Chapter 255

Council of the Republic

“What is old Gryndor up to now?” one of the beastkin high councilors asked. “What does he stand to gain by putting on a show for us?”

“Are we sure this is a show, what if the boy’s skills are true?” an elven high councilor responded.

“ ’Course it be a show.” the dwarven high councilor said. “Ain’t nobody dum’ enough to show their tricks like tis.”

“I heard whispers that they might have figured out the elves technique for saturating mana into their products.” one of the human councilors offered. “Perhaps they are trying to put so many rumors out there just to mask it.”

“The lad be no immediate threat to us.” the dwarf pushed forward. “With our reliable High Shadow, I say we focus on getting out hands on anything new they have to offer, did you ‘ear about their possible war training method?”

The councilors discussed the sparse spy information for hours before dispersing.

“What do you think, old friend?” the beastkin councilor asked the High Shadow as they were walking away.

“Too many rumors to say for sure” the High Shadow responded. “But I doubt the boy is a toothless pup propped up for show, his power might be exaggerated but not by much.”

“You think old Gryndor is making use of the stalemate you provide to all out war to train his own asset with less secrecy, giving him more opportunities?” The beastkin’s eye widened slightly. “Yes, that would be something old Gryndor would do.”

Diamondbeard Castle

“Me king, there be no need to fear the humans, the Republic will buy us time even if they decide on war.” A member of the council of hammers addressed the dwarf king Dimondbeard. “But think of the opportunity, a new magic similar to our own runic one, we should focus on learning more about it.”

“Forget the magic, everybody and their mother knows that all magic styles compete with one another,” Another member of the council chimed in quickly. “My king, it is their new secret soldier training method that we should focus on. After all, look at what a specimen it produced.”

“One talent is not enough to prove a methodology correct.” King Diamondbeard himself interjected. “The overall method can be put to the side for now, the Republic will buy us times if there is to be war with them, focus on their new industries.”

The Proudrock

“I WANT THE LEAK FOUND!” the lion beastkin roared “I WANT THEM BROUGHT BEFORE ME SO I CAN RIP OUT THEIR ENTRAILS MYSELF”

“There is no leak.” the tiger beastkin said with disdain. “If there was the kingdom of Gryndor wouldn’t be the only ones making preparations for war. Though the so-called ‘golden child’ seems to have an affinity for beastkin, maybe we can plant a deep spy in that house.”

“That would be a waste of spies.” the rat beastkin offered, though he kept his head bowed to the king and duke. “What old Gryndor lacks in personal strength he makes up for in cunning. He’s already been burned by spies and informants, no way he will let them foil his final act as king.”

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“Waiting until he retires will be advantageous.” the tiger nodded.

“If only that useless son of his had remained the crown prince.” the rat lamented.

“Do. Not. Call. That. Bastard. Useless.” the lion beastkin said as he grabbed the rat beastking with one arm, slowly applying pressure to the joint. “He may not have his fathers mind for politics but he is worthy of respect for his power.'' The lion beastking rubbed a long scar that worked its way up from his shoulder to the neck and ended cutting into part of the cheek. “I look forward to getting my vengeance.”

“Focus on learning what you can about this new soldier training they are doing.” the tiger beastkin smiled. “We might have time to implement it ourselves before all of this gets into motion.”

Capital City of Sylvanthal

“As productive as this long piece has been for commerce it is lousy for gathering information.” the elven king lamented.

“Such is the price and benefits of peace my friend.” another elf sat at the table that held the goblets of wine. “ This is the beginning of a long protracted peace.”

“That damn High Shadow.” the king sneered. “There is nothing wrong with peace in and of itself. I just have a disdain for peace ensured by mutual destruction, it allows the unprepared and the weak to rise. You sure you cannot beat the High Shadow.”

“Oh I can beat him alright.” the elf at the table said as he flexed his wiry muscles. “Problem is I can’t stop him from running. I would rather try to catch a space element aspected eel dipped in grease.”

“We need this upcoming tournament.” the king sighed. “Loathe as I am to speak ill of my father, he was a solid figurehead and a pillar of inspiration, but he had no mind for management and ruling.”

“Don’t worry about the tournament, inside the arena Gryndor and the Republic don’t have anyone that can match me” the elf said as he gracefully sipped his wine. “Not to mention that your niece is a force to be reckoned with. Even if the boy is everything old Gryndor is propping him up to be he is way too young to present a threat in the upcoming tournament.”

“There is still too much uncertainty.” the king sighed. “Not to mention the political freedom a king gets in his last few years before he abdicates.”

“You just need to make sure we take the rewards” the elf said as he filled up both goblets to the lip and brought the king one of them. “After all, you can always try and haggle for the winners' shares, not everyone is as devoted to their kingdom's unity as we are.”

The Empire

“Emperor,” one of the advisors enters the throne chamber in a slight rush. “House Goldmancer has offered a trade.”

“Regarding what?” the emperor frowned from his high polished seat.

“They are willing to trade the secrets of beekeeping, Your Majesty.” the advisor said.

“And what do they want in return?” the emperor asked.

“They asked for one tenth of the honey we will harvest in the next decade.” the advisor said.

“That is a good deal your majesty.” the spymaster chimed in from the shadows of the room, startling half the guards who didn’t know he was there. “I have it on good authority that baron Hearthbound obtained a trailblazing beekeeping skill, we might be able to gain one from the more rare ones as well.”

“So be it!” The emperor declared. “Have you learned anything more about their new so-called soldier training method?”

“I’m afraid not yet your majesty.” the spymaster said with dejection.

“How can this be, we have one kingdom we need to spy on and you can’t even do that properly.” the emperor’s patience was at its end with his spymaster after all these surprises that came from their only neighbor.

“The problem isn’t getting information related to the training method, its finding out which information is reliable.” The spymaster fought with every instinct to not spit on the throne room floor in disgust at the tactics their neighbors used.

“They know that if they are to employ the method in high numbers there will be leaks long before their first squads are ready, so instead they shared four or five different so called methods, all of them are equally ridiculous and we have no idea which one is the correct one yet.”

“It’s most likely a combination, each of the fakes holds a bit of the truth that makes it harder to decipher.” the emperor nodded as his anger lessened slightly. “Why are you still here?”

“One tenth of the honey was not their only demand, my lord.” the advisors fought to keep his legs from trembling at attracting the emperor’s ire.

“What else did they want, it's a fair deal?” the emperor sounded outraged at the Goldmancers greed.

“They asked for a writ of safe passage and a delve for each of our capitals dungeons for one team of people under level forty.” the advisor quickly said.

“I’ll allow it so long as they do not break the law.” the emperor said. “I will not have any of the inferior races step foot inside our capitals dungeons. Us humans are above them, there is a reason why the word used to describe them is humanoid.”

“Honestly, I used to respect the conniving Gryndor until he made peace with the inferiors.” the emperor said as the rest of the room nodded.