***
anwhile, a few hundred kiloters from Crank's Warp Steps, Jorl and the others could barely believe their own eyes.
The ground floor of the Black Thone had turned out to be a room 600 ters (2000') across with a tall ceiling and decorated with high-end furniture of exquisite taste.
From the silk-lined armchair to the paintings, everything was out of a royal palace.
Even more incredible was the fact that the place wasn't tacky or overbearing. The priceless furniture wasn't ostentatious, nor were the gemstones studded into the paintings ant for bragging.
They fueled the enchanted pictures, allowing them to recount stories so old that even the cursed objects believed them to be myths until they saw them unfold before their eyes.
The ground floor looked lived-in by a dignified noble who had taken his ti to turn his ho into a museum.
"This is it?" Jorl furrowed his brow. "What need do you have for human junk?"
"When you live as long as I do, you learn to do it with style, runt." The Black Throne replied. "Don't waste your and my ti dilly-dallying. The things that barbarians like you would consider precious are stored in the underground floors, away from your grubby paws.
"I have no reason to show them to you. Not now and probably never unless they beco part of our deal."
"Underground floors?" Salanoth echoed. "Are you telling this thing- I an, your body doesn't just go up?"
"Nice save, trinket." The voice grunted. "And yes, I have as many floors above as below. Now start walking those stairs, or it will take us all day just to et."
"Why don't you just bring us to you?" Jorl asked, stepping to the first floor and finding it filled with bookshelves and tos.
It was one of the biggest libraries the Storm Griffon had ever seen, and every book had a powerful aura. Several hardwood tables and padded chairs were arranged across the room to allow the guests take notes while they examined the books.
'Weird.' Jorl thought. 'Not only is it bigger on the inside, but I don't see any ladder or ans to reach the upper shelves. Does it assu everybody can fly, or is there a secret to it?'
"Where's the fun in that, runt?" The Black Throne replied. "I'm old and bored, or I wouldn't have bothered coming here. After centuries of isolation, I want to brag a bit. This way, after witnessing all the marvels in my possession, you'll grovel before .
"The experience will teach you your place in our alliance if I accept to help you, and make you regret wasting this opportunity if I refuse. Either way, I'll have a good laugh."
Jorl inwardly cursed and continued ascending the Black Tower.
***
Lith had to fly to pretend he was tracking his target and hide that he already knew Uragar's exact position. During that ti, the group had the opportunity to make introductions and ask a few questions.
'What are you doing here, Phillard? I thought you were just a rcenary.' Lith asked.
'I am a rcenary, and I don't usually get involved in politics.' The Lindwurm replied. 'Yet Nestrar is my region, and Mirana is my ho. I won't let the Dead King ss with my livelihood more than he already has.
'After his attack, most of my regular clients had to focus on rebuilding their territories and can't afford my services anymore. If Narchat becos even more powerful, I might be forced to move to another country.'
'That's incredibly selfish of you!' Tista said. 'Would you really sit there and do nothing if not for the lack of bounties?'
'Yes.' Crank replied for Phillard. 'He wouldn't even be here if I hadn't paid him handsoly for this mission and up front at that.'
'Is that true?' Lith asked, almost proud of the Lindwurm.
'Yeah.' Phillard sighed. 'I need the money for the house, the staff, and most of all, the food. I've gotten too used to eating well, and raw at doesn't cut it for anymore. I've beco a dandy, and now I'm paying the price for it.'
'What about you, Crank?' Solus asked.
'I'm the lord of this place, and the only Divine Beast the Royals could call upon aside from the Verhens.' The Hyperion puffed his chest out with pride. 'Also, they are paying a king's ransom and promised that I wouldn't have to charge in this ss alone.
'They made an offer I couldn't refuse.'
'And how are you different from Phillard, exactly?' Friya had t the Lindwurm twice back when he was still a Kroxy and she a fourth-year student of the White Griffon.
Both mories were far from pleasant, and the opinion she had of the Lindwurm was low.
'As I said, I'm the lord of this area. More funds an I can better develop my territory, not just stuff my belly like that scaly pig.' Crank replied. 'Also, I need a big hoard if I want to find a mate.
'I was just a wandering Awakened until a few years ago, and have nothing but what I earned with the War of the Griffons. Females are so damn expensive!'
'Hey!' Friya, Solus, and Tista said in unison.
'I'm not talking about you humans. No offense, but your kind is too small and furless for .' The honey-badger-looking Hyperion raised his paws in apology. 'I ant my fellow Divine Beasts.
'They make a lot of demands, and I've yet to beco a Light Master. I'm wealthy from a human standpoint, but for a Divine Beast, I'm dirt-poor.'
'What about Tista?' Friya asked, drawing a killer glare from the Hekate. 'She is a Divine Beast, and according to her own words, she doesn't need much.'
Crank looked at Tista for a mont. Then, his expression filled with absolute indifference hurt her more than any wound she had ever suffered.
'Hard pass. Scales are almost as ugly as your pink, squishy skin.'
'Friya, I'm going to kill-'
'Stop!' Lith raised his closed fist, bringing the group to a halt and cutting Tista short. 'Sothing is wrong. The trace of our mark disappears here.'
'He must have Warped away.' Phillard shrugged.
'If he did, I would still pick up the residual energy signature of the mana he used to conjure the Steps.' Lith replied. 'The signal just vanishes. Friya?'
She cast a few of her personal spells before answering.
'Lith is right. The only dinsional corridor that has been opened here in the last week leads down to the ground. There's nothing else.
'Even if the enemy opened another Steps and then relaxed the space of the exit point to stop us from following them, the entry point would leave dinsional distortions that I can perceive.
'Speaking of distortions, sothing is wrong and weird here. I don't know what it is, but I can feel it.'
'Sa.' Nalrond's scales curled up as his body warned him that they were getting closer to sothing dangerous.
'I agree.' Morok's six eyes scanned the area. 'The world energy of this place is all over the place. It's like sothing is twisting it. The weird thing is that the light elent is the most affected, but I can see just fine.'
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