Demon continent Alsace in the year 299 in the 12 month Eloudum on the 23 day after the shattering of the empire
"No, no, no. I've told you how to do it many times and you just do something else. Arg how many times do I have to show you before you understand? Does this just not want to get into your skull or what? Oh Lilith and Asmodus have mercy on this child of yours." Asked Larissa in an increasingly high-pitched voice after each question.
All the children under ten had gathered in her tent to be instructed by her in the use of the Arcane Energies.
All the children had played with the toys of the Cirkati from an early age, which had set them on their path and shown them which Arcane Energies they had a talent for. This could be determined by the toys, as well as by the Arcane Energy accumulated by the children through them. Thus, each child had already formed its own core at the age of eight. What would have been a human child, an impressive achievement would have been, with the demons, however, not. In a race that naturally comes into the world with a level three core, they were outsiders, the shame of the race.
And now for several weeks they were being taught by Larissa to move away from intuitive accumulation and toward conscious accumulation.
There seemed to be no difference and all were taught one and the same method. A simple one, which only allowed them to continue to fill up a core and thereby upgrade it and reach a new level. No attention was paid to what kind of physique the children had or what kind of arcane energy they used at all. Also, no training of the meridians was done to prepare them for upcoming use and larger amounts. And to purify Arcane Energy from that and thereby purify one's own body was unheard of, at least that's how it appeared to him. Which had also led to Larissa's outburst just now, as she was not using the method she had asked for, but was using his own.
He let out a long breath. Her, he had called himself her again. A mistake... Was it a mistake, then? He had a female body, after all, even if there wasn't much of it yet, except for the fact that he didn't have a penis. The clothes he wore were no more feminine than those of the boys and consisted of simple linen pants with a cotton shirt, both in the natural colors of the fabrics. But that was another point, it was not paid attention in the Cirkatis of which sex of the practitioner is again a problem of physique. "...rst you to me. Cali I demand of you that you listen to me." He directed his gaze again to Larissa, who had stepped in front of him and was now explaining to him again how he had to use arcane energies.
If he used her method, he would never be able to climb even one reasonable level. He would certainly not dig his own grave and build his foundation on shaky legs.
Unfortunately for him, he had not been able to convince Sia and Sappho that he alone could accumulate arcane energies better. The argument that the arcane energy in the camp would not be advantageous for him and that he had to accumulate in the open air had not convinced them. Which had not surprised him, but he had still hoped against all odds that he could get away with it. The two of them, however, had taken one quick look at each other and dumped him at Larissa's tent with the reminder to be a good boy. As if he would ever misbehave or had ever brought up such an accusation.
The hissing sound of a cane made him swerve reflexively, which was rewarded with a crack of wood. Larissa looked at him angrily, and he looked at her somewhat sheepishly. He hadn't expected her to act on her warning.
"You dare to dodge after I've approached you several times and you haven't responded?" Anger seethed along in her voice and lightning seemed to shoot from her eyes. She deserved a tiny bit of attention, perhaps? He shook his head so that his black curls flew back and forth. What she was teaching was wrong, all the fibers of his self were against giving her even a second of his time.
Larissa, let the head shake differently, she saw in it a child who was afraid of pain, that it flinched from it. Which only made her angrier. Which immediately showed on her face. "You dirty little Cirkati, be a real demon and endure your pain." With that, she struck again.
In a moment imperceptible to anyone but him, he contemplated the situation. He would only get into more trouble and Larissa was too upset to be reasoned with. She had also broken one of the taboos by calling them "dirty Cirkati." They were Cirkati, but that was still a derogatory word used by the demons to refer to people like all of them. There was no need to give them the satisfaction of calling themselves that as well. And he would not let himself be beaten by a little power-mad tyrant, even if it saved him trouble.
So the cane missed the target for the second time, and this time he did not survive, as Larissa had used all the powers at her disposal. In an explosion of wood, the cane finished being there and became dangerous projectiles. Which a few moments later unfolded their effect and hit every child.
As if struck by lightning, Larissa was standing in the tent next to Cali when the screaming of children began around her. She looked around to survey the damage. Already healers came running into the tent, who had been waiting outside just in case. Immediately all the injured children were taken care of.
All this time Larissa was still standing in the tent as if struck by lightning, until she was led outside by one of the healers. This was apparently an unusual occurrence.
He personally could not see how what Larissa was teaching would help anyone. It could do undisclosed damage and weaken the Cirkati as a whole. He really couldn't feel sorry for her, as she was led out of the tent by the healer, she kept trying to explain what had happened and that she didn't mean to hurt anyone after all.
The anger alone showed that she was not suitable for teaching children, apart from the fact that what she was teaching was flawed or even completely wrong and would lead to different results for all the students.
A brief observation of the surroundings showed him that no one was paying attention to him, which let him take this chance and disappear into the forest to accumulate undisturbed Arcane Energy, which was of a higher degree than that prevailing in the camp.
This was a realization that had solidified itself in these lives Arcane energy was more potent the further one was from civilization. Several small personal expeditions had shown him that. In which he had moved further and further away from the camp.
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He also got the vague feeling that the arcane energy was flowing down from a mountain in the middle of the continent, like rain flowing down from a pointed tent roof. He just didn't know if the continent became more mountainous in the middle or if only the feeling gave this impression.
The rustling of eight feet in the undergrowth of the forest told him that he was being followed, and he could guess by whom. Therefore he allowed himself a joke and disappeared behind a tree and then climbed it.
From his elevated position he could see first Flure and then Lexington stumble into the small clearing under the tree, followed by Arle, behind whom Rezac was running.
Flure and Lexington, without paying much attention to tracks, just kept running past the tree where he was sitting. Arle followed them closely, showing that he was running after Flure, matching her speed exactly. Already all three had disappeared, only Arle had turned backwards to see where Rezac remained. The latter, meanwhile, had begun to scan the ground for tracks. Which led her to his tree without much trouble, which made her look up from where he was waving at her.
"Hi," she looked in the direction of the others and their increasingly quiet noise as they ran through the undergrowth. "We should probably run after them or they'll be searching the whole forest for you Cali." She looked at him again. He let his gaze wander behind his friends as well.
"Yeah, you're probably right, though I think that if they asked Arle he'd tell them you were here looking for something." She laughed as he was about to climb down. "You mean that Flure and Lexington would deign to admit that they were lost. - " She looked him straight in the eye. - "Good one Cali." He couldn't help laughing either. Before Flure and Lexington gave up their competition to lead their little group of friends, the three sisters would descend from the sky and grace them all with their presence. This, however, caused in to crash just before hitting the ground on his way down and land in a fern bush. This made Rezac laugh even harder as he rolled out of the fern bush.
"Ouch," and with more pained groans, he got to his feet next to Rezac. Which tried not to laugh further, knowing she was offended in her honor. Falling from a tree and then also in front of a girl, he had really fallen far. For the life of him, he couldn't remember anything so embarrassing ever happening to him in front of a girl. Which just meant it had never happened to him before, which made him feel a little more down.
All this commotion had attracted the other three again, who burst out of the undergrowth ready for a fight.
"Kuck told you I'd find Cali before you did." Said Flure to Lexington from above, literally, as she was almost a head taller than him.
"Oh you did, I can only remember like I! -" He pointed a finger at himself. - "Would find her first and that you! Should follow me." With which he tapped her on the chest with a finger. She swatted his finger away. "You want me to follow you? Ha, don't make me laugh. You wouldn't even find your way out of your cars if I didn't pick you up in front of them." Lexington gasped audibly. "You don't pick me up, I always wait outside your cars because you always oversleep." He angrily offered to her.
"Aren't I always the one who wakes you up?" Arle asked into the pause that had arisen. Both heads jerked towards him and at the same time both said. ""I thought you were on my side Arle?"" Without letting even a heartbeat pass, he said. "Well, I am. So really Lexington, had you ever listened to hallways like I do." Which he punctuated with a knowing look, however an eight-year-old could accomplish that. Like a nod to confirm his opinion. Lexington just looked at him with an open mouth and aghast expression. Until he caught himself and got it out of him. "We have to stick together, that's what Agenor told us." He walked up to the one head taller Arle, put an arm around his shoulders. "Us two guys -" Which he emphasized with a finger wandering between them. - "Have to stick together against the two girls. You understand." Arle looked from Lexington to Flure and Rezac and then to him. "Do I, the five of us..." That's as far as he got when Lexington already interrupted him. "No, no, no. -" He punctuated each no with vigorous nods of his head. - "It's us two against the girls. Got it?" He'd pointed at them both again, and then at Hallways and Rezac. "And what about Cali?" Arle asked. Lexington let out a long sigh. "What else did Agenor say remember."
"That we should always listen to Cali and that she's not like other girls. And that he will wait for her and want to make her his wife." Panic spread across Lexington's face, while she just frowned. Already he put his hand on Arle's mouth. Flure started laughing and continuing to argue with Lexington.
"Let me ask you another question, what were you trying to do out here Cali?" Rezac asked with a questioning look. "I told you about how I find it more comfortable and easier to accumulate arcane energy out here in the wilderness, and that's what I wanted to do." Which made Rezac nod in understanding. "Yes I remember you saying something like that. Alright then show us something, you disagreed with Larissa and made her destroy her stick."
Good, he hadn't really tried to make her mad, only he couldn't hold back and just do what she wanted since he saw no advantage in using her method. He also didn't really know if he should teach the others, he looked again at the face of each of his young friends. "Ok, why not you guys have to swear by the three sisters though that you won't tell anyone." That ensured he had the attentions of all four. He looked at each one again to make sure he wouldn't regret it.
""""By the three sisters, I swear I will not tell."""" With that done, they had sworn by the three sisters and could not break it.
"Well then, come along." With which he led them deeper into the forest for quite a while.
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Demon continent Alsace in the year 299 in the 6 month Aeigun on the 20 day after the shattering of the empire.
He, along with Lexington, crept up on the rat-like monsters, which were the size of a Great Dog, and the sewer system of Brea. They had done several such jobs in their time in Brea, from monster hunting to simple transportation tasks to any of the farms outside the city or simple errand running inside the city, which allowed all of them to earn some extra money.
Right now they were cleaning a part of the sewers from rats, which, as he could observe, all had a core that was tuned to the arcane energy found here. Something he had not yet observed in any monster, but was an interesting observation that might lead him to further thought, but not now. Now he had to concentrate on protecting himself and his team and using the magic he could learn from Larissa. For it is only through practice that one becomes a master and real experience.
So he continued to creep forward with Lexington to surprise the rats from a closer and for them from a more partial position. After a few heartbeats they were close enough that they could smell the rats. The rats seemed to communicate with animal sounds, not unlike their smaller fathers. When two of the four rats turned away, they struck out. He plunged the rats' world into darkness and cast another spell, confusing the rats' sense of direction. Meanwhile, Lexington sprinted next to him toward one of the two nearby rats to decapitate it with a well-aimed blow from his blade. This worked well, considering the circumstances, as he did not come to a stop on the slippery ground. His blade dug into the neck of the rat at the targeted spot, after which he slithered into it and fell to the ground with it, covered in its blood. At the same moment that he had cast his spell, Rezac had done the same and had killed one of the rats at the other end of the small fork in the road. A blue and white arrow shot from her hand towards the rat and buried itself in its chest. While all this was happening, Flure and Arle had jumped out of one of the other paths that crossed here and attacked the other rat farther away. He, meanwhile, had not remained idle, but had run towards the second rat, which was closest to him, and, thinking of the ground, he went on the attack and plunged his blade into the rat's chest, where he suspected the heart to be.
All in all, this fight, as well as the others, did not last long thanks to good preparation and good scouting. The rats, after cutting off their ears, threw them into the canal water flowing in the middle. After that they started their way back, since they were done with their work for today and hopefully the other children were done with theirs as well.
They came to the point where they had entered the sewer, where they found the other children, along with a strapped rat and great excitement. One of the children shouted over the others. "I heard them talking to other rats in our language." Which the other children dismissed with amusement until one of them kicked the rat. "Come on say something, if you beg we might let you live." To his surprise and that of all present, the rat directed his head at the young demon and spoke. "By Diva, truly you children Lilith and Asmodus have no idea what in the world caution goes that you think I beg Tora for his life." Before any of the children could react, the rat had freed himself and jumped into the floods of the canal water.
He as well as all the other children watched the disappeared rat for a long time until, amid murmurs and loud whispers, they all went upstairs to get some fresh air. He, however, stayed a while longer and thought about what had happened. These rats were different from the ones he knew, that much was certain. Also, did they seem to have some sort of god, or were they titan children? Questions to which he knew no answer.