It was an awesome sight from the warship in the sky to see an army of about two-hundred students walking on the ground.
We had taken a halt of about an hour in Hilton town to make things a little safer for the people. That included extinguishing fire, pushing the parts of buildings fallen on the road, call the police so that they could look into the matter and much more. By that time, the whole world had been informed that the ancient myth, King Jalaar was awakening and so nobody dared to step out of their houses.
We then began the journey, the DELTAs seated in the warship and Master Polwern leading his army to Foster town. With Master Polwern sitting on top of Sounge, they looked like a depressed couple, both dejected that their dearest one, Lily had died. When I narrated the battle during the awakening to Master Polwern, Sounge had also heard it from outside. Since then, he looked pale, clearly unhappy and regretting the fact that he couldn't see Lily one last time.
My next fear: which of the two brothers would now appear. Whichever will, we would have to defend the Headquarters. Also, I was a little lost. What did we have to do until King Jalaar actually awakened? I couldn't find any other way of strengthening our army other than getting the Red One's help. I had gone totally blank and I needed some time to think what was next.
Traveling in the warship made things much easier. We progressed forward pretty quickly. We soon reached the destroyed Mount Drake. The army of Master Polwern went around the mountain while we flew about it. I was grateful to be in the ship. "Blaze, you told that there were three brothers. Cryopter is down. Who else?" Amanda demanded. "Tempest. He is some sort of wind master. And Inferno, he is the guy who rules the fire." I answered. Everybody looked at me when I gave Inferno's explanation. Oliver decided, "That means that he will surely try killing you. Well, who hasn't? But still, he will go for you as your blade, Magnum also has the fiery aura and you know, because of your name and stuff."
"Speaking of blade, we need to get a new weapon for Oliver." Xavier changed the topic so that I wouldn't be unhappy about my next enemy. I was grateful to Xavier about that but the thing about me is that negativity flows through my body more than blood does. Obviously, I went into depression mode, thinking about the various ways Inferno could kill me.
"Yeah. That is necessary. Especially in a time like this when the war is on the brink." Amanda said. Oliver nodded silently. I still knew that he longed for his old sword, Tortunem which he had sacrificed to the dragon, Colloseus to win him on our side. I have to say, that was one brave move. I could have never done that if asked to give away Magnum. I would thrash the guy's face, run away and try storing my weapon in some safe place.
Soon, the sight of Foster town was seen. The time was nine in the morning. Xavier parked the warship somewhere safe, away from the destruction Cryopter had caused to the town. We found nobody around which meant that everyone in the world was following the same rule of not stepping. It was a good thing because there was no assurance that such an attack wouldn't happen again. It would also give us some relief that people weren't dying because of our lack of defense.
In front of us was Foster Plaza. I turned around and found the Variaries clan slowly making their way to us. "So, where is this realm?" Master enquired. "On the eighteenth floor." Mark replied. The students looked a bit confused. "I thought it would be in some small nook of the town or underground in a secret dungeon. Well, I guess eighteenth floor works too. Let's go!" Master Polwern declared. I led the way for the army of two hundred. Of course the elevator couldn't hold such a huge amount of people. It would break and blast onto our faces. Some of us took the lift while the other students had to climb the stairs. They took it as a challenge went on with the task. One good thing about the Variaries clan: You give them a bad news and they'll become happy and charged up with energy.
As for Master Polwern, all he had to do was close his eyes and his legs lifted off of the ground. He flew up to the eighteenth floor with ease. And we had been thinking all this while that he was a clumsy old man. Master Polwern was called and treated as a Master for a reason. He didn't show it too often but he was still as strong as any of us.
Foster Plaza had been destroyed by Raptor when he had freed himself and come to kill Rock Flames. Since then, work of rebuilding the destroyed upper parts had begun. But since the lockdown had been imposed, no workers seemed to come for work. The rebuilding project had come to a halt. When we reached the eighteenth floor, I saw the destroyed roof and the Saphrop glowing brightly right on us as if we were standing in an open field. There Amanda went up to the switches and pressed the bottom left one. For Master Polwern and his students, it wouldn't be a pleasant time but we entered the realm almost immediately. In about five to ten minutes every student along with Master had made it to the DELTA Headquarters. It took some time for them to wake up though.
I still remember the first time I had entered the Headquarters. I dozed off for half a day without knowing. But luckily, they didn't take too much time. Soon, they were back to normal, gazing the new surroundings. "Is this… the Headquarters?" Master Polwern enquired. We nodded and smiled. The Headquarters had been worked upon since Raptor had destroyed half of it. There were thousands of workers who worked in the Headquarters. Together, they were rebuilding it and now it was coming back to normalcy.
Wade was standing right beside me. "Where is our dragon friend?" I asked, referring to Colloseus. Wade explained, "He has gone to his kingdom. He will return shortly. You know, a last visit to your home before a war is always good. The dragon wants to spend some time in his kingdom." I understood. Then Wade's eyes twinkled. "Speaking of home, I think you should visit your house back in Trouflet town, Blaze." He said.
I thought Wade had been joking but there was no humor in his voice. Why did the guy have to remind me of my home? About a month ago when Raptor freed himself, the monster had been generous enough to pay a visit to my house to kill my father, Albert Hunt. That resulted in the burning of my entire house. There was nothing left for me there and Wade wanted me to go there and feel miserable once again. But the twinkle in his eyes told that he hadn't finished yet. "What is the real reason you want me to go there?" I asked.
Wade smiled and muttered, "You are smart. As you may know, we have about two hundred more warriors now on our side. I have decided that even the workers in the Headquarters can help us in the war. That will give us a massive number of people on our side. But it is obvious that we are in a need for weapons which we do not have." I looked at him and urged, "So…" He continued, "So I want you to visit Trouflet town and meet up with the person who created that weapon of yours. Adonis, only he can help us with the best weapons. He will also be of great help in the war."
I liked Wade's idea. Adonis, the man along with whom I created my battle-axe Magnum; he was once a great warrior. But when he turned older, he decided to craft tools for the newer generations. Even Oliver's Tortunem was made by him. In fact, he was also my first coach in battling. If I could convince Adonis to join us it would be of great help.
I nodded and ended the conversation there. I turned towards the crowd who were busy conversing with the DELTAs. "Okay. Show them their rooms." I told Wade but Master Polwern raised his right hand. "No time to waste. Where is the practice zone?" He asked. Oliver guided the whole Variaries clan to our practice area. The students looked fascinated by the machines we had.
Master Polwern looked at me and demanded, "Are you up for one hour of training before lunch?" I nodded and replied, "Anytime! Let's go." And so, about more than two hundred people battled with different machines at once in the practice zone of the Headquarters. The heat in the battlefield was now rising and the intensity was now felt. And no, I did not die in the one-hour session even once.