Kyrion felt his feet come out from under him as if someone had scooped him up like a sack of potatoes. The kidnapper seemed to be leading Kyrion to a big building that resembled their school. Looking down, he saw a familiar pair of shoes and cursed himself for not being able to remember whose they were.
The person carrying him spoke quickly and concisely." Congratulations on obtaining first place! Alas, you're late for the ceremony. We will have to book it."
Ah, it was just master Gan. "I was sleeping!" Kyrion replied, keeping it short as some wind was knocked out of him each stride.
"No excuses." He started subtly. Gan began to speed up gradually as he ran.
Kyrion lifted his head to see the staircase in front of them and panicked. "Slow down!"
"We don't have the time!" Gan gripped Kyrion harder and sped up, much to the boy's surprise.
Tears fell behind him again as his mortality was made apparent for a second time today. He then saw the ground get farther away very quickly as Gan jumped up, and up, and up. Skipping over the intimidatingly long staircase with ease. Kyrion felt his eyes extend six feet out of his skull as they landed on the other end. Gan picked it up and ran into the building, and the world blurred around them again. Kyrion lost track of the turns, stops, little hops, and loopty-loops as they made their way to some sort of auditorium.
"We're here, great. We can slow down." Kyrion thought to himself, letting out a sigh of relief.
Master Gan did, in fact, slow down. Taking Kyrion off of his shoulder.
"Yulon! Catch!"
"What!?" Kyrion and the headmaster said in unison.
Kyrion flew a good hundred or so feet, shock, and betrayal in his eyes as he crashed into the headmaster's stomach. A loud cracking sound could be heard echoed, and Kyrion fell to the ground attempting to hold his skull together.
“Ow.ow.ow.ow.ow!” Kyrion rolled on the floor for a bit as quite a few eyes were on him and then the headmaster. Finally, they turned to an empty space where master Gan was previously standing.
Yulon looked down at the boy, noticing the dent in his armor. Where a head must have connected, there was also no blood pooling from the boy's head. "Young Kyrion, you're fine, albeit a little late. I'm sure master Gan wouldn't throw you without having made preparations."
Kyrion tapped the top of his head a few times, wincing before realizing it was all in his head. Then, embarrassed, he stood up and took his place beside his teammates.
The auditorium was filled with floating globs of water that held the faces of various people. Most of which seem to be much older and well dressed.
"Now that everyone's here we will proceed with selections. First off we have Damian, come on up!"
Applause echoed through the auditorium as Damian walked next to Yulon and bowed to the images.
"For you we have five offers available. The Academy of Gabon, a prestigious school that has produced many powerful spirit masters throughout this continent's history. Founded in the Tetsan empire this school is by far the largest and most well rounded you can find. Many world leaders have once graced its halls." The headmaster pointed to the image of a portly man dressed in immaculate robes and embedded with.
Damian blinked and looked back at the headmaster before continuing. The environment made him a bit nervous, however. His face slowly turned redder and redder as the ceremony went on, and various powerful figures had an eye on him.
"Secondly we have the School of One Blade, a school that focuses on training swordsmen. They specialize in single blade combat and many who make it through the grueling training have gone to become the backbone of many nations' militaries."
The master of that school was a gaunt hairless man with a blank expression. Oddly enough, Damian didn't seem interested in that school.
"Thirdly, we have the Norn Military academy, a traditional school that has been around for a long time. They sport some of the most extensive libraries on the continent and have experts in many fields. They are located in Wilheim.
Damian's eyes had glossed over for a second as Yulon went on. Nico, however, seemed really interested for some odd reason.
"The fourth is the Flowing river academy of performing arts, it's a place where some of the world's best traveling entertainers go to train. Though I'm not sure why someone like you would want to..go...there." Yulon looked into Damain's eyes for a good second and could swear he was flashing lights.
"I want to go there." Damian replied stoically.
"Don't you want to hear the fifth?" Yulon asked.
"No." He replied.
"Great well. Ok. Damian you may now be seated." Yulon pointed to some seats in the distance.
"Next up we have Everest. Star attacker on the team. You, my good sir, have four offers."
"Are any of them by chance for the Trova school of Tailors?" Everest interrupted.
"Yes. Now if I may continue."
"I'm going there." Everest hopped off the stage and took a seat.
Yulon looked dejected. "Go become a tailor and waste your potential. See if I care." He mumbled.
Everest eyed an elderly woman in silks on one of the screens, which seemed to nod in his general direction.
"Next up is Noah. You have three options as well. Would you like to hear them?"
Noah nodded.
"Great. For you, we have the Norn Military academy, along with the Hagnar School of blacksmithing in Valvnorim. Many great smiths go there for training, and those who graduate become famous for their high-quality creations." Yulon looked to Noah, who was deep in contemplation.
"Lastly we have the school of Drisil, a newer school that has steadily been rising in renown. Their teachers are powerful and all who graduate have entered the land of experts."
"I see. May I have some time? Norn and Hagnar are both so interesting." Noah scratched his chin.
Yulon motioned him to a seat, and Noah made it over.
"Asela, your next." Yulon pointed at the smallest one on the stage.
"You my dear also have three offers, one from Norn Military academy. The second from the Sect of True flame Which is located on an Island in the Tetsan empire. Safe from fighting and war and capable of creating very powerful fire based spirit masters. Finally there is the Mithas academy of elementalist. Where previous selection specialized in only fire, this academy focuses on all of the basic elements becoming more well rounded."
Asela looked confused. "Can I choose later?"
"Go ahead, little one." Yulon pointed to the seats, and Asela made her way down.
"Nico you're up."
Nico made his way on the stage. "You have an offer from Norn and The Mithras school of elementalist."
"I'll be going to Norn." Nico replied before he took a seat.
"Wura, you have two offers as well. One is to the School of Alchemy in Meis. They specialize in creating elixirs, poisons, various beverages, and food. Many alchemists worth their salt have attended here. The second option is Hagnar's school of smithing."
"I will go to the school of smithing. I can't cook and I get the feeling that my spirit won't help much in some sort of kitchen. I want to kick butt and take name." Wura replied before taking a seat.
"Kiara your turn."
She made her way to the stage and curtseyed in the direction of the various representatives.
"For you we have two options, Mithras, and the Frozen citadel, this school is located in the Polaris Archipelago to the north, an academy of all female Ice mages that have been honing their craft for generations. Those who enter are unable to leave for one hundred years, unless they manage to reach the expert rank. Those who go must cut ties with their families as most will not be able to return home."
"Only two?" She asked the headmaster.
"Go ahead." Yulon pointed to a seat with the rest of her group.
"Last but not least we have Kyrion, come here." Yulon ushered him forward.
"For you we have the Gabon academy and school of Diesel." Yulon explains
Kyrion looked shocked, not having a school in common with his sisters. He then looked at the representatives and found Lingard's face. "How close is the school of Driesl to Norn?"
"Norn is in Welheim, while Drisil is in the kingdom to the south away. A few days of travel by caravan could get you there." Yulon explained.
"I see. I'll go to Drisil then." Kyion nodded matter of factly before taking his seat.
"Your group is now dismissed, feel free to enjoy the facilities. Since we will be spending the rest of our time here."
"Isn't that on the other side of the world?" Noah asked.
"Continent. Just the continent." Nico explained.
"What's the difference?" Noah crossed his arms.
"If we can find the library then I can explain it to you with pictures." Nico dragged Noah away.
"I also want to know about continents and stuff." Kyrion said as he followed behind.
"And that is the theory of tectonic shift." Nico said.
Kyion was sitting in what felt like a soft chair filled with beans, a book over his face. Said person would say he was only resting his eyes so that he could put effort into listening to everything. Most others would see it for the lie it was and move on.
Noah was visibly half asleep at a desk, a stack of books resting next to him. A lost expression can be seen on his face.
"While all this is so interesting I need to pick up my student." A familiar voice stated.
Kyrion looked from under the book at the visitor's shoes and connected them with the voice. "I'm not going anywhere with you again. We talk here."
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"Fair enough. Do you two mind waiting outside for a moment?" Gan asked the other two boys.
"I don't. Need to stretch my legs anyway." Noah stood up and walked out. Followed by a reluctant Nico.
"Great. Well it seems you'll be going to Drisil." Gan stated.
"Yes. Why does that matter?" Kyrion asked.
"I, too, will be going to Drisil. For similar reasons. The thing is, you aren't ready for that school yet. The other options are sure, if you're settling to only become mediocre. Drisil is strict in its graduation requirements. If you're not an Expert or equal to that level of power before becoming 22 you're expelled, sort of strict. I'm not saying you're weak, mind you. Just not ready yet. My recommendation is joining the academy 9 months after enrollment. Which gives us a full year to get you there, how does that sound? We can even check on your friends while we're at it. We also need to procure the spirit cores you plan on using. How does some real world adventure sound?"
"Adventure? And I can visit everyone as well. That sounds great! Wait, I thought you had my spirit cores already!" Kyrion's eyes went wide before he started squinting.
"Those didn't suit you very well." Gan smiled like a cheshire cat.
"So you lost them." Kyrion started eyeing his teacher.
"Suffice it to say I no longer have them, yes." Gan did not mention the fact that he lost them in a game of Testan Hold'em, while he was supposed to be bringing Kyrion to the auditorium. That he didn't find out until much later.
"When do we leave? Asela's Birthday is in two days after all." Kyrion asked innocently.
"I can give you a week, and then I'll need to get to the sect of chroniclers. We need to figure out your elemental affinities because from what I can tell you have quite a few. A spirit core helps you specialize but it's better to know all your cards before asking for more. Knowing the deck stacked against you is also a necessity." Gan told his student some sage advice.
"Uh..huh…one week. Did you need anything else?"
"That is all." Gan flowed out of the room like wind through a window.
"Back to studying" Kyrion put the book back on his face and got comfortable in the bean chair.
Nico reentered and got back to explaining things that made little to no sense to either of the other kids.
The lesson went on for an hour before Kyrion heard his stomach growling. "Noah, Nico wanna get some grub?"
"Gross, no grubs are disgusting." Nico replied
"Huh? No grub, food." Noah said.
"Oh. Yes we should find the others then." Nico led the charge out of the room.
Noah and Kyrion locked eyes before heading out of the study room.
Damian and Everest sat at a table in the cafeteria, along with Kiara, Asela, and Wura, who seemed a bit too quiet.
Both groups awkwardly ate while not wanting to start the conversation that's been weighing over their heads.
Everest, driven mad by the quiet, was the first to speak up. "So, did you decide on where you want to go for specialized training?"
Kiara answered first, "I want to become strong enough to take back our kingdom. I was supposed to be betrothed to one of our princes after graduation. Potentially becoming a queen."If I go to that all-female academy, I'll end up trapped there for a long time. But, if I go to Norn, then at least I'll be able to leave when I'm strong enough. So…"."Stop!" Everest put down his cup of tea." What was that last part?"
"If I go to norn, I can leave much sooner?" Kiara had an irritated expression on his face. She doesn't like being interrupted.
"No, the one before." Everest shook his hands to emphasize what he meant.
"I am to be betrothed to one of the princes of Limguard?"
"Yes. Aren't you a bit young to be thinking about that? What are you, eight?" Everest" seemed exasperated.
"I'm not thinking about it. It's my duty to my family. Nobles marry nobles to keep the royal blood strong. The stronger I get the stronger the next generation will be. It's what I was raised for." Kiara put her hand over her heart as she told them her response.
"You'd have to get Limguard back before you could become its queen. Even then there is no guarantee that any of our princes are still alive." Damian sipped from his fancy teacup pinky out. Before daintily setting it back on the saucer.
"Why are you acting like this isn't your problem?!" Kiara asked the two boys, indignation in her eyes.
Damian considered telling them now before deciding on something else. "I'll tell everyone when the others arrive, they should all hear this together."
Everest looked at Damian and then the others. "I'll need a spirit oath of secrecy If I tell you mine."
Wura looked at the two. "Well i'm fine if you forward mine to your friends it isn't that major. My father and brothers are chefs. The former is a baker and the latter undecided. Before coming to Limguard my father worked for the great pirate, Alexander Red Beard, after being found floating adrift in the ocean. We don't know much about his orc tribe as he was a newborn at the time. By some miracle he survived and grew up on the ship along with the other pirates. During a war with the republic, the one before the last, they were hired and became a powerful naval unit. After decimating the enemy's forces they were allowed to become citizens, some being granted nobility. Suffice it to say my father became one through marriage." Wura copied Damian's tea etiquette.
"My mother was the great Frea Silverwind, her spirit allowed her to turn air into silver, forming layers of armor and such. Similar to mine though her powers were a lot more solid. Like me, she can't cook to save our lives. I'm not betrothed to any one and I'm not sure my father cares who I marry so long as they can cook. He is very particular about that requirement. I don't want to become a chef and I'm not a powerful warrior like my mother. So I don't know where to go next. That's why I'm on the fence." Wura started thinking to herself.
"Hmmmm. So there are two nobles named Alexander. That's confusing, does grandpa know?" Asela asked aloud to no one in particular.
Wura stopped thinking and looked at her younger friend before not answering that question.
Kyrion, Noah, and Nico arrived a bit late to the party and sat down at the table. Unfortunately, their cups were a bit cool. Nico waved a hand over his cup, causing it to bubble for a second before he sat down.
"Look who's late to the party." Everest replied flippantly. "We were waiting for ages. Did you learn what you went there to learn?"
Noah scratched his head, embarrassed.
Kyrion looked around before taking a seat. "The earth isn't flat."
Quite a few eyes opened up in shock. Wura and Damian seemed to already know that.
"This changes everything." Asela stated. "So If I go off a map I won't fall out of the world?"
"No… You'll either reach another continent or end up on the other side of this continent."
"There are more continents!?" Asela started holding her head. The world she knew shattered.
"I know right. It makes no sense." Kyrion stated. "If there are more continents then why isn't the map bigger? Or round."
"Because no one has made a world map yet." Nico stated. "Maybe I'll be the one to make it, see the world with my treasure hunting friend." He slapped Kyrion on the back.
"I did say I wanted to be a treasure hunter. But that's wayyyy into the future. Possibly even ten whole years."
"Ten years isn't a long time…" Nico tried to interject.
"Says you. That's two whole digits. I'm still in the one digits." Kyrion crossed his arms.
"You know what. Ok. What did we miss?" Nico asked the others.
After a paraphrased retelling of the stories, Damian took the lead.
"Since everyone is here I'll go over my reason."
The other kids grew quiet as they looked at their leader.
"You see, my father is a blade dancer and my mother a singer. The two traveled in a trope for many years until I was born. They settled down in a small city, north of the capital. I was taught various different sword techniques and dances by my father and how to sing by my mother. Though I had always been a bit shy about the singing aspect. One day, two years ago, while practicing my techniques, my spirits awakened. Without coaxing, I was given two different spirits at the time. My first is a sword, and I don't want to talk about the second. No offense. My master knows, and we practice where no one can see or hear. The reason I chose the school of performing is because that's where my parents met, and I'm a performer first warrior second."
Kyrion realized he didn't know much about his friends. Damian was the strongest of them, but he wasn't even a fighter?
"Huh. Wait, did you say two years ago? How did you awaken?" Kiara asked.
"Its called a natural awakening, its when spirits find and choose you to be a medium. It's rare and tends to be powerful. So I kind of had a leg up in a way." Damian stopped talking and looked at his empty plate.
"This is all confusing." Kyrion said to himself.
"And here I thought having more than one spirit is rare." Wura stated.
Asela seemed to figure something out. "So Damian can really sing."
Damian's face turned a deep red. "I do ok." He answered bashfully.
"Well, I'll be going to Drisil. Mainly because I don't like the other option all that much. Also master Gan seems to go there as well and he's really strong."
"Fair enough." Everest crossed his arms.
"So it wasn't just you. He seemed slimy, is how I'd put it." Nico added in.
The silence was the only sound in the cafeteria for a moment before Asela stepped up.
Asela looked at the others. "I don't know where to go. I don't want to be alone, and I can't go with Kyrion. So I'll try to figure it out after some time."
"Yeah, splitting up is going to be tough. I'm going to miss you kids." Everest wiped away imaginary tears with a fancy handkerchief.
"You're a kid too! Remember?" Kyrion looked at Everest in confusion.
Everyone at this moment had locked eyes with Everest. The boy shrugged before looking around. The place was vacant as uninjured students had been shepherded to the auditorium. Perks of winning first place, it seems.
"What I'm about to tell you is very important. I want anyone listening to swear on their spirits that they won't tell another soul."
Silence reverberated before Kyrion went first, not knowing what that meant. "I swear on my spirits not to tell anyone else." Kyrion felt a pain in his chest near his core, a binding. Soon after being placed there, it faded into opaqueness. When he focused intensely, he noticed that he had another chain around his center only where that one was rigid. This one had room to wiggle.
"Kyrion!" Nico whisper yelled. "You can't just make spirit oaths like that. If you break it willingly or by accident, you lose your ability to use your spirits."
"Yeah, and Everest is our friend. If it's this serious then we should accept it. Though I oughta make him make a few soul oaths as well. That caught me off guard." Kyrion pounded on his chest before he drank his tea. No etiquette whatsoever.
The rest of the group made their promises before Everest was satisfied. "I'm training to become an assassin. My spirit isn't a tool, but that of the Dread Dracoider."
Nico gasped in shock, while the others seemed to not know what was going on.
"May I explain?" Nico asked.
"If you can go ahead." Everest sat back in his seat.
"You see, a Dread Dragon, spews a sticky substance that is highly flammable, their lairs are always covered with the stuff. Creatures that wander into the area and get trapped feel a sense of dread as they are burned to nothing, unable to escape hence the name. A Dracoider is a spider that has grown powerful enough to consume a dragon or has consumed enough cores to mutate it completely. In this sense a Dread Dracoider is able to create strong sticky webs that can be highly flammable." Nico felt proud with his explanation.
"Among other things, like silks that are as tough as steel but flexible enough to run around in." He pointed to the clothes he had made for everyone during their time here. "Some fire resistance is a given as well." Everest stopped.
Nico had a scowl on his face. "Now I can't add that to my bestiary…."
"The oath ended when you jumped in, so it should be fine. It's not like I told you anything particular to my case yet, and you all have seen me fight. So there isn't much for me to hide."
Asela was now highly grossed out by the fact that she was wearing sticky spider poop. "Wait, how does fire affect the clothes?"
"They won't get burned off in a fight easily and can be used to channel fire mana." Everest stated.
"I guess that isn't so bad. I want you to make an oath to make me a new one every year forever." Asela stated proudly.
"No dice. These products take time and effort, I can't just give away clothes, and that contract highly favors you with me gaining nothing in return. Only a fool would accept that sort of oath. "
"You will have my thanks." Asela promised.
"Ehhh, no. Final answer." Everest stamped down.
"How much would one of your robes cost anyhow?" Kyrion asked Everes, butting in.
"Right now, I'd say with a day's labor and my abilities, they could sell at a price of 5 silver credits. Since the cost of living is two silver a day for someone like me in Limguard. Though it may fluctuate depending on the country, you're in. Threads like this are pretty weak to any fire of a category higher than practitioner in power. The average everyday individual might consider a pair of my clothes a lifesaver or convenience. Mittens for taking food out of an oven or fire could sell pretty well…If I could get someone to help with marketing…."
Kyrion couldn't tell if he imagined Everest's eyes were gold coins. He did, however, know that the conversation had turned more to greed.
“Whats the difference between a coin and a credit?”
“Their general shape and the country you get it from. Credits can be more diverse in shapes while coins are mostly round. Gold is gold, so credits and coins share value. Silver and Tin vary by kingdom and I hear some kingdoms use copper instead of tin.”
"Are five silver credits a lot? We didn't really buy anything back home. If we needed anything we just traded our excess to someone who had what we needed."
"The average farming village will make a communal total of one gold credit a year, with various fees from hiring traders to sell said goods already deducted. One gold credit is worth one hundred silver credits, a silver credit is worth a hundred tin credits. If you own a home in the city then the minimum cost of living is 10 Tin credits a day which is around one meal a day. Three meals a day is around 36 Tin credits a day. Amenities and other non essentials can raise it quite a bit. Though your appetite, Kyrion, may cost around three silver credits a day." Everest explained in a surprising amount of forethought.
"So you're saying I'll need to make around one of your robes a day to survive?" Kyrion's eyes widened.
"Sell three you mean." Everest corrected.
Kyrion decided that the subject was getting into Nico's level of depth. "So why is it that so many of your powers have something fire-related?"
"Oh you see, fire is what you would call a common element that manifests naturally. Many creatures use it or have resistance to it while many tools require fire in its creation. Fire capable of harming a spirit master is a bit different from a spark used to start a campfire. At least it is after you enter practitioner rank. Nobody knows..." Nico began his lecture with a few groans escaping from the younger group members.
Kyrion took the time to peek at his center after realizing that he would probably be there for a minute and might as well use the time for something productive.