-{Astraea Castle, Council Tower}-
A tall patterned stone door opened up into a windowless room filled with cushioned wooden chairs, and a large decorated round stone table with the entire kingdom's structure neatly crafted underneath a thin piece of glass. Directly in the center was a large chandelier hanging from the ribboned stone ceiling providing the perfect amount of lighting to avoid a glare hitting the glass top of the table.
Fourteen established men and women funneled slowly into the room while chatting amongst themselves.
The first one to speak was a tall woman cloaked in a purple robe. "I swear, every time we congregate here, the view gets better. The golden radiance of the mana barrier is truly magnificent."
"Pfff, I can't believe you have that attitude with the situation we are in."
"That's a lot coming from you, scientist. Maybe you should put your toys down and relish in your wealth. The only thing you seem to care about are those kids of yours…"
"Shut it. We have all sat down and are waiting for your squabble to stop." Caspian Damaris said as he flicked his long brown hair from his face. The burning red eyes that even accentuated the blood vessels that weren't actually blood, but his true eye color made him appear menacing. "I can't believe my brother would have sat at this table with you all…"
Bang Bang!
The palm of the king slammed against the table twice. The messy gray beard and eyes that were the color of nothing silenced the table.
"Everyone, we have come here to formulate a new plan to retake the wall. The sighting of new types of beasts that use a magic unknown to us have stopped even the Judges from advancing forward. We have lost the poison and air judges, and have only replaced the air judge. I have a suggestion I want to act on, but first, I want to hear your thoughts."
Soren Rusteire stood up first. "As the council member of the Outer West, I think the only option we have is to send out a secret and small group that can patch the wall. I understand there are more than three holes in the wall, as well as an open gate."
"And how would the hunters get past the beasts without being noticed?" Caspian asked with a confident look.
Rusteire clasped his hands together with his elbows on the glass covered table. "By moving underground. As we all suspect, there should be cave systems in The Catacombs that would lead to the outer region that were previously covered up, or even outside the walls."
The king's eyes widened, and shortly after, chatter erupted within the cold room.
Chatter immediately erupted after Soren's claim of The Catacombs. The reason for this was that everyone had a belief the reason for the constant need to maintain The Catacombs was because of the beasts that were in unreachable parts mostly due to the power that the people had not been able to achieve. The truth is, time was short here. Most prominent mages lived until seventy or eighty years old, and almost always died of organ failure.
The table threw out more suggestions, but were not nearly as interesting as the one Soren had come up with. The King had been thinking about pooling resources into magitech to create solutions to overcome the power the unfathomable new beasts had. The idea would be put into action with the top magitech mages at the forefront, as well as the exploration and mapping of caverns that could potentially lead to the outer region.
-{Western Hunter Guild}-
"So you're the one?"
Elijah was staring into the eyes of Alessia. For some reason, at the age of ten, he felt this tension within him. A desire for connection. Instantly it was noticed, but Elijah had relished in the feeling he had not felt for some time. Why was this happening now?
"Uhh, yes. I am Elijah Veran." An awkward smile was written all over his face.
Alessia was looking at Elijah with a confused look. How could this boy be the one Amaris had given a solo mission to, he has a water affinity! Although, it is a cavern full of trap moles. "Well, good luck, the carriage will be here soon. Look for a blue roof." Alessia stamped the mission paper with a red pigmented stamp, and handed it to Elijah after folding it over twice.
"Thank you."
The carriage ride was filled with deep thoughts. Battles plans, intentional danger to test his true limits, and maybe even exploring deeper than the required length. This mission was located on the north side, which was the reason for the longer carriage ride, and the moment Elijah passed into The Catacombs, his eyes widened in disbelief.
Dim lights tore through the glass of different stone buildings that were stacked on top of each tower for about one hundred feet. Multiple bridges, stone bridges held up by stone allowed easy access to the different levels of the residential area. This place was much busier than the west side, so what is the reason for the difference?
Not fully developed? Lack of architects? Favoritism?
Tons of people were walking down and across the streets with glowing crystals seeping from the openings of the backpacks. This has to be a large mining area with multiple hotspots that form crystals at an alarming rate.
The architecture severely dropped off once reaching the uninhabited areas. Lights were still scattered across the building and walls, but not a single soul was in sight. Dripping sounds echoed through the cavern once reaching something that looked like a nest. At least ten different passage ways were in front of Elijah's face a couple minutes after hopping off the carriage. Quickly pulling out his map, he counted three openings to the right, starting from the first opening on the left.
The distinct and familiar sight of an uncountable number of holes blankets the rough walls, ceilings, and floors. This was what he was expecting after Alessia told him they did not artificially change the earth within the catacombs to suit their preferences in this specific area. It was a waste of time. If the trap moles ever reached here again, they would have the ability to easily hide themselves. However, with holes already in the earth, it would be quite hard to stay hidden within the earth.
Elijah had no need for his sword or knife at the moment, the last thing he wanted to do was try to kill a beast with an unreliable method that caught him by surprise. A bright light was lit by Elijah scraping the torch against the semi-dry wall. Everything in his backpack had already been transferred to his storage space. With not a single soul around him, Elijah began flying through the winding cavern that became smaller and larger with every turn. It felt like the insides of a large beast.
In the distance Elijah noticed a change in the cavern's shape, as well as a peculiar and small light source that just barely allowed Elijah to see the area. The wind separated for Elijah as he flew quickly towards the cavern, and slowed down just before entering.
Mana crystals, that would make sense. Although from what I can see, none of these have an affinity. They are all light cream and tan colored. I wonder what made the mushroom cave so special to have a large amount of elemental affinity crystals.