The Highest Powers Part 1

At the center of the world, near its equator, was the giant tower created by the Sky People long before the Tinia was born and liberated the world from their tyranny. The tower has many names, but it was widely known throughout the world as the Garden Tower. The tower watches over the Queen River delta. The river spilled onto the Liberty Gulf, a sea formed from the battle long forgotten by most of the known world. Only those in the tower, the select few elites of Titan Scholars, know of the war and nearly all its details.

And with their deep understanding of war and technology of the Sky People, they became an unstoppable power of the world. While many superpowers fell over the ages, the Garden Tower stood tall forever, watching the sea and the land.

At the top of the tower is a large open room that extended into a balcony. This room was the meeting place that the world's leaders come to meet. And the floor above this room is a smaller room. In this room, the superpowers would meet above the eyes of the common king and queen. But the leaders of these powers do not meet in person. Their representatives were the ones that carry their words. They were the eyes and ears, but even they have power over the petty kingdoms beneath them.

At the center of the room was a large circular table meant to sit the superpowers and the Golden Condottiero. Three of the five representatives were sitting by the table. Faity, the half-elf and half-demon man wearing a white ceremonial jacket, is an archbishop and the representative of the Church of Mahalia. His ears and horns pointed towards the ceiling, and if he were to lean back, his pointy nose would also stretch out to the sky.

Across from him was the representative of the far eastern empire of Long-gon. She was a human wearing an elephant mask made of jade. Her slender body was protected by a magical crimson robe with magical runes inscribed all over. Her name was expunged from the records, but the people in the tower refer to her as Elie due to her elephant mask.

Next to her was a large obese man sitting on a chair specially made for his body. His name was Datu, and he represented the richest state in all of the southeastern archipelago, Isla Bank.

And along with the representatives were the Golden Condottiero. Three of the seven were present at the meeting, and two of them were fighting near the balcony. The dark elf Golden Condottiero sitting with the representatives sipping a cup of tea was Bret Hart. His white hair was tied into a bun, and he wore casual clothes.

The two other mercenaries fighting near the balcony were like cats and dogs, not only in their interaction but appearance as well. The rampaging white werewolf was Randy the Savage. And the feline beastkin taunting him and fueling the fire was George the Gorgeous. He had a small frame and beautiful short blond curls. One could mistake him for a little girl, but he is no little girl.

George was considered one of the strongest Golden Condottiero ever known. Raised in the rich castle towns near the Garden Tower, he received the best education from the brightest Titan Scholar. A master of magic manipulation, he had full control of the battlefield, able to change his surroundings with just a lift of his finger.

His index finger danced in the air. The ground moved like a conveyor belt, pulling Randy away. "Stop moving me!" Randy yelled.

"Dear, please use your in-door voice," George said.

Randy was like a wild animal, strong and fast but not as bright as the other people in the room. He was in a constant state of savagery due to the cursed place upon his lineage by a god. And none of the people were willing to stop the beast from his rampage. But he suddenly stopped, "What was that?" He asked.

"What are you talking about, dear."

"I feel a strange presence coming."

Suddenly, the door burst open, and the representative of the Garden Tower stepped into the room. She was beastkin with brown curly hair and wore a purple robe and metal mask. "My dear elder sister!" George teleported next to the short beastkin and opened his arms to embrace her.

She pushed George away, "Don't touch me."

"Cold as always, sister Morgana."

"Whatever," The cold expression of the mask mirrored her cold tone. She ordered her brother and Randy to take a seat, and she proceeded to climb up the table and stand before them. Randy, despite his best, shook violently in the chair. The strange presence he sensed before was still in the air.

"Why are you standing on top of the table?" Faity said, "Don't you know it's rude?"

"I don't like to be on the same level as you," Faity responded with a glare, but she ignored him. Morgana scanned the room. "Impressive. I didn't think any of the Golden Condottiero was going to attend today's meeting."

"What do you mean?" George asked, "I will always attend any meeting with my sister."

"Right, except you." She answered, "But two others joined. Bret Hart and Randy the Savage. If I knew such esteemed guests were going to arrive, I would have prepared a proper welcome."

"I don't need your hospitality!" Randy roared. "I want to know who killed King."

"I doubt it was your kin, Gelilili." George laughed.

"Shut up!" Randy's voice cracked. His body was acting strangely, and it was getting harder to ignore.

"I am also waiting," Faity said.

"So do I," Elie added, "I would like to nominate a new member of the Golden Condottiero as soon as possible."

"Yes, of course. But before I start, where is the representative of the Unur Dynasty."

"Who cares?" Faity said, "We have an odd number thanks to the Golden Condottiero that attended. We won't have problems with the voting."

"Fair enough, but before we discuss the Golden Condottiero issue," Morgana produced scrolls from the purple robe and gave everyone one scroll. "Two months ago, a strange flow of mana was released, and it covered the world like a thin sheet of paper. This occurred at the same time as King's defeat, and we believe these events correlated with the strange magic spell, but unfortunately, we cannot trace the exact origin of the magic spell."

Datu raised his hand and spoke, "Do we know what this worldwide mana displacement did to the environment? If it's not severe, then we can just ignore it for the time being."

"The severity of the event's effect on our world varies from person to person. For Datu and your empire, it means nothing. But for everyone else in this room, it may be concerning." Morgana cleared his throat, "The magic spell did something we believe is irreversible. The spell distorted reality as we know it, and most importantly, it revealed insight to one of the mysteries in our world."

"And what mystery is that?"

"The goblins!"

Faity eyes nearly popped out from his socket. Hart noticed his body react, which made him suspicious. "What's wrong, Faity?" He asked.

Faity was about to answer, but Randy suddenly howled. He jumped off his chair and onto the table. "Show yourself!" He shouted at the balcony.

A man landed on the floating patio. The air around him distorted the light, giving him a visible dark, green aura. Everyone in the room stood up except for Datu, Hart, and George. Datu was stuck in his chair, and Hart and George had no interest in the intruder. The man entered the room. His figure was hidden underneath a thick layer of green robes, and his face was protected by a metal mask.

"Green clothes?" Morgana raised her hand and pointed at the man, "Reveal yourself, unless you want to die by my hand."

"Morgana, the right hand of the Garden Tower Academy's dean. You may be the second strongest in this tower, but you're only second to the dean and me." The man removed his mask, and everyone lost their wits and composure. The man before them was the leader of the Unur Dynasty. The head patriarch, Unur Iben. He had a black goatee and yellow eyes. He wore a turban cap hiding his head.

Everyone fell back on their chair except for Randy. He hid under the table. His animal instinct was conflicting with his reason. He wanted to run, but he was also insanely curious and wanted to fight Iben to measure the true strength behind one of the Superpowers' leaders.

Hart took another sip of his tea. "To think a superpower would be present. I'm getting nervous."

Iben sat on the chair meant for his representative and placed his mask in front of him. Morgana took a deep breath and climbed back on top of the table, and walked over to Iben. "You don't have any weapons on you, do you?"

"Do I count as one?"

"Depends."

"Then I don't have any." He smiled.

Morgana to Hart. "Now, back to the topic before I was rudely interrupted. The magic event that occurred two months ago affected goblins around the world, forcing them to transform. Or more accurately, evolve into the next stage of their kind's life cycle."

"What do you mean?" Faity asked.

"The mana has turned the green goblins into the red variant. Now we don't know what the goblins are, but we do know that their kind is alien to our world. And our policy means that these invaders should be removed from our land by any means necessary."

Datu raised his hand, "Is it really necessary? There are no goblins in the islands, so why should we care?"

"Because we don't want another empire from the outside to enslave us like the Sky People. But fortunately, to you and your wallet, we will not exterminate them because of their low population. They are deemed by the tower to be harmless."

"Then why talk about it?"

"Because the neighboring kingdoms have made a startling discovery. King, the former Golden Condottiero, was a goblin."