The Bibilonians

Los

"Thank you for holding down the fort,Scott. Z began, then paused momentarily.

I had to break through the thick magma that encapsulated the royal archives as if it were a bucket submerged in the well.

This task required a lot of planning, somewhere I almost gave up since the rapid healing was tiring me out. Simply, I knew I could not leave my fellow Bibilonians to fight back against this grave apocalypse of the planet.

Deterioration of the internal library is minimal, just toasty hot, since it has sunk down underneath the tectonic plates of the mountain`` Z elaborated with his baratone deep voice echoing off the castle stone gazing at the ceiling and coordinating his hands like a puppeteer playing with a Marionette telling a tale.

"Good, any others or just you?' Scott queried with his low trebel tone, adding a seronade to Z's deep baratone pryingly with a quirk in his brow he always has when he is curious,

"Yes all are down there, we just can not reach them until the magma cools, also why I was gone so long. I thought I could save them but even I cannot cross through,`` Z sighed despondently, peering into his nearly empty cup.

"Well, the city is in good order. We have even developed coins with your face on the front and our values printed on the back, we cut a deal with the town smith to produce them,” Scott held a coin up for Z to inspect.

``That is splendid'. He gazed upon the round shiny golden coin, inscribed with

'in books we trust' -

"What have you not done, Scott?

This is the blueprint of my brainchild: you have excelled in what I thought of you, once again.``

"I'd say first we should add to the village by putting in a few key industries to help along the growth spurt, such as a Smith, perhaps an inn or two for wayward travelers.. I already run a tavern downtown. Are you game with dropping a few pints over some dumpling soup?

"Sounds splendid Scott. It will allow me to walk the streets and figure out just where I am exactly," The giant scratched his bushy long beard with perplexity.

The two dined and drank into the late night, catching up.

The last 200 or so years between, the next morning we came out of our stupors on the cold tile floor of the refined bailey castle foyer. A man knocked on the door with the consecutive thuds echoing through the halls, with an urgent paper for King Z reading;

"I am the prince of the frost tribe, the one you thought you slain. Fret not no grudges except that you took my prized head and I'll want that back, wait till you see the headless frostman.``

"How is this bloke still alive??`` Z roared fiercely, petrifying Scott to a pasty pale white color since he had not been this coherent since his uncomfortable return.

In the chamber of healing magic after the whole protection spell you were MIA, we figured you'd been buried below and we could not find anyone who knew your whereabouts across Yukamo.

"It was more like being thrown into oblivion, but I like your version better, it is harsh beyond the frost boundary negative 20 and below after I got past the magma crust." shuddering at the very utterance of his frostbitten journey back.

The annual book a thon was a foot quite merrily, the town center with a big fountain had book stands all around meerchandizing tomes of old and new, fiction and non-fiction samelike.

Refreshed accented street lamps Smith made are stunning with wrought iron artwork, they are Wick and oil-based, providing great light at night, paired with dark cherry oak benches below every other lamp or two.

As per tradition, the event ended at 12 o'clock. Everyone gathered in the castle's great dining hall, one big room decorated with blue walls, 2 walls looking in had 2 giant colorfully stained pane windows, each bedazzled with light green curtains with gold lacing.

The floors were oak along with a cherry-stained oak rectangle, a great table that could seat 10000 Bibilonians, the middle boasted a wrought iron chandelier with elegant book decorations paired with 20 lights constituted this ornate behemoth. The chefs brought in the dishes; cooked rolled pork, rice and beans, mashed potatoes, potato salad, cornbread and biscuits.

This is a common diet for people around Yukamo due to the inability to grow much else until new methods of hydroponics can be found.

A feast they had indeed, after they all had brim-full bellies, it was a fun feat to get down the two flights of stairs outside..

The architect must have had a twisted sense of humor as getting down them was a laugh due to the odd size of the stairs built for Z.

Our builders informed Z this morning during breakfast that the institution was now complete.

The next day was bright and clear, perfect conditions for the unveiling of the magic arts academy that has stood being developed to replace the traditional house style for years now due to some constraints we had overcome by finding a subtitute, boasting 35 classrooms, and the finite offices on the main floor, those will be for casting arts and other pre-mage basic incantation training (elementary school for these kids).

Moreover, in contrast.

On the second floor, you find the same number of rooms, however each room is outwardly more advanced for junior-mage's study. Lastly,

For the third level covers the deepest high-mage topics on a high school level. They did more book study than any other grade and our grade lengths are usually four to five years each to make sure we do not miss anything.

This is culturally important.

We spent a lot of time studying and we pride ourselves in graduating. A true milestone celebrated just as a birthday party would, for reference (25 years of study), is just earning a basic diploma. Then usually another twenty or thirty years of study to gain a specialization.

We earn specializations from our college harbored in the East wing of the castle, added generations ago by the founding sorcerers who embarked on the original journey to the center of the crater where the power source landed many generations ago. The very existence of our magical endeavors stems from that asteroid that wiped our planet clean.

Nonetheless, we continue with our college.

Like Bibilonia, it has also expanded with time; Economics, Engineering, Architecture, Horticulture, Medical, Political, and lastly celestial-mage. A course curated by Z's late father to polish on previous grades. Think of it like a graduate degree.

Since the municipality maintains everything it requires for now. Now we may roam again, to find the next adventure beyond the horizon.

One day we may settle down here like the wise old geysers. We are not adverse to adventure yet.

The thirst for adventure was eating at the explorers who are not one's for constantly remaining inside our castle town constraints.

The men clinked their pints announcing in concert SKAL and down they went, a momentous day indeed since the group had not embarked outside of Bibilonia for a few years. Simply too busy directing the construction of our new sanctuary, keeping the citizens from unrest.

Z and Scott were sitting in the pavilion built just off the guard post, parallel to the cat walk.

The calm ease in the air was abruptly shattered as Z could hear the faint clatter of elms' feet. Elms are a few feet bigger on average than Niggles, plus they are more prone to athleticism.

A young mage barged in, masters, "we need you down at the training grounds immediately. We have a student that is practicing f*******n black magic," Those very words brought the men to their feet and out the door,

- - - flashing back to the training grounds when they were young wizards. It was track day. They were both training to beat each other in the acre sprint. I won despite Z's giant legs that seemingly slowed him down just enough so my smaller athletic build could glide. - - -

Finally, at the school training grounds half way across town saw the young wizard with a rotten necromancer,

"What is this!" Z roared, morphing to his aggravated size at a staggering 12FT tall.

"Seize by the order of the king! necromancer" he pointed to his thylium staff. Lighter and stronger to cast faster magic, surrounding the necromancer in a seemingly impenetrable bubble.

Nec responded with a mighty concentrated beam of magic, meaning he must be channeling the cosmos' power..

"Blasphemy!" Z stood astonished, spinning the staff 180°, transforming it from a staff to a sword.

The bubble burst into pieces under the channeled power,

"Click-click-click with his tongue. Now now big boy calm down, you don't want me to get angry, do you?" Nec said softly, keeping his black hood covering his face,

"Does it look like I am concerned how you feel, you twisted lost sorcerer? This is why I banned the dark arts," Z snapped back with a stern tone.

"OK fine, then we'll do this the hard way, morphing into a sphinx with the head of a falcon, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. This is why you tried to ban the dark arts. You were scared we would rise against you."

Hint: Title has a Viking meaning. Once deciphered, it will reveal a hint about the next chapter! Bye for now.