'Break the orbs open, huh...? They didn't seem very breakable to me.'
Even at full strength, Reivan doubted he could make a scratch in the mysterious spheres the Spirit Tower gave out to their initiates. But then again, it wasn't too hard to imagine a way for even mortals to do so.
'I bet my right testicle that there's a spell for it.'
Reivan shared a glance with Aldimir, and judging by the vigorous youth's confused expression, it seemed he didn't have a concrete idea either.
Aldimir seemed to see this as his queue to raise his hand and make a show of himself. “Me, Elder! I want to crack open my orb!”
“That’s the spirit! The young should be spirited!” Elder Bernadine heartily said as she scanned the hall, seemingly taking count. “Alrighty then. I think we’re all here. So let’s start the orientation.”
With a snap of her fingers, the books stacked in the golems’ hands flew around and deposited themselves in front of each student.
Reivan took his and slowly ran a hand over the hardcover, noting how the thick tome had no title whatsoever — just a blank cover and nothing else. He was tempted to look inside but he resisted the urge in time for the Elder’s next words.
“Those are to be read later, not now. Those tomes detail a number of military-grade spells that you are required to learn in the next six months. Don’t worry, they’re a tad bit harder than the spells you’ve learned in the past, but they’re not as hard as you’d expect. Six months is a very generous deadline and there’s plenty of time for you to get accustomed to casting them.”
There was visible relief on some people’s faces at her assurance. Seemingly noticing this, Bernadine continued in a more subdued tone.
“In particular, the most important spell inside is the one that lets you form a temporary contract with the spirit beast inside your orbs. This process is called orb cracking and it isn’t that hard at all. Additionally, if you still haven’t learned it in a week, you may ask for help from an instructor.”
“Eh? Doesn't that mean we don’t have to learn it ourselves…?” Aldimir whispered to Reivan under his breath, careful not to let anyone else overhear.
Unfortunately for him, the elder was an Ascendant. She was still smiling, but her eyes contained a slight edge as her gaze fell on Aldimir. “While some may take my words as an opportunity to cut corners, I would like to remind you all that while the Tower is an institute of learning, none of you are students — you are employees in training. So we’d like it if you showed some initiative, with the intention of receiving as little spoon-feeding as possible.”
Aldimir feigned a cough and sat up a little straighter, glad that not everyone in the hall noticed who the soft reprimand's target was.
Satisfied with the young man’s reaction, Bernadine turned her attention elsewhere. “The first month will be one of the easiest and carefree months you’ll spend in this profession, but it will reveal just how much we can count on you. Everyone knows that we foster camaraderie and teamwork here. But while a whole is greater than the sum of its parts, those parts must have some value on their own. That is why we’d like to take some time to develop independence in each of you.”
“Moving on…” The elder cleared her throat and continued. “There are no such things as classes and lectures in the Tower — everything you learn, you learn yourself. The knowledge is there for the taking. Hell, knowledge walks around all over the place in the form of your seniors and elders. How much of that knowledge you absorb and turn into power is up to you and your efforts.”
“And may I emphasize that you must turn that knowledge into power. Your ability scores have been revealed to you during your oath-taking, so you know where your strengths and weaknesses lie. While we value sociability and academic might, there are certain enemies you cannot defeat with charisma and book smarts. You will need adaptability and practical ability. Do keep that in mind.”
Someone raised their hand and it didn’t take long for Reivan to notice that it was someone he knew — Inaria Netral.
Obviously, the Elder noticed her as well. “Yes, dear? You have a question?”
“If I may. Will we be regularly evaluated on this, Elder?” Inaria stood up and asked, her gaze clear and resolute. “And how often? I'd like some time to leave Vel Ayala from time to time, so I’d like to know how often I can go.”
“An excellent question.” Bernadine smiled and gestured for her to sit back down. “You will all undergo an assessment at the end of every month. Your results in these tests — which focus on your practical abilities — will be a deciding factor in your squad arrangements. You aren’t expressly required to remain in the Tower except for those times, but we do encourage you to stay here and focus on learning.”
“So it’s based on skills, huh…” Aldimir whispered to Reivan, apparently not having learned his lesson yet. “Bummer. I wanted to squad up with you, Clover.”
Reivan raised a brow at this. “I would’ve thought you’d want to surround yourself with girls.”
“Nah, that’s a recipe for disaster, my friend." The young lecher shook her head and leaned closer to explain. "How can you mess around if you’re always with them? You’d get caught, mark my words. They'd know each other's scents too and might even tell each other, so they'll know who you fucked with. If they're chill about it, then great, but if not, then you’d get stuck in an awkward situation with them for months or even years until you're placed on a different squad. That’s a hard pass for me.”
‘...In a weird way, this guy is actually kind of smart, huh? What a fucking waste of a good brain though.’
“I’m sorry, Elder.” Inaria raised her hand again, tapping the book with her other hand. “But I have another question. I’ve skimmed through this grimoire and saw that it has about five spells in it. What if someone learns it all before the deadline? Would they be free to access the archives to learn other spells? And may we bring the books out?”
“An eager one, hm? I like that. I like that very much indeed.” Bernadine was visibly pleased by the young beauty, answering with a warm smile while bouncing on her feet. “After orientation, you will have access to both the Upper City and the first floor of the Bronze Archives. We’d like to strongly emphasize the need to learn the spells in that textbook first before exploring what library the library has to offer though. Due to some changes regarding your batch of first years, you will have other things to keep you busy than expanding your repertoire."
The elder was about to end it there, but then she added. "I almost forgot, barring some exceptions, you cannot take the grimoires out of the archives itself. You must read them there. You are allowed to take notes, of course, but you cannot transcribe the grimoires in any capacity.”
"I see." Inaria seemed satisfied for now and sat down. "Thank you, Elder"
"No problem, deary. If anyone else has any questions, feel free to ask. I do so encourage curiosity."
Nobody seemed to have any inquiries, so Elder Bernadins saw fit to continue. However, a flash of light suddenly erupted from the teleportation pad, making her eat her words. When the light dissipated, two people were now accompanying the previously solitary Bernadine.
One of the two new figures was familiar, a gaunt old battlemage named Ozran Esteros. He scanned the hall with mild suspicion before directing his sharp gaze at Bernadine. “I’m sorry I’m late.”
She waved away his concern. “I was just about to get to the part where you come in, so you’re actually right on time.”
“I see. Very well then, I’ll be taking over.” Ozran stepped forward and hopped off the pad. “Listen up, whelps. Due to some recent… innovations and generally to keep up with our constantly improving neighbors, your batch will undergo a modified — no, an improved curriculum, that will make use of some experimental changes and technology.”
Reivan’s eyes momentarily widened at the information but he quickly controlled his expression.
‘There are members of the Argonian imperial family in this batch of recruits and the previous one. Why in the world are they introducing supposedly improved stuff…? Oh, wait, maybe it’s a decoy so the imperials don’t get to take real information back home?’
If that was the case, then that was a pretty good move for Arkhan in general. The acceptance of foreign dignitaries into their institution outwardly proved that they wanted to foster better relations, but at the same time, they also protected their secrets.
‘Well, that’s not good for me though. I came here to get real info! What the fuck!’
Reivan sighed in his heart. Perhaps it wasn’t possible to get a better read on their ways if they were hiding it so much, but he could still take back a copy of their archives. Plus, there was obviously his most recent boon — the spirit beasts he caught and a bunch of those amethyst orbs.
He felt better about it when he thought of it that way, so that’s what he’d be going with for now. At least until he found some conclusive evidence of why the Tower decided to test out a new curriculum at this specific time.
“The biggest and most idiotic reasons why new battlemages die…” Ozran paused, turning around and pointedly looking at Aldimir. “Is because they end up dropping their wands and becoming useless.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Wh-why’s he looking over here…” Aldimir muttered, shrinking into himself.
“Just stop talking,” Reivan whispered back without sympathy. The fault for why the elders tagged him as a troublemaker obviously lay on the perpetrator, so there was no reason for Reivan to console the man.
Ozran looked away from them and continued scanning the room. “There are many reasons to drop one’s wand other than the sheer fact that they’re an irrefutable clutz. It could be because the opponent knows that separating you from your wand makes you useless. Or it could be that a monster’s preemptive attack takes your entire arm off before you can even draw.”
“In any case,” Ozran continued, his sharp gaze boring down on them all. “For centuries, we have been trying to create a better alternative for wands, something less likely to be taken from you. The wand wasn’t conceived by simply carving a few hundred runes on a smooth stick. There are other considerations, and that is why we couldn’t simply make necklaces or belts that did what wands did.”
“That changed a few years ago.” The Ascendant battlemage turned to the man he came with, a lanky old gentleman with a messy head of brown hair on its way to turning gray. “Mr. Calrada, if you would please.”
“Of course.” The elderly man stepped up and smiled, though he was quite obviously nervous about being looked at from every direction. “A pleasantly chilly morning to all. I am Atos Calrada, just one of the researchers supported by the Spirit Tower.”
“Applaud,” Ozran stated shortly after the other man’s introduction, and everyone followed along like obedient little zombies, unwilling to earn the battlemage’s ire by not clapping. After a few seconds, he gestured for them to stop. “Mr. Calrada here will show you what he invented and explain its intricacies. Listen carefully. No talking. Or whispering.”
Aldimir was once again given a dirty glare, making him shrink back even more.
Seemingly satisfied, Ozran nodded toward Atos Calrada.
“Yes, uh, thank you, Elder Esteros.” Atos awkwardly cleared his throat before pulling up his sleeve to show off his arm, slowly pacing around the pad to give everyone in the circular hall a chance to see. “This is… uh, well, the name's a work in progress, but my colleagues and I call it the Wizard’s Claw. Or Wizard Claw. Or just Claw... Eh, we're not that strict about it. Just call it whatever suits you.”
Reivan carefully observed the man’s arm — specifically the hand.
There was a silver ring on each finger, and each ring was connected to a bracelet by very thin chains. It was a strange style of accessorizing, especially in the Republic, where fashion was relatively subdued.
But in fact, Reivan had encountered this type of jewelry in his past life, he just didn’t know what it was called.
‘I remember thinking they were cool when I was in a bit of a phase…’
Luckily, having a fashionista of a little sister who bluntly said if things were tacky or gross beat the emo out of him rather quickly, not even lasting a full week.
Or rather, she forced him to see common sense.
‘Well, I still think they’re cool… I just wouldn’t wear them myself.’
The researcher must have been great at his job without a doubt, but public speaking just wasn’t in the cards it seemed. Though he tried to explain what the Wizard’s Claw did and why it was even called a claw despite not being one, he kept on diverging from the topic by talking about specialist knowledge that Reivan and the other first years couldn’t parse.
What Reivan did manage to get out of the explanation was how the rings were apparently very thin wood encased in a special alloy that acted very much like a wand’s core. The wood inside the metal had all the runes carved into it, so enemies wouldn’t even notice a spell was being cast.
Or so the researcher said, but the following demonstration proved otherwise. The glow of the runes was certainly hidden but the entire thing — rings, chains, and the bracelet itself — lit up whenever it was used. In Reivan’s opinion, the claw was even more conspicuous than the wand’s glow since it turned the wizard into a lightbulb in the dark.
‘The nifty part is how spells don’t need to come out of the wand’s top now…’
One would think that when using the Wizard’s Claw, spells that usually took effect by erupting from the wand’s top would instead come out of the finger or the palm instead. But the demonstration, once again, proved otherwise when the researcher cast a missile-based attack spell from his forehead.
Apparently, it could now come out of anywhere close to the sorcerer's body.
‘Someone’s going to make it come out of their ass or their dick. I can already tell who… And it might even be me. I'm honestly curious what that would look like.’
Not even missing a heartbeat, Aldimir mimed something explosive coming out of his crotch and Reivan knew that he wasn’t the only one thinking about stupid things in the middle of a serious demonstration. All around them, he could notice a few boys making the same joke to their friends.
If Elder Ozran noticed this, he must have ignored it or given up on the first years entirely, because he scolded Bernadine for giggling before stepping up again. “Thank you, Mr. Calrada, for your… very detailed explanation.”
“It’s no problem, no problem at all.” Atos chuckled nervously. “Uhm, I’ve been gradually improving it and taking out all the kinks with the help of feedback from Elders, but this is the first time that... less experienced sorcerers will be using them. If you notice anything, please don’t be afraid to approach me in the research department at the—”
“All feedback,” Ozran Esteros cut him off. “Will be submitted to any Elders in charge of guidance.”
“O-oh, yes, of course.” The elderly researcher nodded shakily.
Bernadine took that opportunity to jump back into the fray, pushing the two men’s backs. “Alright. That’s that. Go away, you two. I’m sure you’re both busy.”
“Right. I’ll leave it all to you, then.”
“Of course! I've been doing this for years!”
Ozran nodded before putting a hand on Atos’ shoulder. A heartbeat later, both of them vanished.
“Alrighty then! Let’s get on with it.” Bernadine bubbly raised a finger and countless bronze objects appeared in the air above her. She was also noticeably wearing a Wizard’s Claw now, and with a wave of her hand, the objects flew onto the tables, each landing in front of a student.
Reivan picked it up and turned it over, muttering to himself. “A… belt buckle, right?”
“Correct, Brother Salwyn.” Elder Bernadine clapped her hands together once and began to explain. “Those buckles are spatial storage artifacts. You’ll find a belt to attach them to inside, as well as your uniforms — both combat and standard. There are a few other things too, so after orientation, you can take a look inside and explore what they do. Oh, and before I forget, those things aren’t very high-quality spatial storage artifacts, so they only have space to contain what’s already inside them. And they’re meant to contain those, so please don’t use them to store unnecessary things.”
After a gently, but warning, scan of the hall, Bernadine proceeded with orienting the first years of how the tower worked and what the next month was going to be like.
----------------------------------------
It was around lunchtime when the orientation ended, which lasted slightly longer than anticipated because they were escorted to all the new places they had access to now and some people ended up getting too excited, delaying their itinerary. After having a quick meal with Aldimir and a few other women — and a few young men — he didn’t really care to know too much about, Reivan went back to his room to decide on his next course of action.
The first years were given an extraordinary amount of freedom, but then again, their continued employment hinged on their performance. So Reivan supposed that the possibility of wasting years of effort and studying to get to this point was enough of a motivation for most people to manage their time well on their own.
‘I could go back to the embassy for a while…’
All Reivan had to do was take a train somewhere remotely close to where Valter was currently stationed in secret, and then he’d just jump into the knight’s black puddle, reaching his destination in an instant.
He had many things to deal with on that side, after all. There was, first and foremost, the pearl of wisdom he obtained from Aguru. And of course, he had to tell his family about the almost transcendent monkey that nobody knew about. There was plenty of benefit from dealing with Aguru, and Reivan was reluctant to let the chance pass by.
Then there were the orbs, the stuff with Ouroboros, and generally just showing people he was still alive.
Seeing his fiancees again was, he admitted, a big part of why he wanted to go back for a bit. He hadn’t seen or even communicated with them since he took Clover’s identity, so he was starting to get really… lovesick.
‘I… probably shouldn’t though.’
Reivan licked his lips and fixed his glasses, taking a seat on his bed. Though he wanted to head back, he knew that he probably shouldn’t.
Clover Salwyn no longer had any family outside as far as the Tower was concerned. And since his lover either got extracted or shipped off to Pentagoria by a slave syndicate, Clover didn’t have a significant other outside either. Hence, there was no reason for “Clover Salwyn” to leave, and doing so for no good reason would place Reivan under suspicion.
If that wasn’t enough, the mysterious deaths of twenty-six recruits this year probably sent the Tower into very high alert. Hell, he wasn't truly sure he was off the hook for that, but he was always ready to ring a bell and get out of here.
‘Fuck…’
Reivan lay down and sighed, not even bothering to take off his glasses as he pressed a pillow against his face. He didn’t know if the loneliness was making him smarter, but he did have a plan to force things a little.
Aldimir had mentioned in passing that he knew a few brothels in the town Valter was stationed in, so Reivan could, through a fair bit of acting, stoke Aldimir’s desire to return there. Reivan would just have to come along and find a way to give Aldimir the slip once they were in the town itself.
That said, no one in their right mind would waste a couple of days just to go to a brothel a few towns over — especially when they had five very important spells to learn, each of which was harder than the spells they were used to. Reivan didn’t think that even Aldimir was stupid enough to go without enough leeway.
‘If nothing else, I need to at least offload the intel about Aguru... But how?’
Suddenly, there was a knock on his door, so Reivan sat up and set aside the pillow he'd been smothering himself with. “Who is it?”
“It’s me! Your coolest friend!”
“What the hell are you doing here, Aldimir…” Reivan muttered under his breath, getting up to open the door and let the young man in. “What do you want?”
Aldimir grinned, placing a hand on Reivan’s shoulder. “You must still be bummed out about Maya, right?”
“Well… I’d be lying if I said I felt nothing.”
“I get it. She was a good catch, that one."
Aldimir bobbed his head in understanding with a solemn expression, seemingly taking a few seconds of silence to pay respects to the dead. But that didn't last long, because he returned to grinning like an idiot right afterward. "How about you come with me to that town we were talking about a few days ago? I know a guy who can get us stuff to cheer up.”
Reivan frowned.
‘Why is it this easy…?’