The chaotic energy in the wasteland prevented large plants from growing the closer they were to it. Which stopped the trees from growing any closer to the plateau than they already were, but they could form a wonderful park on the edge of the city.
Chronos had finished his review of noble etiquette as well but didn't look forward to using it.
"How much longer do you think it'll take for the Black Fangs to reach us?" Chronos asked over breakfast.
"Freydis sent me a message through the system saying that they should be here today." Lyla said while glaring at her food.
When did she get close enough to his aunt to trade contact information? And what were they saying to each other?
A shiver ran down his spine as he remembered some of the more embarrassing things he had done in his childhood. He got the sudden feeling that he didn't want to know what they were saying behind his back, it probably wasn't very favorable to him.
"Is studying etiquette getting to you that much?"
"Yes!" She exclaimed
"Nobles have so many rules like who should speak first or where to stand in a party and why do you have three spoons for soup!? You only need one, maybe two to eat. Ugh I hate etiquette and I want to burn those books!" She gnashed her teeth, just thinking about everything she would have to remember was giving her a headache.
"One spoon for soup, one for fruit, and one for dessert." Chronos said without thinking.
Lyla glared at him like she wanted to stab him.
"I get it, I really do. But if you burn the books the matron will punish you." He tried to placate her, but it didn't work very well.
"I know." She replied as she viciously bit into her food.
The matron might not follow a god of knowledge or creativity but that didn't mean that she didn't value knowledge.
Assisting in the growth and development of various creatures required the right knowledge to send them on the best path possible. So, the destruction of books would definitely anger her.
"Are there any last minute preparations we need to make? We don't know how much time the apprentice archivists will give us before we're forced to leave." Gregory asked from beside Chronos.
Chronos listed off everything he'd done while preparing, "I already made the pyramids for Magnus and Old Tobias already knows the necessary runes needed to enchant the pearls with assistance from another wolf. I've tended to my weapons and checked my armor and reviewed noble etiquette and left a training manual with Gorvak for the kids... I think I'm ready."
Turning to Sariah and Lyla he saw both of them nod, they had finished all of their preparations yesterday evening and just needed to say goodbye now.
"Then we're waiting for them to arrive now." Gregory said.
Chronos's ear twitched. "We won't have to wait long. I can hear them howling already."
"Really? That was fast. Let's finish breakfast and go greet them." Lyla said.
Leaving the dining hall, they saw a flying airship coming towards them over the trees. It was much smaller than the crucible knight's airships being only 30 meters in length but the sense of power coming from it was almost equal to theirs.
In the swamps below the ship a thousand werewolves were keeping pace with it while wiping out any monster that crossed their path.
"Ah, that's such a waste. They aren't stopping to dissect them and can't carry the corpses with them at that speed." Sariah complained.
"It's fine. Werewolves are trained to disassemble a monster corpse in less than a minute, they don't have enough time to do anything else during a beast tide. By the time the last werewolf leaves the area the monster corpse will already be fully dissected and passed to the carriers for transport." Gregory explained.
Sariah had never had the opportunity to accompany a werewolf unit when they were hunting. So, she didn't know just how fast they could dismantle an obstacle, like a corpse.
"As long as they aren't wasting anything that's fine." She said while straining her eyes to see if anything was left behind.
As the airship came closer, they discovered that it didn't look like any ship they had seen before. It had the general shape of a ship, but the rear of the ship had half the number of decks compared to the front of the ship and the crow's nest had been moved to the nose of the ship instead of being in the center.
In the center of the ship was another set of raised decks with the captain's wheel on the highest deck. The highest deck was covered and on top of it were rods pointing at the sky with two large spheres on either end of the roof.
At the rear of the ship were containers and a small crane and just in front of the containers was a pod shape that was colored orange and was mounted on the side of the ship, but they had no clue what it could be used for.
When the ship was close enough it landed next to the grove and several individuals wearing long white robes with stars embroidered on them disembarked. They waited a moment before following Freydis towards them.
"Welcome to the blue dragon's grove Aunt Freydis. Are these friends of yours?" Chronos cheekily smiled at her.
"Don't give me that boy. They're here for you and your friends. Apparently, the head of the archivist's tower wants the details about the system, and an oracle said you would know about it."
"Couldn't you help me hide from them at least a little longer." He complained as he glanced at the AA's making their way through the werewolves.
"Heck no! Answering their questions is annoying enough, not to mention that weird 'ping ping' sound their ship makes from time to time. Look, you can't escape it any longer, the king has summoned you to the capital to answer questions about the system as well and spread it through the capital and surrounding regions." She scolded him while handing over an official order to him.
Looking at the order, he confirmed that the seal was indeed the kings and it wasn't just him being called for. Gregory, Sariah, and Lyla's names were all on it next to his.
How the king even knew they were all together was a mystery to him.
Sighing Chronos accepted the order, "Understood, do we have time to prepare or are we expected to leave immediately?"
"We need at least an hour before the ship is ready to go again." Said the man leading the apprentice archivists. "Greetings, my name is Michael Holsen. It is a pleasure to meet you Sir Chronos."
He bowed to him, greeting him as a noble of a lower rank.
Michael had a surprisingly unremarkable look, with brown hair, brown eyes, and an average height and build. Even if you walked past him ten times a day you might never notice he was there until he spoke.
"Hello Sir Holsen. I'd say the pleasure is all mine, but I honestly don't want to go to the capital right now." Chronos responded.
Micheal chuckled, "I can understand that. From what I've heard the noble's council is assembling to hear what you have to say."
If it had just been the king that wanted answers it wouldn't be so bad, he practically treated the king as an uncle in private after all, but if all of the higher nobles were gathering then this was bound to be more complicated than he would like it to be.
Sighing deeply, he said, "Thank you for the warning, I have a few goodbyes to say then I'll join you on the ship."
"I'll be awaiting your arrival." Micheal said, bowing as he returned to the ship.
They could hear the other AA's asking if it was fine to let him out of their sight, but Micheal reassured them that Chronos wouldn't run away.
Heading back to the grove Chronos started giving orders to the Black Fangs.
He had them set up camp in the space between the Grove and the plateau just in case some of the beasts made it past the knights.
Then he went around saying his goodbyes to everyone he had met while staying here.
Old Tobias waved him off saying they'd meet again later, Magnus gave him a hug and told him he'd take Chronos out drinking if they were at the capital at the same time. Kyle was upset that he was leaving and couldn't play with him anymore, it took quite some time to calm him down before he could stop the rain again.
And on his way back to the ship, he said his goodbyes to the kids, Gorvak, and the matron. They gave him a small handmade amulet, it was carved from one of the trees they were raising and had herbs from their garden tied to it.
He thanked them and put it in his storage for safekeeping.
With his goodbyes done he made his way to the ship where he found Lyla waiting for him.
"Said your goodbyes already? I get the feeling we won't be coming back here for a long time."
"Yeah, the kids even gave me an amulet to take with me. Are Gregory and Sariah already on board?"
"Yep."
Chronos looked back out at the grove one last time.
He had always relied on his family in the past. This had been the first time he had to build something with his own strength which made this place special to him. He would never forget it as long as he lived.
With determination in his heart, he eagerly entered the ship for his next adventure.
End of volume 1 War's Beginning