The Beginning After the End: Book 7: Divergence by TurtleMe

Author:TurtleMe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-10-09T16:00:00+00:00

225

Dim Tunnels II

MICA EARTHBORN

If any one aspect of Vildorial seemed unchanged, it was the mages scurrying about the Earthborn Institute as if the world was on fire and only they could put it out. Not far from the mark now, maybe. Though, perhaps the guards didn’t used to look on with quite such attentive suspicion, nor did they finger their axes and shortswords so nervously.

“Don’t worry, brave soldiers, this little sprite is with Mica and won’t cause any grief.” One of the guardsmen made to break off and provide an escort, but I shooed him away. “These halls are well known to Mica, and she doesn’t need a guide to find her team!”

Cheeks blooming red under his ruddy beard, the guard stopped and stammered out an apology before returning to his post.

If you asked most any dwarf, the Earthborn Institute was the finest magic school in all of Dicathen. It had been founded by the Earthborn clan hundreds of years ago and had been managed by the Earthborns since.

I had spent my formative years within those marble halls annoying my family and terrifying my professors. Even amongst the Earthborns, who were considered unusually talented at magic among the dwarves, I had always been considered a genius. Few dwarves could manipulate gravity, and none could do so with my level of proficiency. It’s a wonder you’ve stayed so humble, Mica dearest.

The halls were quiet, it being rather late and most of the students and staff having already retired for the evening, but I knew that the team would be waiting to hear about the night’s hunt. Oberle, following closely behind, seemed to grow more quiet and nervous the deeper into the school grounds I led him. The tunnel bumpkin is more scared here than he was back at the bar. How odd.

I heard the team even before opening the iron-bound door that led to our shared quarters. It sounded as if they were arguing, though I couldn’t make out the words. Eyes rolling, I pulled open the door, grabbed Oberle by his collar, and dragged him through.

“—forgotten why we’ve been sent here, Mr. Gideon—”

“—I do with my own time while not directly assisting in the war effort is none of your damned business—”

“—operation is essential to preventing the Alacryan army from making this a three-front war—”

“—done everything that has been asked of me, and will continue to do so, but I am an inventor, damn it, not a diplomat, and I—”

“Shut it!” A red-faced dwarf, his blond beard quivering with irritation, stomped between a middle-aged elven woman and a gray-haired human. “That’s enough! By the stones, if you two don’t quit your bickering, I’ll bury you both, consequences be damned!”

The room’s occupants fell into a shocked silence. The old man looked apoplectic, too outraged to even respond. The elf’s multi-colored eyes fell to the floor, but I could sense her mana seething within. From a seat nearby, a young, curly-haired human was peeking out from between her fingers. Leaning against the

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