Chapter 45: Time and Dedication
John started his chant:
“Call upon from within, the wrath of your soul. For those that oppose you, let wrath eradicate. For those that deny you, let wrath negate. For those that rely on you, let wrath insulate. Unending, everwrath. They shall feel your fury.”
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Ability: [Everwrath Ursine]
Awakening Stone: Bear
Familiar (summoning, ritual)
Cost: Extreme mana
Cooldown: None
Effect (Iron): Summon an [Everwrath Ursine] to serve as a familiar.
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The boundaries of the room melted away. They were within a deep forest, green and full of life. Evergreens stretched towards the sky which peeked through the dense leaves. The smell of dirt, the bark of trees, and the smell of rain permeated the room. The temperature dipped just a bit due to the cool shade and comfort. Before them was a small clearing with a small lake, like the one Nara herself enjoyed.
The dirt rose, as if manipulated by an earth shaper. Grass, mud, stone, leaves, water, wood, and even clouds and air folded into a shape growing larger and denser over time.
The creature shook itself off, flinging away excess dirt, water, and leaves from its fur. It was a bear, beautiful and brown. Nara could only describe it as wild and pure, the sort of untouched nature that felt sacrilegious to contaminate. Her modern humanity was in offense to the sacrosanct of nature.
Towards any that disturbed its sanctum, the bear would show no mercy.
“You are Beorn,” John said, “Beorn the bear!”
The bear roared joyfully.
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Ability: [Everwrath Ursine]
Essence: Immortal
Familiar (summoning, ritual)
Cost: Extreme mana and extreme stamina
Cooldown: None
Effect (Iron): Summon an [Everwrath Ursine] to serve as a familiar.
* A physically resilient and powerful familiar with high regenerative properties.
* Can enter [Eternal Rage], where stamina and health are rapidly consumed for greatly increase [Speed], [Power], and damage resistance, affliction resistance, and effect resistance. This mode can be ended at any time. Once ended, this mode cannot be re-entered for 10 minutes. [Eternal Rage] is forcefully ended before the [Everwrath Ursine] is emptied of health and stamina, where it is then automatically subsumed into the summoner to recover.
* Can be subsumed within the summoner’s flesh, increasing physical strength.
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Nara remembered that Vallis spoke of nigh-unkillable familiars that were the partners of healers. It turned out that John was that type of healer. As long as he could keep the health and stamina of his familiar up, it would become a raging avatar of destruction. Even if he couldn’t, the familiar would be effective outside of rage mode.
Unlike Thanatos who was more mage-wolf, Beorn was a tank of health, resilience, power, and speed. Thanatos could still bully monsters lighter or smaller than it for now, but wasn’t that strong. Against the Iresythe, Beorn would just rip through its carapace entirely, then smash it to a bloody pulp.
Thanatos was magically big, but Beorn looked like a grizzly bear except it was the size of a polar bear, and built with additional heft. The only thought that ran through Nara’s mind was she wanted to pet the fuzzy brown chonk.
“Maybe the Russians have a point…” Nara said, restraining her hand that wanted to reach for the familiar. Would it be soft and fluffy? Maybe if they conditioned it?
John laid out on the ground, panting. The summoning had completely wiped him of almost all his mana and stamina.
“Just give me a few… going to get some shut eye.”
“Here? At least move to the couch, or one of the spare rooms. Your back’s going to hurt if you fall asleep on the floor…or it won’t.”
Gone were her own woes of back pain she realized.
He was out already, unresponsive. The combination of the rebound from ranking up and the rapid expenditure of mana and stamina emptied John’s energy, and he was out like a busted light.
“I wonder if he falls asleep quick because he’s a detective?”
Sen picked up John with surprising ease and set him down in one of the guestrooms of the suite.
*****
Once John recovered, Encio took the two to register at the Academy. All of them would help them create an efficient schedule. They’d need as many classes as possible to pass the exam in two months. Encio hadn’t gone through the Sanshi Adventure Academy system, but the other three had, in various paths.
Aliyah was like Nara, mostly taking academy classes to work on her combat capabilities. She was a member of the Magic Society, which had more advanced magic literature than the Academy taught had on hand. Nara took some specialty classes, but most wasn’t what John or Eufemia needed.
The only person who had gone through the Academy in its entirety was Sen, although he also received private schooling from his family on the side for things not taught, such as politics.
Encio well…Encio was just high spec. He had an immediate grasp on what John and Eufemia should be learning and created a rough draft of a schedule of classes they should sign up for. It seemed his father’s half of the family, who had married into the Aciano family, were involved in the adventurer education business.
Since John was a healer, he’d take Introduction to Healing Magic Theory, Combat Healing Basics, as well as the typical Sparring, General Combat Basics, Meditation Training, Mind Training, and Parkour classes.
Eufemia was a bit more complex. She would take the same typical classes, but she slotted in some Introduction to Artifice, Introduction to Ritual Magic, and Acting Performance. Acting Performance was more an elective, but she had the time to take at least a single class she held personal interest in, like how Nara took Music Performance. Pursuing personal passions was important to maintaining mental health.
The two of them hadn’t awakened an aura yet, so aura training would have to be put off.
“We won’t see you at the academy?” John asked.
“I’ll be there during the sparring classes,” Nara said, “But your investigation on me should’ve turned up that I had a mentor.”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Sorry about that,” John said, “Privacy laws aren’t quite the same here.”
“I don’t blame you. If I was in your position, and my mysterious ability told me about some person that may have a way back to the world I was originally from, and I had connections to the information powerhouse of the city, I’d probably ask for an investigation too. It was a logical action, except that I don’t really have a way back. Yet. Hopefully.”
“Well, I think it turned out very well for all of us,” John said. “Even if you don’t have a way back, I wouldn’t feel right leaving another outworlder from the same world behind. I’m glad it looks like you’re doing well and taken care of.” He patted her on the back.
“I am doing well,” Nara said brightly. “Although… monster hunter is not where I imagined my career going.”
“I could say the same about myself!” John said, “Never would I have imagined going from an intelligence officer of the National Crime Agency to a monster hunter either.”
“I was wondering why all your racial abilities are detective based, guess you really did some investigation.”
“No…” John said embarrassedly, “That’s just because I am a fan of the detective shows.”
“Books too?”
“Just about every single one,” he said. “I’ve been missing my stories. I can’t say procedurals and mystery are popular book genres here.”
“Hard to write a locked room mystery when a culprit could potentially teleport in and out of the room.”
“If there’s a mysterious death, most people conclude it was a monster or magic. Not much of a mystery then, and not much an ordinary detective can do.”
“But you’re acting as a detective, now.”
“A detective of sorts, more of an investigator. Turns out, I have some applicable skills even in an entirely new world. I’m grateful for that. Sorting through large piles of papers and information, communicating in every language, interviewing witnesses, and doing the grunt work is still necessary and useful.”
“Not everyone knows how to spot the shell corporation or track receipts.”
“That’s all there is to it. It takes dedication and time, and an eye for pattern and detail, which not everyone has.”
“You could say you’re fulfilling some sort of dream then, a detective in another world.”
John chuckled, “I wouldn’t say I wanted to be a detective. But now that I’m here, hey, why not give it a shot? I wonder if my family will even believe it if I told them. John Aurelius, magic detective.”
“Which part won’t they believe, the magic or the detective part?”
“I want to say the magic part!”
*****
As promised, Nara met John and Eufemia at the sparring grounds in the afternoon. The two had taken a single combat basics class in the morning, and John had already absorbed his own combat skill book.
“My case skill actually gave me this skill book,” John said, “The Stance of the Guardian.”
“That’s a pretty cool name.”
John laughed, “I think so too. Maybe I’m a bit cooler now?” He swung his fists a few times as if to shadow box.
“Did you get a skill book too?” Nara asked Eufemia.
“I did, From One to One Thousand. It’s not purely combat, but also how to change your movement and expression to become a completely different person, and in turn, a completely different fighter. Changing identities with a flip of a coin. It’s why I wanted to use with the skill book ability. So I can finally use this book John’s ability gave me. If I don’t have the ability—” she glared at John, who shrugged apologetically, “it’s not much of a reward for me now, is it?”
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Ability: [Clear Mind]
Essence: Light
Awakening Stone: Knowledge
Special Ability
Cost: None
Cooldown: None
Effect (Iron): You may use skill books for which you meet the requirements.
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Eufemia had gotten the skill book ability she wished for, although in an unexpected essence. Eufemia’s skill book had come from John’s Case Files, which she shared the benefits of through another of John’s Racial Abilities.
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Racial Ability: [Partner-In-Crime]
Share your racial abilities with an ally, with certain limitations.
Current Partner: Eufemia Teresina
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Unfortunately for Eufemia, one of those limitations was the ability to use skill books and absorb essence and awakening stones directly. She did however, still benefit from John’s ability to speak, read, and write any language, his dimensional inventory, his ability to conjure basic items, although there were distance limitations. She could also access the information John gained from his Magic Camera.
Nara had thought her skill book sounded suitably epic but left and right, John and Eufemia came out with their own bangers.
“How good are the two of you at fighting then?”
“I’ve done a bit of boxing myself,” John said, still launching fists into the air. “I think I can handle myself.”
“I’ve used a knife when…pushed,” Eufemia said, her pause suspect.
“Do either of you want a weapon?” Nara asked, “I’ll be using a sword.”
Eufemia decided to use a sword. Her ability to copy weapons meant that Nara’s and Encio’s weapons were strong options and something she should learn. Sen’s weapon was a staff, but he could change it into a glaive with a blade of concentrated fire.
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Ability: [Staff of Duality]
Essence: Zeal
Conjuration
Cost: High mana
Cooldown: None
Effect (Iron): Conjure [Searing Cold, the [Staff of Duality]]. [Searing Cold] can generate either a blade of condensed flame or a shell of cold on the weapon, costing low mana-per-second for either effect. The blade of condensed flame inflicts additional heat damage. The shell of cold inflicts additional cold damage. This is a heavy weapon.
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Sen’s staff was extremely heavy; Eufemia would not be able to utilize it effectively yet, so she started to learn the lighter swords of Nara and Encio first.
John opted for a baton that left his other hand free.
She and John faced off, suppression collars around their necks. Nara didn’t like the feeling of having her aura restrained so tightly, but it was a necessary step. Beorn sat in the dirt away from the two watching and enjoying the sensations of reality. A butterfly landed on his nose, making the massive bear look as cute as a button.
“I’ll try not to hurt you. I know essence users recover well but I wouldn’t feel proper,” John said.
Nara raised an eyebrow, “You’re saying that to me?”
“You’re my life junior.”
She shook her head in dismay, “Dude, just come at me.”
John lunged forward, swinging down with his baton. The form itself was correct, benefits born of a skill book, but Nara was starting to see the issues with skill book usage without dedicated practice now that she was on the other side of the process. Timing, distance, and flow were all wrong. She stepped a little backwards, causing the distance for John to extend awkwardly. He tried to reach a little forward to make the attack connect and it destabilized him. Nara stepped into his torso, grabbed his extended arm, pulling him close and tipping him over with some force applied to his front stabilizing leg. She wanted to say it was a smidgen of the Tai Chi lessons she took at her martial arts studio, but at this point it was all skill book knowledge.
John lay face first in the dirt field.
Nara looked down at him, crouched by his side, her shadow cast over his face when he rolled over.
“So, who’s the junior?”
“I’m the junior, I’m the junior,” John repeated.
“And I’m probably the third best in the group,” Nara said with a sigh, “Encio and Sen are combat menaces. Encio doesn’t even need swordplay to win, but you won’t catch him slaking.”
“Is this not odd?” John asked.
“What?”
“A bunch of kids like you fighting monsters. Training at an early age for this, their whole lives.”
“I’m young but not a kid,” Nara said.
“You’re in your twenties.”
“I was starting to wonder if my essences really de-aged me into my teens or something. Encio is a year older than me, and Sen is the youngest, at 18.”
“Isn’t it odd, though?”
“Our world has teenagers enlisting at 18 years of age or signing massive loans at that age,” Nara said, “I can’t say I think this is inhumane or anything. It just seems strange to you now that it’s a different world and nothing is normal, so everything stands out.”
John was silent for a moment.
“I’ve heard adventurers die,” he finally said.
“That’s true,” Nara conceded, “I imagine the death rate of adventurers is probably higher than ordinary soldiers from countries at peace. Take somewhere other than the western world, those embroiled in strife, and it may not be too different. It may be worse, but don’t have any statistics off the top of my head, and the situations aren’t entirely comparable. They need adventurers to fight monsters or people will die. At least here, it’s entirely voluntary. You can stop whenever you want.”
If lives were at stake, would Nara be able to stop? Was it voluntary then? Those pressing questions remained unanswered. But adventurers did retire. During monster waves, retired adventurers took on easier tasks—transporting supplies or portaling others, if they had the abilities. These were tasks new, hotblooded adventurers didn’t want to do since they didn’t build up their reputation quite so much. They were distinctly unimpressive on the resume, and was viewed as getting lucky with an inventory or portal power and coasting for easy cash.
Even as an Adventure Society member, the work was voluntary. She could accept all the contracts within her rank as long as she could handle them, or complete none. Some did so, doing the minimum to maintain membership to enjoy the benefits such as access to the Adventure Society trade halls and auctions. The only requirement was to participate in monster surges to protect the people, which occurred on average every 10 years.
“Here,” Nara offered her hand and helped him up from the ground. She turned to Eufemia, “It’s your turn.”
“You’re serious? I have to spar you?”
“I had to spar Vallis…oh you don’t know her, but she’s from another one of them great families. Vallis Nisei.”
“A relative of that snake woman?”
“Point being, if you think I’m bad, you haven’t seen anything yet. I could sic Encio on you?” she offered.
“I’ll pass,” Eufemia grumbled, “Can you even call that training? I would be entirely one sided.”
“You’d be surprised. He’s a surprisingly good sparring partner.”
“Does that man have anything he’s bad at?”
“I haven’t found one yet.”
*****
How does Encio learn so quickly?
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Racial Ability: [Quick Mind]
[Spirit] increases as [Speed] increases. Learning speed is increased.
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He’s not telling anyone. This is his little secret.