Chapter 65 - Settling In

The sun was piercing the horizon on the end of the twenty-third day of their long journey. Tufts of snow were swirling in the light breeze, the temperature low enough to warrant wearing a heavy wool jacket. Majestic gates set deep into massive stone walls stood ajar, allowing a steady throng of people and goods to come and go. Behind the man-made wonder was an expansive cityscape, much larger than most of the occupants inside the covered wagon had ever seen before.

Standing out amongst the thousands of tall and imposing buildings was the center piece of the Kingdom of Morgania. Surrounded by imposing granite walls was a structure of such magnitude that it dwarfed even the tallest of buildings within the capital. The gleaming spires, tipped with gold, reached high into the winter skies, the puffy white clouds just barely out of reach. The entire structure was constructed with the most meticulously worked ivory marble, causing it to shine like a beacon of light when the sun stood at its zenith. Now though, in the rays of the setting sun, it appeared to be a patchwork of the most magnificent pinks and purples.

Having never seen such a sight before, the four children all poked their heads out from the canvas cover and took in the marvelous sight before them. Even the eternally sour Professor Treffle took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the capital of Morgania, the shining city, Säravast. A sudden jolt from the wagon broke them of their reverie, bringing them out of their daydreams and reminding them of what lay ahead.

Alessandria looked toward the driver of the wagon, wondering how he could possibly stand the cold without the proper attire. "Aren't you cold? It's freezing out here."

Professor Kal was wearing his signature plain black robes, his hood lay limply behind his head, not serving any purpose at all. He glanced over at the bundled-up princess, wearing a thick wool overcoat, mittens, and an oversized hat. "No, I feel fine; and you look ridiculous by the way."

Princess Alessandria returned his insult with a beaming smile showing off her perfect white teeth. "Why thank you very much, I picked them out myself." Professor Kal only snorted at her backhanded comment before Alessandria pointed to another section of the wall. "Drive the wagon over there, it's an alternate entrance reserved for royalty."

Following her finger, Professor Kal saw that there was another much smaller gate some distance away from the main gate. A paved road led up to two thick stone doors that had a heavy steel rod barring both of them. He couldn't see any guards or personnel stationed there but drove the horses in that direction at her request.

As soon as Professor Kal pulled on the reigns, ordering the horses to stop, Alessandria jumped down from the back of the wagon. She made her way over to the thick doors, running her gloved hands over the cold stone until she found what she was looking for. Opening a hidden latch, she leaned in closely and whispered something into the hole. As soon as she uttered the final word, the steel bar, as thick as a man's thigh, slid to the side and into the stone wall with a rattling 'thunk'.

Although the double doors were much smaller than the main gate, they stilled weighed several dozens of tons. To a testament of human engineering, they slowly swung inwards with nary a sound. Pleased with herself, Princess Alessandria skipped back to the wagon before climbing up into the driver's bench and taking a seat next to Professor Kal. Without sparing her a glance, he drove the horses and wagon into the now open corridor. After a few minutes they had made it to the other side of the mind-boggling thick walls, where they were promptly surrounded by half a company of armed soldiers.

…..

The shabby covered wagon rolled to a stop in front of an upper-class inn, it wasn't the most expensive one could find within the city, but it was far from the cheapest. Once it was safe to disembark the five occupants spilled out and onto the paved road. It was deep into the night; the drunks had been filtering out of the bars and shambling home for some time now. They were all terribly exhausted from what they were forced to go through for the past several hours.

"Do you think Miss Marissa will be alright?" Laura asked Professor Treffle with concern in her eyes.

Marissa had left their party as soon as they were released from the grasps of the royal inquisitors. Once they had convinced the soldiers that Alessandria was, in fact, the First Princess, they all were immediately apprehended. Apparently, much to the group's surprise, she was presumed either captured or dead, naturally her turning up unharmed had caused quite the commotion.

Everyone had been terrified of Professor Kal as they were taken into custody, not because he had done anything, but because they were sure he was going to. Completely blindsiding them, he did nothing; he actually was very polite to the soldiers even as they placed iron cuffs around his wrists. They just couldn't believe it. It brought into question if the man they knew had been replaced by some doppelganger, or perhaps he had come down with some variety of terrible illness.

As it would turn out, his uncharacteristic behavior was attributed to Princess Alessandria herself. She had known that something like this could have been a possibility, not the fact they thought her dead, but that her escorts might be temporarily detained. With that in mind, she begged and pleaded with the man to behave if this situation did in fact take place. None of her sweet words seemed to work on the stone hearted man. She was finally forced to offer up even more of her family's immense wealth to him as an offering. Whatever amount she had presented to him, it was enough to prevent his temper from flaring. He even hummed a happy tune as he took a seat inside an iron jail cell.

Once everything was said and done, they were released and given every praise possible for escorting the Princess back to the capital. Professor Kal refused an offer to stay inside the palace as yet another reward, this time from the King himself. He said he would rather not be so close to prying eyes, and there was still the fact that they had come to the capital for a specific reason.

Once they stepped outside into the fresh winter air, Marissa said her goodbyes. She said that since her sister was serving a noble family, the estate was not too much of a distance from the Royal Palace and could walk. Even after most of the group, minus Professor Kal, offered to drop her off, she refused. They were forced to reluctantly watch her figure disappear into the darkness.

"She's a big girl, she can take care of herself." Professor Kal cut in before Professor Treffle could answer Laura's question. "And I'm certain we'll see her again."

Producing a small bag of gold coins from his storage ring, Professor Kal handed it over to Professor Treffle. "Go ahead a get settled in. I'm going to go ahead a scout out the city and find someplace to call our own."

"Aren't you tired? You know what, never mind." Professor Treffle said. "Come on, I need a bath." She finished as she corralled the sleepy-eyed yawning students.

As they disappeared into the warm embrace of the well-lit inn, Professor Kal turned in the opposite direction. He wanted to set up an area where he could have some privacy as quickly as possible. He could not have cared less about who cursed the brat, he was just going to pawn that troublesome affair off onto his unsuspecting students. What he really came here for was the famous dungeon located just on the outskirts of the city.

It was said that the dungeon consisted mainly of undead and was much, much larger than the only two-level deep dungeon he had been in before. He had heard that adventurers had mapped out a total of twenty-seven floors so far, with more unexplored sections just waiting to be discovered. Pulling up his black hood, Professor Kal melded into the night as he made his way down the dark alleyway.

The city itself was massive, it easily took up an area of a little more than fifty square miles. Thousands of buildings were built in a haphazard way, creating a maze of dark alleyways and dead ends. As he traveled further from the upper-class district of the city it only seemed to grow worse. The buildings were not only built much closer to each other but were also beginning to show signs of disrepair.

He had no set direction he was following, only aimlessly strolling closer to the dungeon he wished to enter. The sky was just beginning to lighten as the sun peeked over the horizon. He had noticed several pairs of eyes following him as he wondered, he thought nothing of it. He welcomed the local thugs to test their metal against him, unfortunately, there were none willing to attack.

He was now within a mile of the dungeon; he could feel the substantial flow of mana being drawn toward the subterranean prison. The area around the dungeon was much more spread out than the claustrophobic grouping of houses and shops that he was forced to navigate on the journey here. A tall wall surrounded the entrance to the dungeon that resembled a large mausoleum. An equally large building was sitting just outside of the gates, an offshoot of the Adventurers' Association, conveniently placed for all those that were brave enough to challenge the dungeon.

He looked around, taking note of any other worthwhile locations in the immediate vicinity. His eyes fell upon the most wonderful of sights. It was a perfect place to assemble his lab, with plenty of space and convenient access to the undead dungeon. Also, as fate would have it, a 'For Sale' sign hung from a post, its corroded hinges squeaking as it swayed in the breeze. Professor Kal rubbed his hands together in anticipation, he couldn't wait to get started.

…..

"You have got to be fucking kidding me! Is this your idea of some sick joke!?" Professor Treffle screamed with animated hands.

"Seriously Professor? This is the place you picked out?" Ben said with a dead pan face.

The other three students just stood there, in the middle of the busy road, shaking their heads. Professor Kal had showed up at the inn they were staying at with a pep in his step. He had told them that he had found the perfect place to call home and couldn't wait to show them. He even paid for a carriage to take them there he was so excited.

"I thought you said that I would have a say in choosing the place, or does my opinion not matter?" Professor Treffle asked, ire evident in her voice.

Professor Kal paused a moment, deep in thought. "I don't recall ever saying something like that. And as far as the other point, of course your opinion doesn't matter! If I had to go around asking permission for everything, I'd never get anything done."

Professor Treffle threw her hands up in defeat, taking the high road and walking away from the man that drove her insane. Ignoring the woman that wanted him dead more than anything in the world, Professor Kal beckoned the four students to follow him as he sauntered toward the inn he had purchased earlier in the day.

If it had anything going for it, at least it was plenty big enough for everyone. With more than twenty individual rooms, not counting the large kitchen, serving area, and reception desk, it took up almost an acre of real estate. Dilapidated stables occupied a corner next to the road, the wood making up the structure was weathered and rotten. It looked to be large enough the house several animals at once, unfortunately, it would require a massive amount of work to be usable.

The main building itself was in a much better state of repair. The main structure was stable enough, only the easily replaceable flashing and wood siding needing replaced. The windows marking each room reminded them of a broken smile as they walked up to the unfriendly double doors. At one point in time the doors were painted a deep red, but now the paint had peeled and faded into a pale pink which stood out in contrast to the rest of the foreboding building.

Professor Kal pulled out a large skeleton key from deep within his pocket, sliding it into the keyhole and giving it a quick turn, the doors unlatched with a loud 'thunk' allowing them inside. A steady stream of musty air assaulted their noses, causing the four students to cover their faces with gloved hands. Thick spider webs draped across the doorways and a deep layer of dust coated every surface.

Taking a step inside, the warped floorboards screeching in protest, Professor Kal took in a deep breath before letting it out in an exaggerated way. "Just wonderful, isn't it? It has so much potential. You lot can go explore, pick out whichever rooms you want." He pulled out a large bag of coins and placed them in Ryan's hands. "I'll leave furnishings up to you, the only place that's off limits is the basement, I've already claimed that area."

"Wait, what? Where are you going?" Ryan desperately asked as Professor Kal made his way back through the front doors after handing him the money.

"I'm going to go exploring."

"You just can't dump this on us! It'll take days to clean everything and make it habitable. And why an inn? Couldn't you have found an actual house?"

"It won't take that long, you have magic, use it! And I figured that you all wanted the extra space, so please forgive me for trying to be considerate." Professor Kal stated, looking hurt.

Ryan and the others rolled their eyes, they knew all too well that the Professor was many things, but considerate was not one of them. His next sentence proved that sentiment true.

"Plus, I want you to start seeking out information on whoever cursed that prick. What better way to gather information than by running an inn?"

"Uh, we could just ask around, or you know, pay some people off. There are loads better ways to get information!"

Ryan's shouts of protest fell on deaf ears as Professor Kal had already slipped out the doors and was walking towards the dungeon only a short distance away.