“Could you please enlighten me Elyssia… what type of magic do you use?” Asks the Inquisitor of Epros.
I stare daggers at Valka who, by her posture, knows damn well she fucked up. I was only gone for a minute or two and she spilled info Mom and Dad managed to withhold for hours. I hope she has a rock-solid excuse or I’ll make her starve for a day.
I would love to act as pissed as I feel, I really would…
My eyes land on whatever Val is even now snaking on. “If you answer, you get some.” Damian says and another bowl appears on the table out of the blue, containing the same small brown bricks.
My first guess is that I’m dealing with a space-attuned mage just like Martha, yet when my eyes land on his hand… A spatial ring, it has to be.
I sigh and start speaking since the cat is already out of the bag. “I can use-”
Then commotion outside disrupts me just at the right moment.
“You will let me in!” I hear a voice through the door that might get me out of trouble. Or get me into even more trouble.
Katherine along with another knight stationed inside the room draw their swords and approach the door. When they tear the poor wooden thing open we find the back of two other unfortunate guards in the middle of getting an earful from Martha.
The moment her eyes land on us she teleports inside, past all the warriors and right behind my chair. Of course, the four swords follow and point at the old mage’s throat menacingly, further increasing the tension.
“I would like to have my cadets back.” She states with utter calmness.
“You’re infringing on an official Magisterium investigation!” The Judge states as her sword starts crackling with lightning. “Leave or else-”
“Calm your nerves girl, before you get hurt!” Martha looks at her with her signature purple lightning gathering in her eyes. The energy lashes out and slaps the sword away without Martha moving even a muscle. “I’d love for you to try.” She holds Katherine’s gaze for a good few seconds before huffing and ignoring her completely.” The girls are special, as you might’ve already guessed Inquisitor.”
The deadly standoff persists until Damian opens his mouth. “I was in the belief that you retired.”
“I did.” Martha answers. “Yet some people still feel the need to disturb the sheathed sword. The girls are both Blessed and in our care, now if you would be so kind as to let them return with me…”
Damian chuckles and shakes his head. “Unfortunately I must insist they exhibit their capabilities. I can forgo learning about what our dear younglings exactly are, however, Blessings are different. The potential of such powers is near limitless and a specific one could very well have caused our current predicament.”
So that’s why we’re still here… Although the reasoning feels a little off to me. I doubt he’s truly suspecting us but whatever, I’m done dealing with this.
“Knife, anyone?” I ask and hold my hand out.
After a moment of befuddlement, Damian pulls a sharp blade out from his ring and hands it over. I quickly check on the tool with Mana Vision just to see the small weapon essentially blazing with mana. The thing is probably made by a craftsman of incredible skill and enchanted to a ridiculous extent. It might actually be able to cut Val.
Good, she deserves it.
I grab her forearm, pull the sleeve back, and drag the blade across her skin. She yanks her arm away giving me the ‘the fuck was that for’ look. All it creates is a tiny line and a trickle of blood, both of which disappear a second later.
Then I snap my fingers, ignite a small spark, conjure some water since there’s not much moisture inside this room, send the air dancing through my hair, and make a spark of lightning play hopscotch between my fingers.
“Satisfied?” Martha asks, giving the two investigators a flat look following my demonstration.
“Far from it.” Damian sighs. “I find it curious that two of the special children of our time coincidentally ended up in your respectable organization’s care. Not to mention the three others I’ve heard of, enjoying fame in the Academy.” Damian leans back in his chair. “It must’ve been fate I imagine… You joined by your own free will, right kids? Nobody forced your hands?” He turns to us with malicious eyes.
This is bad, and not just for me.
I feel cold sweat running down my back as my mind is about to explode trying to come up with suitable half-truths and whatnot. It’s not guaranteed this snake of man can detect lies but I’d certainly bet on it and from what I’ve heard admitting to kidnapping Blessed kids is frowned upon so to speak.
Then I realize… do I even need to lie?
“Not originally.” I admit and hear Martha almost choke on her breath.
A dangerous gleam flickers through Damian’s eyes. “Just as I thought, they’re forcing you to be part of-”
“But I didn’t have much other choice back then because you’re incompetent at your jobs.” I interrupt and it feels so fucking good saying this right to their faces.
“Excuse me?” The man blinks and dangerous clouds gather over Katarina’s eyes.
“You heard me.” I shrug. “Back when I turned nine dozens of assassins came after me for weeks. They went after my parents and even kidnapped me from my own room. Heck, they tried again a few months ago. It’s supposed to be your job to prevent something like this from happening, but you didn’t.” I keep speaking the truth no matter the looks I receive. “You failed at you-”
“Watch your tongue!” Katherine finally snaps. “Insolent brat, what do you know?”
“I know that if not for them with their unfair offer and stupid rules I wish I’d be dead by now.” I reply in kind, standing to my full height and letting the chair hit the ground behind me. “I know that they died protecting me and you didn’t. I saw kids, innocent and so young, blessed with this curse die while you were nowhere to be seen.” I’m angry at them, I’m angry and disappointed. “And now that I don’t need you, now that I’ve fought and killed for myself… now you show up only to be a pain in the ass. I think I know more than enough.”
Damian’s sunny visage has long crumbled and no rebuke comes from the woman either. What could they even say? They didn’t know? It wasn’t their fault? I don’t care because it still felt good.
“So while they aren’t exactly good people and I really hated everything even the same color as their stupid corps my mind has changed.” I finish my monologue. “Today I’m here because I want to and I’m happy with what I have.”
This time the stupid knight of a bitch doesn’t yap flap her mouth pointlessly. Speaking like that when she’s the one who knows so little… another name on the ‘beat to near death’ list.
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Probably feeling a little awkward sitting in complete silence for seconds, finally, someone speaks up. “Oh no, totally free will. Their food is absolutely amazing and they know their stuff when it comes to fighting. No regrets.” Val answers and eats another bite of that brown stuff.
That’s right, she really did join on her own accord. No Bennett showing up one day, no assassins on her heel, just the drive to grow stronger. Okay, I did kinda force her, just a bit, but realistically it was a deal and she agreed to it… I’m not a bad person, okay?
The knife zips out from my hand as if guided by invisible strings, right back into Damian’s grip. No more venomous smile, no curious eyes, none of that crap.
“The same request I made to your parents also stands for the two of you.” He waves for everyone to lower their weapons. “You may leave. We’ll find you if we have any further questions.”
With the path cleared to freedom I repress the urge to spit and move towards the door but not before grabbing the entire bowl of brown bricks. I answered as promised and he never specified how many I could take. Valka copies me with a cheeky chuckle and er leave the fancy bastards behind.
“Impecable timing, Martha.” I sigh in relief before trying the snack that got Valka talking.
A feat even torture would have difficulty achieving yet this small bite loosened her tongue like nothing else. And after it melts in my mouth I can totally understand why. It’s sweet, smooth, velvety, with a little bitter aroma… It’s so fucking good.
“Martha,” I speak, still influenced by the bliss in my mouth. “what is this called? This gift from the Gods…”
She chortles before plucking a piece from my hand.” It’s called chocolate.” She sighs in satisfaction after the bite. “It’s imported from Ah’raban and rivals diamonds in price.”
“Never heard of a place like that.” I tilt my head. The age-old indication of further elaboration needed. “Never seen that name on the Green Sea map either.” Or the one in the goblin village we turned to rubble.
“Of course you haven’t,” Martha huffs. “It’s a whole ocean away to the southeast.”
Another place added to the must-visit list.
“Mom, Dad, we secured some loot!”
----------------------------------------
“What are your thoughts?” Katherine asks the man she finds difficult to understand even after decades of working alongside him. “Should we widen the search area?”
There are only two of them in the interrogation room now after the family left.
“I don’t care about the case right now. This… this is far more intriguing.” Damian answers, deep in thought. “Do you understand what we’ve seen? That knife should’ve severed the girl's arm, even in the hand of a Mage.”
“I know, I didn’t sense any Skills at work from either of them. We might need to eliminate her before she grows.” The woman looks at her own arm and drags a finger over the armor as if cutting it. “And the other…”
“Yes, she commanded four elements below even the level 144 milestone. Either way, it’s impossible. Or so we thought until now.” He chuckles.
A notebook appears in his hand, seemingly pulling itself out of a ring on his hand. He starts scribbling furiously while nodding and gesturing as if talking to someone.
“Should we eliminate them?” The woman asks.
“No, killing any of them would be a waste and quite the opposite of our oaths even if they pose a threat. You and I both know what elements like them would mean in securing stability. They could help us take down the Banners, or humble Medici.” The quill snaps in his hand as the name of the nation he despises with all his heart leaves his mouth. “The creator of the chimera should have disappeared by now from what they’ve shared. Those rabbits were nothing more than a failed attempt.” He discards all his tools and locks his fingers. “Keep up the facade of investigation and try learning more about our little birds!”
“The Fist won’t make that easy.” Katherine frowns. “Especially not here, in the seat of their power.”
“Power or not… the law is on our side.” Despite a conclusion being reached Katherine doesn’t react, rebuke, or even leave him as she usually does due to their personalities being polar opposites. “Is something troubling you?”
“It was the truth. Every word she said.” Katherine slumps down in a chair. “We failed them.”
“We are not to blame. Not entirely at least.” Damian sighs, raking his fingers through his hair. “Sure we were unprepared for a hunt and didn’t mobilize to protect those kids but whoever went after them was good. They covered all their operations and left almost no evidence.”
“But why didn’t anyone just inform us?”
“Same reason as the Fist if I had to guess.” Damian said matter of factly. “To profit and save their own skin. It’s impossible to even prosecute them without admitting to our incompetence and the higher-ups would never agree to that. But we did however catch quite a few of them, remember?”
“Yeah, half a year ago.” Katherine slapped the table, breaking it with ease. “It should’ve been four. This is not the job I signed up for.”
“And yet it always has been.”
----------------------------------------
I always wanted to visit this building whenever I walked the streets of Granhall. It looked fancy and fancy things are rarely boring while always a wonder to the eye. All my dreams and urges to explore this place through the years aren’t even comparable to the relief I feel when finally outside its walls.
A den of snakes is what it is.
Drinking deep from the fresh air the smell of street food assaults my nose. That chocolate thing might’ve been a drop of godly miracle but clearly not enough to feed my body. Unsurprisingly I’m not the only one relying on my sense of smell to guide my steps and Val turns to the right just after coming down the steps leading to the hall of governance.
There I see my parents, the bestest parents, with skewers of sizzling meat and a huge bag of roasted potatoes in their arms.
“When we saw Martha storm in through the front door we knew that things would most likely be fine. Or in the worst-case scenario, we’d have to flee the country. “ Dad’s comment is met with an indignant grunt from said old woman. “So we made an educated guess on what your first demand would be tight after we’re done here. Wasn’t too difficult to predict, let’s be honest.”
No words of appreciation or rebuttal to the false accusation. We race towards the food and snatch it out of generous arms, gobbling down every bite after hardly any chewing. It’s been more than half a day since we last ate.
I change my mind, meat is still the best.
***
“That’s concerning.” Martha concludes after hearing about our first-ever adventure.
I must say that either we’re damn unlucky, have terrible taste when picking a mission, or the Blessing just played its part and nudged us toward the nearest pile of crap in case we missed having problems in our lives. Maybe a mix of them all. I will never stop hearing Mom brag about her ‘adventurer instincts’ and how she called it…
We’re back in Karon Fort. Relaxing after the monumental feat of a second lunch and assessing the type of shit that we fell into this time.
“What exactly does the Magisterium do?” I ask. “How come those fancy dudes acted like they owned the place?”
I know they uphold laws and act like some sort of guardians without boundaries but there’s surely more.
“Their authority is only below that of the imperial family in Valeria.” Martha makes a simple wooden chair appear underneath her bum as she plops down, an age-old trick of hers and a herald of a long story. “Their enforcers are powerful, although not to a point where enough guards or an imperial detachment couldn’t force them back. We’d also have no problem handing them their asses if it wasn’t for the consequences. They are the guarantors of Hadron trade across Eborden, supervising every step from the mining to the market rates. Denying their authority also draws significant international backlash and usually brings any group to its knees economically.”
That’s like denying air to the people. Who was the moron who gave a random, independent, pretty righteous, and quite powerful group that authority? Why would any nation ever hand over their rights in the first place?
“All in all, a small island in the middle of the Azure Shores was given too much authority.” Martha sighs. “Their original purpose, to uphold the laws regarding magic, still accounts for most of their activity, however, political meddling has started to pop its head up in recent decades.”
Wonderful. Just brilliant. Just when the prince’s hounds are off my neck and I can mostly roam free living my life, another force sets its eyes on me…
“Any other great news?” I ask.
“Well, to satisfy your sarcastic side… you might be stuck here for a week or two before they wrap things up and ‘conclude’ that you had no hand in the creation of those abominations.” Wha? “Before you ask, yes, they can do that.”
“That sounds so shit…” I throw my arms in the air and whine. “Will there never be a time when I can just go wherever I want? What are we gonna do here for weeks? I’m already bored. What are we gonna fight now?”
“Each other?” Val shrugs with a slight grin. “And maybe you can finally decide on a second Class. It’s about time you stop stalling and just make up your mind.”
Tag was the king of games for me when I was little. It was fun, and tactical, and winning it always felt sweetest. For Valka, that game was full-contact brawling, or so she told me. Beating up each other is what she grew up doing and it looks like she still hasn’t shed her love for the ‘game’.
Brute.
At least the second part of what she said wasn’t complete nonsense. We can’t let that second slot sit wasted forever. Just the good old choose what you feel like might work and if it doesn’t… well I already know what it takes to reset a Class.
“If actual good news is what you expected…” Martha speaks again. “In a month you’ll probably have the whole gang to romp around. The last three months before the entrance exam are summer break for all students and I’ve already sent word to Sereban. Sorry to spoil your surprise return if you planned any.”