Zectas Volume IV: The Salubrious City of Centzo (17 page)

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After Smoke and the residents of all three villages got out of the valley, he had Guro tell them in a calm and factual manner that Horrabelle was on their tail. The speed of the refugees almost doubled, as they realized what would happen if she caught up with them. They even endured much shorter breaks during the long path to Verbrannt.
Flying around and using Earth Manipulation, Smoke and Ledur also made sure to leave several false trails and cover their tracks.
Their caravan of refugees spent the next six days on the run. They successfully escaped Horrabelle and her heinous army.
As soon as Smoke saw Verbrannt's territory, he addressed the refugees. "From now on, you will be no longer be from Tatlong, Lugar or Pinagsama, but rather all of us will belong to one place: Verbrannt. As such, we will treat each other as family and protect each other with our lives on the line."
Throughout the entire trip, Smoke increased his Intimacy with the refugees to 80%. He hoped that this would be enough for him to call upon them for help and fight Horrabelle's forces in the future.
After they passed through the thorny maze and the plains filled with concealed trenches, Smoke saw a group of people waiting for them. Thyrsus and Vijaya greeted them, along with a welcoming committee from Verbrannt.
Among them was an old lady with a hell piglet by her side.
As most of the refugees were still shaken up, the residents of Verbrannt made sure to give them a warm welcome and make them feel at home.
The old lady had the children of Verbrannt make gifts for the arriving refugee children. They gave the girls dolls that were made from rabbit pelts and stuffed with cotton, while the boys received toy swords and shields made from leftover wood.
With his heart filled with delight from seeing such a heartwarming scene,  Smoke walked over to the old lady.
"Thank you for accepting my request, Madam Dawny," he said before kneeling down and petting the hell piglet sitting next to her. "I know this guy can't replace Ental, but I'm glad that you've taken a liking to him."
"I was surprised when Billig came knocking at my door and gave it to me," she responded in a pleasant manner. "But I was even more surprised when I got your letter. I appreciate how you took the time to write a formal letter, asking me to take care of the orphans."
Smoke remained silent and smiled at her. The real reason why he wrote a letter was because he was afraid to speak with her after her beloved hell boar died while under his supervision. He remembered how he felt when he was told that his parents had died, and couldn't bring himself to personally deliver news of that sort to her.
"Losing Ental was a tragedy, but these children losing their parents is even more so. That's why I came right away," remarked Madam Dawny with great concern.
"I know you'll be great with them," declared Smoke with confidence. He knew it was the right decision to ask Madam Dawny to take care of the children rescued from Mount Foudre. She had even managed to make them feel good about themselves while making the gifts. "We’ll talk more later."
He then searched for the cuddly red werebear, but strangely found no sign of her. Thinking about it, he also had not seen a single Werewolf in Verbrannt since he arrived.
"Where's Sierra?" he asked Thyrsus.
"She's out training Vrai and Ardu," stated Vijaya in Thyrsus' behalf.
"They're the new recruits into her Therianthrope army," said Thyrsus.
"Are they her new Beta Werewolves? Can they compete with Phen and Rear?" Smoke asked Thyrsus passively.
"Oh, they are more than capable of taking on Phen and Rear," quickly answered Vijaya.
"Vijaya, please. I can answer for myself," said Thyrsus. "Vrai and Ardu aren't Werewolves."
Vijaya let out a loud “Hmpf” and stormed away.
"Trouble in paradise?" Smoke asked as soon as Vijaya was out of earshot.
"Something like that. I forgot how much she loves getting attention, that's all. But we're compromising and working things out. It’s been—"
Smoke stopped Thyrsus before he could say any more. "What was that about Sierra's new members, again?"
"Oh, sorry, I digress...." Thyrsus then explained how Sierra's blood had turned two Lioumerean children from Mount Foudre into Werebears. He told him that Sierra then conducted a test, to see if her blood could transform anyone into a Therianthrope, by spilling some of it over a Condortlian Warrior that volunteered.
“But the blood had no effect, which led her to believe that only the children are susceptible to it, probably due to the various experiments that have been conducted on them. Out of curiosity, she then spilled her blood over some of the weaker Werewolves of her pack, and they grew in size and strength!”
Smoke wasn't really surprised after hearing Thyrsus' explanation. He already knew from the parchment that dropped in Horrabelle's mansion that Sierra was somehow linked to the process of Therianthrope transformation. He just didn’t know that it was her blood that the Witch was after.
Before he realized it, he was already calling her. As he waited for the connection to be established, he thought about the things he wanted to tell her and questions he wanted to ask her. But Sierra didn’t answer his call.
'Must be busy,' he thought to himself and let her be.
As the refugees’ rations were running low, Smoke asked Thyrsus to send food over to the land he asked to be prepared for them in advance.
He then led the newest residents of Verbrannt to a vast plain near the foot of Mount Engrais.
Sierra had walls built around the newly-converted land, and Sharanga’s early-warning devices scattered outside for added protection. With that, Verbrannt officially covered an area of twenty-eight square kilometers.
Guro and the refugees were given four square kilometers to live on. The land in this area was nearly as fertile as the one in their home valley.
While the refugees explored the expansive field and houses that were still under construction, Smoke and Guro decided to rest and enjoy a light snack.
“The villagers look like they’ll be comfortable here,” said Guro while taking a bite out of her jerky.
Smoke grinned back at her. “Told you so.”
“That you did,” she replied solemnly.
Suddenly, Guro moved in front of Smoke. She sighed and said, "I never thought I would do this again. Let alone to someone who is clearly younger than me."
She then slightly bowed before him. "I, Guro Digmaan, would like to submit myself to your fold."
Smoke was surprised by the sudden turn of events but grabbed the opportunity presented to him.
"It would be an honor," he replied and waited for the notification window.
 

Reading her ability list, he felt as if his 999 Luck stat was responsible for bringing Guro to Verbrannt.
"Say, now that we're safe, I would like to ask you for a favor," he said in his most charming voice.
"As long as it's within my ability, I’ll consider it," replied Guro without hesitation.
Smoke then took Guro to the training grounds of the Armored Farmers. "See those? There are about a thousand Farmers willing to fight in order to protect our lands from invaders."
Guro nodded and her face showed that she knew what Smoke was going to ask next. "But I'm guessing they're not that capable at the moment."
He sheepishly shook his head in response.
"Don't worry about it. I'll whip these Farmers into Ranseurs in no time at all," responded Guro with conviction.
As Smoke and Guro were discussing on what she would need in order to turn the Farmers into Ranseurs, Rasant, Stark and Weise arrived in front of them. The three Maneators were there to pay Smoke their respects.
Rasant was the first one to greet him and knelt in front of him. The orange Maneator spoke rapidly. "Welcome back! That's quite a number of people you’ve brought with you. Who’s the tough-looking lioness? But before anything else, let me tell you that my brothers have trained me in their ways, and my defense has greatly improved, and—"
Stark interjected by kneeling in front of Smoke and addressing him in a much deeper voice than Rasant. "Smoke, stronger than ever. Stark honors you always. Stark grows strong too. Stark show you," said the red Maneator and was about to pull Smoke away for a demonstration before a gray Maneator's hand stopped him.
"King Smoke has no time for that now, Stark," said Weise and bowed down next to his two brothers. "We gladly welcome your return, Smoke, King of Maneators."
Guro, who was standing next to Smoke, was taken aback at the sight of muscular, horned monsters who were kneeling before him.
"Wait...what?! You're the Maneator King?" she asked him with a dumbfounded look.
"Yeah. I was the one to inherit the title when the previous King died," he answered somberly.
Smoke then turned to the three Maneators and helped them up. Then, he almost got squished as the Maneators all gave him a hug.
"Listen, I'll come see you soon, okay? I still have some things to take care of," said Smoke and bade farewell to his three Maneators.
"I understand now. No wonder I've taken a liking to you," said Guro out of the blue.
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Smoke curiously.
"You see, I used to be a Gladiatrix of Zuchthaus," she said with deep emphasis.
"Zuchthaus???” he asked Guro in disbelief. “But how did you—”
"Leave the Labyrinth?" Guro finished Smoke's sentence for him. "König Mitleid helped me make my escape out of that wretched place."
Smoke had wondered how someone as powerful as Guro came to be the savior of the three villages, and he now realized that she got her experience inside the Labyrinth. "If you were a Gladiatrix of Zuchthaus, doesn't that mean you fought against Maneators?"
"Maneators, wolf spiders, fire salamanders, crested newts...even other Gladiators and Gladiatrices," she blurted out shamefully. "I was the one who always walked away alive."
Guro took in a deep breath as she recalled her time in Labyrinth of Zuchthaus. "Then came the day I fought against a Maneator whom the others called ‘King’, König Mitleid."
Smoke listened on to her story intently.
"I've faced stronger and faster Maneators than him, but no matter what I did, he would always counter my attacks," Guro shook her head as she spoke with admiration.
"In the end, he broke both my arms and legs," she shivered, crossed her arms and rubbed her hands against her shoulders. "However, he didn't kill me. He took a chunk out of my shoulder, but then proceeded to only pretend to devour me. He threw me out of the arena afterwards, to a shrouded area, away from the prying eyes of the Tenebris and gambling spectators."
"And then what happened?" asked Smoke as Guro paused longer than he could wait.
"I feared he was just saving me for later, but that clearly didn't happen," she said with a sarcastic laugh. "After that, König Mitleid left me alone. I stayed in the shadows and the Tenebris thought that he had eaten me."
Guro smirked at herself. "After living in the shadows for too long, I got bored. So, I decided to follow him around. I discovered that he was teaching his brothers new ways of life, but then one day, the Tenebris came and changed him."
Smoke motioned with his head that he knew what Guro meant, as he remembered König Mitleid's tale.
"He kept killing anything that was in his way, even his brothers, whenever he turned blood red with rage," she explained. "With the quick decline of the Maneators, Gladiators and Gladiatrices; the Tenebris sent down criminals to be executed. They used them as playthings for the mad Maneator King."
Smoke added what he remembered from what König Mitleid told him. "And during one of these executions, all members of the High Council of Tenebris were present. He killed all of them and took the Labyrinth key from the Zuchthaus Gatekeeper."
"So, you really are his successor," said Guro haughtily before she continued. "But what he didn’t know was that I was always watching him from the shadows. And when he escaped out of the Labyrinth, I escaped after him."
Smoke grinned proudly at her. He couldn't help but be even more impressed with his new private army member.
"But I have to say, the quality of the Maneators and their King has obviously dropped," she told Smoke flatly. "I could sense a slight vibe from you, but you don't have even a tenth of König Mitleid's presence."
"I've got no problem with you telling me that I'm nowhere near König's level, but I really don’t appreciate you calling my Maneators weak. Ever since they joined my personal army, they’ve proven to be its invaluable members time and time again."
"Well, I'm sorry if the truth offends you," said Guro as if it were a fact. "Perhaps something went wrong with their emergence?"
Smoke's face turned blank. "Emergence? What are you talking about?"
"I only observed it a couple of times, but it seemed that whenever the Tenebris created new Maneators, they would guide them into a special room to perform something they called ‘a ritual of emergence’. After some time, the Maneators would come out with names and a powerful aura around them. The ones that greeted you just now didn’t seem to possess anything like that."
He shook his head with cynicism. "I've completely explored the Labyrinth and found no such room. And there was nothing special about giving names to the Maneators."
"Ha! You think you've explored the entire Labyrinth? You probably didn’t even scratch the surface," retorted Guro superciliously.
Hearing Guro speak in an insolent manner, Smoke checked his Intimacy with her It was at 80. 'Guess she just talks this way to everyone,' he surmised.
"But I suppose you know where this special room is?" he asked and challenged her knowledge of the Labyrinth.
"Of course!" she responded and reached for the bag she carried, pulling a tattered map out of it. She carefully held it up for him to see.
"It's right here," said Guro as she pointed to the specific location of the hidden chamber.
Smoke couldn't believe the size of Guro's map. It was almost four times larger than the one he and Espion made from the time they explored the Zuchthaus Labyrinth. He immediately compared the one he had in his window and kept updating it as he asked how to enter the places he had not been to.
It took him almost an hour to update his map based on Guro's, when a notification window popped up.