Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1045: Chapter 1044: The Mountains of Augari

In the western part of the Loren Continent, the Ancestral Peak towers over the land.

This majestic mountain stands in the heart of the tribal country of Augari like a giant beast glaring at the Firmament, with its "fangs" of peaks stabbing into the clouds. Its three spurs extend into the territories of the beastmen, humans, and gray elves, while its massive body itself is home to the elves and fairies for generations. To everyone living on this land, this mountain holds a very special meaning, which is why when the city-states of the tribal country of Augari decided to unite, they unanimously chose to build their recognized capital, Holy Helm City, at the foot of the Ancestral Peak.

In the tribal country of Augari, the five major races usually manage their internal affairs independently, while the multi-racial cities operate like independent city-states. However, when it comes to significant matters affecting the whole tribal country, the "Five Kings" would gather in Holy Helm City to discuss the future of the land together.

In the central part of Holy Helm City, inside the highest domed hall, the leaders of humans, gray elves, elves, fairies, and beastmen were gathered around a round table, discussing several important matters. Among them was Venna Baizhi, the leader of the gray elves, but her mind seemed to be wandering. Her gaze drifted past the exceptionally tall beastman leader across from her, Lady Camilla, past the open balcony at the end of the hall, to the Ancestral Peak in the city’s background—a mountain standing tall beside Holy Helm City, now bathed in golden sunset, glowing magnificently.

Venna sat there on her specially made high chair, daydreaming for a long time until Wickcliff, who sat beside her, called her back from her absent-minded state: "Venna, Venna—stop daydreaming."

The gray elf leader suddenly snapped back to attention, instinctively glancing at the human leader next to her who had just woken her up—this middle-aged man with silver short hair always had a smile on his face, and this moment was no exception. Then she turned her gaze to the other seats around the round table.

Lady Camilla, with her large build and feline features, was sitting across from her, frowning with some displeasure. The elf leader, Studeer, sat next to Camilla, and his face, with light blue skin, always bore a contemplative expression that outsiders found hard to read. Stella, the leader of the fairies, sat facing Studeer, this petite lady seated in her beloved high-backed chair, which was placed on a stack of books, the books on a small stool, and the stool on the table—this elaborate setup made her the highest seated person at the scene, but it did nothing to increase her authority.

"Ah—" Venna finally came back to her senses fully, blinking, "Is it my turn to speak? What were we discussing?"

"Daydreaming in important meetings is not a good habit, Venna," Camilla sighed, her voice carrying a pleasing hoarseness. As a childhood friend and a straightforward beastwoman, she never minded criticizing Venna Baizhi’s shortcomings in formal yet private settings, "We are discussing matters concerning the future of the whole tribal country."

"Of course, of course, I know—I just think this matter itself doesn’t need such lengthy discussion," Venna nodded repeatedly, "Regarding that ’invitation’ from Emperor of Cecil—we have no reason to refuse. Whether politically or economically, the benefits of joining this new alliance outweigh the risks..."

"In fact, we reached a consensus on that point earlier—while you were lost admiring the scenery," Wickcliff said with a smile, "We are currently discussing another issue. Based on the proposal mentioned in Emperor of Cecil’s letter, Stella just presented a very constructive opinion..."

Venna immediately widened her eyes, instinctively looking in Stella’s direction, seeing the pocket-sized lady standing on her "throne" of books with her hands on her hips, looking very proud, which gave Venna an ominous feeling: "Stella’s opinion? And you’re seriously discussing it?"

"Venna, your words bear prejudice," Studeer spoke up, his tone carrying a mysterious, low, and slow cadence, "You should listen to the contents of this ’opinion’ first."

"Alright, I’m listening," Venna looked at Studeer, "What exactly is it?"

"The tribal country of Augari has an order distinctly different from other nations. The countries across the continent are aware that we are governed by the Five Kings," Studeer said deeply, "Therefore, Stella suggests we send five representatives from the five ’royal families’ to the Silver Outpost, and tell Emperor of Cecil that the tribal country of Augari’s political structure is just that loose—if successful, we’ll have five votes in the future."

Although she had already guessed what this ’constructive opinion’ might contain, what Studeer said still exceeded Venna’s imagination, and she couldn’t help but look at Stella with admiration, then glance peculiarly at the others: "...So, what are your opinions?"

"We’ve already finished voting, just waiting for your view," Wickcliff said, "I find this suggestion very appealing, but my rationality doesn’t allow me to act on preference, so I voted against it."

"I’m against it too," Studeer shook his head, "This is nonsense, even detracting from the tribal country’s dignity and prestige."

Camilla waved her hand: "I didn’t think too much, I just thought it was too stupid, so I opposed it."

"Isn’t that settled," Venna spread her hands, "I’m against it too—combined for the reasons of you three."

Then she looked toward Stella: "Alright, everyone except you is against it, we can move on to the next topic."

Stella returned to her chair dejectedly, seemingly muttering a few words, but those present were used to such occurrences. They believed that the optimistic fairy leader would rally before the next topic started.

"Let’s finally discuss the matter of the ’Magic Web Nexus’," Wickcliff glanced at the meeting agenda in his hand, his gaze falling on Studeer, Camilla, and Stella, "First, I am pleased that we finally reached a consensus last month, passing the plan to establish the Magic Net Main Hub on Ancestral Peak, and that we have now successfully set up a temporary verification device, however, up until last week, this device always... had some issues."

"It’s a big issue," Stella indeed perked up, standing up and speaking with urgency and a crisp voice, "Originally, the testing Magic Obelisk worked fine at the foot of the mountain, but as soon as it was moved to the mountain top, the interference increased immediately—although magic transmission was not a problem, the signals were full of noise. Our scholars have been studying it for several days, and the current conclusion is that the interference comes from external sources, unrelated to the Obelisk’s structure or malfunction itself..."

"Some superstitious mountain folk believe it’s the souls sleeping in Ancestral Peak making noise in the Obelisk’s crystals because the Obelisk disturbed their rest," Studeer said gravely, "So now, besides resolving the issues through technical means, we’re also putting effort into soothing the unrest among the mountain folk."

"I actually came up with a good idea earlier," Stella waved her arms, "We could go along with saying the Magic Obelisk can communicate with ancestral spirits, and that it can be used to chat with ancestors once completed. Perhaps the mountain folk would support it instead... but all of you still opposed it."

Venna Baizhi couldn’t help but sigh, while Wickcliff covered his forehead and mumbled, "Stella’s suggestions are always devilishly attractive... voting against them is indeed a challenge..."

"I fully agree," Venna glanced at Wickcliff, then returned her gaze to Stella, "In any case, we should first find a way to solve those interferences. We have already invested a lot of costs in advance for the engineering project on Ancestral Peak, and this matter will definitely be pushed forward. Theoretically, Ancestral Peak has the best innate conditions in the country: high altitude, clear atmosphere, stable magic-pervasive environment; by all accounts, such interference shouldn’t appear... this phenomenon is worth in-depth research."

"Of course, of course, we’ll do that," Stella quickly said, "We’ll research it well—but we might not find anything. I’ll arrange for scholars to collect interference data from the mountainside and a few other peaks within the week. If we still have no clues, we might have to seek help from Cecil’s technical experts."

This time, the fairy lady’s opinion finally received the support of everyone...

...

The meeting ended, and the tribal leaders began to leave.

A huge golem walked into the hall with heavy steps. It used its agile arms to carry the small stools on the round table, while Stella lightly jumped a few times to sit next to the golem’s neck. She waved to the others and soon commanded the golem to leave the hall. Camilla watched the golem’s heavy back and couldn’t help but shake her head, "We really should ban her from bringing golems into the council hall... the floor here has to be repaired every year."

After saying this, the beastmen leader bid farewell to Venna and left, shaking her head. Next to leave was the Spirit Race leader, Studeer—after most of their retinue also withdrew, only Venna Baizhi and the human leader Wickcliff remained in the large council hall.

Venna moved her stiff shoulder and neck from the long sitting, turned around, and held onto the small ladder next to the high-legged chair, and climbed down to the ground. She looked up at the tall Wickcliff and curiously asked, "Aren’t you leaving?"

Silver-haired Wickcliff, with a slight smile, leisurely walked to the nearby balcony and gazed toward the city and mountains, "It’s rare to have such a moment of leisure; I must extend my time away from documents as much as possible."

Venna pouted and also stepped to the balcony. Following Wickcliff’s gaze, she looked into the distance, seeing the ancient Holy Helm City bathed in the light of the setting sun, and the distant Ancestral Peak reflecting an orange-red glow. This scene was actually not unfamiliar to her—in her years as the Gray Elf Leader, she often came to the council hall of Holy Helm City, and she had seen similar scenery many times.

"What a magnificent city," she couldn’t help but say softly, "The new era has arrived... I wonder if the scenery here will change, just like Wind Song City or White Feather Port."

"Nothing is permanent," Wickcliff said with a smile, "Holy Helm City is viewed by many as a symbol of antiquity and tradition, but if we trace back in history, wasn’t it itself a product of transformation?"

Venna Baizhi blinked and suddenly couldn’t help but laugh, "That’s true."

As one of the rulers of this land, she was naturally well-aware of the origins of Holy Helm City:

This great city is situated at the foot of Ancestral Peak, governed by the Five Kings Council, with a style unique across the entire continent. The architecture features the ancient Gondor’s rigid straight lines and majestic appearance, blended with the heft and practicality of the Dwarf Kingdom from the far west. Although this land was historically the home of Gray Elves, Beastmen, Spirit Race, and Fairies, the city combines the styles of the ancient Gondor Empire and Dwarf Kingdom, which is naturally related to the history of Holy Helm City—

Holy Helm City was first built over seven hundred years ago. When the ancient Gondor Empire collapsed, the remnants dispersed and fled. Among them, the pioneers moving west crossed the ravines and mountains at the borders of the ancient empire, stepping into the ancient and mysterious lands of Augari. At that time, the main races on this land hadn’t formed the later ’tribal country’ but existed loosely as tribal alliances. The migration of humans from the human empire to this land was a shocking event for the indigenous people. After some contact and negotiation, the indigenous people finally decided to accept these refugees from the Gondor Empire, and the latter chose to repay this kindness in their own way.

Besides some knowledge from the Gondor Empire (the part still usable after the chaotic wave) and treasures, the westward pioneers’ greatest repayment to the indigenous people was this ’Holy Helm City.’

They exhausted the wealth carried on their exodus, utilized far more advanced architectural and planning knowledge from the Gondor Empire than the local level, and invited dwarf craftsmen from the western continent through an ancient Gondor-era contract. It took ten years to build this city at the foot of Ancestral Peak, eventually occupying only one-fifth of the city themselves and giving the other four-fifths to the four other races.

Meanwhile, the new knowledge and ideas brought by the Gondor people were also important motivators for the various tribes on Augari land to change their traditional structures and establish the more closely linked ’tribal country.’

Hence Wickcliff’s remark: Holy Helm City is itself a product of transformation.

Venna Baizhi suddenly sighed, her heart filled with some sentiments:

Over seven hundred years ago, when no humans had yet set foot on this land, Ancestral Peak already existed as a ’holy land’ for the four races. This land had its own traditions and customs for thousands of years until the Gondor Empire was destroyed by a chaotic wave. The imperial remnants crossed the vast wastelands to come here, bringing young and creative humans who brought earthshaking changes.

Regardless of what those ancestors thought when facing change, from a later historical perspective, Venna had to admit that these changes are precisely what shaped today’s far stronger and more united country than in the past.

And today, new changes once again knock on the door of the Augari Mountains—this time, the change is still brought by humans.

Human creativity... is truly extraordinary.