Kessiah cupped her ear, ”Sorry, I couldn't hear you. What was that again?”
Tohtella announced, ”I misjudged you. I thought you were a useless, lazy cyst on society's underbelly. I was wrong. You're a somewhat useful cyst on society's underbelly. There. Happy now?”
Kessiah grinned, ”You bet.”
Tohtella adjusted her glasses, ”Excellent. Now if you both will excuse me, I have a media campaign to organize.”
Tohtella turned on her heels and stomped out. As she closed the door, I turned to Kessiah, ”Man, you really planned that all out?”
Kessiah smirked, ”Of course.”
Torix walked down the steps, giving Kessiah a slow clap,
”Oh yes, truly an awe-inspiring display of wit.”
Kessiah rolled her eyes, ”Looks like you decided and to come and kill the party.”
Torix shrugged, ”Well as a necromancer, allow me to revive it.”
I winced at the terrible joke. The lich pulled Kessiah's remote away from her hand with telekinesis. He grabbed the device and clicked a button on it. A 2-D map of Giess popped up. He pointed at it,
”Here is where we are.”
He pointed at a portion of the graph on the line between silver and common ground. Torix gestured far north, ”Here is where we are going, the city of Rivaria.” A blip on the map pinged, surrounded by white snow and the silvers. Torix crossed his arms,
”It's frigid there, so some winter wear will be necessary. As we travel, we'll be skirting the line of the silvers territory.”
Torix pointed at me, ”Do you remember how you plotted the point for the first silver base you found?”
I nodded, ”Yup.”
”Then doing so for the other camps should do rather nicely. Once we've plotted the points, I'll organize with Tohtella to orchestrate rescue missions. We'll be more than able to do so between your tournament fights, Daniel.”
I grinned, ”Alright, sounds good. Plenty of fighting.”
Torix glanced at me as if he peered over a set of glasses,
”Speaking of fighting, I took the liberty to memorize your tournament schedule before we landed there. We wouldn't want you missing out on a mythical skill from forgetfulness, now would we?”
I frowned, ”Uh, yeah...probably not.”
Torix gave me a quick nod,
”I imagined that was the case. Regardless, with the quest rewards from the mission, we should be able to strengthen ourselves quite a bit. With Althea's new class and your extended level cap, we have quite the force behind us.”
He closed the hologram, ”We'll find them, and we'll destroy each of the three camps in much the same way.”
Kessiah and I nodded. Althea materialized between us before leaning onto me. She smiled at me, ”Wow, you almost gained more levels than I did.”
I smirked, ”I did kill five out of seven.”
She rolled her eyes, ”Yeah, but I killed the ancient general. That counts for something.”
Torix nodded, ”Both of you exceeded your goals from the start. Now, are we ready to leave?”
I looked around, ”Uh, where's Caprika?”
Torix dragged his bony hands down his face, ”She's in her room, preparing herself.”
I squinted, ”For what?”
Torix sighed, ”One of her relatives is coming to watch the tournament fights. In particular, to watch you and see if you represent Caprika well.”
Caprika's door swung open, and she walked out in flowing robes. The accentuated her figure, and they matched her hair and mask, both red and white. She glanced between us all,
”Well, is everyone already ready to leave? I didn't realize I was holding...Wait...”
She stepped up to us, her high heels clattering on the hardwood,
”You...You're over level 7,000. I can't see your status anymore either. What happened?”
I shrugged, ”Eh, I fought a few people.”
She turned to Althea, ”And you...You're a Breaker now?”
Althea scratched the back of her hair and raised a hand, ”It's not that big a deal...Ok, it kind of is.”
Caprika shook her head, her smooth mane rippling, ”You two were made for each other.”
Torix walked up, ”I'm leaving. You're all welcome to join me.”
I followed behind him, tired of Caprika's perpetual state of amazement,
”We running this time?”
Torix nodded, ”Most definitely. That car was far too slow for my liking.”
Caprika looked down at her fancy dress and stilettos,
”Wait...what?”
Kessiah walked up, patting her on the back, ”Get used to it. We rough it, Harbinger style.”
I rolled my eyes. I walked out of the doorway, all my stuff in my dimensional storage. As I opened the doorway, I received two notifications.
Finished Quest!
Destroying the Fragments of Emagrotha(lvl 10,000+ | Party Size: 10+ | Guild Affiliation: Any) - The reason behind the encroaching infestation of silvers has been determined. Lehesion is leading a group of Skyburners, infecting the land with silvers for an unknown reason. Your intervention has stopped this spread near Yildraza.
While further intervention is necessary to stop this threat, you've made your mark on the cause. Such an initiative is commendable and deserves compensation.
Reward: 1 Blue Dungeon core, positive affiliation with Giess, positive affiliation with Speakers, Speaker class offer.
Bonus: Bonuses are canceled due to party size of 2 or more.
Finished Quest!
An Encroaching Invasion(lvl 8,000+ | Party Size: 10+ | Guild Affiliation: Any) - You discovered the camp spreading silvers near Yildraza. With your combined team, you decimated the cause of the obstruction. Excellent work.
Rewards: 50 red dungeon cores, 1 blue dungeon core, and allows the formation of one guild branch in Yildraza.
Bonus: Bonuses are canceled due to party size of 2 or more.
I raised an eyebrow. As I did, mana coalesced in front of me. Seconds later, a blue, humming sphere of energy radiated out. It was a tiny star floating in front of me. I grasped it, magic swimming up my arm. An icy sensation followed, leaving me numb.
I grinned at its vibrancy, a sense of excitement rushing up my spine,
”A Blue Dungeon core. Woah.”