"I've never seen the entirety of the staff gathered in one place before."
"Shh!"
Hiding my sneer, I turned away from Zeff to study the slew of faces I hadn't seen in a range of weeks to years. Most of them were the Class Instructors for the 2nd and 3rd-year students. Zook, who ran the Artificer course. Coleman Carr, the lone teacher of the Wizard Course. Eiriol, the Abbot of the Bodhi Tree Monastery. And of course, Titus.
All here for one reason. To discuss the matchups for the mid-year event.
Or so they assumed.
Only the three of us, Olga, Zeff, and I knew the real purpose of this meeting. Besides, of course, the Headmaster.
He was a man- if he could even be called that, of unknown origin and age with a bottomless reserve of knowledge and wisdom. The orc and fiend in him gave him thick, almost leathery skin that had grown into a sort of bark over time due in no small part to his Class. With his stature and potent mix of racial abilities, many of us considered him the personification of the Bodhi Tree he administered. Unwavering even in the worst of conditions.
Unlike now.
He was flustered and worried and everyone knew it. But below that unease was a shining hope that showed how righteously scheming Headmaster Zorrenor Knagh was to those of us who knew his ploy.
"To make matters short, we are on the precipice of an emergency," he said. And waisted no time for the ensuing sidebar conversations to arise. "Because of that, the opponent listings and the topic of this meeting have already been sent through to the Polaris Guilds. That topic is the Scourge."
"What about her?" Titus' massive form leaned across his table.
"The old rumors were true," the Headmaster calmly said. "The Scourge of the mountain had a clutch. One of them has been spotted lingering around the base of the mountain. Its evident reluctance to return to the summit has led me to believe the mother's paternal instincts are being overruled by her territorial nature.
"The others have fleed. To where I know not. But this one has stayed." Headmaster Knagh almost growled. "It's only a matter of time before it encroaches the Grove's safeguards."
"And then it will have no place to go. Except over the mountain." Titus finished with a weary sigh. A hilarious sigh by my measure and mine alone.
"As we're all aware, the foot of Polaris' expanse is not outside of our jurisdiction." Headmaster Knagh continued. "The Bairn is just on the precipice of being young, so the time to act is now. With every year it will grow stronger until the Scourge decides to take action and rid it from its territory for good. However, this event and a certain student of ours provides us with an opportunity.
"Here is my proposal."
***
"This is unbelievable." Olga cackled weakly.
"Yeah." I did the same.
"I mean… it could work?" Olga shrugged, though her words sounded more like a statement than a question. "I can't see Polaris agreeing though. I mean, did you see Titus' face?" She chuckled drearily, removing the excitement in her eyes in mere moments. "Imagine how the Genny's will react!"
"Not as if they have any reason to." I scoffed into my mug. "They're so far away, their cities won't hear of it for weeks."
"The Bairn can only come so close to the Bodhi Tree." Zeff proudly shrugged, as if he knew everyone would agree from the beginning. Maybe because he really did. "It's only a matter of time before it turns tail to Polaris. And we know how much they don't want to deal with that."
"Still." She shrugged. "I can't help but feel that we're doing him a favor. I mean, he asked me about them, you know? And… his grandfather? You think he knows?"
"Yeah." I snorted. "He knows. And it is a favor. He told me face-to-face that he has yet to be challenged here. A minotaur and a troll won't do that. But the Scourge's Bairn will."
"And Polaris will see him as a monster if it doesn't."
"M-"
"Doyle, old friend!"
'Ugh.'
"Titus!" I turned with an over-bearing smile. Halfway to blur my vision as much as I could and half to appease to unruly brute waddling towards me. "I'm surprised to find you away from Stellaris' annex. What brings you here?"
"Just passing through." He palmed my entire shoulder with a meaty hand to give my body a firm shake while he bared a dictator's smile through his beard. "I saw you and decided to give credit where it was due. From what I've seen, everyone in Class 999 is exceptional. Excellent work, you three."
"Thank. You."
It took everything I had to force the words through my teeth and Titus enjoyed every bit of it. He was a man of control, like everyone in high Polaris society. He treated almost everyone as subordinates. Like pawns in his not-so-little army.
The only thing worse than that was the fact that he could get away with it.
The Storm King was powerful. Physically and otherwise. He had the connections and the backing of the largest empire in existence. He was an example of the shining stars they claimed themselves to be. He- Polaris was untouchable.
But even stars began to flicker and dim as time passed.
"Tell me," he said before Zeff could inadvertently sacrifice himself. "Are there any young Knights I can look forward to seeing next year?"
"Several." I nodded. "Toril O'Connell, Lucia Pike, Issac Galliard. Just to name a few."
"And the rest?" His beard widened into an amiable grin.
And so too did mine. "I'll have them sent your way."
"Well said." He grunted, then stepped away with a nod. Waving over his shoulder. "I can't wait to see how they fare in these trials."
"Who the fuck does he think he is?" Olga leaned between us after he left.
"The Storm King," I said with as much sarcasm I could muster. "Said to cover the battlefield in an endless storm and be all places at once."
"Hah!" Olga laughed. "Doesn't sound that impressive, considering a bunch of Pages can do that too. Besides, the Storm Thief is a lot cooler in my opinion."
"Who?"
"Anyway." Olga waved her hand around, ignoring us both. "The Headmaster really went all out this year, huh?"
"If you don't wanna answer just say it," I muttered. But Zeff didn't seem to care. He only joined in on Olga's period of silent observation.
Prompting me to join in.
Though it was ridiculous to say, the space was contained in the interior of a massive acorn suspended in the Bodhi Tree's canopy. What had been coined the Round Cap sat at the top where the corn connected to the tree. Within that cap sat what had to be hundreds of tables, all with the viewing screens provided by the Artificers of Polaris.
The annexes for the Optimus Regni were placed in usual Bodhi Tree fashion. Built into the walls from floor to ceiling and accessible by staircases that connected Cap overhead with the bars and lounges and parks in which we sat.
The space Titus had entered and our destination occupied the only remaining space, the center. Where a bulbous pillar held the meeting room. Nothing more than a dais surrounded by chairs and tables fastened into the walls.
The place where we'd be surrounded by those who were deemed the most influential and powerful to be judged and queried.
"I've always hated this part."
"Well, good for you, Doyle." Olga smiled.
"It's almost over. We're about to be called in."
"I figured. Titus hates politics. On the bright side." I tapped the papers in my hand. "Never thought we'd be able to pick from the top of the list. Though we didn't really get to pick." I muttered, turning to Zeff. "Have you scoped out the seats?"
"Yes." Zeff smiled in that deviously charming way that halflings did. "Now if you've finished stalling, let's go."
One by one, we sidled into the room. Avoiding the many gazes that turned our way as best we could. We had almost made it, until…
"Now, Madam Godzuik and Sir's Wolfgang and Zurich will explain our most pressing matter regarding this event."
'Dammit.'
Thankfully, the visitor's focus was away from us as we turned. Instead, they were centered on the objects that took our focus on the way to the dais.
Four screens showed the many encounters the four unmeasured students of Class 999 have had over the last six months.
"I'll do the talking," Zeff whispered.
Gods bless you.
"Good morning, Guild Masters and representatives of the Optimus Regni. I am Zeff Yurich, Battle Mage." He bowed with masterful tact. "If I may skip the pleasantries, I'll share our recommendations for the creatures not found on our list before I move to the most pressing issue."
Pausing, he pointed to and allowed the Regni time to spread the first individual in question to every screen in the room.
It was the second-shortest montage of them all. The screen flickered from a miniature sun to a field of fire and back to a sun within seconds. And at the center of each image was a red-skinned humanoid with crimson hair.
"Ash is an extra-planar being. A Fire Genasi!" Zeff declared, if only for dramatic flair. "Naturally, that would imply we pair him with another creature from the Plane of Fire. After much consideration, however, we would like to recommend a type of Construct. An Iron Golem."
Zeff gave another pause. This one to give them time to make an opinion that never came. So he gestured to the second screen. Technically the shortest, but perceived as nothing more than a pinpoint of light at the center of a hardly noticeable background that shifted every few seconds.
"For Lancelot Morningstar, I suggest a Unicorn. As they are one of the few creatures in existence found to be immune to his light. And for Zeke Silva!" He turned to the next screen.
But I was snickering at Zeff's ploy and the Polaris Guilds were bickering to themselves at the thought of their prodigious son fighting a unicorn that the Bodhi Tree no longer had.
"I suggest either a Pit Fiend or a Horned Devil."
His words cut the silence at once. Even my snickering had ground to an abrupt halt to stare at the screen and consider the odds of Silva beating something of that caliber.
Though I was sure the Regni was silent for different reasons. After all, those entities weren't easy to come by.
Zeke was strong. That much was made apparent by the screens. One of his blows could fell a tree or turn any landscape into impassable badlands. But the screens didn't show his pacifistic nature. His montage was longer than the other two, but not by much and comparatively less than the last screen.
Their faces lit up as the images spread to every table, every chair, to every wall and window in the room. And almost as one, they leaned in closer to see the young half-elf standing before the Epethian Prince.
Like a sadistic politician that had served for years, Zeff waited and watched the looks on their faces change from interest to horror and he lathered himself in it. He smiled only through the gentle taps of his finger, counting the seconds by. A rhythmic hum that may as well have been a song in itself. A tune known only to the three of us.
Which made it much harder to remain stoic once the mutters resumed.
Those that knew their history were already aware of who Amun was, or they soon would if they didn't recognize him. Some of them even had personal histories with the Cole family and thus would hardly be surprised at seeing shadows or even death at play.
Horrified, maybe. But not surprised.
That came from the strange force Amun called gravity. With eyes as wide as ours were on that day, they watched Winston tumble across the ground as if he were skipping down a cliff. And when he captured their surprise, Amun brought out the void.
They watched Amun break through Winston's barrier with but a swipe of his hand and take a sword strike without flinching.
When the screen flickered, they watched Amun toy with his magic in the face of beast after beast vying to kill him before it flickered again to show Amun making a fool out of the prodigious son of light.
They watched him spread chaos through battlefield after battlefield until the VIP games ended and it flickered again to show Amun standing before companies of undead just be he casually lied to his peers about killing a unicorn.
Even now, it was the hardest secret to hold on to. A guardian of the forest killed by a student and raised as an undead shadow.
It was an event unable to be scried upon due to the unicorn's presence. And its absence created a fittingly challenging environment for Class 999 during their outings.
But that would remain unseen by the Regni. Instead, they watched the companies of undead transition into Amun falling into a pool to vaporize the waters from around a Triton and plague the arena with a thunderstorm mixed with magical darkness.
Like the battle with the unicorn, even now, no one but Amun, Zohnos, and perhaps Headmaster Knagh knew what happened in that pit of cold darkness. And the speculation seemed to drive the Regni mad.
When it flickered a final time, it showed a sight many of them had already seen. The nightmare from a few days past.
It was strange, watching it from my perspective alongside many others. From the innocuous eyes the Headmaster sprouted in the trees, on leaves, and planted within our very clothes, we watched a cloud of darkness and spatial magic spread out over an area of over 8,000 square kilometers.
From the many perspectives outside the cloud of Dark Space, I called it, we saw it linger, shift and retract at an ever-increasing speed until all that remained was a sphere no larger than a kilometer in diameter.
Instead of that endless moment I experienced, Lance's light appeared after only a few seconds. Then, the darkness faded to reveal the three parties and a few companies' worth of undead scattered into the wind.
And then, chaos.
And then, darkness.
And then, an image of a captured prisoner and an annotation detailing Amun's reward of 1,500 points and an additional 1,000 to the rest of his team.
Though I wanted to earlier, I pulled my eyes away from the reel to gauge the impressions of the Regni at that moment. Naturally, the Genny's were mixed between the horrified Gray Lagoon, Ayolia Nursery, and Graystone. Others, like The Misty Keepers, the Cloud Shapers, and, curiously, the Purists were hopefully impressed.
But the Seven Stars of Polaris…
"Our suggestion is this!" Zeff sang through the outrage. "We task Amun with the Scourge of the Mountain's Bairn."
"Don't be ridiculous!" An unknown man slammed his fist down. It took me to turn and take a moment to realize it was the Guildmaster of Rouge Hydra. Though I was still unaware of his name, his crimson hair slicked back to rest over his shoulders like the heads of his namesake made his face unforgettable.
"Surely that would enrage the Scourge!" He slammed the table again, flinging sizzling phlegm every which way as he did so. "And then what?"
"The Bairn is now old enough to have been kicked from the nest." The Headmaster said, with a graceful step onto the dais. A well-placed save, but it made me happy I wasn't claustrophobic all the same.
"The Bairn is but a year older than he is." He gestured to Amun, sending black lighting above the arena. "Old enough to be in search of its own domain but not yet strong enough to dominate or escape from someone of his caliber. In truth." He turned back to the screens with a sigh and waited for the other three to join Amun. "I would prefer to have them all fight the Bairn. Or one of us. But that would be an amendment to the rules.
"At any rate, it would be best to deal with it before it reaches our barriers and turns tail to cross the mountain."
"Surely you jest!" Another one spoke up, this one from Rex Magica. "You can't expect us to agree to a first-year student- an unevolved student, being tasked with killing a dragon!"
'I'm sure you just want to keep the resources for yourself.' I laughed to myself.
"A red dragon, mind you!" Hydra spat.
"A red dragon that's on the very precipice of being young." A member of the Nein Archives chimed in. "Surely Amun can defeat it."
"The question to ask is will Amun kill the Bairn?"
Naturally, all heads turned to the group that usually held their silence. The Cowl. In particular, their Guildmaster, Mr. Green. Always seen in a suit and mask seemingly made from a green bay leaf. A faceless mask, half alive and half not. Dry enough to rattle in the wind as he said. "What will happen if he doesn't?"
"Naturally, he will face a deduction in points," Zeff assured him. "And-"
"Amun will not care." Mr. Green coldly said. "I've dealt with elves before. I've dealt with drow before. Half or not, raised among humans or not, they don't care for our rules and titles. He will do what he wants to do. From what I can see." He gestured to his screen. "He only kills when necessary. When he wants to test his might or grow his army. I'm unsure if he'll be willing to kill the young dragon-"
"I accept the proposal."
A line of gasps fell towards a particularly vibrant individual, Dende Morningstar, who was postured in his seat with a regal elegance that betrayed the strained muscles in his jaw.
"Amun will have a chance to slay the Bairn. Should he fail." He panned his eyes around his subguilds and back to us. "There are many here to take care of what remains."
'Yeah, I'm sure there will be.'
"However." He turned his radiant eyes to me. "A unicorn would be unwilling to fight my son. And there is none on this list. What would you recommend instead, Sir Wolfgang?
"I would recommend any other type of Celestial. If not that, I would say something along the lines of a Beholder, Sir." I bowed. "Or suggest that he wear a piece of negstone."
"It will be considered."
"Then this meeting is adjourned." The Headmaster gently clapped his hands. "We'll see you all tonight."