Now, is this misleading info or was there a retcon? I was under the impression that Classes were absolutely vital, even for a being like Lucille. It's just that her initial Error-prone condition meant she wasn't forced to pick one at the very start (nor could she be granted an Origin Skill), and so she decided to take the opportunity to gain fantastic wealth and influence first, and then use that to gain access to powerful Classes that she learned about in her old life but had long since disqualified herself from obtaining. Perhaps something related to her ACTUAL all-element compatibility (which has been built up to be rather more of a big deal then it initially was due to the Marellan side-plot), instead of accidentally shifting to Illusion.
And, unbeknownst to her (though possibly suspected), when she next uses an Obelisk to level/class up, the System will also provide a new Origin Skill (that it has been developing after noticing the issues with her Soul, just unable to actually apply until she gets herself a Class/Levels).
That WAS the plan right? Because I've not seen any plot or world-building details this far to indicate that going Classless is in any way an advantage. Picking the wrong one could be permanently unoptimal, but it wouldn't negatively impact her current capabilities, nor is it really a Class specific thing to detrimentally shift her magic (like locking a neutral/all element compatibility to just one).
And even with that plan making sense and Lucy's base abilities being OP enough to make it 'somewhat safe' in tandem with her knowledge...when is she actually going to get around to leveling up and gaining that Class? It seems like it's been rather a while, the Commission has mostly been stabilized and her plans implemented (and in that early portion where there's not much to do but let the delegated project heads get everything in order and start work)...honestly, it'd be better to start gaining obvious power sooner then later with the Imperial introduction coming up (and everything that has been stated and implied about the politics of the Empire).
The plan wasn't clear as it was said in crumbs over time, and it especially wasn't clear early on, but it seems to be to abuse her innae soul authority as much as possible.
Basically, in the past timeline Lucille realised that her soul had the authority to ask for any main skills, even locked ones, from the system, but that the moment she took a class said authority was superseded by the skills such a class would have. Now it's bit weird because you can get multiple class with multiple primary skills, so one would have assumed said overwriting of authority would only apply to that one primary skill of the class, not everything, but it appears not.
In the past timeline, Lucille learned her soul had this "talent" much much later, long after she had a class, and as such she never could take advantage of it (unsure how she could learn of said talent if she never could use it).
In this timeline, her error'd status means she can't put points in stats and so on, as well as probably can't get a class in the short term (she hasn't tried), but most importantly she can use this as a "price" for abusing her system's authority. Basicaly Lucille believes the system can and will punish her if she finds exploits without paying a price, and even that is only possible if she makes it clear she "works" for the system, hence why a lot of her plans are about proving that.
So, the plan is to never get a class so she can choose any skills she wants, rather than be limited like author people. Maybe also never gets to be able to put points in stats from level or rank ups? Maybe also never get a Origin skill, though I think she actually wants one but that's never quite clear?
But yeah, basically she believes that having more choices in what type of skills she can get is worth a severe stats nerf, and having to basically get all the stats she can get through secondary methods. We are never told why she believes that, though.
It was ultimately to Wharifin's detriment because he cared too much, the job was too dangerous to not have losses even in ideal circumstances, and 'Adrianna' had that whole addiction to being perceived as a villainess...but without him I don't think the crew could have even lasted as long as we've been hinted it did; not with how badly Adrianna poisoned the well in the beginning, and how Conlan's obvious and continued screwups kept setting back or worsening whatever progress morale might have made with success.
I'm still not sure we are told why she believes she is bad for Wharfin, except for the part that using her illusionary skills near him actually torture him.
The plan wasn't clear as it was said in crumbs over time, and it especially wasn't clear early on, but it seems to be to abuse her innae soul authority as much as possible.
Basically, in the past timeline Lucille realised that her soul had the authority to ask for any main skills, even locked ones, from the system, but that the moment she took a class said authority was superseded by the skills such a class would have. Now it's bit weird because you can get multiple class with multiple primary skills, so one would have assumed said overwriting of authority would only apply to that one primary skill of the class, not everything, but it appears not.
In the past timeline, Lucille learned her soul had this "talent" much much later, long after she had a class, and as such she never could take advantage of it (unsure how she could learn of said talent if she never could use it).
In this timeline, her error'd status means she can't put points in stats and so on, as well as probably can't get a class in the short term (she hasn't tried), but most importantly she can use this as a "price" for abusing her system's authority. Basicaly Lucille believes the system can and will punish her if she finds exploits without paying a price, and even that is only possible if she makes it clear she "works" for the system, hence why a lot of her plans are about proving that.
So, the plan is to never get a class so she can choose any skills she wants, rather than be limited like author people. Maybe also never gets to be able to put points in stats from level or rank ups? Maybe also never get a Origin skill, though I think she actually wants one but that's never quite clear?
But yeah, basically she believes that having more choices in what type of skills she can get is worth a severe stats nerf, and having to basically get all the stats she can get through secondary methods. We are never told why she believes that, though.
I had forgotten about the skill thing (I thought that was more for the two skill books she's selected for, both of which were highly limited resources only available as a tutorial reward and an extra rare item in the Commission Head's tributary vault I'd note), and I would note that the System Authority (not to be confused with the unlimited access to the Demon Realm) is less an innate trait and more a function of her knowledge and study into the System itself. Something which everyone CAN progress at least a little in, and theoretically could do as much as her (which is something the Soul 'magic' focus yet again proved to be a major boon in). That research just took too much time though.
Even with all that, and accounting for the nearly unlimited wealth Lucy can by stat-boosters with...with how the world-building has described Classes, trying to indefinitely avoid getting one is very firmly shooting herself in the foot. Repeatedly. Delaying to get particularly good (and otherwise incompatible) Skills? Makes perfect sense. But there are not an infinite number of such skills, and as it is Lucille is already in possession of a positive extreme variety of options with the countless spells she's memorized, her Soul magic's ability to mimic nearly everything, her personal affinity for all magical elements that has been preserved this time, and all the knowledge and blueprints she has to build or find (or steal) devices and tools. Plus the vast resources of a pseudo-Faction and the plans to further increase them. Variety is NOT her problem. Having the constitution to actually use most of her power and withstand the casual efforts of her nominal peers in personal/political power IS her issue. Being a glass cannon is perfectly fine for stomping on mobs, but not for dealing with her equals or even her lessers (that aren't too much weaker). And those are confrontations she can only delay (like with posing as a puppet leader to divert hostile attention), especially if she wants to mess with the geopolitical scene as much as she's been implied to.
And, well, that constitution? Is most easily, and absolutely most effectively, raised through a Class and levels.
Not having a limit on Skill choice and being too glitchy for direct magic to really register her existence is only a situational benefit. When she's got such an extreme amount of options already that many Skills are likely irrelevant, her biggest foe is a meat-brain swording hero that doesn't use magic, and the majority of her abilities (including what she already has, and whatever she could leverage her new skills for) are locked off by dint of her stats being too low to do shit and her body too weak to use her Soul to jail-break things and do them anyway...well. There's also the whole, 'missing an Origin Skill' thing that has been repeatedly hammered as being the single most important part of ALL System users abilities.
Maybe IC she doesn't know that the System has a new OS lined up for her yet (that WAS a separate POV, and the last time she used an Obelisk was transport after the Inheritance event), or that she CAN get a Class now...but when she does learn that it should at least prompt some recalculation.
On a somewhat related note...that whole bit in the beginning of how Lucy was incapable of any sort of non-magic combat always stunk to me. Like, maybe her lack of killing intent detection makes it exponentially harder to learn Martial Skills, and she'd require a bevy of detection magic and skills to make up for it in combat...but she requires the latter for combat anyway, and there's a big difference between having Skills related to weapons/fighting, and being skilled at using weapons and fighting. And the latter requires no system bullshit and should always be at least a little useful. Something to specialize in, or seek out in combat? No. To at least be competent in, and even mix in as an emergency measure for her greater method of combat (which seems to be a classic caster method of staying away and nuking the crap out of things)?
If Commander Arkenast can actually get Lucy on a half-way decent martial path (and I would not be surprised at all if he can, even if it's not a literal System-Path, because her character is extremely stubborn and she apparently decided/learned very early that she had no physical talent and never got close to the kind of experts that would teach her otherwise as they're all either part of or associated with Glory Pantheon, and thus self-righteous meat-heads), that too would be a good reason for her to delay Class selection; it's a brand new field her past self largely ignored and could be freshly useful to her, and as such adds another layer of complication to what Skills she selects, and what plans she has for a Class.
I'm still not sure we are told why she believes she is bad for Wharfin, except for the part that using her illusionary skills near him actually torture him.
As for this, I was pretty sure it wasn't her illusions so much as the devouring depths themselves that were the issue? And part of that is sourced in whatever Merman/not!Atlantean heritage the officer has that also makes him especially useful here? I am sure that Lucy's personal considerations have more to do with how by the conclusion of their tour of duty (and probably a bit more besides, since I'm certain there are a number of other ranks to climb between 'Captain of the Special Tasks Force' and 'Admiral of the Navy') Wharifin had entered a suicidal depression, and 'Adrianne's best response was to set herself up as a scapegoat and take all the blame (I'm not sure if the whole villain act was solely for his benefit or continuing a larger agenda's, but even with that limited interlude we know she was definitely lying to him in regards to her deliberately destroying the crew).
I had forgotten about the skill thing (I thought that was more for the two skill books she's selected for, both of which were highly limited resources only available as a tutorial reward and an extra rare item in the Commission Head's tributary vault I'd note), and I would note that the System Authority (not to be confused with the unlimited access to the Demon Realm) is less an innate trait and more a function of her knowledge and study into the System itself. Something which everyone CAN progress at least a little in, and theoretically could do as much as her (which is something the Soul 'magic' focus yet again proved to be a major boon in). That research just took too much time though.
It's a bit weird and confusing, because there seems to be three factors: her knowledge, her spirit stat, and her soul configuration. Each one gives specific benefits to what she can get, and it seems they compound on each other.
If you recall, the system-guy comments that her soul has the same 'shape' as the system core itself, rather than the usual human shape, and Lucille is confused as to why it has that shape. So there really seems to be something innate beside just her sprt stat and knowledge.
On a somewhat related note...that whole bit in the beginning of how Lucy was incapable of any sort of non-magic combat always stunk to me. Like, maybe her lack of killing intent detection makes it exponentially harder to learn Martial Skills, and she'd require a bevy of detection magic and skills to make up for it in combat...but she requires the latter for combat anyway, and there's a big difference between having Skills related to weapons/fighting, and being skilled at using weapons and fighting. And the latter requires no system bullshit and should always be at least a little useful. Something to specialize in, or seek out in combat? No. To at least be competent in, and even mix in as an emergency measure for her greater method of combat (which seems to be a classic caster method of staying away and nuking the crap out of things)?
I'm not a fan of the idea that she just never tried, especially as in the first few chapters we are told she tried her best for years to learn physical fighting, and she had access to a rank 7 familiar who had a strong physical fighter style.
As for this, I was pretty sure it wasn't her illusions so much as the devouring depths themselves that were the issue? And part of that is sourced in whatever Merman/not!Atlantean heritage the officer has that also makes him especially useful here? I
"It was no issue," she replied. "I have not needed to visit any of the other realms for some time. Using one of my Obelisk teleports was a simple thing."
Trisroa Vel-Winteridge, or Roa as she preferred to be called, watched the blonde-haired man in front of her curiously as they both sat down in chairs opposite each other. It had been quite the surprise to receive notice from the Adventurer's Guild that Efratel Vadel wished to meet her again, after three months of no word from him. Especially considering the… Archmage incident. She gestured to him.
"You look to be in good health, so I take it you and your cousin have been safe and well?" she asked.
He nodded with a smile. "Indeed. That issue has been… mostly resolved. In fact," he continued, "My request has something to do with that as well."
Hearing that, she narrowed her eyes, but the man opposite her held up his hand and shook his head. "It's not related to Merkenia Alichanteu. I'm not going to try to involve you with an Archmage."
That made her feel more relaxed, and she nodded. Although it was a mystery what sort of discussion he could want that would be related to the Permafrost Glacial Abode trip but not the Archmage. She supposed she was about to find out.
Then he said something absurd.
Efratel pointed at himself. "You see, Marellen got sponsored like you suggested, and I'm his private manager now."
She couldn't help but stare at him for a while. She… had suggested that but never once had she thought it would happen. She could agree that Marellen was talented, but to be a sponsored mage of a noble meant you needed both talent and connections, and she remembered that Marellen had explained he wasn't even an heir, and that both of them came from a Major Kingdom's Barony. And who would even accept the political risk of their situation anyway?
Efratel grinned. "It's rather funny to see you looking so shocked."
She blinked when she realised what expression she was making and coughed. "Apologies. That is… very surprising."
"Quite. I'm still struggling to accept the fact myself," he said with a strange expression. He shook his head and continued speaking, "It occurred purely due to a series of coincidences, so Marellen and I are currently trying to work a few details out about this 'sponsorship' thing."
"And so, who is this new sponsor of yours?" she asked curiously.
He hesitated. "Ha… well…" He frowned slightly and rubbed his head. "I'm not sure how to go about explaining this." He gestured to her. "Have you heard the rumours of there being a new Aurelian Commission Head?"
"The Adventurer's Guild in the Beast Realm is a branch of the Mystical Realm's Adventurer's Guild, so yes, I have received that particular piece of interesting information." She realised what he meant and very slightly raised an eyebrow. "You mean to tell me you were sponsored by the soon-to-be Honorary Count of the Commission themselves?"
"A fact I am still trying to reconcile in my mind, yes," he replied with a nod.
"I suppose that might explain why you haven't been chased after by any hostile water Archmage from Alichanteu," she said after a moment. "Alichanteu is a County under the Commission, after all." Then she sent him an odd look. "Although hearsay says the Commission Head is not the real authority behind the scenes."
"Apparently the situation is mostly intentional and on the Head's behalf, but I'm still trying to work out just what exactly the power dynamic within the Commission is," he muttered. Efratel sighed with a shake of his head. "It seems to be safe for Marellen and me. The Commission Head's aide personally affirmed that we would be protected as if the Commission Head had all the power."
"Intentional and on their behalf…" she mused. "Interesting. And I assume this is not something to be revealed to just anybody then."
"I doubt many would believe you if you said the Commission's four Counties were listening to a juvenile new leader anyway." He paused with a strange look on his face. "Have we just discovered the reason why the Commission Head is pretending to be a false leader? Making people underestimate them?"
"Ensuring the rest of the Empire's nobility doesn't see them as a threat perhaps," she considered. "And so, how does being sponsored relate to what you wish to speak about today?"
He smiled. "Well, I've been asked to offer you the Commission Head's sponsorship as well."
She returned to staring silently at him for a while, but she didn't care. She had just heard something extremely confusing, shocking, and unbelievable. "Me."
"You," he confirmed with a nod.
"They want to sponsor me."
He just waited as she sat there, stunned. She rubbed her temples and frowned slightly. "I'm… not sure how to respond." She glanced at him. "Perhaps I should first ask why they would want to sponsor me?"
"The Head mentioned it would be worthwhile to sponsor a member of the Snow Elf bloodline," he replied.
That answer made her rather unhappy. "So, this is about my bloodline?"
For some reason, he hesitated. "Maybe, but… the Head seemed to know of you before receiving news of our party if I interpreted things correctly. Your full name was stated."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "My history with the Vel-Winteridge Duchy of Glenheim may contain many undesirable aspects, but I am not that infamous."
The blonde-haired man just shrugged. "Sorry, but I don't know. Maybe you can ask the Head yourself if you accept the sponsorship."
She frowned at his response but realised there was another important question she needed to ask. "But who is the Commission Head? That particular detail has been slow to spread to the Beast Realm."
Efratel grinned. "Well, this was why I said the sponsorship was very coincidental. It was pure luck." Then he gestured to her. "In fact, you've heard of them as well."
"… how do you know I've heard of them?" she asked dubiously.
"Because we've spoken about them to you," he replied with a smile.
She tried to figure out what he meant. Considering he had used 'we' he must've been referring to the time spent with the two mercenaries, Marellen and him, but they had discussed many topics then, so selecting one mentioned individual from all of it was a rather hard task to do…
The blonde-haired man smirked and decided to give her a clue. "The Commission Head is a girl."
A girl? But who could- wait.
Her eyes widened incredulously. "Don't tell me you're referring to that woman who we persistently and futilely tried to persuade Marellen was not a time traveller for the entire Permafrost Glacial Abode trip?"
"That's the one," he said with a wide grin. "Lucille Goldcroft. The new Head of the Aurelian Commission."
"… that is a coincidence beyond the mind's imagining," she replied, flabbergasted.
"And also the reason why we got her support to enter the Academy." Efratel nodded. "Although, she also wanted to know what exactly happened with the Archmage back then. It sounded like she was taking her job as the Commission's new Head very seriously."
She blinked as he gained a strange expression. "But not that seriously. She hid her identity when we met again so she could see my reaction when she revealed herself as the Commission Head." Then he scowled. "She also never signed the letter requesting my presence on my debut invitation with her name, so Marellen and I were panicking over what would happen to me when I went to Headquarters."
"So, still as much an interesting character as I've heard?" she replied, amused.
"Yes." He sighed. "In fact, when she revealed her identity to the Commission's nobility, she slid down the staircase handrail."
"… are you certain this sponsorship offer isn't some elaborate prank she decided upon?" she asked with suspicion.
"Feeling less certain after this conversation, that's for sure," Efratel muttered. He shook his head with another sigh and gestured to her. "Anyway, if you accept her sponsorship, I'll be your manager too. She's suggested I allow you to work with Marellen, however, if you wish, you will be sponsored through the Adventurer's Guild rather than become a mage of All-Aeon Athenaeum."
"Hmm." She pondered over the idea of being sponsored, and what that would mean for her life from thereon after. "I do not desire to join the Athenaeum, that is true…" She looked at him curiously. "What would the Commission Head wish for Marellen and me to do?"
"She has mentioned sending you both to outer planes as expeditionary researchers," he explained. "Old Era planes specifically. It would be no issue to give one of the non-factioneer exploration slots to you with the Commission Head's status."
Exploring Old Era planes sounded… very interesting. Investigating ancient ruins and fallen cities to find powerful artifacts and lost magic of times gone by was the archetypal idea of every magic user's dream. But being sponsored by a Count of the Aeternus plane… and the Commission Head didn't have the same status as just any Count.
The finance available to the Aurelian Commission was second only to the Eternal Duchies, and they held a position most recognised as equal to the Marches. She was bound to get caught up in politics eventually if she accepted the offer, and if her family heard word of it… she didn't want to have to deal with them. She had been enjoying living as just 'Roa Winteridge'.
"I think… if I accept this offer, that I will wish to eventually meet the Commission Head in person," she finally replied.
The blonde-haired man in front of her nodded in understanding. "I assumed so and even mentioned this to her. She said she intends on inviting Marellen and I to Headquarters sometime next year, and I expect that will include you too if you accept." He hesitated and gave her a sheepish grin. "But if you accept the sponsorship, can I ask that you don't tell Marellen who the Commission Head is? I may or may not be trying to keep her identity a secret from him until he meets her."
She smiled. "I am sure his reaction will be interesting to see when that happens. I will endeavour to avoid revealing this if I happen to accept this offer." She tapped her fingers against the armrest of her chair thoughtfully for a while and then looked up. "Can I request that I reveal my answer in a week's time? I believe this requires more thought."
"Certainly," he said with a nod. Then he smirked. "Although, I know of one more important factor you may want to consider while thinking this over. The Commission Head is in charge of a very rich organisation. Please keep in mind that she now has full authority over the Founder's vault, containing the accumulated donations of thousands of nobility over the past fifteen centuries. And she has permitted you and Marellen to have no budget."
… she certainly needed to consider this offer further. "I will make sure to consider this offer carefully." Then she hesitated. "But… what would happen when it comes to my family?"
He frowned slightly and held his chin. "Well, she's willing to sponsor you, which means she's not afraid to deal with any political issues. You're not a direct bloodline member of the Duchy either, so I doubt it would be too big of a problem if they discovered you working for her." She nodded in agreement as he thought over it. "I'll ask the Head through a letter, and I should be able to get back to you by the time you've decided things on your end."
"Then I suppose we agree to meet here again at the same time next week?" she replied.
He nodded. "That sounds acceptable. Now, I believe that was all I needed to talk about with you today…" He looked down at his watch, then looked at her and grinned. "But it would be a shame if we ended our discussion so soon, wouldn't it? I'm interested to hear how things have gone for you these last few months."
She was slightly surprised but happy to continue her relationship with the young noble. Her party members had been interesting people. "Of course. I myself am curious to know how your interactions with the new Commission Head proceeded."
"Yes, well, she is… interesting, that's for sure," Efratel said with a chuckle. He smirked. "And Marellen wanted me to ask you a few more questions about your ice-fire magic."
She shook her head wryly. "That would be like him. Then, let us leave the complicated questions for later, and I will discuss how my last few months have been…."
"-competition will test your ability and push you to your limits, and the Commission will support you the entire time. With the lucky winner getting my permission to implement my plans-"
In an enormous, large hall, a dark-haired girl was speaking to an audience from a balcony. She had been relaxed and easy-going, and she was smiling cheerfully as she continued speaking for a while longer. She had clumsily stumbled over her words a few times while doing her speech and didn't carry herself with the seriousness and calm attitude most would have when talking in front of such a large congregation. The girl made a show of looking down to read the rest of her speech off a piece of paper and looked up to finish. She gave them a wide smile.
"-The representatives and I all look forward to seeing the results of the first round in two days. As the Aurelian Commission Head, I thank you for coming today, and wish you the best of luck."
With that, she turned around and walked through the pair of doors behind her, a spring in her step. A blonde and blue-haired man stepped forward to take over her spot and began speaking to the audience. The instant she stepped through the doors, her cheerful smile faded to become a calm one, her open body language was erased and changed to controlled meticulous movements, and her steps became measured and steady. There was no trace of the happy-go-lucky girl from before.
In the room on the other side of the doors, Vincent stared at her with a strange expression.
"I can still never get used to seeing you do that," he stated. "It's like I'm looking at a completely different person."
"That is the intended purpose of my act, you know," Lucille replied, sitting down on a couch. "If you think that way, then it means I'm doing something right."
"Your 'act' goes far beyond the normal definitions of the word," he said, sitting down on a couch opposite her. "Your tone changes so utterly that it takes me a few seconds for me to register that it's you speaking."
"Ah, you mean when I change my voice?" Lucy gestured to her neck. "This was a skill I developed because I needed to make my illusions more realistic. That changed when I finally became capable of creating illusory sounds. I can also 'throw my voice' as ventriloquists do."
She had actually learnt those skills on Earth. Consistently and successfully running away from her great uncle all the time required unique skills.
He regarded her with mild bemusement. "I suppose that's one more strange fact about you to add to the list."
"One of quite a few, I assume?" she asked wryly.
"You could say that." He sighed and shook his head. "Anyway, after this, the first round begins. The rest of the Gold Dome Hall western sector is almost prepared for the different categories, they just need a few more hours and then very little setup will be required tomorrow."
"Glad to see everything is on track," she said. "Depending on the success of this event, this might become a yearly occurrence."
He gave her a curious look. "Yearly occurrence?"
She nodded as she watched Artair through the large windows on either side of the double doors continue to explain the event to the audience. "The Commission doesn't have any event unique to itself, which is unusual for a large Faction, even if the Commission isn't a normal Faction. Turning this competition into an annual thing will increase cohesion and sense of Faction loyalty among the members," she explained. "It would also serve as a way for nobility to identify promising individuals to support, which enables less talent among the Commission's members to go unseen."
Vincent nodded thoughtfully. "And if we increase the scale of the event, the Faction would have a truly special celebration that would strengthen connections between the Counties' nobility and outside. We could also invite guest judges from other Factions and the Institutions to facilitate good relations with them." He glanced at Artair. "But if we do that, I'll be worried about the attention the Coalition and Athenaeum will give us."
"As this is the first year the Commission has done this, I've been lax with the restrictions for proposed projects," she replied. "But if this is well received, I will ensure any magic or magic technology proposed must be firmly within the confines of a suggested product to sell or business to invest in, so we don't infringe upon their yearly events."
Lucy raised her arms above her to stretch. "And I think we'll be ignored this year because the final round makes it so they have to suggest it as a business idea, as the separate categories are removed by that stage."
"I suppose we just wait to see how well this goes," he said.
She and Vincent were in the Gold Dome Hall, the largest event venue in Gilded Seat. The Headquarters didn't have the facilities to hold all the participants, and so the Commission used a wing of the hall instead. The next year, when the external debut would occur, the entire Gold Dome Hall would be used to contain all the Empire and inter-realm representatives. Currently, the opening ceremony of the competition was occurring, where Artair was explaining the rules to the audience below.
The actual event was fairly simple. Different parts of the facility were set up for the different categories, such as magic engineering and product concepts, where the participants would have booths to showcase their ideas. The judges, members of the Commission who elected to stay for the competition as well as the debut, were to go around and evaluate everyone's ideas.
As nobility, she expected there would be a fair amount of corruption and bribery going on, which was why the commoner sections would be judged purely by Headquarters' Commission staff, who had a greater quantity of commoners among them. Corruption would still be present there too, but to a lesser extent. No noble would be able to threaten a commoner into ensuring their own child's proposal is given a pass, as they were separated.
She was thinking of turning the competition into a type of business conference and expo. It would enable her to better use the 'Commission' part of the Aurelian Commission, making use of the Faction's status to double as both a corporation and a proper government organisation, possible only because of the structure of the Empire.
Of course, politics being what they were in a feudal society, she would have greater restrictions than a government organisation on Earth, but lesser restrictions in some cases too. Such as legally being able to destroy other Factions, conquer planes, and kill things in general.
She was sure it was only the all-powerful System that stopped the Empire's society of 304 billion residents, excluding the unranked planes, from descending into chaos. Status screens were very useful for controlling the lives of hundreds of millions of commoners when you were a Titled noble.
While she could continue musing about how an all-encompassing incomprehensibly powerful non-physical entity managed to keep a feudal-level war-mongering Empire from instantaneously falling to ruin when they hadn't even developed airplanes yet, Artair was finishing up his speech, so she returned her attention to her present location.
The blonde and blue-haired man gave the crowd a wave, turned around with a confident smile on his face, and then walked towards the doors. The instant they shut behind him he slumped.
"That was tiring." He sighed. "How many times did you say I have to do this again?"
"Before and after each round, and then at the closing ceremony, so that will be about seven times," she replied with a smirk.
He gazed wearily at her and then walked over to an armchair to sit down. "Surely seven speeches is a bit too much?"
She tilted her head innocently. "But if you become the Count, you'll have to make far, far more speeches than just these."
He stared at her for about two seconds before frowning at the ground. "Maybe I should give up the succession after all?" he muttered.
She shook her head wryly as Vincent spoke up, "Please don't. The other Counties would prefer to see Alichanteu survive beyond only one more generation."
"Yes, if I had to meet Arwen any more frequently than I already do, I would instantaneously pass off the Faction inheritance token to the first person who asks," she added.
Artair glanced between them both hesitantly. "… I thought you've said you weren't going to get involved in the Alichanteu succession fight?"
"Oh, I'm not," she replied with a nod. "But I am perfectly happy to express my opinions about who I would not support for the next Count." She pointed at him. "That's because nobody will care about the words of the 'puppet leader', the other Counties have a no-interference rule, and only the vassals of Alichanteu have the real decision-making power here. Which," she continued, "lies mostly in the hands of the neutral faction you discussed the other day."
"Well, I suppose…" Artair considered with a strange look on his face. "But… if you say you're staying neutral about something, aren't you supposed to not tell anyone your real thoughts?"
"That is how most nobility would typically proceed regarding something like this, yes," Vincent replied dryly. "In case you haven't worked it out, Lucille is unique."
She narrowed her eyes at her aide but magnanimously elected to ignore what he was implying. "I also happen to not officially be a noble yet," she pointed out.
"You have about a month until you do though, as the Empire's end-of-year banquet is soon," Artair responded. "Speaking of which…" He glanced at Lucy. "Am I supposed to call you Count or Countess?"
"Count. It would be Countess if I was married to a Count," she told him. "But considering my title would only be used when I'm at official Empire events, I doubt you'd have to call me that very often. I'm the Faction Head first and foremost here."
"On the topic of marriage…" Vincent spoke up with a slight grin, "Have you realised just how many marriage offers you'll be getting once you finally step into the central Empire?"
Her expression went flat. "Burn them."
"…I think you might have some problems there when it comes to the marriage offers of the Marches and Duchies…" Artair added hesitantly.
Lucille gestured offhandedly to her aide. "And that is when he needs to exercise his power as the 'real' Faction Head to step in and ignore them all for me."
Vincent smirked. "But what if I accept?"
She slowly turned to stare at him. "Then that is when I will exercise my power as the real Faction Head to step in and ignore them all for me."
He chuckled. "I suppose I'll save you the effort and decline them all beforehand."
"I am truly grateful from the bottom of my heart that I have such an extremely capable aide," she stated dryly. She shook her head and pulled out her pocket watch to check the time, and then gestured to them both. "I believe it may be time for us to end our conversation here, as I'm sure we all have plenty of work to get back to."
Vincent nodded while Artair just groaned and buried his head in his hands. "Don't remind me. And Arwen's tag-a-long won't even do anything to help."
She smirked. "But if you become the Count, you'll have to do much more work than this."
He slowly raised his head to gaze wearily at her. "Are you sure I can't give up the succession?"
"Absolutely. Because I might end up having to erase Alichanteu if you do."
…
After some time, she was finally released from all her work to take a break. Deciding to go for a walk, Lucy used her perception field to avoid people so no opportunistic nobility would find her. She navigated her way through the wing of the Gold Dome Hall, past the extravagant vases and paintings that decorated the rooms, past windows behind expensive curtains and-
She paused when she saw a very… unusual scene occurring in one of the rooms that had just entered her perception. With a slightly strange expression, she changed her path and walked towards the room. She stuck her head around the corner, looking at the visage of Viscountess Margaery Femidela in the room, who had her back turned. The woman paused for a second and turned around to see Lucy there, and then smirked as she spread her arms.
"Oh dear. It seems I've been caught."
Lying there on the ground around her were four dead bodies, three of them male, and one female. One was slumped against the side of a couch, and there was a fair amount of blood covering all of their clothes. Two of them had strange puncture wounds, while the other two seemed to have died from poisoning. The carpet was stained red, and some sections of Viscountess Femidela's outfit of dark trousers and shirt seemed to be suspiciously darker than the surrounding cloth. The curtains of the room were torn in places, and there was also blood smeared on some of the walls. The ceiling chandelier was hanging by only half of its fixings.
"Hmm." Lucy took a step into the room and observed the surroundings with a mix of morbid interest, slight curiosity at what caused such a situation, and mild bemusement. "I'm not entirely sure the curator will appreciate the new change in décor."
The Viscountess chuckled. "Really? But I worked so hard to find a new shade of carpet that he might find appealing," she replied, gesturing to the stained carpet.
"Perhaps the members of the Evernight March may enjoy it," Lucy told her. She tilted her head as she looked at the four bodies on the ground. "Which force were these from?"
"Oh, both Olden and Radical," the Viscountess said, giving her a casual shrug. "It seems a little conflict occurred between the two groups, so I decided to step in and resolve the situation for them."
"And the identities of these people in particular are…?" Lucy asked.
Viscountess Femidela pointed to them. "Two of the men were participants, while the other two here were some of the Commission's staff."
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "They just happened to chance upon each other in this room, then began fighting?"
The woman in front of her let out a light laugh and shook her head. "There may have been a few letters planted by me requesting them to come here, all under the disguise of it being their faction's orders."
"I see." Lucille took another glance around the room. "Considering their bodies haven't disintegrated, I'll take it that they've already used their last resurrections. Will you send for someone to remove them?"
"No need. I'll take care of it myself," Viscountess Femidela replied. The brown-haired woman snapped her fingers as a white 2-dimensional disc appeared in mid-air, and she plunged her arm within it. When she withdrew her hand, held within it was a small vial filled with a grey liquid of some kind. She walked over to each body and dripped several drops on them. As Lucy watched, the bodies and their clothes melted away, steam rising from where they were. The liquid they turned into quickly evaporated, and the Viscountess returned the vial to her dimensional skill.
"The Grey-Bloom Dissipation poison is a particularly hard poison to synthesize for one that's Rare-ranked," Lucy remarked once she was done. "Was that your own work?"
"It was, yes," the Viscountess said. She gave Lucy a curious look. "You have experience with it?"
"Not so much when it comes to using it on dead bodies," Lucy replied, although she had used it for that at one stage, "However, I was once interested to see how its alchemical properties worked when infused with a specific fire-type spiritual plant of the Heavenly Realm."
"And the outcome of that experiment?" Viscountess Femidela asked with interest.
"It changed the poison from one requiring physical contact to a form of gas," Lucy told her with a strange expression. "And the spiritual properties it gained meant the poison became a soul dissipation poison instead. That was one biohazard I regret creating."
"Well, I however am very interested to know what spiritual plant you used." The poison master smirked.
Lucy grinned. "I'm sure you are, but the problem with the poison was not the fact it was a soul dissipation poison. My issue with it," she explained, "Was that it tried to dissipate my soul as well, and ignored all protective measures I had in place. If you wish to die while using the poison on your enemies, then I'm willing to give you the recipe."
The woman blinked. "Ah. That would be an issue. No, I suppose I'll pass on your offer in that case," she said with a smile.
Lucy took another glance around the room. "Were those the only ones you needed to deal with?"
The Viscountess smirked and shook her head. "They weren't, but besides the ones I've already dealt with, the others I will deal with another day. I'll send for some of the Commission's staff to clean this up now."
Lucille nodded and then took out her pocket watch to check the time. "It appears to be time for lunch in only half an hour, so it would be best to deal with this before then."
Viscountess Femidela gave her a nod. "Then I will bid you goodbye, Faction Head."
They both left the room and separated, going different ways. As Lucy walked away from the room, she ruminated a little on what had just happened.
That was a slightly strange event to come across. I haven't been involved in a situation like that for several months now.
She slowed her steps for a second and then sped back up.
Although, maybe that fact is the stranger one. Living such a normal day-to-day life for an extended period has left me feeling a little… off. That, combined with my soul shock and dealing with the merged consciousnesses for a while… I've been trying to wait until the stages, but…
She shook her head and looked out of a window she was near.
Oh well. I can't do much about it. I should focus on the reason why I took a walk in the first place.
She sighed and used her spiritual energy to imbue her mana with the mental imagery of illusion mana. The illusion mana in the environment, attracted to mana that had taken on its characteristics, became drawn to her, where she was able to use her spiritual energy to surround herself with the illusory energy. Painting the imagery of blending into her surroundings over herself, her elemental manipulation made her invisible, and so she opened a door set in the wall to step out onto a balcony overlooking the open area below.
There, the contestants of the competition event could be seen, with crowds of people viewing all the proposals and items. It seemed the event was quite popular, which was good, however, that wasn't why she had stepped out.
She removed her mask from the right side of her face and glanced at a random person below.
[Status: ]
Name: Gil Bramwell (Lvl. 231)
Class: Molten Engineer – Rare (Tier: VIII)
Age: 27y
Race: Human
HP: 5900/5900 {+76.81/1m}
MP: 19850/19850 {+3200/1m}
Stats:
Free Stat Points: 4
STR: 89
CON: 118
AGI: 90
DEX: 642
INT: 397
WIS: 320
[Origin Skill: Smouldering Iron Hammer | Type: Crafting/Realm
We go from the terrifying level of information advantage from being from the future, and then just for fun she can now read your status. That will really start coming in handy once ripples start propitiating from her different actions and her future knowledge starts the depreciate in use.
[Origin Skill: Smouldering Iron Hammer | Type: Crafting/Realm
Desc: [Collapsed]
Subskills: [Collapsed]
Awakening: 22% ]
She… could see Statuses. She had discovered this before the meeting with the main County members, when she had taken off her mask for a bit and glanced at a Commission staff member who happened to be in the room at the same time, the screen accidentally popping up. She knew that the 'Shard of Totality' as it seemed to be called was capable of seeing elements of the System, showing her stuff that was technically not supposed to exist.
But to be able to pierce through to see all of someone's stats and their Origin Skill laid bare, and if she chose, to see each of their primary, secondary, and tertiary skills as well? She had a feeling, that she could even choose to see someone's Titles and Aspects if she wanted. And that was not good in the slightest.
It wasn't like she cared if someone saw her Status as Adrianna unless it was the Hero. People from Earth normally had far fewer hang-ups about discussing stats and skills than people from other realms, on account of their deep culture of gaming and digital entertainment. It wasn't like the concept of 'skill levels' was a thing in the System either, so the actual capabilities of an individual couldn't be judged just by seeing their stats or skills. However, all of this did not stop it from being extremely, extremely dangerous for other people to know she had this ability.
The five realms had a culture of avoiding discussing things like Statuses. When the User was under a certain Rank, level, and class rarity, it wasn't so important, but when they had a special bloodline, came from a powerful clan, or were a member of an important noble lineage, everything changed. It meant she would be capable of discovering secrets like the fact the Sanctity Caladrius were close to becoming a Mythical bloodline regularly.
She didn't want that! She did not want to find out things like that any more frequently than never! She already knew more than enough for every single Supreme Institution to issue a kill-on-sight order for her. Some of her memories and knowledge about things she had even prevented Scytale from being able to see, on his request.
Being able to see Aspects, Origin Skills and primary skills meant she would be able to see the unique secret abilities of powerful forces, and the most private capabilities of incredibly powerful people. The Empire's royal family, for example. The trouble she would find herself in if they found out she glimpsed even one Origin Skill of their members'…
She might also end up finding out secrets like the bloodline connections of people. What if she found out that a main bloodline member of a Duchy was a fake and wasn't related to them at all in the slightest? That someone was the illegitimate descendant of a powerful noble? Or that a demon was possessing someone? And these weren't even the worst possibilities.
Some might say Lucy was overreacting, but she knew exactly what kind of abilities and items existed out there that could detect her knowing the wrong things. Ancient magical artifacts capable of powerful prediction, Wonder magic items that functioned on strange rules and logic that could point the wielder to people who knew their secrets, spiritual treasures that could track down her soul…
High-level cultivators were even capable of soul reading. Well, she had enough soul power to protect herself from that, but it would still be very bad for her to have to reveal she had that capability at her rank. But still, just because she was safe from the Citadel's Sages, did not mean she was safe from the Heavenly Realm's diviners, where the entire realm didn't use mana and only used spiritual energy to function. Just imagining what would happen if a Heavenly Sect discovered she knew one of their Sect Leader's or successor's core abilities…
Yeah. She was not happy in the slightest she gained this 'overpowered' ability. It was the definition of not worth it. She may have just become the most powerful appraiser of the entire Tower… but was she in the All-Aeon Athenaeum, Inspecting rare and exotic old artifacts? No. She was going to be the new Honorary Count of the Aurelian Commission, where being a noble automatically made her a target for assassinations, she was also the only contractor of the Demon Emperor, and she had to deal with the Hero and his knowledge of the future.
She. Did. Not. Need. This.
Unfortunately, short of removing her eyeball, she doubted she could get rid of it. And considering it had seemingly fused with her body… removing it might not even be a solution in the end. She sighed, and replaced the mask over her right eye, turning away from the balcony. When she was back inside she dropped the invisibility, and turned to walk back to where she had come from before seeing the Viscountess.
So far, at least, it seemed the ability to see User's Statuses didn't activate when the mask was on. That was good. What wasn't so good was the fact it instantly activated as soon as the mask was off. Until she became Rank-1, she doubted she would be able to tell if her control over the abilities of the shard would improve or not. For the foreseeable future, she would never be taking it off. It wasn't like having the mask on all the time made things difficult, as it wasn't uncomfortable.
She made her way along the path to where she knew the dining hall was, as lunch was going to be soon. The competition seemed to be going well. It was unlikely there would be many hiccups, and once it was done, she and Scytale would head to the Forerunner's Event.
The Event itself wasn't that important, outside of it being mandatory for all forerunners, and Scytale only wanted to go because he didn't go last time and it was a rare System Event. She'd also be able to find out more about 'broken' Origin Skills while in the Capital. After that, in the next month, would be the Empire's annual end-of-year banquet. It lasted two weeks, and during that time Vincent would be dealing with most of the politics instead of her.
…except maybe regarding one person. The people at the top of the seven Eternal Duchies likely already knew she wasn't a real puppet head, and so when she visited Archduke Stolas Eterial, she would do it with the full status of the Aurelian Commission Head.
I should probably send the request to organise a meeting with him within the next few days. He's known to be hard to meet with outside of Empire events, so if I send an official letter now I can meet him during the banquet. And if I don't do it now, it will be unlikely I'll be able to meet him at the banquet because thousands of other nobles probably have the same idea as me.
That was a task for later. For now, she had lunch with the Country representatives.
A ponytailed man with dark hair walked through the crowds of people, looking at the different items and objects in the crafter's section of the competition. Sedric was currently doing as Lucille had suggested, exploring the event to see what other crafters had made.
It had been interesting enough to see what was being made, although some items were too high-rarity for him to Inspect, as he was only Rank-1. None of the items without spells, for example. The fact that he needed to be Rank-3 to craft items without spells for skills was very interesting, and if Lucille needed him to use spiritual energy to craft her item, then she didn't want an item crafted that only used spells. But she refused to tell him what it was she wanted crafted, which annoyed him beyond belief.
Before the System though, the Mystical Realm only knew how to craft items with spells. He wasn't sure it was possible to craft non-spell items without the System. He didn't know much about what it was like before the System because the Mystical Realm had been assimilated for over a hundred chapters, so he wouldn't really know if it was possible or not, but he guessed after so long had passed it didn't matter anymore.
Finding interest in something he saw, he walked over to one bench to check out an item.
"-but the main alchemical solution would evaporate if you increased the amplification by that much. The circuit would generate too much heat."
"And that is why I use a secondary water-element coolant here. The temperature is regulated and kept to a minimum, the properties of the solution itself being retained due to its transmutation recipe."
"Oh? It doesn't mix with the main coolant?"
"No. If you look at the Item sheet for the secondary solution, you can see that it is mineral-based, so it doesn't merge with the other coolant here, which uses several types of mana water mixtures, and-"
Sedric looked up from the item he was viewing to see two people who were surrounded by a small crowd, having quite a loud discussion as they analysed the device on a bench. It seemed they were one of the more popular contestants. Interested, he came closer to see what they were talking about and read the Item Sheet of the object.
[Apparatus – Type: Compounder, Magic Item ]
Name: 3-Element Compounding Engine
Rarity: Rare
MP: 5600/7,000
Desc:
Crafted by an advanced craftsman, this device was designed to compound basic alchemical materials from raw substances so the User has access to simple alchemical substances without needing an Alchemist class to transmute them. As this item is a prototype, it can only be used with materials of the elements of fire, earth, and water. Using one multi-layer intermediate spell and several advanced-level mana circuits, this device requires an input of 50MP to activate, 250MP per second to recharge until full and uses its mana storage based on how rare an alchemical substance you want to synthesise.
This prototype compounder can synthesise a combination of elemental materials of fire, earth, and water to create alchemical substances at Rare level or under. Synthesising time is dependent on the substance's mana density.
Internal Pseudo-Recombiner – With the existence of a pseudo-recombiner within, the device will always provide accurate results.
This compounder will recycle the alchemical output if not a stable alchemical material, reconstituting the alchemical material until it is stable enough to be a substance for use.
[ ]
The object that sat on the bench was a rounded pot-like device cast out of brass, covered in dials and switches. He watched it vibrate and tremble as steam escaped from valves, making lots of noise as it created whatever alchemical substance it had been tasked to make. He was surprised to see how practical the item was. He could definitely see the uses for it, if not for him personally.
As the Commission Head's crafter, he had free access to many resources, alchemical solutions and substances that could be bought whenever he wanted. But for a normal crafter, this device would make crafting items much cheaper due to being able to transmute raw materials into alchemical substances directly, instead of asking an alchemist to do so for an expensive price.
For an organisation like the Commission, he could see how being able to mass produce alchemical substances would be useful. Especially for producing many elixirs, which could be made up of several alchemical solutions, synthesised using other alchemical solutions, which were in turn synthesised from more alchemical solutions. Crafting elixirs was a very expensive profession.
The internal pseudo-recombiner was also interesting. He had a recombiner on his bench in his workbench, which he couldn't use yet due to the mana cost being too high at Rank-1, so he was a bit curious to see how the creator of the item managed to reduce the mana cost for his item.
He was going to walk forward to get a closer look when one of the members of the crowd looked back and stopped to stare at him for a second. Sedric blinked when he realised he recognised the person.
"Hey, you're that person from… back then," the blonde-haired man in his early twenties began hesitantly. He was the junior head crafter Sedric and Lucy had met in the craftsmen zone, Sameul. "You were… uh…"
"It's Sedric," he replied as the man moved away from the crowd to come to talk to him.
"Right." The man nodded. And then with an awkward look on his face, he continued, "And the person you were with at the time… she's…"
"Yes, she's the person you're thinking of, no, she's not really like how she acted earlier, and no, she's not as useless to the Commission as she's pretending," Sedric said, well aware of what Sameul's issue was.
"So I really did unknowingly meet the Commission Head and talked about joining her event right in front of the person herself," he muttered. Sameul shook his head and sighed. "Yeah, that was a shock I was not prepared to receive today. So she's intentionally acting like that?"
"I… don't know much about what she's trying to do. I'm not part of the Commission, technically," Sedric explained. How was he supposed to know what was inside that woman's head?
"Huh. I figured you must've been if she took you to the craftsmen zone," Sameul replied, surprised. "Then what's your relationship with her? Are you a participant in the competition like me?"
The day had finally come when Sedric could brag about his status. He smirked and crossed his arms. "Don't need to be. I'm her personal crafter."
The blonde-haired man's eyes widened. "Really? Her personal crafter? You must be pretty skilled then. What kind of crafter?" he asked curiously.
"Accessory. She said the adaptability of my class is useful," Sedric replied with a shrug.
"Accessory crafting is a pretty rare profession to go into, from what I know." Sameul gestured to himself. "As for me, I'm just a boring magic engineer. Haven't felt the need to branch out just yet."
All right. Sedric felt like that was enough small talk to be considered a functioning member of society. Now he needed to find some way to politely exit the conversation…
"I saw you looking at that compounder earlier. Do you have an interest in the Coalition's magitech?" Sameul asked.
……crap. He was asked another question. He was still stuck.
Sedric prevented himself from sighing as he came up with a reasonable-sounding answer that wasn't 'my highest known rarity class has magic engineering as its third primary skill and I know absolutely nothing about it'.
"Uh… kinda. I'm interested in magic engineering, which is why I'm in this section of the competition. I've been wondering if I should take it as my third main skill."
The man in front of him blinked and looked between him and the object on the bench. "That's… surprising. Not that I'm saying it's surprising that you specifically are interested," he added. "But just that someone not from the Coalition is interested at all. The profession of 'magic engineer' was only fully formed two thousand years ago, after all, and the All-Aeon Athenaeum doesn't have the most favourable attitude to us, which makes most people prefer to use other alternatives to our stuff," Sameul explained. "Can I ask how much you know?"
"I just know you need to align single-layer spells with engraved spell lines on cogs, and the input of mana then helps your machines move. Not much besides that," Sedric replied.
And Lucille's knowledge comes to my rescue- no, wait. That doesn't make me happy at all. I don't want her to be my saviour.
Sameul gave him a grin. "That's more than most people know." He seemed to think for a moment and then gestured to Sedric. "If you'd like, I can show you a bit about how it works."
That made Sedric pause in surprise. He… was actually kind of interested in the offer. It was important that he learnt more about the profession, and maybe if he left the event having learnt a bit, he could show Lucille he wasn't as stupid as she seemed to think he was. He might even end up seeing a look of shock on that inexpressive face of hers. It would beat that irritatingly self-satisfied smirk she got when she did smile.
That thought alone almost made him instantly accept, but as he considered it further…… wasn't this too nice of someone he had barely even known for longer than ten minutes? What reason could someone with the status of junior head crafter have to do something like that? It couldn't be the fact he was the Commission Head's personal crafter, because most crafters never had that much power in their organisations, even if his case was different…
He was suspicious.
"I mean, I'm interested, but why would you do that?" he asked Sameul.
Sameul gave him a dismissive wave and gestured to Sedric to follow him. "I'm just happy enough that someone's interested in my home plane's technology. It's not like I'll be teaching you some hidden secret of the Coalition or anything, so I may as well let you take a look."
Even as he followed the man, Sedric was still sceptical. There was no way the man was being helpful… just to be helpful. That was stupid. Nobody ever did anything like that. He bet the man was just trying to get close to Lucille using him. Yeah, that made more sense. This Sameul guy was probably going to try to use the fact he told Sedric about the Coalition's tech to make him 'owe him a favour', using him to meet Lucille again so he could become her new personal crater instead, and take over his position as-
"By the way, if you were looking at that compounder, I can't say that was the best example of the Coalition's magic engines, with the multi-layer spell inside and all," Sameul spoke up as he led Sedric through the crowds of people.
Sedric forgot his original train of thought as he answered, "Ah. That. I was just interested in that pseudo-recombiner trait of the compounder. I wanted to know what changes he made to the spell to reduce the mana cost so much."
"Oh, that was the same reason I went to look at it," Sameul replied as they walked. He scoffed. "Yeah, it's nothing much. The only reason people were crowding around the crafter's compounder was because the item's concept was unique. The actual spellcraft was really shoddily done. It was like a patchwork blanket, stitching random frames together to give it some half-baked functionality. I swear half of those runes were redundant."
"I guess being a magic engineer would give you a better idea of spellcraft than other crafting professions," Sedric said, stepping to the side to avoid some people.
"Yeah. Understanding basic rune theory is essential for magic engineering." Sameul nodded. He glanced at Sedric. "That's one thing I should probably tell you if you want to branch out into magic engineering. While it's true that most of our machines use single-layer spells, it's not a rule that we have to only use single-layer spells. Some of our machines use multi-layer spells."
…could it be? Was Lucille wrong about something? "Really? So your technology isn't made mostly out of simpler spell types?" Sedric asked, almost expectantly.
Sameul chuckled as he turned a corner. "Oh no, we definitely still use a lot of single-layer spells. What I mean is, that our really, really powerful devices use multi-layer spells and even arrays. But to get to the point you need to be somewhere around advanced to senior ranked in magic engineering," he explained, "which requires more than just time and effort."
Well, that was disappointing. Although, now that Sedric recalled, Lucille had said very rarely did magic engineers use multi-layer spells. Not, 'not at all'.
"Where are you taking me, by the way?" Sedric asked.
"Just to my section of the competition," Sameul replied. He looked around. "It should be somewhere around-"
The man came to a stop as he stared at something. Sedric followed his gaze to see a crowd of people at one specific display, seemingly discussing the object. He glanced at Sameul. "Is that supposed to be your bench?'
"…it is, but why are there so many people around it?" Sameul said quietly.
Sedric took another glance at the people near the bench, noticed their expensive clothing, and then looked at Sameul with a strange expression. "…aren't they nobles, too?"
Sameul gave him a wide-eyed look, and then slowly took a step back, preparing to run away. At that moment, one of the members of the crowd looked back and pointed out Sameul to the rest of them. The nobles turned to see him, and then, with one leading in front, they walked towards Sameul.
"oh- dearth-mother no, they've spotted me," Sameul muttered. "What do they want? Go away, go away, blight-blight-blight-blight-"
"Are you Sameul O'Dearvy?" the front noble abruptly asked, looking at Sameul. He had brown hair, looked to be in his mid-30s, and was dressed in a black and red suit. The noble watched Sameul with narrowed eyes.
"Uh… yes. And… may I know… who exactly you are, sir?" Sameul replied hesitantly.
"Erastus Aldithley," the man replied shortly. He gestured to Sameul's bench behind him. "I am here because I have a proposition for you. Sell me the rights to your device here, and I will give you a position as a crafter under the main business of Alichanteu."
There was silence as Sedric and Sameul registered the words of the noble. It seemed noble drama had come to the junior head craftsman next to Sedric.
"I'm… already a junior head craftsman though…." Sameul responded.
Aldithley scoffed. "Yes, I've heard. You work as a junior head craftsman for one of the vassal businesses in the crafter's zone. But I am promising a position in a main business of the Blue County itself, rather than just one of their subordinate businesses."
That was all very good and well, but…
"I wouldn't be a junior head craftsman if I took your offer though, right?" Sameul asked.
The noble marginally raised an eyebrow, as if the idea itself was absurd. "Obviously not. You may have created an interesting device, but you do not have the status or have demonstrated enough potential to be given such a position."
"So… if I wouldn't have my current status… and I wouldn't have the wage and access to resources of a junior head craftsman… why exactly should I accept your offer, sir?" Sameul said.
"Why, to become a part of a prestigious noble-owned business, of course," Aldithley announced haughtily. "And if you show talent, then perhaps one of our crafters will be willing to take you as a student."
Sedric and Sameul traded glances before Sameul turned back to him. "But I'm a magic engineer? All the best teachers for my profession are at the Coalition, so if I wanted a teacher, I would've stayed there," Sameul told him. "And sir, I came to Gilded Seat to make connections with other crafters, which," he gestured to their surroundings, "Is what I'm doing right now, by joining this event."
Sameul crossed his arms and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but your offer doesn't interest me."
The noble, and the nobles behind him, just stared at him, like they couldn't believe someone had refused an offer from a noble. The surrounding watchers winced, aware of what was going to happen next. Erastus Aldithley slowly turned red and then opened his mouth to release his fury.
"You dare to refuse my offer? A mere commoner like you refuses the offer of a Viscount from the 23rd Major Kingdom-"
This is getting stupid. I just came here to know about magic engineering, but he's not stopping.
Should I… reveal my status as the Commission Head's personal crafter? I could probably resolve this… and I heard something about how nobles aren't supposed to be in the commoner section of the competition too.
Sedric glanced at Sameul, who was looking more than just a little bit tired of the tirade being directed his way.
If the Commission staff got involved then they'd probably be on my side. I… don't want to stand out, but if there's going to be no end to this…
He took a step forward and waved a hand between Sameul and the Aldithley guy, getting their attention.
"Uh, hey, Erastus or whatever. Could you quit it?" Sedric said.
The noble glared at him. "That is Lord Aldithley, to you, commoner."
Sedric sighed. "Yeah, fine, Lord Diddly-something. Look, this guy's not interested," he pointed to Sameul, "And I have a feeling you guys aren't even supposed to be in this section," he gestured vaguely to the nobility behind the man, who seemed to be nobles of similar rank, and who flinched at his statement, "So unless you think shouting at someone is going to change their mind, maybe we could all just leave?"
Aldithley narrowed his eyes at Sedric. "And who might you be, to say this?"
Sedric reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his black access card for the fortieth floor of Headquarters. "The personal crafter of the Aurelian Commission Head."
Sameul, the crowd, and the nobles all turned to stare at the black card with the Commission's symbol of three gold coins in his hand. There was silence for a while before people began muttering to each other. The nobles started looking worried until Erastus Aldithley scoffed. "You think you can fool me with that fake?"
"Excuse me?" Sedric asked incredulously. "Fake? Do I look stupid enough to pretend to be the Commission Head's personal crafter right in the middle of a literal Commission event? Where even the lowest-ranked staff member can verify my card whenever they want?"
"-then you stole it," Aldithley stubbornly replied.
"I stole it?" Sedric put a hand to his temples. "From who exactly? Who do you know has this card that I can just randomly walk up to them and take this from their pockets?" He looked around until he spotted someone he had met once before the competition at Headquarters. "You know what, let's get another opinion. SIR ALICHANTEU!" he shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth.
The blonde and blue-haired Artair Alichanteu, who was going around doing his job as the representative of the Blue County, blinked and looked around when he heard his title. He stopped when he saw Sedric waving to him, before walking over.
"Mr. Ferin? I didn't know you would be here. What seems to be the-" Artair paused when he saw Erastus Aldithley and his group of nobles, all looking rather pale now that they discovered Sedric knew the first heir of Alichanteu.
Artair frowned at Aldithley. "Sir Aldithley, I tasked you with reading the profiles of participants of the nobility, not taking a walk through the venue of the competition. You are not supposed to be here." He looked at the other nobles. "None of you are supposed to be here. The nobility and commoner competitions are separated until the next round." He narrowed his eyes at them. "Leave now, and if I see you here again before the round is over, I will give you more than just a warning."
They quickly made their way towards the nearest exit, and the crowd dispersed. Artair put his hands behind his back and turned to Sedric. "Now, what did you need me for, Mr. Ferin?"
Sedric pointed a thumb in the direction of the leaving nobles. "You've pretty much just dealt with it. That Aldithley guy was trying to get junior head craftsman Sameul here," he said, gesturing to Sameul, "To hand over the rights of his device to him, in exchange for a place in one of Alichanteu's main businesses."
Artair stared at Sedric for a few seconds, before slowly, he gained a grin. "Oh really? Is that true?"
Sedric raised an eyebrow at his reaction. "Uh… yes. Is that… good?"
Artair's grin widened as he shook his head. "Well, definitely not for them, but certainly for me. You see, it seems my little brother's tag-a-long by the name of Aldithley has just broken a few rules set by our mutual acquaintance, and this will reflect on his lord. It's quite a spot of good luck for me."
……ah. It seems someone might have just annoyed Lucille. Sedric was slightly curious to know how that would end up for them, but… maybe ignorance was the more healthy option for his continued mental well-being.
Then Artair turned to Sameul. "Although, not quite as good luck for you, crafter Sameul. I apologise as the representative of the Blue County that there was such an incident," he said with a slight dip of the head.
Sameul was quite flustered and quickly shook his hands to refute. "N-No need to apologise to me, Sir Alichanteu. I'm fine now that they're gone."
Artair nodded. "Well, if that was all… oh." He took out a notepad and pen and gestured to Sameul. "Could I please have your full name so I can report his incident? It may come in handy for me," he said with a smirk.
"Sameul O'Dearvy," the blonde-haired man replied.
Artair jotted it down and then blinked. "Wait… did you say O'Dearvy?" He put away the notepad and instead pulled out a thick wad of envelopes from the inside of his suit jacket. He riffled through them, until he found what he was looking for, and then pulled it out. He smiled as he put away the other envelopes and handed the last one to Sameul. "Then let me congratulate you, participant O'Dearvy. You've progressed to the next round."
Sameul stared at the envelope with a violet seal in his hand with wide eyes, then glanced between Artair and the envelope. "No way…"
Artair just glanced at his wristwatch and gave them a nod. "Then it's time I returned to handing out the rest of these envelopes. Farewell." And with that, the Alichanteu heir left them.
Although Sedric could've sworn he heard the man singing a song under his breath with the lyrics of 'Arwwwwen's going to get in troooubbble~' as he walked.
He turned back to the stunned Sameul next to him. "So… congratulations, I guess?"
"I- uh, t-thanks," Sameul stammered, still staring at the envelope.
"What is your device, if you don't mind me asking?" Sedric asked.
The man stopped staring at the envelope, blinked, and then put it away. Then he walked towards his bench. "Oh, it's a type of engine that uses water element solutions and the fire element to create steam. The pressure from the steam then generates mechanical power which is converted to magical power. This method only uses basic elemental reactions to power it, meaning the cost of alchemical substances is minimised."
That made Sedric interested. "How did you get the mechanical power to produce mana?"
Sameul grinned. "Well, this can be your first lesson in magic engineering. With mana circuitry, just as a spell can generate machine power, machine power can also generate mana…"
Sedric spent the rest of his time that week discussing magic engineering with Sameul, or looking at the rest of the crafter's section, pondering new ways to use his skills and abilities in a way that might have a chance of surprising Lucy.
"-and the final winner of the Aurelian Commission's Competition is… Lux Bramwell!"
The crowd gave a round of applause when they heard the silver-haired man's announcement. The winner, a young man with brown hair, came and shook hands with the dark-haired girl first in line, and then the County representatives, beaming as he held a big picture frame containing an ornament with the Commission's symbol. There were a few more congratulatory words and another speech to the audience before they could all leave the massive auditorium.
Lucille spoke up first, "Right. That's all done now."
"Except we still have to deal with the aftermath," Artair said with a sigh.
"It's easier compared to the work that we needed to do during the event," she replied, as she, Artair, Viscountess Femidela, Vincent and Rosaline stepped into a large living room.
"I'll go talk to Lux Bramwell then," Vincent told them, as he received nods in return. "I have to discuss how we'll implement his idea."
"And I will see to ensuring no… extra influences have snuck past my purview these last two weeks." Viscountess Femidela smirked then she waved goodbye, and left the room.
Artair and Rosaline also went their separate ways to do their jobs. Lucy grabbed her cane and headed towards a room she was going to use to meet several individuals.
I suppose it's time for me to begin forming my own force.
…
A large room of the Gold Dome hall was filled with the chatter of people talking and discussing the reason why they were asked to be there. Twenty-three people turned to look when they heard the door of their room open and blinked in surprise when they saw it was a dark-haired girl with a mask, the Aurelian Commission Head, and not one of the other representatives. Lucy took out her pocket watch to check the time.
"I'm three minutes early, however…" She raised her head and looked around the room. "It seems all of you are here, so I may as well begin."
She went to the front of the room and sat down on the chair there. She waved to the rest of them. "Take a seat."
The people opposite her hesitantly did so, unsure as to why they were meeting with the Aurelian Commission Head herself. Lucy crossed one leg over the other and then gestured to them.
"Now, I assume all of you are wondering what will you be told that is so important that you had to sign a magical contract promising your silence on whatever you saw and heard within this room," she began. She smiled. "That is because I will be giving you all an offer."
She let them absorb her words for a while. When the crafters began exchanging hushed whispers, she decided to continue. Lucy held up one of her gloved hands, showing five fingers.
"If any of you come to work for me for five years, during this period I will support them with my resources as the Aurelian Commission Head, and use the Counties' expertise to refine their final idea submitted in this competition until they are fit for commercial use. This refinement will be completed before the five-year period is over."
Her audience fell silent and then began talking amongst themselves. She didn't do anything and just stayed still, letting them discuss it. One man hesitantly raised his hand, so she pointed to him. "Question?"
"Are you offering this to only one person among us, or…."
Lucille shook her head. "No. If all of you accept, then I will support you all. These terms apply to all who accept my offer."
The talking among them grew slightly louder, all of them surprised by the offer. She could hear them talking about the pros and cons of her offer with the people next to them. It sounded like most were willing to accept, but they hadn't noticed one little detail she had mentioned at the very start. Another man raised his hand, making her point to him and nod.
"What about our current jobs?" he asked.
"As the County vassal business you all work in are part of the Commission," she replied, "And my status as the Aurelian Commission Head is enough to order for your transferal with no breach of contract. Your workplaces will be compensated for the loss of a competent worker."
When there were no more raised hands, she gestured to a Commission staff member in the corner of the room, who nodded and began handing out the details of the offer, which mentioned things such as wages and crafting allowance. Most immediately read the information on the pages, but one blonde-haired man didn't pick it up and just raised his hand.
Lucille smirked and pointed to him. "Yes, Mr. O'Dearvy?"
Sameul blinked at the fact she knew his last name but coughed and gestured to the pages on his lap. "I have a question. Who will we be working under?"
The rest of the crafters fell silent and looked up as they realised his implication. Lucy propped her chin up with the armrest of the chair and gestured to them all with her hand. She spoke to them with a wide smile.
"I have offered this to you all on one condition. You will be supported with resources from the Founder's vault, have your plans refined, and your intellectual property will remain yours at the end of it, only if you work directly under me, Lucille Goldcroft."
She continued as they gained slight frowns, "Not my aide, Vincent Evisenhardt. Not under any other member of the Commission, unless ordered to. No, you will be direct subordinates of the Aurelian Commission Head, and no one else. My orders always have to be your first priority."
There was silence among them as they took in her words, frowns of deep contemplation on all of their faces. Lucy gestured to the exit. "If you don't like the idea of being under the Aurelian Commission Head when they have questionable power of their own, then you may take your leave now, and we'll forget this meeting ever occurred," she told them. "But you won't be able to speak about this offer or anything that happened in this room because of the magic contract in effect," she added.
After a few seconds, two of the twenty-three people in the room got up and gave her a short bow. She nodded to them, and they left the room. She waved to the Commission staff member to come forward, and they did, with magical contracts and pens in hand.
"If there are any more questions, please ask them," Lucy said.
Nobody raised their hands, so she tilted her head. "Nobody?" After she received no answer, she narrowed her eyes and smiled. "If so, then I will wait for you all to make your decisions. You have one hour, after which the offer will no longer be available. Please think carefully."
With that, she leaned back in her seat and waited. Her audience began discussing things among themselves, wondering how much power she held if she was making an offer like this. After a few minutes, one person stood up and walked over to her.
"Here's my signed contract," Sameul said with a grin. "I don't think I need to wait long to think about this one."
She smirked, and took his contract, then signed it with her own pen. "I assume coming to a decision must be easier for you, considering the circumstances of our meeting. I've heard you've been talking to my Legendary crafter."
"Yeah- wait." His eyes went wide. "Legendary?"
"Not the first impression you got from him?" she replied wryly. She handed the contract back and gestured to it. "You are now one of my direct subordinates. As stated in the contract, you get a 10 rose crown signing bonus and will start work on the first day of next year. Enjoy your break, Mr. O'Dearvy." She grinned. "You are now free to go."
He blinked and then smiled. After a short dip of the head, he turned and left the room. Lucille looked back at the rest of the people in the room and gave them a wide smile.
"Now it's your turn to make a decision."
…
Twenty out of the original twenty-three agreed to be her subordinates. Now Lucy had completed one of the final few steps she needed to do before the next year, which was when things would become much busier for her. However, that was for then. With the competition over, she had returned to Headquarters for the day, with tomorrow being the day she would go to the Capital for the Forerunner's Event. But first, she had a job to do.
She swung open the door of her living room, shut it behind her with a click, and then walked over to one of her couches. Seated there was an unusually shiny winged snake, his body slowly moving as he breathed. She squatted down next to him and… poked him.
"Scytale."
He didn't move. She gently tugged on one of his head feathers. "Scytale, get up."
He still didn't move. She sighed, and shifted closer so she could cup her hands around her mouth and talk into his ear, "Scytale, if you don't get up now, I'm ditching you and going to the System Event all by myself so you won't get to spy on the Hero."
There was still no reaction, the magically induced sleep being very hard for him to escape. She stood up and placed her hands on her hips, considering what to do. Eventually, Lucy decided there was only one way she could wake him up. Summoning her most vivid memory of a magical sound blast to the forefront of her mind, she took the sensation… and drove it through their bond to be plunged straight into Scytale's mind.
"GAH!"
The snake sprang up and shook his feather-crested head. "Ow, ow, ow, ow-" He glared at Lucy. "That hurt. Why did you have to wake me up like that?" Scytale shook his head again. "Urgh, my head's still ringing."
"I did try to wake you normally, I'll have you know," she replied with a raised eyebrow. "You were completely unresponsive. Be glad I didn't use one of my even more painful memories."
"Yeah, whatever. You just wanted to inflict suffering on me," he grumbled. "So, is it time for the Event?"
"Not yet. That's tomorrow," she responded, taking a seat next to him. "There's something I wanted to do first in case it became useful."
"And you needed me awake for it?" She nodded, so he tilted his head curiously. "What is it then?"
She reached into her dimensional pouch to take out a mug and the brass jug. "I wanted to go to the Library to find out more about your 'Sympathetic aura effect'." She began pouring herself some coffee.
"Ooooh. Yeah, that. We didn't really focus on it at the time, did we." Scytale nodded. He stretched out his wings to get rid of the sleepiness in his body.
"Well, that was because I don't know what it's supposed to do," she stated, taking a sip of her drink.
He paused and turned to stare at her. "Wait… you don't know what it does?"
Lucy shrugged. "Obviously I know what an aura effect does. It's another type of affix and applies to mana only. But while I've heard of the Sympathetic aura effect, its actual effects are unclear to me. However," she continued, "I do know that it's one of the effects those who focus on CHAR are more likely to get."
"That explains why it's a Sanctity Caladrius bloodline ability," Scytale said. "Actually, let me bring up the skill page to see. I still don't have eidetic memory yet."
[Sub-skill: Glorified in Bygone | Type: Bloodline/Elemental ]
Desc: As brilliant beacons of light, the many winged Sanctity Caladrius have often been guardians and idols of worship for the lesser, mortal masses. Descendants of one of the few peaceable primals, the Light Bringer, they have protected and purified many areas where abominable creatures roamed, allowing the races to hold deep respect for these beings, with some placing them on a pedestal as more than mere beast.
Abilities:
Neophyte Light Bringer – Child of the purest light
Gives User advanced Light Affinity. All light element spells have up to 75% increased efficiency and effectiveness. Element ratio: 75%
Golden Pillar of Peace – Everywhere you spread your wings shall see your light.
Gives the User Lesser light manipulation.
Gives the User the spells: Sanctification Zone, Rays of Purity, Force of Power (light), Brilliant Beacon
Gives the User the Sympathetic aura effect. Applied to all light spells.
Emergent Glory – What was, shall return in time, and the praise of mortals will be with them once more.
Gives the User a buff depending on the quantity of onlookers. Current onlooker count: 1/50. 50 = +50% skill effectiveness.
Gives the User mana regeneration +1/1m for every onlooker.
Gives the User a temporary mana cap of +1000 for every 100 onlookers.
[ ]
"Right. It's applied to all my light-element bloodline spells, so it's a passive effect I can't turn off. But can't you guess what it does from the name?" the snake asked. "You're more familiar with the System's naming conventions than me, so you must have some idea."
Lucy shook her head. "Not this time. I don't know what it does because as it's an aura effect, it's not mental." She gestured to the screen. "If this was a spiritual energy affix, in a way similar to how Apophis's Despair mental affliction is a demonic power affix, then I could guess. But when it comes to mana… I'm not sure. It must work differently than just generating 'sympathy' in those you cast your spells on."
"Huh. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go check it out!" he exclaimed, flapping his wings.
Lucille just sighed. "Scytale. At least let me send you my memories of the last few weeks first."
He sheepishly pulled back his wings. "Uh… yeah. Let's do that first."
…
After she had shown him her memories of her time at the Commission and as Adrianna, they got up and began making their way through the corridors to find Lucy's study. She had something she needed to do there before they went to the Library.
"What are you going to do about him though?" Scytale asked her, continuing a conversation they were in the middle of having. "You met him a whole three months earlier."
"There is nothing to be 'done'," she replied, turning a corner. "The only difference is that I don't have a reason to be so cold towards him this time around. I'll just avoid making a few mistakes I did last time."
"…Lucy, are you happy you got to see him again?"
She paused slightly, glanced at her bond near her feet, and then continued walking again. "Yes." Then she frowned. "But… this means I'll have to keep the Hero firmly in check, otherwise… it won't end well. Again." She sighed.
"Take care of the things you can do in the present, and forget the rest, Lucy. Maybe we won't even meet the Hero tomorrow, and we can just have a nice day out," he replied.
She huffed a slight laugh. "I wouldn't bet on it."
"Oh! Hey, Lucy- woah, that is one shiny snake. I was not expecting that when I heard you had a serpent bond."
Lucy and Scytale turned around to see a blond ponytailed man there, holding a stack of paper in his arms, and looking stunned as he saw the silvery snake on the ground. Jacques and Caius had begun working at Headquarters two weeks ago.
Scytale flapped his wings. "I know a green scaly thing is what stereotypically comes to mind when someone thinks of a 'snake'," he snarked, "But don't generalise us so much. We can be pretty too."
Jacques smirked. "My apologies then, O bond of the Faction Head," he said with a slight bow. It seemed he approved of the snake's character.
Scytale took the sarcasm in stride and spread his wings proudly. "As long as you understand the high status I hold," he replied with grandiose.
"High status being on the floor, like a lowly crawling insect," Lucy stated dryly.
Her bond looked down at himself and then turned to her. "Lucy, can you lift m-"
"Not happening."
Scytale slumped as Jacques looked between the two with amusement. "Can't you just fly?"
Lucy and Scytale stared at Jacques for a few seconds, making him confused. "What? What did I say?"
"I'm getting déjà vu," Scytale muttered.
Lucy just sighed and continued walking to go to her study. "My bond here will be able to fly when he reaches advanced rank. But not at his current bloodline strength."
Jacques and Scytale followed her as they made their way there. "Was there any particular reason you called out to me earlier besides noticing my bond?" Lucille asked the man.
"Hm? Oh, yeah." He held up the documents he held in his arms. "I was just going to say I've got the updates on how the preparation for the first organisational changes are going in the Counties. Ravimoux is nearly finished and will be done by the end of the year. Chavaret is the next quickest, then Evisenhardt, with Alichanteu taking the most amount of time."
"That's to be expected with the mess that County is in. And that second heir of theirs…" she muttered with a scowl. She shook her head as she opened the door of her study. "I'll do something about them after the banquet."
Inside her study, Caius looked up from the armchair Vincent usually sat in. "Oh, Lucille. I was just waiting here because Vincent's out," he replied. He stood up from the chair.
"That's fine," she replied. "I'm here because I want you to give Vincent a message for me when he comes back from the 17th floor. Tell him Scytale and I went to the Library for a while, in case he's wondering where I am."
"Sure," Caius said with a nod. He gave her a curious look. "Not going to tell him yourself?"
"He's currently dealing with the man known as Gordon Merst," she stated flatly. "I'm not getting involved. Only one of us needs to be sacrificed for that job."
Jacques and Caius gained strange expressions when she said that.
"Note to self: don't bother Vincent for a while…" Jacques muttered.
"Er… right. No going to find Vincent." Caius coughed. He held out a white envelope with a sky-blue seal to her. "Anyway, the reply from the 7th Eternal Duchy came."
She blinked and then took the envelope. She went over to her desk to find a paper knife, and unsealed it, reading the letter. She nodded after a moment. "It seems the Archduke has accepted my request for a meeting at the banquet. That's good. Although it will be an entirely private meeting, so Vincent can't come."
"Archduke Stolas Eterial?" Jacques asked with surprise.
"The Empire only has one Archduke," she replied wryly. "I'll inform the Duchy we received their acceptance later." Then she looked down at the ground next to the couch and frowned. "Also, Scytale. Stop trying to trip Caius over."
"Tsk."
Caius flinched he heard the sound of a young boy in his head and looked down to see a white-gold winged silver snake reluctantly removing a long silvery tail from next to his foot.
"He hadn't noticed me," Scytale muttered with annoyance.
"And so your decision to alert him to your presence was to attempt to make him have an accident," she said with narrowed eyes.
"It worked with Annaliese. And that was because you were all ignoring me!" he exclaimed, rearing up.
Lucy just rolled her eyes as she left the study, the snake following along. Jacques turned to Caius with confusion.
"Who's Annaliese?"
Caius watched Scytale leave with mild bemusement. "I think he's referring to the Citadel's new Prophetess."
"Huh- no, wait." Jacques stared at Caius. "Did her bond just say he intentionally tripped over the Citadel's Prophetess of Fate?"
…
The lift descended to the basement of Headquarters, and Lucy stepped out, with a sneaky serpent on her shoulders, who had finally managed to get her to put him there. In front of them was a massive hall filled with bookcases reaching the room's roof. Occasionally in places, glowing books lifted themselves off of book trolleys to be reordered by the mana-circle automatically cast on them, and inserted into the bookshelves. The flutter of paper and whir of magic was the only sound heard in the room.
"So… are you going to expand your perception field to find the information you need? It might give you a headache as you are now though," Scytale asked.
She smirked. "No. There's an easier way. Could I please have some help, Ashale'viaf?" she called out to the empty room.
There was silence for a few seconds before a cloud of semi-translucent pink petals appeared in front of them. The form of the white and pink-haired rose spirit cloaked in white robes with gold trimming coalesced. Ashale'viaf had an expression that looked like he had eaten something sour as he glanced at Scytale and then turned to her.
"What do you need help with, Faction Head?" he asked wearily.
Scytale stared wide-eyed at the spirit. "Why are you here?"
Ashale'viaf's expression twitched as he looked back at the snake. "Because I'm the librarian." Then he sighed. "As a spirit, I can manifest my incarnation in more than one place at a time."
Lucy's bond narrowed his eyes. "Yes, but that can only happen if you're powerful enough to form two or more incarnations. Which means if you're capable of doing this in the Mystical Realm, you'd have to be a nearly fully-manifested spirit, who's close to making the material realms their home."
The rose spirit's expression stiffened, clearly not expecting Scytale to know that much about spirits. Scytale looked between him and Lucille's widening smirk. "What are you not telling me?"
Lucy tapped her bond on the head. "Let's forget about this for now," she said, to Ashale'viaf's visible relief. "I came to the Library to find out more about aura effects," she said to the spirit. "If there's anything on the 'Sympathetic' effect specifically, I'd like to read it, but if not, then a book that briefly lists aura effects and their purposes would be fine."
He nodded and gestured with a hand. "Please follow me then."
She did, and with Scytale on her shoulder, they spent a few minutes navigating the many bookshelves, placed in alphabetical order of Imperial Common. He finally came to a stop before one of the bookshelves with a ladder leaning against it, and with a gesture of his finger, one of the books lifted itself off the shelf. It fell into his hand, where he turned around and passed it to her.
"There is no book specifically on the 'Sympathetic' effect currently in the Headquarters' collection, however Copan Earlwight's Encyclopedia of Affixes contains information on the aura effect you are looking for. This is the 7th volume," he explained, "Which is the most up-to-date version."
"Thank you," she replied with a nod, taking the book from him.
"If that is all then I will take my leave," he said, giving her a short bow, but not before narrowing his eyes at Scytale, who just flickered his tongue in return.
She sat down on the last step of the bookshelf ladder as Ashale'viaf disappeared in a cloud of petals once more. Scytale sidled up to her as she flipped open the book.
"Don't you already know what's in it? It's inside your perception field," he said to her.
She raised her eyes from it to give the snake next to her a flat look. "I'm opening it so you can read it."
"Ohhhh…"
Aura Effect 98: Sympathetic
This aura effect is an ability commonly given by the System to Users with high CHAR or charm-type bloodlines and paths of progression. The Sympathetic aura effect is sometimes mistaken for the Empathetic aura effect, but it is important to know that there are differences between them. As an aura effect, this ability does not mentally instil 'sympathy' in those affected by the User's aura, but instead enables the User's mana to be predisposed to forming small mana links and mana bonds with the mana of the people around them. These bonds are unnoticeable unless viewed on an extremely small scale, but allow the User to absorb and send information through them, while also transferring mana. The transferred mana has different effects depending on the affinity of the User.
These links seem to occur as a form of enabling the connected to gain a common understanding with someone, the bonds enhancing comprehension. This characteristic is why the Sympathetic aura effect is often confused with the Empathetic aura effect. However, the linkage of mana in the case of the Sympathetic aura effect is universal, and not dependent on shared affinities like the Empathetic aura effect. This is because the mana linkage is completed using non-elemental mana as an intermediary. This is also the reason why the connection benefits of the six essential elements* are non-dependent on elemental effects, as seen below:
Affinity:
Earth – Temporarily increases the interruption resistance of the mana of those connected for the duration of the connection. Increases the interruption resistance of the User in turn if the connector has stronger interruption resistance.
Fire – Briefly increases the power of the mana of the connector. Casting spells or using mana-dependent skills while in this state will consume the link. Power increase and cooldown before new link forms are dependent on WIS of the User.
Water – Increases the attraction of elemental mana to the connected and the User when using elemental abilities, enabling potential activation of the ability amplification phenomenon. Attraction level scales with the number of connected.
Wind – Increases the mana flow speed of the connected and User, dependent on the number of connected. Enables quicker activation of skills and abilities.
Light – Shares mana, regenerating the connected's mana. This uses the User's mana to do so, transferring mana out of their own mana pool to fill the mana pools of the connected. Transfer speed is dependent on mana regen.
Dark – Drains the mana of the connected to refill the User's. Drain speed is dependent on mana pool size, or INT.
*The aura effects of mid-level and high-level elements are not documented in this book.
These affinity effects can only be activated intentionally, and the User can specify which connection to activate these effects on. It should be said that as it is 'universal', the User's mana automatically pseudo-bonds with all sentient beings' mana. It takes time and practice to prevent the link from occurring and to disintegrate these links but likewise means others are unable to readily sense the connection.
It took Scytale a while to read it and absorb the information. After a while, he raised his head to look at Lucy.
"Okay, so… this does what exactly? I can share mana with people, that's neat… if I knew enough people to make this ability worth it!"
She smirked. "You regenerate mana dependent on how many people look at you. In summary, Scytale…" She gave him a wide grin. "You've become my battery."
He glared at her. "You use atmospheric mana."
She shook her head. "Ah, but I still need to use my own mana and spiritual energy with Apophis and Ouroboros. So, in actuality, you're their battery too."
"But I physically can't be!" he exclaimed, spreading his wings. "I fight with my Primal Descendant skill. I'll end up being over 30 metres long once I reach advanced rank and activate it if I reach Skulker's size again. I can't fight alongside you like that!"
Lucille just shrugged. "I don't know what to say to you, Scytale. In essence," she gestured to the book, "this is completely useless to you."
The winged snake looked between her and the book, then sagged. "Useless ability, clogging up space on my Status for no reason," he grumbled sourly. "I already have so much on there when I'm not even Rank-1 yet."
"That's the case for every high-rarity beast though," Lucy replied, shutting the book. "As a Hybrid with the Primal Descendant skill, you have it even worse. You have a whole two more subskills in your Origin Skill than nearly everyone else besides other beasts with primal descendancy. But Scytale, remember your light-element spell list?"
"Sanctification Zone, Rays of Purity, Force of Power, and Brilliant Beacon, right?" he said to her nod. "What about it?"
"Only Force of Power is an attack spell," she stated, extending her spiritual energy to lift the book back into its spot on the bookshelf.
He hesitated. "Wait… what do the others do?"
"Sanctification Zone is a spell that temporarily converts the elemental mana in your vicinity to light element mana," she explained, standing up and beginning to head towards the Library's exit. "Rays of Purity is a weak healing spell that can be cast on multiple people at once. As for Brilliant Beacon…" she grinned. "You become glowy."
"…glowy?" he repeated.
Lucy nodded. "Yep. Glowy." She raised her hands up. "You let off a tall pillar of light. It does nothing else."
"So… my light-element bloodline is pretty much useless right now?" he asked, following after her.
"It's not like your illusion bloodline spells do much either though," she replied, stepping into the lift, Scytale entering just after.
"Yeah, but seeing through lies, going invisible, camouflaging myself and having a spell that makes people gloss over any mistakes I make while invisible is at least better than being a walking light show!"
She stopped reaching for a button on the lift to give Scytale an odd look. "Scytale… may I remind you that you don't have a human form right now, so any metaphors like that sound extremely strange when taking your current appearance into account."
He stared at her, then looked down at himself. "This stupid body," he muttered. "I'm not leaving human form for at least a week when I finally get it."
The lift began to rise as Lucy turned to him. "How's your progress with your bloodline?"
"It's going fine," he replied. "I can tell I need over a month more, but probably not a month and a half. I'm guessing I'll reach it within the first two weeks of January."
"Good that everything's all on track then," she said.
"So what are we going to do now?" Scytale asked.
She got out her pocket watch and checked the time. "Now I think might be the time to check out the Founder's vault."
"Any particular reason?"
Lucy pointed to her dimensional pouch. "The first reason is that I have yet to get around to emptying all the Inheritance Trial's items out of here to look at what we received. I haven't needed to yet." Then she sighed. "And the second reason… is to retrieve a particular object I discovered when I first searched the records. It's unlikely I'll be able to use it for what I want, but I want to have it on me just in case."
Scytale flapped his wings, and Lucy lifted her up onto her shoulders again. "I guess I'll wait until we're up there to see what item you're talking about. But how do we enter it exactly?"
Lucille stepped off the lift as the doors opened. "We need to go to the vault's room first. As a dimensional System artifact, it doesn't take up any physical space in the main realm, so it's kept on our floor. All I need to do is use my pocket watch to access it."
She made her way through the corridors of the fortieth floor until they came before a small side hallway. Entering it, a large pair of white double doors stood before them, set into the end of the hallway. Lucy brought out her pocket watch and opened up its Item Sheet.
This pocket watch has been designated as the Aurelian Commission's succession item by the Founder of the Aurelian Commission, Crawforde Lockhart. Crafted by a master crafter, it functions as both a clock and a locator for members of the four founding Counties of the Commission: Evisenhardt, Chavaret, Ravimoux and Alichanteu.
Abilities:
Four Founding Counties – Used by the Aurelian Commission Head to locate members of the Counties.
Gives the four symbolic gemstones of the Commission's four Counties the ability to locate the closest member of each of the Counties. Consumes mana passively and must be recharged once a month.
Commission Head's Compass – Special ability of the Aurelian Commission's succession item.
Gives the yellow gemstone the ability to locate what the Commission Head desires to find. Requires varying mana costs dependent on location, distance, rarity, and type of target.
Total Faction Authority – Faction Authority of the Aurelian Commission.
Grants Total Faction Authority of the Aurelian Commission to the User soulbound to this token.
[ ]
"Huh… this is really lacklustre. Isn't what's written on here the exact same stuff Ashale'viaf told you?" Scytale asked.
Lucille nodded. "Exactly. Which is why I didn't bother showing this to you beforehand." She placed a hand on the doors and pulled on her soulbond with the item. "Activate Total Faction Authority to open the Founder's vault," she said.
[User Lucille Goldcroft has used their Total Faction Authority of the Aurelian Commission Head to access the Founder's Vault.]
The doors in front of them lit up with a white-blue glow as the notification sounded. They swung inward, revealing what looked to be a blank white wall.
"So… uh… do we just step through? Into the seeming nothingness beyond?" Lucy's bond asked hesitantly.
Lucy smirked. "Yep." And with that, she stepped forward through the white wall, and then the doors shut behind them.
I got a bit cross eye at Scytale having never used a portal of this type before, but then I remembered he is just a drama queen.
OTOH I am a bit surprised Lucille had never heard of sympathetic aura effect given her love of learning everything about the system, it being a common aura effect, and her having held a seat on the mage tower for a while.
On the other side of the wall, Lucille and Scytale were faced with a massive corridor filled with repeating doorways. The walls were white, the same shade as the double doors, and the floor was hard stone. White ceiling lights dotted the roof every metre or so. Scytale turned his head to Lucy.
"This feels like the Mansion."
"I also can't use my spiritual perception. The hallway isn't endless like the Mansion's though," she replied, stepping forward. Nameplates were above each doorframe, and she glanced at them as she passed, looking for where she wanted to go. The nameplates had words such as 'Books' and 'Magical Items' on them, as well as numbers to show the years the items on the other side of the doors were deposited. Lucy kept going until she found one room with a nameplate saying: 670-700/100 A.S. Magical Tools.
"Explain to me how to read the Mystical Realm's Calendar again?" Scytale asked, narrowing his eyes at the nameplate.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "The 670 to 700 indicate that this room contains items submitted from the year 670 to the year 700 of the Mystical Realm's 101st millennium after assimilation. The 100 indicates the millenniums after assimilation already passed, while the A.S. just means 'After System'."
Scytale tilted his head. "So the item you're looking for must be pretty old then? The Commission's only been around for a millennium and a half, so this item has to have been deposited…" He hesitated as he tried to do the math.
Lucille sighed and opened the door. "It was deposited in the 684th year, so that's 389 years ago. It is old, yes, although not for the reasons you are thinking. But it was an unexpected item to find in the vault's records, that's certain."
With Scytale on her shoulders, she stepped into the large room. Filling the room were tall shelves filled with chests and boxes of different kinds. Lucy navigated the shelves to find the aisle containing the item. Eventually, she managed to find a shelf containing a small wooden box. She pulled it off the shelf and opened it to look inside.
Within the box was what looked like a round brass cylinder containing a tube made from crystal. One end of it was shaped like a cone. Five small dials ran down its length, and there were two gemstones set in the metal, a purple one on its base, and a red one on the cone-like end, but not obstructing the tip, which had a small hole.
Lucille pressed the purple gemstone, and both gemstones began glowing. As they watched, the tube made from crystal gained glowing dark-blue lines of runic script and then began to slowly turn. She pressed the red gemstone, and out of its tip extended a thin needle of silver. She pressed the red button again, and the needle retracted. After pressing the purple gemstone on its base, the glowing light died down, and Lucy nodded.
"It seems to be working correctly."
"Lucy, no Item Sheet is popping up. I can't tell what this is," Scytale said.
She put it back in its box and continued walking through the aisles. "That's because this is one piece of three."
"Huh? Then why is it separated from the other pieces?"
She shrugged. "To conserve space, I assume." She gestured to the shelves. "This entire artifact must automatically sort itself, otherwise all of these items would be piled together without rhyme or reason. Nobody else but us has entered here for more than a millennium, after all."
She walked further until she came to a stop in front of a section of the room without any shelves. Instead, there was a massive spherical object of some sort, hidden under a large sheet. Stepping forward, she grabbed the sheet and pulled it with one large yank. The sheet slid off, revealing a giant clear orb, taller than her, inside a frame of bronze. The orb seemed to be made from several layers of glass, and engraved mana circuits filled with metal covered each spherical layer. In front of the main body of the object was a metal switchboard covered in dials and buttons. Lucille took the bronze cylinder from earlier and slid it into an empty round hole within the switchboard. She twisted it, and it locked in place, but nothing happened.
"It seems like this needs an external power source to work," she murmured with a slight frown. "I won't be able to check its Item Sheet until it's powered."
"That is one big plasma ball," her bond said, eyeing the giant structure with slight confusion. "This is supposed to be only one of the other pieces?"
Lucy blinked and then shook her head. "No, this contains the third piece inside." She pulled a lever on the switchboard, and a hatch on the side of the giant orb opened. She walked around the side to reach through the hatch to bring out a smaller orb the size of her head made of glass and bronze, covered with several metal buttons. Four violet gemstones, about as wide as her fist, were evenly spaced from each other on four sides of the orb.
"This is the third piece," she explained as she walked back around to the switchboard. "It's a container. The main structure of the machine could be considered the… processor, while the brass cylinder is an extraction device."
"Okay… I guess having a giant magical plasma ball in the Founder's vault is pretty surprising…" Scytale replied.
She shook her head as she kneeled down on the ground next to the switchboard, placing the smaller orb down next to her. Scytale jumped off of her. "No, the shape and size of the device wasn't why I found it unexpected. There are several stranger objects in the vault's records." She peeled off her gloves and started running her fingers along a metal panel in the side of the switchboard, looking for indents. "You see, this device is actually outlawed."
The silvery snake glanced between her and the massive sphere with wide eyes. "This defective snow globe is outlawed?"
Her fingers brushed over a small symbol in the metal, and so she began inserting mana into the plate. "I suppose it's not illegal to own, or even use, technically. However, the creation of these devices was banned about sixty thousand years ago. And those who brought one of these devices to the royal family for its destruction were given a hefty reward, so they quickly declined in number. We're probably looking at one of the last few in existence." The metal plate came off, and she reached her hand inside.
"Sixty- Lucy, what are you doing to an expensive antique?!" Scytale exclaimed, flapping his wings in horror. "Stop disembowelling it and get it fixed back up so we can sell it!"
She sent him a flat look as she pulled back her hand. "Scytale, as someone without an ounce of true technical knowledge, could you please not refer to my work as 'disembowelling'?" She put a hand to her face to remove her mask and inserted mana into her right eye to see through the switchboard and into its internal mechanisms. "This was donated to the vault by a noble family of crafters who ended up losing their title because their crafting legacy wasn't carried on. However, when I looked into it, this was submitted as being in 'perfect condition'."
She reached an arm in again. "The item list of the System artifact showed that the item didn't have the 'incomplete' label on its Status, which meant it was in perfect condition. But I need to check what type of powering system to use for this device. Crafting and magic were less standardized back then than now." She finally managed to grab what she was looking for and pulled it out. She unplugged the connecting tubes and held up a rectangular metal plate covered in small uniformly cut crystals and gemstones, a runic symbol engraved on each one.
"Hey, that looks like a powerful keyboard!" Scytale suddenly said, sticking his snout near the plate. "I bet it was used by… keyboard warriors!" He snickered to himself. "Get it? powerful keyboard? Keyboard warrior? Am I funny? Come on Lucy, laugh!"
She looked at him with mild exasperation and then proceeded to ignore him, inserting a bit of mana into each gemstone to check how the runes lit up. As she did, each gemstone projected its engraved rune in the air above it.
"Tch. You're no fun," the white-gold winged snake muttered. He slithered around the side of the giant glass sphere in the frame and raised himself up to stick his nose through the hatch. "What are you even doing right now, anyway?"
"Comparing the 4th grade runes on this rune plate to the ones in my memory," she stated, putting down the plate. "I was checking if they used mainstream ones or not, as some crafting blueprints in crafter inheritances require niche runes, especially for a crafter family with history reaching back over sixty thousand years ago." She gestured to the plate. "It seems this device uses runes that are only two thousand years out of date. I should be able to make an adapter mana-circle for the power system without much effort."
"Did you have to do all this inside the dimensional artifact though?" he asked from inside of the giant orb he had just climbed inside. "You could have just taken it out of the artifact by clicking on the item list."
"Yes, but I didn't think Vincent would've approved of discovering that a giant orb that takes up an entire room's worth of space was now cohabitating with us on the fortieth floor," she replied with a smirk. She plugged back in the connecting tubes to the base of the plate, returned the rune plate back inside the switchboard, and then picked up the metal side panel. Pushing it against the switchboard, it locked back in. Lucy pulled on her gloves, put her mask back on, picked up the smaller sphere next to her, and then stood up. With a sigh, she walked around to the side of the giant orb to gaze dully at Scytale.
"Are you going to get out?" she asked him.
"Nope," he replied smugly, flickering his tongue.
She rolled her eyes at the predicted answer and then glanced at the open hatch. There was a moment of delayed realisation from her bond, before… she shut the hatch. It sealed itself firmly closed.
"Uh… Lucy… I'm willing to get out now…"
"You know…" she said, holding her chin in mock contemplation, and ignoring the snake's words. "It might be better for you to stay here for the next month and a bit as you finish your advancement…"
"I happen to disagree with that statement…"
"…you'll be very protected in the System artifact, as only Ashale'viaf and I can enter…"
"No, I don't really need the protection…"
"…my peace and quiet would continue…"
"…ugh. I can't deny that one…"
"…and I can always send Ashale'viaf here to check up on you."
"You're going to bring in a torturer too?!"
There was silence for a beat, before Lucille narrowed her eyes at the snake. "Scytale."
"…what is it?" he asked hesitantly, unsure as to why she was using a different tone of voice.
"You are not allowed to leave my sight during the Forerunner's Event," she told him firmly. "Do not run off."
He avoided eye contact. "What a ridiculous idea… why would I ever do-"
"Scytale."
"Clearly you don't understand me as well as you think you do! How could I ever have such intentions as to-"
"Scytale."
He slumped, before flapping his wings angrily. "All right! All right! Fine, I won't go wander off anywhere. Sheesh, do you have to take the fun out of everything…" he muttered grumpily. "What's even going to happen if I don't do as you say? Going to kill me?"
"No, but if I sense even a hint of the intention to do as I told you not to right now, you will be confined to this 'defective snow globe' for the rest of the month," she stated blandly. "So, you better put any plans to mess with the forerunners firmly out of your mind."
He let out a groan. "But it would be so funny! Imagine all the references I could make, all coming from a talking magical snake! They'd be completely stunned!"
She sighed, having known exactly what Scytale wanted to do as soon as he asked to go to the Event. She hadn't even needed to see his thoughts to guess. "Scytale, that would be a terrible idea. Because of the fact that sharing memories requires an advanced level bond between us, which takes an average of twenty years to form." She placed a hand on her hip. "How are you going to explain your knowledge to them? If the Hero hears about it, his first thought won't be 'they have a strong bond with a forerunner'. His first thought will be 'There's another regressor, and it's someone who's been to Earth'."
"…urgh. I hadn't considered that," he murmured.
"Which is why I'm telling you this now." She said. She gestured to the door. "So, can I let you out without the Hero wanting to make killing the Aurelian Commission Head and her serpent bond his first goal?"
He drooped his head. "Yes…"
Stepping forward, she undid the hatch. He slid out, where she returned the sphere in her arms to the giant orb. She shut the hatch and went back to the switchboard, where she removed the extractor device from its slot.
"Don't need the rest of it?" Scytale asked.
She held up the bronze cylinder, which she then placed back in its box, then in her dimensional bag. "I just need this for now. I'll come back for the rest of it if this ends up being used at all, but that would require me to have more space in my dimensional bag. Speaking of which…" She held out her arm for Scytale to climb up. "Time to empty it."
They left the room, heading down the hallway again. It took a few minutes before they came to the end of it. At the very end, a room with a nameplate that read: 070-100/101 A.S. Unassigned was found. Lucille walked in and set Scytale on the ground.
"All right then," she began. She first took out the box containing the extraction device and set it down on the ground next to her. Then she unbelted her dimensional bag, widened its opening, and turned it upside down. There was a delay, until with loud sounds of clanging and dinging, her random collection of magical items received in the Inheritance Trial, items stolen from Abbott Everett's Emporium, items bought using her crowns, and any other random objects she picked up over the last few months since entering the Tower tumbled out. Even the rose, silver, and bronze crowns she had exchanged all fell out with the sound of raining metal, leaving the final pile to sit at almost waist height in the room.
"That's a lot of junk," Scytale stated.
"It was getting crowded," Lucy agreed. "It took far too long to search through all my items with my will than needed, and while I haven't picked up any large objects, so I could store a lot, I've been restraining the amount of spiritual energy I use at any one time, and so I was reaching the limit of what I could mentally retain."
She pulled out her pocket watch and opened up her Total Faction Authority. "Now, I can't use my spiritual telekinesis, but…" she pointed at the pile. "Sort all items in room 070-100/101 A.S. Unassigned."
[Sorting all items currently within Aurelian Commission's dimensional System artifact, room 070-100/101 A.S. Unassigned]
The pile in front of them lit up with a white glow before the assorted objects slowly reshuffled and separated from each other. They waited a few minutes before several smaller piles formed for the three types of coins, while the items were arrayed in neat rows. Lucy walked over to the coins and pointed at them.
"Place selected items in room 070-100/101 A.S. Unassigned into User Lucille Goldcroft's soulbound dimensional bag."
[Placing selected items currently within Aurelian Commission's dimensional System artifact, room 070-100/101 A.S. Unassigned into User Lucille Goldcroft's Soulbound dimensional bag item]
She stretched her arms above her head and then walked over to the rows of Abbott Everett's items.
"Alright." She pointed to them. "Complete and utter mass-produced garbage. All of these items can be deposited in a magical item store room and never seen again. Transfer selected items in room 070-100/101 A.S. Unassigned to 070-100/101 A.S. Magical Items."
[Transferring selected items currently within Aurelian Commission's dimensional System artifact, room 070-100/101 A.S. Unassigned to 070-100/101 A.S. Magical Items]
The items lit up, and then with a pop, they disappeared. She walked over to the other items and looked down at them. "Now, these I bought before going to your enclave," she said to Scytale, "And until we get some high-quality items made for when we level up, they will probably do. It's not like we'll end up failing the stages even if we forgot something."
She picked up a rope, a sleeping roll, and a few other items such as a mana lamp that would be useful in adventuring scenarios. The rest she also sent to the magical item room.
"Transfer selected items in room 070-100/101 A.S. Unassigned to 070-100/101 A.S. Magical Items."
[Transferring selected items currently within Aurelian Commission's dimensional System artifact, room 070-100/101 A.S. Unassigned to 070-100/101 A.S. Magical Items]
Then she walked over to the other items. One was her brass jug, which she picked up and put next to the extractor device's box. Then she went and sat down next to the pile. "Time to look at all the Inheritance Trial's items."
She picked up the closest object to her, which just so happened to be the golden goblet with an emerald embedded on its front that Scytale had pointed out to her back then. She removed her mask, placed it on the ground next to her, and then used her right eye to bring up the goblet's Item Sheet.
[Utensil – Type: Goblet, Cursed Item ]
Name: Velista Femidela's Emerald Bane
Rarity: Rare
MP: 50/1000
Desc:
This goblet was crafted as a gift to a noble clan outside of the Aurelian Commission. When tasked to assassinate the receiver of the goblet, the poison master of the County of Ravimoux at the time cast a curse on this goblet, imbuing a special toxin that killed the goblet's receiver. Ravimoux's Count granted the poison master's family the inherited role of the Ravimoux Count's direct subordinate from then on.
Abilities:
Emerald Lips – A poisonous gift.
This goblet inflicts the Emerald Sleep poison on anyone who drinks from this cup.
[ ]
Lucy gained a slightly strange expression after she read the description.
"Isn't Femidela the last name of that Viscountess you met at your debut?" Scytale asked her, coming closer to the items.
"Yes, it is. It seems this is an ancestral item of some kind." She tapped on her chin as she considered what to do with it. "She might appreciate receiving it, as it may hold some sort of historical or possibly sentimental value-"
"Oh, hey, Lucy. That creepy board game is here," the winged snake interrupted, using his snout to gesture to the black senet-like game.
Curious, she pulled it forward and read its Item Sheet. Then she fell silent.
"So… going to show me what it says?" Scytale questioned, confused about why she hadn't shared her visual sensation of the screen with him.
"I'm… not entirely sure you'll want to see it," she replied hesitantly. "This isn't something most people would like to know exists."
"…surely it can't be that bad though, right?" he said with scepticism. "Just show me. You have to be exaggerating."
She shared it with him. He fell silent for a while too.
"Uh… so…" he eventually spoke up, "This creepy board… allows you to mind control your enemies by making them take certain actions, getting them to fall into traps… as slowly you end up creating a trap for yourself without your knowledge, even though it seems like you're going to win… until both you and your enemies end up succumbing to the power of the board game and fall to ruin, along with all your friends and family."
He looked at the board. "I mean… it's just as creepy as I expected from a game made out of blackest black wood and literal bone, but I don't really see the issue-"
"Someone within the Commission had this created within the last century," she interrupted flatly.
The golden-eyed snake stared at her as the seconds ticked by. "Er…… who, exactly?"
"Well, he's probably already dead, so no need to be too worried," she said, making the snake let out a sigh of relief. "It's says here his name was Gredaire Ravimoux."
"Ravimoux again? Is there any cursed item here that does not have a relation to them?" Scytale asked, sounding slightly exasperated. "But how do you know he's dead?"
"Because when we visited the Black Lily, Count Ravimoux's interactions with Vincent seemed to suggest he killed all his family members to ascend to his current status," she stated, pushing away the game board and crossing her arms as she gazed at it.
He looked between her and the game board. "Uh… but couldn't this Gredaire guy be a distant relative? Who's to say he had succession rights anyway?"
"He wasn't."
"Wasn't what?"
"Wasn't a distant relative," she explained. "He was the Count of Ravimoux before Regulus Ravimoux. His father."
Scytale tilted his head, trying to remember how the visit to the casino had gone. "I know my memory's pretty bad right now compared to before, with the seals and all, so I get that I can easily misremember things, but… I seem to have missed the part when he told us his father's name…"
She shook her head. "He hasn't told you, but he's definitely told me." She gave him a funny look. "You still don't remember?"
"Remember what?" he asked confusedly. "All I know is that for some reason you seem to have known the Count's dad is named Gredaire, yet didn't know Regulus Ravimoux killed his family to become Count until the Black Lily visit."
She flicked his forehead. "Just the fact you know that much should've made it click for you." Lucy sighed. "Count Ravimoux told me his father's name in the last timeline." She glared at him as his eyes widened. "I've already told you that I knew him. It was the entire reason why I wasn't fazed when that intruder came to my room in the second week of being Commission Head. I knew how he worked, and knew it wouldn't be an issue long term."
"Wait… is this to do with that sketchy period of your life taking on random jobs to find out random people's secrets?" he asked.
She narrowed her eyes at her bond. "'Sketchy period of my life'?" She rolled her eyes when he just flickered his tongue. "It wasn't random people's secrets. I was looking to find clues to several important pieces of information I needed." She let out a sigh. "Yes, I met Count Regulus Ravimoux several times then. Ravimoux does have the best information Guilds, after all. We had a professional relationship where I completed tasks issued by him related to what I wanted to know, and he gave me access to all the information Ravimoux obtained through the completion of the task."
"I think I'm beginning to remember those memories you showed me," Scytale replied. He looked at the board game. "So… what're you going to do with that?"
She thought for a moment. "I believe the Count must know what to do with an object like this. This can't be the first cursed item his father wanted crafted."
The silvery snake next to her tilted his head. "Hang on…why was this in the Inheritance Trial to begin with?"
"To hide the fact this was made, I assume," she said, reaching for the next object on the ground. "Sometimes, noble clans of the Commission might give one of their members an object to place in the trial when they use their inheritance key. You could say it's a way of demonstrating their 'loyalty' to the Faction. Gredaire Ravimoux must've organised for this to be hidden in the Inheritance Trial."
"Huh. All right then, what's the next creepy item you got there?" Scytale asked.
They spent the rest of the hour going through the items and objects from the Inheritance Trial. There weren't any useful items, either due to the item being less powerful than ones they could buy present-day due to out-of-date magic or crafting techniques used, or had gemstones that required over thousands of mana to refill, which they had no time for, and wasn't worth it for the rarity of the objects. Eventually, all the items were sorted, and Lucille used her Total Faction Authority to place them in storerooms. She and her bond left the unassigned store room and headed for the exit.
But just before they left the dimensional artifact, Scytale turned to Lucy.
"But what was that giant orb thing anyway? You made it sound quite important."
"Ah." She sighed, her hand a few centimetres away from pulling open the doors to leave. "It's… a particularly foul device, due to what it was made to do." She pushed open the doors.
"You see, the device allows one to steal the Origin Skill and bloodline abilities of a slain magical beast."
…
"So, you'll be back before the day is over?" a silver-haired man asked.
Lucille nodded with a smile, dressed as she was in a grey long-sleeved shirt, black pants, and boots. Apophis and Ouroboros were in their two sheaths on her belt. She didn't have her suit, sash, or cane, and Scytale was riding on her shoulders.
Vincent narrowed his eyes at her. "And you'll tell me what it is you plan to search the Athenaeum's Archive for?" he asked suspiciously.
"If I can," she replied. She tugged on her gloves to straighten them, ready to leave.
Vincent sighed. "Well, have a safe trip to this special Event of yours. I wish you'd tell me more about what it's for."
She smirked. "Maybe. I'll see you soon," she said with a wave.
Her aide nodded. "See you later."
And with that, Lucille and Scytale left to go to the Forerunner's Event in the Capital City of the Eternal Empire's Aeternus plane, along with a thousand other forerunners, anxious to know why they had been teleported into these strange new worlds by the mysterious System.
A woman with a fiery red bob cut and piercing green eyes stepped off a teleportation array to stare at the busy streets of the Capital City of the Eternal Empire. She stood still, blocking the exit, and annoying the other users of the array behind her, so a tall man with dark brown hair and gold eyes next to her grabbed her arm to pull her out of their path.
"Get out of the way before you start staring at everything, Cathy. You're annoying everyone else." Conlan sighed. "Imagine you're blocking the exit ramp of a plane."
"Yeah, but look!" she exclaimed, gesturing with two hands to the view before her. "You told me they still hadn't invented trains yet! How does this city look like it's part of the Middle Ages?!"
They were looking out of a side window of the teleportation dome, observing the traffic and buildings in sight. Tall buildings built out of unusually brightly coloured stone spread across the city, brass streetlights dotting the roads every few metres. The shopfronts were painted rainbow with the sheen of psychedelic mana - mana-circles, magic arrays, artifacts, and powerful items spitting out spells and supernatural abilities every second within the shops. Carriages pulled by exotic beasts with plumage and fur of vivid colouration rolled through the streets, the carriages' symbols sometimes glowing with power, and high-density mana radiating off of them. Sometimes, rumbling metallic constructs with luminous steam escaping their valves roared past, the metal glowing orange with heat.
The skies were filled with roaring beasts flying overhead, occasionally mages and wizards with flowing robes flying past as well. Very rarely, figures of oriental clothing on swords soared above. The auras and emanating magic of the city bled together to create a visual cacophony of illusory rivers, and luminescent streams coating the vision of all who saw the city. The sky lit up with flashes and loud bangs of magic spells and abilities combined with the calls of magical creatures, an auditory chaos matching the visual one. And the streets were crowded with millions of people, all dressed in an assortment of clothes from all realms.
"I never said the Empire was similar to the Middle Ages," he replied, pulling on her arm to drag her out of the teleportation dome. "Do you think our Navy uniforms are something people from the Middle Ages would wear? Or even the facilities there?"
Catherine hesitated for a second. "Well… I just thought that was the System doing stuff. I didn't realise they had the tech normally." Then she pointed a finger back at the teleportation dome behind them. "But none of the other planes we visited were like this! All those Dungeon cities were medieval-ish, unlike here!"
"That's because they were lower-ranked planes," he explained wearily, continuing to drag her onward as she turned her head around, looking at all the sights. "Also, I suggest you turn off the passive Inspection function of your Status, otherwise-"
"Ack! My eyes! I'm blinded!" Catherine suddenly exclaimed, waving her hands around while blinking rapidly. "Why does everything here have an Item Sheet? My mind's getting overloaded with notifications!"
"-that will happen," he finished.
The redhead blinked once more and then sighed in relief. "Okay, it's finally turned off. But why were there so many-" She paused to stare at the ground in disbelief. "Conlan," she hissed.
The man looked at her weirdly as she whispered into his ear. "The stones in the footpath are Epic rarity."
Conlan facepalmed as he received strange gazes from the people around them, who were probably all Ascendants and very likely capable of hearing her words. He grabbed her wrist and pulled Catherine onwards before she could attempt to pry up a pebble from the ground below them. "Would you stop embarrassing us? You're acting like a country bumpkin. And why would you even want an Epic-rarity pebble?" he told her quietly as they followed a little marker on the mini-map the System had given them to find the Event.
"It was only going to be a souvenir!" she complained, following after him. "But seriously, why is everything so high-rarity here? Even the lamppost over there is an Ancient-ranked item. We're pretty much walking on solid gold."
"The Capital has been built using the most valuable resources so it's protected by the innate mana-density of the materials," he replied, turning a corner of the main street. "If anyone uses magic in this city, it'll be much harder for them to damage anything. This is also because we're on the Aeternus plane, the only Superior plane. Even if you used an advanced-level spell, you might not be able to leave a mark on the dirt here."
"Huh. Where did they get all this stuff though?" Catherine wondered aloud, watching everything with curious eyes.
"From older planes, most likely," he said, waiting for the carriages on the road to roll by so they could cross it. "Magical resources and natural treasures become more powerful by absorbing mana over time. Or they got it from the Beast Realm, whose regions have a much higher magical energy density than most planes in the Mystical Realm."
"So… why doesn't everyone just live there then, if so much mana is available?" she asked, following him down a side street. "You explained when we visited those lower-ranked planes that less mana meant they couldn't advance their tech, so if mana helps places progress…"
He smirked as he glanced at her. "We'd be killed by the monsters and magical beasts there, who've gotten strong by eating all the powerful natural treasures. Any place with lots of mana has lots of very strong creatures."
They continued walking for a bit before they entered a small alley without anybody nearby. They came to a dead end and Conlan stopped. Catherine looked around in confusion.
"Uh… Con? There's nothing here…"
"Just wait a bit," he replied, waving to her. He tapped on his Status screen to access the Quest Log.
[Quest Log: ]
Main Quest (Rank-2: Demon Realm):
Complete Stages 11-20 In the Demon Realm to reach Rank-2
Rewards: Rank-2 status, Lvl cap increased to 299, Main skill slot +1, Class Tier cap +3, Aspect cap +3, Class Tier +1, 6000xp, Main Quest (Rank-3: Tartarus Realm) Unlocked. Failure: N/A
In the Demon Realm, slay a demon at Intermediate or greater strength, and return to Obelisk alive 48 hours after its defeat.
Explore the realms of the Tower as pioneers for Earth. Unlimited Resurrections during this period.
Reward: Forerunner Title, Home Realm Permissions, Class Rarity ^1. Time Limit: 4:6:11:19:22:39
Go to the Hidden Temporary Event in the Mystical Realm exclusive for Forerunners on November 22nd. Objective location indicated in Directory.
Reward: ??? Failure: -50% xp Penalty. Time Limit: 0:00:00:30:5
[ ]
"And five, four, three, two, one…" he counted.
When the clock ticked down from thirty minutes and five seconds to thirty minutes, the wall in front of them gained a small white oval. It grew in size, to become larger than a person. The white oval rippled, until the inside disappeared, leaving a hole in the wall that seemingly allowed someone to step through it into the room on the other side.
[Gateway to Hidden Temporary System Event: Forerunner's Event]
[Time until closure: 29:43]
Conlan gestured to it. "We can go in now."
"Okay, but…" Catherine looked around. "If this is the Event, where are all the other forerunners?"
"We probably all get our own entrances to prevent anyone in the Capital from noticing us gathering," he said. He hadn't actually put too much thought into the reasons behind why the System did things. Who cared why it did things the way it did? "You're in a party with me, and you're a forerunner, so I guess we get to use the same entrance."
He turned to the gateway. "Let's go."
He stepped through, Catherine following him just after. The gateway shut behind them and they found themselves inside a massive hall with black walls, white light flooding the place from overhead. There were no lamps that could be the origin of the light, but the walls sometimes had neon blue glowing lines making geometric shapes. In their peripheral vision, a counter indicating the slightly under half an hour left before the Event began had appeared.
Other white ovals appeared on the walls and enlarged to let people in. Several were already in the room, leaning or sitting against the walls. They all looked anxious, and slightly wary, even of their own world's people. Most of them clutched weapons and had mixed armour of some kind. All of them were looking worse for wear, the anxiety of being dropped in entirely new worlds with no knowledge of how to return to Earth a constant cause of stress over the last nearly 5 months.
"Now we wait," he said to Catherine, who let out a groan.
"Really? We have to wait even more?" She crossed her arms with a scowl. "I just want to know why this dumb Event is even occurring in the first place! Although…" She looked around again. "This room is nowhere near big enough to fit everyone from Earth. So, did only some of us become forerunners?" she thought aloud.
Conlan smiled and gave her a shrug. "I don't know. I guess we'll find out today though."
"Yeah, but only after waiting another near half ho-" Catherine's words died in her mouth, and she froze, staring at one particular individual who had stepped out of a gateway.
Conlan saw her strange reaction and followed her gaze. "Cathy? What are you looking- oh."
The brown-haired woman looked around the room interestedly with blue eyes. A large longbow was strapped to her back, and she wore mixed leather armour and blue clothes. She didn't seem too fazed about the appearance of the room, nor even thinking about the reason why they were there, because she had a smile on her face, and was watching everything with pure curiosity. Her eyes swept past Catherine and Conlan when she hesitated and looked back at them again. Her eyes widened as she stared at them.
"…Cathy?" she said, stunned. "And… Conlan?"
Catherine stared at Liliana Mason, the water-element archer she and Conlan had met at the Navy's elite cadet training camp. Conlan just watched the two girls' reactions, feeling a little amused.
The silence drew longer as even some of the other forerunners noticed the awkward staring contest before Catherine suddenly slammed a fist down on her palm.
"I knew it!" she exclaimed loudly, making the nearby forerunners flinch at the sound. "I just knew you had to be a forerunner! All those little things you've said or done, all the many hints! It was so obvious!" She abruptly narrowed her eyes at Liliana. "You never told me you came from Earth."
"B-But that was because I didn't know you were also from Earth!" Liliana replied, looking very bewildered by the situation. "If I had known, I would've told you!"
"Yeah… I don't know…" Catherine said with suspicion, her green eyes still narrowed. She turned to Conlan. "What do you think of this, Con?"
"Oh, I already knew she was a forerunner," he stated calmly.
"…what?"/ "Huh?"
Both girls stared at him, which made him confused because he didn't know why they were reacting that way. Then it clicked.
…shoot. I'm not supposed to know this yet.
He coughed and waved his hand placatingly as he came up with an excuse. "Er, well, maybe didn't know for certain, but I had a pretty strong idea that she was one." He gestured to Liliana. "Her last name is very Earth-like, after all."
"Her last name?" Catherine muttered. She held her chin as she glanced at Liliana. "I mean, I guess… but have the last names been that different here?"
"Most of the first and last names, if they're from people from the Mystical Realm, are pretty similar, but not exactly the same as we'd hear on Earth," he explained. "If someone has both a first name and a last name that sounds Earth-like, I'd bet they came from Earth."
Catherine stared at him with admiration, and Liliana looked at him with surprise. "I didn't realise you were so perceptive, Conlan," Liliana said. "It's amazing how you're able to pick up on details like that."
Well, that was because he was completely making that up, and had no idea whether the names of members of the Tower had any pattern behind them or not. He coughed again and gestured to the rest of the room. "Should we head to the front? It seems like there's a door that will open."
The two women turned to look at the door in question. With two massive black double doors wide enough to fit ten men across, one covered in geometric white patterns that bore a vague resemblance to a tower of some kind, and another covered in geometric blue lines that created the surface of a globe-like structure, possibly representing Earth, was at the end of the long room. They nodded and headed to the front, where more people were gathering.
Conlan noticed a few individuals who stuck out. One brown-haired woman with features of someone from East Asia, wearing a white dagger attached to her belt, had a casual posture as she studied her nails. Another holding a tall staff that Conlan could tell was at least Epic rarity, if not higher, based on the mana he sensed emanating off of it. His Inspection skill wasn't powerful enough to pierce its protection. A third person with dirty-blonde hair and brown eyes, in his mid-twenties, with a calm and relaxed smile on his face.
He stopped to stare when he saw someone he recognised. In fact, someone he knew very well, and used to be an early member of his party before circumstances caused him to drop out. With red-blonde hair, blue eyes, and roguish features, one of his closest first friends in the Tower, Anthony Walters. The man looked up from the ground, and Conlan looked away before he could notice him staring.
But… is it worth forming a relationship with him again? He dropped out because his blacksmith class wasn't a high enough rarity, so investing in him- no. I shouldn't be worried about this.
He glanced at the man again.
I know where to find thousands of extremely valuable resources, and inheritances which will give him powerful crafter skills, enough to be worthy of being in my party as the party's private crafter. I know how to get him a powerful class and path of progression, so he won't fall behind. He can be useful, but if he's not… I'm sure he'll end up dropping out of his own will again.
Wondering if there was anyone else he recognised, he kept looking around the steadily gathering crowd, until his eyes rested on a strange sight. Leaning against a wall with her arms crossed was an expressionless black-haired young woman dressed in dark clothes, no older than her late teens. She couldn't be considered very tall and had her eyes closed, or from what he could see. She had sharp, attractive features, with a long fringe that reached her eyebrows, and straight hair that fell on either side of her pale face, her hair reaching her waist in length.
Two curved daggers were in sheaths on either side of her belt, but what was surprising was the black leather mask that prevented him from seeing the right side of her face, and the silver snake with white-gold wings and a feather-crested head resting across her shoulders and head.
A magical beast bond? It's not advanced level yet either. That's very surprising. The System's Status Guide briefly describes the realms before a User exits the Tutorial, so most forerunners would never head deep into the dangerous regions to be able to contract an intermediate-level beast. They'd only go to that realm to reach Rank-1. And…
Conlan hesitated. She feels a little… familiar…
He double-checked to make sure and shook his head.
No, I have definitely never met her before, because I have no memory of ever being near someone with her presence. If it's not her presence that's making me feel this way… then… have I seen her somewhere before?
He tried to work out what was familiar about her appearance. He didn't think they had met in person in any way, but she almost felt like someone… he had seen… on… TV…?
He was prevented from continuing that train of thought further when the woman's silver snake, whose head had been resting on the woman's, opened its golden eyes and stared directly at him. The snake raised itself higher and then began hissing. He blinked when the woman seemed to make a very faint frown and opened her own eyes, revealing her visible left eye to be a piercing, unnatural, vivid shade of violet that could only be attributed to possible high-density supernatural power in her body. The woman raised a hand to gently tap the serpent on the head, making it stop hissing. She glanced at him for one brief second, smirked slightly, looked away, and then walked off.
Conlan felt an eyebrow twitch. Did… she just snub me? Me? The only Hero of Light… and Guild Leader of the most powerful Guild in the Tower? That's…
He shook his head and rubbed his temples, turning back to the door.
No, I can't be annoyed by the attitude of one random woman right now. She's irrelevant, anyway. One day, if she doesn't die, she'll be seeing me on Earth's news, so why should I care about her reaction? No, let's focus on this Event first. We have ten minutes left.
And… he needed to deal with the new individual, the man with blonde hair and brown eyes who he had seen earlier, now approaching him.
Alright… time to see if it's worth forming a connection with any of my fellow earthers.
Randall Holloway looked about the room, tapping the ground with a foot. He had his suspicions about what the Forerunner's Event was for, and what it was going to reveal, from the moment he found it on his Quest Log after the Tutorial. The fact that one of the personal quests had called them 'pioneers' for Earth, and would give them 'home realm' permissions… well, it was the process of elimination.
So, unlike many of his fellow forerunners here, Randall wasn't worried about finding a way home. No, he was much more interested in seeing how the abilities of his home world's people matched up to the powerful residents of the Tower.
[Origin Skill: Inexorable All-Seeing Eyes | Type: Vision/Realm
Desc: Secrets are part of every individual's life. Some are more important than others, some create chaos when revealed, and some… should never be seen or heard again. This User is capable of piercing through the veil of mystery to see the truth and only the truth. They must take care they are not crushed under the burden of this knowledge, for this ability is not a boon, but a curse.
Subskills:
Status Seer
Records of Sight
Inexorable Unveiling
Awakening: 6% ]
He smirked as he read his Origin Skill page. If he wished, he could see the Titles, Aspects, skills, and abilities of anyone. He could view the information of powerful items, look at people's stats, and see how much potential someone has. And this information was stored in his skill, so he would never forget the Status of someone he had seen. No item or artifact could prevent his skill from seeing something's Status.
He had used this fact to get a gauge for just how powerful the people of the realms were. Considering what he suspected about the reasons behind the Event, this skill would be very useful for seeing how the people of Earth would compare to them. So, he paid attention to people with noteworthy gear, and weapons, or just held themselves differently.
Hmm. The staff is fancy, but her class is only Rare. She's more likely going to get killed for her item.
He has a combat class, yet he's not even Level 70 yet after four months? And his class isn't a rarity high enough that would give him a large xp reduction. He's probably only doing adventurer work for money.
The woman with the white dagger… she has one of those mana-art things. It seems a weapon clan found her talented and took her in… it would be bad if I get involved with her clan's politics but she might be a useful contact… I'll keep her in the back of my mind…
He paused when he saw a trio of three people, two girls and one man. One girl had brown hair and blue eyes, the other had fiery short red hair and green eyes, while the man in his early twenties had brilliant golden eyes for some reason. It seemed the three knew each other, so, curious, he had a look at their Statuses.
The two girls… they're only at Levels 64 and 66 which would normally indicate they're not motivated or talented fighters, but the rarity of their skills and the tiers of their classes are surprisingly high. That means they've managed to earn a lot of compatible skills somehow. And their items…
Not willing to waste time when he had almost only ten minutes left, he twisted his Origin Skill to give him the summarised information.
[Eternal Empire Navy's Military Grade Longbow]
[Rarity: Rare]
[Eternal Empire Navy's Military Grade Spear]
[Rarity: Rare]
Both military military-grade items for the Empire's Navy. This meant both of the two girls had been professionally trained and became members of the military if they were allowed to carry around items made specifically for the Empire's military.
Definitely need to get their contact information, or at least how they entered the military at their levels. The redhead even has an Origin Skill that increases her attack strength the more powerfully her flames burn, so she might be a User who gets stronger over protracted battles. The other girl's Origin Skill grants her naturally high proficiency over all archery skills. I wonder what the man's Status is like, as it almost seems like he's their leader.
He opened the golden-eyed man's Status… and stared.
……he had a Unique class. The only individual he had heard of in his information gathering of the realms that had a Unique class was the Citadel of Fate's Prophetess, the icon of a Supreme Institution. And… it was called 'Hero'. Just the stats alone were almost more than double any other forerunner here, making him incredibly powerful, and he had one of, if not the rarest class type, that also symbolised something very important. He needed to talk to the man as soon as possible, but he decided to check the man's Titles, just to be sure there was nothing-
[Title: Regressor | Type: System]
[Rarity: Unique]
His breath hitched in his throat as he stared at something he couldn't believe was real. The seconds ticked by as he tried to consider all the possible implications of this Title existing, and all the steps he needed to take next. Then, struggling to hide his widening grin, he made his decision. Putting on a calm and confident smile, although he made sure it wasn't arrogant, he walked up to the man, 'Conlan Griffin'.
The 'Hero' seemed to hear his footsteps and turned around to look at him curiously, the girls next to him doing the same. Randall held out his hand to the man.
"Hi. I'm Randall," he introduced. "I was a bit curious about your weapons, so I thought I might have a chat with you guys."
The golden-eyed man blinked and then nodded with a smile. He grabbed Randall's hand to shake. "I'm Conlan. Yeah, having a chat with someone else from Earth sounds nice." The man turned to gesture to the girls next to him. "And these two are…"
"Catherine, but just call me Cathy," the redhead piped up.
The smiling woman next to her nodded. "My name's Liliana."
Randall shook hands with them both, before asking a question. "So, I noticed that all of your weapons seem to have similar design styles and characteristics. It almost looks like they were made by the same person."
"Ah, no, they probably weren't made by the same person," Conlan replied, gesturing to the weapons. The golden-eyed man smiled. "We got these for becoming members of the Eternal Empire's Navy."
Randall made his eyes widen. "The Empire's Navy? How on earth did you manage to do that within only a few months after the Tutorial?" Then he pretended to hesitate. "Unless… did we get teleported into the Tutorial at different times?"
Conlan Griffin chuckled. "No, I got teleported into the Tutorial in July. I'm pretty sure all of us forerunners got teleported into the Tutorial at the same time."
Good. He confirmed something I already knew from talking to other forerunners. Then let's discover why he wanted to join the military.
"We demonstrated our abilities to apply for the Distorted Depths region's Navy Battalion," the brown-haired man in front of him continued to explain.
Randall hesitated for a brief second. "That's… one of the most dangerous regions in the Beast Realm?" He took another look at their gear and Statuses.
"It is, yes, but the warships of the Empire give us protection against the monsters there," Conlan Griffin said. "We get free high-quality weapons, armour, access to the military's skill libraries and are allowed to eat purified monster meat from powerful monsters."
Ah, so he's there to build up strength. He must be planning to leave after a year or two.
"That sounds like much better benefits than what joining the military on Earth would get me," Randall joked. He decided to see if he was of interest to the 'Hero'. He pretended to rub his neck awkwardly. "Do you think you might… be able to tell me… how to enter the Distorted Depths' Navy too?" he asked 'hesitantly'.
The golden-eyed man seemed to study him for a second. "Depends. Could I know what your class type is?"
He wants to know if I'll be useful. Here goes nothing.
He scratched his neck. "Uh, I'm actually… a dark mage."
The man and the two girls in front of him blinked at him in surprise. He gave them a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I know, I don't look like one, with the blonde hair and all. I'm not a necromancer though," he said, "But just a dark mage."
Conlan Griffin went silent, holding his chin as he gave Randall an appraising look. Then he smiled. "I just want to know one more thing. Was asking about our weapons the only reason you approached us?" he asked.
I need to be very careful what I say here.
"Well…" He looked away as if he was looking for eavesdroppers. Then Randall lowered his voice. "I… couldn't help feel like you're someone important. It feels a bit weird to call it an 'instinct' or something, but…" He shrugged. "I think a connection with you is one of the steps I need to take first here before anything."
The 'Hero's eyes widened as he stared at him for a few seconds, and then he smiled at Randall. He gestured to the weapons. "While the Distorted Depths' Navy does take mages, if you're 25 or older, you won't be able to undergo the elite training camp to become elite members of the Navy. The elite training camp only occurs once a year in October, as well."
That is… very disappointing. I'm already 25. Then, how can I-
"-but," Conlan Griffin continued, "That's not to say you can't become an Elite Officer by joining the Navy normally. The Distorted Depths' Battalion recruits year-round." The golden-eyed man smirked. "Especially talented Officers can become Elite Officers in less than twelve months. Us three are part of White Squall Fortress."
He's telling me to prove myself before coming to him if I have plans of joining him. There's only one decision to make here.
"That is… very useful information. Thank you." He nodded. He glanced at his counter in his peripheral vision, then looked back at them and smiled. "I'll have to think carefully about what to do with this knowledge. If you're lucky then…" He gave them a grin. "Maybe you'll see me next year."
Conlan Griffin and the two girls gave him smiles and nods. "Hopefully, if you decide to join, we'll see you again," the brown-haired man said.
With that, Randall left the three of them to disappear back into the crowd of nearly a thousand, a new goal in sight. He needed to make new plans, and research more about this 'Distorted Depths Navy'. He looked down at his fist and clenched it.
If he expects twelve months, then I'll do it in six.
He stood to the side near a wall, having found a comfortable gap. As the counter in his vision approached three minutes, he prepared to find out what this Forerunner's Event was all about. He casually inspected the crowd again, until his eyes caught a glimpse of silver, which drew his attention. He blinked when he saw what the origin of the metallic colour was.
A dark-haired woman wearing a mask covering the right side of her face was standing a few paces away from him. She had a long fringe and two short sheaths attached to her belt, potentially holding daggers of some sort. Her left eye was an unusual shade of intense violet, but what was surprising was the silvery winged snake draping its tail across her shoulders, its crested head and white-gold wings raised above the woman's head.
A magical beast got in here? It must be one of those 'bonds'. And… wait a second…
Randall stared at her, feeling slightly confused.
I feel like I recognise her from somewhere. Is she a celebrity of some kind? Famous on the datanet somewhere, possibly? I'll need to think more about this, but I should check what Origin Skill she has for now. It might have something to do with enhancing familiarity and closeness with animals…
He viewed her Status… and frowned.
Lucille Goldcroft… the name feels familiar, but what… is this?
Is my skill malfunctioning? That shouldn't be it, it says it can't be blocked, so what am I looking at here? Is she hacking the System somehow? Even the stats I can see are impossible to get at Rank-0, so they must be fake somehow. Does she possibly have an Origin Skill that's supposed to be capable of blocking out information, when my skill is supposed to be unstoppable, so it's become glitched like this? But where's her class?
Randall rubbed his temples and decided to see her Titles, to make sure-
[Title: Regressor | Type: System]
[Rarity: Unique]
He stared blankly at what he was seeing. Then he felt the blood drain from his face. He stole a glance back in the direction of the 'Hero', seeing that the Title was still there, and he glanced back and forth between the two to compare, but couldn't deny the reality he saw in front of him.
How?! Why are there two?! Are there more of them? Do they have a relationship? Do they have hostility towards each other? And the familiarity I feel from her name is making me worried. I can't make heads or tails of her Status, there's no useful information I can obtain- wait.
He facepalmed as he realised why her name felt so familiar.
Lucille Goldcroft! I know where I've heard that name before! She's the crazy heir of Medallion! The largest incorporation in the world! How could I have been so stupid?! Her great-uncle is one of the most powerful people on Earth!
Randall bit his nails anxiously, and began to pace around a bit, the other forerunners giving him looks.
This is bad. Have I involved myself too early? I shouldn't have been so hasty in approaching that man… but I can't even see her class, stats, or skills, so how could I know whether it's worth siding with her or not? Although for some reason her eye colour changed, and she's wearing a mask…
He stole another glance, noticing she was looking at the floor.
I might be overthinking things. Who's to say they even know each other? It's possible the memories of the future they have are different. Maybe they could end up as allies, although it would be risky to introduce them this early. And I have yet to prove to the Hero I can be trusted. Besides, I promised myself that I would never, ever give anyone even a hint of my Origin Skill abilities. I can't tell either of them there's another regressor.
He took a deep breath, and let it out.
Let's calm down. That 'Hero' is currently a known variable because I can see his Status, so I'll stick with him for now. It might not be too late to jump ship later. And… maybe I can drop hints over time, because with Lucille Goldcroft's Status……. she's an unknown variable. It's better to get rid of unknow-
He froze. Two golden, slitted eyes were staring directly at him. The serpent bond of the Medallion heir had raised its eyes and was staring at him, the snake not moving. Then, slowly, the dark-haired woman raised her vividly violet eye and stared directly at him too. Like he was watching a video in slow motion, the woman very slightly tilted her head. She gazed silently at him for a few seconds, then lifted her right gloved hand to slowly remove the leather mask from her face. He stared, stunned, when he saw the slowly rotating golden circle within her eye, mesmerizingly brilliant.
Then her lips parted in an unnervingly wide smile, and the winged serpent across her shoulders bared its fangs. With clear, exaggerated movements of her mouth that enabled him to easily understand the meaning of her silent words and emphasised gestures of her hands, she sent him a non-verbal message.
She pointed at him.
'You'.
She raised her hands.
'Can'.
She gestured to her eyes.
'See'.
Then, she slowly lifted her gloved hands to outline the border of the Regressor Title box hovering above her head.
'It'.
She narrowed her eyes as she finished her sentence, still smiling.
'Can't you?'
His heart pounded in his chest, his limbs stiff, as the meaning of her actions was made clear to him. Involuntarily, his eyes drifted over to the 'Hero' in the distance, and the dark-haired woman in front of him followed his gaze. His mind went blank when she returned her gaze to him, tilted her head to the other side, and then her strange smile widened even further.
At that point, Randall knew, with utter certainty, that Lucille Goldcroft was aware there was another regressor.
The woman with violet and gold eyes made a gesture to the snake on her shoulders, which slowly slithered down to coil around her arm. She held her arm out as the serpent raised its upper body high in her hand, hissing loudly. The rims of its two golden rises gained a red hue which deepened over the seconds.
Then Randall was struck with a deep, resonating sense of impending death as if he was going to be killed in near milliseconds. His heart thumped painfully inside of his chest as his limbs trembled with fear, cold sweat sliding down his face and causing his clothes to stick to him. He felt lightheaded as the breaths he drew became short and harsh in his chest, his throat feeling dry and rough. He clutched his head as a headache drummed a painful beat in his head. With pain-induced hyperfocus, he watched the woman move again.
She pointed one gloved finger at him, then smirked. She tapped on her lips to symbolise 'Speaking'. Then she pointed a thumb at her neck and made a very slow swiping motion across it.
The counter in Randall's peripheral vision ticked down to 00:00.
[The Forerunner's Event will now begin. Please enter through the open doors to receive information on your purpose here in the Tower]
The black double doors with glowing geometric lines made a sound akin to the unlocking of heavy metal bolts, then swung open. The one thousand people in the room began to filter through the inky black wall of darkness on the other side, disappearing from view.
As he just stared blankly at the dark-haired woman, the snake around her arm hissed louder at him, hued irises deepening in colour. The woman's smirk widened as she glanced at Randall, and gave the serpent's head a gentle, placating pat. The serpent stopped hissing, and he gasped as he was released from the sensation of imminent doom, taking heaving breaths. Almost lazily, the woman returned the snake to her shoulders and then replaced her black mask.
With his limbs still frozen in place from fear, he didn't move an inch as the woman came closer, heading towards the double doors. But as she passed him, she paused, putting a hand on his shoulder. She was still smiling, but her icy voice was barely loud enough to be a whisper, her serpent hissing softly once more.
"Randall Holloway. Do not interfere."
And with that, she patted his shoulder once and walked onwards, leaving him standing there in clothes drenched by his own cold sweat, and shaking uncontrollably in apprehension for what his future held.
'When do we kill him?'
Lucille was still smiling as she walked towards the entrance of the Event.
What could you possibly mean, Scytale? Why would we ever want to kill someone who hasn't tried to hurt us yet?
''Yet' being the important part,' he replied mentally, lowering his head to give her a sideways look. 'Leaving him alive could ruin all your plans, Lucy. His existence is a liability.'
Her smile didn't change as she came near the doors.
Do you not have confidence in your killing intent?
'Of course that's not it.' Scytale's internal sigh leaked through the bond. 'I just want you to explain why you don't seem to be worried about this.'
She lost her smile and looked over her shoulder to give the man who had seen her Status another glance. He made saw her looking and immediately avoided eye contact. She turned back to the large open doorway.
I noticed him when we first entered the room. It was pretty easy to pick up on what type of person he was. He kept scanning the room, his eyes stopping on individuals with unique traits of some kind, and never lost his smile. That meant his smile was an act he put on, not a natural trait of his. And when we watched him interact with the Hero earlier, he acted in a disarming way, trying to ensure the Hero's group didn't find him suspicious. In essence, he's a schemer. Someone who likes being in control of events, and being a part of them.
She shook her head.
And those types of people value themselves first and foremost. He would never, ever reveal his greatest strength by hinting at the ability to know the Statuses and Titles of people. Because they place themselves first, it means they're also very cowardly when not in a position of power. And right now, I'm in a position of power, because I know what he knows, but he doesn't know enough about me.
'So, if we had to worry about him, it would be in many years where maybe he's earned the strength to go against us.'
Exactly. But I'll be asking Ravimoux to watch him closely.
She placed one foot into the pitch-black wall on the other side of the double doors. Now, let's enter.
She stepped through, finding herself on a pure white narrow platform that extended forward for a few metres, before connecting to a circular white centre platform. The room was black and appeared infinite. They couldn't see anything on either side of the walkway platform as a pitch-black oval floating in mid-space behind them shrunk and disappeared. Lucy kept walking until she stepped onto the circular platform. It turned clear at the same time a notification chimed.
[Welcome to the Planetary Simulation Viewer]
Slowly, pinpricks of light appeared in the distance of the endless space, until thousands appeared, in a replica of the Milky Way, revealing themselves to be millions of stars. Below the transparent circular platform was the slowly rotating giant form of Earth, its night-time continents lit up with twinkling golden lights of cities and houses. Two semi-translucent chairs appeared for Lucille and Scytale, allowing them to sit down. As they sat, another notification sounded out.
[In this space, all information about Earth and its future assimilation into the Tower is available to the User, as long as they request it. This includes knowledge about their future return to Earth in 4 years and 6 months.]
[The System waits to see what potential lies in those from Earth….]
There was a delay before a final notification appeared.
[The first planet of the 6th Realm: The Cosmic Realm]
With that last notification, Lucy stretched out her hands before her and decided to get working. She didn't need to ask about her return to Earth, and so, she was going to see just how much 'all information' covered. That information would likely go unused, but it was possible that she could eventually use it for something. Scytale was just happy to see the hyper-realistic 3D documentary animation that was the space around them when she searched for information.
Now, let's begin by asking about the collision and fusion chance of non-elemental mana-types with mundane weak nuclear force and strong nuclear force over these next few years on Earth.
…
"Ugh. Information overload," Scytale complained. "I mean, the close-up exploding star simulation was pretty awesome, and because it was the System, it had no difference to the real thing, but all the long words you used made my head spin."
He flickered his tongue near her head as they walked through the Capital City's traffic.
"Like, what the heck is an astro-magnetised star-core reduction reaction?"
She turned a corner of the main road they were walking beside. "A type of star implosion caused by extremely strong artificial gravity."
"So… a black hole?" he asked dubiously.
She shook her head. "It's not a black hole."
He went silent and hung his head dismally. "I give up. I surrender to my fate. I'll never be good at this nerd stuff."
"I'm not a-" She stopped talking, and just sighed, rubbing her temples. "Never mind. Anyway, we're here."
She came to a stop in front of a large, imposing building. Built out of dark purple and black brick, the massive structure had a long series of stone steps leading up to its open doorway, thousands of people in mage and wizard robes climbing and descending the steps with books, tomes, magical items, staves, and scrolls in hand.
Towering supporting pillars of glittering purple marble that had golden and silver engravings in the shape of powerful beasts made from runes held up the triangular roof, in a way similar to the Parthenon of Athens, and carved above the doorway was a scroll the length of a train - big, bold, glowing golden words that spelled out 'ALL-AEON ATHENAEUM – CAPITAL CITY IMPERIALIUS AETERNIA' painted along it.
Seven sky-high beacons of mana in the colours of green, red, blue, white, yellow, black, and violet soared up from its roof, the elemental mana gushing over the roof and down the sides of the building, a tantalizing scent coming from it all, and a sense of euphoria emerging alongside it. Lucy had to summon her spiritual energy to coat her body with enough of it to prevent the mana from flooding her body, potentially changing her affinity. The mana mixed, creating rainbow hues as elements fused to become mid-level elements such as wood, lightning, or lava. Scytale flapped his wings, breathing in the rich energy.
"Now that is an amazing sensation. As a magic beast, I'm loving it here. I wonder how many poor sorry Users they're sapping for mana to keep those mana beacons burning."
Lucille pinched her nose bridge as nearby mages shot him dirty looks. "Scytale, could you please not ruin my chances of fixing my skill before we even get inside?"
"I'd like to see who could refuse the money you can throw in their faces," he replied cheekily.
She just sighed as she began climbing the steps. The humongous open double doors they were approaching were made of glossy black wood, the corner frames fancy ornamental designs of runes. The doors were large enough to fit twenty buses across, and three times as high. Their surfaces were carved with four giant runes, which Lucy knew meant 'Knowledge', 'Secrets', 'Known' and 'Unknown'. Sometimes briefly, deep within the lines of the runes, they glowed with violet light. She walked past them into the crowded entrance hall. Powerful magical artifacts radiating mana were encased behind protective crystal on either side of the entranceway, golden plaques describing their abilities and historical value beneath.
In the centre of the entrance hall, set into the floor of dark grey polished stone with gold veins, was a giant bronze compass-like design. It had no arrows or needles, as the floor was perfectly flat, but dials spun and clock faces rotated within it. A magic array of dark blue arcane mana was perpetually being cast above it, enabling hundreds of people to cross through the array.
Most of the mages and wizards entering or exiting the building did just that, the array recognising their Archive orbs, and letting them through after documenting their presence, but if Lucille tried to walk past, she'd be lucky if she wasn't incinerated by a fireball spell.
One side of the entrance hall was where the smaller population of non-factioneers of the Athenaeum were, lining up behind a glowing globe structure the size of a car. They left, gaining a glowing cyan rune on the back of their hands, where they would wait until a mage or wizard behind one of the many desks called for them. Unfortunately, that required casting a spell on the individual, and Lucy just so happened to be very immune to spells. Luckily, she had an alternative.
She walked up to one of the desks, which had little to no people waiting behind it. The wizard at the desk, a man with a silver beard, glasses, and a badge with seven stars on it, indicating his status as a 7th-circle wizard, looked up at her.
"This desk is for those who wish to purchase information from the All-Aeon Athenaeum's Archives," he informed her indifferently. "Only nobility holding Titles from the Aeternus plane may utilise this service. If you do not wish to purchase information or do not have the right status to do so, then please use another desk."
"I don't have a Title currently," she told him, making him frown, but she continued, "However, this should be enough to prove my status." She took out her violet pocket watch and placed it on the desk.
The wizard opened his mouth, likely to tell her to leave, until he glanced down at the pocket watch and paused, probably seeing its Item Sheet. "Excuse me," he said, making her nod to allow him to pick him up. He adjusted his glasses to peer at the item.
Lucille tapped her fingers on the desk. "The Head of the Aurelian Commission holds an Honorary Count Title," she said. Then she smirked. "And the Empire's annual banquet is in two weeks."
He raised his eyes from the pocket watch to look at her, probably understanding her meaning of 'I'm going to be a Count in two weeks when I can then get you in deep trouble if you reject me now'. He placed back down the pocket watch and looked at Scytale.
"And the snake?"
"He's a compeer bond," she explained. "I believe he's allowed in, according to the rules."
The wizard nodded, having Inspected Scytale and found the status of 'bond' on his Inspection page. "As long as he's a bond." He pushed the pocket watch towards her so she could retrieve it, which she did, and he pulled out a sheet of paper with words written in silver ink. He grabbed a pen from beside him and held it out to her. "Your signature, and method of payment."
She signed it and then wrote down her chosen method. When he pulled it back to read, he raised an eyebrow. "Deposit method? That requires you to have at least five crystalline tokens on hand, the excess to be returned after you have retrieved your information."
She nodded. "I'm aware."
He gave her another appraising look, but eventually let out a short sigh. He rolled up the contract and placed it in a small metal box which he locked by infusing the rune on the front with mana. Then he withdrew a small badge from a drawer of his desk, picked up the metal safe box, and passed both to her. He pointed to the other end of the entrance hall.
"That badge will allow you to pass the identifier array without issue. Take the badge and box to the fifteenth room on the left, where someone will take you to a private room to complete the trade," he explained. "The 'Watcher' will sign a contract promising his silence on all seen or heard within that room once you have placed the deposit. After that, you may ask for what information you need, and the total cost will be returned to you, then taken out of your deposit if you wish to proceed with the deal."
He paused and said one more thing. "The Athenaeum will take a base minimum payment of one hundred rose crowns if you do not wish to continue with the deal. Is that all?" he asked.
"Yes, thank you," she replied, giving him a nod. He nodded in return and continued working on his documents. Lucy and Scytale moved past the identifier array, easily walking past the many layers of mana-circles that had risen to try to analyse them. There was no such thing as protection of privacy when it came to the Athenaeum storing their information. Too bad it wouldn't work on Lucille, with her 'pseudo-invulnerability' to magic. Scytale… well, she'd have to escape the Capital's Athenaeum branch quickly after the trade so she could avoid any mages or wizards asking to study her hybrid bond.
She continued walking, the wide hallway at the end of the entrance hall containing more ornamental magical artifacts hidden behind glass cases. Eventually, she found the fifteenth side corridor, which led to a small room where only one woman was working behind a desk. The woman looked up at Lucy, who showed her the badge. The woman nodded, standing up and giving her a slight bow. She pressed a button on her desk before gesturing to a door on the side of her.
"Please enter this room and wait until the Watcher arrives," the woman said.
Lucille went and opened the door, entering the room beyond as the woman shut the door behind her. Two plush armchairs on either side of a table were inside, and she took up a spot on one of them as Scytale slid onto the back of the chair. She waited patiently for the 'Watcher'.
After a few minutes, a man dressed in blue robes with dark hair opened a door opposite the one Lucy came in through and gave her a slight bow. He sat down in the chair opposite her.
"Good afternoon," he said. "My name is Elron Farnelost of the Blue Order, and I will be the Watcher for this trade." A white circle appeared horizontally above his palm, where a sheet of paper dropped out, covered in sentences of golden ink. He placed it down on the table and slid it forward for Lucy to read.
"This is the Ancient-ranked contract I will be using to promise my silence on who requested the information, and what information was requested. I will sign it as soon as you have deposited the five crystalline tokens in the sealed box." He gestured to the box she held. "Could you please pass it for me to unlock?"
She passed him the box, where he tapped the glowing rune on the front with a finger. The box opened, and he placed it down on the table. Lucy opened her dimensional bag to withdraw five tokens, placed them in the box, and then slid back the contact after she had read it, making sure no loopholes existed in it. The mage took out a pen from his dimensional skill and swiftly signed the contract. He shut the safe box and then leaned back in the chair.
"Now. Before I ask what information you're requesting, I need to inform you of several things," he explained, intertwining his fingers, and resting them on his lap. "The older the information you request, the more expensive it will be, due to the mana required for the Archive to search back that far. The more forces involved in the information, the more expensive it will be as well. And," he continued, "If this information is popular, and requested by others, the price will go down, due to other people knowing about it." He gestured to her. "Any questions?"
She shook her head, so he nodded. "Then you may state what information you want."
"I would like to obtain records of broken, incomplete, or unfinished Origin Skills," she said. "Not ones that have been changed by the User undergoing a race change to undead or beastmen," she explained, "But ones that have had strange lines in their descriptions, or required resources outside of typical Origin Skill primers to function properly. And, if possible, I want to know what those particular resources were."
He tilted his head, considering the strange request. "Incomplete Origin Skills… hmm. It's possible we don't have anything on that subject, as it pertains to the System," he said, to her nod, "Which isn't known to make many errors, if at all, and is hard to study. You don't mean Origin Skills with hard-to-raise awakening rates, do you?" he asked.
Lucille shook her head. "No. I mean Origin Skills that either have lines of System jargon in their description, specifically state something like 'incomplete' or cannot be activated at all."
"I see," he replied. He gave her a nod. "Then I will ask for this information to be retrieved from the Archive. If the event comes that there is no information on this topic, then we will only take the minimum cost out of the deposit, but if the Archive takes a while, we will ask you to return another day to retrieve it." Then he shook his head. "Although, that usually occurs when there is an excess of information to search through, which I doubt is an issue in your case."
He stood up and walked over to the door he entered through. He glanced over his shoulder to tell her one more thing. "The time to retrieve information from the Archive is typically half an hour on average."
Lucy nodded, and he left, shutting the door behind him. She closed her eyes as she and Scytale prepared themselves for the wait. Slightly more than half an hour later, he walked in, three folders in hand. He placed them on the table between them.
"It seems there were three records matching your requirements. Due to being submitted quite a while ago," he told her, "The cost of the information will be a total of two crystal tokens. Do you accept this cost?"
"I do." She nodded.
He stood up and gave her a bow. "Then I will leave the room, and withdraw the required amount from the safe box. Use this device," he said, putting a brass bell-like object between them, "To call me when you have finished reading, where I will destroy the copied records and return the excess of your deposit. I hope you find what you need in those records," he finished politely. With that, the mage left.
Lucille picked up the first folder and set about reading it. The record revealed details about a man who failed to absorb the bloodline of a powerful magic beast to become a beastman and mentioned the strange way his Origin Skill description warped in the process.
'But I thought you specified not to receive information about those who underwent a race change?'
I did. But technically, this person failed the race change, so he never underwent one.
'And they still charged you for the information? Wow, what a scam.'
She placed down the first disappointing record and picked up the second. This one was slightly more useful. It discussed a special Origin Skill of a member of a dying human subrace on an outer plane that was conquered seventy thousand years ago. The User could use their Origin Skill, as their tribe had a method of pre-awakening Origin Skills using pseudo-elixirs made from purified monster parts, a method many unassimilated planes and worlds used.
But it seemed the User's ability was unique enough that the System couldn't instantly categorise it, especially as it was race-specific, and their race had few members. Unfortunately, all it took was less than a week before it could categorise the Origin Skill, so it never underwent 'fixing' of any sort.
Lucy sighed, putting it down.
I didn't expect to have much luck, but this is pretty poor.
Record Event Date (Estimation): 24.3.124/1 – 24.9.124/1 A.S.
Subject Name: Unknown.
On the 24th of March, Year 1124 after the Mystical Realm's assimilation, reports of a high-noble heir of the 2nd Eternal Duchy, incapable of using or viewing their Origin Skill after the Tutorial were heard. A high-ranked wizard known for being a well-learned System Scholar came to the Duchy and was tasked with discovering what the issue was. Several months passed, and it was thought the wizard would be incapable of determining the issue.
The wizard then unexpectedly called in a water Archmagus capable of using the water-space fusion element of Maelstrom and then requested the presence of wizards or mages of each of the other four space fusion elements after that. The five space fusion element users of All-Aeon Athenaeum returned to the Aeonic plane soon afterwards.
The heir was then tasked with undergoing the first ten stages by the Duke of Medolin at the time, even without their Origin Skill. The heir returned from the Beast Realm, and it was reported that their Origin Skill was functional. Reports say the heir stated they were given a special catalyst or unique primer by the System once they had completed the final stage and received their stage rewards.
It is not fully known what exact item the heir absorbed, however, a few transcribed coded letters discovered several thousand years later in the Medolin Duchy seem to suggest the heir may have received a dimension core in their stage completion rewards. The identity of the heir, the subject of this report, is not known, but the most likely theory is that they were the founder of the Violet Order, who are thought to be the one responsible for founding the Artificers. This theory is supported by the fact they were an heir of the Medolin Duchy, also known as the Star Fall Astrum Duchy, the only magic-using duchy of the 6 Eternal Duchies.
The Star Fall Astrum Duchy is the place of origin for the high-level Astrum element, the element used by the most high-ranking Astrologers. The Astrologers are considered the highest-level authority in charge of both the Violet Order and Spatial Tower, with the Artificers not being under their direct authority, but having close connections with them. It is known the Violet Order is a relatively recent addition to the All-Aeon Athenaeum, as the absence of any mortal or nonmortal individual capable of using pure space element means having an order named after spatial essence sparked much controversy. Nonetheless, its creation enabled there to be more users of the five space fusion elements, which, 'coincidentally', were all used by the five Archmagus and wizard visitors of the heir in their youth.
'Okay, lots of words, and you're frowning slightly. Which means you've found something, or you haven't, but you're still looking at this, so…what did you find?'
Lucille put down the report and rubbed her temples. I think this is what I've been looking for.
'That's good!'
The item I need will be given to me by the System after I complete the Beast Realm stages.
'Yay. Easy fix then-'
But the item is a dimension core.
Scytale paused and looked between her and the folder. 'I… kinda see your problem, but remind me what those are again?'
They're the objects used to create lesser dimensions. The grading scale goes from red to violet, the closer the colour is to violet, the higher the dimension. They're very rare, found on newborn planes, and to create one artificially you need to use plane sources. A stronger plane creates a more powerful dimension core. Violet grade is enough to create powerful dimensions that could even hold the Institutions' origin planes.
She sighed and rested her head against the back of the armchair. But my new Origin Skill has to have taken on some of the characteristics of my old Origin Skill, which deals with the soul and spiritual energy, so what's the link between dimensions and the soul? I know for a fact that there is none, because the spiritual realm has no dimensions, being omnipresent, immaterial, and non-physical. How can dimension cores exist for something that doesn't have any dimensions?
Lucille crossed her arms.
Then there's the fact this means my Origin Skill seems to be a type of nascent dimensional skill.
Dimensional skills were incredibly, incredibly rare compared to the entire population of the Tower. Even with the fact demons and spirits were natural 'dimensional existences', capable of traversing the material realms through the immaterial realms, nobody was able to manipulate pure space element. This meant dimensional skills were only found in one realm. The realm that often gave magical abilities without elements.
'But Lucy, you can see why you could get a dimensional skill, right?'
She looked at him and frowned slightly, but nodded.
'The most important thing is that we can fix it. I say we stop thinking about all this and return home for a break.'
She shook her head wryly. You always tell me to stop bothering to think about things.
'Doesn't make it any less true.'
With that, she stacked the folders, pressed the bell device, and after getting her remaining crystalline tokens back, she and Scytale left the All-Aeon Athenaeum's branch in Imperialius Aeternia, the Capital City of the Eternal Empire's Aeternus plane.
From Chapter 3 (2 of 2) Introducing the Real Conman:
At least those from the Beast Realm liked keeping the names simple, because if she had to scroll through a thousand 'Verdisandel Ve Reschtin City' or 'The Anciente Supreme Abode of Archmagus Aerost Runestar Medolin the 2nd of the Highest Seat of the Violet Order', she just might decide the System needs to be deleted.
Also, some announcements. In one or two weeks I'll be switching to a M-W-F schedule to help me build up my Patreon backlog, as I'm working on that and a discord for my story. And from November 11th to the 25th (which is two weeks) I'll be taking a break so I can rewrite the first ten chapters and create the index/glossary thing I mentioned. But anyways, with this chapter, we're 11 chapters away from finishing the first major arc. That's also 110k though lol.
The main command building of White Squall Fortress was filled with Officers going back and forth with documents, doing their work, and sorting out the operations of the several thousand military members stationed in the cliff-top structure. Warships the size of islands crested the sea horizon outside of the fortress, and titanic beings with massive flocks and crowds of their lessers flooded the fleets in an attempt to destroy the ships and devour the Officers commanding the boats.
In one of the many corridors of the main command building, a young man with sea-green hair watched as the tall, curly-haired woman with glowing hair walked in front of him, carrying a stack of paper to deliver to the next room.
Caspian Wharifin had a new colleague.
And… he couldn't work her out. When the Commander told him they would be working together, he didn't realise the man meant it literally, both of them being placed under the same new superior, and doing most tasks together. He had originally thought it was to help the woman get used to the work, but when it became clear she needed very little help at all and he told his superior that, she still wasn't transferred elsewhere. She was even allowed on the Commander's warship for the past month, like him. Although for her, maybe that wasn't a good thing. He shuddered as he remembered her sparring session with the Commander.
It seemed the Commander was treating her like Ross and him though. The man would get immensely interested in one or two people now and then, and would then devote himself to terrorising them until they left the Navy. The woman in front of him didn't seem like someone who would quit easily, but that could just possibly mean when her buttons were finally fully pressed, it would be a big event.
"Officer Wharifin?"
He blinked when he heard the toneless voice and saw Adrianna Riftmire, the person in front of him, looking back at him. He shook himself out of musing.
"Ah, yes, Officer Riftmire?"
"You've been staring at me for the last few minutes," she stated coolly.
… it was slightly awkward that she had noticed. He coughed. "Sorry. I was distracted……"
"……by your hair."
Her expression instantly went cold, making him feel amused. One of the few things he had worked out about the woman was that her hair seemed to be a little bit of a sore point.
"Then I suggest as your colleague you spend your time more effectively," she replied icily. She continued onwards with that march of hers, ignoring him once more.
He realised something. "…how did you know I was staring at you though?"
She glanced back over her shoulder to give him what he was beginning to recognise as a dubious look, so he explained himself.
"I mean, your back was turned. You shouldn't be able to see me," he said.
She gazed wordlessly at him, which, if this was still the beginning of November, he might've been a bit weirded out by it, but by now he had realised it was her wondering whether to tell him something or not. She let out a very slight sigh.
"I use spiritual energy. I can see on all sides of me at all times." Then she began moving again.
Ah. So, don't do anything behind her back, thinking she's not looking.
But now he had another strange fact to add to the dozens of other observations he had made about the weird new colleague of his over the nearly three weeks they had worked together. Which included amongst them her ability to keep her voice perfectly neutral at all times, her limited facial expressions, and her glowing hair. He thought he also remembered Ross mentioning strange sleeping habits…?
Adrianna Riftmire paused and took a turn to go deliver her documents to another room of the fortress's Main Building, leaving him alone. As always, she didn't bother to inform anybody what she was doing until she had done it. Or at least if she thought it unimportant, which clearly showed how high interaction with him ranked on her list of priorities. Although he was beginning to think differently these last few days…
When he had asked the Commander, his superior, and a few others questions about her, they had said he was strangely curious about the new Officer. And to a certain extent, Caspian was. Just the fact she had such a striking appearance made her an unusual person, but she had a multitude of other characteristics that made her interesting to him.
One was just her general behaviour. She looked like she was in her early twenties, but she didn't speak like one in the slightest, nor did she interact with the other Officers her age beyond what was necessary. He hadn't been around her when she was near the Commander and their superior to see how she was around them, but…
She was also highly talented, with a seemingly perfect memory. The fact she used spiritual energy probably explained that fact, but he thought she was a Rank-1, so it was another mystery how she could use SPRT at her rank.
Also, she was taller than him! He wasn't short and wasn't someone who had anything against a woman being taller than him, but it was still very strange when standing next to her. Slightly embarrassing when he couldn't reach into a tall cupboard and she ended up getting him the object too.
But he was picking up on little details that told him Adrianna Riftmire wasn't quite as cold as she seemed. None of the Officers said they had experienced her being rude in any form, and while she spoke like the colour very light grey was an emotion, a few of her comments could be interpreted as humorous if always said without any expression that could tell you if she was being serious or not.
He had actually had more luck reading her body language than her expressions when it came to working her out, although when he tried to point out the real meaning of some of her words to the other Officers, they just looked at him like he was insane.
Well, he had always been like that. Good at picking up what someone was feeling based on little details. Still, Adrianna Riftmire's body language felt a bit too… artificial. And there was her weird reaction to seeing him when they first met. Sure, Atlanteans were very rarely seen outside of their capital city in Atlantea, but he was only quarter-Atlantean, and didn't even have their skin colouration. While not many, there were still some beastmen and magical beasts in White Squall Fortress, so she shouldn't have been so surprised to see his appearance.
He still couldn't work out why she hadn't been transferred though. Or at least given a different position if the Commander didn't want to remove her from under their superior. Her work ethic was leaving him feeling a little subpar, actually, even though he knew he worked better than most Officers, which was why he had been under the Commander's direct command for so long.
…the Commander wasn't trying to play matchmaker, was he? If he was, that would be horrifying, and very scary. Caspian didn't need the Commander picking up weird new hobbies at this point. That man caused the Officers of the fortress grief even when things were going well for them all, so this could be the final straw before a riot occurred.
But he had gotten lost in his thoughts again, and had work to do, so he decided to focus on the present and get his work done before the shift was over.
…
"-and that should be the last of it," he said, placing down the stack of papers on the desk.
"Tomorrow we'll be going on the Commander's ship again," she replied, placing down her stack too.
"Ah… yeah." He tried to prevent himself from grimacing, not wanting Adrianna to notice his reaction, although the silent stare he got didn't give him much hope she had missed it. He raised his arms above his head to stretch. "Shift's over then."
Adrianna nodded and then turned around to leave the room. He followed… not because he was some creepy stalker, but just because the cafeteria was in the same direction. He wondered what to start a conversation with, so the trip to the cafeteria wouldn't get too awkward. "So… what did you do before joining the Navy?"
She glanced at him. "I used to be a mercenary."
… Alright, so 'I used to kill people for a living' wasn't quite the answer he was expecting.
It seemed Adrianna had picked up on his thoughts because the icy-eyed woman let out a sigh. "Just so you know, I never killed anyone. I only worked in a supporting role."
Come to think of it, I don't know what her class type is.
"Supporting role?" he asked curiously.
"I'm an illusion mage, so I didn't use attack spells," she replied.
An illusion mage was a strange class to use if you were entering the Navy, with the lack of attack abilities at low ranks, and he had heard she was the new Squad Leader chosen from the elite training camp, so he wondered how that worked. To be chosen as a Squad Leader from the elite camp, you needed to have high combat strength, regardless of commanding ability, so she must have had some method of fighting she hadn't told him yet.
He had been a Squad Leader a few years ago, although he never entered one of the training camps. He was picked for his other abilities. But there was another more important detail of her statement to address.
"…the Commander's spars with you are always physical though?"
Her expression seemed to twitch slightly, and she slowed her pace for a moment. "You could say he's found one trait of mine to be slightly interesting."
That was a bit vague, however… "He seems to find whatever trait this is of yours more than just a 'little' interesting," he said hesitantly.
Adrianna's expression went flat. "The Commander is a very special kind of person. You can only accept he has his faults and move on."
Caspian stared at her in disbelief. "…what did you just say?"
She looked at him for a brief second and then faced forward again. "I said the Commander's only using me to keep himself entertained until the ice-storm period begins."
No, you cannot just brush over it like that!
"Hey, I know full well what you just said, and it was not that!" he hissed, speeding up his pace to walk closer to her. "Don't think you can just pretend I never heard what you said!"
She very slightly raised an eyebrow at him. "Then why did you ask me what I said in the first place?"
He glared at her, and when she didn't receive an answer she just walked off. He followed after her. "You called the Commander a 'very special person'. As your senior Officer, I cannot ignore that! You do not just call the highest commanding authority of this fortress a 'special person'!"
"But I just did."
"You-" he groaned and pulled at his hair, even as she continued.
"And everyone's special. Everyone is a unique, special, very distinctive individual. Even you. Especially you," she added.
Caspian narrowed his eyes at her. "Did you just call me not right in the head?"
"Officer Wharifin, if that's how you interpreted my words, then that means that's what you think of your Commander," she replied, tilting her head slightly. "As your fellow Officer, I cannot ignore that. You do not just call the highest commanding authority of this fortress 'not right in the head'."
He stared incredulously at her, any comeback lost amidst the mental struggle of feeling very, very annoyed, or quite stunned at the words coming out of her mouth. He finally managed to speak after a few seconds.
"Should I go find our superior to reveal your opinions about our Commander?"
She gave him one slow blink and then nodded. "Yes, let's do that. I need to report to him about an Officer who seems to think the Commander's mentally challenged anyway, so may as well." And with that, she marched onwards.
There was a delay before Caspian's thoughts caught up to what she said. He ran after her. "Hey, hey, hey, actually, let's not do that. How about we just drop this whole conversation topic, in fact."
She glanced at him over her shoulder and then shrugged. "If you want. But you seem to think our superior will disagree with us. I'm not sure you're right."
He hesitated as he considered it. Actually, the man would probably agree with them very wholeheartedly, and then proceed to punish them for daring to say it. He coughed and gestured to the open doorway at the end of the hallway. "Let's just have lunch, and forget we ever had this conversation."
They went into the cafeteria and got their trays of food. Adrianna sat down at a table, and he decided to sit down opposite her. She didn't seem fazed. She didn't even react.
"By the way…" he began, "Did I do something? Because for some reason, you're bothering to talk to me, and it's weirding me out."
She slowly raised her eyes from her food to give him a dull look. "I thought you said to forget the fact we were having a conversation."
"No, I said to forget the fact we had a conversation," he responded, waving a fork at her. "There's a difference."
"You mean the conversation where you called the Commander-"
"Ah! No, no, sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about!" he interrupted hastily, drawing odd looks from nearby Officers. "No idea at all! Next topic, please!"
He watched, slightly surprised, as she rolled her eyes. "If you wanted to start a conversation, beginning with 'I'm getting weirded out because you're talking to me' isn't the best way."
He crossed his arms and leaned back, raising an eyebrow. "And you think you can do better?"
"Sure," she replied with a slight shrug. She gestured to a group of Officers in Navy uniform at one of the tables. "I just have to ask a bunch of Officers how long they've been in White Squall Fortress and they all get into a contest about how long they've survived under the Commander."
He considered it… and realised that was actually the easiest way to begin a conversation in the fortress. "Uh… has this happened more than once?" he asked with a strange expression.
She nodded. "I made the mistake of bringing it up among a room full of Senior Officers the last time." She made an expression Caspian interpreted as a grimace. "I had to use an invisibility spell to escape."
"Okay then…" He took another bite of his meal and pointed his fork at her. "So, if you're so capable of starting a conversation, then how come you don't do it more often?"
She stared silently at him like he had said something stupid. "I don't talk to people because I don't like people," she stated flatly. She glanced down at her food, then at him. "On that note, why are you making noises with your mouth in my direction? Stop doing that. It's annoying." Then she returned to her food.
Caspian clicked his tongue. "It's called communication. You know, one of those essential life skills? A skill you seem to be lacking?"
"I'm a fully functional adult. I just removed features I haven't needed since I was a teenager when I last cared about people," she deadpanned.
"Then how come the sarcasm is still there?"
"Because, unlike good communication skills, sarcasm is essential to the fully functioning adult," she stated calmly, pouring some water out of a jug on the table into her cup.
It seemed Adrianna Riftmire, when she bothered to engage in conversation, was a much more interesting person than she let on. He leaned forward.
"If sarcasm's so essential to you, why haven't I heard you use it more?"
She gazed wordlessly at him. "Because I'm always using it. Nobody notices because they can't read my emotions, so they end up gazing blankly at me trying to work out if I was being sarcastic or not."
He hesitated because he couldn't quite tell if she was being serious… and then he realised he was doing exactly as she just stated. He shook his head and decided to ask her something he'd been curious about for a while now.
"Anyway, how old are you? You look like you're in your early twenties, but you don't act like it at all, so I've been thinking you're older," he said.
She glanced at him, and put down her cup after taking a drink. "I'm 21."
He stared at her for a few seconds. "Wait, really? You're younger than me?"
She gave him a dubious look. "Maybe, but I don't know how old you are."
He blinked and then coughed. "Right. Of course you don't. I'm 22." He considered if it was worth asking her this now, and decided he might as well. "Can I call you Adrianna?"
She opened her mouth to answer and then paused for some reason. She continued before he could comment on it, "I guess, but I'm still calling you Wharifin."
Caspian blinked at the strange answer. "Huh? Why?"
She used her fork to point towards an open doorway, and he turned around to see what she was gesturing to. Then he hesitated as he saw three people there he recognised. Wearing light-blue badges, and giggling as they hid behind the doorframe, were three girls in their late teens, girls he knew worked for the healers' division. They also happened to be looking at him, and he knew exactly why they were there.
"I'm not getting caught up in your love life," Adrianna stated flatly. She got up from the table with her tray in hand.
"Uh… I swear that isn't what this is-"
"So you have no love life?"
"Ye- wait, no, that's not what I-" He paused as he saw the corner of her lips curled up in a faint smirk.
Is she… teasing me?
…..huh.
He got up and followed her with his tray in hand. "Anyway, I strongly object to the statement that I have no love life! That is an outright lie!"
She turned to him with a sceptical look. "Having a love life requires there being females attracted to you nearby, Wharifin. Where exactly are they, if those three," she pointed at the girls in the distance, "Aren't part of your love life?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you right here though?"
She stared at him for a couple of seconds. Then he watched as her face morphed into her most expressive look yet, an expression of abject horror. "Officer Wharifin, think very carefully on what you just said, and your implication, and please tell me you don't mean it."
He considered it. Ah, it was females attracted to him nearby, so he had suggested that she was- ohhh. He held his chin and then nodded firmly. "I have suddenly decided that I can find zero feminine characteristics about you whatsoever, so therefore, you are no longer considered a girl in my books. Situation resolved."
She gave him a flat stare, and then rolled her eyes, and walked off to deposit her tray. "I guess if we compare our heights, I don't have a height typical of a woman, so in that sense, yes, I have fewer feminine characteristics than you."
Oh, he was so not going to let her off for that dig. "At least I can comfort myself in the fact that I don't have sparkly,glowing hair," he replied, depositing his tray as well.
She slowly turned to face him and then narrowed her ice-blue eyes. "I'd take glowing hair over phosphorescent sensory organs any day."
Phosphorescent sensory organs? What does she- hang on.
He frowned and put his hands up to cover the top half of his ears. "They don't glow that much."
"I can see the veins in them," she informed him tonelessly. "It's like you've got a strange dose of mana poisoning. You remind me of an axolotl."
He glared at her as she looked away, put a hand to her chin, and tilted her head slightly in mock contemplation. "Do Atlanteans count as amphibians?"
"I am not a sea animal," he said through gritted teeth.
"Many sea creatures use gills to breathe underwater," she continued, ignoring his words. "Do you have gills?"
He scoffed and crossed his arms. "No."
"But you can breathe underwater?"
He narrowed his eyes at her, suspicious as to why she was asking this. "Yes."
She took another glance at his ears and returned her gaze to his face. "Axolotls' gills are external, so they look like ears."
"I happen to know axolotls require fresh water, which doesn't support your theory that I am some form of part humanoid amphibian," he hissed.
"I have a reason why you might be able to breathe in saltwater," she said calmly. She spread her hands. "Magic."
With that last statement, she turned around and headed for the exit. Caspian glared at her leaving figure and turned to storm off in the opposite direction so he didn't have to deal with her anymore.
…at least until their next shift that day.
…
"Officer Wharifin, watch your step," said the emotionless voice of a woman with blue and indigo-streaked black hair.
He looked down past the tall stack of papers he held to see the pen rolling near his foot. With a sour expression, he stepped over it, then looked back at Adrianna, still annoyed about her comments from lunch. "Am I supposed to say thank you for warning me now?"
"I don't understand why you're so angry," she replied, using a pen to write up documents while at her desk. "It's not my fault your ear tips are semi-translucent. Be a functioning adult and move on, Wharifin."
"I regret trying to talk to you," he muttered. "Why don't you go back to ignoring me as you always have?"
"If that's what you want," she stated, continuing to work.
He eyed her dubiously, expecting her to make another annoying comment, but she didn't look at him. He sighed and walked across the room to place down the stack of papers. He came back over to her once he was done. "Anyway, have you completed most of these yet?" he asked, gesturing to the work she was doing.
She didn't respond.
He frowned. "Adrianna?"
She still didn't respond. She didn't even look at him.
He facepalmed when he realised what she was doing. "When I said to continue ignoring me, I didn't mean it literally!" He didn't receive any answer, making him slam his hands down on her desk. "Hey!"
She finally raised her pale eyes to look at him. "Then what did you mean? Because I don't know how you can ignore someone figuratively if I'm not allowed to do it literally."
He ran a hand down his face with exasperation. "Is this how you really are? Because if so, I can understand why you seem to have no friends. Who could even put up with you?"
"You can," she replied, unaffected by his words.
He gave her a strange look. "What do you mean I can? Haven't I just complained that I can't?"
"Our superior stationed you here beside me so you have no choice but to put up with me."
He glared at her. "It shouldn't have to be that way! I shouldn't have to have no choice but to suffer because of you."
She seemed to consider his answer for a moment and then pointed a pen at him. "This is just my personality. You wouldn't have to 'suffer' as you put it if you hadn't spoken to me, so in essence, this is all your fault. I can't be blamed."
Caspian just sighed. "Whatever, I'm done with you." He pulled back his uniform sleeve to check his wristwatch. "The shift ends in half an hour, so let's just agree to avoid antagonising each other until then."
They continued working in silence for a few more minutes, and he stepped through the room's doorway into the hallway, prepared to go get something from another room. Then he paused when he saw someone coming down the corridor.
Ross Stanhope was marching down the hallway, a dark expression on his face. "Blighted Commander…" he muttered. He looked like he was very intent on killing someone, or at least badly maiming them.
When Caspian saw the dark-haired man, he slowly began to step back into the room he and Adrianna were working in, feeling a sense of foreboding, and recognising the look on the man's face.
Ross looked up and noticed Caspian there, then waved to him. "Hey, Caspian, come with me! Let's go get a drink!"
Oh… nononono, I am not doing this now. Quick, I need a scapegoat.
He looked behind him and noticed Adrianna was watching him. He waved hastily to her, mouthing at her to come to him. With a strange expression, she looked between him and Ross, and then firmly shook her head.
Crap. She knows.
Ross grabbed Caspian's wrist to drag him onwards, then frowned when he saw Caspian was distracted. "What are you looking at? ...hm?" He noticed Adrianna there and waved to her. "Yeah, you too. I need someone else who can understand my woes."
Well, at least she can suffer beside me.
Looking slightly tired, she held up her work. "There's another twenty minutes before the shift ends."
"And just who is your superior, Riftmire?" Ross retorted. "Get over here."
With what seemed to be defeat, she sighed and stood up from the desk, and then followed after Caspian and Ross. They made their way through the main command building, exiting it, and Ross took them to one of the inns on the lower level, filled with other Officers off duty. He waved to the innkeeper as they walked in.
"Get me something strong," he called out.
"How strong?" the innkeeper asked.
"The strongest," Ross replied with a dark voice. "I'll need it after today." He glanced at Caspian, then turned back to the innkeeper. "I'll get some ale for the guy next to me too." Then he jabbed a finger at Adrianna. "You can get your own if you want some. You don't deserve any freebies from me after what you've put me through."
Adrianna just rolled her eyes as Caspian glanced between the two curiously.
Does… Ross have something against Adrianna?
They sat at a table as the innkeeper brought the drinks. Ross took a big sip of his tankard, before slamming it down on the table. It had begun. "The Commander is insane!" he suddenly exclaimed. "He's completely mad! You could try to bring me another man more mad than him to prove me wrong, but I swear, he is the craziest person in all the realms!"
Just a fun chapter of Lucy messing with her past first mate.
Also:
My best picture from the last few months.
And quit stalking my Patreon already people! It's not done yet, dammit! Why do I have so many impressions after three days?
They sat at a table as the innkeeper brought the drinks. Ross took a big sip of his tankard, before slamming it down on the table. It had begun. "The Commander is insane!" he suddenly exclaimed. "He's completely mad! You could try to bring me another man more mad than him to prove me wrong, but I swear, he is the craziest person in all the realms!"
"What did he do this time?" Caspian asked wearily.
"The Commander," Ross stressed, "decided today would be the day to discard a bunch of decommissioned warships by picking them up and using them as weapons to throw at the monster tide!" He took another draught of the tankard and slammed it onto the table again. "Then he put me in charge of wreckage collection duty, even though the wreckage was all his own damn fault!"
"…was it effective though?" Caspian questioned, taking a sip of his ale.
"No, it was not," Ross stated shortly. "We still had to spend the normal seven hours cleaning up the monsters, then spent an extra three mopping up all that drifting metal." He glared into the depths of his drink. "I thought I asked for the strongest. This is nowhere near strong enough for this."
"At least it's still better than last year," Caspian said placatingly.
Ross gave him a dour look. "Anything is better than last year, Caspian. We've all said that enough times that it's becoming the Navy's new catchphrase." He rubbed his temples. "I never should've taken that break. At the very least, I should've taken the entire month off if this was what I would return to."
"Has he done other things this month as well?" Caspian asked hesitantly.
Ross let out a short bark of laughter. "Has he done other things?" he repeated sarcastically.
"The very first day back from my break, he puts two hundred Officers under my command and tells me to get to work. The next day he gives me the command to deal with the monster tide, even as I'm still trying to organise my new subordinates. The week after he spontaneously chooses to challenge a nearby monster King who hasn't tried to attack a warship in years, then throws the carcass to two other monster Kings, so there's been no break from the mana storms all month, and then he does something like this today. Not to mention the mechanical issues we've been having this entire time," Ross finished, crossing his arms with a scowl.
"I guess the outfall of the penalisation of the engineers hasn't helped the workload," Caspian said with sympathy.
He blinked when Ross whipped his head to the side to glare at Adrianna. "Oh yes, I haven't forgotten that little detail, Riftmire."
"I agree, it's unfortunate that such important members of the Navy were found treating the mainframe level as a party-throwing location. I'm disappointed in them," Adrianna stated tonelessly.
…Caspian felt her phrasing was a little weird, but Ross's glare intensified.
"You're the reason this entire debacle with the magic engineers even occurred, Riftmire! Don't go throwing shade when you're no better yourself!"
Adrianna looked away, while Caspian glanced between the two in confusion.
"How is Adrianna related to this?" he asked.
Ross let out a scoff and gestured to her, and then leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed. "Well Caspian, It just so happens that little miss ice queen here," he said with a glare at the curly-haired woman, "fancied herself a quick trip down to the mainframe level the week before the training camp began. The Commander and I discovered this the second last week of October, which was how the troubles with the magic engineers started."
Caspian stared at Ross, then stared at Adrianna. "…but I thought going to the mainframe and knowing its passcodes when you weren't a magic engineer was a criminal offence?"
"My trip wasn't illegal," she stated calmly.
Ross threw his hands up. "The legality of your trip rested on minute technicalities! The technicalities being that you weren't yet an Officer and that you didn't need to know the passcode to get in!"
"My visit allowed the fortress to discover the severe case of insubordination going on within its depths, as well as a hidden route that compromised the fortress's safety standards."
"And you're proud of that?! The only reason you didn't face charges was because your trip was the lesser of two evils!"
"Yes, the Commander said I wouldn't face charges. We don't need to bring it up anymore."
"Of course, we need to bring it up! This all because of you!"
"No, this is because of the magic engineers."
"The magic engineers I wouldn't have needed to know about until you revealed the problem!"
"As you just said, I revealed a problem the fortress was facing, so why are you still mad?"
"Have you not been listening to me at all?!?"
Caspian glanced between Ross and Adrianna, feeling slightly bemused.
…is this how she normally interacts with Ross?
"So… Adrianna discovered the illegal entrance to the mainframe level?" he asked.
"Yes, she did," Ross muttered grumpily. He pointed a finger at Adrianna. "And just so you know, we've sent the code of regulations to the Main Navy Battalion for revision. Don't go thinking you can play that same trick twice."
"Do you know where I can find the revised edition of the code once the revision is finished?" she asked him.
Ross went to answer, then hesitated, and shot her a glare. "Yes, but I'm not telling you. I know full well you just want to see if there are any new loopholes in the rules."
She clicked her tongue, making Ross glare even more, but the dark-haired man just took another drink from his tankard and sighed. "Out of all the people the Commander could've put you under, why did it have to be me?"
"Because, Head Officer Stanhope, he wanted to annoy us both," Adrianna stated flatly.
The man just groaned and placed his head on the table. "Ugh. No, don't call me that. Just call me Ross. I don't want to hear another 'Head Officer' after work."
She went to open her mouth, but Ross raised a hand. "Nope, superior's orders. Objection denied."
Adrianna gazed at the man with an odd expression, making Caspian curious, but the woman just shrugged. Ross turned his head to look at Caspian. "So, has your day been any better than mine?"
He considered it and then narrowed his eyes at Adrianna. "Actually, no, not really, because I had to put up with her."
The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow and lifted his head from the table. "When did you start having issues with Riftmire?"
"It's a new development," Caspian muttered sourly. He glared at her. "She called me a sea animal."
"Technically I only likened his ears to an axolotl, and then asked if Atlanteans counted as amphibians," Adrianna replied emotionlessly.
Ross took a drink of his tankard. "An axo-what now?" He gestured to the innkeeper to refill his drink.
"An axolotl. It's an amphibious creature with external gills that live in still-water lakes. It remains aquatic its entire life," she informed them. Then she paused and held out her hand to them. "Maybe I should show you."
Caspian watched curiously as indigo-blue mana pooled on her palm, then began to coalesce into a rough form. The blob gained definition, and an illusion of a creature with white, slimy skin and pinkish feathery structures extending out from the sides of its head appeared.
Ross glanced between the illusion and Caspian's ears with a strange expression.
Caspian placed his hands over his ears with a frown. "I don't have weird feeler-looking things coming out of my head."
"No, but the fan pattern of your phosphorescent veins looks a bit like them," Adrianna said. She dematerialised her illusion. "And you said you don't use gills to breathe underwater, so the possibility that your ears are external gills is there."
"Well, even if that was the case, at least my ears would serve a purpose," he retorted. He gestured to her. "What does your hair do, besides make you uselessly sparkly? It's like someone dumped toxic glowing alchemy substances all over your head."
Her expression cooled. "The hair is a side effect."
Caspian raised an eyebrow sceptically. "A side effect of what?"
"Ha. I can answer that one," Ross spoke up. He smirked. "Our Navy's new Astrologer planar atlas in human form has a Superior illusion affinity."
Caspian blinked in surprise, and glanced at Adrianna again, whose expression had twitched at the 'Astrologer planar atlas in human form' descriptor. "Superior? Isn't that kind of talent enough to become one of the highest-ranking illusion Archmages though?"
"Unfortunately, exploring the mysteries of magic by borrowing the power of aging old men hidden in lofty towers often comes with getting unwillingly married off to either arrogant young nobility with a penchant for suicide or other aging old men," Adrianna stated icily.
Ross and Caspian stared at her for a while. Caspian coughed as Ross decided to just sip his drink. "Er… right. Not planning on going to All-Aeon Athenaeum anytime soon then."
"Not until I gain enough mana to manifest my kraken larger than their towers at least," she muttered.
Ross spat out his drink and went into a coughing fit as Caspian gave her a confused look. "Kraken?"
"Riftmire…" Ross began wearily after he had stopped coughing, "Don't tell me your construct's size scales off of your INT?"
She went silent for a couple of seconds as she gazed wordlessly at him, then spoke, "More mana, bigger spell. Bigger spell, bigger kaboom. That's the only fundamental principle of mana anybody needs to know."
Ross ran a hand down his face. "Just who have we accepted into the Navy?"
Caspian was still confused. "What's this about a kraken?"
They looked at him, and then Ross sighed. "I'll let you find out another day. Let me just say this." He leant near Caspian and pointed at Adrianna. "This new Officer who has the looks of an imperial princess, a voice that sounds like the auditory version of watching paint dry, and the expressiveness of a rock, is an abyssal demon in disguise, I tell you." He pulled away from Caspian and took another draught of his tankard.
Adrianna did not seem amused as Ross continued, "A psychopath. Someone reaching the Commander's level of insanity. On another level of demented."
"If you'd like, I could compile a list of all the names I heard you called last month," she replied with a cold voice. "Some were quite unique."
Ross opened his mouth to refuse, but then blinked and leaned forward with a curious look. "Actually, I'm a little interested now. You must've heard this with your perception field, I'm guessing."
"The first of your descriptors I heard was 'grump'," she said, making Caspian cough as he struggled to prevent himself from laughing. Ross scowled, while she continued, "Later I heard some call you 'meanie', 'heartless', and 'the dragon instructor'. That last one was from Sherwood."
"Of course it was," he muttered.
Adrianna continued, "Then several others described you as the 'man trying to be the stereotypical idea of a gruff military guy', the 'Commander's spy', the 'party pooper' and 'the one who doth complaineth about all things within his heart'."
Ross stared incredulously at her while Caspian burst into laughter. His laughter grew louder when Ross shot him a glare, and then the dark-haired man held up a hand to her and rubbed his head. "Let me guess. The first and second was Deirvetch, the third was Baxtimer, and the last was obviously Arventiel."
"The second was actually Liao Tengfei," she informed him calmly. "And he said it without any sarcasm."
Ross buried his head in his hands as Caspian tried to stop laughing. "Were… there any others?" he asked, still chuckling.
"There was another," Adrianna replied. "This was from Zhang Mingxia."
Ross sighed. "All right then. Let's hear it."
"She said you were more stubborn than the inauspicious readings of her Sect's 5th Heavenly Ancestor Profound Blue Swallow's divinations every time he divines his future."
The Vast Longevity Flowing Glacier Sect's 5th Heavenly Ancestor was famous for having incredibly bad luck. They stared silently at Adrianna, who showed no emotion, like always.
"I'm not drunk enough for this," Ross muttered.
"…it seems you had an interesting group this year," Caspian finally said. Ross scoffed and took a draught of his tankard, while Adrianna didn't comment.
"Do you know which ones will be staying at White Squall Fortress?" Caspian asked them.
The dark-haired man and Adrianna traded eye contact, and then Ross shook his head. "Nope. That's still yet to be decided. There are still more than three months until they return, after all, so the instructors of the different camps aren't overly hasty to sort them."
Caspian raised an eyebrow. "But all Officers will be busy once December begins, as the ice-storm period begins, with the monster tides picking up. Shouldn't they have sorted that out by now?"
"Look, ask Commander Arkenast, and not me," Ross said, placing down his drink. "Maybe they've sorted them out already, but I don't know. If I had a say," he said with a scowl, "I would never be seeing any of those new Officers again, but look who I'm stuck with." He gestured to Adrianna.
"I suddenly recall that one of your other nicknames was 'White Squall Fortress's worst possible role model for new cadets'," she replied.
Ross narrowed his eyes at her. "Which cadet said this?"
She shook her head. "It wasn't a cadet. It was an instructor."
He stared silently at her and then facepalmed. "Great, so I'm getting called names by my colleagues as well."
"To be perfectly honest," Caspian spoke up, "When we heard the Commander was giving you the position of head instructor this year, we all placed bets on whether you would finally enact your claims of quitting or not. And not one of us thought you would last the entire month as head instructor."
Ross turned to stare at Caspian. "Did you bet on me quitting?"
"No," Caspian said with a smirk. "In the six years I've known you, you must've threatened to quit thousands of times, but not once have you ever tried to. I knew we'd be stuck with you for a while yet."
The man glowered at him, then downed the rest of his drink. He turned to face the innkeeper with his tankard held up. "Hey, are you sure this is the strongest?"
"Positive, sir!" the innkeeper called back.
He glared into his empty drink. "Not even alcohol can provide me relief anymore."
"It would be bad to get too drunk, as all three of us have to board the Commander's warship tomorrow and deal with him again," Adrianna spoke up.
Ross and Caspian stared at her, then glanced at each other. "You know what, what time is it?" Ross said, checking his wristwatch with a frown. "Why are we still here? I may be Rank-3, but even I want a full night's rest. We shouldn't be here, discussing our problems when we have a harsh day ahead of us. Why did you bring me here?" He got up from the table and walked over to the bar to pay for his drinks, then headed for the inn's door, pointing to Adrianna and Caspian. "If Commander Arkenast notices my hangover tomorrow, I'm telling him it's you two's fault!"
Caspian and Adrianna just gazed flatly at the man as he left, and then both sighed. Caspian got up from the table and nodded to Adrianna. "See you tomorrow."
She nodded in return, and then they went their separate ways.
"Check the right pipeline, Riftmire. I'm about to activate the secondary main engine."
She nodded. "Yes sir." She rushed over to the other side of the engine level of the warship and checked to make sure the valves were tight and in position, before running back up a short series of metal stairs to the head magic engineer in charge of the warship's engines. She saluted. "All in position."
The head magic engineer, a brown-haired man in his late thirties who appeared stern and serious, nodded and then pulled down a massive lever the length of his arm. The ship rumbled as rainbow-coloured steam gushed through pipes, lights and dials flashing. The ship picked up speed, the brass pipes and cogs around the engineers below deck all trembling with power. Adrianna paused when she noticed something occurring on one of the pipes.
"Sir, I think there's an issue."
The head engineer frowned. "Riftmire, I have checked the engine layer a multitude of times this week, and haven't seen any issue of any sort occurring in that section," he stated curtly. "I don't believe you can make a judgement on whether the engine is facing an 'issue' or not."
"My apologies sir," she said with a slight dip of her head. "I didn't mean to insult your abilities. But I don't know what a glowing sub-pipe is supposed to mean in this part of the ship."
He frowned and came over to the side of his platform. He scowled when he saw the sub-pipe in question. Dashing down the stairs, he came and checked the dials and switches, then turned to the rest of the ship's layer. "Hey!" he shouted. "Who was in charge of the pressurising mana-circle in this section of the ship this week!?"
"It was originally supposed to be a senior craftsman but it was changed to an advanced craftsman because of the mainframe level issues!" another magic engineer replied.
The head engineer's expression darkened further. "Of course it was," he muttered, withdrawing a strange metallic tool from his belt to unlatch a metal plate on the floor underneath the glowing pipe, revealing a mana-circle slowly rotating within. He stuck his hands in and mana started getting released from his fingers. "The whole mainframe event cost me years of my life. I hope those twits fall into an activated poisonous volcano phenomenon and get their skin melted from their flesh. That, or get caught in the centre of a lich's blight spell."
He turned to Adrianna. "Well spotted, Riftmire."
He removed his hands from the mana-circle, which was now rotating faster, and then replated the metal panel. Then he got up and headed back over to his raised metal platform next to the main engine, where he could see the rest of the layer. Behind him, a tall battle-scarred man walked down some steps and then stuck his head through the doorway.
"Is Riftmire free, Diselon?"
The head engineer paused, turned around, and saluted. "Commander." He nodded and gestured to Adrianna, who came up the steps. "She is."
"Good. I need to speak with you," the Commander said to Adrianna, "But first…" He turned to the head engineer, Diselon. "How has she done?"
"Excellent, sir," Diselon replied. The Commander blinked in surprise as the man continued, "I can only say she's done well on all accounts. She never forgets a detail, can work swiftly without error, and listens to all orders perfectly. I've been wondering if I could request for her to be permanently transferred to the mana-engine layer."
Commander Arkenast smirked. "Unfortunately, no can do. She's set to be one of our new Squad Leaders for next year's new Officers."
"I see," Diselon said with a regretful sigh. Then he paused and gave Adrianna an odd look. "Wait, Squad Leader?"
"Yes." The Commander gave her a pat on the shoulder and turned to Diselon with a strange smile. "Officer Riftmire here isn't a magic engineer. She's an illusion mage. I thought she would've informed you of this fact but…" He turned back to Adrianna. "It seems she didn't need to."
"I could've sworn she had an engineer or crafting class of some kind," Diselon responded, surprised. "She even knows mechanical principles. I thought that was why you temporarily placed her with me in the first place."
The blonde-haired man shook his head, smiling. "Not at all. However, the magic engineer shortages will soon be over, so Riftmire here will be transferred soon," he informed the engineer.
Diselon nodded as the Commander gestured to Adrianna. "Let's go above deck for a bit, Riftmire."
They began climbing the stairs even as another engineer called out to Diselon.
"Sir, the temperature of the third element vessel is rising!"
Adrianna saw Diselon go over in her perception field, and then whack the back of the head of the young engineer. "Of course the temperature of the vessel is rising, you imbecile, it's filled with high-density fire mana!"
When she and the Commander were above deck, blue skies speckled with light clouds overhead, he turned to face her with a grin.
"Even magic engineering? Riftmire, what are you doing in the Navy? You should be the genius heir of some big noble clan, not a commoner mage in our little fortress."
"It was useful, so I learnt it," she replied calmly.
"It was useful," he repeated, shaking his head. "If you wanted to be a magic engineer, sure. But you're developing some new illusion magic in a backward realm with a ship full of people who fight monsters for a living."
"No, I mean it was literally useful for me," she explained. "Any improvement to my knowledge of how the fundamental forces of the realms work improves the abilities of my Origin Skill. Even knowledge of engineering rune theory exponentially increases the power of my constructs."
He studied her with a strange expression and tilted his head. "Riftmire, why are you okay with telling me this? I could spread this knowledge to everybody, and then they'd all know how your Origin Skill works."
"It's fine," she replied indifferently. "What could they do if they knew, stop me from learning? I'm not sure how that works when we have an incomprehensible entity connected to our minds that injects information into us in the form of classes."
Commander Arkenast shook his head again. "Whatever you say, Riftmire. Anyway," he continued, walking onwards across the warship deck. Hundreds of Officers were rushing about on the deck, going to and from their jobs. "I brought you up here to discuss how you've gone over the month."
She walked beside him as he glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. "And I'm sure that by now, I haven't been giving you all these random positions because I think you're incapable. No, I've been giving you these positions because you're too capable." He let out a chuckle. "I'm a bit disappointed to hear that you've succeeded at all your jobs. I thought I could finally find something you're terrible at."
She gave him an unamused look, which he seemed to pick up on because he smirked, however, he didn't address it. "I've received requests for your permanent transfer by almost all of the Officers I've placed you under. I'm sure most of them have been heavily disappointed to know you're another combatant. Officers who choose to do their lines of work are rare."
He turned to her. "Do you know why I haven't let you use your magic yet?"
There were two reasons that she knew of, but she gave him the answer he probably wanted from her. "Because as a member of a ship's crew, I need to be able to operate the entire ship, regardless of my normal job."
He nodded. "Yes. As people who fight monsters, our crewmates can get injured or incapacitated often, and there needs to be someone who can take over their jobs, even in the absence of someone with the class type for it. Even a Squad Leader, Captain or Commander needs to do this." He gestured to her. "Especially as the leader of the M.W.S. Dawnlight's crew. You will have fewer numbers in your crew, which means fewer people who can replace you if you're hurt. And if a crewmate can't replace you, and your job is vitally important to the ship, such as being able to fire the mana engines below deck to escape monsters…" He shrugged. "You and your crew are doomed."
She nodded as he continued walking to the front of the ship, where Officers were combatting flying monsters of all kinds, several giant creatures on the horizon releasing foul waves of monster mana. "But so far, you seem to be able to replace nearly anybody on a warship, except this warship's main combatants, who have more than fifty times your fighting ability. And except one other person when they join your crew."
He stopped, looking at one particular person on the ship. Caspian Wharifin was a distance away, holding his hands out as expansive aqua ripples were expelled from them, distorting the air around him to appear like the movement of a pool when a drop of water landed on it. The cyan wave pattern running down his right side's face and neck was also releasing aqua light, mirrored reflections of the patterns projected into the air near them. They wavered slightly with the movement of the air.
His sea-green hair and eyes, as well as his eartips, were all glowing with the same light. The aqua ripples Caspian was releasing covered almost half the warship, a titanic structure cast out of solid metal, and he was directing Officers to the location of different monsters.
Then suddenly, one of the giant monsters on the horizon let out a horrific screech, and the flying monsters attacking the ship did the same. Caspian stumbled, his ripple aura dimming and wavering, shrinking to half its size.
The Commander scowled. "He's doing it again."
Before Adrianna could even blink, the man appeared next to Caspian and roughly yanked him upright, then dragged him away from the battlefield to walk back over to Adrianna. He let go of Caspian, who was wincing from the Commander's strong grip on his arm. Caspian was extremely pale, and his limbs were trembling.
Adrianna watched silently as Commander Arkenast threw out an arm to gesture to the closest door. "Get below deck," he growled.
Caspian opened his mouth to reply, "Sir, the sensation's not that bad yet, I can still-"
"I said get below deck," the Commander interrupted, looking very angry. "Wharifin, don't make me repeat myself."
"But sir-"
"Do as I say."
Caspian grimaced, and then nodded, beginning to walk over to the door. But then his face went a sickly green, and he dashed over to the edge of the warship to retch over its side.
The Commander, who was frowning, gave him one last look and then sighed, walking away. He crossed his arms and glanced at Adrianna who had remained silent the entire time, her brows slightly furrowed. "I've noticed you make that expression whenever you see him on this ship. You don't react that way to anyone else."
Adrianna stopped watching Caspian and turned to the Commander. "I know the characteristics of the Atlantean bloodline."
Commander Arkenast paused and gave her another look. He was silent for a while, before speaking up, "Wharifin's only part Atlantean though."
She shook her head. "The man I met who told me this was half-Atlantean." She glanced back at Caspian and frowned. "He shouldn't be here."
The Commander sighed. "I see." He turned away and gestured for her to follow him.
"Caspian Wharifin came to White Squall Fortress at sixteen," the battle-scarred man began, heading towards the quarterdeck. "Normally, due to the dangerous nature of our work, we try our hardest to reject the applications of individuals so young, even if they're legally adults, however when it comes to nobility, things aren't dealt with so easily."
"His father is a Marquess in Atlantea." The Commander continued, "That man's not Atlantean, however, the boy's mother was a half-blood. I met the Marquis when he and I were young, both in the Distorted Depths Navy. We were the crew of the Dawnlight at the time."
He kept walking, Adrianna keeping pace beside him. "Both of us were there for different reasons, and he left early. But anyway, the crew of the Dawnlight got caught in a particularly tough situation, and events progressed until a situation arose where I ended up saving his life. As reckless, young, low-ranked Ascendants, we had already used all our available resurrections at the time, so I truly did save him from eternal oblivion."
Then he let out a dark chuckle. "The funny thing was, I hated the guy. He was the most stuck-up, snobbish, disgusting, and despicable person I have ever met. However, because I had a duty to do, and his continued existence would keep the crew alive for longer, I saved him." He shrugged.
Then Commander Arkenast scowled. "But 423 years later, he suddenly decides he wants to fulfil his sense of 'noblesse oblige' and repay his debts, by sending his sixteen-year-old son in his place, to work under me. His Atlantean son."
He went over to the side of the warship and leaned against it as Adrianna came up to him. "And I couldn't refuse. Main Navy orders came down, to let him stay. A Marquess from one of the lesser empires is almost the equivalent of the Duke of a Major Kingdom, after all, so politics and all that. I reluctantly agreed to let him work for me, and then tried, and still try, to get him to leave of his own will." He jerked his head in Caspian's direction. "As you can see, I still haven't succeeded. Kid's more stubborn than a dragon, I tell you."
The Commander gestured to the choppy water tens of metres below them. "Maybe I could've given him a smaller role on land, away from the ocean and battles, but I am still the Commander of White Squall Fortress." He sighed. "I have a duty, and regardless of the harm it causes to that boy, it's an unfortunate truth that his ability to detect all and any monsters has saved the lives of my subordinates time and time again. So, even with the effects of his bloodline…" He turned to look at Adrianna. "I still need to use him. And you will need to use him too."
He moved away from the side of the ship to walk up the quarterdeck's stairs. "Because with the method of leadership, you've chosen, you will not be able to be the bridge between the crew members. The one who can talk to the crew as their friend, and equal." He shook his head. "The boy's soft. The entire reason why he's still in the Navy is because he knows his presence saves lives, and he wants to prove to me that I can treat him like all the other Officers. That softness is why he can't be a leader. He can't make the orders that could leave even the slightest chance of getting someone killed."
He glanced at her. "And now I'm giving that position to someone even younger than him." Then he let out a short, harsh laugh. "Although, at least you were a mercenary beforehand if it makes it any better."
On top of the quarterdeck, near the steering wheel of the warship, Commander Arkenast placed his hands on his hips, looking at the view of the chaotic warship for a while, before gesturing to her. "Today's the 22nd of November, eight days until the end of the month. You've already proven to be good enough to be placed on my ship for the next three months, but starting from the 24th onward, for those six days we'll be out at sea before returning one last time until December…" He turned to her. "You'll be placed in combat. I need to see how you'll do as a combatant, if not a main one."
"Riftmire. If you know the characteristics of the Atlantean bloodline…" He continued, "Then I'm sure you're aware of how your magic might affect him. But I'm sure you're also aware of how beneficial this could be to you too. I'm not going to accept any requests for him to be transferred out from under you," he stated firmly.
She nodded in acknowledgement, but his gaze was stern. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Riftmire. The rest of your crew may only be here temporarily, so I'm willing to let you deal with them how you want, but Caspian is different." He squeezed her shoulder. "Do not treat him the same."
"…yes sir," she replied.
The Commander nodded and then walked back down the stairs. He gave her a wave. "Tell Diselon I apologise for holding you up for so long. You can return to your work."
With that, he returned to ordering his subordinates above deck. She took one last glance at where Caspian had been, before descending the stairs to head back down into the bowels of the ship, helping ensure that the mana engines took them to their next destination.
The Patreon and Discord link will be released next chapter, on Sunday the 29th. I'll be switching to the M-W-F schedule after that though, and instead of the chapter after that (Chapter 41, 1 of 2) being on Monday, it will be on Wednesday.
I still don't really buy that Adrianna's character was because of 'her method of command' as much as it was because she really really disliked talking to people.
Chapter 41 (1 of 2) Future rainbow dragons and an overachieving magic addict.
"And we are back!" Scytale exclaimed, jumping off of Lucille's shoulders to glide to the floor.
They had just stepped into Headquarters, having returned from the Forerunner's Event. They had entered through a side entrance, as the Faction Head disappearing without guards would draw too much attention if discovered, especially with Vincent having ordered all the staff to report to him if they see signs of Lucy leaving. Which irritated her to no end. She wasn't some irresponsible teenager who was sneaking out without her parent's permission to do questionable things.
…although Vincent might think otherwise if he heard she went to visit the Demon Emperor, whom no human had seen and come back alive during the last 300,000 years, all to form a contract with him, which would normally mean she'd become one of the most dangerous Users alive due to the 'immense power' she obtained through the contract. Which was the exact reason why she was not telling him what she did.
She went through the building, the staff giving her slight bows as she went. One of them ran off, presumably to tell Vincent she was back. She and Scytale took the lift and he went to her living room, while she went to her bedroom to get changed back into her usual clothes. Then she went back to the living room, slung her jacket over the back of a couch, and sat down. A few minutes later, Vincent opened her door. He stopped to stare at her for a couple of seconds, before shifting his glasses and sitting down opposite her.
"When the staff told me you had returned, I almost didn't believe them," he eventually said.
She gave him a flat look. "I'm a perfectly capable adult. Even if I didn't turn up, I'd be fine."
He narrowed his silver eyes. "Then wouldn't a perfectly capable adult tell me what they were doing in the last week of September?'
"No, because it's none of your business," she retorted.
He sighed. "Lucy, of course, it's my business. As soon as you became the Faction Head, your business became the entire Faction's business." He gestured to her. "You're currently the controller of the entire Faction's System operations. Like it or not, you're the most important individual of the Commission."
"You can just use Scytale as a replacement if I die," she replied with a shrug.
Scytale, who had been trying to drag a large bowl of magical fruit from the kitchen into the living room, froze. "Uh… excuse me? I think I just heard you mention me in a context that sounds suspiciously similar to something like 'work', and that topic and me aren't really on the best of terms…"
Vincent, with a strange expression on his face, gazed at Scytale and then turned back to Lucy. "Somehow, I don't think that'll work."
She clicked her tongue. "Really? Oh well. I was kidding anyway. If I died, he would too." She received a stare from Vincent, so she explained, "He's a compeer bond. The end of my soul means the end of his."
"Basically, she goes kaput, I go kaput." The silvery snake flapped his wings to jump onto the couch next to Vincent. "Hey Lucy, can you use those creepy invisible limbs of yours to lift this up? I'm hungry, but the bowl just flips on top of me if I try to get to one of the fruits."
She rolled her eyes. "I see you've already attempted it." Then she narrowed her eyes at the amphiptere. "And what do you mean, you're 'hungry'? You ate an Ancient ranked natural treasure, and still haven't finished digesting it."
He blinked innocently. "But Lucy, there's no food in my stomach. The fruit's turned to pure mana."
She sighed and used her spiritual telekinesis to lift the bowl up onto the coffee table between them, then got a fruit out for him. "At least you're restraining yourself to the Common ranked ones."
"Er… that was actually just what was in the bowl…"
She rubbed her temples as Vincent smirked. He crossed his arms as he gestured to her. "Anyway, was the trip successful?"
She nodded. "As successful as it could be, I suppose. All the other people from my world found out they weren't doomed to be stuck in the Tower with no way home for the rest of eternity, while I managed to do what I needed to do."
Vincent raised an eyebrow. "They didn't know they could go back?"
"We weren't told anything before we got teleported." She shrugged. "I knew we would be assimilated eventually due to knowing about the System beforehand, so I never panicked."
"Hmm." He eyed her curiously, and then shook his head. "Well, anyway, there's a more important question to ask here."
She smirked and opened her dimensional bag to retrieve her brass jug and some cups. "Is there?"
He narrowed his eyes. "Yes, there is. Can you tell me what you needed to go to All-Aeon Athenaeum to find out?"
She smiled. "I can."
Vincent scoffed. "Of course you- wait, did you say you can?" he repeated, stunned.
"I've discovered the problem I went to All-Aeon Athenaeum's Capital branch to solve is only going to be temporary, so yes, I can," she stated, reaching for the brass jug to begin pouring some coffee.
"…huh. Then, what did you need to find out?" he asked curiously.
"Well, the reason why I needed to go to All-Aeon Athenaeum is because-"
Lucille paused, and with a slight frown, watched as someone who was dressed in black moved quickly through her level, directly towards her location.
Vincent watched her with narrowed eyes. "Lucy, what game are you playing n-" The words halted in his mouth when he noticed Scytale was looking at the door of the room as well as her.
The door opened and the person came in. The man, someone dressed in clothes with Ravimoux's crest saw Lucille, and bowed to her, breathing heavily.
"Faction Head."
Lucy gave him a wave. "Catch your breath first."
He nodded, panting as he rested his hands on his knees. Vincent looked between Lucy and the man with confusion. The man eventually straightened up.
"The individual you requested to be contacted about has come to us," he said.
Lucille stared at him for a bit, stunned, and then blinked, reaching into her dimensional bag. "He came to one of Ravimoux's casinos? On which plane?"
The man shook his head. "He came to Black Lily. He's currently still there, as we requested for him to wait so we could contact you."
Lucy's eyes widened, and she hastily stood up, grabbing her suit jacket to pull on. Vincent narrowed his eyes and stood up as she ran towards the door.
"My apologies, Vincent," she told him, as she opened it and quickly looked back. "It seems our conversation will have to wait until I've dealt with this."
"Can't you at least explain-"
She had already left. He scowled, crossing his arms. "What good is being her aide if she doesn't tell me what she's doing?" he muttered.
"You do realise you could just ask me, right?" Scytale piped up.
Vincent flinched, then turned to stare at the snake with red juice around his mouth, which he had entirely forgotten the presence of.
"Then what is she doing?"
Scytale glanced at the door, then back at Vincent. "Well, I'm not sure how much she wants me to tell you, but… you could say she's going to meet another Sedric."
"Another… Sedric?" Vincent asked, frowning in confusion.
"Yeah. She wants to make another deal."
…
Lucille stepped off the carriage, adjusting her jacket, and checking she had her pocket watch as she got ready to enter the casino. She turned to the man from Ravimoux.
"You said he's still here?"
He nodded. "As soon as we noticed he perfectly matched your description, we decided to contact you. It's probably only been twenty minutes since we asked him to wait."
"Good. He's not someone I want to keep waiting," she replied quietly, before walking into Black Lily. The man from Ravimoux led her up the stairs at the end of the main hall and through the building, taking her to one of the private rooms. Eventually, he stopped in front of one, then gestured to it with a bow to her. She nodded as he left, and then, taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open.
Inside was a man she had met only once in the last timeline, and someone who she hoped to prevent the Hero from meeting, at all costs.
He had changed his hair and eye colour with a magical tool of some kind, he looked younger, and he didn't have the inhuman aesthetics gained from becoming a nonmortal race as he was still human at the present, but there was no mistaking the intimidating build and strangely intense gem-like eye colour he had.
……or the terrible haircut that looked like someone had taken a kitchen knife to his hair and sheared off random sections spontaneously.
He was dressed in a plain white shirt with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall, and his hair had been changed to brown, while his eyes were green. By his side was a massive spear almost his own height, wrapped tightly in leather straps that prevented her from seeing what it looked like. She could've used her spiritual energy to see through it, but she didn't want to do anything that could risk ruining the chance she had. But standing near the spear was somewhat of a terrifying experience for her, considering what she knew about that particular demonic weapon's capabilities.
The man looked up when she entered, and seemed to frown very slightly when he saw her, but uncrossed his arms and stopped leaning against the wall. She stepped forward and gave him a nod.
"I apologise for the wait. The Black Lily wanted to contact me before any deals proceed." He focused his attention firmly on her as she gestured to the two armchairs on either side of a table in the room. "Please take a seat."
He studied her silently for a moment before he grabbed his spear and sat down. She prevented herself from showing any sort of behaviour that could be taken as discomfort from his action and sat in the chair opposite him. She intertwined her fingers and rested them on the table as she smiled at him.
"Before anything, I believe I should introduce myself. My name is Lucille Goldcroft, the current Head of the Aurelian Commission," she stated, pulling out her pocket watch and pushing it forward on the table.
The man opposite eyed it, likely reading its Item Sheet. He returned his gaze to her face as he spoke, "What does the Aurelian Commission Head want with me?"
"I would like to make a deal with you," she replied calmly. Her expression went serious. "I've been informed you asked Ravimoux's information guild for the location of dragons of the six essential elements. Under normal circumstances, Ravimoux would have no issue supplying this information, as dragon hunting, while outlawed, is an extremely profitable venture for them to support." She gestured to him. "I would like to suggest an alternative."
When she had mentioned 'dragon hunting', he began to frown, and replied when she had finished her sentence, "An alternative?"
She nodded. "Yes. Because in seven years' time, an Event hosted by the dragons called the Dragon's Gate will occur, which only occurs every fifty years," Lucy explained. "This Event enables draconic beasts with impure dragon lineage to go through a series of trials to become True Dragons of new draconic lineages. Someone doesn't necessarily need to pass all the trials to become a True Dragon. This process was how the first elemental dragons were created. And I can enable you to use this method too."
Reaching into her dimensional pouch while he watched her actions closely, she pulled out the brass cylinder extraction device she had obtained from the Founder's vault and held it up. "This device is a component of a machine called the Bloodline Essence and Source Obtainment Catalyser and Purifier. The other components are stored in the Commission's Headquarters, but when it's powered, the Item Sheet becomes available. The device is used by someone to take the bloodline essence and source from a slain magical beast, then use it to gain the entirety of the beast's abilities for themselves, becoming their exact sub-race, and shedding their own mortal race."
She put it closer to him on the table. "This particular component is used for bloodline essence extraction, which was what these machines were typically used for because as it turns out, no mortals are capable of absorbing the immense power of a nonmortal race's source." She tilted her head slightly as she looked at him. "Or almost no mortals."
His gaze narrowed and he leaned forward to listen to her words, his full attention on her. Lucy tapped on the extraction cylinder. "The 'purification' part of the machine is the important part. Unlike several other machines of its type, this one is capable of purifying monster essence in a monster's bloodline and source, so it reverts back to being a magical beast's bloodline essence and source."
She gave him a slight shrug. "And it's not illegal to purify a monster's bloodline to obtain their beast race. It's actually very common, due to many people wishing to become beastmen of powerful bloodlines, but haven't found a beast willing to lose some of their strength by bestowing bloodline essence on them. And some still like to attempt to absorb a purified source, although they never succeed."
Lucille tapped her fingers on the table. "What I wish to propose, as the Head of the Aurelian Commission, is my full support in terms of intelligence, finance and resources, to allow you to hunt monstrous draconic beasts such as monstrous drakes, wyverns, wyrms, etcetera, of the six essential elements, so you can undergo the Dragon's Gate trials and become a True Dragon."
The man didn't make a move to reply, just watching her wordlessly, so she decided to explain further, "With my status as the Aurelian Commission Head, over the seven years I can support you financially with magic items, elixirs, even armour if you wish, while also using the intelligence resources under me to find the locations of draconic monsters of the correct elements for you to hunt, purchasing the rights to hunt them and prevent other hunters from attempting to slay them…"
She leaned her chin on her hand as she narrowed her eyes at him. "And have Ravimoux cover any tracks relating to the individual named Hargrave Einar."
She didn't say anything more as she waited for his response. The silence was tense as he stared at her with his luminous eyes, and she went still, showing no emotion. Then, almost quicker than she could react, he was behind her, pointing the tip of his spear at her neck. She could see in her perception field that his eyes had gained the red-hued outline of killing intent as he spoke with a low voice.
"And why wouldn't I kill you, when you've shown how much you know about me?" he growled, shifting the spear's tip even closer to her neck. "Do you think I'm afraid of your status if I'm willing to become a dragon slayer?"
"No, I don't," Lucille replied firmly, remaining collected. "And you wouldn't kill me, because you would be killing someone who's shown no intent of wanting to kill you whatsoever." He furrowed his brows when she said that, but there was something else she needed to address. "Also…"
With a slight bit of hesitance, she very gently placed a finger on the edge of the spear and slowly pushed it away from her. "You, ah, seem to have forgotten to unwrap your weapon."
He stared silently at her for a couple of seconds, then raised the leather-wrapped spear upright to look at it. After a moment, he marched back over to his armchair and sat down with it with his arms crossed, frowning at the table. Then he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.
…Lucy didn't know for certain, but she thought he might have been a bit embarrassed.
She coughed to get rid of the building awkward silence and gestured to him again. "In return for any support you receive, I want the Aurelian Commission to have the rights to the rest of the draconic monster parts, besides the extracted bloodline essence and source. That means the draconic monster heart would go to you, as draconic monsters are the only monsters without cores. Having a draconic bloodline, even lesser, will make you an excellent dragon beast slayer, as those without draconic blood find it extremely difficult to survive the attacks and pierce the dragon scales of dragon beasts."
She clasped her hands together and rested them on the table. "I would also like to mention that if you accept my support, I will try to find evolution materials for your demonic weapon."
He glanced at the weapon beside him, then returned his attention to her. She continued further, "And if you choose to use the Dragon's Gate to become a True Dragon, it will also deal with the issue of finding a dark-element dragon bloodline."
He gave her an odd look. "Issue?"
Lucille nodded. "It's not something many know outside of those with connections to dragons, such as dragon-blooded, but at any point in time, there is only ever one dark-element dragon. The black dragons, as they are called, are born each twenty thousand years, and can come from any of the dragon lineages," she told him. "Many have tried to become dark-element dragon-blooded, but the black dragon's abilities can't be transferred in any way. Their abilities are unique each time and are a fundamental feature of the entire regal dragon race, so aren't bloodline-linked. The current black dragon has a particularly troublesome trait of cloning, and is famous for his inability to be killed."
The black dragon of the name Margotharel also had a particularly annoying personality, but that wasn't a detail that was relevant to Lucy at the moment.
"However," she continued, "Dark-element monstrous dragon bloodlines do exist, so you'll be able to gain all six essential elements if you become a True Dragon." She reached into her dimensional pouch and retrieved two contracts, placing them on the table side by side. "There are also two methods we could go about this if you accept. One could be a contract with me, the Aurelian Commission Head," she said, pointing to the pocket watch, "Or with me, Lucille Goldcroft," she added, pointing at herself.
He looked between the two contracts with a slight frown. "What's the difference?"
"If we form an official contract with my authority as the Faction Head of the Commission, it will mean any support you receive is purely within the confines of the contract, and all based on fair trade," she stated seriously. "Any finance, magical tools or evolution materials for your weapon given by me will be based on the estimated profit obtained from slaying a monstrous draconic beast. This also means that the instant you receive the bloodline essence and source of the sixth slain monster, the instant our contract ends, and we won't have any more interaction."
"If the circumstances were different, then perhaps I could justify an official contract extending right up to and beyond the Dragon's Gate Event, but…" She leaned back in her chair. "For certain reasons, terminating our contact before then would likely be for the best."
His expression seemed to grow slightly colder when she said that, but it didn't seem to be directed towards her, more to her implications.
"As for a personal contract with me personally… I can support you up to the Dragon's Gate," she said, making him stare at her. "It will mean the finance and resources you receive don't have to be proportionate to the value of the slain monsters. As it will be me and not the Commission who's supporting you, I can use the contents of the Founder's vault, my own personal belongings, and assets, to support you."
He was still staring at her as she said one more thing. "You'll also be able to stay in Headquarters, as my private guest, as much as you want. Your accommodation and necessities will be completely free, of course."
She spread her hands. "So, if you form either of these contracts with me, you will have done nothing illegal, will still be entitled to the full protections of the law, and even if you don't become a True Dragon through the Dragon's Gate…"
Lucille gave him a serious look. "Then you can always return to your original plan."
Finished, she crossed her arms and waited patiently for him to say something. The man opposite her was frowning, holding his chin as he pondered over her offer. Eventually, he raised his eyes to look at her.
"And what happens if I don't accept either of these? Will you arrange for my death?"
"Absolutely not," she replied, shaking her head. "No, I'll leave here after telling Ravimoux to give you the information you requested, and then we'll never see each other again. You'll receive no aid or additional help from me at all, and it will be like we never met."
He fell silent when he heard her answer. Then, as the minutes passed by, he leaned forward to gaze solemnly at her. "The Allblaze Duchy."
"You wish to know if I'll want to tell the 4th Eternal Duchy of Solarmane about you?" she asked. He nodded, so she considered it with a strange expression, and then firmly shook her head. "No. For many reasons, including the fact the Aurelian Commission and the Allblaze Duchy have had little need for interaction, and that if I did, I'd be entangled in a situation of having both the Selwood clan and the Allblaze Duchy in my 'debt' as such, while both would deny it on their ends…"
Lucy hesitated, then sighed and gave him a wave, shaking her head again. "Look, I may be a member of a noble force, but there are some situations nobody needs to get into if they can avoid it. Duchy politics are above my qualifications. They're too complicated."
"And either way…" She pointed at herself with a slight smile, while he looked at her with a strange expression. "I'm currently the owner of an immense amount of wealth, and so I can't imagine receiving any sort of 'reward' from them for telling them about you that would be valuable enough for me to waste my time and effort. Also, in the contracts I've specified I wouldn't tell anyone what I or Ravimoux know about your past unless you want us to tell someone."
Lucy gestured to the contracts. "If you wish to consider this further, I can give you some more time to think through my offer, and we can meet back here again."
He looked between her and the contracts, then abruptly shook his head. "I don't need that."
She blinked, surprised, as he took the personal contract and read through it. He looked back up. "Do you have a pen?"
She smiled and opened her dimensional bag to pass him one. He took it, then swiftly signed it, pushing it back to her for her to sign. She did the same, the mana ink glowing briefly, and then she got out a copier item to scan the contract onto another page. She passed the original back to him, then stood up.
"Well then, if you have no more questions, from now on, you have the full support of the Aurelian Commission Head for seven years' time," she said with a wide smile. "I'll organise the search for a draconic monster with you at a later date. And as one last thing…"
She pulled out a black access card with a purple amethyst on it, and passed it to him, who took it with a confused frown. "This will allow any of your purchases to be bought using my money, and give you access to my personal floor of Headquarters."
She grinned as he stared at her with wide eyes. "Where you'll be staying."
"Hang on, what's this about your personal-"
"Then, I'll see you whenever you decide to come stay," she said to him, walking towards the door to leave after putting away the pocket watch and extraction device. She gave him a smile. "Thank you for accepting my offer, Hargrave Einar."
He gazed at her with mixed emotions, before sighing. "…it's just Hargrave."
She nodded, and then left the room, shutting the door behind her. She continued walking until she exited the Black Lily, and got into her carriage. Only when it began moving did she allow herself to take a deep breath while shuddering, and feeling very, very lucky, as well as slightly off balance after her second experience of meeting that man.
Because the man known as Hargrave Einar was the strongest User of his time, someone who had been titled the most powerful Rank-6, the Plane Destroyer of Firebloom, nemesis of the 4th Duchy, convicted dragon-slayer of six dragons and had become the only member of the strongest dragon bloodline after the Dragon Sovereign….
The Prismatic Dragon Ruler.
…
A silver-haired man with half-moon glasses glared at her with a very angry look on his face, hands planted on his hips. Scytale was noisily munching on a fruit beside them, watching the show with quite a bit of schadenfreude.
Lucy had her hands behind her back as she gazed out the window to the side. Her seeming lack of care made her aide scowl.
"Care to explain what 'another Sedric' means, oh Faction Head?" Vincent hissed.
"Whatever my bond has told you, he's a lying liar, and his words hold no credibility," she stated calmly.
"Hey! My words have plenty of credibility, thank you very much!" Scytale exclaimed.
"The words of a serpent should never be trusted."
"That's purely a stereotype! A stereotype!"
Vincent glowered at them both before she could respond to Scytale. "I know you're both fully capable of carrying out your argument mentally, so could you please stop trying to side-track me with such immature fighting."
Lucy clicked her tongue, making him sigh and walk over to the couch to sit down. She did the same opposite him.
"Please Lucille, can you just tell me what you left to do? All Scytale has told me is that you went to try to form another contract with someone," Vincent said.
"He's correct. That is what I did," she replied, shrugging. Vincent shot her an unamused look, so she sighed and continued, "Yes, I made another magical contract with someone. Yes, I intend for them to stay at Headquarters like Sedric, although they won't be here a lot of the time. The contract will last seven years."
Vincent looked at her with a slight frown on his face. "But who are they?"
"His name is Hargrave," Lucy said. "And he's the person I asked Ravimoux to tell me about when we went to Black Lily to visit Count Ravimoux."
"Ah… the note you gave him?" he asked, to her nod. "I remember you said the person you wanted to find was related to dragons somehow."
"Not yet, but he will be. Because he wants to absorb dragon bloodlines," she replied, reaching for her brass jug still on the table.
Her aide gazed at her with confusion. "Dragon… bloodlines? As in plural?"
Lucille hesitated as she brought her coffee to her lips. "It's… complicated." She took a sip and sighed. "Hargrave himself is an ex-mercenary who wields a spear, but what is important about him is not his past or current abilities, but his future potential." She placed down her cup of coffee. "He has an incredibly powerful Origin Skill that will make him one of the strongest Users ever alive."
Vincent stared silently at her for a couple of minutes. She just drank her coffee in the silence, Scytale having nothing to add. Vincent then crossed his arms and tapped on one of them with his fingers.
"Is this where you'll bring up time travel again to explain your knowledge like the time with Sedric?"
Lucy blinked at the unexpected question and then gave him a wide grin. "What are you talking about, Vincent? Time travel is impossible. Of course I'm not a time traveller. I was lying back then."
Her answer made him scoff. "What did I expect." He shook his head. "I suppose you won't tell me how you know what his Origin Skill is, so I'll ask something else instead. What kind of person is this man?"
Lucy gained a strange expression as she considered it. "Actually… I don't really know."
"…you signed this type of contract with him and don't even know what type of person he is?" Vincent asked incredulously.
She coughed. "Today was the first time we met. All I could see was that he was quiet, but that was likely because he was guarded against me. I do know, however, that he never attacks someone with no intention of attacking him, and…" She counted mentally for a second. "He should be either 25 or 26."
The silver-haired man opposite her looked surprised by her answer. "I was expecting someone older if he's an ex-mercenary. He would be younger than me then."
"Yes, but he's spent at least fourteen years on the battlefield, so don't treat him as if he was a normal person," she replied, reaching for her coffee.
Vincent frowned. "Fourteen… but…" His eyes widened. "He's fought since he was twelve years old?"
She nodded, her silent reply making Vincent feel slightly disturbed and gaze at her with apprehension. "Lucille… child soldiers are highly, highly illegal. Just what is his background?"
She grimaced. "I- look, this is something better explained on another day, and you wanted to know about why I went to the Athenaeum, didn't you?" she said. "He doesn't want people to know his past, and I told him I would not reveal it to anyone unnecessarily." She gestured to Vincent. "If circumstances change, or he even becomes willing for you to know, then I'll tell you as my aide, but would we be able to leave this topic for now, please?" she asked.
He sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Fine. I'll see what sort of person he is first before asking further." He crossed his arms again. "So, why did you need to go to All-Aeon Athenaeum?"
"To find out a way to fix my own Origin Skill issues," she said with a smile.
He stared at her. "…what?"
"You see, I'm incapable of using my Origin Skill due to several factors, and so I went to All-Aeon Athenaeum in the Capital to access their Archive so I could discover what the issue was. I ended up finding the solution, so now that I know that my Origin Skill isn't going to be a permanent weakness, I can allow myself to tell you this," she continued, her grin growing wider.
He kept staring at her. "No, Lucy, I don't-"
"I can even let you have a look if you want," she said, his eyes growing wider. "Share User Lucille Goldcroft's Origin Skill main page with User Vincentimo Evisenhardt-"
"Lucille, please stop-"
[Sharing User Lucille Goldcroft's Origin Skill main page with User Vincentimo Evisenhardt]
"There, you see?" she finished, pointing to the screen just as it was appearing.
"No!" Vincent put a hand over his eyes and turned away. "Please do not show me this! I don't want to know about your Origin Skill! Let alone the fact that is very personal information regarding your own strength, I don't want to be kidnapped for this information, so could you please put that away for me!"
She smirked. "I don't see the problem, Vincent. Haven't I said before I left that my condition was only going to be temporary, so I could tell you? And besides, even if you saw it, you wouldn't be able to gain any useful information about my Origin Skill. That's because my Origin Skill has no subskills."
"No… subskills?" After what seemed like a brief battle between self-restraint and curiosity, Vincent hesitantly lowered his hands to see the skill sheet.
[Origin Skill: -___- | Type: /null/
Desc: user.blank/data{^*}->all
Subskills: ---------------
Awakening: 0 ]
He gained a strange expression as he tried to make sense of it. "What in the realms…?"
"I told you so," she replied with a casual shrug. "My Origin Skill is incomplete. I have no abilities from it yet."
He glanced between her and the skill. He narrowed his eyes. "You seemed to be having great fun at my expense."
Lucy grinned. "Your evidence, Vincent?"
He just sighed and took another look at the skill. "An incomplete Origin Skill… no one would ever believe me if I told them about this… but how will you use-" He paused, and then looked at her. "You said this was temporary?"
She nodded with a smile. "Indeed. All-Aeon Athenaeum recorded one individual in the past with this problem. The solution will be given to me in the form of a System item obtained through the Beast Realm's stage rewards."
[Do you want to close this screen? Yes/No]
She selected [Yes], closing the Origin Skill information.
"Stage rewards…" Vincent held his chin and nodded. "That makes becoming Rank-1 an even bigger priority then."
"Yes. Scytale and I plan to complete the stages as soon as the Empire's banquet is over," she replied. She finished her coffee and placed it down. "After we both reach Lvl 10, of course."
And when I become Rank-1, I can finally start eating stat-boosting foods. My body just can't absorb the mana as it is.
He gave her a weary look. "You still haven't reached the max of Rank-0 yet?"
She spread her hands. "Nope. We're both Level 1. Haven't even killed a single monster yet."
"And you call yourselves combatants…" he complained, running a hand down his face. He paused to give her a meaningful look. "You are going to be a combatant, correct?"
She smirked. "Certainly. Do you think I need any skill to amplify my mental abilities or want access to the many pages of System information granted to a noble with a governing class?" Lucy shook her head. "I'll have my hands full reorganising the Faction Authority permissions, and as an Honorary Count, I won't have any land to rule." She tapped on her chin as she considered something. "I'll likely end up as a hybrid class User, however." She shrugged. "I have no need for all my primary skills to be combat-orientated."
Well, for people who couldn't see her Status, she'd seem like a hybrid classer. But she had no plans of ever taking a class, even with the decreased stat points she'd receive, because with her ultimate plan to solve her lack of strength… but that wasn't something she could do for quite a few years yet. Until after she became Rank-3, at the very least.
"That is what the rest of the Counties assumed, and have no complaints with." Vincent nodded. "A non-combat class will enable you to increase your level with less risk as well."
She nodded, even if that wasn't actually the case for her. She raised her hands and stretched. "Well, do you have any more questions?"
"I don't suppose you know how you ended up with such an Origin Skill?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"If I knew that, then I wouldn't need the System to fix it for me." She shrugged.
He chuckled. "So you don't know everything then."
She rolled her eyes, and they began the first of their discussions about what she would do during the Empire's banquet, Scytale having fallen asleep beside them.
The time has arrived... access to up to 8 new chapters! All available at 11:45 pm tonight! (well, in my time at least. That's in just over half an hour)
Basically, the Patreon is set up. So is the Discord. The image below is linked to the Patreon!
And here is a peek at what the tiers contain...
[Primary Skill: The Plebeian | Type: Patreon/Tier]
The Plebeian ($3 USD/ month)
Did I leave you on a cliffhanger with that recent chapter? Well, if you want to quench that insatiable thirst for knowledge, here's the next 5k. What's included
Freshly Abducted Forerunner ($5 USD/ month)
Another 'lucky' earthling has joined Lucy's cause of furthering the chaos of the new timeline! Welcome, servant compatriot! Just make sure to avoid getting in the way of the plans of a certain big bad Demon Emperor, feed the Scytale when it gets hungry, and remind Sedric to get out of his workshop every half hour.
Note: Do not accept any requests from the Citadel of Fate to let their Prophetess come to the Commission. Lucille's wrath will be upon you if you do. What's included
[Title: Nobility | Type: Discord/Role]
Lucy's Pity Handout: (Temporary) 4x 5k Chapters
Secret Society of the Snake: Member-Only Community
Lucille's Reluctant Acknowledgement of Your Value: Member Shout-out in Author Notes
Q&A: I'll be as truthful to you as Lucy is to Vincent (Jk... maybe...)
[Primary Skill: 40th Floor Resident of the Commission | Type: Patreon/Tier]
40th Floor Resident of the Commission ($10 USD/ month)
A grand achievement! You have successfully entered Lucille's inner circle and been given one of the rare black access cards through virtue of your large pockets! You are now on the same level as Scytale, a greedy braggart snake, Sedric, an anti-social individual with bad manners, Vincent, the overworked aide of an irresponsible boss, and Lucille, a definitely not sociopathic woman with the tendency to toy with others and her enemies. The System is very proud of you.
No. 1 Rule of being on the 40th floor: Keep doors locked at all times to prevent the possible infiltration of a certain Prophetess. What's included
Lucille's Reluctant Acknowledgement of Your Value: Member Shout-out in Author Notes
Secret Society of the Snake: Member-Only Community
Business Proposals for Vincent: Fan Suggestions! Requests! If you're lucky I'll do something about it!
Q&A: I'll be as truthful to you as Lucy is to Vincent (Jk... maybe...)
General support
The 'Temporary' thing is there because I lowered the chapter quantities slightly so I can build my backlog back up. And now... the Discord!
Come get your Limited Time Snek role today, available for this month only! Additional roles in this Discord may or may not include: Vincent Sympathizer, Qualified Scytale Feeder, Lucy Simp Stan, a Kraken emoji...
... I may have been having too much fun making the roles.
Oh yeah, and the links are both in the story's header now. Just so you guys know.
But she had no plans of ever taking a class, even with the decreased stat points she'd receive, because with her ultimate plan to solve her lack of strength… but that wasn't something she could do for quite a few years yet.
So, is anyone else's brain still flush with information, because I can't remember what her actual plans here were. She didn't know how to fix the Origin Skill earlier, but she knew her original one was redundant between her memory and soul power (once she had the stats to use the latter), but I could swear she ruminated on what Class to get and decided upon the Commission partially because it would enable her to reach the qualifications for something especially potent that she only learned about late in her previous life, long after she would have been thoroughly disqualified.
Is that still the plan and she just to wait till rank 3 to start? Was she just talking about taking over the AC before the Founder's Artifact could be destroyed with insider knowledge on the trial?
I know that there are reasons that a Class is redundant for her; she's got the fantastic money to stat-boost herself to power, her soul-control and perfect memory of powerful spells makes her dangerous anyway, and she doesn't plan to fight her foes directly in the first place where manipulation, preparation, and political/economic power will do instead.
But when it comes to reasons that not having a Class is beneficial...the only thing I can think of is that her glitched status so far makes her immune to direct magical effects. Maybe. It being a bug of the System and not something in her personal control makes that a terrible gamble if she'd be putting her life on the line of a glitch, and of all the current threats we've seen? Magic users are on the low end in both numbers and power. Besides that, I can't think of any factors that being Classless helps with, or any way it strictly impedes her current plan and MO. Just lots of ways getting a Class could potentially help her at the singular cost of a glitch that seems incredibly risky to rely on anyway, and isn't particularly relevant towards fighting Conlan.
The only situation I could see justifying it is if her plans hinge on being immune to impossible levels of direct magical damage at one specific point, such that a glitch is honestly the only practical method of achieving her goals in regards to this thing (and not leveling up a lot or leveraging her extraordinary personal mind, power, machines, or connections). And for something THAT extreme...relying on a glitch you only tested with low-level magic early on in the Tower and that you have no control over seems... extremely risky for a personality as controlling as Lucy.
But when it comes to reasons that not having a Class is beneficial...the only thing I can think of is that her glitched status so far makes her immune to direct magical effects.
I believe that due to her authority in the System, as long as she doesn't take a class, she can pick skills from the entire list of options, rather than being restricted to whatever the class has access to. That's how she creates unique or unusual skillbooks, like the one she gifted to Marallen.
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Chapter 41 (2 of 2) Future rainbow dragons and an overachieving magic addict.
Hargrave stepped out of the Black Lily casino having just undergone the most unnerving experience of his entire life. He was feeling completely out of his depth because a person who seemed to be only an eighteen-year-old girl had revealed she knew his full name, his past, his future plans, his goal, and the details of his Origin Skill. Lucille Goldcroft was a new kind of threat he had no idea how to deal with.
As his meeting with her had progressed, revealing she knew everything he wanted to hide and more, becoming stranger and stranger, he had considered how he could kill her many times.
He had reached the conclusion that… he couldn't.
If he did, Ravimoux would definitely never help him find the locations of the dragons, which was an essential step in helping him achieve his goal, his location would be revealed to the General and the Allblaze Duchy, his intentions of becoming a dragon-slayer would be discovered, immediately making him an outlaw, and he'd have bounty hunters after his head all day and all night. He didn't think he'd die, but avoiding that situation was best.
He had considered how he could escape after killing her as well. But even then, actually killing her would've been completely effortless for him. The Inspection skill clearly told him she was only Rank-0. He had reached Lvl 100 over the last few months, and she had come to him, completely unprotected. Decapitating her, running her through with his spear, and crushing her neck with his hands was all something he could've done.
But his instincts honed over 14 years on the battlefield had told him that would've been a very bad, bad idea. The fact she had the confidence to give him such an offer, even when she had shown she knew exactly who he was, meant trusting those instincts was something he needed to do. At least until he discovered how she knew what she did, and why she wanted to offer him such a contract in the first place.
And… she hadn't emitted any killing intent towards him, not once. Even if someone wasn't a warrior, the thought of killing someone in the slightest couldn't be hidden in front of him, who had gained such a high sensitivity to killing intent from all his fighting. Although it was deeply disturbing she had known about a resolution he had made to himself a few months prior and told no one, she hadn't done anything to suggest she wanted him dead. He couldn't even see a sign of it written in the contract details. It was all exactly as she had said.
Although… the thing with the spear….. that was awkward.
……he didn't do too well with awkward.
He shook his head to clear his mind of the memories of that event and just sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, as he headed towards where he was staying with his spear in hand.
The main reason he had accepted the contract was that when the person who offered it to him was taken out of account, the offer was beneficial to him. Extremely so. If he had chosen to follow his original plan, he would've needed to support himself financially somehow, and the easiest way to do that would've been by selling the rest of the dragon parts from the slain dragons to other underworld groups who dealt in those goods. But those groups were just as likely to stab him in the back after he had killed the dragons, not willing to part with the valuable dragon heart, which equalled 50% of a dragon body's total value.
It seemed that he also wouldn't need to hide his identity. He would still have to avoid anyone from either the Allblaze Duchy or Glory Pantheon in case they recognised him, and he'd still have to use his first name, but he wasn't going to be a criminal and would have the support of the largest force in the underworld to hide his tracks. Just the offer to find evolution materials for his demonic weapon was incredibly valuable to him. No two demonic weapons used the same evolution materials, and he had found his weapon to be very picky.
…he needed to learn more about what it meant for him to be living on the Aurelian Commission Head's personal floor though. Again, the strange girl he had met had just given him the ability to find where she was living and sleeping, where he could easily kill her at any time, but hadn't seemed to care in the slightest. Any person who couldn't find something wrong about that situation was someone who'd probably never live long.
And a noble who didn't want a connection with the powerful Solarmane Eternal Duchy? All because it was 'too complicated'? Her explanation seemed somewhat reasonable, but that wasn't something a typical noble would say. Well, if she had no interest in the matters of the 4th Duchy, all the better for him.
The General of Blazing Iron had become well known for his succession of the Blazing Iron mana-art, a surprise considering someone who could practice the art hadn't been seen for some time, but the 'Selwood' clan name was only given to him because the successor of that spear art always carried that last name.
The General was more importantly known as a direct bloodline member of the Allblaze Duchy's Solarmane family, someone from the generation of the current Solarmane Duke's father. When he went up against the General, he wouldn't just be going up against a powerful Mythos of Glory Pantheon, who wielded some of their authority, but an influential person within the central Eternal Empire as well, a member of a Ducal household and a member of the Eternal Empire's General Battalion.
Thinking about what he had to do made his expression grow colder, and he tightened his grip on his spear. Regardless of the Aurelian Commission Head's intentions for him, he had a goal, and that goal came before anything else. As long as she didn't try anything until after the Dragon's Gate, he'd accept the new arrangement and would use her support to strengthen himself with the best skills, tools, and elixirs until the seven years were up. In the meantime, as he stayed at her place, he'd try to discover more about this 'Lucille Goldcroft', and what she wanted from him. If he discovered she had malicious intentions towards him…
Then he would kill her.
But the fact she hadn't reacted even when faced with the full strength of his killing intent made him feel like that would be a difficult job to complete.
"Transfer to the Aeonic plane," the white-robed High-mage said.
"…huh?"
Marellen had been alone in his assigned room, testing out many experiments using his new skill, especially using the advanced spell, Element-based Prediction, that came with it. Occasionally submitting his assigned work and submitting progress on the research topics he had picked up, that was how he had spent his last few weeks, and sometimes meeting with Efratel, who was arranging for the crafting of new equipment for Roa. Then a mage had told him that Vicela Mesifeth had requested his presence… and now he was faced with this situation.
"…what do you mean, transfer to the Aeonic plane?" he asked hesitantly.
"Exactly as I said it," the High-mage of wind replied, sitting at his desk in his study. "Quit being an academic."
…but not anyone could just choose to go to the Aeonic plane, and he couldn't exactly quit being the Aurelian Commission Head's recipient so soon, so what did he-
Vicela Mesifeth sighed. "I'm saying this because I'm offering to allow your transfer to the All-Aeon Athenaeum's origin plane," he explained. "Simply put, you're too advanced for the Academy."
The High-mage picked up some forms on his desk. "A Research into the Micro-Scale Mechanisms of Water-Earth Elemental Combining. The average length of time for a 5th-year student to write up a report of this level is three months. You did it in two weeks."
"But that was because that combination had many pre-written manuscripts-"
"The Results of Fusing Partially Materialised Lava and Storm Elements, a research topic usually studied by professors…" Vicela looked up. "Violet-level grading. The maximum grade."
"I just happened to have the right affinities-"
"You submitted a theoretical greater rune combination of four elements to the Archive, which a High-mage later cited in a new manuscript, and not three days later became a Grand-mage, becoming one of the few dual mid-level element affinity Grand-mages in the entire Academy," Vicela stated flatly, cutting Marellen off.
"I can't receive credit for that-"
"The only reason you won't receive credit for that," Vicela continued shortly, "Is because the Grand-mage would never provide another mid-level element High-mage insight into becoming a Grand-mage, to protect his own precious status in the Academy. And how could he dare admit to anyone that a mere advanced mage was the source of the inspiration for the consolidation of his Grand spell." Vicela scoffed.
Marellen didn't reply, keeping his silence. He didn't think he had anything he could add that would help his situation. The High-mage in front of him sighed.
"Marellen Vadel. You have no reason to be in the Academy," he said wearily. "Normally, mages become part of All-Aeon Athenaeum by becoming the student of a mage or wizard. Those not talented enough to be picked in the Junior Academy can study here in the Senior Academy to further their knowledge rather than magical skillset, and can grab the attention of the professors, becoming their students, to be transferred to the Aeonic plane that way."
The High-mage jabbed a finger at Marellen. "You have already studied here five years ago. And in both the Senior and Junior Academy, you rejected all offers of becoming a student."
Marellen shifted in his seat as Vicela continued, "And the existence of academics is supposed to allow a mage to transfer to the Aeonic plane without being a student, by gaining the contribution needed to do so. Instead of taking up a position as the whatever generation student of a member of the Orders or Towers, you'd enter the other departments, doing more practical work."
Vicela pointed at the forms on his desk. "And that is what I'm saying I'll do now. I'll let you transfer to become an unaffiliated mage early and before you've obtained the necessary contribution, so you don't need a teacher." He gave Marellen a wave. "You have High-mage level theoretical knowledge, which is easily enough to cover for the lack of contribution. Even being the recipient of the Aurelian Commission Head wouldn't matter. You'd still be their sponsored mage if you transferred." Vicela spread his hands. "So, join the All-Aeon Athenaeum fully."
Marellen stared silently at the man dressed in white robes, not having expected to be confronted with an offer like this so suddenly. Well, most people wouldn't be confronted by an offer like this in the first place…
Instead of panicking and impulsively refusing as he was tempted to, he pushed aside his anxiousness to consider the offer seriously.
If I think about this offer purely from the side of the positives, then it's very beneficial to me. I was never going to accept becoming a student, and my sponsor was going to decline all offers, so this offer only came earlier than it would've. I'll have access to the main Archive artifact, where I can see if there are any manuscripts and research into all-element spells and magic. I might also be able to discover more about Saufren Lestial… but…
"Can I… have some time to think about this?" he asked weakly.
Vicela rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure what you even need to think about, but sure. However, if you don't accept before the end of December, it'll be hard for me to transfer you until after June next year because the Senior and Junior Academy students will graduate," he informed him. "Those new talents will be prioritised for transfer over academics."
Marellen nodded but had one more question to ask the High-mage. "And… could I ask… why you want me to transfer so much?"
Vicela raised an eyebrow. "Me? That's because all the professors wish to gain contribution for referring a talented academic to the origin plane, but can't because you haven't obtained the needed contribution for transferal yet." He scoffed. "And now they're all getting annoyed at me for not letting you be transferred." He narrowed his eyes at Marellen. "We both know who's really at fault here though."
…ah. So the High-mage was getting blamed because of him, making him an annoyance to the man.
"…I'll make sure to consider the offer carefully," Marellen replied awkwardly.
Vicela Mesifeth sighed. "Yeah. You do that."
…
"I think you should accept," Efratel said.
Marellen stared at his cousin as he received the casual reply. He was meeting up with Efratel at the café they went to last time so he could discuss the offer of transfer with him. Except all he had said to Efratel was that Vicela Mesifeth had given him an offer of transfer to the Aeonic plane.
"Could we not discuss this a little more before you come to a conclusion like that?" he asked wearily.
"What's there to discuss?" Efratel shrugged. "You get access to more rune and magic knowledge, can form connections with people right at the centre of the Athenaeum's power, and won't have to complete as many miscellaneous tasks to receive contribution."
Efratel raised the fork he was using to eat his lunch and pointed it at Marellen. "As I see it, the Aeonic plane is just a better version of the Academy. The Academy was made to allow young mages and wizards to become accustomed to the Athenaeum anyway, so it'll hardly be different."
"You won't be able to come though…" Marellen replied.
"Yes, but you'll still be able to contact me with the Archive orb," Efratel responded, picking up his glass to take a sip of water. "As the Commission Head's sponsored mage, you can afford any price to send a message from the sub-dimension to the realm. I'm hardly at the Academy most of the time anyway."
Then Efratel leaned forward to point at Marellen with a serious look on his face. "And this can be useful in other ways too, when it comes to expeditions. Don't forget about what I told you a few weeks ago, about the Commission Head's letter."
Marellen furrowed his brows. "Commission Head's…? Ah…" His eyes widened slightly when he remembered. "About the planes with natural mana phenomena?"
Efratel nodded. "Yes. I've had a look, however, opportunities for expeditions in Old Era planes with natural mana phenomena are strictly kept to the most promising students of the Junior and Senior Academy," he said. "That's because of the higher probability of artifacts forming on them, and they don't want such artifacts wasted on mages without talent."
"However, Marellen…" Efratel spread his hands. "Because you're not joining any of the Orders or Towers, if you accept the transfer you could work for the Artificers."
Marellen blinked in surprise. "The Artificers? Why them?"
"Because you can work as an expeditionary for them, bringing back Old Era natural artifacts for them to study," Efratel explained. "And I believe they are the best choice for what you want to do."
His blonde-haired cousin held up his hand. "We both know All-Aeon Athenaeum has five areas for mages and wizards to work in. One is under the Astrologers." Efratel raised a finger. "They require one to be at least a 7th circle wizard, over a hundred years old, and someone with strong political connections before you can be considered an 'Astrologer', so you won't be working for them. Nor the Spatial Tower or Violet Order."
Efratel raised a second finger. "The next is the Arcanists. These are the elemental Orders and Towers outside of the Spatial Tower and Violet Order, the ones not under the Astrologer's authority. You won't be working for any of them either."
He raised a third as Marellen watched. "Then there's the Battle-path. The battlemages." Efratel lifted an eyebrow. "If you want to follow your father's footsteps and enter a Battalion of the Empire, working to conquer planes, then I'd suggest this to you."
Marellen shuddered, making Efratel chuckle. "I'll assume that was a no to that suggestion then," his cousin remarked wryly.
Then the blonde-haired man raised a fourth finger. "We also have the Pioneers. The field researchers, analysis mages, documenters, archaeologists," he gestured to Marellen, "and the main expeditionary forces. However, the Pioneers' expeditionary forces are more about mapping newly discovered planes, and don't normally go to Old Era planes," he said.
Then he clasped his hands together and rested them on the table. "And finally, we have the Confluents. Your alchemists, runic cryptographers, dedicated spell researchers, runic model developers, anything outside of pure elemental magic…" he listed, "And the Artificers. And also the magic engineers before they broke away to join the Coalition."
Efratel gestured to Marellen. "If you work for the Artificers, you'll gain access to Old Era planes, where you're entitled to part of the artifacts you retrieve, which, unique as they are, you can't purchase using the Commission Head's money," Efratel explained, "And will enable you to see natural mana phenomena in person, seeing if it does further your research into all-element magic, as the Commission Head suggested it would."
"I… have begun to believe it might," Marellen replied hesitantly. "Due to the lack of all-element spells, I can only find natural examples to further my magic, so natural mana phenomena are likely the closest I'll get to seeing all-element magic in person." He looked down at his hand. "It's… quite surprising to me that the Commission Head suggested something like that. They must have a good understanding of magic."
Efratel hesitated. "I… wouldn't know much about that. They do seem capable of casting magic, but as to how much they know about it… I have no idea."
Marellen sighed, having gotten used to these vague answers of Efratel's over the last few weeks. "I'll think about the transfer for a few more days at least," he said. "Anyway, how has Roa been going?"
"Roa has been putting her resources as a 'sponsored mage of the Aurelian Commission Head' to good use," Efratel replied with a chuckle. "She's ordered a new staff, cloak, and other magical wear of a higher quality than the one she had been using. Not because of greed though," he added, "Because if she was still a normal adventurer, those items would make her a target. She's getting them in preparation for when you two explore the Old Era planes."
"She's enthusiastic about the idea?" Marellen asked with surprise.
"She said it's an amazing offer," Efratel responded, smiling. "Apparently, the idea of exploring ancient planes with powerful treasures appeals to her sense of adventure."
"I suppose she'd be used to combat, having worked in the Beast Realm for some time," Marellen mused.
"Yes, and that's why you shouldn't be too worried about going to Old Era planes." Efratel nodded. "I plan on employing other experienced people to accompany you." Efratel paused and then a slight smile appeared on his face. "I may already have an idea just who, too."
"You're not going to tell me, are you," Marellen sighed wearily.
Efratel only grinned. Marellen shook his head. "At this point, I may as well just succumb to my fate and agree to go to those Old Era planes. I'm sure it'll be an interesting experience, at least."
"Well, if you've made up your mind, then I have a list of things you need to do beforehand," Efratel said, reaching into his coat pocket to withdraw a piece of paper.
Marellen took the list curiously. It contained information about what Marellen needed to do on his end at the Athenaeum, but other parts of it… "New skills?"
Efratel nodded. "You need to check the Archive and see what skills you should get to prepare you for going to the planes." He gave Marellen a smirk. "You've only had experience researching spells at home, and a tiny bit of practical experience when we went to the Beast Realm. You have the contribution now," he said, "And I'm allowed to purchase skill books for you using the Commission Head's money. See if you can evolve your main skills before going to an Old Era plane."
"But the rest of this list… new magical equipment?" Marellen asked curiously.
Efratel gave him a slight grin. "Use your sponsorship to get the top-quality version of all magical equipment for your rank. Any alchemy tools, magical gear, rune translation items, artifact analysis equipment…" His cousin thought for a moment and then smiled. "Actually, how about we do this now?"
"…now?"
The blonde-haired man nodded. "Yes." He gestured to the bustling street outside the café. "We're already close to the right sector, so it won't be a long walk." Efratel clapped his hands together. "So, let's go shopping!"
Marellen had a feeling his cousin was more excited about the prospect of shopping on an unlimited budget than he had let on so far. He sighed, and after they had paid for their meal, they went searching through the magical shops, buying and ordering the new equipment for when he went searching for unique mana phenomena. Which, as the day continued, he had actually begun to like the idea a little.
Then he was struck with another thought. If he could transfer to the Aeonic plane and explore Old Era planes for the Artificers over there… then couldn't he avoid all the girls in the Academy?
Grand-mage Deflasar Sulfest rubbed his temples as he considered the documents in front of him. As the authority in charge of outer plane expeditions, he received great power within the All-Aeon Athenaeum, but sometimes it left him with political messes like the one in front of him.
Due to the unearthing of a particularly unique type of plane with rich wind mana the month before, the White Fall Dukedom on the 4th Major plane, the Snowbell Aurora plane, had been particularly vocal about conquering this new unranked plane for their nation of the Wintery Frost-Isle Queendom. As a noble clan with a history of producing powerful magic users for both the Ice and White Towers and Orders, many of which were High or Grand-mages within the Athenaeum, supporting their advance and supporting them as they conquered this plane was a good idea.
The issue he had, however, was that the publicity of this new plane had overshadowed a highly important Old Era plane discovered only a few weeks prior to the wind plane. An incredibly valuable one too. Usually, keeping such a valuable plane a secret would be beneficial to those in charge of its exploration, but unfortunately, the situation was such that if after the White Fall Dukedom's plane had been conquered and they discovered the existence of the Old Era plane, who's exploration had occurred in the meantime, thousands of nobles will end up very, very mad at being left out. Supporting a Major Kingdom's Dukedom to gain their favour was one thing, but having the opportunity to gain the immense riches of the Old Era plane for themselves?
And Deflasar couldn't even try to popularise this earlier discovered plane. That was because he would offend the White Fall Dukedom, who wanted to use the publicity of their plane conquering to obtain support from the nobles who desired a share of the profits and status of being 'plane conquerors'. Publicizing the Old Era plane would make the nobles and talented expeditionaries flock to this plane rather than the one with strong wind element, reducing the profit of the White Fall Dukedom, who wished to limit the costs of conquering the plane by using these nobles.
So, he was stuck. He had a valuable plane on his hands, but if he revealed it, he'd offend a Dukedom, and if he hid it, the All-Aeon Athenaeum's losses would be immense. That was because this plane, or 'plane shard' as was more accurate, was on a time limit.
Very rarely, when Astrologers calculated the location of a new plane that had drifted closer, and those from the Spatial Tower and Violet Order had set up a teleportation array to access it, they came across a phenomenon called a 'shattered plane'. These planes were planes that had broken due to catastrophic battles between primal beasts in the past, the damage to the planes so great that their sources cracked, and the plane shattered into smaller planes. On the surface, that meant there were just more smaller planes, but things weren't so simple.
Planes had a lifespan. The amount of time they could exist before their source mana, the impossibly dense substance that generated atmospheric mana for the trillions of existences that lived on their surfaces, ran out, and the landmass of the plane fell into the endless void space below. Of course, planes could also merge, in an event that took hundreds of thousands of years to occur, regaining lifespan and getting drawn towards the Aeternus plane's domain once more, so the Mystical Realm never ran out of planes. The mana of dying planes slowly leaked out, and people would gradually leave the plane, going to prosperous planes with more mana.
However, shattered planes were different. They were planes that weren't dying naturally. They had been damaged, so the process of their death was extraordinarily chaotic. Shattered plane sources rapidly began releasing mana when the shattering occurred, raising the amount of mana in the plane up to soaring heights, sending all the mana within into disarray, creating hundreds of dangerous Dungeons, and heightening the power of all natural mana phenomena within.
Also, artifacts, artifacts, artifacts. Thousands of powerful naturally-formed artifacts.
In an extraordinarily rare process, the dense mana and heightened natural mana phenomena birthed many artifacts, the sheer quantity of mana within creating artifacts with power normally only gained after spending hundreds of thousands of years in pocket dimensions. Any magical item left on the Old Era plane, any relic or ruin with the slightest bit of magic, could become artifacts, creating a treasure trove for all expeditionaries who venture onto the plane.
The negatives to this were the more dangerous natural mana phenomena and the many monsters from the Dungeons, but the Dungeons gave out experience and magical items, and, while on the plane, any magical item had a chance of becoming an artifact, so it was overshadowed by the massive positives of the place.
However, a plane's lifespan was dictated by the size of its source, which controlled the size of the land mass it could support. The shattered plane that had been discovered was named the Ancient Brighten plane, and while its source was cracked, its main land mass had enough source mana to stay afloat for roughly one more century. The main land mass was called the Greater Allbright Empire shard, after the name of the nation that had existed on it.
Another plane shard had broken off from this though, only a week before the White Fall Dukedom's plane had been discovered. It had been called the Sundown Continent Shard. This plane had a lifespan of only ten years. The mana within would reach its peak around the end of December, where it would stay for the next couple of years, until it slowly began to decline. If the artifacts within weren't retrieved before the end of the plane, they would never be seen again. It was a race against time.
The best time to gain artifacts was at the very start, retrieving as many as possible before the speed of collection decreased, and the competition got stronger. The Artificers held priority, as the ones the plane's exploration authority had been transferred to, but they found artifacts with historical value or unique abilities more important, and so the more powerful artifacts wouldn't necessarily be wanted by them. In essence, if he failed to draw enough attention to the Old Era plane… there would be a riot among the nobles.
There was only one thing to do. Keep the plane as an open secret, and turn it into a special event. Deflasar would send out 'secret' invitations to talented young members of the Athenaeum, so they would come to the plane. He'd need to ensure they were nobles, so he wouldn't attract unwanted attention from Olden, and they'd need to come from higher nobility families, or at least have an important sponsor from the Aeternus plane behind them.
That would allow the plane to attract publicity in a way different to what the White Fall Dukedom was doing, as the higher nobility would have no interest in a Dukedom from a Major Kingdom. And they had to be very talented, of course. There would be immense competition to enter this plane, so pure status wouldn't cut it.
But even then, there wouldn't be enough people exploring the plane. All the good expeditionaries would be hired by nobles to go to the White Fall Dukedom's plane…
However, the heirs of nobility would be going to the Sundown Continent shard. They'd need protection. If he allowed them to take three additional people, so they could bring enough guards to form a four-man party, then there would be no issue. If the heirs died… well, he was kind enough to even let them bring guards, so how was he to blame? He'd make sure the invited Athenaeum member had control over all artifacts, though. Couldn't have some lucky commoner guard running off with a powerful artifact of the Athenaeum's now, could he?
Deflasar Sulfest nodded to himself, and dipped his fountain pen in an inkwell, ready to begin writing up instructions for this new 'event'. The nobles would be annoyed at how he had restricted it to those with invitations only, but by revealing that the Greater Allbright Empire shard would open a few years after the Sundown Continent shard, they would be quietened. With his instructions written up, he placed a finger on his desk to insert mana into the mana-circle that would call one of his students to assist him. Then he stood up, prepared to organise some people to spread rumours of this 'secret event' among the higher nobility mages and wizards. He left his study.
A little while later, one of the Grand-mage's students entered the man's room and deposited a list on the desk. The list contained promising young members of the All-Aeon Athenaeum's Aeonic plane according to the Grand-mage's requirements, with both noble status, an important backer or family, and high talent.
And on one page, a picture of a navy-haired young man next to the name of 'Marellen Vadel' could be seen.
I'm back with the second part of the chapter. Marellen is going off to collect treasure while Hargrave is getting abducted into Lucy's schemes and plots.
"When faced with a move like this, you need to take a step back and correct your position."
The burly blonde-haired man punched out with his fist towards her exposed side. She narrowly dodged it, stepping back with one foot to twist her body to the side.
"And avoid getting caught in the follow-up move."
She ducked as the man's other fist shifted to try to punch her again. But the scarred man's leg swung out and swept her off her feet. She dived into a roll to get back up.
"Don't forget to counterattack either. That can make your opponent pause and fail to do a follow-up move, giving you time."
She punched forward with her fist as he came closer, but the man blocked it with a large hand. Expecting that, she kicked a leg up, aiming for his jaw, but he blocked that with his other hand as well.
He grabbed her ankle with two hands and pulled in an attempt to slam her onto the ground on the opposite side, but she foiled his attempt by wrapping her arms around his neck partway, trying to choke him as she essentially sat on his shoulder.
"I… feel… like… this… is… a little… unfair…" she said through gritted teeth, the strength of her limbs unable to cut off any air at all.
The battle-scarred man just laughed. "Sorry, but you won't be able to overcome the difference in our CON, Riftmire."
His pull on her leg grew stronger, and she slipped off his shoulder, slamming onto the ground. She gazed wearily at him as he stepped forward with a toothy grin.
"You've been quite the interesting sparring partner this month, Riftmire," Commander Arkenast said.
"Glad to know one of us has enjoyed this," she muttered.
He chuckled, leaning forward to offer her a hand. She took it, getting back onto her feet. The Commander gestured to someone standing off to the side with his hand. "I'm not the only one, Riftmire. I'm sure Wharifin here has been watching our sparring sessions with great interest, considering how often he comes here."
Standing a distance away, looking at Adrianna and the Commander with a hesitant and slightly awkward expression, was Caspian. "Uh… sure… if that's how you put it…"
Commander Arkenast smirked, planting his hands on his hips. "I have to say though, Riftmire…" he said, looking at her. "I almost find it a shame that you chose to be a mage instead of a warrior. The possibilities of a warrior who releases no killing intent…" He shook his head. "And imagine if you had become an assassin!"
"The only reason I have put up even a slight bit of resistance facing you is because of the analytical abilities I gained from being a mage," she replied, stretching her arms. "And I wouldn't be able to use mana-arts anyway."
"Oh? Have you tested this?" he asked curiously.
She nodded. "I once tried to learn a prerequisite skill for a weaker mana-art just to see how it worked." She shook her head. "I couldn't understand the mana usage. It seems mana creates specific effects when killing intent is used, but I could only get the theoretical aspect."
"Interesting. I don't usually think about how my mana acts when I use killing intent," the Commander mused, "But it seems to play a bigger part than I thought, considering our spars."
Then he grinned at her. "Although, Riftmire, you have more physical combat experience than I expected."
In her sparring with Commander Arkenast, she hadn't been completely hopeless. She did know some martial arts, such as taekwondo, jujutsu, kickboxing, wrestling, Krav Maga…
…as the only heir of a multibillionaire, she had gotten bored.
"The martial arts I learnt were used for sport mostly," she responded, walking over to the side to get a drink of water from a flask. "They don't have any lethal moves."
"For sport? On your home plane?" Commander Arkenast asked.
Adrianna nodded. "We didn't have much mana there."
Both the Commander and Caspian looked very interested, but she didn't say anything more on the topic. Commander Arkenast held his chin as he watched her, but eventually shrugged. Then a broad grin appeared on his face as he gestured to her to come closer.
"Well, considering this is our last day for sparring, I say we go another few rounds," he said cheerfully.
Gazing at him with a mixture of exasperation and weariness, she suppressed a sigh and stepped forward, then got into a combat-ready stance. Caspian gave her a look of pity as the Commander charged forward.
He began by punching towards her face with his right hand, to which she tilted her head to dodge and followed up with a kick from her left leg, aiming for his side.
Commander Arkenast twisted his body and raised a knee to block it, then kicked out with the leg to knock away hers.
The move destabilised her, but she had expected that, and when his follow-up move came to take advantage of her weakness, she avoided the fist headed for her stomach by stepping to the side and running forward to punch the Commander.
He caught her fist with his hand and twisted her around so it was behind her back. She slipped her foot behind one of his and tried to make him fall over backwards.
He shifted his foot just slightly to remove hers, so she spun around to the other side, making her arm no longer behind her back, and aimed for his jaw with her other free hand.
The Commander smirked as he grabbed that fist, making her locked in place as she couldn't remove his grip from either hand.
"Aren't you using too much strength?" she hissed.
Commander Arkenast chuckled. "I said I'd keep it to a warrior-manipulator of your level, and I still haven't changed it. Don't blame me for your mistakes."
He roughly shoved her back as he let go, letting her get back into position before they fought again.
As they dashed towards each other to clash with their limbs once more, a few Officers walked by, some of whom were off duty on the ship, and paused when they saw them sparring. They came up to Caspian, who heard their footsteps and turned around. He gave them a nod when he saw who they were.
"Hello Lisent, Paroch and Mawelsteff." He turned back to look at the Commander and Adrianna. "As you can see, they're doing it again."
"How long until he leaves her alone?" one of the Officers asked, a blonde-haired man in his late twenties.
"Well… he did say today was the last day they would be sparring…" Caspian replied, watching Adrianna get flipped onto her back again by the Commander. "Whenever he gets bored, I guess. Or there's work to be done."
"I'm sure Stanhope would say there's work the Commander needs to do right now," Another Officer said, a man with brown hair in his mid-thirties.
Caspian huffed a laugh. "We all know what he has to say about work and the Commander."
"Although, this new Officer that's caught the Commander's attention…" the brown-haired Officer muttered. "I think I heard something about her being on combat duty later today?"
Caspian raised an eyebrow. "But Riftmire's an illusion mage."
"I'm pretty sure that's what I heard though…" the Officer turned to the third black-haired Officer beside them. "Mawelsteff, wasn't it you who told me this?"
The man nodded. "Yep. She'll be placed with the lot clearing out the low-ranked monsters today until the end of the month. The Commander will be there to supervise her as he's stepping back from fighting the greater monsters to give the newer Rank-5s a chance to increase their levels."
"Ah, I remember hearing something from Stanhope about her," the blonde-haired Officer spoke up. "Her magic is pretty unique, according to him."
"But if she's a mage, why is she sparring with the Commander?" the brown-haired one asked.
The three of them and Caspian paused to watch Adrianna fight with the Commander for a few moves.
The Commander threw out a punch which she used a forearm to deflect, then attempted to kick him.
Commander Arkenast dodged it, but she ran forward and… kneed his crotch. Of course, it didn't actually hurt the man, as his CON was too high, but it made Caspian wince, the expressions of the three Officers beside him twitch, and the Commander gaze at her with a strange expression.
"That's dirty…" the blonde-haired Officer muttered.
"Riftmire, don't you think you're being a little bit too underhanded?" Commander Arkenast said.
"You've told me to attack if there's a weakness. I saw a weakness, so I attacked," she stated calmly. She looked down at the wooden deck of the ship. "If we were back at the fortress and had dirt on the ground, I would've tried to throw some at your eyes."
They all stared at her, taken aback by her words. The three Officers beside Caspian turned to look at him.
"Wharifin, what kind of person is this new colleague of yours?" the brown-haired Officer asked, feeling bemused.
"Here's the thing, Paroch…" Caspian watched the figure of the Commander charge forward and then grab Adrianna in a headlock. "I'm still not entirely sure."
Freed from the headlock a few seconds later, Adrianna attempted to kick Commander Arkenast's stomach, but he used his forearms to block it and then retaliated by grabbing her leg and pulling on it. She was yanked off her feet and laid there on the ground again, just breathing heavily.
"Again, with your inability to sense killing intent, I feel like it's such a shame you didn't become a warrior." The Commander sighed, crossing his arms. "You'd be the Tower's most unpredictable fighter."
"I would be killed by the first sneak attack I came across," she replied after her breathing was back to normal.
"Possibly…" Then Commander Arkenast grinned at her. "But wouldn't your pseudo-domain help you detect it?"
A few metres away Caspian blinked in surprise, the three other Officers giving Adrianna another appraising look.
"A pseudo-domain at Rank-1?" Paroch commented. "Normally only early Rank-2s start forming one of them. It's not until around late Rank-2 that you can form a domain, after all."
"Do you know why the Commander put her next to you?" the black-haired Mawelsteff asked Caspian.
"Erm… no, not really," he replied with a strange expression.
"My pseudo-domain doesn't cover my inability to dodge an attack quick enough," Adrianna said to the Commander, getting up off the ground.
"That's true… however, on the topic of dodging-"
"Commander! I've been looking- why are you fighting her again?!"
The six of them all turned to look at the newcomer. Ross Stanhope was marching forward with a dark look on his face, holding a clipboard in one hand. He frowned when he saw Caspian and the three Officers.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"We're off duty, sir," the brown-haired Paroch replied with a smile.
Ross nodded. "Ah. That's fine then… but you, Commander, are not!" he exclaimed, jabbing a finger at the battle-scarred man.
"Well, there wasn't really much that needed doing currently, so I-"
"Not much?! I still have half a dozen battle reports to go over with you, a logistics check-up to occur, and a meeting with the senior magic engineers scheduled in only an hour!" Ross interrupted, gesturing angrily to his clipboard. "At least tell me where you're going before ditching work!"
Then he turned to Adrianna and pointed at her. "You should've rejected his request for a spar."
Adrianna's expression was flat as she glanced between Ross and the grinning Commander Arkenast. "Reject…" She gestured to the tall man next to her. "…him."
Ross ignored her dubiousness to point at Caspian. "And I'm disappointed in you, Wharifin, for not preventing this foolhardiness."
Caspian stared at him in disbelief. "Why am I getting brought into this?"
The three Officers next to him chuckled and gave him a few pats on his shoulders, amused at his situation.
The Commander spread his arms, smirking. "Come now, Stanhope, you can't blame those two for this. None of this is their fault."
"Yes, I know." Ross glared at him. "I'm aware that this is your fault." He sighed and put a hand on his hip. "Are you done? Is this sparring session over? Can you please return to your study on the warship so we can discuss these battle reports?"
"Hmm…" Commander Arkenast considered it. "Okay. We're done…."
Ross sighed in relief until the Commander said his next words.
"….after one more spar."
Ross rubbed his temples with a scowl, then threw up his hands. "Argh! Fine! Fine! Have your little spar, and then please come back with me!"
The battle-scarred man grinned and turned back to Adrianna. "Continuing on from what I was saying about your dodging ability…" He readied himself to attack her. "Let's have our final spar with you only dodging my attacks, as we've done a few times before."
She nodded. "Yes sir." She prepared herself for the Commander's attack, going fully expressionless to devote all her mental abilities to focusing on the spar.
The Commander dashed forward, ready to punch her, as she sped up her thoughts and sent more spiritual energy into the construct responsible for controlling her movements. She switched off the function responsible for lowering the precision of her actions.
A sidestep to the left will give him 13 possible ways to make a secondary attack. A sidestep to the right, based on his current posture, will give him 23 ways to make a secondary attack.
She sidestepped to the left. The Commander reached out with his other hand to grab her.
Calculating the correct angle, she ducked just low enough for him to miss when he tried to move his arm down.
He swept out with a kick. She rolled out of the way and got back up, then took several steps back to leave space between them. Her analytical mental constructs worked to determine his potential courses of action.
He dashed forward again, this time to try to tackle her to the ground. She leaned to the side and let him slip past him. He turned around to face her again.
He sprinted forward to kick her stomach. She twisted her body so he just missed her side.
He turned and attempted to knee her side. She took several steps backwards to avoid it.
He raced towards her to elbow her neck. She leaned back in one fluid movement and the attack went over her head.
Their exchange repeated several times like this, the Commander coming after her, and her just barely avoiding his attacks.
Then Commander Arkenast smirked. His steps quickened up and his movements became faster as he attempted to grab her.
She analysed his movements in greater depth, adjusting her thoughts to match his new speed.
My energy consumption is going to increase. I need to be careful with my actions so I don't tire too soon.
She ducked under his arm, then took a few quick steps forward. The Commander's increased speed meant if she hesitated his follow-up attack would hit her.
Commander Arkenast sent a punch towards her head as her back was turned. She tilted her head to avoid it, then hastily turned her body so he couldn't use that same arm to elbow her.
He used his other hand to try to grab her arm. She evaded his grasp by taking another step back, but he had already come closer, ready for his next attack.
He sent a kick towards her, where she narrowly dodged it by ducking into a roll. She sprang back up but instantly had to dive again as the Commander's arm reached for her neck.
Unfortunately, that was a feint. His other hand was already positioned to strike her stomach when she avoided the attack.
But she had estimated the possibility of that happening. Her own 'dive' was also fake, where she instead slipped past the arm and twisted around him.
His leg moved to get her to stumble, but she could change the pattern of her steps quickly enough to avoid it. Then something changed.
With a wicked grin on the Commander's face, the muscles in his right arm tensed for one brief moment, and then he sent out a powerful punch that sent the wind whistling past it.
She focused intently on his moves as she felt inwardly irritated.
Didn't he say he'd keep his strength to only a warrior-manipulator of my level? This is at the level of a late Rank-1 warrior at the very least.
Commander Arkenast's speed increased explosively, and it took her to the utmost limit of her current capabilities to keep track of his movements. She had merged her consciousnesses, so her main body's mental constructs could be used to deal with the Commander, but she couldn't use too much spiritual energy in case she unsettled her soul.
She narrowly dodged his fist with a tilt of her head, the force of his punch sending her hair moving in the wind, but with reflexes as quick as lightning, he reached out with his other hand to try to grasp her wrist.
She snapped her arm back while dashing back a few steps, but not before he sent a well-positioned leg heading towards her side.
She barely evaded it and tried to create space between them by sprinting back. They were too close.
Unfortunately, he kept up with her movements, the increased speed meaning he took less time to recover from his failed attacks. And her body didn't have the AGI to react to her high-speed thoughts, even if she could analyse his pattern of attack and wanted to get away from him.
Commander Arkenast pushed forward powerfully on one leg and raised a knee, aimed straight towards her abdomen. From where she was, she couldn't step backwards or to the side quick enough to avoid it.
However, using the force of his leg, she placed her hands on his thigh and then used her arms to lift her body up. He reached out with both of his own arms, in an act to grab her around the waist, but with the exertion of her core strength, she used her momentum to throw her legs and the rest of her body over his shoulder, essentially doing a flip as she landed on the other side of him to drop into a roll.
She got back up, and turned around, breathing heavily as she gazed at the smirking Commander. Caspian and the others were staring at them, utterly dumbfounded.
"And that, Riftmire, is what truly makes it a shame you never became a physical combatant," Commander Arkenast said, pointing at her.
"You said you'd keep your strength to a warrior-manipulator of my level," she replied wearily, not impressed with the newest change to their sparring.
"As the Commander of White Squall Fortress, I make the rules," he replied with a toothy grin. "And I wanted to know where your limits truly lie."
Commander Arkenast planted his hands on his hips. "Your ability to control your body is near-perfect, Riftmire. That movement you did just then? It involved such accuracy that if you timed any of your movements wrong by the slightest margin, it would be over for you." He shook his head in disappointment. "And you chose to become a mage, of all things."
She walked over near Caspian, where a flask of water sat on a stack of boxes. She uncapped it to take a drink. "My affinity is still illusion. The attack power of illusion mana is normally not very high, so I wouldn't be able to be a good physical combatant with it."
"Didn't you say you gained the affinity one month after the Tutorial?" the battle-scarred man asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, but I didn't necessarily want it to change my affinity. It wasn't on purpose." She placed down the flask.
However, she had already chosen to be an illusion mage before she had bonded Scytale. She just didn't know that magically bonding with a magical beast affected affinity, especially when you had no other elemental affinity. She might not have wanted a Superior illusion affinity had she known. Especially as the higher the affinity, the harder to change it. With a Superior illusion affinity, it was practically impossible for her to gain any other element.
"Hmm." He eyed her curiously but eventually shook his head. "Well, that's our final spar for a long time yet, although I wouldn't be averse to fighting every once in a while later on," he said with a grin. "It's a bit unfortunate you only got experience fighting someone much larger than you, which would normally be rare with your height, but I guess in the end, you're still a mage."
That's actually what made these spars helpful to me instead. When I fight people with my main body, they'll likely be taller and larger.
Commander Arkenast walked over to the rest of them. He looked at Ross. "That will be all for us."
Ross gazed at Adrianna with a strange expression, before turning to the Commander. "…right. Then, let's go back to your study."
Commander Arkenast nodded, but then paused and glanced at Adrianna again. "Actually… I just want to talk to Riftmire privately for a few minutes first before we go."
Ross frowned. "What? Why…" He saw the Commander glance at Caspian who happened to be explaining his interactions with her over the last month to the other Officers, and then nodded. "Oh. Okay then. But please be quick, sir."
She followed after the Commander when he gestured to her, walking a distance far enough that the other Officers couldn't eavesdrop. He crossed his arms as he turned to her with a serious look on his face.
"You're going to be using your magic today."
She nodded, aware of what he probably wanted to say to her.
"I'll be on the ship, capable of watching you as you do so, but I'll also be watching to see how he reacts to your magic," Commander Arkenast explained, sending another glance at Caspian. "If for any reason the effect is worse than expected, or affects him negatively in other ways, then I might change my decision to have him as your second-in-command."
"But if not…" He continued, "Then he'll be your right-hand man for a few years at the very least. I'll also decide for him to stay on this warship over December and January too, so he becomes familiar with your abilities as your second-in-command. And I would prefer that you be the one to explain this to him."
"After today?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
The battle-scarred man sighed. "No. I'd like you to tell him before he sees your magic."
"…I'm not sure he'd appreciate his younger colleague revealing this to him." She knew Caspian wouldn't actually care, but she needed to keep pretending she was still unfamiliar with him.
Commander Arkenast shook his head with a slight smile. "That boy wouldn't react like that." He put a hand on her shoulder to give her a solemn look. "If you decide you don't want to be the one to tell him this, then I understand. It's quite a burden I'm placing on you."
The last time he asked this she had remained silent, but she knew this was important for her to do in this timeline.
"No. I'll do it," she stated firmly.
He paused and tilted his head as he removed his hand. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." She nodded.
He went silent as he studied her, likely looking to see if she was being truthful, and then nodded with a sigh. "Okay then. And, if you tell him before the third hour….. then I'll show you both something interesting," he said with a smile.
With that, Commander Arkenast walked off, he and Ross going back to their work. She glanced at Caspian, who had begun another discussion with the other Officers, and shook her head, going in another direction.
Now wasn't the time to tell him. She had a time and place in mind, and it would be after the ship finished returning to the fortress.
…
Caspian hummed, heading down a side path behind the main command building of the fortress. The path he was walking took him to the outskirts of the fortress, where the massive walls that bordered it towered above the fewer people there. Then he entered a building, which contained stables of varying sizes, filled with low-ranked magical beasts of different kinds. He nodded to one or two people in there, then took a back entrance, so he found himself in a large garden behind the building. As he stepped out, ten-odd magic beasts ran towards him.
Caspian chuckled as the juvenile wolf-beasts with wings launched themselves at him, bowling him over. "All right, all right, I know you guys are happy to see me. Calm down a little."
He sat there for a few minutes, playing with the low-ranked magic beasts. He looked content.
Adrianna didn't necessarily want to interrupt him, but she knew she wouldn't be able to catch him alone at any other time. And she also wanted to talk to him in this place for… certain reasons. She walked forward from where she had been leaning against the building behind Caspian.
When she came a little closer, Caspian seemed to pause for a second, appearing like he felt something, then looked over his shoulder. When he saw her, he stared at her, stunned.
"Adrianna? What are you doing here?" He frowned slightly as she walked up to him and crossed her arms. "No, how did you even find this place?" He hesitated. "Or me?"
"My spiritual perception helped," she informed him.
Her answer just made him gaze at her with a strange expression, before he sighed. "I- whatever then. It's not like you can't be here, I guess." He turned back to look at the wolves on his lap. "Even if it's strange you followed me."
She didn't say anything, just watching the wolves, and so Caspian gave her a slightly awkward smile. "So, came to see me play with baby magical beasts? I doubt that's it, knowing you." He shook his head as his smile appeared slightly bitter. "I guess the 'soft-hearted' demi-Atlantean who came down here to see a few puppies is just an interesting spectacle for you then."
………………..
She was quiet for a while, as he just watched her, looking curious and a bit confused about why she was hesitating about answering.
"You shouldn't be in the Navy," she eventually decided to say.
Caspian Wharifin fell silent as he gazed at her, appearing hurt. Then his expression darkened and he stood up.
"Well, I'm sure you, who has no care for anybody or anything, might think that. I must seem like a burden to the Navy, from your perspective. After all, Adrianna Riftmire is already capable of doing anything anyone asks with no hesitation."
He turned around and walked off. "Because showing or feeling emotion is a waste for you, isn't it? Why should you care about other people's feelings, and bother to say anything other than what you think is fact?"
He opened the door of the building to leave. "But I'll have you know, even if you don't seem to think I have value here, the Commander does. So do many others in the Navy. I don't need to prove myself to you."
He shut the door and she was left in the garden alone. She looked down at the winged wolves, who were trembling as they looked at her, letting out slight growls as they backed away. She sighed and walked away to leave.
She wasn't able to tell him, and now he thought she found him useless and weak. That was not her intention.
Maybe it would've been better if she hadn't tried to treat him differently from the others. But she didn't know what else she should've done.
It would probably be best if she said and pretended to Commander Arkenast she hadn't been able to do as he asked.
………………..
That had been how it had gone in the past. Back then, she had barely interacted with him, and so they weren't familiar enough that he would've listened if she tried to explain herself.
But she was going to go about things differently this time.
Another weekend begins, and another chapter to start it off! Meanwhile, wish me luck for my Engineering Materials test tomorrow :|
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[Title: Nobility | Type: Discord/Role]
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[Title: Demon Nobility | Discord/Role]
None! Maybe when I finish this tier someone will join
That had been how it had gone in the past. Back then, she had barely interacted with him, and so they weren't familiar enough that he would've listened if she tried to explain herself.
But she was going to go about things differently this time.
"The Distorted Depths Navy isn't a place you should be in," she replied to him.
As in the past, Caspian appeared very hurt by her answer. He went silent, and then eventually, after a few minutes, he got up from the ground, brushing grass off his pants.
"I don't know what you've heard, but I'm not as weak as you seem to think," he said quietly, before turning around and beginning to walk away.
But her words made him freeze.
"I've met a member of the Atlantean bloodline in the past who explained why Atlanteans don't like to travel outside of their Capital City."
She put her hands behind her back as she turned to look at the magical winged wolves. "He described the sensations they experience when monsters are in their presence."
Caspian turned around to stare at her as she continued, "A primal feeling of revulsion. A feeling of deep abhorrence and intense disgust. A sensation of physical and mental defilement and illness, making them sick to their stomach, giving them severe nausea, pain, dizziness, chills, finding it hard to breathe, and more symptoms."
He took a step closer to her as she glanced at him.
"The rulers of water, the seaborne, spend their days in the Capital City of Atlantea because their Sanctum of Purity, the source of one of the most powerful water-element natural treasures in the Tower, is the only thing that can erase the feeling from them. With their natural authority over water, Atlanteans use water as something like a second limb and merge their senses with it. They are capable of sensing the very environment around them at all times, and only need a monster to be on the outermost fringes of their perception to experience the sensation."
She crossed her arms. "The Distorted Depths region is not somewhere an Atlantean is supposed to be."
Caspian gave her a weak smile as he spread his arms. "But I'm only quarter-Atlantean. Shouldn't that make it easier for me?"
"The man I spoke to was half-Atlantean," she replied. She glanced in the direction of the main command building. "The only thing a purer bloodline gives you is greater control over water and heightened senses. He said the sensation remains the same."
He went silent again as he looked at her with a troubled expression before he sighed and crouched down. He patted one of the wolf pups. "I thought you didn't know, but that was clearly the wrong idea," he muttered with a bitter look on his face. "I had hoped there was at least one more person who knew me who didn't have to pity me every time I use my abilities."
Then he stood back up and frowned at her. "That doesn't mean it's up to you to say I have no place here. I don't believe someone who hasn't even been an Officer for a full month yet can comment on my decisions when I've spent the last six years as a member of this Navy."
She gave a slight sigh. "I wasn't referring to before this. The Commander has made a decision that will make things harder for you from now on, though."
He gave her a confused look, but she didn't explain. Instead, she crouched down and held out her hand for one of the winged wolves. It smelled her, but then it whimpered and ran away to hide behind Caspian.
"They've never reacted like that before," he muttered with a frown.
She stood back up once she had seen them act how she expected. "The Main Navy Admirals made an important decision before my training camp," she suddenly said.
Caspian blinked at the sudden and strange change in topic, but she continued, "The M.W.S. Dawnlight, the special warship containing the elite training camp's crew of the last three years, is going to sail again in February. I've been told I'll be in charge of its crew."
He stared at her in surprise. "Oh… wow, you must be impressive then…"
She gave him a sideways look. "Judging by the Commander's actions these last few weeks, who do you think he'll place as my second-in-command?"
The green-haired man opened his mouth, paused as the realisation came to him, and then he closed it. He rubbed the back of his neck as he gazed at the ground in thought. "… is it me?" he finally asked with hesitance.
She nodded. Her silent response made him gain a thoughtful and complicated look on his face as he considered the idea. "That's… I never expected to be given a responsibility like that…"
She placed her hands on her hips and frowned slightly. "And you'll be seeing my magic today."
He blinked. "Oh, right, the Commander will be watching you… wait, what's wrong?" he said as he saw the look on her face.
"The Commander has done a very cruel thing by placing you with me," she stated as she glanced in the direction of the main command building. "Even if he thinks it could-" she hesitated and just sighed as Caspian frowned at her.
"Cruel? Adrianna, the Commander isn't someone who's ever done something that could be described as being 'cruel'," he said, sounding uncomfortable.
She went silent again and just shook her head. "He said if everything's fine with my magic then you'll also be placed on his warship for December and January," she informed him.
Caspian considered it, then gave her a slight smile. "That's a surprise, but it's not something that could be considered 'cruel'. I've done it several times before."
"I'm not talking about that." She shook her head again. "Never mind. You'll understand in a few hours regardless." She gestured to him. "Anyway, just so you know, Commander Arkenast said there's something he wanted to show us after 3 o'clock." She turned around. "I'm going to head back now."
She saw Caspian stare at her for a couple of seconds through her perception, making her confused, before she realised it was because she had bothered to explain what she was going to do before doing it. She ignored him and walked away.
Hopefully, this will mean we have a better start than last time.
But Caspian's Atlantean bloodline was only half of the reason why he was the worst person the Commander could've chosen to be her second-in-command.
…
"Commander, where are you taking us, and why are Riftmire and Wharifin here as well?" a dark-haired man complained.
The footsteps of the four of them echoed, bouncing off the stony walls as they were led further and further down the tunnel. Caspian and her were walking behind the two older men as they discussed the Commander's decision to take them on a walk.
The blonde-haired man gave Ross a toothy grin. "Just be patient, Stanhope. We'll get there in a short moment."
"We've been walking for the past ten minutes already!" Ross replied, sounding annoyed. He frowned as he looked around the tunnel again. "Also, I don't recognise the path we're taking. And I've been an Officer here for sixteen years already."
"Well, you'd need to be an Officer for nearly fifty years or longer to recognise this path," the Commander replied cheerily.
"Fifty? Wait…." Ross's eyes widened. "Are you taking us to-"
"Here we are!" Commander Arkenast suddenly exclaimed, gesturing to a large metal door set in the wall. A circular design was engraved on the front. There were no doorknobs or handles to open it.
The Commander placed a hand on the door, and with a glow of blue light, his mana filled the channels of the engraving. A hum sounded out as a magic circle generated in front of the engraving, slowly rotating in place. The door unlocked with a click and then swung backwards. Commander Arkenast gestured to it. "Follow me."
Ross, Caspian, and her did so, following the burly blonde-haired man through into another dark hallway, this one with walls of dark stone brick. They came to a second door, but on the wall beside it were several smaller mana-circles. The Commander gestured to them.
"Because I'm the chief commanding authority of this fortress, the mainframe is already keyed to my mana, so I can go anywhere I please. However, you guys cannot." He pointed to the wall. "So, if you don't want the automatic wards to activate and kill you before you can blink, insert your mana here so the room registers that your presence is allowed."
They did as he asked, him inserting mana into the next door as well to authorise their entrance. Then the door unlocked. They followed him through it and saw what was on the other side.
Standing on a tall lookout surrounded by protective barriers, they were faced with a massive cavern. Complex metallic platforms and supporting structures were joined to the cave walls, extending towards the centre of the cavern. It was dark, and they barely had enough light from the closest mana lamp to see their platform, let alone what the construction was attached to, although they could hear water lapping against the stone below them. Then the Commander grabbed a massive lever attached to the wall beside the entrance door and pulled it down.
With the hum and buzz of mana, small lights flickered above them. Then, with a slow increase in the intensity of the sound, more lights began switching on. The cavern was eventually flooded with light, and they could finally see what was below them in the darkness.
Below them was a magic warship made of wood and metal. And painted along its side were the words, 'M.W.S. DAWNLIGHT'.
"Welcome to the holding room of the M.W.S. Dawnlight!" Commander Arkenast announced cheerily.
He gestured to them to follow him as he started walking down some steps, leading them to where the Dawnlight sat on the water below. The strange port surrounding the ship connected with it in some places, while at other times was disengaged from the port holes and other sections of the ship.
"The M.W.S Dawnlight," the Commander began to explain, "Is one of only 300 ships created by the Empire to have the word 'Dawn' in front of its name. And for the Empire, with how large it is, that means this ship is very rare."
As they came closer they could see the hull of the ship was plated with dull grey metal, while the deck was covered in a dark brown wood. Not to say the wood was weaker than the metal, however, because the sheer amount of mana emanating from the ship showed the wood was at the level of a strong natural treasure, with high rarity.
"And the White Squall Fortress is the only place in the region allowed to house the M.W.S. Dawnlight," the Commander continued to explain. "That's because the Dawnlight wasn't given to the fortress." He gave them a broad grin. "The fortress was built for the Dawnlight."
Ross and Caspian's eyes widened, while she observed the ship. Painted with the theme of dark navy and grey, it followed the traditional colours of the Empire's Navy Battalions. While the three large blue sails were lowered, suggesting the ship used the power of the wind to drive itself, she knew that was only to take advantage of the powerful natural mana storms that occurred in the region. She was aware that below the surface of the grey waters of the cavern, five massive propulsion engines were attached to the ship, one larger one below the rudder, and two smaller ones on either side of the ship, front and back. Not even the Main Navy's huge warships used advanced ship technology like this.
Commander Arkenast gestured to the ship as they approached one of the platforms extending out to it. "The M.W.S. Dawnlight is also one of only two 'Dawn' ships to be found outside of the Mystical Realm, both here in the Beast Realm. I know another is in the Aquaristel Capital region." He placed his hands on his hips. "This brings me to what the real purpose of the special force's creation is."
He turned to Adrianna. "I told you the special force is a 'test' of sorts," he said. She nodded, and so he continued, "That's not wrong. However, what's being tested is not the crew…" He smirked. "But the ship."
She pretended to look surprised as Caspian raised his eyebrows, and Ross frowned slightly. "But sir, from what I know, this ship…" he said, as he turned to the M.W.S. Dawnlight, "Is roughly 600 years old."
The Commander's smile widened. "And yet, apparently it's still a prototype and work-in-progress." He turned to the ship again. "Now, even though I've been offered transferal a few times, I chose to remain a Commander in the Distorted Depths to avoid politics, so I haven't heard much of the real details, not that I want to." He pointed at the Dawnlight. "But for some reason, they haven't created more of them. These ships don't get replaced, nor decommissioned."
He shook his head. "Again, I don't know why, so don't ask me. And I suppose the reason why the special force is going to run this year is because of the Millennium Chapter somehow. Maybe they plan to use a plane with lots of water as the Event battlefield, although I doubt it."
The blonde-haired man stepped forward and off the platform onto the ship. "Come take a look," he said to them.
He gestured to parts of the ship as they looked around, observing the structure and layout of it. "While the training camp was on, some Magitech Battalion engineers came down from the central Empire to check everything is in working order. They returned without needing to do much, so this is set for sailing at any time."
"About that, sir…" Caspian spoke up, making the Commander look at him curiously. "How does the ship leave the cavern?"
"Well, I won't do it now…" the man replied, "But you see that massive metal circle in the cavern wall over there?"
He pointed, making them all look to see the metal circle in question. "That opens up to the sea through a switch, letting the Dawnlight leave, as we're at sea level right now. With how high the waves get outside sometimes, that doesn't mean it can always leave, but we wouldn't be letting a new crew sail in those conditions anyway."
The battle-scarred man gestured to the deck below them. "This ship has been designed so as few people as possible are needed to man it. With the design emphasizing speed and manoeuvrability, the ship is used for the primary purpose of getting into and out of situations very quickly. Not to say it can't protect its crew, however."
Commander Arkenast walked over to the mainmast and placed a hand on it. "The ship uses Ancient ranked wood found in the Endless Jungle, from some of the oldest trees there. It has extraordinary hardness for its weight. The metal plating the ship is a special alloy made to absorb the mana surrounding it at an increased rate compared to most natural magical metals. I heard it was Epic-ranked when it got here, but it's now Ancient level. Normally it would take about two thousand years for that kind of strength increase."
Then the blonde-haired man walked towards a small door set into the quarter-deck, the raised deck at the back of the ship. It was one she recognised well.
"And this," he said, swinging the door open with a wide grin, "Is the Captain's cabin."
They followed him in, seeing the room. At the other end of the cabin, large windows were set into the walls, allowing someone to see the view behind the ship. Alongside one wall closer to the entrance was a long carved desk, a chair behind it. There was a large four-poster bed with dark blue curtains as well as several wardrobes.
Commander Arkenast patted Caspian on the shoulder. "This is reserved for the leader of the crew, so your room won't be quite as nice, Wharifin." He turned back to the door. "I'll show you the rest of the ship."
The three men walked out, although Caspian hesitated and glanced behind him when he didn't hear her footsteps behind them. He blinked as he saw her looking at the Captain's desk. "Adrianna? What are you doing?"
She narrowed her eyes as she thought about the hidden compartment she had found within the desk.
Griffin caught me opening it one time, so he'd bound to try to get to it to see what's inside. I doubt he'd discover much with just the 'Dawnbreaker' note, but I need to replace it with sufficient clues to the Fernfall Estate Dungeon before he tries to access it.
"It's nothing," she replied as she followed the men. They spent the rest of the hour inspecting the ship, the Commander explaining all the functions and responsibilities of the crew of the Dawnlight.
Eventually, it was time for them to go back up, so they could board the Commander's warship again. When November ends, she'd be staying on his ship for the next month, have one week of break, and then would be out at sea again until February came along. From that point onwards, she'd be dealing with her past crew, Catherine Sherwood, and Griffin until Griffin chooses to leave the Navy. She didn't know what she'd do after that, but her current efforts would be focused on performing well for the Commander during December and January.
Ross spoke up once they had left the cavern, "Sir, I can understand you wanting to show Wharifin and Riftmire the ship, but why did you bring me down too?"
"That's because you'll be responsible for managing the Dawnlight's operations when it's at White Squall Fortress," the blonde-haired man replied.
Ross raised an eyebrow. "Me?"
Commander Arkenast nodded. "I'm not always going to be giving the crew of Dawnlight orders," he said, glancing at Caspian and Adrianna to check they were paying attention. "It's true that sometimes the Main Navy have specific tasks they want the Dawnlight to complete, or the Dawnlight's speed is useful in some circumstances, however, I won't always have something for you guys to do. And as a Commander, I do still have my work to complete."
"But remember, it's the ship that is being tested and not the crew," he continued. He pointed at the dark-haired man. "And it'll be your job on my behalf to select what jobs they need to do. Which means, Stanhope…" The Commander grinned at his subordinate. "You'll be meeting with the members of October's elite training camp quite often."
Ross stared at him, aghast. "Sir?! Do you have to?! Could you not give this task to someone else?!"
Commander Arkenast laughed. "Of course, I can't. This was why I promoted you to Head Officer in the first place, after all."
"If we're on that topic, please demote me, sir."
"No can do. You've already shown to be excellent at being Head Officer, so why would I ever demote you?"
Caspian and her just followed silently as the dark-haired man tried futilely to persuade the Commander to remove the position of Head Officer from him. They made their way back up to the top of the tunnel, emerging into a room with several different paths, the junction point between all the different pathways to other parts of the fortress, deep within the cliff.
Commander Arkenast turned to her and Caspian while Ross was glaring at him. "Now, I may have shown you the ship, but true familiarity with it will come along with time," he stated seriously. "I have confidence you'll both succeed at your jobs, but mistakes are normal when working in a new position for the first time. Just ensure your mistakes won't cost your crewmates their lives."
The Commander nodded to her. "Riftmire, you may now continue your break. And Wharifin…" He turned to the sea-green-haired young man. "Come with me to my office. I want to have a little discussion with you."
The Commander sat down in his chair behind his desk as Caspian stood in front, hands behind his back. The blonde-haired man leaned his chin on a hand as he looked at Caspian.
"So, Wharifin… what do you think of Riftmire?"
Caspian blinked. "What I think of her, sir?"
Commander Arkenast nodded. "Yes. What do you make of her personality, her temperament, anything you experienced while working with her this last month."
Caspian considered it for a moment. "She's a strange person, sir."
The man raised a bushy eyebrow. "That's the first word that comes to mind?"
"To be honest, I can't say I had any real conversation with her up until three days ago," Caspian replied, not sure how to explain his interactions with her. "She's always expressionless and doesn't bother with small talk, plus she never struggles with any of the work, so we didn't have much need to talk outside of passing information to each other."
"Hmm. Well, what did you think of her before you had a proper conversation with her?" the Commander asked curiously.
"Indifferent. And… focused," Caspian replied.
"Focused?" Commander Arkenast said with surprise. "I thought you'd say she was cold before anything else."
"Some of the other Officers seemed to think so, but it didn't seem that way to me. For me, it seemed like she had a goal, and wanted to put all her effort into achieving it," Caspian said, thinking deeper about his interactions with her. Then he gained a troubled expression. "Commander, can I ask why she's here? I originally thought she was older than me, but she's a year younger, and she chose to work as a mercenary before all this. And the way she acts…"
The Commander tapped his fingers on his desk with a slight frown. "You're worried about what kind of past she had before all this?"
Caspian nodded as the man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Eventually, the battle-scarred man just sighed. "You should probably ask her yourself, but I will say that the reason she joined the Distorted Depths Navy is because it can help her develop her unique magic better."
"Unique magic?" Caspian asked curiously.
Commander Arkenast nodded. "I've checked with the Athenaeum. They don't have any subset of illusion magic like hers." The Commander moved on before Caspian could ask any further, "But anyway, what do you think of her personality now?"
"She still finds small talk bothersome," Caspian replied wryly. "But I'm beginning to be able to tell when she's being sarcastic." He hesitated. "At least I think I can."
The blonde-haired man chuckled. "It's hard to know with her, isn't it? Well, better get used to being around her lots. You'll be working together for quite some time," he said.
"So she really is going to be my superior then?" Caspian asked, finding the situation slightly weird.
Commander Arkenast leaned back in his chair as he nodded. "Yep. Your crewmates will be those from her training camp…" The man gave Caspian a toothy grin. "And your old subordinates."
Caspian stared at him before his eyes widened. "You mean from when I was Squad Leader?"
"Of course, some have left the Navy, but the guys from the two elite training camps I put under you last year will be with you, yes." The Commander looked above Caspian, checking the time on a clock, then stood up from his desk. "I think we'll have to cut this discussion short here for now, Wharifin. We both need to get ready to board my ship in two hours."
"Yes sir," Caspian nodded, giving him a salute.
The Commander patted him on the shoulder as he passed him. "I hope you get along with Riftmire."
With that, the man left. Caspian left the room soon afterwards. As he walked he considered what he thought about becoming Adrianna's second-in-command.
It's unexpected, although I guess that explains why the Commander got her to work alongside me. It beats him trying to play matchmaker.
He shuddered at that idea and walked quicker.
He didn't have anything against working under Adrianna. Even if she could be annoying, she wasn't as humourless as he thought when he first met her. And the fact she knew how the Atlantean bloodline worked explained the strange reaction she had to seeing him for the first time. He was also looking forward to seeing his ex-subordinates again. His squad had only been temporary because the number of appropriate Squad Leaders from other camps hadn't been enough that year, and as he was younger than most of the experienced Officers, he had been given the job.
He wasn't quite sure how Adrianna would do as a leader though. She didn't seem to be someone who'd have much patience for other people, although it seemed, from her interactions with Ross, that she could at least deal with people somehow. He expected her to avoid most of her crewmates, quite honestly.
Although, he didn't get the chance to ask either Ross or the Commander about her magic. It was almost like they were avoiding the topic, but for what reason he had no idea. Well, illusion magic mostly dealt with the manipulation of the senses, so maybe it wasn't a particularly nice type of magic. He could understand them not wanting to share the details until she told him.
He turned a corner and froze as he saw three young girls, wearing badges of the healers' division, standing together. They were, in fact, the three girls who had appeared in the cafeteria a few days ago while he was having lunch with Adrianna. He tried to back away without them noticing, but unluckily, one of them turned around and saw him.
"Here he is!" she exclaimed, pointing him out to the other two.
He raised his hands in surrender and gazed wearily at them as they surrounded him.
"Hi, Caspian!" one of them said.
"Uh… hi…" he replied awkwardly. "So… if you don't need me for anything… I think I'll be off now…"
The three of them traded eye contact, then smiled broadly. "Can we touch your hair again?" one said, asking the dreaded question.
He winced. "Um, I kinda have to do something, and it's a bit urgent-"
"We'll only be quick!" another said.
"But I-"
"Please?" the third asked. They all looked at him with expectant eyes. He couldn't see an escape route.
He hesitated and then groaned as he buried his head in his hands. "…fine. But only for a minute or two."
They eagerly put their hands on his head to touch his hair, giggling. "The hair of a part Atlantean is super soft, isn't it," one of the girls said among themselves.
As his bad luck would have it, a tall curly-haired woman chose that moment to round the corner and stopped to stare at him with a slightly strange expression when she took in the situation.
He glared at Adrianna, daring her to say something. She did.
"So you really do have no love life then."
"Stop saying that!"
…
The skies above them swirled with dark grey storm clouds, jagged, searingly bright streaks of lightning occurring every now and then, accompanied by the crashes of thunder. The ship rocked and tilted on the choppy dark-grey waves as the boat rode through the storm. A chillingly cold rain fell from above and hit the deck with the pounding of millions of drums.
In the distance, the eye of the storm could be seen high above, but below, a massive, colossal creature roared and thrashed in the icy waters. Multi-coloured flashes of light could be seen surrounding the behemothic monster, as the Rank-4 fighters capable of flight fought the being. Cannons fired from the warships with the red-hot explosive strength of fire-mana, hitting the side of the creature with the sounds of its pained cries only a few seconds later. Thick waves of ugly brown-green monster essence rolled outwards from it, sending a foul sensation shooting through all the warship crew's bodies, increasing fatigue and weariness. The mana in the air hummed and crackled in the chaotic atmosphere.
The gargantuan monster, a giant sea serpent with lightning-blue scales and many layers of jagged teeth crowding its mouth, let out an ear-rending screech that sent thousands of lesser sea serpents into a frenzy, flying out of the waves to attack the warship.
Grimacing as the waves of monster mana swept over him, a sea-green-haired young man watched a tall woman with wild, glowing hair walk onto the main deck. He glanced at the battle-scarred and blonde-haired man next to him.
"So what did you bring me out here to see?" Caspian asked.
The Commander shook his head. "Wait a second."
With a flash of blue light, he disappeared and reappeared next to Adrianna in the distance. Caspian couldn't hear what they were saying over the howl of the winds, but she nodded, and Commander Arkenast reappeared next to him.
"Is it her magic? What about her magic is so impressive that you want me to look?" he asked his superior.
The Commander patted his shoulder. "Watch closely."
Caspian watched silently, the winds whipping around them, gazing at Adrianna as the air around her glowed silver for a few seconds, her mouth moving to say words hidden by the sounds around them. Indigo fog-like mana billowed out of her, and she raised her hands.
Then it hit him. Caspian went green and staggered as he felt a powerful monster about to materialise right near them in dangerously close proximity. He whipped his head to the side to stare at Commander Arkenast with wide eyes, panicked and feeling queasy. "Sir! There's a strong monster about to form! Somehow it's able to spawn on board the warship! We need to-"
The words halted in his mouth as the blonde-haired man wordlessly shook his head and pointed in front of them. "It's her."
He turned back to stare as the ghastly creature formed out of the once-was purple mana. Sticky, dull, blue-grey flesh dripping freezing water and squirming, thrashing tentacles coalesced, the ghastly limbs wrapping around approaching lesser sea serpents to strangle them. The main body of the creature hauled itself upright, the muscles underneath its translucent skin twisting and distorting in horrific, disorderly ways. A gargantuan mouth filled with shard-like teeth, the many layers rotating and twisting around, opened up, and then a destructive scream like the sound of thousands of banshees was released from it, the force of its cry shredding the monsters before they could attack. The illusory being stood at nearly five times his height.
[Illusory Construct: Morphic Kraken]
"And that, is what her magic does, Wharifin," the Commander said quietly, enough that he nearly failed to hear him.
The battle-scarred man took a glance at his white-as-a-sheet face, and sighed, walking off to leave Caspian to his own devices.
He stared, transfixed with horror, as Adrianna directed the monstrous mimicry to fight. She glanced back at him, and expressionlessly and emotionlessly, said, "I hope you understand now why I said what I did."
Caspian did. Caspian did understand. Because if a person capable of this was going to be placed on the same ship as him for many months or more, using this creature to fight against the real horrors in front of them, and manifesting this construct and possibly worse others to practice her magic, day in and day out…
…..then it wasn't even a question why Adrianna had thought the Commander was 'cruel' with his decision to have Caspian as her subordinate.
Messed around with AI for a bit, accidentally found an image I liked, so now it's the new icon image. Also, friendly reminder that this is 1 chapter out of 3 left before I go on my break for two weeks. If you want to know when I've rewritten the old chapters then I'll probably say something on the Discord during then. I also have an idea for a special event in lieu of any chapters being posted those two weeks, relating to the start of the next major arc... oh well. You'll find out on Friday what it is, if I decide to go through with it.
Patreon (up to x8 5k chapters!):
Discord (Come get your Qualified Scytale Feeder role!):
Honorary mention of my first Plebeian: Purplexa
[Title: Nobility | Type: Discord/Role]
None! Yet
[Title: Rank-5 | Type: Discord/Role]
secret
Inzuris
Kabi
Malahadiel
Starfall20
........ (it's legit their Patreon username)
WIk
ChaosOmega98
deathbunnies
wind.celestial
Spacemanspiff
Corefish66
[Title: Demon Nobility | Discord/Role]
None! Maybe when I finish this tier someone will join
The Aurelian Commission Headquarters was filled with new rumours about the new guest of the Commission Head. The crafter was one thing, but the staff couldn't understand why this other person was now there. They also couldn't help but discuss possible reasons why the man had such a strange haircut.
The said 'man with a strange haircut' in question was sitting in his new room on his new bed, thinking. He had a dilemma.
Hargrave didn't know how he was supposed to find out more about the Commission Head. He had chosen to accept staying at the Commission when he wasn't levelling up so he could discover how she knew so much about him, but he had to admit to himself…
…maybe he should've planned his search for information a bit more thoroughly before choosing to live in the house of his observation target.
He knew where her part of the fortieth story was, because for some insane reason, he was told by the staff where she was, she knew where she worked, because, again, the staff told him where, and he had also been told what she normally did during the day, so he could find her if he needed her. All perfect information if he decided to assassinate her, but not so helpful when he wanted to discover other things about her.
…the Commission Head wasn't suicidal, was she? It could explain why she didn't fear his killing intent. Maybe it was a status thing that she offered him a contract allowing him to be here. He had heard nobles sometimes had strange hobbies and personality traits. Maybe she wanted to find the most interesting person possible to kill her so she died famously. Becoming the first noble victim of the future killer of the General of Blazing Iron.
That's just stupid.
He shook his head to get rid of his strange thoughts and sighed, looking out of the window next to him. He obviously couldn't walk up to her and ask her. She had no reason to answer him, and from his experience, keeping your cards close to you was one of the most important things someone needed to do when fighting, so with her being in a position of power over him now, he couldn't do that.
Should he ask the Commission staff about her…..?
The thought made him involuntarily shudder and he quickly shook his head. Definitely not. All it would do would make for an awkward situation when the Commission Head found out he was trying to get information out of the people around her and would then bring it up. He also didn't have much experience with obtaining information from people besides the normal methods used by mercenaries, and he doubted attempting that on the Commission staff would ensure the Commission Head kept his identity secret.
He didn't really have much experience with starting conversations that began with anything other than a battle report either, so even if he wanted to start a conversation with the Commission Head, he wouldn't know how to go about it. Plus, she was probably a busy person, so he didn't want to make things difficult for himself by interrupting her too often…
He scratched the back of his neck and frowned as he considered what to do. Then Hargrave just sighed again as he fell back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. It was only a couple of hours since he'd arrived. He didn't have to be too quick about this. He had seven years to find out, and he was sure some kind of event would eventually occur that would allow him to become more familiar with the Commission Head.
…
That opportunity came in the form of an unusually shiny winged snake seated outside his room's front door. He gazed confusedly at the strange visitor, who was tilting its feather-crested head at him curiously.
"So, you're the future dragon guy!" the snake exclaimed, the sound of a young boy resounding inside his head.
Hargrave stared. "Uh… what-"
"I mean, Lucy told me that she'd be getting a new guest, but I'm definitely surprised at who it actually was," the serpent continued, talking over him. "If she was going to offer a contract to someone I expected them to be strong, but I didn't think she'd decide to go ahead and meet with the guy who plans to literally become a dragon!"
"Hey, could you ple-"
"But anyway, hi future dragon guy! I'm Scytale, the most amazing and wonderful creature to be found within this building, so I decided to honour you with my presence to congratulate you on arriving at the Commission and- hm? What's wrong?"
Hargrave was running a hand down his face as he considered how to get the snake to stop talking. When the snake finally did stop, he quickly waved a hand to interrupt any more speech.
"What was that you said earlier?" he asked weakly.
The snake blinked his golden eyes. "The thing about me being the most amazing thing here?"
"……no, before that."
The serpent named Scytale tilted his head as he considered it. "Future dragon guy?"
"Yes, that!" Hargrave pointed a finger at him, and then hastily crossed his arms in front of himself in the shape of an X. "Please do not call me that. I don't want to go around having everyone know what I want to do."
The snake seemed to snicker before replying, "Then what do you want me to call you?"
Hargrave sighed. "Just Hargrave is fine."
"Well then, Just Hargrave!" the winged serpent continued, ignoring his exasperated look, "You should come with me so I can take you to meet some other important people you should know about! Not as important as me, obviously, but considering you'll probably end up meeting them at some point or another, you may as well see them now!"
He hesitated as he considered it for a couple of seconds, but considering this was likely his best chance to find out more about the Commission Head… also, he had something he really needed to ask the talkative magical beast in front of him. He shut the door of his room behind him as he followed the serpent.
"Why do you even know what I plan to do?" he asked.
"Because as Lucy's bond, I know everything she does," the snake replied, making him feel somewhat stupid because, in reality, that could really be the only reason why a young magical beast was hanging around the Commission.
"Well, okay, maybe not everything," Scytale conceded, turning a corner, "Because she has a bunch of random magic knowledge and wacky secrets in her head that I can't be bothered to devote much mental effort into learning about, but I get the gist of things. Also, nobody else knows your goals, if you're wondering. All Lucy's aide knows is that you want to do something involving draconic monsters."
Considering the snake seemed happy to answer his questions, he thought about what else he could ask. "Then do you know why she wanted to offer that contract to me?"
"So you don't die?" the silvery snake replied, shooting him a questioning look. "I mean, the contract was entirely about making sure you don't get a bounty on your head or become hated by the Tower for killing dragons for their strength, so it feels kinda obvious to me what the intention behind it was. She's even keeping your identity a secret and covering your tracks."
Well, that may be so, but… "But why would she want me to not die?"
The snake paused to give him a stare with those golden eyes of his, before turning back to lead him to wherever it was he was going. "Yeah, uh… maybe you should ask Lucy that one."
…but he didn't want to ask the Commission Head. He gave a slight grimace, which luckily it seemed Scytale didn't pick up on as he was led through the fortieth floor of the Commission's Headquarters. The snake continued to talk even without his input.
"And here we have another living room like this building doesn't have enough already. By the way, if you want, I can show you where the training room is later. It takes up, like, half the floor in itself, which just proves how massive this place is," Scytale said, "And there's not really anything in there besides the place just being hard to damage and lots of empty space, but still. Oh, we're here!"
Hargrave hesitated as he saw where they were. "Isn't this in front of the Commission Head's study? Why are we here?"
"To introduce you to someone, of course!"
The snake used his nose to nudge wide the semi-opened door. Inside was a silver-haired man with half-moon glasses sitting in an armchair, who blinked and looked up when he heard them enter.
"Hey, Vincent!" Scytale exclaimed.
The silver-haired man raised an eyebrow. "Scytale? Why are you he- oh." The man noticed Hargrave standing there, feeling confused about the situation.
"He's not important right now!" the serpent said, making the two men give him strange looks. The snake slithered forward and narrowed his golden eyes at Vincent. "Someone's told me that you seem to think my words are something you can just ignore."
Vincent's expression twitched as the snake reared up and flapped his wings angrily. "Then to correct your wrong opinion, I simply need to talk enough that the wonderful value of my speech is permanently instilled in your lacking mind!"
Hargrave felt bemused as the other man shot the snake an exasperated look, and then just sighed, rubbing his face. Vincent shook his head and then stepped forward to talk to Hargrave. "As it seems he has nothing important to say right now, I'll make my introductions. I'm Vincent Evisenhardt," the man explained, holding out a hand for him to shake. "And the aide of Lucille, the Commission Head."
He shook the man's hand. "…it's Hargra-"
"Just Hargrave," a winged serpent interrupted. They directed a stare at him as he blinked innocently. "That was what you said to me, wasn't it?"
The silver-haired man ignored the snake as he nodded and stepped back. "I also would just like to say that thanks to a certain serpent's bond," he said, narrowing his eyes at the sneaky snake who 'hid' under a chair to avoid their gazes, "I don't know much about her intentions for you, or know much about you either."
Hargrave opened and closed his mouth as he hesitated over how to respond, because before accepting the offer he didn't expect to be in a situation where he'd have to come up with a reasonable explanation for what he was doing.
Vincent crossed his arms as he saw his reaction and then shook his head. "I'm not asking you questions right now. My questions will be directed at Lucille because if there was anyone who needed to give us answers right now it would be her," he muttered darkly.
That I can agree on.
Vincent looked down at the snake, still 'hiding' under a chair, even if his wings were too large to fit under it. "So, Scytale, did you actually come here for anything else, or was it just to bring Hargrave here?"
"Is Sedric still in his workshop?"
Vincent gave the serpent a strange look. "Did you really come here just to ask that? Of course he is. Sedric doesn't ever step out of his room. Where else would he be?"
"Gotcha. Thanks." Scytale moved over to the room's entrance. "All right time to annoy- I mean, visit Sedric!"
"Although, Scytale," Vincent spoke up, looking at the snake curiously. "Where's Lucy? She wasn't in her living room when I went looking earlier."
"Getting a deflective snow globe out of the Founder's vault."
"…I won't bother to ask what a snow globe is and instead just take it that she's in the Founder's vault then."
"Anyway, Hargrave, come with me!"
Hargrave glanced between the snake and Vincent, who was watching them with a raised eyebrow, and hesitantly followed after the snake, feeling like he was getting caught up in the snake's flow too much. "But who's Sedric?"
"You'll see!"
…
"Huzzah! O' lowly crafter, I have arrived to grace you with my presence!" the snake exclaimed, spreading his wings as he sat on the platform's barrier.
The brown-haired young man wearing strange goggles, working at a bench below their overlooking balcony, let out a loud groan and pushed the goggles up. "When did Lucille manage to key your mana to my workshop's door?"
The presumed 'Sedric' below turned around and raised his head to look at them. He stared when he saw Hargrave. "There's another one?"
Hargrave stared back when he heard the ponytailed man's words. "…what do you mean there's another one?"
Sedric scoffed as Hargrave and Scytale came down the stairs. "Oh, I don't know… here, I have a question for you." He pointed a hand at Hargrave. "Did you get offered a suspiciously good-sounding contract or she offered to protect or give you something while knowing a disturbingly high amount of information about you and your dangerous secrets?"
"I did get offered a contract, but…" Hargrave hesitated. "Do you mean this has happened before?"
Sedric rolled his eyes. "Well, yeah. I mean, she came to me, a Legendary crafter, and then barely a week later she goes and picks up the literal Prophetess of Fate." The man replaced his goggles and turned back to his bench with a mutter. "What next, is she going to bring a dragon in here?"
…….that last statement hit just a little too close to home for Hargrave to feel entirely comfortable.
Then a certain silver snake, who had jumped up onto the bench, broke down laughing. Hargrave stared at the snake as Sedric gave Scytale a funny look. "What's wrong with you?"
"Oh, no, no, nothing, nothing at all~" the serpent replied, sniggering. "I'm definitely not laughing at the irony of your sentence. No way…"
Sedric seemed to decide to just ignore the noisy snake after judging that he wouldn't explain himself, and returned to fiddling with the strange objects on his bench.
"Anyway, Sedric, this is Just Hargrave, and- oh, hang on, there was something I wanted to get before coming here first." Scytale abruptly jumped off the bench and climbed back up the stairs to leave. "Be back in a second!"
They watched the snake go, and then only awkward silence remained as two people who didn't know what to say to each other stood beside each other. Sedric shrugged and went back to his crafting.
Hargrave wavered over whether to ask Sedric a question but eventually decided to just do it. "So… you said the Commission Head knew a lot about you too…"
"Yes, I did say that," the long-haired man replied, continuing to work with his goggles down.
"Do you know… if… she has a special reason for why she gave us offers?" Hargrave began hesitantly. "Such as whether… she's… planning something…?" He internally winced at how badly he phrased his words.
Sedric slid his goggles up again and slowly turned around to stare at Hargrave with an indescribably strange expression, making Hargrave wonder what he did. Then suddenly, the man smirked and crossed his arms.
"Oh, she's definitely planning something sketchy. Most definitely." He gestured to the room around him as Hargrave blinked. "I mean, she suddenly arrived at the Aurelian Commission to become the leader of a Faction of merchant nobility, purposely getting involved with shady politicians and businessmen. If that doesn't scream bad intentions, I don't know what does."
Sedric turned back to his bench as he continued, nodding to himself, "And with how she acts, could she be anything other than someone who enjoys manipulation and toying with people? She has that supremely annoying grin on her face whenever you ask her a question, and then there's only ever a 50% chance she'll answer it truthfully, so I bet she loves keeping people in the dark and feeling in control. Only such a messed-up personality would suit the Head of the Aurelian Commiss-"
"I'm back!" a snake interrupted, a small object held within his mouth as he jumped off the overlooking balcony to glide down to Sedric's bench. "Also, Lucy would like to suggest that you don't waste your time and effort trying to work out whether she's scheming something or not, because she says if she was, she'd never let you discover it."
Hargrave stared at the snake with wide eyes. "…was she outside? …did she hear me ask that?"
"Nah." Scytale deposited the object on the bench and turned to him. "Lucy uses spiritual energy, and so her perception covers this place. She couldn't help overhearing you."
That meant the snake's bond with her was strong enough to send coherent messages by being bonded for a few years, which shouldn't be possible if the snake was as young as he thought, the System not allowing bonds with those too young… but there was a more important detail he noticed about this. He turned to stare at Sedric, who was smirking and realised the crafter had known this from the start.
"She also says that there's something she needs to show Hargrave after lunch, so any questions about her possible 'scheming' can be saved for later when you see her personally," Scytale suddenly announced.
Hargrave buried his head in his hands. "…just kill me, please." He felt like this day would permanently be engraved as his eternal shame and regret.
Scytale tilted his head. "I'm not sure she's done enough yet for someone to react like that when told they would be seeing her."
"No, that's not-" He just groaned and shook his head. He ran a hand down his face. "I- uh, could we change the topic to something else? ….please?"
He wanted to get out of this embarrassing situation of having just asked whether the Commission Head had bad intentions for him while she was capable of hearing him as fast as he could.
The other two observed his reaction with slight curiosity, but then Sedric turned to Scytale. "Anyway, what's this?" he asked, gesturing to the new object on his bench.
The three of them glanced at the device. It was long and thin, looking a bit like an ink pen but slightly too wide, and black in colour. Scytale looked at Sedric. "I got you a new binder pen! Be thankful, peasant!"
Sedric raised an eyebrow and leaned to the side to Inspect it, but…
"Nope." Scytale shuffled in front of it, blocking Sedric's view. "No need to Inspect it. Just pick it up and put it to work. It's ready-for-use quality."
Sedric narrowed his eyes and took a step to the side to try to see it. "I need to see if it's good enough."
Scytale spread his wings to block Sedric again. "Of course, it's good enough! Do you think any gift given by me would be low class?!"
"I don't trust that you've given me something decent for one second," Sedric stated flatly, lowering himself to try to peek under the snake's wings.
Scytale shuffled them, deflecting Sedric's Inspection once more. "How could you say that about me when I've just gone out of my way to get you a present! Where's the justice in this place!"
"I'll give you justice if you just let me Inspect it."
Hargrave, feeling slightly curious about why the snake was preventing the crafter from looking at the binder pen, Inspected it himself as the snake moved out of the way to block Sedric again on the other side of the table.
[Tool – Type: Crafting Pen, Cursed Item ]
Name: Failed Enchanter's Grudge
Rarity: Uncommon
MP: 100/100
Desc:
This binder pen was used by a low-level dark-element crafter who attempted to create an item beyond his capabilities, changing his engravings over and over again to try to perfect the item. Unfortunately, he failed each and every time and so his emotions and dark-element mana gradually infused this pen to turn it into a cursed item.
Ability:
Unwanted Erasure – An erasable binder pen... but not in a way that's useful.
Curses the User to see a dark-element illusion when the item is used on engraving channels. Channels will appear filled until the dark-element illusion disappears to reveal the channels have not been filled with binder, as this pen doesn't empty its contents at all. Curse illusion and curse lasts 30 minutes, mana cost varies on the amount of disguised engraving channels.
[ ]
…ah. Now he understood why the snake was hiding this from the crafter. For crafters, who often did very complicated spellwork and mentally tiring jobs, finding out they did all their work for nothing would make them very, very mad.
"Where did you obtain an item like this?" he asked Scytale.
Scytale turned to him. "Oh, they're from the Commission's Inheritance Trial. The first room is themed around cursed items, so because Lucy beat the whole trial, she got to obtain all the contents."
Sedric frowned. "Cursed items?"
Scytale turned back to Sedric with wide eyes, realising his plot was going to be uncovered. Sedric and the snake had a silent stare-off, nobody saying a thing. Then Sedric scowled and dashed to the side to try to see the pen.
Scytale hastily tried to hide the item. "Nononono- There's nothing to see here! This is definitely not a cursed item! I can swear on my light-element bloodline ancestors-"
"Will appear filled until the dark-element illusion spell disappears?!" Sedric exclaimed incredulously as he finally managed to read its Item Sheet. "You want me to waste my time working, only to find out I never made any progress in the first place?!" He glared at the snake as Scytale avoided eye contact.
"Hey, it was one of the least bad options I could've chosen to give you. You should be glad I didn't succumb to my desires and pick out a worse one-"
"So you're admitting there are worse ones you have prepared!"
"...uh, well…"
Scytale was saved from having to answer by the door of Sedric's workshop unlocking. They looked up and Hargrave stared, stunned, as a dark-haired girl with a mask suddenly stuck her head over the railing to look down at them.
"I came to inform you three that it's lunchtime," the Commission Head said. "We're having it together in one of the dining rooms because there's quite a few of us on this floor right now."
Then she stepped back to leave. Scytale jumped off the table joyfully. "Yay! Free food!"
Hargrave watched the snake go, feeling mildly confused. He turned to the ponytailed brown-haired man next to him. "…why should the bond of the Aurelian Commission Head care about free food… offered by his own bond?"
Sedric scoffed. "Beats me," he said, replacing his goggles over his eyes. He went back to the workbench. "Nobody can make sense of what that blighted snake says half the time. Anyway, enjoy your lunch. I'm going to go back to-"
"Sedric, it includes you too," the Commission Head suddenly interrupted, sticking her head back over the railing with eyes narrowed at the young man. "You're not getting another staff member to bring you down lunch. Get up here, and get out of your workshop."
Sedric glared at the violet-eyed woman above them, but she just cocked an eyebrow. The long-haired man angrily pulled off his goggles, unbelted his tool belt, and took off his canvas apron, before storming up the steps. "Become my crafter she says… what do you even need me for if you won't let me craft?" he muttered sourly.
The Commission Head rolled her eyes, clearly having heard the man's words, and then Hargrave stiffened as her gaze landed on him. She tilted her head. "Are you coming?"
After a brief moment of hesitation, he began to follow them up the steps.
…and he was beginning to feel like the dynamic between the people on the Aurelian Commission Headquarters' fortieth floor was a bit more complicated than he first thought.
"-a pen that only shows me an illusion of having completed my work, when in reality I wouldn't have even done anything!"
"Hey, at least it was only a weak curse! That binder pen was Uncommon rarity, and the curse didn't even last past half an hour!"
Lucy watched with amusement as Sedric and her bond bickered over the prank Scytale had attempted to pull on the crafter while they ate lunch. Vincent was also interested in the discussion, although the fifth member at their table…
The red-haired man looked quite lost and out of place as he watched them talk. Lucille had found his interactions with the other three earlier quite interesting. It was funny how he seemed to have no idea how to deal with her. That would probably change as time goes on, because as the contract was going to last for seven years he'd have plenty of time to get used to being around her, but still. However, his reactions helped remind her that currently, she wasn't dealing with the dangerous Plane Destroyer of Firebloom, but a man still in his mid-twenties who had yet to become the infamous figure she remembered.
She pointed a fork at her winged bond. "Scytale, you wasted your chance with the pen. You should've applied an illusion over it at least, so he was fooled long enough to try it out. Or brought it to me to apply the illusion if you thought yours wouldn't trick him."
Sedric glowered at her as Scytale turned to her in realisation. "Now that you mention it… well, that's disappointing. I might've gotten my prank to work if I did that. I wonder how long it would've taken him to realise he wasn't using any binder."
"I'm estimating it would've been at least a couple of hours." She smirked.
"Could you stop talking like I'm not here?" Sedric complained. "And both of you seem to think I'm much dumber than I actually am."
"Yeah, but you still haven't discovered 'that' yet," Scytale replied.
Sedric raised an eyebrow. "That?"
Scytale traded eye contact with Lucy, passing an unspoken message between them, and then she grinned. "Ah. That."
Sedric glanced between them. "What are you both on about?" He hesitated. "Did you do something to my workshop? …or equipment…?"
Scytale snickered. "Yep. He still doesn't know."
She nodded. "He's still clueless."
Sedric's gaze kept switching between them as he got increasingly more nervous and confused.
Vincent sighed. "I doubt they've done anything, Sedric. Lucy hasn't had enough time to do something, with how busy we've been in preparation for next week, and Scytale…" He gestured at the amphiptere. "In case you haven't realised, he doesn't exactly have the physical capacity to do much, considering his lack of limbs."
They all turned their gazes to the silvery snake, who hid behind his wings. "I'll get them soon enough," he grumbled.
Lucy's aide gestured to her. "She and Scytale were likely just messing with you."
She gave Vincent a wide smile. "But are you sure we are? Are you certain?"
He rolled his eyes as Sedric took another look at both her and her bond, before groaning. "You guys are terrible. With how you guys treat me, it should be obvious why I don't want to leave my workshop!"
Lucille fixed a flat stare on the crafter. "Sedric, we are all fully aware that regardless of our attitudes towards you, you wouldn't want to leave your workshop. Don't give us such a blatant lie as an excuse for being antisocial."
He avoided eye contact. "It wasn't that blatant…"
She shook her head as even Vincent and Scytale gave him dubious looks. Hargrave just kept watching them all silently, looking confused.
"Anyway, Vincent." She turned to her aide. "I haven't seen Jacques or Caius on the fortieth floor today. What are they doing?" she asked curiously.
"Ah." He nodded, placing down his knife. "Jacques is currently discussing some arrangements with the crafters of the craftsmen zone. I assumed his familiarity with commoners would make things go smoother for us. And Caius has been negotiating some deals with a few of the upper nobility within the Commission, having lunch at an expensive restaurant within Gilded Seat."
"Quick to pass that job off to someone else, I see," she remarked wryly.
Vincent rolled his eyes. "Well, subordinates exist for a reason."
"That they do," Lucy agreed cheerily.
The silver-haired man narrowed his eyes at her as she turned back to Sedric. "And is there any more equipment you want before Vincent and I leave for the Empire's banquet in a week, Sedric? We won't be able to help you organise anything during the two weeks we'll be gone."
Sedric rubbed his chin as he considered it, but shook his head. "No. I should be fine. All I'm doing right now is practising putting those new enchantments and mana-circles you gave me into items, so there's not much I need." Then he frowned slightly. "Although, I'm getting pretty bored just doing that."
Lucille nodded. "I have to apologise for that. These last few months have just been too busy for me to request anything, and I'm only Rank-0 right now." She leaned back in her chair as she took a sip of coffee from her mug. "I'll commission an item from you sometime in January, that I can promise you."
He blinked and looked curious, but nodded. She looked around and stretched as she saw they had all finished lunch. "Well, considering we seem to be finished…" She looked at Hargrave, who seemed to freeze up slightly when he saw her gaze. "There's something I need to show you, Hargrave. I've set it up in one of the rooms."
"Oh yeah! The defective snow globe thing," Scytale spoke up.
"Defective what now?" Sedric asked with a raised eyebrow.
She blinked and then considered if she should show Sedric what she did. "I suppose it might interest you to see the mana-circuit I set up, and you'll probably pass by the device at one point or another…" She turned back to Hargrave. "Should I show him?"
The red-haired man just gave her a look of incomprehension, so she opened her dimensional bag to take out the extraction cylinder she had shown him when she gave him the offer a little more than a week ago. She held it up for him. "It's to do with this."
Hargrave paused when he saw the brass tube, and then slowly nodded. "I… guess he can." It was clear the man was still unsure as to what exactly she was showing them, but he seemed to have some rough idea as he glanced at Sedric. "If he's your personal crafter, then he's probably going to find out what I'm doing eventually…" the man said with a slight frown.
Lucy glanced at the confused Sedric and shrugged. "Maybe if he learns to leave his workshop more often, then he might."
"Would you stop talking about me leaving my workshop!"
She ignored Sedric's angry outburst as Vincent spoke up with an eyebrow raised at her, "I'm curious as to what this is that you've 'set up' in one of the floor's rooms."
Lucy paused to stare at Vincent for a few seconds. Then she gave him a dismissive wave. "You're probably too busy with work to bother with this right now. You can go see it later."
Vincent narrowed his eyes. "I can take a break for a few minutes."
She gave him a bright smile. "No, there's no need for you to take time out of your day for this. Just go back to finishing off those documents."
Vincent scowled at her. "No, I'm beginning to think this is something I really should go see."
"Lucy, I don't think you're getting out of this," Scytale said before she could reply to her aide. "And there's no way you could hide it all before he sees it. Just show him before he accidentally discovers it one day and gets even more mad."
Lucy resigned herself to her fate as Vincent went from having strong suspicion to utter certainty that she had done something he would not be pleased about.
"All right," she said with a sigh, getting up from her chair as the others did the same. "Let me show you what is in the 3rd living room on the north side of the floor."
"So when are you going to tell me what's inside this room?" Vincent asked her, sounding annoyed.
"I may as well explain when you see it, considering we're-" She paused, and took a step into a room. "Here it is."
Vincent and the others looked into the room curiously. "Here? What's in"
She stepped over the mana ink-painted carpet as her silver-haired aide stared at the room, aghast. "Lucy, what have you done?!"
Covering the entire carpet was a maze of thousands of lines of silvery ink, organised into strings of runes that gradually grew denser as they led towards a circle in the centre of the room. And within that painted circle was the main body of the Bloodline Essence and Source Obtainment Catalyser and Purifier, the massive glass sphere she had trapped Scytale inside when they inspected the Founder's vault before the Forerunner's Event. The mana lamps inside of the sconces had been removed from their positions, leaving the room with only natural light streaming in from a window on one side of the room.
She avoided touching the spell lines as she spoke to the others, Vincent glaring at her, "Now, please do not step on or cause any sort of displacement to the carefully arrayed mana-circuits as a change in their formation could disrupt the mana-transferal system I've set up here-"
"Lucy, you've ruined the carp-"
"-and disruption could lead to emission of high-density mana into the room, forming reactions with the damaged circuits to cast potentially catastrophic effects the mana-circuit was not intended to create," she continued, "Including risking elemental conflicts and other highly devastating explosive scenarios-"
"Lucy, the sconce lamps have been removed from their scon-"
"-and the emission of high-density mana would mean said high-density mana is absorbed by your body, with the possible side-effects of that being mana poisoning, temporary loss of the senses, minor decreased control of the body, and spontaneous human combustion. So if you could please stay over there, and not come any closer," she continued cheerily, stepping into the circle of the glass orb, "I would appreciate that. I don't want us to explode."
There was silence. The four of them stared at her, and she stared back.
"…I'm having second thoughts about this after hearing that last side effect," Sedric eventually muttered, breaking the silence.
The expression on Vincent's face was very, very dark. "I'd like to know how you thought you could hide this from me, Lucille."
She sighed and bent down to pick up a pen and inkwell from where they were lying on the ground. "It's only temporary. I set this up so I could see the information on the device's Item Sheet, and then this will be removed. The device won't be able to stay here, anyway, so don't think I'm planning on keeping it in this room permanently."
Vincent frowned at her and then took a glance around the room. "But I thought the mana-detection arrays were active everywhere on this floor. The alarm systems would go crazy if you tried to activate the device here."
She stared at him, then glanced at the wall she knew the arrays were contained within. Vincent's eyes widened in horror. "Don't tell me you removed the-"
"I asked Ashale'viaf to temporarily turn them off," she replied calmly, kneeling to start connecting the mana-circuit to the device with mana ink.
Vincent sighed in relief, then scowled at her for intentionally making him panic. Hargrave was watching the floor cautiously as if it might explode at any second, and Scytale had climbed onto a couch near one of the walls, away from the circuit. Not because it was about to explode, but just because he wanted to be lazy and have something comfy to sit on.
Sedric bent to have a look at the mana-circuit. "You called this a mana-circuit, so I'm assuming this is what a lot of the Coalition's machines use?" he asked. She nodded, so he continued, "So what makes this different from a mana-circle?"
"Well, one is that it's still a first-layer mana-circle," she explained, continuing to draw the linking lines from the device to the runic circle around it. "But a very large one. Size is important with mana-circuits, and can affect its strength. Another is that this is for distributing power so the runic arrangement is different." She looked up at him. "A mana-circuit has only two major functions. One is to distribute mana, another is to convert it either to or from mechanical power. Which is why they hardly ever use elemental runes, and mostly only arcane runes."
"Only arcane?" he replied curiously.
She smirked as she continued drawing the rune lines. "Because mechanical motion uses the mundane forces to work."
Sedric's eyes widened in realisation, while Vincent narrowed his eyes at the room's walls. "Lucille, could you please explain to me why you thought it a good decision to remove the mana lamps?"
She shrugged. "I needed to access the mana somehow. If this was my home world…" She grinned. "Then you could plug whatever tool you wanted into a hole in the wall purposely made for accessing power, but it seems the Commission doesn't approve of unsanctioned usage of its manalines occurring here."
"I believe that's because the normal outcome of unsanctioned manaline access in the Empire is an enormous elemental explosion created by overly eager mages testing out their extremely inefficient new equipment," her aide responded dryly.
"Which is why I've linked the mana-circuit to all the sconces rather than just one, so I have enough mana," she said. "The device is only going to be turned on so I can see its Item Frame. It won't have its core function activated, because we have no way of using its core function at all."
"So then… what does this giant orb actually do?" Sedric asked. They all gave her curious looks.
She finished drawing the final few silvery lines to the glass orb, and then carefully walked over to a nearby wall, avoiding the mana-circuit. "I suppose it's time for you all to see for yourselves." She flicked a switch.
The room, which had been somewhat dark because of the removed mana lamps and only the window for light, lit up as the mana from the sconces travelled down the silver lines on the walls to flow into the mana-circuit. The glowing mana was sent into the giant glass sphere, where its switchboard buttons began to flicker and hum as power entered the construct. The bronze engraving lines covering each of the layers of crystal glass glowed blue, and multicoloured sparks fizzled and crackled within the centre of the orb. Eventually, the flickering of the switchboard stopped as the glow became steady and solid, and the device was fully turned on.
Lucille stepped forward to insert the extraction cylinder into its slot, then nodded as another lamp lit up on the switchboard. "This should be functional now." She focused on her right eye for the shard to bring up the Item Sheet.
[Apparatus – Type: Catalyser, Magic Item ]
Name: Bloodline Essence and Source Obtainment Catalyser and Purifier
Rarity: Ancient
MP: 912/100,000
Desc:
This device's concept was created during the first years of the Mystical Realm's assimilation, where the people of the realm felt threatened by the immense power held by those of the nonmortal races. As one of the final versions of its kind, this particular device is a model that brings a twist to the nefarious purposes of this creation, in that it can purify the bloodline essence and source of a monster as well as the normal function of erasing the residual mana and spiritual signature of the slain being's bloodline essence and source. Do not mistake that this construct was birthed from anything other than the atrocious desire to steal a nonmortal race's very power for the User themself, however.
Abilities:
Lifeforce Catalysation and Purification – Erasing the control of a dead being's blood, and granting its bloodline salvation.
Degrades the residual mana and spiritual energy signature of the dead existence in its blood, reducing the chance of the bloodline essence attempting to control the assimilator of the bloodline and ultimately killing the assimilator. Mana cost: 1000 per minute. Length of time needed to degrade mana and spiritual energy signature increases depending on strength of existence's bloodline.
Reverts the monstrous essence of the bloodline to normality, restoring normal mana levels and patterns within the bloodline essence. Mana cost: 2000 per minute. Length of time needed to purify bloodline increases depending on strength of monstrous bloodline.
Racial Core Catalysation and Purification – Erasing the control of a dead being's race, and granting its power salvation.
Degrades the residual mana and spiritual energy signature of the dead existence in its source, reducing the chance of the mana backfiring and clashing with the assimilator's mana and ultimately killing the assimilator. Mana cost: 5000 per minute. Length of time needed to degrade mana and spiritual energy signature increases depending on the strength of the existence's source.
Reverts the monstrous essence of the source to normality, restoring normal mana levels and patterns within the source. Mana cost: 10,000 per minute. Length of time needed to purify source increases depending on strength of monstrous core.
[ ]
Lucille crossed her arms as she read the Item Sheet. Vincent, Sedric, Hargrave and Scytale just stared at the device, taking in its description – which wasn't hidden from them even with its high rarity as the device had no information protection enchantments – and forming conclusions about what the existence of this device meant.
Vincent and Sedric went slightly pale when they realised it, Hargrave narrowed his eyes, while Scytale let out a low whistle.
"Yeah, uh, Lucy… this is one nasty device you got here. I feel mandated as the only magical beast here to say…" He turned around to face Vincent, Sedric, and Hargrave. "You humans suck! Seriously!"
Sedric pointed a finger at the machine. "Um… Lucille, I hope I'm wrong here, but is that description saying… the Empire made these things to create their own magical beasts?" Then he winced. "Or, I mean… maybe not create, considering how it works, but to steal all their abilities and give them to the Empire's people instead…?"
"Not just magical beasts," she replied, watching the mana-circuit to ensure nothing went haywire. "This device was created so humans could gain the abilities of Tartarus's natural undead, and the demons too."
They considered that for a moment. Vincent and Sedric gained strange expressions. "Yeah, I can't say I'm feeling that guilty about those two…" Sedric said.
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, well, it didn't work, just so you know. Undead don't have bloodlines, so those who tried to gain their sources just died due to the death mana or became lesser undead, while those who gained demonic bloodlines became either half-demons, witches, or warlocks."
Then Lucy shook her head. "As for those who tried to absorb a demon's source as well as a bloodline, I can only say they were utterly stupid. A demon's source is their astral form, a part of their very soul, while having the existence's bloodline is essential to try to absorb their source so it would make them part demon, and when demons get stronger by absorbing other demons' soul power…" She smirked. "It only ended up bad for the assimilator. Demons can't die permanently, after all."
They stared at her as she recited morbid facts to them, then looked back at the device. "I feel like a device of this sort would be under strict regulations if using one is even allowed." Vincent frowned.
"Oh, it's outlawed," she casually said, making him go wide-eyed. "But only to make them," she added as he sighed in relief. "Owning and using a pre-existing one isn't illegal."
"…why would using one of these not be illegal?" Sedric asked sceptically. "I find it hard to believe the Empire would allow these to continue to exist at all."
She considered how to answer, but eventually just sighed as she disconnected the giant sphere from its surrounding runic circle. "The Empire allows devices like this to exist, because at the end of the day… these devices allow the Empire to gain strength. Even if the Empire is on good terms with the ruling beast clans, the realms are all still in competition with each other. The System encourages us to fight, after all. If a powerful Empire User manages to emerge from stealing a beast's bloodline, they'll accept a magical beast's death as an acceptable price."
Lucille opened the glass sphere taller than herself, and took out the smaller clear orb container inside of it, holding it in her arms. She stepped outside of the mana-circuit. "Good news is that I brought this out only because of its ability to purify monster bloodlines and sources. After it's achieved its purpose…" She glanced at Hargrave and then looked back at Sedric and Vincent. "Then I'll likely turn it into the Empire for its destruction."
Lucy smirked. "The reward for giving these devices to the Empire back then was a Legendary-level gemstone, the kind used for controlling the more powerful Wizard Towers and powering Forbidden items. As time went by, Legendary gemstones were used less as rewards for varying things as the Imperial Treasury increased restrictions on the amount of high-rarity items allowed to be taken out of the Treasury."
She gave them a wide grin. "Considering we're probably looking at one of the last few Bloodline and Source Catalysers in the Mystical Realm, I highly doubt they bothered to change the reward over the years. I'm looking forward to seeing them having to relinquish their precious treasures just because a few politicians were lazy."
Sedric and Hargrave gave her strange looks, while Vincent just rolled his eyes. Lucy gestured to Hargrave. "Anyway, I need to discuss something with him, I assume you, Vincent, have more work to do," she said to her aide, then turned to Sedric, "And I assume you also want to get back to crafting, Sedric, so I'll take my leave for now. As for Scytale…"
She glanced at her winged bond… who was asleep. She rolled her eyes. "We can leave him be."
"Yeah… crafting… I had forgotten about that," Sedric muttered. He nodded and then turned around, walking away.
Vincent sighed. "And I suppose it's true that I have more work left. I'll see you in a while, then," he replied. He began to walk back to the study.
Good, he got side-tracked. Now he's not going to ask me how I'm going to remove all the spell-lines.
Lucille turned to Hargrave, who was watching her carefully. "And as for what I want to discuss… it involves the first draconic monster Ravimoux will find for you."
The tall red-haired man blinked at her in surprise but then paused as she handed over the large orb in her hands as well as the extraction device to him. "But first, take these two. They're two essential components of the device needed to help you gain the bloodlines, so I assumed you might like to be in control of the location of these parts."
He put them into a dimensional item of his own and then followed behind her as she walked away from the living room, looking interested after she told him that. She continued to tell him what he would need to do to gain the bloodlines he wanted.
"The device won't be activated here at Headquarters once you've slain a draconic monster, but instead at a location such as an outpost in the wilds of the Beast Realm, where the draconic monster will have been specifically led to," Lucy explained. "This is because the mana cost to run the device is far higher than what the Headquarters can support, and also to ensure you can quickly absorb the bloodline and source before mana begins to leave them by having the device located nearby."
She gestured to him. "Which is another reason why I gave those two components to you. The first thing you need to do after killing a draconic monster is to store the bloodline essence and monstrous dragon heart so you can get back to the main body of the device in time. The dragon heart just needs to be stored in the orb, but the bloodline essence is obtained through extracting it with that extraction cylinder." Lucille glanced at him. "And the location it's extracted from is the heart, which is why bloodline essence is also known as heart-blood."
She paused her steps when she saw the man frowning at her. "Is something wrong?" she asked, finding his reaction odd.
He frowned further, staying silent for a while, but eventually said his question. "Why do you know so much about my Origin Skill?" he asked, crossing his arms. "Nobody should be able to know about it. I've never told anyone anything regarding it."
Lucille blinked. "Oh." She hesitated for a moment. "I suppose that's something I probably should've explained when I made my offer to you. Yours is the normal reaction when someone doesn't know much about the Empire's history." She coughed. "Well, to put it simply… I've read about you."
Hargrave stared at her. "About me?"
She tilted her head as she considered it. "Not you personally, but…" She glanced down the end of the corridor as she had an idea, and then turned back to him. "Actually, let's leave the conversation about your first draconic monster bloodline for later. I believe this is something I should show you first. Let's go down to the Library."
…
They stepped through the tall hall filled with towering shelves of books. Lucy called out to the seemingly empty room, "Ashale'viaf, is there a copy of Aeternus and Arcana: Ancient Era Myths and Lore in here?"
The spirit materialised with a shower of petals, making Hargrave flinch beside her. "By Everdeen Vendimelas?" he asked her.
She nodded, and so the spirit disappeared in a second shower of petals, to return only a few seconds later with a thick book in hand. He walked over to a nearby table to deposit the heavy tome with a thud. A cloud of dust was kicked up from its pages by the action, and she walked over to see it.
"I didn't expect anyone to know of this book anymore, considering the last time someone requested to see it was over a thousand years ago," Ashale'viaf murmured. He glanced at her. "Was there anything else you needed, Faction Head?"
She shook her head. "No, that's all I need, thank you."
The rose spirit nodded and dematerialised his incarnation.
Hargrave watched the spirit go with caution, then turned to her. "Is… he capable of sensing everything in this building? Did he hear our conversation?" he asked, sounding to her like he could be worried.
She hummed as she turned the dusty pages of the ornately decorated tome to find the right passage. "Spirits who have yet to fully form a core or physical body of some kind use unusual intermediaries to sense the material realms, unlike demons and other spiritual energy using existences, so for a rose spirit like him, he can only use the magic arrays and plants within the building to see and hear us speaking. He would indeed normally be able to hear our conversation," she said, "But spiritual perception negates spiritual perception."
She gave the red-haired man a smirk. "And I use spiritual energy. So he's incapable of hearing any of my conversations I don't want him to due to the spiritual perception field surrounding me."
"And you could clearly overhear my conversation…" Hargrave muttered.
She paused and then gazed at him with a strange expression, while he didn't seem to know what he had said until his thoughts caught up to his mouth and his eyes went wide, finally realising what he had just let slip. "I- uh…"
"Here it is," she said, returning to the book and deciding to help Hargrave by changing the topic. She stepped out of the way to let him read the page.
Hargrave came forward to read it, then began frowning as he saw what it said. He read through the page, a complicated look forming on his face. "This…"
"The existence known as the 'Blood Patriarch'," Lucille began, reciting what was written on the page, "Is someone born to the human race every iteration of what is known as a 'cycle'. Their fundamental abilities on the surface show themselves as an individual with an extremely rare Superior affinity for the element of blood, but this is not the case. While their affinity, if tested, shows itself as a Superior affinity for blood, their abilities directly control their very form of existence using blood as a medium."
Lucy used a finger to tap on one of the passages. "They absorb the essence of any bloodline in its entirety, and face no struggle dominating bloodlines due to their authority over blood. But they also gain the ability to devour the sources of non-human races, becoming them if they have both source and bloodline. These characteristics are added to their nonhuman form gained by absorbing other racial sources and bloodlines. Historically, they have been known as terrifying, distorted abominations with unknown origins, but uncovered manuscripts have indicated that these creatures were human before their change."
She crossed her arms as she looked at the frowning man to her right. "I hope this has explained some of my knowledge."
Hargrave ran a finger under one of the lines. "What's a 'cycle'?"
"It's a period of twenty thousand years," she explained. "Very few people know about it, but several phenomena occur that point to there being a twenty-thousand-year cycle of some kind. The black dragon I mentioned when I made the offer is another example of an existence whose manifestation is born every cycle. The Dragon Sovereign's rebirth and the Citadel of Fate's Prophetess are also like this." She gave him a look. "However, I've found no mention of the 'Blood Patriarch' existing in the last cycle, which means it's jumped a cycle. Normally, this means the existence's strength is increased the next time they appear."
He held his chin, re-reading and pondering over the page. "But…" he turned to her. "It says here that the 'Blood Patriarch' is born with hair and eyes the colour of blood, and keep that appearance until they gain another bloodline." He gestured to his face. "My eyes aren't red."
Lucille sighed. "I don't know the reason for that. It could be that it's a change due to the increased power you've obtained from the cycle being skipped by the ability, or something else." She placed her hands on her hips. "But do you think this passage could refer to anyone else but yourself?" she asked him, an eyebrow raised.
In actuality, Lucy had a vague theory about why his eye colour might not be red and was amber instead, but the implications of that were quite frankly very scary, so she didn't want to think about it at all, if possible.
Hargrave grimaced as he heard her question, but didn't answer it. He looked back at the book. "How many people besides you would know about my abilities and this 'Blood Patriarch'?"
She considered it. "Very, very few." She gestured to the tome. "Aeternus and Arcana: Ancient Era Myths and Lore is a very old book written during the first millennium of the Mystical Realm's assimilation, and wasn't very popular. In fact," she continued, "It was highly unpopular because nobody believed what was written inside of it. It's a book detailing myths from before the System assimilated the realm, but the author's theories and research added into it made very few people treat it seriously."
She smirked at Hargrave. "However, considering I'm talking to one of the very 'myths' mentioned in this book, I believe the author deserves more credit than they received."
He just gave her a funny look, but then she paused as she thought of something. "I should be careful to warn you though, that revealing any hint of your abilities before members of the Evernight March would be an extremely bad idea."
"The Evernight March?" he said with a confused frown.
Lucy nodded. "The name of 'Blood Patriarch' was only coined after a certain inheritor of the ability managed to absorb a specific collection of sources and bloodlines, and wasn't a title that existed from the very beginning," she explained. "As absorbing sources and bloodlines permanently changes the race of a Blood Patriarch, that particular Blood Patriarch had children which can be considered the first members of what we call the 'Vampires'."
She walked over to the book and shut it. "As a result, they termed the progenitor and first ancestor of their race the 'Blood Patriarch', and essentially worshipped any Blood Patriarch afterwards as the leader of their race, even if only one Blood Patriarch could ever be called their ancestor. So, if you don't want to be kidnapped and forcefully placed on a pedestal as their ruler so the March can use you as justification to begin a coup d'état of the Empire, replacing the Emperor with you," she said with a bright smile, "Don't let them know what you are. It won't end well for you."
Lucille picked up the book as he gazed at her strangely. "Just avoiding them altogether is preferable, as the entire reason they accepted becoming a Marquess family was so they had the power to search out the Blood Patriarch each cycle to fulfil their secret plans of realm domination. But you didn't hear that from me," she added.
She called out to the empty room again, imbuing spiritual energy into her voice like she had done so before so the spirit could hear her, "Ashale'viaf, I'm done reading."
The white and pink-haired spirit materialised with a cloud of petals once more, then glanced at the book in her hands with a strange look on his face. "I hope you found what you needed in that book because all I know is that the Athenaeum branded it as fiction some sixty thousand years ago."
Lucy smirked and handed it over. "I did. Thank you for your help."
He nodded and left once more. Lucy walked towards the Library's lift as Hargrave followed her. "Now, about the draconic bloodlines and sources… I presume you intend on gaining them all over a longer timeframe?" she asked, using her access card to take them to the fortieth floor.
"Yes." The red-haired man nodded. "I need to strengthen myself in other ways besides obtaining the strength of the draconic monstrous beasts."
"Then I can allow Ravimoux to devote more effort into finding draconic beasts with greater bloodline strength…" Lucille mused. She glanced at him. "Does a draconic monster once a year up until the 6th year, then giving you twelve months of preparation before the Dragon's Gate sound good?"
He nodded. She hummed as she thought it through further. "I suppose you'll also want to obtain information on the monsters and prepare to fight them for several months leading up to the fight, so you don't waste the encounter by allowing it to escape or damage the dragon heart accidentally in some way. Then I should tell Ravimoux to ensure the draconic monsters can be found near outposts around June each year."
They stepped out onto the fortieth floor. "Then, as for your first draconic monster, I suggest you absorb a water-element one," Lucy said.
Hargrave frowned slightly. "I was going to hunt a fire-element one originally."
"If you truly want that, then I can organise it for you," she replied, following the path to her living room. "But I'm not suggesting this without thought. The water element, as a component of the mid-level element of blood, is more similar to your affinity, and so you'd be able to learn more easily how to control it, gaining power quicker," she explained. "And the water element will help you suppress the fire element when the time comes for you to absorb a fire element bloodline. I'm taking the elemental reactions into account."
He thought for a moment, and then slowly nodded. She asked one last question. "I assume you're only going for regal draconic bloodlines and sources? Not oceanic or celestial ones?"
"I only want draconic bloodlines and sources of the six essential elements," he said, shaking his head.
"That's what I expected," Lucille said, nodding. She smiled and gestured to him. "Then, I'll organise the search for a water element draconic monster with Ravimoux sometime after the Empire's banquet. We won't be seeing each other for about two weeks after this week."
She looked around, then turned back to him. "I hope what I showed you in the Library helped you assuage some of your worries about what I know about you."
Hargrave went to nod, then hesitated as he realised there was something else distinctly off about all this. "But… how did you know that I'm this 'Blood Patriarch' you read about when my eyes aren't red?" he asked with confusion.
Lucy blinked once and then gave him a wide smile. "Oh, no, I'm not telling you that. Certainly not. How am I supposed to be this 'scheming mastermind' you and Sedric seem to think I am if I go ahead and just tell you everything?"
And with that, she left the frozen stiff Hargrave to his own devices, walking into her living room and shutting the door. She sat down on her couch.
Then she sighed because this would be the last time she would have such a relaxing day until after the Empire's annual end-of-year banquet. Where she'd be given her Honorary Count Title, her existence and name would finally be spread throughout the Mystical Realm, and she'd meet privately with Archduke Stolas Septamere Eterial, the ruler of the Aethereal Duchy, one of the Seven Eternal Duchies of the Aeternus plane.
Alright, so, from tomorrow until the 25th, I'll be rewriting some parts of the first 10 chapters, fixing up formatting, as well as working on that glossary. And while the Patreon is set up, my break applies to there too, so I'm not posting on either here or there during that time.
BUT!!!
I'm doing two very special Discord events during this time, beginning on Monday the 13th! Both of which relate to my story. Through a vote on my Patreon, my patrons got to select which event they would prefer to be exclusive to them, while everyone else gets to join the other event. However, you can still affect the results of both events, so don't ignore the Patreon one!
Here be my two, events- no, CONTESTS below!
Patreon Discord Event 1: Participants suggest chapter names for Chapter 51. There will be a theme, but it will be up to the total reactions of each idea to determine the winner. The top two will be in a poll on the 27th, where the final name for chapter 51 will be chosen from the one with the most votes. Anyone can vote on the ideas, but only those with the Patreon roles on Discord will be able to suggest ideas. A member of the Patreon can suggest as many as you want, but voters can only choose one, so you need to choose wisely!
Anyone Discord Event 2: Participants suggest abilities! The rules are mostly the same as the top, with there being a theme they need to be under, but the creator of the winning ability gets 500 words of an original character of theirs in Chapter 51, with the ability. Suggest as many abilities as you want, but be careful when voting!
But even with all this on, the next 40k will still be on Patreon, so if the wait to find out what comes next is just that unbearable, there's always that option! (totally not taking advantage of my break to market my Patreon, not at all)
I'll try to keep people updated about what's happening and my progress on Discord, as long as you catch me at the right time, me being Aussie and all, but thanks for reading so far, and I'll be back in two weeks with plenty more of Lucy's antics and exploration of the Tower realms. Chapter 51 is set to be the beginning of the next major arc, and, well... let's just say I'm excited to really get the plot moving.
Patreon (up to x8 5k chapters!):
Discord (Come get your Qualified Scytale Feeder role!):
Honorary mention of my first Plebeian: Purplexa
[Title: Nobility | Type: Discord/Role]
None! Yet
[Title: Rank-5 | Type: Discord/Role]
secret
Inzuris
Kabi
Malahadiel
Starfall20
........ (it's legit their Patreon username)
WIk
ChaosOmega98
deathbunnies
wind.celestial
Spacemanspiff
Corefish66
Arcanorum0421
[Title: Demon Nobility | Discord/Role]
None! Maybe when I finish this tier someone will join
In actuality, Lucy had a vague theory about why his eye colour might not be red and was amber instead, but the implications of that were quite frankly very scary, so she didn't want to think about it at all, if possible.
Logically, they would not be red if he has already absorbed the powers of a beast's bloodline. Possibly before he was old enough to remember. Although that does raise* the question - Wouldn't that bloodline show up on his status? So maybe it's something else.
* not beg. prescriptive grammarians don't like it when you use 'beg the question' and don't mean the logical fallacy.
My best picture from the last few months.
