An old man was circulating mana on top of a huge silk pillow. Numerous cultivation pills were strewn around him, and they were quickly losing their color. When they turned ash gray and fell apart, several servants were there to clean the mess.
After a while, more servants entered the room in a hurry. They carried boxes filled with pills up the stairs that lead to the old man and carefully placed them at his feet. Along with them, another person had entered, though his purpose was slightly different.
"My King, should I return another time?" he asked.
The old man slowly opened his eyes. Seeing his adviser bow below the stairs, he gestured for him to rise.
"Then, why did you come in the first place, Lukas?"
"My sincere apologies, your Majesty."
The King and his servant exchanged these words almost every time they met. The old ruler spent most of his days cultivating in the throne room. He even got rid of the throne to make himself more comfortable.
However, it was not some breakthrough he was seeking. His progress had stagnated long ago, and no amount of pills or potions could resolve that.
Instead, the old man was clinging on to hope. His body was decrepit and rapidly losing energy. Only by furiously operating his circuit could he force himself to keep going. Without the regular influx of mana, his reign might have ended several years ago.
"Our spies have reported again, your Majesty. One of them has infiltrated the enemy's elite troops and will soon provide a report. They've also succeeded in collapsing the northern mine resulting in significant casualties."
"Excellent. They should focus mostly on sabotage from now on. It's time for our preparations to enter their final phase."
"But, your Majesty, we still don't have enough artifacts for an army and even the alchemists have fallen behind schedule."
As always, some people refused to get in line. The old man's smile quickly turned into an ugly scowl.
"Enough with the excuses! I can wait for another 6 months, no longer. Tell those artificers and alchemists to increase production or I'll go punish them myself!"
Meanwhile…
While the King's blood pressure was rising above recommended levels, 4 of his young citizens were plundering the enemy's gold. The Lady printed on the gold coins had a stern look and a fancy crown, but also prominent cat ears sticking out of her hair.
Ethan and Ana had no idea what the other races looked like, so they thought it was some sort of an ornament. On the other hand, the brothers were quickly losing their cool.
"God damn it!" cursed Oliver. "This isn't a dungeon. It's probably some hidden storage of the beast people."
The boy was expecting mountains of treasure and found one chest and tons of grains. Not even the wine could console him since he preferred tea.
"The beast people?" asked Ethan.
"They're one of the races who kicked our asses 1000 years ago. Well, technically it was the elves and the demons, but these bastards helped from behind. After the war ended, they bought large chunks of land from the elves and are now acting as our guard dogs."
"How do you know so much?" asked Ana. She had never heard of this while growing up. As far as she knew, the mean demons once defeated humanity, and the outside world was now a mystery.
"We've been sending scouts out there for the past 200 years. It's just not something shared with everyone."
'Interesting…' thought Ethan. 'Elves, demons, and beast people… There were no such races 4 thousand years ago.' Ethan had visited several worlds, but every time, he found only humans.
'It seems like the Gods have been busy.'
While various theories ran through his head, the rest of the group decided the speed up their search. They tore down the room throwing useless chests and barrels to the side. However, even after going through several piles, Ana couldn't find anything that matched her size.
'Such a pity… These garments are so beautiful.'
"Relax. With your share of the gold, you can dress like a queen." Ethan winked at the frustrated Ana, and in return, she gave him a hug. Then, she left the startled teen behind and opened another chest.
"I found something!" she happily declared. The chest was packed full with jewelry. Their total value may have been higher than the gold.
"Nice, I guess it takes a woman to find earrings and pearls." Oliver patted Ana on the back.
"These 2 chests seem to be the only ones of value." concluded Arthur while bringing over the gold coins. "Let's check the other rooms and then get out of here."
He seemed in an awful hurry. Of course, stealing from enemies that once brought humanity to the brink of extinction wasn't exactly a relaxing venture.
By now, they had a pretty good idea of the cave's layout. The 4 tunnels on one side likely led to storage rooms, while the 5th was probably the entrance. It must have led to somewhere within the Beast Kingdom.
"Shouldn���t we split the spoils first?" asked Ethan.
"We can do that when we're back. Right now, we need to hurry." said Arthur. '…before we end up accelerating the King's plans.'