Three months ago…
Elsewhere, a bunch of pirates are sailing across the sea. They have come from a distant land on a ship that is considered mediocre at best. They are people from the south of the central subcontinent of Arkanus, mostly bandits turned pirates as it was easier to raid the seas rather than on land.
Many of them had been longtime bandits and robbers. They have experience in the ways of the criminal world. But today they are crossing those channels, they were at first reluctant to travel as the ocean has beasts more powerful than those at land. But someone told them that far south across the ocean is an island full of humans who couldn't use magic, in short, Centuurians. So these power-hungry magic-wielding criminal Arkanians decided to go out to the sea and see for themselves. In all honesty, they wanted to conquer this place and become its lords.
Which was not a bad idea, after all.
Most of them aren't that versed with the use of magic though. Yes, although Arkanians have magic in them, not everyone could just use it. So in short, they are just a bit stronger than those non-magic wielding humans. There were in fact, out of the fifty-man pirate crew, only their leader named Bonaks, a man named Daks, and a man named Kanton who could do magic. They are around the rank of Novice Class 3 to Advanced Class 1 in both rank and their mastery of their profession.
The three of them sat in the captain's quarters of their largest ship, a weathered vessel called the Serpent's Tooth. Maps and stolen documents littered the table between them.
Bonaks, their leader, was a scarred veteran of war who was already in his forties, he had a cruel mouth and calculating eyes. He'd been a sergeant in some southern kingdom's army before deserting with a dozen of his men before they resorted to banditry. That was fifteen years ago. Now he commanded fifty criminals and dreamed of ruling his own territory.
"According to our information," he said, tapping the map of Lon'eislend, "this Helwind Valley has a stronger defense force with maybe five hundred or more soldiers. But these are Regular Centuurians. No magic users except for a few hired mages, and those rotate through on contract. They're spread thin, protecting multiple settlements. The town itself is probably defended by less than three hundred at any given time."
Daks leaned forward. He was the youngest of the three magic users, barely thirty, with the lean build and sharp features he'd inherited from his Centuurian mother. "And the wealth?"
"Mines," Bonaks said with satisfaction. "Special metal that is able to hold mana. Valuable to anyone who can actually use the stuff. Plus grain stores, trade goods, and whatever coin the merchants have been hoarding. More than enough to make this worthwhile."
Kanton, the third magic user, was a quiet man who rarely spoke. But when he did, people listened. "The plan is sound. But we need to weaken them first. Spread their forces thin. Create chaos."
"Already happening," Bonaks said with a cruel smile. "The beast attacks we've been orchestrating are working perfectly. They're panicking, sending guards to every little settlement. And now, with Daks inside the town spreading discord..." He laughed. "They'll tear themselves apart before we even attack. Well march through their streets as their new lords without even shedding blood on our side."
This pirate band wasn't strong in terms of the mainland subcontinent standards. But in areas where there are no known magic wielders, they could significantly cause damage.
Now this pirate band has landed weeks ago, or to be exact, it was a few months ago, and they could be credited for the cause of major disturbances within the north of Lon'eislend where they had landed. They are the cause of Brina's home, Wynstead, to fall. Among the many confusions of beast activities that were going on, they have in fact studied and observed how these people lived before they caused this chaos.
Why did they do this? Of course it was to weaken the people, keep them in chaos, and reduce their fighting forces. Their current target was Helwind. They have heard many good things about the minerals they have, that is why they have been targeting its associate settlements so that their forces would be spread out.
As to how they got the information? Of course they tortured a family near the coast where they landed, gathering information on what the island was like. They are actually the ones disturbing the beasts, driving beasts not normally found in certain areas to attack settlements. That Grizzled Wolverine attack on Wynstead was their doing. They'd used a combination of Kanton's earth magic to collapse part of its den and Bonaks's fire magic to drive it toward the hamlet in a rage.
Their observation was pretty solid, and their information gathering skills even more so. Of course, even if you think of them as criminals, they were in fact former soldiers from their respective kingdoms. Hence why they are able to come up with such malicious tactics.
Bonaks had been a sergeant, as mentioned. Kanton had served as a scout in a border war. Daks, despite his youth, had been part of an intelligence unit before killing a superior officer and fleeing. They knew how armies thought, how defenses worked, how to exploit weaknesses.
Now they aren't outright showing themselves in broad daylight where they could be seen. But they are now within Helwind Valley, posing as travelers. They sent someone who wasn't easily identifiable as an Arkanian to infiltrate and cause discord among the people.
And they are the ones spreading poisonous hints to the minds of the council members.
The man who infiltrated was Daks. He was fairly certain he could pass any visible inspection of his physical appearance because his mother was a Centuurian and his father was an Arkanian, so he was a cross between the two.
He was around five feet nine inches tall and had a lean build. At least that is what they have gathered, that these people closely monitor Arkanians within the island and they are very wary of those who aren't documented. Hence why they needed such disguise.
Daks had arrived in Helwind three weeks ago, posing as a merchant's clerk from one of the eastern settlements. He carried forged papers, a believable story, and a talent for saying the right words to the right people at the right time.
He was able to infiltrate Outerwinds and met with its vocal and passionate council member who he believed to be a former cutthroat according to what he had learned. That's when he started poisoning Dodong's mind to cause rebellion. Some little hints of words could cause a person to have ideas planted in their heads.
"The lord doesn't care about farmers like us," Daks would say casually over drinks. "He sits up in Windspire Heights, comfortable and safe, while we're out here on the front lines when beasts attack."
"The delayed projects? That's because he's funneling money to his own estates," he'd whisper to merchants. "I've seen the ledgers. My master keeps copies."
"They say he's planning to raise taxes again," he'd mention to laborers in Lowwinds. "To pay for more guards for Windspire Heights, while leaving us to fend for ourselves."
None of it was true. All of it was believable. And slowly, steadily, the poison spread.
Daks reported back to Bonaks regularly, meeting in inconspicuous locations outside the town. "The council is beginning to fracture," he said during their last meeting. "Four of them are talking about sedition and maybe rebellion if further pushed. They don't trust each other completely, but they all want the lord gone. Give it another week or two, and they might actually try something."
"Perfect," Bonaks said. "When they're fighting each other, we strike. Half their forces deployed to settlements, the other half divided between loyalists and rebels. It'll be a massacre."
"What about the recruits?" Kanton asked quietly. "They're training a new company. Over a hundred of them."
Bonaks waved dismissively. "Green horns, with barely two months of training. They'll break at the first sight of real magic. Not a threat."
But all of these things wouldn't be revealed until later. Only after significant damage is done to Helwind would they realize what truly was transpiring.
For now, Daks continued his work in the shadows. He frequented the taverns where guardsmen drank, listening to their complaints, amplifying their grievances. He attended market days, spreading rumors that sounded just plausible enough to believe. He even managed to get invited to one of Dodong's secret meetings, though he stayed in the background, saying little but observing everything.
He was good at this. Years of intelligence work had taught him how to read people, how to find their pressure points, how to turn allies into enemies with just a few well-placed words.
And Helwind, already stressed by beast attacks and financial constraints, was ripe for manipulation.
Meanwhile, Brina and the rest are still undergoing phase two of their recruit training.
They had no idea that the beasts they were learning to fight weren't just random natural threats. They had no idea that the political tensions tearing at Helwind's leadership were being deliberately inflamed. They had no idea that there was a pirate ship sitting in a hidden cove along the coast, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
They just knew that training was hard, that the town seemed tense, and that something felt wrong in a way they couldn't quite identify.
During one classroom session, Head Instructor Kim was teaching them about the universal ranking and classification system used throughout Centuury.
"Understanding that there are power levels is crucial," he said, writing on a board. "When you encounter an enemy, whether beast or human, just being able to know their approximate rank can save your life."
He drew a vertical hierarchy. "Five ranks, from bottom to top. Novice, Advanced, Expert, Master, and Grand Master. Each rank has five classes within it, numbered one through five. So a person might be Novice Class 1, the absolute beginner, or Novice Class 5, on the verge of advancing to Advanced Class 1."
Brina listened carefully, trying to memorize the system.
"Mr. Hans, the water mage who trained with you, was an Expert Class 3," Kim continued. "That means he's reached professional competency and has solid experience. Most of you, if you complete your training and serve for several years, might reach Advanced Class 3 or 4 as soldiers. Very few reach Expert. A Master's rank is rare. Grand Master is legendary."
"What about combat effectiveness?" Himdal asked. "How do we know what we can handle?"
"Good question," Kim said. "As a rule of thumb, a well-trained Centuurian soldier at Advanced Class 5 might match a magic user at Novice Class 3 if they fight smart and use tactics. But one-on-one, in an open fight? The magic user wins almost every time. Your advantage comes from numbers, coordination, and exploiting weaknesses."
He looked at all of them seriously. "You need to understand this. Most of you will never be individually stronger than even a weak magic user. But together? With proper tactics? You can overcome much stronger opponents. That's what we're teaching you."
Brina thought about Wynstead. About the Grizzled Wolverine that had destroyed her home. About the Lywolves that had killed her parents. She wondered what rank they would have been classified as.
And somewhere in the back of her mind, a question formed. If the beasts were getting more active, more aggressive, more organized... Was it really natural? Or was something else going on?
She had no evidence. Just a feeling. An intuition that something was wrong beyond just random bad luck.
But she kept the thought to herself. After all, what could a recruit barely two months into training possibly know that the lord and his advisors didn't?
Still, the feeling persisted.
Would Brina be able to overcome this new challenge, or would her world fall apart once more?
The answer, she would soon discover, depended on factors she couldn't even see yet. On enemies she didn't know existed. On a conspiracy that was slowly, methodically, preparing to destroy everything she'd worked to build.
The storm was coming. And this time, it wouldn't be random beasts or natural disasters.
This time, it would be far worse.