A few days went by; nothing to be worth noting around the kingdom happened. Starting with Oxs.h.i.+eld and the royal family. The princess had a nice and gentle recovery after a certain incident. She quickly got back to her feet and things went on as usual. Her behavior – once heartless and filled with hate, subsided. It grew to be slightly more docile. It was seen through how she behaved. Theodore"s apprentice; who now a.s.sisted her on a daily basis slightly changed her. The young one"s att.i.tude who once was afraid of her now spoke to her highness with ease. The master and servant relations.h.i.+p barrier was still in place, but he ignored said rules. Often, he would stand behind her while she had tea and read, just to scare her. It made her mad but she laughed.In no way did that slight change affect how the kingdom was ruled. She remained adamant about her previous ideals; that the provinces should be ruled by the royal family only. The king had grown old over the years, his seventieth birthday approached with each pa.s.sing day. A foolish king loved by his followers. None hated him for his loss of power, rather, all the animosity befallen the princess. The queen remained in the shadows and only made trips to other nations for peace treaties, trade agreements and such. Banquets didn"t diminish, her schedule filled up rapidly. Raulf Serlo arrived a few days ago – he canceled his trip to the empire to stay beside the king. He soon learned about the growing situations of unworldly beings dropping coins and such; to help with the confusion – he aided. Even as he remained at the royal castle, communication with the subordinates was maintained. The idea for a new ranking system was partly encouraged and backed by him. The Order could naught but digress.
After days of waiting for the equipment to be installed into every guildhall present throughout Oxs.h.i.+eld. The implementation would be made public and so were the presence of monsters. It was necessary to warn the people; for if they died – who"d be the ones working for the betterment of life. Out near the border of Totrya, makes.h.i.+ft camps were installed. The central adventuring guild had ordered none to step closer. Looking at how many people were killed, the area was closed off. For the time being, adventurers weren"t allowed to hunt nor kill – not until every preparation was ready.
A ma.s.sive wall was built using magic, it required less time but more effort. For the purpose of lasting only a few days, it held up nicely. All the preliminaries were complete. Every problem and possible disturbance had been planned for. The royal family had no say nor influence. The guild, MARS, and other scholars were the ones who made all the arrangements. All the king had to do was give express permission. News of this had reached the emperor"s ears, and he sent part of his forces to help with suppressing the invasions for a little. Said force mainly consisted of S-rank and higher mages. This was the main reason why Totrya was closed off.
Time had come to choose a date, a day that unveils everything. The opportune time to announce how the kingdom was to change. During a meeting between the counselors; Raulf proposed to kill two birds with one stone. The king"s day of birth was to be an occasion celebrated by all. Announcing the drastic changes and then celebrating the king"s birthday would silence any uprise. Anyone opposed to the guild"s decision could not voice their frustrations on such a joyful day. In turn, this would help the implementation go smoothly. King Blaine Mcleod Riverty, graciously accepted said idea and laughed. Nevertheless, he had one condition that was to be obeyed. "For my birthday, a day of change and new beginnings – I want every ruling n.o.ble in Hidros to come and attend this banquet. None shall be alienated on such an auspicious day. From Arda to Dorchester, everyone will be welcomed. Give the message and clearly tell them that the n.o.bles of said provinces have my express favor to bring anyone they deemed a friend or family. Being n.o.ble or not doesn"t affect this country anymore. I want said day to be the turning page to start a new life for all present." The old man coughed; he had much more to say but his body refused. Graciously knelt before him, his many attendants and counselors applauded the idea. Despite being gullible, he was someone virtuous.
Everything got set in place, envoys were sent throughout the kingdom. It took about three days for all the letters to be delivered. The banquet was to be organized in a weeks" time. The first province to move was Kreston. The letter read, "all shall be welcome before the banquet itself. Traveling such distances may prove tortuous. Worry not for arrangements to ones who arrive early have been made."
The second one to react was Plaustan with it still mysterious leaders. Then came Dorchester, on the day the envoys arrived; everyone remained baffled. The messenger entered the castle to see people working together, a camp being built. Everyone held a smile on their faces, the members of the council were spotted on scaffoldings and helping in the construction efforts. A few steps inside, merchants called out, they urged him to check the wares. Astonis.h.i.+ngly, the weapons and armor were of a quality on par with the craftsmen in the capital. The prices weren"t as high but the quality was as good.
The stranger continued his walk to the castle. A ma.s.sive tavern with a banner reading, "come one come all, drinks and food for free." The place remained constantly filled with people. Even if it was free, people still paid. A tradition that slowly got embedded into how the tavern worked. An unwritten rule, that one must give anything as less of value as it may be to the bartender. Everyone did so with a smile. In a rush, Julius and Millicent ran out of the study to greet the envoy. Julius looked like a n.o.ble, his hair well combed and clothes impeccable, while Millicent had bed hair. The place felt light-hearted and accommodating
After a quick visit, the letter was handed over. The messenger stayed at the tavern before leaving. "Anyone deemed a friend, or family, is welcomed." In the evening, everyone came together to decide who would go. Julius tried to remain out of the conversation but was forced to decide. Staxius was absent and Milicent went drinking. "The letter says to bring family and friends. I say that the silver guardians, Fenrir and Milicent should go." Julius said his take on it. "Absolutely not, Julius and Autumn are the ones to go," Adelana argued. "We should all go," Fenrir added her take on it. "-Undrar, me, the silver guardians, Autumn, Julius, Milicent, and Eira. It will be the perfect opportunity to visit Ayleth." She concluded. "If we all go then who is going to take care of the castle?" Julius voiced his troubles. "We have a band of responsible and intelligent people working day and night for Dorchester. We can leave this to them, I"m sure we have more than enough competent people to take charge and lead." Undrar added.
"As you wish," Julius gave up, "-let"s head out tomorrow. We"ll be staying at my place in Claireville academy"s n.o.ble district. Pack your stuff, it will be a long trip." He smiled. "What about Staxius?" Ancret spoke out of the blue. "Who knows," Undrar replied. "If I know him as well as I think, he will come for sure. It"s an opportunity to scout out people who might help and turn against us in the future." Julius added before the conversation ended.
The voyage to Arda lasted longer than compared to the other provinces. Nevertheless, the envoy arrived without any trouble. The young butler was sent as an envoy once more. He had already made the trip here once and knew how to get in. The guards blindfolded him like always and took him to have an audience with her majesty. Unlike the previous time, he now had manners and knew how to behave in the presence of royalty. He spoke the message, gave the letter, and left. A strange figure caught his attention, a guy with a ponytail. He remained on her right side while an old-looking man stood on the other. Nothing remained the same around here; the people seemed more on edge. This didn"t affect how they behaved.
Upon reading the message, the queen called in a meeting with all her counselors and n.o.bles. Staxius tried to step away but was stopped by the old sage. The latter caught his hands and smiled. Staxius unwillingly gave a slight grin. The queen faced him and looked on the verge of breaking into tears. She and Staxius grew closer in the course of the few days that went by. Though he was once an unknown ent.i.ty, Staxius grew to be loved by all. The animosity at the sight of a human quenched. The main reason for that was the fighting. Every day, at the exact same time, those beasts who now got given the name Goblins tried to invade the city.
He fought, day after day, he built up the experience and worked hard. This was the first time Staxius took it upon himself to get strong. He trained with the royal army, the generals and commanding officers hated him at first. But after witnessing the amazing swordplay he mastered, everyone took a liking to him. To that end, Staxius used dark-arts to influence the people who seemed a threat. Despite that, he got around easily with his charisma alone. The words from Xula gave him a wake-up call. Instead of whining to himself constantly, he worked hard. Not only did he train with the army, but he also joined up with the sorcerers of Arda. They were unlike any other, mages here were on another level. They mainly consisted of elves who were born to be sorcerers. From time to time, dark elves would drop by and train him. Being an angel"s conduit took a heavy toll – but he persevered and nearly killed himself on many occasions.
Gradually, Staxius relearnt how to use magic from scratch. The old sage taught him personally. Arda became a haven, their knowledge rivaled the corrupt outside world. He felt at home, his personality reverted to how it was. His emotions still fluctuated, at times he felt everything and at the time nothing – blank. That became a personal quest of his, "what makes my emotion turn blank, and what triggers this cold-hearted killer persona to immerge."
As a result, from helping people daily to training with the best. Staxius"s name grew common amongst the people. He would often sneak out at night to visit the lower levels of the tree. It baffled his mind how something like this existed. The demi-humans liked him and so did the n.o.ble council. Taking all that into factor, the people who were chosen to attend the banquet became obvious. The n.o.bles didn"t want to go, prejudice about their appearance would surely create an uproar. Thus, it all came down to a single conclusion. Arda"s queen and Staxius, the man she courted were to head to the capital.
By the way she acted, everyone knew the nature of their relations.h.i.+p. The queen had a change of heart. She became more caring and compa.s.sionate towards her subjects and wasn"t as gullible as before. The people who opposed and used her were rendered useless – the old sage and Staxius helped.
"The queen and Staxius shall be the ones who will attend the banquet on our behalf." A man bearing white-hair, red eyes, and long teeth, spoke. He was one of the n.o.bles from the vampire sect. "I agree with the vampire here," a well-built man with furs covering his humanoid body, spoke. That was one of the tribesmen from the werewolf sect. In that fas.h.i.+on, every representative of every race agreed. "You better protect our queen with all your might, dearest Staxius." One of the elderly elves jokingly added. She represented the commoners, a pleasant old woman who remained cheerful at all times.
Taken by surprise by all the recognition he got, Staxius replied with," I shall do my very best to protect your queen as well as mine." He slowed down purposefully on the last words. "Someone has grown romantic over the days haven"t they," the vampire added jokingly. Everyone teased him – the strict and relentless Arda was only but rumors. Deep down, everyone in this province lived as Staxius had hoped for Dorchester to become. "This council is done," the queen stood sharply and left, her tone was one of a little girl. "Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to attend this urgent meeting." Staxius thanked everyone on behalf of her majesty and so did the sage.
"Worry not my friend, call on us if you"re ever in trouble. We, the people of Arda though have our disagreements are one big family. You, Staxius Haggard, though a human, has become a member. Take care of the queen on our behalf, for too long has she suffered alone, loneliness can break the strongest individuals. Part of the reason everyone has accepted you is that you make her majesty smile. Never have we seen that side of her. You"re keen to learn and work hard does help as well. Staxius, I"ll officially say this, on behalf of everyone in Arda, welcome to the family." They all rose and cheered, the old-sage patted his back. A stranger turned family, he felt overwhelmed by how the people behaved. Never had he seen such bright and clean aura before.
One by one, everyone left. "my friends out in Dorchester, I"ve found something extraordinary. I wish we could all meet and rejoice in this glory but I still have work to do before I can face you guys like the man you believed in. This is the day I start over, long enough have I whined, long enough have I been a fool – time has come to make myself into a better person. Not a hero, not a villain, but an example. I shall become the light that guides the people around me into a better future, that was the quest given to me by someone special. Father, is this what you tried to show me?" The footsteps faded into the distance as well as their chatter and laughter. "-was this the world you tried to make?"