Beneath All The Façade

> ”Acting strong is one thing. Literally exhausting yourself to death is just plain irresponsible.” ~Frein Nivan

The group spent a couple of hours for lunch. Frein spared his attention to Admiral Garm who introduced his four rookies after giving particularly high praise to his daughter’s cuisine. At the same time, the Visitor kept Kristel within his periphery to keep track of her reactions to his movements.

He could feel an awkward distance growing between them and particularly didn’t like it. But for what it was worth, the Princess hadn’t shown any drastic panic attacks since she broke down in the training hall earlier.

In the meantime, Frein learned the names of the four Guard Knights. Apparently they were the top of their class and had been a little over their heads. Admiral Garm had been looking for the opportunity to help open their eyes to the reality outside of academics without resorting to any rude awakening.

“Well, at least I hoped you kids learned something,” he ended. He took his seat at the head of the grand table of the dining hall. Frein could see the place was well maintained but had not seen much use as of late.

“I still think it’s rude, Gathering and Milling in the middle of a fight,” Maffelyne Tallse said, crossing her slim arms over her elven frame. She gave Frein a side eye from beneath her auburn hair. “But I can’t deny the results.”

“You took all my Diferenfras like they’re nothing!” The human, Bartholomew Gren made no effort to hide his gushing. “I’ve never seen anything like it. At the end I was just, ‘let me use everything I’ve got and see what happens!’”

“You gotta admit though, Maff, it’s kind of amazing,” Darrofille Gren pointed towards Maffelyne, though his canintine eyes were focused on Frein. “I wouldn’t mind at least trying to learn whatever you’re doing.”

“Agreed. I run out of meiyal too fast.” Sharron Jyualle pondered with a teacup in her hands. “Just imagine what we can do If we can refill on the fly.” She turned to Frill with a concerned look. “Pardon my rudeness, Madame Aria, but is this safe to drink?”

Frill blushed slightly, smiling. “Please, just call me Frill. And sorry about earlier. We had to make sure we knew who to trust. That’s safe to drink, I promise.”

The four all looked like they had something to say, but their words got caught under the fact that they were dining together with some incredible personalities; famous ones too. Frein wouldn’t exactly count himself as one of those people given the treatment he received during their little sparring.

He could understand their hesitation…but at least complain a little.

“I can share my pointers about Gathering and Milling if you guys are interested,” Frein began, trying to steer the conversation. He pointed at the human and the canintine to get their attention. “But before all that, are you two siblings?”

“Yeah, why do you ask?” Darrofille replied.

“It’s odd for me. No offense. My world only has humans. Do you mind if I ask about your parents?”

“Dad’s a canintine, mom’s a felintine,” Bartholomew replied this time.

“Oh, how come you’re human, then?” Frein realized how it might sound offensive. “Again, sorry, I just don’t know how it works.”

“None taken, Visitor. I guess it’s better than getting berated for our weaknesses.”

“You guys are alright,” Frein gestured towards all of them, a smile forming despite his reluctance to embarrass himself to give moral support. He pulled the words straight from his heart. “You did the best you could with the environment you’re given. But now that you’ve seen a new horizon, I’ll start taking you all accountable from now on. Just imagine if more people could fight the way I do.”

“It’ll be chaotic,” Katherine replied, taking a bite out of some flan dessert that Frill came up with. “Fun though.”

Eyes perked up, including Frill’s and Kristel’s. Frein found that encouraging.

“I’ll share with you two as well—actually I already told you some of it, Kristel,” he said before turning to Xiv and Garm, who had pulled the Vyndivalian beside him to interview. “And you both, if you guys are interested.”

“I’m afraid my cup’s quite filled already, Frein. But thank you for the offer,” Garm replied. It was a shame, but given his age, it was understandable. His eyes turned to each person present in the room, a look of pride and humble satisfaction in his face. “I’m just glad to witness the humble beginnings of the inevitable revolutionary improvements in Meiyal Arts.”

“I’d like that, I can probably learn something even if we don’t practice the same discipline,” Xiv said. He gave a subtle nod, expressing a reminder about the theory they shared about Meiyal Arts and Armaments. The two, then, promptly returned to their conversation.

“Deal. Now, can you explain why you were born a human despite having nonhuman parents?” Frein still felt awkward asking the question, but he did his best to play it straight.

“It’s a common thing, really,” Bartholomew shrugged, “for felintines and canintines at least. Since only half of the core they possess came from a vork or yuma. The other half could be from a human, or an elf, or an orc, a dwarf, what have you.”

“The prevailing theory is that the bond we make with yumas or vorks influences us on a genetic level,” Darrofille added. “From there, it’s all up to chance really. Same’s true with half-halves like elf-humans or orc-dwarves, that sort of thing. The strains have been incredibly mixed that you can find a family with an orc-dwarf dad, an elf-dwarf mom with pure human kid, or a human-vork felintine. It’s pretty rare, but they exist.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“It’s not because…the wife was cheating?” Frein ventured despite the controversial question.

“D.N.A. tests can prove those claims, but I can see where you’re coming from,” Darrofille answered straight. “You see it often enough, you eventually stop assuming.”

“I thought you read stuff like this?” Frill asked. “My mom’s a felintine, dad’s a human. Lio—” she took a breath, but pushed forth “—Liona and I turned out to be humans, both.”

Frein brushed past the sensitive topic and clamped on the engaging one. “I haven’t read everything yet. If you have any references, I’ll put them on my list. How did it turn out, though? From what I’ve read, throughout history, there’s been a lot of discrimination going around.”

“Not anymore,” Maffelyne replied. “Those are old ways from before the Divine Severing. Monarch Evanclad’s rule promoted acceptance towards all the mortal species.”

“Are you sure?” Frein asked. “Not even in smaller communities?”

The elf abruptly stopped a response and pondered to herself. “We can’t prove or disprove either way unless we go out of our way to observe.”

“Fair enough. The fact that you’re unsure and everyone can’t say otherwise means it’s minimal at worst.” He gave Katherine a glance. “I’d take that as a positive.”

“Why so curious about it?” Sharron asked. “You said you only have humans in your world, so there shouldn’t be any discrimination of that kind, right?”

Frein retracted from her words. His curiosity might’ve just pushed himself into a topic he wasn’t comfortable with, but having people to talk and exchange information with didn’t come often.

“Oh, I’m just curious how the genetics here work for the most part. It’s very intriguing.”

The discussions, then eventually evolved towards Frein’s promise.

They moved back to the training hall where he gave an organized, one-hour lecture regarding his specialized way of Gathering and Milling. Katherine helped supplement this lesson by giving pointers of her own.

By then, Xiv didn’t have enough energy left to join, his evident loss of consciousness in between conversations made that apparent. The Vyndivalian returned to his room to go back to sleep, promising to exchange notes later. On the other hand, Admiral Garm went to the north-west wing of the manor to reminisce and rest as well.

The lecture extended to a practical exercise where the six—Frill and Kristel included—practiced what they learned.

“I’ll give you guys a few more things to look forward to,” Frein began while he observed the six struggle with their best efforts. They reminded him so much of his early days in training. “Even after our sparring this morning, I never stopped Milling.”

To emphasize his point, he intensified his Milling. Through this, even a simple observation Meiyal Art would be enough to discern that he was in the middle of the process. His six students were attentive enough to see this and curious enough to look at Katherine.

The Lady saw their questioning looks and intensified her Milling in response. “I Mill more batches than he does, and I’m practically cheating as well.”

“Cheating?” Maffelyne asked. “With all due respect, how so?”

Katherine activated her meiyal marks, causing ribbons of light to erupt from her temple. “Well, this, for starters, allows me to Gather as much meiyal as I want without affecting my Art fatigue. And because of this, I don’t have dispersion time. So I don’t have to Gather again and again like he does.”

She gestured towards Frill. “You basically have the same capabilities. And with your meiyal system now, I’d say you have even more potential than I do.”

The Aria in Red looked solemn as she took those words. Frein could sense her determination internally burning, her desire for revenge kept under a calm fury. He couldn’t tell if this was a good or a bad sign.

“For what it’s worth,” he resumed. “You all know now how this works. You just need to keep practicing and nurturing the effort. Discipline yourselves and avoid reverting to your normal Milling forms even if you get tired. After a while, you’ll feel it get easier, and your efforts will pay off. Then it’ll be time to do it on the fly.”

He smiled and gave them one final motivation. “Once you have ample Milled meiyal using Perpetual-Layered Milling Form, try using it and observe the results. You’ll get addicted to it, I promise.”

Admiral Garm returned after a few more hours. The white sun had begun to set and the gentle purple shine of the evening had begun to descend as both full moons made their way towards the skies.

“You four need to return to Atlas Sid before the day ends,” he reminded them. “Let the crew know I’ll be staying for the night here. We venture out tomorrow.”

“Wait for me by the entrance,” Kristel said. “I’ll send you off.”

“There’s no need, Princess,” Sharron said, her felintine ears folding in panic. “We can find our way on our own.”

“Please.” Kristel placed a shoulder on the Guard Knight. Sharron was only slightly taller than her, so the Princess didn’t have to reach far. “I don’t mind if you wish to push formalities in public, but I would prefer you guys call me by my name when we’re in private. We’re practically classmates now.”

“I don’t know if we can do that,” Maffelyne said, scratching the side of her temple. “It seems really rude.”

The other two looked pretty awkward as well.

Frein saw his opportunity to check on something. He approached slowly from the Princess’s side and ruffled her hair. “You guys don’t want to be friends with the Princess?”

The four stripped themselves of their awkwardness and looked like they were about to jump on him. Even Frill was about to activate her meiyal marks, but Katherine stopped her on time. He didn’t really pay them any mind. Frein’s concern was Kristel’s reaction.

She instinctively yelped, hands moved like a flash and clamped around his wrist. Her expression was pained, as if she got punched in the stomach. But she was also quick to stop herself from going full feral on him.

Kristel calmed down, opened her eyes and released her grip. Then, she crossed her arms. “I know what you’re trying to do, Frein. I’ll get over it, I promise.”

She looked at the stunned Guard Knights with eyes that were borderline awkward and shy. The way he left Frein’s hand made her look more and more like a kid. “If you four don’t want to be my friends, that’s fine, but I still prefer being called by name.”

Sharron was the quickest to move out of the four. She held the Princess’s hands and beamed. “We can be your friends, Kristel! We’d be honored!”

The rest were quick to follow suit after that. As promised, they waited for her by the entrance.

Frein could tell Kristel wanted to talk to him first. So he waited while she gave instructions to Frill and sent her off. Admiral Garm, ever the observer, deduced the Princess’s intentions and made his subtle exit.

Of course, Frein made Katherine stay. The Lady didn’t have any trouble reading the context clues.

“What do you need?” he asked now that they were alone.

“I want to formally ask Elizzel now, if you guys don’t mind. We don’t have to do it right now, but it just feels rude not to ask her personally. I still have a lot to do later so I think this is the only time I have.”

The faunel appeared beside him without any shining fanfare, as if she was there the entire time.

“I don’t mind helping you out, Princess. Frein intends to help you and it’s not against my principles anyway.”

Kristel released a nervous breath and held Elizzel’s hands like the way Sharron did earlier. “Thank you!”

Only then did Frein realize what was really going on.

“Hey.”

He gently pulled the Princess by the shoulder and observed her face. Kristel was shocked but there was a certain lethargy with the way she resisted him. Her azure eyes were lulled and she looked rather lazy.

“How long have you been awake?” he asked.

Kristel’s drooping eyes twisted as tears started to form. “I can’t sleep, Frein,” she cried. “I’m afraid to sleep. I always see them. I see Liona. They’re all blaming me. I can’t take it anymore!”

Her cries caused her to collapse on the floor and palpitate. And her face contorted in despair. “What’s happening to me?”

Katherine was quick to her side, but, to Frein’s surprise, she didn’t do anything. Instead, the Lady turned to him in desperation. “I don’t know what to do.”

The Princess collapsed and fell into a nightmare.

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