“This full-scale attack is nothing but a diversion. I have no idea what the Kingdom’s real goal is, but the moment they make their move, we can’t afford to be caught by surprise.
“To put everything on the line like this, they must have found a way to tip the scale of the war in their favor. If they succeed, we might lose one or more key assets if not even the war itself.”
***
Golden Griffon academy, at the same time.
Lith’s group had reached the second floor for a while, but they were having a hard time navigating it.
‘So much for a skeleton crew.’ Lith grumbled as they were forced to wait behind a corner for the umpteenth time.
The second floor hosted just a few living quarters that belonged to the criminals that had been “promoted” from the scum of Mogar to loyal soldiers via various forms of torture and manipulation.
The rest of the floor had been arranged into huge classrooms where the now willing recruits were taught the basics of magic and military strategy. Due to their role as foot soldiers, their training focused on teamwork, combat drills, and the best timing to use their breathing technique during battle.
Much to Kalla’s surprise, the soldiers had been enslaved but not made immortal by the lost academy whereas their equipment had been marked for retrieval upon their death.
The two-bit mages were expendable whereas Thrud couldn’t afford to lose artifacts she had worked hard to craft every time she suffered human losses. Adamant and mana crystals were hard to find whereas the Kingdom was full of prisons.
The group had easily gotten past the living quarters since they were all empty. The problem was not being noticed while moving around the classes. Hystar had fused several rooms together to give the instructors the space they needed and even removed the walls.
The classes were open fields that left Vladion little room for maneuver. Even with Blindside, he couldn’t risk their smell getting caught by one of the Emperor Beasts training the Awakened or being bumped into during a drill.
Every time they found a classroom, the Firstborn had to wait for an exercise that would move the students away from his group’s position and that would keep the teachers focused.
Even though his powers weren’t hindered by daylight thanks to the lack of windows inside the Golden Griffon, he couldn’t afford to use his bloodline ability non-stop. Escaping the notice of so many powerful creatures required a lot of energy and they were still on the second floor.
Vladion had brought nourishment with him, but using it so soon would have meant to risk of running on fumes once they reached the higher floors or during the exfiltration phase.
If that happened, discovering how to safely destroy the lost academy would have been meaningless since they would die without sharing the information with anyone.
They needed to move slowly and carefully, getting close enough to the hidden stairs for the third floor for the map to reveal them. Once they finally reached their destination, they could finally catch their breath.
The third floor was reserved for the Forgotten corps and it was empty.
The former students of the Golden Griffon had fought for hundreds of years so they needed no further training.
Their minds had been broken by centuries of starvation and madness. They offered no resistance to Thrud’s will and followed her every command. It was the reason the third floor consisted solely of living quarters, the canteen, and several relaxation areas.
Thrud had arranged it as a huge rehabilitation center, in the hope to undo the damage that the Golden Griffon had inflicted upon them and give them a normal life once the war was over.
Alas, so far her efforts had borne no fruit.
Kalla needed to take the Eyes of Menadion off and get rid of the headache that the too many inputs from the artifact caused her. Vladion could finally take a break from using Blindside and the toll it had taken on his mind.
Yet Lith was the one in worse shape. He had used no bloodline ability and Solus was still at his finger, using solely mana sense to scout for danger. Despite all that, staying in his Abomination form for so long had pushed him to the verge of insanity.
The longer he kept that form, the harder keeping the spark of Chaos from corrupting the darkness energy comprising his body became. To make matters worse, the hunger typical of the Abominations grew by the second and it couldn’t be sated.
Even with the help of the Void, eating brought him respite only until he finished sucking the light element out of something. The moment he was done, the hunger would return as strong as before.
“Damn, I now understand why Abominations either go insane or are always cranky.” Lith had returned to his human form and was eating lots of food from his pocket dimension.
He retained the hunger after shapeshifting, but it could now be sated, resetting the Abomination’s appetite.
“Please, don’t talk to me. My head is exploding.” Between the Eyes and the mana poisoning caused by the prolonged mind link, Kalla felt better than him, but not by much.
“Circulate your mana with fusion magic and you’ll feel better soon.” Vladion had no need to eat, but he could use some rest.
Moving during daytime was vexing and Lith could cover him only until the hunger made the Abomination Touch overpower the Vampire’s. The rest of the time Vladion had to move on his own or become Lith’s snack.
Luckily for him, he could afford to turn into a human since there was no one around. The Forgotten were all busy with the war or patrolling the academy. The fourth and fifth floors turned out to be empty as well, allowing them to take a short break again.
The fourth floor was where Thrud’s disciples lived and trained. It was identical to the one where Lith had studied during the fourth year of the White Griffon, making it the easiest to navigate.
The space had been evenly split between living quarters and training facilities where the main force of Thrud’s Awakened army could study all specializations and the legacies they had stolen.
“Why this detour? Do you realize that time is of the essence?” Kalla asked as she followed Lith toward the Forgemastering lab.
They avoided mind links because there was no one around and to spare themselves from more mana poisoning.
“I do, but this is the best opportunity we have to memorize the dimensional coordinates of any place we might want to come back to once the main mission is done. Once and if we are found out, our priority will become escaping whereas now we can move freely.” Lith replied.
“According to the undead, Meln is on the sixth floor along with the secret labs. What could possibly be so valuable here to prolong your hunger this much?” Vladion said with a scoff.
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