Chapter 329: A Bigger Fish

Up ahead, Alex spied his friends gathered around a campfire.

“Look what I found!” he called.

Theresa, Thundar, Khalik and Isolde looked up. They’d been taking turns feeding Brutus bits of meat; a pair of the cerberus’ drooling heads swivelled between them while the third turned to Alex and the Heroes, his eyes flashing in the firelight. Nearby, Najyah perched on top of Khalik’s tent hungrily watching birds circling above, her talons gripped a horizontal pole.

The prince was the first to get up. “Well, well, well, and so the Heroes are here,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. Alex knew him well enough to get the meaning hidden in his words. The prince’s eyes rested onfour Heroes, not three.

“Welcome back to Wizard Land,” Thundar said. “Population: wizards.”

“Aye, I do got eyes sharp enough to see that,” Cedric said, his gaze focusing on Isolde. He was all smiles.

The colour was draining from the noblewoman’s face, her eyes growing with surprise. Scrambling to her feet, she dusted herself off and straightened the front of her dress before giving the Chosen a little, closed mouth smile. Her face was the perfect mask of decorum, but nerves played all through her body as Cedric came closer.

Subtly, the Chosen flexed his bare chest muscles, his body language resembled a colourful male bird’s in mating season. Yet, he also carried a touch of stiffness around the shoulders and in his gait: his own tell.

It took all of Alex’s will not to chuckle; but he knew if he did, Isolde might call him ‘Roth’ for the rest of his natural days. He threw Khalik a meaningful look, subtly nodding toward the young noblewoman. The prince’s eyes drifted to Isolde, studying her for a few seconds, then realisation spread across his face, brightening his eyes and setting a twitch to his lip. He elbowed Thundar and casually inclined his head.

The minotaur grunted, following the prince’s gaze as the young noblewoman tucked a lock of ebony hair behind her ear…

‘What…?’ he mouthed, the word was met with a disappointed stare from Khalik.

‘I’ll tell you later’, Khalik whispered, then rolled his eyes at Alex, who shrugged. The Thameish wizard glanced at Theresa, but she was oblivious as she and Drestra approached each other.

“Have the wilds treated you well, Drestra?” the young huntress asked.

“They are even-handed as always, but I have stayed on their good side so far,” Drestra’s tone was relaxed and friendly.

“I hope you stay on their good side, and that Ravener-spawn feels their wrath,” Theresa said as Brutus padded up beside her.

The Sage startled as the cerberus’ heads came toward her.

“Uh-uh! Brutus, you’re scaring her,” Theresa chided him, then gave Drestra an apologetic smile. “He’s friendly with almost everyo—” She glanced at Alex. “—well, with everyone these days. He won’t bite.”

“Are you sure?” Drestra asked, eyeing Brutus’ panting, faces sceptically. They were nearly at eye level with her.

“Oh yeah, just let him sniff you first.”

Cautiously, the Sage reached out, letting three snouts sniff her open hand. A heartbeat later, three big, wet tongues licked her, and her giggle sounded like popping firewood. As Alex watched, mentally asking Claygon to set the stones down beside his tent, the Sage’s tension melted away.

‘This must be like a little vacation for the Heroes,’ he thought. ‘Beats dungeon diving all the ti—”

“Hey,” a deep voice cut through his thoughts.

He startled, whirling toward the towering Hart Redfletcher.

The giant of a man had been so quiet, Alex had almost forgotten he was beside him. It was strange; Hart was no taller than Thundar or Baelin, but seeing a human that big—yet so quiet—was just eerie.

“Jumpy, much?” Hart smiled.

“Y-No. What’s up, Hart?” Alex asked.

“Do you know where your one friend is?”

“My one what now?” Alex asked. “Most of them are here.”

“No, not them…you know, the hot one. The really hot one.”

“Theresa—Oh, you mean, Tyris?” Alex understood who Hart meant because…he’d been born with eyes. “She’s over there, near Vesuvius.”

“Oh her big doom tortoise?” Hart squinted across the sea of tents and campfires, spotting Vesuvius then a certain red-headed young woman sitting by her tortoise’s feet beside a campfire.

Even at this distance, Alex saw her golden tooth glinting as she laughed.

“Well, looks like my holiday begins,” Hart grinned. “I’ll be back.”

‘You sure about that?’ Alex thought.

Without another word, the Champion strode across camp with all the confidence of a storybook hero about to slay a dragon. It took a few moments for Tyris to see him, and Alex didn’t need to read body language to tell how the red-head felt about seeing the big man.

She sprang up—all smiles—wearing the same look as most of the lecherous regulars who spent a lot of their time and coin in the Lu family’s taproom.

He and Claygon went over to Theresa and Drestra, and as they sat down, Khalik and Thundar drifted over, joining the conversation. The Sage told them what the Heroes had been dealing with for the past while: their travels and battles with dungeons…and some other interesting news.

“We came across two hordes of those cultists near the river a while back and killed most of them, but, like vermin, some got away. And last week, the king’s navy sank some of their boats trying to make it to our shore, so I think we can say we’re making progress. It’s just hard to know how much when we don’t know how many of these demon followers we’re actually dealing with.”

“Bastards,” Theresa said. “I hope you get them all.”

“No, save some for us,” Thundar grunted. “If I could go down there and kill their abyssal knight myself, I would.”

“You speak of impossibilities,” Drestra said. “But…I would do the same. The last thing we need now are these pests.”

“Well, it’s technically possible to go down there,” Alex said, recalling some of his lessons in summoning. “Some really powerful teleportation magic can literally send you to the hells, the elemental planes, or any other place you want.”

“Really?” Drestra’s eyes widened. “Wonder of wonders.”

“Well, it might not be so wonderful if you do not have the spells to shield yourself from the rigours of other planes,” Khalik said. “The plane of earth is filled with crushing rock and dangerous natural gases. The elemental plane of fire…well, the name tells the story. And the planes of the demons? Chaos to a degree that twists toward what we might call evil. Spells are needed to guard your body, mind and soul from being ravaged by these strange worlds, just as an Orb of Air spell will guard your lungs while beneath water.”

“It’s true,” Alex said. “I guess we’ll probably learn those in our final year? Maybe in graduate studies? Spells like that are fifth-tier and above.”

“Ahhhh…I am nearly at fifth-tier magic myself,” Drestra said, a tinge of pride in her crackling voice. “I wish I was blessed with knowledge of the magic you are all surrounded by, and the time to learn it! But, there’s so little time now.”

“Do the court wizards not teach you more spells as you grow?” Alex frowned.

“Some, but mostly combat spells. There’s a lot that I have seen here that I’ve never even heard of.”

“Well, you won’t learn much from us since you’re already at fifth-tier, but the next time I see Baelin, I’ll tell him you could use a bit more variety in your spell selection,” Alex said. “I can’t guarantee anything, but he might be able to help.”

A look crossed her reptilian eyes.

“He made such an offer when we first met,” she said quietly.

“Well, that is a grand thing,” the prince said. “No need for us to act as go-betweens then. You already have the ear of the king, so to speak. Why not take him up on it?”

Drestra hesitated before asking. “…what will it cost?”

Khalik, Alex and Thundar looked at each other.

“Well…tuition’s not exactly cheap,” the minotaur said. “My clan isn’t poor, but we had to pool a lot of resources to send me to Generasi.”

“I needed a pretty beefy scholarship to afford it,” Alex added.

Prince Khalik shrugged. “I got by.”

The minotaur glared at him.

“...I don’t think she’s talking about tuition, guys,” Theresa said.

“…ooooooh,” all three young men said at once.

The huntress rolled her eyes, while Drestra raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I wouldn’t have time to enrol anyway…and I don’t think that is what he meant. But…wizards, witches…other powerful things…deities…they don’t offer much without expecting something in return.”

“Mmmmm, smart to think about that,” Alex said. “But…maybe you could ask him what he’d want. Maybe bargain with him. Baelin’s…Baelin, but he treats students fairly. I don’t think he’d try to trick you or anything.”

“Yeah, the guy’s an old monster, but he’s fair. Kind in his own way,” Thundar said. “Horrifying in other ways, but not to us.”

“I do not expect his help will be entirely free, though,” Prince Khalik said. “In the end, your decision will be yours. If you do ask for his aid…welcome to being an honorary member of Generasi university, I say.”

“Hear, hear to that,” Alex said.

“Oi!” Cedric’s voice suddenly called out, cutting them off. “Why don’t we get started with these stones? I’ve got a wee bit of energy to work out.”

The chosen was striding away from Isolde, displaying his muscular torso in all its glory. Alex noticed Isolde was staring at the Thameish Hero’s hair as he walked away.

There it was.

She would never hear the end of this.

“Alright,” Alex said. “You’re on. Each of those stones is five hundred pounds. What say we do as many shoulder presses as we can in a minute?”

“Good enough for me,” Cedric looked at Drestra. “You’d need your magic to hoist one o’ these stones, but do you want in on this? It’ll be like the clan games. A wee version.”

There was a pause as something shifted beneath her veil.

“No.” Her voice crackled. “I will leave the big rock moving to you. I actually want to rest after our journey.”

“Fair enough.” Cedric shrugged.

“What about you three?” Alex asked Khalik, Thundar and Theresa. “You up for this? And where’s Grimloch, now that I think of it?”

“He is busy with the sentries,” the prince said. “And…” He glanced at the stones. “As much as I hate to admit it, that is a little too much for me. I will leave this contest to you monsters.”

“And I want to actually relax this evening too,” Theresa said, glancing at Cedric then back to Alex. “Are you taking your shirt off too?”

“Probably not,” Alex said. “It’s a little draughty and…”

He paused, noticing the flash of disappointment cross her face.

“…I mean, of course I will.”

Her eyes lit up. “Well…if you want to,” she said, her cheeks reddening.

One look at that blush had Alex tearing his shirt off, thanking Thundar for the illusion magic they’d come up with; their spell was holding up well, letting his bare shoulder look…well, bare and unmarked.

“Alright, count me in,” Thundar said, jumping up on his hooves. “I wanna see how I match up to the ‘Chosen of Thameland.’ ”

“Well, if’n you want to fall to Uldar’s granted might, then ya both can be my guests.”

Alex and Thundar looked at each other.

Then cracked their knuckles.

They set up in the area Alex had cleared near his tent away from the fire. The three competitors stood in a line with their shirts off, and a growing audience. Expedition members looked over with curiosity as Claygon thundered over, balancing a building stone in each hand.

His footsteps shook the ground.

Theresa, Isolde, Drestra, Brutus, Khalik and Najyah had front row seats to the competition, with the young huntress whistling as Alex stretched his sculpted physique. Isolde pretended she was only partly-interested, but her eyes moved from Cedric’s face, to his hair, to the glowing symbol on his chest.

The chosen looked very happy. “Well, no sense in more delays. Let’s get started.”

“What about Hart?” Alex asked.

Cedric gave him a look. “He’ll humiliate all of us, so we best get this done before he comes back, aye?”

“Deal,” Alex said. “Claygon?”

As the three young men held their hands above their heads, the golem reached forward and plopped a heavy stone into their waiting palms. Alex powered up Warp Flesh, letting the current pass through his muscles, bones and connective tissues. Slowly casting Mana to Life, he supported his body.

And then—

“Go!” Theresa shouted.

They began to lift.

Alex clenched his jaw and focused.

‘You might be partly trying to beat them, but the person you really want to beat is you. Break your own limits,’ he told himself.

Again and again his shoulders flexed, pressing the five hundred pound building stone above his head. His arms burned from micro-tears spreading through them. After ten presses, he could feel fatigue coming on.

Alex risked a glance at the Chosen and minotaur.

Thundar grunted, pressing his stone with effort, moving faster than Alex, but not by much. Cedric, meanwhile, was blowing through each repetition at twice Alex’s speed. He was straining a bit with each lift, but there was a bright smile shining across his face.

“I could do this aaaaall day,” he grunted.

Groaning, Alex pressed the stone up one last time. “Well, I can’t…yet,” he passed the rock to Claygon and leaned against him.

Cedric and Thundar pushed on, with the minotaur failing after a few more reps.

They’d beaten Alex, but that was alright.

His strength was increasing…and now he had a goal to shoot for.

He was counting Cedric’s reps, setting his final number as a bar to cross. Finally, the Chosen finished his last rep and handed the stone to Claygon.

“Hah! Thirty-five!” Cedric cheered. “Don’t really train my strength much since I got the blessin’—speed n’ technique work better against Ravener spawn—so this is pretty good since I’m a bit rusty!”

“You pressed five-hundred pounds thirty five times in a minute, man,” Thundar panted. “I think that’s more than pretty good.”

“Not by my standard,” a deep voice said.

Cedric froze as Hart strolled toward him, followed by Tyris and her friends. “Room for one more?”

“Oh no,” Cedric groaned.

“Make that two,” another voice said, one that sounded like two boulders grinding together.

Grimloch glided out from behind Claygon, fixing the Champion with two coal, black eyes. “Your god make you strong?”

Hart looked up at the sharkman. “Strong enough. Yours?”

“I’m strong because I’m strong,” the sharkman growled. “Come on, let’s see who comes out on top.” He looked at Alex. “I want two stones.”

“Same,” Hart said.

Cedric, Thundar and Alex looked at each other then stepped aside as the Champion and giant sharkman squared up. Claygon handed them each two building stones.

And then they began to press.

Alex’s jaw fell open.

It was like they were pressing air as they grinned at each other and Tyris wolf-whistled.

“Well…guess there’s always a bigger fish,” Alex said.

“...that’s a terrible joke,” Thundar said.

“I didn’t think it was too bad,” the Chosen said.

“You got taste, Cedric, not like some folks,” Alex said.

A sharp screech suddenly drew their eyes from the contest.

Najyah had shot from her perch, launching to the skies with a single beat of her wings. Above, the circling birds scattered, fleeing in all directions.

But all weren’t quick enough.

With a flash of talon, the eagle snatched a crow from the sky, screaming in triumph.

“Case in point…” Alex said. “Always a bigger fish, or bird, as the case may be.”

Miles away, one of the hag sisters shrieked.

She felt talons pierce her body. A beak ripping her flesh.

Blood was pouring from her wounds. Pouring as her body was torn apar—

With an effort of will, she broke the connection with her spy bird. “Wretched creature, I’ll send a flock to pluck its eyes out!”

“No, you fool, be still. Petty revenge will lead to our discovery. Let it go,” her sister said from across the fire. The flickering light lengthened her shadow in their burrow beneath the windmill. “Rejoin the connection with our servants still watching those who arrived on horseback…I see something interesting.”

The hag smiled, her eyes distant as she observed something through her servants’ eyes. “Tricky…tricky humans. They even trick each other.”