Chương 159: B2 - Chapter 68: Hope

Seth walked out of the inn as the sun was just beginning to rise, its weak light catching the rooftops, the morning air cold and sharp with the smell of woodsmoke. People were everywhere, clad in armor from head to toe. It had rarely been easier to tell the commoners from the nobles; the latter wore gleaming, custom-fit plates or expensive magic robes, while the academy draftees without sponsors were clad in the gray uniform of the academy—the best piece of equipment they owned.

Seth veered left, heading toward the meeting point Celine had just relayed through his communication orb. The Champions of Chaos wanted one last talk before he dove into the Warfare Rift with his squad. It's probably about the Cave of Elements, he thought, weaving through the hurried passersby. They want to know what I found. And if I left behind any Seeds I couldn't get myself. It didn't take him long to reach the building bearing the emblem of the Adventurer Guild.

Seth pushed the heavy wooden door open and stepped inside. All the core members of the Champions of Chaos were there: Orwen, Celine, Reat, Lyria, Krystel, Drack, Toren, and the three he'd met in Oskon. They were gathered in the center of the room, talking with animated gestures, though not a single sound reached Seth's ears. Noticing him, Orwen looked up, and a broad smile split his face as he waved him closer. Seth complied and stepped through the invisible barrier of the silencing dome.

The aether crackled against his skin the moment he passed the edge. The next instant, the sounds of the city outside vanished, replaced by the low hum of the ward. He expanded his senses and analyzed the spell. There were two distinct layers: one that contained the sound, and another, more invasive one, that plunged into his Well. The non-disclosure ward, he guessed. Everyone in the room was smiling, their mood surprisingly light despite the war looming just hours away.

Celine, leaning against a back table, had that familiar, knowing expression on her face.

"Alright, Seth," she began, cutting straight to the point.

"Spill it. What's the strongest thing you killed in there?"

"Umm," Seth muttered.

"A One-eyed Giant Elemental. But I don't have any proof of it. It was in a distortion field, so I couldn't use my vita."

"Just tell us the Rank," Drake said with a grumble from the corner.

"Reat already told us you brought down that Silver-Tier Paladin without breaking a sweat."

"80," he replied. The room went silent.

"80? That's ridiculous!" Lyria finally exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"You're not even Rank 50! How am I supposed to not feel bad about myself? In less than a year I'll once again be the weakest of the branch!"

"Oh, stop it, Lyria," Orwen said, his smile wider than ever.

"The kid just gave us the best opportunity of our lifetime."

"Technically, his friend did," Drake said.

"Yet that opportunity wouldn't have come if Seth hadn't joined our branch in the first place," Orwen answered smoothly. Lyria stepped closer, her arms crossed as she sized him up.

"How did you do it? Did you already have a Seed before you fought it? Reat told us you found some for your beasts, but killing a Rank 80... that's... insane." Seth rubbed his neck.

"Well... the first Seed I found wasn't guarded by a Silver." Orwen leaned in, his expression sharp.

"Wait, what? The beast guarding it wasn't Silver?"

"No, it was Peak-Iron. But it had Silver potential and some nasty Double-Tiered spells. It was almost as tough as the other two Low-Silvers I fought." Orwen looked at Reat, running a hand through his silver hair.

"A Peak-Iron keeper. That implies there could definitely be a few other Seeds in there aside from the one you mentioned having to leave behind. That's... outrageous. How can one Rift hold that many? Even an unexplored temporary one—it doesn't align with anything we learned in Asethka."

"I don't know," Reat said, pinching the bridge of his nose. The implications clearly gave him a headache.

"We need to ask his friend, the Alchemist. If the man knows of other Rifts like this... our odds of success would increase drastically."

"And we wouldn't need the nobles," Toren added.

"To overthrow the King?" Seth asked.

"Exactly," Orwen confirmed.

"If that Rift is as rich as I think it is, and the Bridan Empire doesn't send an army in there before we can make it back, we could come out with enough Seeds, spell-shards, and Essences to boost our entire branch. We'd have enough strength to trigger a coup ourselves. Give the power back to the people." He paused, his expression hardening.

"Currently, without any loots of that Rift, we're not strong enough. We can't move against Theron without our allied Houses." Seth looked at each of the faces of the branch's members.

"Those who tried that coup ten years ago?"

"Yes," Celine answered, picking up for her brother.

"We're in an alliance of convenience at the moment, Seth. We all have a common enemy. And sure, Marshal Vancaws would be a better leader than King Theron... but he's still a noble. We want a republic. A place where people actually choose their leader."

"That's a future the marshal and the others won't be happy about," Toren added.

"Except maybe the Suranis and the Chesters… Those two didn't seem totally against the idea."

"But you'd have to fight the rest of the Great Houses," Seth said, taken aback.

"And two Platinum Wielders."

"Which is currently impossible, yes," Orwen answered with a nod.

"That's why we have to keep the alliance. Use Vancaws and the others to take down the King and then force their hand to push for a republic." Seth's eyes briefly widened.

"So you're planning to betray them." Orwen ran a hand through his hair with a sheepish look on his face.

"Yeah. I don't like it, but sometimes you have to make the hard choice. After seeing how things are run in a republic a few years ago... I can't, in good conscience, just swap one king for another noble who could easily become just as greedy."

"Exactly," Krystel added from the back of the group.

"You've gotta understand, Seth, that if the marshal knew about that cave, he'd never let us keep it for ourselves. He's more generous than the current king, sure, but he's not stupid. He'd see a trove of Seeds as a threat to his own power. And he'd be right. It's one of the things that could give us the strength to challenge him if it comes to that." Seth's mouth twisted to the side thinking about the marshal. And almost immediately, Orwen noticed it.

"What's the matter, kid?" This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Um…, well, something happened last night," Seth answered before looking up to meet Orwen's gaze. If Seth really wanted to help them make Kastal a better place it was time to trust them and stop holding back critical information.

"Marshal Vancaws was in my room when I arrived." The jovial atmosphere in the room evaporated instantly. Toren's grin vanished, Lyria stiffened, and Orwen's face went pale.

"Vancaws?" the branch's leader repeated, his voice unusually tight.

"How? Why?"

"Marine Vancaws, his granddaughter, told him about me… about my golden eyes." A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the room, and almost everyone pressed their lips together. The marshal knowing about Seth's lineage was certainly not a good thing.

"And you're still breathing," Celine said as her eyes narrowed.

"Which means he asked for something."

"He immediately made the connection between my eyes and my father," Seth explained.

"He said he visited my hometown near Arthuri, and there he felt the residual aether imprint from someone extremely strong. He guessed it was from a friend of my father." Orwen's eyebrows shot up.

"The Alchemist?"

"Yeah. The marshal said it was as if a monster had been living there." Seth rubbed the back of his neck.

"He decided he didn't want to risk starting a feud with someone that powerful by killing me. So... he offered me a deal instead."

"What kind of deal?" Celine pressed.

"He wants me to finish with the top contribution in the war," Seth said.

"So I can secure one of the Legacies for him." Orwen stepped forward, looking like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Did you sign anything? A soul contract? Or any sort of contract at all?"

"No." Seth shook his head.

"It was... more of a verbal agreement. The rewards he offered weren't upfront anyway—I think he knew I wouldn't sign anything binding without talking to all of you first." Orwen let out a long, shaky breath as his shoulders sagged.

"That's good. That's very good. Without a contract, we have room to maneuver." He then looked at Seth intently.

"So, what did you ask for in return?"

"Well, he offered to remove the inscription from my trial and grant his patronage to both everyone here and my friends at the academy," Seth answered.

"But I told him that wasn't enough, and I asked for two additional things."

"Which were?" Reat asked, eyes narrowed.

"A Dark Essence of the Silver or Gold Tier for my direwolf," Seth said, holding up one finger.

"And the exclusive rights for a year to the next unexplored Silver or Gold Rift his scouts find." The silence returned. Toren and Lyria seemed the most surprised, staring at Seth with their mouths slightly open as the others' eyes went wide.

"And he said yes?" Orwen asked with obvious disbelief. Seth nodded.

"He did."

"On Gaia's head," Toren exclaimed, pulling off his hair with both hands.

"That's absurd! Vancaws is a man of his word—even without a contract, he would still do it. But giving up an unexplored Rift? Just like that?" Celine rubbed her face in the back.

"He probably said yes because he's certain Seth will finish in the top three and secure him a Rare Legacy."

"How can he be so sure, though?" Lyria asked, tilting her head.

"Even with his beasts, Seth's still just an Iron. He's up against the elite of the crown's family and the Great Houses."

"Because he probably knows," Celine answered.

"Just like us." Seth frowned, confusion knitting his brow.

"Knows about what?" The administrator of Trogan's outpost turned her head toward him, then a smile crept onto her lips.

"Your own Legacy." Seth's heart skipped a beat. A cold spike of panic shot through his chest. He opened his mouth to deny it, to feign confusion, to spin something about artifacts or potions. Yet before he could get a word out, Orwen raised a hand.

"You don't have to confirm it," the silver-haired man said.

"In fact, it's safer if we never know for sure. Plausible deniability is our best defense against mind-reader Scholars or tamed Oracle Snakes." He paused and also gave Seth a smile.

"But yeah, kid… it's been obvious for a while now. Things you've achieved make it undeniable. Killing Silver-tier beasts while mid-Iron? Handling that Gold-tier ward during the skirmishes? That's beyond what anyone with just 'good resources' and talent could do." As he stretched and stifled a yawn, Reat chimed in, "Even your Draerian blood couldn't explain how you handled that Paladin the way you did." Seth gulped, the lie of denial he'd been ready to tell dying in his throat.

He looked around the circle of faces—Celine, Toren, Reat, Krystel, Lyria, and the others. There was no judgment in their eyes, though perhaps there was a hint of awe. It was time to trust them.' Finally,'Nightmare said with a sigh through Link.' You'll stop being so anxious about it.'' Just around them,'Seth answered mentally.' And Elena.'

"I just hope the one who made the Legacy isn't a crazy bastard," Drack muttered with an awkward wince.

"I heard people can change after using one of those. And well… we have high hopes for you. For, um… the future of Kastal."

"I…" Seth began, then hesitated, unsure what the man meant.

"What he's trying to say," Celine began, "is that Kastal is only as strong as its strongest wielder. And even if we're betting on that being Orwen for now, we all know that if things keep going the way they are… odds are that one day, you're going to be the nation's pillar." Toren seized the moment, stepping forward with a wide grin splitting his bearded face.

"Which is why we can't have you dying in the first week," he said, handing Seth an Endless Pouch.

"So here's a little gift. From all of us." Seth took the violet bag and pushed his consciousness inside of it. A moment later, his mouth went dry. The pocket dimension was filled to the brim with what appeared to be a complete war armory. Rows of racks held dozens of Fireblast Wands. Beside them sat piles of tactical artifacts he recognized from the academy's warfare drills: thin silver rods for perimeter detection, and disruption cubes for disarming wards.

But it was the dark shapes looming in the back of the space that made his breath catch—two massive, rune-etched arcane cannons, flanked by crates packed with about a hundred aether-infused shells. Toren pressed two scrolls into Seth's free hand before he could respond.

"Those are one-time-use shrinking scrolls. The cannons are too big to fit in the pouch normally. Once you deploy them, they're out. The scrolls will let you repack them once to bring them back from the Warfare Rifts. So don't pull them out unless you're in a defensible position. A fortress or some sort of high position. Understood?" Seth nodded, his mind already racing. He knew the Rift would be dotted with old ruins and abandoned fortifications, strategic points to be captured.

With these cannons mounted on a wall and Colossus defending them... their position could be unassailable. He looked up from the pouch.

"Toren... this is... I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"Ah, it's nothing." Toren waved a hand dismissively, though a sly look entered his eyes.

"But... well... if you happen to want to mention this generosity to your Alchemist friend, I wouldn't be against it."

"We all heard that, Toren!" Reat called out from the back.

"Shameless."

"Hey!" Toren grumbled, his face flushing.

"You all got your own boosts from that Rift! I'm an Artificer, I need... guidance." Seth laughed, shaking his head.

"I'll see what I can do, Toren."

"Appreciated," the Artificer said, appearing to be immensely pleased with himself.

"You have no shame," Celine said. She also shook her head at the man, though a sly look entered her eyes. The room buzzed with laughter and excited chatter. As Seth watched them, he realized he'd never seen them like this. He'd seen them determined, focused, even grimly satisfied after learning about Nightmare, Colossus, or his Pocket-Realm. But this... this was a different energy entirely. It was lighter, and contagious. It was filled with hope.

The existence of the Cave of the Elements had shifted their entire perspective. It had given them a tangible path to a future they could control, and the excitement was so intense Seth could almost taste it in the air. And that was one more reason for him to keep fighting and pushing his limits—so one day he could give this feeling to everyone in Kastal, to every commoner who had suffered their entire life in despair.

'I'm not against it,' Nightmare said through Link.

'That idea you discussed with that Dark Assassin, Kaelen… Being the shadow leader of this place. The one who stays behind the throne and only steps out when needed to put the new leader back on the right path.'

'Yeah,' Colossus chimed in eagerly.

'And also to protect everyone when needed.' Seth glanced at Professor Reat. The man caught his eye, offering a subtle nod and faint smile. A distant goal began to take shape in Seth's mind. The threat of Draeria and Volantis still loomed on the horizon; he knew a time would come when he'd have to vanish into the Rifts, to get strong enough to face those two nations. But once that was done... the idea of standing as a shadow behind Kastal's ruler didn't just seem pleasant—it appealed to him.

The apex predator watching from afar, a hidden beast who would guarantee everyone was treated fairly, all without having to deal with the messy politics himself. Yeah, that felt right.