Xerxes ran his hand through his hair. “Right, Seers. Well… there are quite a few on Mannemid. But not many are students. Are you specifically looking for students?”

“Yeah. Sin-Amuhhu doesn’t want fogies who’ve fooled around for decades not making any progress.”

“Okay. Well, there’s my friend Gandash. He was fighting the Abhorrent too, before I got knocked out.”

“Gandash? I met him. Your father, too, right before I came down for you. So this Gandash is your friend?”

“Gandy? Yeah, my best friend. We basically grew up together. He’s a lot smarter than me, to be honest.” Realizing that he wasn’t exactly talking himself up, he quickly continued, “But he’s not much of a fighter, if you know what I mean. He’s… well, how should I put it?”

Purattu chuckled. “Yeah, I get it. He’s scrawny. A bookworm, I bet.”

“Yeah. Like that.”

“But he’s a Buhhu mage, which is rare. So that’s a big plus.”

“Yeah, Buhhu. I’d definitely recommend him. Besides Gandy, some of the other young Seers are Visimar, who’s Balatu like you. Nidintu and Panya, who are both Asgagu mages like me. Gad, who’s Nasaru…. There are plenty more. Except none of them are here in the capital. Just about all the students at the Academy were given missions, so they’re out in the countryside. Or maybe even in Fal or Od.”

“Fal and Od, the other nations on this planet.”

“You know about them?” Xerxes was surprised that a mage from such a distant and famous starisle would know so much about a place like Mannemid.

“I did my research,” Purattu answered.

By this point, they were closing in on one of the keep’s side gates. The soldiers there looked nervous, and had their weapons out and shields up.

Purattu stopped about fifty cubits from the gate. “Do you know your way around the palace?”

“I know the general layout. That’s about it.”

“Good enough. I’m going to rely on you to do most of the talking at first. Can you handle the guards?”

“Sure.” Xerxes stood a bit straighter. He, a mere Seer, was suddenly being promoted to a spokesperson for a mage from lofty Ku-Aya? The thought filled him with pride.

“Good,” Purattu said. “Having someone talk for me will help maintain an aura of authority. Plus… I won’t have to ask for directions constantly. Take me to the main audience chamber, then arrange for all the mages in the city to come for a meeting. Can you handle that?”

“Absolutely.”

As the mages filtered back to the keep, the glory Xerxes had envisioned came just as he’d imagined.

“Seer Nohem,” he said to the man who was now the only other Buhhu mage on the planet besides Gandash. “This is High Mystic Purattu of Ku-Aya, sent with the authority of Sin-Amuhhu backing him.”

“Greetings, High Mystic Purattu,” Nohem said, bowing deeply.

Purattu gave a slight nod of acknowledgment but didn’t say anything. He just stood there with his arms folded, looking at the view beyond the balcony.

Straightening up, Nohem looked at Xerxes with a slightly bowed head. “Er, Seer Xerxes… sir, is it true that Aban Saddi… is no longer with us?”

“High Mystic Purattu will explain everything shortly.”

“Of course.” Nohem ducked his head and backed away slightly.

High Seer Shehem was sufficiently cowed by Purattu’s lofty rank. But he clearly didn’t like the idea of Xerxes being a spokesperson.

After the introductions were made, he glared and said, “Seer Xerxes, I was told by soldiers that you were knocked unconscious in combat, is that true?”

Xerxes, feeling more confident than ever with Purattu’s favor, said, “Yes, that’s true, but—”

Shemesh interrupted with a harrumph. “Perhaps you aren’t aware that the measure of success in a combat scenario is—”

“What the fuck did you do?” Purattu interrupted with a shout.

The entire room went silent, and Shemesh’s face fell.

“H-High Mystic Purattu,” Shemesh stammered, “I… I um—”

“You’re what, a Hasasu mage? Did you read the thing’s mind? Did you look at the stars and figure out how to beat it? Or did you hide here in the castle like a bitch, waiting for everyone else to do the fighting for you? Huh? Well?”

Shemesh was literally dumbstruck, and barely managed to stutter a few syllables of nonsensical gibberish before Purattu cut him off.

“Kindly shut the fuck up,” Purattu continued. “And going forward, I don’t want to hear anything from you, you useless idiot.”

Xerxes looked over at Gandash, his eyes wide. His friend had a similar expression on his face.

Turning his attention away from Shemesh, Purattu said, “Seer Xerxes, would you kindly arrange for the King of this nation to come? I don’t want to discuss matters relating to his kingdom without him being personally present.”

Xerxes hurried away, returning about ten minutes later with the elderly King.

“King Nabuhisnu’isin,” Purattu said, “it is a true honor to be in your presence. Even in my home on Ku-Aya, I have heard of your wisdom and foresight.”

The King chuckled. “You flatter me, High Mystic.”

“It’s no flattery. I’ve heard of the tripartite peace agreement you brokered with Fal and Od, as well as your efforts to quell piracy on your southern coast.”

The King looked surprised. “I had no idea Mannemid politics were a subject of interest in higher starisles.”

“Trust me, Your Majesty, your style of rule is a breath of fresh air, especially compared to some idiot monarchs like the one in charge of, say, Ira. In any case, we have a lot of work to do. We should start with the corpse of the Abhorrent out there.”

The gigantic Abhorrent had indeed shriveled into a desiccated corpse within minutes of Purattu hitting it with Instant Death, but they still needed to deal with the remains. And there were many other monstrous beasts left in the city, not to mention cultists. Purattu hadn’t been exaggerating. There was a lot of work to do.