The swooshing of an untrained sword echoed throughout the small plaza. Lying in the center of the house belonging to the longstanding Minister of the City-State Sanum was a small garden plaza that sported a foreign tree as its centerpiece. Everyone that lived or worked in the manor enjoyed spending their free time sitting there and enjoying the breeze that liked to sneak its way inside.
But for the past two weeks, from mid morning till lunch, the usually tranquil garden had been invaded by the three youngest people in the manor. During this time, swords swished through the air, and the occasional pangs of pain could be heard when two of the people dueled each other.
Every time it was the same person who yelped in pain. And every time it was that same person who lost the duel.
Aria swung the wooden sword in her hand with reckless abandon. To onlookers, it looked like someone had given a child a branch and told them to go play. If there was supposed to be swordsmanship in the swings, none could see it. Even the one teaching her had trouble seeing anything he was trying to teach her in the swings.
“How many times do I have to tell you? If you just swing wildly like this, you won’t get anywhere.”
Nic had stopped yelling days ago. Now his voice was simply full of exasperation and tiredness as he rested his hand against his head.
Just under two weeks prior, a few days after Jack Cariatel’s attack on Sanum, Aria had come to Nic requesting that he teach her the basics of sword fighting. Hearing the earnestness in her voice as she had asked prompted Nic to accept her request, even if he didn’t think himself a good enough swordsman to teach someone else.
It was a decision he had come to regret dearly.
Aria stopped swinging the sword, stabbing it into the ground to use as a pole to rest on as she caught her breath.
“I’m telling you, it just doesn’t feel right!”
“You have to think of the sword as an extension of yourself, not a tool.”
“I’m trying! It feels wrong though, like it’s not what I’m supposed to be holding. It doesn’t feel at all like what the Magic weapon did on that day.”
During the attack on Sanum, Nic had forced his body past its limits trying to absorb the Irradiation that Jack had been creating. In order to protect Nic, Aria had picked up a sword and entered a contract with the Wind Spirit Progenitor Aerial. With the sword, Aria eventually killed Jack and saved Nic, bringing him back to his senses and helping him finally unlock the ability to purify the Irradiation he absorbed.
It was during her fight with Jack that Aria realized that she had no physical training when it came to fighting.
But now that she was learning, she constantly said that holding the wooden sword felt weird. Nic had trouble figuring out the reason for this. He had also started with a wooden sword and hadn’t moved to a steel sword till months into his training with Yuuki. It was his belief that things should be the same for Aria.
The third person in the courtyard finally spoke up, interrupting Nic’s thoughts.
“Hey Nic, maybe it’s as simple as what Aria says?”
Sitting against the foreign tree in the center of the garden was the speaker. Sarman sat wearing clothing far more relaxed than anything Nic had seen him wearing before the attack. The dark eyes that matched his skin had been watching every practice session that Nic and Aria had that week. If Sarman had seen something that Nic hadn’t, then Nic was all for him speaking up.
“What do you mean by that?”
“The blade… It’s a magic weapon created using her- well Aerial’s- magic as its base correct?” Sarman stood up as he responded. Nic nodded as his answer to the question, prompting Sarman to continue. “Well if it’s anything like when I create my flaming weapons, which it most likely is, then that would explain the difference. To me, any physical weapon feels wrong in my hands. Only the weapons I make with flames feel right. So what if it’s the same for Aria? Only weapons made with or from Aerial’s power will feel right.”
Nic thought about the idea. Looking between Aria and Sarman he thought it might be the case. The two of them were both contracted with a Spirit Progenitor. If anyone was going to understand what it was like for Aria, Sarman would be that person.
Sarman seemingly looked over his shoulder for a second before extending one of his hands out in front of him. From his hand a small vortex of fire appeared. In an instant the fire morphed into the visage of a small lizard that skittered its way up Sarman’s arm. It stopped and sat on his shoulder, like some kind of pet bird.
“It doesn’t look like Aerial wants to come out right now, so let me explain.” The lizard began speaking with an older voice. Nic had heard it before, back near the beginning of his time in Sanum.
It was the Fire Spirit Progenitor Salamander.
“What you’re experiencing is a phenomenon very few people ever experience. Only those contracted with Spirit Progenitors can experience it.
Spirit Progenitors are the guardians of different elements. As such, we are only comfortable using that element. Even something as simple as using a wooden sword feels off as it’s the domain of another Progenitor.”
“Another Progenitor?”
“Correct. Wooden weapons are the domain of Peter, the Earth Spirit Progenitor. Weapons made of any sort of steel are the domain of Sterling, the Metal Spirit Progenitor. As such, Sarman here, and Aria there, are unable to wield them properly as long as they are contracted with me and Aerial respectively.”
The Salamander yawned as he finished his little lecture. Hearing what he had said, Nic let out a soft sigh as he looked back at Aria. She was gazing past him, as if into nothing.
Nic figured that she was confirming what Salamander said with Aerial.
Either way, this just confirmed that Nic would need to start letting Aria use the magic sword in her training. Thinking of that, he had a feeling that it would help if he upped the amount of strength training she did so that she could easily swing the sword as well. He wasn’t sure how strong she was physically, but most mages tended to be on the weaker side.
“Fine. Aria?”
As he called out her name, Aria’s eyes focused back on him.
“Hmm?”
“Tomorrow you’ll start using the magic sword during practice.” Aria shot Nic a small smile as she nodded. “BUT! In exchange, I want Yuuki to help teach you as well. Even if she is just watching from the side. Got it?”
Aria handed Nic the wooden sword. As he grabbed it, she gave a small smirk to Sarman.
“I’m fine with Yuuki joining… I’m sure she would love to spend time with Sarman as well. That is if you are still planning on coming to watch?”
Sarman’s face grew a bit lighter as he looked away from Aria awkwardly.
Both Nic and Aria started lightly laughing uncontrollably. Seeing Sarman flustered like this was very rare. Especially for Nic.
“Ahem!”
A female voice coughed from the entrance to the garden in order to get their attention.
It was one of the maids that Sarman’s father Ordwell employed within the manor. All three of them knew her quite well.
“Master Sarman, master Nic and mistress Aria, Master Ordwell has asked for you to visit him in his office.”
The maid was a little shorter than Aria and had her auburn hair pulled back into a tight bun. She was wearing the uniform that all maids employed in the manor wore. A dark blue dress with silver highlights. They were the colors associated with Sanum by its people.
“Got it, Mary. Thank you for telling us.”
Sarman was the one who responded. He had known the maid Mary his entire life. Nic had heard that Mary was the one who had taken up a motherly role for Sarman after his birth mothers death when he was a baby.
The maid gave the trio a small bow before turning and leaving them alone in the garden once again.
“This is the first time my old man has actually summoned me to his office in a while. Most times I go in there, it’s ‘cause I barged in.”
Sarman started talking, a sense of nostalgia in his voice, as the three walked out of the garden. The lizard on his shoulder snuffed itself out and disappeared.
The first time that Nic had traveled through the manor had been less than a year prior. Only about eight months. But by that time, he had managed to learn the layout of the place. As such the time walking from the garden to Ordwell’s office seemed so insignificant that Nic didn’t pick up on any details.
As they reached the hallway that Ordwell’s office was on, they saw a well kept man in a suit walking towards them. All three of them recognized the man.
“Headmaster Black? What are you doing here, sir?”
Nic spoke up as he saw the man. He had first met him seven months prior on his first day attending Sanum University. He was the head of the school and had met Nic in person. He also was one of the few people that Ordwell had told Nic’s real identity too when he was brought to Sanum.
“Ah, you three! It’s good to see you all looking healthy. Please pass my feelings onto Ms. Ito as well. As for me, I was just leaving. I do hope you three continue to enjoy your time out of class for the time being.” With a small wink, Headmaster Black walked by the three.
“That was weird…”
“Definitely…”
“Why was he meeting with my father…?”
All three of them spoke at the same time. This encounter in the middle of the hallway was one they wouldn’t forget for a while.
As they entered Ordwell’s office, the trio found Ordwell sitting behind his desk reading some papers. Hearing the door open, Ordwell looked up and smiled when he saw the three of them standing there.
“Ah, good good. You sure came fast.”
“Well, Mary did come to get us right as these twos’ training session ended for the day.”
Sarman was the one who responded to his father. Every time Nic had heard the two talk before, there was an undercurrent of hostility between them. But this time, he felt like the two were finally talking as father and son.
“Ah, I see. Perfect timing then. I have an update for you three.”
The three of them sent glances to each other as Ordwell started speaking.
“Your original time away from the university was going to end next week. But, after some insistence on my end, Black has agreed to waive your attendance for the rest of the year.”
“What!?” Nic, Aria and Sarman all spoke at the same time. None of them had seen something like this happening.
“Of course, that goes for Yuuki as well.” Ordwell put the stack of papers he had been working on to the side and sat back in his chair. He almost seemed to be enjoying the look of disbelief on the faces in front of him.
“Father, why is this happening?”
“Well, you all agreed to help me catch the people behind the death of Lily. I have some leads on that front that I will need your help with.”
Right after Jack Cariatel’s attack on Sanum, Ordwell had approached the group. While Yuuki was being carted off to a medical professional, the other three had been told by Ordwell that he believed there to be a connection between the death of his wife and Jack’s actions.
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When he asked them if they would help him track down this common thread, all of them had readily agreed. Sarman was more than willing to help track down those responsible for his mother’s death. For Nic and Aria, the threat of Jack being able to create Irradiation was what motivated them. Yuuki, later while she was recovering, immediately agreed as well when Sarman asked her. If Sarman was going to risk his life, Yuuki would be standing next to him.
“Of course, I need you to stay on the down low for another week or two.”
“Why?” Nic spoke up before either of the others could. If there was something he could do, he wanted to get to it.
“Because of you.” Nic looked down upon hearing that. He had a pretty good idea of what Ordwell was talking about. “The senate is still up in arms about what to do with a Verilo in the city. I have given them a 2 week limit on their bickering before a vote must be taken.”
“A vote!? You’re gonna leave Nic’s fate up to a vote, Father?” Nic was baffled by the tone of Sarman’s voice. He had never heard him get mad for Nic. Sure, he had been mad at Nic before, but he had never stepped up in defense of Nic.
Ordwell himself was put off by Sarman’s outburst and held up his hands in defense. “As much as I would love to force them to allow his presence, my own standing in the senate is shaky right now thanks to sneaking him in in the first place. If I was to force anything, then Gregor’s faction would pounce on the opportunity.”
Sarman cooled off after hearing his father’s reasoning. It was clear to all three of them that Ordwell had his hands tied with the situation.
“So because of that, I need you four to stay on the down low for another two weeks.”
That was Ordwell’s request. It wasn’t such a bad request. Nic had already spent most of the time in the past two weeks either training with Aria in the garden courtyard or visiting Yuuki during her recovery.
“Umm… If that’s the case, could I make a suggestion?” The girl who had been silent most of the conversation finally spoke up. When all three pairs of eyes turned to her, she took that as her sign to continue. “How about a trip to Aric in those two weeks? I’m sure my dad and Nic’s mom would love for us to visit home, especially after Jack’s attack. Plus it could be good for Sarman and Yuuki to get out of the city for a bit.”
Nic straightened himself as Aria proposed the trip. He thought it was a good idea, but something kept him back from saying it. His chest was tight.
“Hmmm… that sounds like a wonderful idea.” Ordwell was the one responding to Aria. But with every word that Ordwell said, Nic could only hear his own voice pleading for Ordwell to disagree.
“I think you four should go.”
In a single sentence, Ordwell had unknowingly rejected Nic’s internal self. Nic was starting to shake. He could hear Sarman nodding his head in agreement with his father.
It was becoming hard to breathe. Nic wasn’t even sure if he was breathing anymore.
“Nic…?”
A familiar hand reached out and grabbed one of Nic’s hands. Even under the forming calluses, Nic could recognize her just by the touch of her hand. Feeling it, he took a sharp breath in.
“We don’t have to go if…”
Nic had unknowingly been looking at the ground. But when Aria began speaking his head snapped up. Her face was full of sorrow as she was looking at Nic. He hated seeing it. He knew why she was making that face. She wanted to visit her father. He knew that.
Nic also knew that if said he didn’t want to go, she would force herself to not go. She would stay by his side, even if it went against what she wanted.
Nic was glad that she was willing to go that far for him. Yet he hated it as well. He didn’t want to make her sad purely because of his fear. He didn’t want his own selfish desires to make Aria sad.
“No…”
“Huh?”
“I’ll… go… back to Aric…”
His voice was shaking with each word. But he said it.
If Aria was with him, Nic would be able to go back. He would be able to face his mother. Face his father again.
Would he really be able to accept the consequences of his actions? Nic wavered.
“Nic!” Aria wrapped her arms around Nic. His nose was hit with her scent. Smelling it, his body slowly stopped shaking. He put his own arms around her and returned the hug.
A cough coming from next to them caused the two to finally separate.
Both Sarman and Ordwell were looking away from the two, but the red in Sarman’s face revealed that he was the one who had coughed.
“Anyways, since that is sorted out, I’m sure you are all going to pick up Yuuki now? Please let her know what is going on.”
Ordwell grabbed the stack of papers he had been working through earlier and began leafing through them again. It was his way of saying that the conversation was finished.
Sarman looked at a clock on the wall and his face nearly went white.
“We gotta go! Yuuki’s release time is in 20 minutes!”
Aria and Nic both quickly looked at the clock and realized that Sarman was right. The three bolted out of Ordwell’s office, racing down the halls of the manor until they reached the front door.
The City-State of Sanum is located on a mountain. In fact, the city spans the entire mountain, wrapping around it like a blanket. The mountain, named Sanum itself after the city situated atop it, only reached about 700 mer at its peak.
The Chapman Manor, alongside the Sanum University, the Senate building and other government buildings sit at the top of the mountain. Sitting at the bottom and sprawling into the lands around the mountain are farms. Despite being at the bottom of the mountain, farmers are highly looked upon by the residents of Sanum as they provide a majority of the food eaten in the city. The rest of the mountain in between is covered in houses, streets and buildings of all different shapes and sizes. The bulk of the city.
Sitting in the middle of the mountain, in an almost complete ring around the mountain, are a series of uniform buildings. This ring is known as the Hospital ring. Each building a medical center where one can find treatment. Whether through the use of Magic, or long standing medical practices from before the age of magic, the doctors in these buildings would take on any case that came their way. They were situated in the middle of the mountain so that everyone could visit them. Whether one was coming from above or below doesn’t matter.
Yuuki was situated in one of these medical buildings. She had been brought there after the fight with Jack. Normally it took Sarman, Nic and Aria just under 40 minutes to walk from the Chapman Manor to the building where Yuuki was being kept.
Today they ran. Ran like their lives depending on it. And they made it in only 22 minutes.
By the time that they got to the front door to the building, they were panting heavily, trying to catch their breath. Aria and Nic both leaned against the wall while Sarman straightened himself out.
As he opened the door to the building, pandamonium greeted the three of them. Doctors and Nurses were running back and forth, searching for something. They were dead silent except for the occasional “Not here!” being flung across the building.
Sarman pushed his way to the front desk where an attendant was furiously scribbling away at a piece of paper. Nic watched as Sarman cleared his throat trying to get the attention of the attendant, only for it to fail.
“Excuse me?” The attendant jumped in shock at Sarman’s voice and bolted her head up. “We’re here to ge-”
“MR. CHAPMAN!?” Sarman was cut off by the attendant as she almost screamed his name. As soon as she did, almost every person that was running around stopped in place and turned towards the trio standing in front of the desk.
“Ummm… Yes…?”
“Have you seen Miss Ito?”
Nic froze. He was sure he misheard what the attendant had asked.
“Huh? We’re here to pick her up… Isn’t she here?” Sarman seemed just as confused as Nic. A quick glance to Aria showed that she was in the same boat as the two of them.
The attendant looked a bit nervous hearing the response that Sarman gave her.
“She… Disappeared this morning.”
As the attendant finally told them what happened, Sarman went pale and Nic stopped listening. He knew that she was detailing what they already knew, but it was simply going in one ear and out the other for Nic.
He knew a few places that Yuuki liked. He had to go check them. He wanted to find her. Why would she simply disappear like this?
“I’m going into the city to look for her!”
Aria was the first one to speak up. She was clearly trying to hold the fear in her voice back. Just like Nic and Sarman, she was worried about her friend.
“Maam, we don’t know if she is even out there. She might still be in the building or a nearby medical building.”
“But you don’t know that she isn’t out there.” Sarman spoke up this time. It was clear he was in Aria’s camp. They needed people looking around the city for her.
“Guys, let's just go and start looking. It’s not like we need their permission right?” Nic was already turned around and walking to the door as he spoke. He wasn’t going to wait around for the attendant to tell him whether he could or could not look for his friend.
It didn’t take long for the three of them to split up. In order to cover the most area they could, the decision to split up came easily.
Nic himself headed down towards the bottom of the mountain. He had one place on his mind.
He rushed down one of the main roads, pushing his way through crowds of people who had just finished a midday meal and break. He continued on and on until he reached the lower section of Mount Sanum. It was there that a certain street lay on a rather flat portion of the mountain.
Nic turned onto the street that Yuuki had first introduced to him just a few weeks prior. The buildings around him quickly changed shape. Yuuki called the style of these buildings “kyoku style”. They were native to her homeland of Kyoku, the nation in the East past the World End Mountain Range.
The street itself had a similar name. It was called Kyoku Ave. Nearly every person who lived on the street had either come from Kyoku or were descendants of someone from the nation.
That also meant that most of them were Demi-Humans. Nic, a human, running through the streets was a rare site for those he ran past. It was even more rare as he was wearing clothes of a completely different style.
Many of the people he passed quickly got out of his way, looking at him with confusion. As for Nic, he simply shot each face a quick glance. He was scanning for Yuuki’s face, but came up empty.
Thud!
Nic crashed into a shorter brown haired member of the Lycanthrope tribe of Beast People. The two crashed into the ground in front of a large round building. It wasn’t until Nic was standing back up that he recognized the building in front of him.
Its entrance was closed, but it was unmistakably the smithing building that Sora owned.
“Ughhhh.” The person that Nic had crashed into groaned as he struggled to stand up.
“Sora?” Nic was quick to recognize the man. His short brown hair, marked with two canine ears on top, and brown haired tail were the easiest things for Nic to recognize. The rest of Sora was much more cleaned up compared to the last time they had met. Long gone was the soot covering his face and the dirty clothes of a blacksmith. In their place was a slightly scuffed, thanks to the crash, clean face and clothes ready to weather a long journey.
“Hmm? Oh if it isn’t Mr. Healstry.” Sora had been introduced to Nic using the last name that Nic’s mother had before she married his father. It had been the name Nic had used to evade revealing the fact that he was a Verilo to others. Even though the amount of people that knew the truth had grown, Nic was still using the Healstry name for most people. “What brings you down here to Kyoku Ave? And in such a hurry as well… You weren’t looking for me to do some work on one of your swords were you?”
Nic ignored the blacksmith's question and put both of his hands on Sora’s shoulders. The fact that he had run down half of the mountain was catching up with his body, causing a shortness of breath.
“Have you… Pant. Seen… Pant pant. Yuuki?”
“Yuuki…? What kinda question is that? Isn’t she supposed to be back at the University by now? I was just about to head up there myself to visit her before leaving for Kyoku.”
“Leaving for Kyoku? Nevermind. She’s not there. She went missing last night. Disappeared from the hospital room in the middle of the night. Sarman, Aria and I are out looking for her.”
Nic explained the situation to Sora as quickly as he could, leaving out the particulars of the fight with Jack as well as the truth about himself. Sora seemed displeased by the fact that Yuuki had used a Magic weapon for so long that she pushed herself to the point of being hospitalized.
Once Nic finished his explanation, Sora let out a long sigh. It was clear that Nic had run into him at an inopportune time. Then he had dropped a lot on Sora just as he was leaving town.
“I see… She couldn’t have run off at a worse time, could she? I’m sorry Nic, but I have to leave the search for her to you three.” Sora looked genuinely sorry as he muttered under his breath. It was clear that the two had a connection that went further than simply blacksmith and swordswoman.
“It’s fine, Sora. I’m sure your trip to Kyoku is important.”
Nic’s response got a dejected sigh from the lycanthropic beast human.
“My father called me back for reasons he won’t specify.”
“I see… Well, I wish you the best of travels. How long will you be gone?”
Sora counted on his hands for a few seconds before responding.
“If I’m lucky, two and a half months. If I’m unlucky… much longer than that. If you need someone to take a look at your weapons while I’m gone, I can refer you to a friend. They aren’t as well versed in Magical weapons as I am, but they should be good enough for anything you’ll need.”
Nic heartily took Sora’s offer. Once Sora had given him the location of his friend, the two quickly parted ways. Sora ran down the road. He had a carriage to catch to start his journey back home.
It wasn’t until after sunset that Nic, Aria and Sarman got back together. They were currently sitting in Sarman’s bedroom in the Chapman Manor going over what they learned. Nic and Aria were sitting in some extra chairs that they had brought in from the hallway while Sarman sat in front of a desk facing one of the inner walls.
A cracked window was letting in cool air. Nic felt a slight shiver and instinctively brought his hands together to conserve some heat.
Aria had been the first one to talk about the search. She had quite quickly informed the two boys that she hadn’t found a single speck of Yuuki anywhere she looked. Not a thing. Her voice was shaking, and Nic could see her eyes starting to tear up.
As she stopped talking, Nic slid one of his hands onto her knees and gave a small squeeze. With Aria finished, it was Nic’s turn to talk.
“Like Aria, I found nothing related to Yuuki. I even ran into Sora on Kyoku Ave, and he confirmed that she hadn’t been on the street all morning. No one else on the street or neighboring areas had seen her. It’s like she just up and vanished into thin air…”
“Not necessarily.”
Sarman cut Nic off as he began to lament the situation. The strength behind his voice caused the lament to disappear entirely.
“To be honest, I was hoping one of you had found another lead, cause I would rather this one not be true. But here we are.”
“What did you learn?”
“I stopped by the guards barracks and had a chat with one that I know pretty well. Apparently a female cat-person and a male racoon-person left through the East gate late last night. They were wearing hoods so the guard on duty couldn’t get a good look at their faces, so I can’t be sure that she was the cat-person…”
Sarman stopped. Nic knew what he was going to say. He knew that Sarman didn’t want to say it either.
“But it’s the most likely chance, considering the timeline?” Sarman nodded and Nic sighed.
If this was the case, then Yuuki was being led East…
“Wait… This could actually work for us.”
“What?” Sarman and Aria were staring at Nic confused. Neither of them had come to the same realization as Nic.
“Of course, I would rather this not be the case, and think that we should continue to search the city for the next week till we leave for Aria. But. The path that leads from the eastern gate heads to Aric. If they don’t stray from the path, they will have to pass through there.”
Sarman seemed to quickly understand what Nic was saying because his face was lighting up.
“If we don’t find Yuuki by next week, we can see if anyone in Aric noticed her passing by!”
Sarman nearly jumped from his chair as he finished Nic’s sentence for him.
“Hmmm… And my dad is still in Aric. If he spots her, he is sure to at least think she looks like Yuuki, if not recognize her outright.” Aria chimed in with her own thoughts on the topic. It seemed to Nic like she was fully in agreement as well.
With their plans now set for the next week, the trio stayed up late into the night deliberating on the specifics of where each person would search for the next few days.