Chp.15: Ready to storm the city

Haku and his siblings left as soon as the sun came up. They had left only Tikka and Kotaru behind to check on the prisoners. His two sisters had protested, but unfortunately there was little he could do: it was necessary for someone to stay there to monitor them (and also Sinar, Sarpa's son who was still their prisoner) and since the mission seemed rather difficult it was best to leave the weaker elements of the herd behind. Though perhaps Haku shouldn't have said this detail out loud. Luckily, though diplomacy wasn't exactly his area, his sisters were patient and more of his siblings had lent him a hand, so in the end he was able to convince them.

Although when they had stopped talking to the fairies Haku had proposed that they should 'rest', in reality neither he nor his siblings had slept at all. They'd been too busy sorting things out, piecing together information, and explaining what they'd discovered to the others. Which was quite complicated due to all the new things they had learned from the two fairies. After much thinking, Haku and his siblings were able to simplify everything in a way that was easy to remember. They called it 'mana theory', since it was based on the hypothetical use of mana. It was essentially divided into three fundamental rules.

First rule: mana was something, whose nature wasn't yet specific, that was everywhere in the environment. However, it seemed to increase the more they went underground, so it was possible that it was somehow earthbound. Obviously, however, this latest speculation was only a hypothesis yet to be tested.

Second rule: the bodies of living beings were able to absorb mana and store it within them. How this process worked was also unknown, but clearly it must have been a passive ability, like breathing or making the heart beat. Haku didn't know if only animal bodies could absorb mana or if even plants and mushrooms or other living beings still unknown to him could do it, but he was pretty sure that everyone could somehow make use of that mysterious substance.

Third rule: living beings could manipulate the mana in their body in two ways. The first was to move large quantities of it to fortify their defenses or attacks; this was the method of the warriors. The second was to extract a small amount from their body and use it to manipulate the rest of the mana outside; this was the method of the mages. In both cases, however, manipulating mana required energy: the more mana they had to manipulate, the more energy they needed. Without energy, manipulating mana was impossible.

Thanks to this general 'mana theory', understanding how spells worked had become much easier. Haku wondered if perhaps he shouldn't have tried to simplify other parts of his knowledge using that method: it would have been much easier to remember the essential parts in every moment. And by remembering the essential parts in every moment, it was also easy to notice details that may have been overlooked before.

For example, repeating the 'mana theory' in his mind and thinking back to the fairies, Haku realized that he probably didn't have much time to ask them any more questions. The rune on their heart in fact fed on the mana present in their bodies, therefore this must have required a great effort from the two fairies (third rule of the 'mana theory'). Haku suspected that at that moment their body was using every trace of mana inside itself to continue feeding that kind of parasite. While the mana inside their bodies ran out, the body would continue to absorb it from the outside (second rule of the 'mana theory'). However, absorbing mana also had to cost energy, since otherwise it would have contradicted the third rule of the 'mana theory'; this was also confirmed by the fact that ninjas didn't live long. Weak as they were, the two fairies probably couldn't last more than a week before the energy drain killed them.

Unfortunately, Haku realized this too late: when he arrived at this conclusion, the sun was already rising. Therefore, he had had to give up on returning to question them immediately. Even as his desire for more knowledge demanded that he do so, he knew that the mission was more important right now: they couldn't put it off.

So they left. He and fourteen of his siblings, leaving just Keita and Kotaru at the cave. Their lithe bodies and strong legs gave them an extraordinary speed, and by noon they were already near to the Bolvek tribe. There, they had hidden and then waited.

Haku carefully watched the sky above the city walls. So it was that about half an hour after their arrival he noticed an arrow crossing the airspace. He knew that only Sarpa could have thrown it: normally ogres didn't use bows and arrows. For this reason Haku had given him a bow he had stolen from the fairies and he made sure that the ogre learned to use it well enough.

As soon as the arrow stuck on the ground just outside the walls, Haku sneaked up in the bushes and grabbed it. Tied to the arrow with a string there was a note. Haku returned to his brothers and opened it there.

"What does he say?" Darbi asked him after a few moments that he was reading it.

"Sarpa asks us to wait for three days. He says that in this way he will be able to organize himself well and moreover it will arouse less suspicions since it would happen a little after his arrival" Haku replief folding the paper in her paws. "Also, he gave us what we asked for: the level of strength of our opponents inside the city"

"Good!" Kialandì exclaimed. "So? Was Kotaru right? Is there anyone strong?"

"I hope so, otherwise all this haggling with Sarpa will have been done for nothing" Rhaegal grumbled.

Haku nodded. "Most of our opponents are just at level iron, plus a few at level silver. Nothing we can't handle. But their boss is almost a level gold"

His siblings let out a soft rumble in their throats. Even if he wasn't fully level gold, an almost level gold wasn't an opponent to be underestimated. "So Kotaru was right" Rhaegal said, almost ashamed.

"If indeed their leader is an almost level gold, then it's unlikely that we'll be able to kill him using the runes, like we want to do with everyone else" Haku reasoned. "However, he will definitely be injured after being subjected to the same treatment as others. This gives us an advantage. We just need to design a good strategy and we will eliminate him easily". He looked at Rhaegal: "And yes, Kotaru was absolutely right. If we hadn't known immediately about this potential danger, one of us could have been injured or even worse killed"

The group of dragons settled not far from the city, in a large bush that would have hidden them and would have kept the curious away; thanks to their scales, they didn't have to fear thorns, they just had to be very careful when they opened their eyes and mouth. There they waited, spending the next three days discussing how to run the town leader without any of them getting hurt or putting himself in undue danger.

Meanwhile, Sarpa also got busy. After being properly rested and refreshed, he had returned to Goroth. The chief in charge had clearly taken a liking to him and seemed to trust his judgment; through him, Sarpa was then able to meet the soldiers of the city guard, and obviously also the thirty ogra that Goroth had chosen to carry out the 'special task' of bringing the population to safety in case of danger.

Sarpa advised Goroth to train these thirty ogres to ensure they could do their job. Goroth appreciated this advice and, having by now gained some admiration for Sarpa, he decided to put him in charge of that 'special unit'. Sarpa then subjected the thirty ogres to strenuous training: first he made them complete the route entrusted to them several times, then he began to put them to the test by making real simulations of an attack. Whenever one of the ogres made a mistake, miscalculated the danger, or worse still failed in his duty by going to help his fellow soldiers fighting elsewhere, he was punished. Due to this, Sarpa among his pupils soon earned the nickname 'throuros', which in the ogre language meant 'bull', since it was said that he was as fierce as a bull.

Despite his tough methods, however, the workouts paid off. By the evening of the second day after his arrival in the Bolvek tribe, the thirty ogres were perfectly capable of carrying the population to safety and whenever they had to do so they thought only of the citizens, ignoring the other soldiers. This was important, since their job was to protect people unable to defend themselves, not help soldiers who could fight. It had taken the thirty ogres some time to figure this out and get used to acting this way, but after a while they had succeeded.

Goroth was extremely pleased: thanks to that 'special unit', the population of the city would now be much less at risk even if there was going be an attack. Even if the soldiers failed to defend the city, the Bolvek tribe would be brought to safety and could be resurrected. He knew he had to thank Sarpa for this, and every day he was pleased to see him so concentrated at training the soldiers.

He began to think that once the emergency was over, he could ask his father to accept Sarpa into the Bolvek tribe. Normally an ogre who changed tribe had to wait several years before being recognized as belonging to that tribe, and even when he managed to integrate he suffered from a lower social status; however, it was possible that the cuttings process could be expedited if the chieftain himself interceded for that ogre. Goroth was sure Sarpa would be a great buy, even if his strength level wasn't very high. Furthermore, he had come to seriously like the ogre and wouldn't have minded forming a friendship with him, which is currently impossible since they still belonged to different tribes.

Of course, Goroth never thought that Sarpa put so much effort into training the soldiers not because he feared an attack, but because he knew with absolute certainty that there would be an attack since he himself was a part of it. And it never occurred to Goroth that Sarpa was feigning his friendliness, while deep inside he was trying not to bond too much with the chief in charge since he knew he would be killed very soon. Goroth suspected nothing, and thanks to this Sarpa could continue with his preparations without having to worry about anything.

In this way three days passed. Sarpa focused almost exclusively on training the soldiers, knowing that those soldiers would soon be vital to saving as many civilians as possible. Sarpa doubted he could save everyone, but given the progress of his pupils he believed he could save at least two-thirds of the population. Which was a lot more than he'd originally hoped for. If he had more time, perhaps he could have saved them all... but Haku had given him a very short margin of time, so he couldn't get too many illusions. Someone would have had to stay outside the shelter, and he would have been killed by dragons or consumed by flames as the city burned.

That thought made Sarpa feel a little sick, but not so much anymore. By now he had gotten used to the idea of ​​having to make that small sacrifice. It was his duty as an ogre to try to save as many people as possible from that carnage, but still it was no big deal to leave some unfortunates to their fate. He would do all he could: after that, the inhabitants could only rely on their luck.

And so, as the sun set on the third day, Haku and his siblings emerged from their hiding place and looked towards the city. "The time has come" Haku said. "Do you all remember the plan?"

"Yes" his siblings answered in unison. All of them were ready to storm the city.

Haku nodded. "Well then, let's not waste any time. Let's go!"

Haku ran towards a spot on the wall, followed by Rhaegal and Darbi. Their sisters, instead, scattered in multiple directions, quickly disappearing into the darkness. A long night was about to begin.