Chapter 89 - The Announcement

'Impossible, how is that man alive?' Gallienne stood alone in a dimly lit room. 'Where did I keep that bloody thing,' she searched drawers to drawers, her goal – an item her uncle left behind years ago. A piece of forbidden knowledge that should have not been hers from the beginning.  Behind, lurking in the shadows, Theodore stepped in. "Are you in trouble, master?" he asked, the aura around him remained as mysterious as ever. "Not really Theodore, do me a favor and keep an eye on that queen and fiancé of hers – I've got a bad feeling about them." Her eyes remained to the floor, she searched up and down, the room was turned upside down.

"Kanad," inside the throne room, a lady with an arousing voice spoke. She took her time pronouncing each syllable of his name. "K a n a d," she let out a little m.o.a.n and bit her lower lip. "Cut it out, Kylsha," he paid no heed to her jests. Instead, the focus turned solely on the people present in said banquet. "Don't you remember what our Lord told us to do?" he turned around. They both stood near the farthest edge of the hall. Better view and people would not pay attention to them, though their attire was on par with the noble's present. "Yes, I do, but that mission is boring. Only observing and not having fun," her speech remained slow and mysterious – her eyes red and filled with a feeling of dread. "I want to devour someone," her face changed into a pout. "No, no devouring till the banquet is over, understand?" he placed his index finger on her lips. "You better act civil," he leaned closer, "-or I'll eat you instead," he licked her ears and went back to the mission given to him. She panted; her heart raced – demons were scary entities not yet fought by humans. Hesitantly, she stopped and joined him in his adventure.

"Staxius," outside, the wind grew cold, noise in the background filtered out. Julius's eyes felt serious. "-do you have any idea of what is happening around us?" He asked, his hands rested on Staxius's shoulder. "Is it the arrival of monsters?" he replied with a tone of regret. "Yes, but how did you k-know that?" Julius looked perplexed but quickly followed up with, "-did they enter Arda too?" With a big sigh, Staxius replied,"-yes they did. Those things are monsters that evolve constantly." Julius took a step back, "I haven't actually fought one myself. Rumors ran rampant that on the edge of Totrya and Oxshield, otherworldly beings attacked anyone. At first, I thought it was but lies and rumors – however, when I heard the guild intervene, it made my fears turn to reality." Staxius stepped forward and gave him a quick hug, "worry not friend, I've been working to find the most efficient way to exterminate those pesky creatures." He handed him a small notebook of which the name read, *Monsters and Weapons,* in that, Julius saw something amazing. Diagrams that perfectly recreated how the monsters looked, a short description of how they fought and what worked best against them. First on the list was goblins. Though the method for beating them remained a mystery for him, the diagram was perfect. "They don't look that strong but strength in numbers I'm guessing?" a quick look revealed much-needed information. "Yes Julius, that's correct," that was deduction coming in, Julius was as wise as he was strong. They continued to speak with one another, Staxius bore a smile as well as his friend.

Xula stood with countless people around her cheering but kept her eyes on her fiancé. He looked stunning that night. Try as hard as she might, she could not take her eyes off him. "Someone is awfully observant," Ancret added, her usual flirty side came out. "Whatever do you mean?" Xula smirked and avoided her teasing masterfully. "You've bested me, I yield," Ancret spoke dramatically, she acted as if she had gotten slain. Xula chuckled, and everyone laughed. The party truly was a bundle of joy, Millicent's smile remained but was an image from the past. Her true joy faded long ago – none knew why. A few minutes later, Eira spotted her friend, Ysmay. The latter scurried outside to a balcony filled with beautiful and strong looking people. Most notably Xula, she stood out like white on black. The moon shining behind served to only enhance how she looked.

*Ding, Ding, Ding,* a man spoke, demanding the attention of everyone present. "Attention please, we've got an announcement to make on this auspicious day." The voice reverberated. Raulf Serlo spoke, flying bee shaped machines stood by. It broadcasted live whatever he was about to say. "We should probably go in," Julius took charge and led everyone inside. "Xula?" Staxius approached, her mind was in the clouds. "-we should probably get going," he blew in her eyes then took her hand and escorted her inside. "You definitely should stop with the blowing in my ear, it gets me jolty and I don't like it." She pouted. "Fine, fine," he wasn't going to stop.

"Greetings ladies and gentlemen, I am, Raulf Serlo, the current holder of the divine-blade title." He took a pause and stared at the papers in his hands. "On behalf of the guilds and royal family, I've got something rather important to announce. This doesn't correlate to the majesty's day of birth – rather it's one that could change how the people in Hidros live. As you all know, reports have been coming in that people go missing around the edge of Totrya. That much is true, however, the real reason is that Hidros is being invaded or has sadly already been invaded by monsters." He snapped, a video played on a floating screen, the same one used on the airsh.i.p.s circling around the capital. "As you see, these monsters are vile and merciless." The video showed how strong they were – it got filmed earlier, a few clueless adventures jumped the wall to go look for adventure, sadly they died. "Hope isn't lost," another image played, this time, it showed the army defeating one of those beasts. "As you see, they vanish into dust the moment they are killed. To add to that, it drops coins and items. Nevertheless, defeating one of those beasts isn't a job any ordinary human can partake in." He walked over to a strange figure covered with a blanket, it had been brought in moments earlier. "To prevent any casualties, this device has been built to accurately distinguish a human's capabilities and if he's worthy to become an adventurer." He pulled the piece of cloth.

The apparatus didn't look that impressive, it was a mirror with a small place to put your finger in.  "After weeks of countless research and work, this piece of technology is the pinnacle of our knowledge." He stepped away. "With this, comes another thing, a new ranking system has been put in place. We aren't the one who decides your ranks, its that machine. We only rely on the information it gives us about the potential of any new adventurers."

A chart came up on the screen, "The ranking systems will be divided into ten tiers. Tier one being the strongest and Tier-ten being the worst. To stop confusion, names will be given to each rank. Starting from Tier one: Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Steel, Obsidian and Porcelain. If you're wondering how the old S-ranking system compares with this one, then Gold-rank or Tier-two is equivalent to SSS-rank. More information on the matter will be given at each respectable guild. The fighters and mages guild will now stop taking in applicants. If one chooses to become an adventurer, one must register with one of the individual guilds or go solo, the choice is yours. The main change is from the currency, each monster drops a coin that is precious and pure. A trade ban has been imposed on said items, one can only exchange them at the central guilds who also controls the bank. It's a precaution for the kingdom's financial status to remain the same. With this my speech ends, I hope you all have a lovely night." The mic turned off; the message spread around the island like wildfire.

As predicted, most didn't take said message lightly, rather they were angry. The king's day of birth helped to quell the hearts of many – the festival organized in the capital aided massively. The hall remained silent, all that had to be processed. Staxius and Julius watched with sparkles in their eyes. A new ranking system, everything overhauled – it became obvious that mages had outgrown their stay. They knew it to be true, but that prospect of a machine telling how powerful a person could be; made it more than enough. Adventurers, heroes to be born, history to be made, the start of a new world. "D-did you h-hear that," Julius slowly stared at Staxius. "Y-yes I did," despite standing near royalty, Staxius's facial impression changed to one of a child who found a new toy. "They smiled at each other like idiots," Autumn quickly corrected her brother's stance with a quick elbow to the ribs. Xula did the same but less violent, she instead caressed his cheeks and smile menacingly. To that, Staxius winked and continued to watch in awe. Xula shook her head in disappointment but chuckled.

An hour went by, the banquet reached its end. Dinner got served, everyone sat according to their rank and prestige surrounded by families and friends. The king sat, atop a small podium and looked down upon everyone with a glass of wine. Royalty had to sit near royalty, hence, Xula sat atop the same podium on a different table. She sat with Staxius, there was room for only them. Everyone raised their glass and toasted to the king's long life. The dinner carried on quietly. It felt somewhat too calm, Staxius's guard got up unintentionally. He felt the presence of two otherworldly beings faintly.

The candle inside his pocket burnt up as a servant closed in with another glass of wine. He placed it on their table then left, the princess looked as nonchalant as ever. "Xula," Staxius reached in and grabbed her drink. "Why don't we exchange," he winked. Her glass got poisoned, the candle heated so much it hurt him. 'I knew it, assassinations at royal banquets. Whoever did this have some guts.' He looked around to see if anyone suspicious could be seen. In the farthest corner, he noticed something. Two individuals who were clearly not there before stood up. "Kanad, I want to kill," sat idly while sipping wine, she uttered. "Kylsha, I said no to killing," a faint sensation shook him. It felt like he was being watched by someone or something. *Kill as many as you want,* it whispered. "No need to tell me twice," Kylsha jumped out of her chair and threw what seemed to be darts at everyone near her table. Below her, Kanad dashed behind and launched a spell at the king. It took the form of an arrow with a skull on its tail.

It took all by shock, a surprise attack. Luck would have it that the silver guardians were the one who sat at that table, the darts were neutralized. *Ice Element; Frozen-Barrier,* Eira reacted quickly. A wall of ice protected Millicent and Ysmay who came to chat. "You're not the only monsters here," Undrar moved so fast none saw it, she grabbed the demon's foot and slammed her on the ground. Sadly, the arrow the other one shot moved so fast even Raulf could not reach it in time. Staxius's hand shook, everyone looked like they stopped moving except for the arrow. Xula remained stuck in place, Staxius watched. 'Close your eyes, relax, maintain your breathing.' He saw everything became clear, the arrow had a faint red aura surrounding it. 'Two, three, five, one, two, zero,' gone. He vanished, *Dark-arts; mana-cancellation,* he channel the spell into his palm and caught the arrow. "YOUR MAJESTY," Raulf screamed, he thought the king got killed. He looked back to see Staxius sitting with his legs crossed and the spell in his hands. The black mist faded, he laughed, the eyes remained closed.