Chapter 190: Hunting Party
Norman had been having a bad month. The quadriad and the many preparations that needed to be completed prior to its commencement were a pain, though necessary. While Fracture boasted several powerful members and branches all across the vast territories of Merkys, they were far from the only power. For one of their own to hold the position of Spire Head at the Academy was a massive boon for their organisation, and much of that came from the direct increase in recruitment.
He had been scouted during his own tenure as a student, and after a brief stint as part of the adventurer retinue for a noble family, had ultimately accepted Fracture’s invitation. His story was not a rare one. His home, a small town in the capital province, had been attacked by monsters during their rushed harvest prior to turbulence. Norman still remembered how the ground had trembled, and stingers attached to scorpions the size of cows had burst up from under the feet of fleeing farmers.
As a boy of fifteen Norman had wet his blade for the first time, the sizzling blood of the monster he had taken down with four other men melting through the rapidly rusting iron of his sword. It had been the first time he had ever fought the hated enemies of humanity, the monsters who ate away at their territory, killing in an indiscriminate rampage across civilised lands. A week later two teams of adventurers had arrived from the capital, and together with the townsfolk who had fought back the scorpions, had found and exterminated the nest.
The memory of sounds of angry chittering echoing off the geometric walls of the vast network of caverns they had delved into to hunt down their quarry had been etched into Norman’s mind. How the smell of acrid blood had stained the cave’s floor, and how the soles of his boots had been melted through only an hour into the extermination. The day had earned him several levels, and his rapid rise had ultimately earned him a spot in the Empire’s most esteemed institution.
The Academy, while a place of education whose primary purpose was the raising and fostering of the Empire’s, and their allies' youth, was no stranger to politics and schemes. When the ancient and powerful families of the Empire arrived to spectate their spawn compete in the quadriad the unseen aspect of the Academy had burst to life. A warrior he may be, but during the competition his role was little more than a messenger. Vevosis wanted something important delivered, Norman would be the one given the task. The trust was flattering, but the work was not.
When one day he and the other Fracture members currently on the islands were brought into a meeting and told to prepare for the possibility of an attack, he hadn’t known what to think. Surely the Republic was incapable of such a feat. He had been on his way to give instructions to the Academy enforcers, men and women who’s association was with the Academy, not the order that sought to protect all of humanity, to heighten their alertness during patrols and personnel checks when a bald student had climbed through a window right before him.
And then everything had gone mad. A monster had infiltrated the Academy, which was unheard of. But the creature had also integrated itself into several aspects of life on the archipelago. It had somehow gotten wind of the expedition, joined without rousing any suspicion, then aided in the excavation of the temple complex. When Spire Head Vevosis had led Norman and several other Fracture members to the expedition site, it had managed to flee underground.
While the monster’s presence had lingered in the depths of the temple, another incident had drawn Norman and his allies away. The attack they had been preparing for in secret had come at the worst possible time. Caught flat footed, they had needed to scramble to defend Dimid from the invaders, even if it allowed the monster roaming the island to temporarily escape. But during the battle Vevosis’s priority had suddenly shifted, and having located the monster the Spire Head had directed them to capture it at all costs.
He hadn’t understood the reasoning, hadn’t understood why they would abandon their duty during a crisis. But Norman now knew. The prize was worth almost any sacrifice, and the ends would justify the means. So letting the creature escape after they had all but abandoned those they were supposed to protect had almost unmade them.