The training was progressing splendidly. The books kept arriving. Destructive magics were being learned from the lowest among us to the circles of power where I stood. We Blackcaps had been preparing for almost a year. Soon we would be ready to destroy that abomination of the Dark Forest.
As I made preparations for the new weapons needed and new fire-element enchantments, a new sensation reached my field. This time it was not something small—an enormous magic had just breached my defenses. I suspected it was an elf. The sensations provoked by humans I knew, and the Overlord I remembered. These were elves. What did they want?
I had them brought to the main hall. The church was completely remodeled. The main hall was now a practice yard for advanced magic, filled with stones, mannequins, and shattered wooden targets. At the back, some chairs were set up for evaluating student performance. There I seated them while giving orders for the best of their magics to be displayed. They seemed somewhat impressed. The two elf women and the soldiers accompanying them had smiles on their faces—a little presumptuous, perhaps, but big smiles.
When it was over, I took them to my office. There I explained how we had divided into different types of elemental magic, as well as dark magic. Each mastered the basics of one elemental magic to its maximum destruction, plus dark magic—creating enough damage to eliminate hordes of elves, not to mention our target... They interrupted me. I thought they knew what we were capable of, but they sought something more. So I asked them to explain how they came to my gates, having never presented themselves before.
For thirty minutes, I listened... It was inconceivable! My old master—that senile old man—had expelled all the allies. The entire alliance had been driven out of their cities. He had founded an entire system of honor, placed missions where payment was not in money but in points. Accumulating enough allowed you to receive weapons and armor that could only be acquired with obscene amounts of money. The poorest were doing missions that put them in teams at our level? Unacceptable! I had to liberate my city, give it the power to decide, and ensure that people with true merit had access to tools—not just any peasant with heroic pretensions!
Forgive me—I had vented. Thank you for informing us. We Blackcaps took our role in the alliance very seriously. Just let us know when we go out... Were we not going to war against the Whitecaps? Did they have another idea for us? What were they carrying in those saddlebags?
It was incredible. Each of these staves, these robes, were far beyond my financial capacity. Were they giving them to us? Ah, no—forgive me, I was taken by surprise. So this equipment was for going against the bitch of the Dark Forest keep? They would be pleased. We would capture her, and they could see the suffering that awaited her. We would use her to test every magic we could think of. Rest assured, in the name of Relch, Blackcap leader, we would fulfill our agreement.
It had been two hours since they left. Of course, I would not send everyone on such a suicidal mission. Those who were powerful would go first. I would not underestimate her. But most of the administrators and at least one from each specialty would stay to train the new generations of Blackcaps. As for me, I would go see the Redcap leader. As I was in this alliance, I had the right to ask for help. So that, while my city was liberated from stupidity and mental memes, my people would eliminate one of the alliance's greatest threats. That would surely give us enough authority to go from city to city destroying this dirty Whitecap doctrine. I would have to put the finishing touches on the plan. It was nearly three months of travel, but in the end, glory awaited us!