An hour later, I'd mostly recovered from the fight as I kept moving through the battlefield collecting the loot. I'd originally thought that a 10x10 bag would be more then enough, man I couldn't of been more wrong. By the time I got to the end, I'd stopped picking up weapons unless they were really good quality, figuring it'd just be easier to turn in all the goblin ears.
What surprised me was that the entire group of goblins was fully armed, and there was no way that a convoy carrying this many weapons was heading into the Ironmarsh. So, where did it all come from? My mind was constantly chewing that over, and after getting the massive battleaxe from the Hob I made my way into the village to look for clues. The place was completely deserted, and nothing stood out to me. It just seemed like a makeshift village where a ton of goblins had lived.
Finally, I made my way into the stone structure and looked around it in interest. Seeing some stairs leading to a basement, I made my way down. Finding a teleportation formation with a bunch of bags of holding and a note sitting on top of it as if it'd just been teleported in. Opening it, I read the note.
"Begin phase two of the plan to undermine the implant protocol. Phase one considered successful, only 4 people have broken through so far in special zone Ironmarsh. Goal of phase two - torture and kill as many people as possible, release videos of atrocities to prove the dangers of implants. More reinforcements incoming, expect little to no opposition."
Reading the note, my rage broke free and the air around me billowed as it began to rain and thunder inside the building. I had to take several deep breaths to control myself. All types of power has it's own side effects, and the main side effect of my power is the expression of anger and rage through creating devastating weather. It makes sense in a way, storms can be gentle and polite, or filled with a violent rage that destroys everything in it's path. The further I walk down my path to power, the more I'll need to be able to keep my emotions in check.
I grabbed all the bags while using my implant to take pictures of the room and noting down the location before leaving as quickly as possible. This was obviously a major operation I'd just stumbled across, they weren't likely to ignore their entire force being decimated.
Not long after I left, I saw a drake flying through the air in my direction. As I turned to run into the forest, a figure jumped from it's back while the drake chased me. I made sure to get a picture of his face, before running with all my might while contacting Carlos.
"We may have a major problem." I said, sending him all the information and picture's I'd taken.
"So, they didn't listen to the warning." He said, an edge coming to his voice.
*Ding*
*Carlos ***** would like to know your exact location, do you accept?*
Confused, I said yes. A moment later, Carlos appeared with Claudius in a flash of light. "Keep him safe, I'm going to make sure the formation remains untouched." Claudius said as he disappeared, turning into a purple line as he zipped through the area so quickly that I couldn't believe it.
Carlos looked at the drake as it approached our position and snorted in disdain. Pulling a ruler from his storage ring he waved it like a sword and a flash of light tore through the sky, cutting the Drake in half. Then, he turned to me and said, "You're always getting into trouble, you know."
"Yeah, well it's not like I'm trying too." Carlos and I walked back to the encampment as I told him about my fight. Walking into the stone building, we found the man I saw jump from the drake lying unconscious on the ground. Carlos looked a bit shell shocked, a look of recognition flashing on his face before it fell to an unnatural passivity.
"It's confirmed." Claudius said calmly, "It leads directly to the meeting grounds."
Carlos sighed, a look of sadness on his face. "I'm sorry, this is my fault."
"What's going on?" I asked in confusion.
"Several of the medium level sects and family clans didn't want the implant initiative to go through. They were more worried about their own personal power, and how adding billions of cultivators with training manuals just as good, if not better in some cases, than their family's secret techniques, would affect them than about billions of people on Earth dying yet again." As Claudius spoke, for the first time since I met him his ancient face hardened and he seemed to turn into an ancient storm-god with dark clouds hovering overhead ready to smite his foes.
"Originally, a vote was taken among the major clans on whether or not to kill them all and remove a cancerous element from within us that was too worried about petty political power. Most of these groups had never had the strength to enter the front lines, and didn't realize the true peril we were in." Carlos continued for Claudius as he turned back to the formation. "In the end, I lead a group of people and manged to convince Storm's Refuge to give them a chance. They were warned about the consequences, and it seemed they didn't listen."
"You did what you thought you had to do." Claudius said, "None of us will blame you for trying to protect your family, and yet nothing you do now will change what is to come."
We were suddenly surrounded as 6 people arrived in various states of dress. An oppressive aura fell upon the entire area. I nearly fell to my knees the aura was so strong, but then a dark-gold radiance exploded around me and the affects were lessened enough that I could remain standing. An elegant man wearing a tailored suit cut through the fabric of reality before stepping in the clearing near me. A giant of a man who looked somewhat similar to Gunthur arrived, smashing into the ground from the air with a Hammer at least 6 feet long and 3 feet wide on his back. A seductress with a shadowed face blended out of the shadows. A flash of light, and an old man in a white robe who looked familiar to me appeared. Finally, a fireball exploded over our heads and turned into my Grandfather who looked solemn as he approached the group cautiously.
"What's he doing here?" The giant of a man asked, looking at my Grandfather in anger.
"I invited him." Claudius said, never looking away from the formation.
"I was in closed door meditation and had no knowledge of the previous... incident. Those responsible for that have been terminated." Usually my Grandfather was a boisterous man, but in front of these people he was subdued. He wasn't scared or subservient, but he was apologetic. Especially towards the giant man.
The man snorted in disbelief, but Claudius spoke, "What he says is true, and anyway he is under the protection of the Storm now."
That got the attention of everyone, but Claudius went on. "We've all gained geniuses due to the implants. Shade's idea has given us a fighting chance in the millennia to come, and should've given the general population something to rely on. Instead, a certain faction has decided to sabotage our efforts to safeguard Earth. Our newest member brought up the problem to us after less then a day in Ironmarsh." He turned to me and said, "This is Sam Hughes, my youngest brother. Would you please tell them everything that's happened in the last day."
I nodded, and told the entire story from beginning to end. To my surprise, no one interrupted me and they seemed respectful of me for some reason. Then, I realized that even Carlos had had to back away from them when their aura's appeared. Apparently, there were some things about having a Royal Storm Spirit as a partner that I wasn't aware of yet.
When I got to the part about the Outer-Disciple of the Pure-Sword Sect throwing their name around and causing trouble for people at the Adventurer's Guild, the man with the longsword's aura changed, as if he had turned into the sharpest sword in the world and was about to cut me in half. I had to fight off images of decapitation as I continued through the fight with the goblins. I took out all the weapons I'd acquired from them and pointed out that there was no way a hoard of goblins should've been able to get them. Finally, I handed the bags of holding that I'd picked up over to Claudius.
In the end, the woman spoke with an ethereal, yet attractive voice that seemed to suck me in. "How is it that none of our members or sources reported such incidents to us before now?" Before I could make a fool out of myself, Patrice gave me a mental slap and the dark-gold aura around me increased in strength.
Claudius spoke, "After Sam brought up his concerns a few hours ago Ariel did some digging and found that everyone attributed it to lazy people. After looking a little, she found that someone was financing a massive party throughout all of the special zones while many of the training halls had started turning people away for no good reason."
"They are ALL like this?" The Aura from the Giant exploded outwards, nearly knocking me off my feet as he turned to glare at the still unconscious man. "No one got any news?"
"Yes, however I would point out that Sam has been told the entire truth about them, and so is more able to recognize the problems associated with these incidents than the vast majority of our sources." Claudius said, without any infliction to his tone.
"Very well," the man in the business suit had gotten a hold of his anger, although his eyes flashed with a deadly light "we have allowed them to remain for far too long. I think it's time that they are dealt with. Does anyone disagree?"
None of the others spoke, leaving my Grandfather to speak up. "Some of them have served at the front like I have, many of them handed over control long ago and may not know what is happening. I find it hard to believe that if they had they would've dared to disobey a direct mandate of the great powers. If you can prove it, I would implore you to allow those who have served to deal with it, and if you aren't happy with how they deal with it kill them all."
"And how would you ask for them to prove their innocence in such a matter?" The man in the white-robe spoke for the first time.
"Your Holiness, I believe that you possess the means to know if someone is telling the truth. Let them come before you and beg for their lives if they wish to live, I would do the same if you wish it of me." This time, my Grandfather spoke with an enormous dignity and honor as he offered himself up to them.
The holy man turned to me and asked, "And what do you say to your Grandfather offering himself upon God's Justice."
I took a deep breath, as everyone else in the room realized why my Grandfather was protected by Storm's Refuge. "I am his blood, but first I am of Earth. Anyone who would do such great harm as to cause the potential deaths of billions of people is no family of mine. However, if he had nothing to do with it, then I will do everything in my power to protect my family." My words echoed in the small room, and to my surprise everyone nodded.
"Agreed."