-A few days later-

Putting away his spear in his dimensional skill, Hargrave stretched and walked through the hallway, returning from the training room. In an effort to help Scytale understand his abilities better, and out of his own curiosity, they had been sparring a little the past few days. He had obviously held back his strength, but Scytale was actually a highly competent fighter for his age.

…extremely competent. And that killing intent… he almost wanted to ask the amphiptere more about it, but as someone who had high killing intent himself, he knew it wouldn’t be a pleasant discussion.

It gave him something to do and was better exercise than just training by himself, however, so Hargrave thought he might continue to fight with the snake, as long as Scytale was willing.

He had met the Commission Head once during the past few days and asked if she was fine with him fighting her bond and the fact Scytale had revealed his Heroic power to him, but Lucille Goldcroft had only replied that it was far better for them all if Hargrave managed to reduce the snake’s inexhaustible energy somewhat. He couldn’t help but agree.

And Scytale’s only comment on sharing information about Heroic power even if it was dangerous for him was ‘The enemy of my enemy is my sworn brother by marriage or something like that’. Hargrave had a feeling the snake might’ve been referring to how he had essentially been exiled from Glory Pantheon, but he wasn’t sure.

Still, he had one last book on Eolith to finish. Lucille Goldcroft had promised that soon items like skill books and other rarer System rewards would be bought by her, so he considered what to do for the next few days. He turned the corner to enter the hallway that led to his room and…

“-so I’m planning on asking Lucy!”

“Prophetess Verdon, it is highly irresponsible to ask someone whose motives are unknown to study your brother’s abilities.”

“Yeah, and who said I wanted her to look at my abilities anyway?”

“Raegan, you don’t get a say, because I’m the older sibling.”

“Hey-”

"Oh? Sir Albrecht, there’s someone else here.”

Hargrave stared when faced with the strange trio of a grey-eyed bearded man dressed in golden plate armour, a blonde, wavy-haired girl in elegant, white flowy robes, and a young dark-haired and dark-eyed boy in a dress shirt and pants.

Hargrave stood awkwardly as the girl with golden eyes tilted her head at him, studying him curiously. “Who are you?”

“…Hargrave,” he slowly replied, watching them, and the man he identified as a Paladin, warily.

“Hargrave? Hargrave who?” Then the girl paused and shook her head. “Actually, never mind. Do you know Lucy? What’s your relationship?”

“…the Commission Head? I do… there’s a contract between us,” Hargrave said, wondering why that was important.

The girl smiled. “So you’re like Sedric?”

“I… suppose? But I’m not a craft-”

“Nice to meet you, Hargrave!” the girl exclaimed happily. She stuck her hand out. “I’m Annaliese!”

Hargrave hesitantly shook it as the Paladin next to her shot her a look of frustration.

“You should be introducing yourself as Prophetess Annaliese Verdon if you want to tell them your first name,” the blonde-haired man reprimanded. “And you’re supposed to be curtseying.”

“…Prophetess?” Hargrave’s eyes widened as he registered the title. “From the Citadel of Fate?” After a long moment of silence where he hesitated, he said, “I… haven’t had any contact with a member of the Citadel before so I’m not sure how I’m supposed to act.”

“That reaction!”

Hargrave became startled when the apparent Prophetess pointed at him. She grinned. “That’s a refreshing reaction. I’m so sick of people bowing when they see me.”

Hargrave opened his mouth to reply but became stunned when the girl suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him behind her. “Anyway, let’s go find Lucy!” she said, intent on taking him along.

He sent a wide-eyed look towards the Paladin for help, but the man just spread his hands and shrugged, as if he was helpless to aid him. The boy only rolled his eyes and followed the blonde-haired girl and Paladin as Hargrave was forcefully abducted(?) by the esteemed High Oracle of the Citadel of Fate.

----------------------------------------

The door of a dark-haired woman’s living room opened, revealing the presence of one smug-looking Prophetess, an exasperated guard, her grumpy brother, and a very confused ex-mercenary.

Annaliese let go of Hargrave’s arm and placed her hands on her hips. “I am here, Lucy!”

Holding a cup of coffee, Lucille gazed dully at the girl. “Indeed,” she remarked dryly. “And with plans to disturb my peace once again, no doubt.”

The girl grinned and casually took a seat opposite Lucy, Raegan sitting next to her. Jasten Albrecht sighed and stood near the door as Hargrave stared at them, clearly feeling uncomfortable with the new arrangement. He hesitated and then grabbed a chair from near the table in the room to drag it over and sit between the two couches.

Annaliese glanced at the figure lying on the couch next to Lucy. “You look tired, Scytale.”

“Hm? Me?” Scytale, who was lying on his stomach with his arms and head hanging over the end of the couch, turned to look at her. “Eh… maybe a bit. I was fighting with Hargrave.”

“Oh?” Annaliese glanced at the red-haired man on the side, who was avoiding eye contact. “Do you fight often?” She looked between Lucy, Scytale, and Hargrave. “Also… why is Hargrave here? I didn’t see him last time.”

“…last time?” Hargrave said, looking confused.

“The day you saw Scytale in his human form for the first time was the day they left,” Lucy replied to him. She raised an eyebrow at Annaliese. “He’s been here for the last few months. He was away this time last month.” She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the Prophetess. “Also, it’s between me and Hargrave why he is here. Unless he wants to share, it’s none of your business.”

Annaliese clicked her tongue and looked away. “I was just curious.”

Lucille rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, take your curiosity elsewhere.”

The girl pouted but looked around the room. “Where’s Vincent? Is he busy?”

In response, Lucy pointed directly behind her. “He’s right there.”

Annaliese turned around. “Huh?”

She blinked when faced with the silver-haired man standing in the doorway, looking a bit bemused.

“Did someone mention me?” Vincent asked.

“No, she was just wondering where you were,” Lucy replied, sipping her coffee.

“Ah.” He nodded, taking the other chair from beside the table and sitting on the opposite side of the table to Hargrave. “I was with my secretaries. That, and also…”

“Hey, Lucille, Vincent said you had something to tell me, so what-”

They all looked at the ponytailed crafter who had just walked in, still wearing his leather gloves. Sedric stared at them, looked around, and then swiftly turned to leave.

Lucille narrowed her eyes and stretched out a hand. The door slammed shut with her spiritual telekinesis and Sedric turned around to scowl at her.

“Hi, Sedric!” Annaliese said, smiling.

He shot her a weary look. “…hi.” Seemingly accepting his fate, he walked over to Scytale and gave the snake a shove. “Oi, move over so I have somewhere to sit.”

Scytale let out a loud groan but reluctantly moved so Sedric could sit on the end.

“Um… could I ask why I’m here?” Hargrave reluctantly spoke up.

Lucy cocked an eyebrow at him. “Because Miss Prophetess dragged you here, obviously.” She smiled brightly. “You could leave, and make the situation awkward, if you wish?”

The red-haired man grimaced and crossed his arms. Lucille narrowed her eyes, wondering if she had found his weakness, while her bond looked around and placed his hands on his hips.

“Wow, this is the most crowded this place has been.” He looked at Vincent. “If they arrived last week we could’ve had a birthday party for you, Vincent!”

The silver-haired aide raised an eyebrow but Annaliese became surprised and looked at Vincent. “Did you have your birthday last week?”

“I turned twenty-eight. So, no, we wouldn’t have had a celebration for me, as it wasn’t my thirtieth,” he stated dryly.

Scytale clicked his tongue. “You’re getting old. Look, your hair is even grey with age!”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Vincent shot Lucy’s bond a flat look as Raegan leaned back to look at the man’s hair. “Why is his hair that colour, anyway?”

“My hair?” Vincent raised a strand to inspect it. “All main bloodline members of the Evisenhardt County have silver hair and eyes. It’s due to our inherited metal elemental affinity and Constitution.”

Raegan looked slightly curious but the Prophetess’s eyes widened. “A metal affinity? Isn’t that a mid-level element? I didn’t realise you had such a rare element!”

“Hmm… well, my elemental manipulation skills aren’t that spectacular, so I never wanted to pursue a career related to my affinity,” Vincent remarked. He shrugged. “I may be born with a rare affinity but that doesn’t mean I have the talent to use it. My family’s metal has very niche purposes too.”

Annaliese frowned, confused. “Metal?”

“Oh, right, I’ve heard about that because some clans can summon metals with good crafting qualities.” Sedric nodded. “That’s why you’ve got a Constitution, right? They’re pretty common with those who have metal affinities because often metal element wielders have an inherited talent to manipulate only a specific type of metal.”

Annaliese tilted her head. “So then… what metal does the Silver County manipulate?”

There was silence. They all turned to stare at the golden-haired girl, who didn’t recognise what she had said. Annaliese blinked, registering the gazes. “Did I say something wrong?”

“…I must say, in all my life, this is the first time I’ve received that sort of question,” Vincent stated, appearing dumbfounded.

Scytale snickered, while Sedric crossed his arms to give the girl a dubious look. “Annaliese, it’s the Evisenhardt County. Even I can guess what they manipulate.”

Annaliese glared at the crafter. “Don’t be mean. Maybe it’s just because I’m not familiar enough with them.”

“They run the banks! Money! Coins! Is it that hard? It’s even in their hair!” Sedric asked, stunned.

She frowned in concentration and then shook her head. “I don’t get it.”

At the back of the room, Jasten Albrecht ran a hand down his face. Hargrave was giving the girl strange looks.

Raegan rolled his eyes. “Here, I’ll tell you, Anna.” The boy turned to face her. “They manipulate black iron,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

She gazed at him with surprise. “Really?”

Raegan groaned and hit his forehead. “No!”

Feeling a slight bit of pity for the girl, Lucille sighed and pointed to her. “Annaliese. Think about what you asked earlier, and then say it again, but really, really slowly,” she told her wearily.

Annaliese thought about it. “I only asked what metal does the Silver… County……” Her words trailed off and several of them all collectively facepalmed. The blonde-haired girl’s face gradually flushed pink and she buried her head in her hands. “…Lucy, do you have a hole I can hide myself in?”

“Why, there’s always the front door of the Aurelian Commission’s Headquarters to exit through,” Lucille replied with a smirk.

The girl looked up and glared at her. Hargrave looked between them all.

“If you came here last month…” he slowly began, “Then why are you here again?”

“Because we’re going to come here every month!” Annaliese said with a broad grin.

Sir Albrecht scowled. “No, we’re not.”

“I’m inclined to believe your Prophetess on this matter over you, Sir Albrecht, considering your apparent successfulness – or unsuccessfulness – in preventing her from returning here,” Lucy noted dryly.

The Paladin shot her a weary look as Hargrave rubbed his neck. “…it seems we’ll end up seeing each other again,” the red-haired man replied. Then a scary thought seemed to have struck him as he turned to Lucy with wide eyes. “Did you tell me that they would be here for five days?”

“I get five days a month to do as I please, so I’ve chosen to come here!” Annaliese told him, nodding. She beamed. “It’s nice to meet another one of Lucy’s friends.”

Hargrave stared at her. “I- what? Friends? But I-”

Sedric pointed at her. “Hey, are you including me in this ‘friends’ thing? Because I’d rather change my class to become a janitor if I had to become known as her ‘friend’,” he said snarkily.

Lucy sipped her coffee as Annaliese turned to him with surprise. “But aren’t you?”

“She’s my employer,” he replied stubbornly, crossing his arms.

Lucille rolled her eyes as Annaliese gave him a sceptical look. “You don’t act like you think of her as your employer.”

“I don’t know what normal employer would let their subordinate make such junk,” Raegan scoffed.

Sedric scowled and then scowled deeper as Scytale patted him on the head. “Careful, he’s fragile. If you tell him the truth you might hurt his feelings,” the snake said.

“I do have to stand up for Sedric in this instance to say that I have noticed an improvement in his crafting abilities these last few months,” Vincent commented. Sedric blinked with surprise at Vincent’s statement, but then the silver-haired man hesitated. “I… think. I can recognise the structural components of his creations now.”

Sedric sighed and slumped on the couch. “Give me a break. Most crafters have plenty of blueprints to work with. Accessory classes are rare and I’m learning everything from scratch.” He frowned. “What good are skills if they don’t tell me all I need to know anyway?”

“You’re facing a very common problem when it comes to inherited classes,” Lucille commented, placing down her cup. “Those who have worked to merge their classes have also studied extensively so they can obtain skills relating to their knowledge. Inheritance of a class means you don’t have that knowledge to begin with, besides what your class lets you know.”

He frowned and crossed his arms. “So I’ll never be better than the person who made the class?”

Lucy shook her head. “You have the potential to improve your class beyond what your predecessor managed to obtain, but you need to overcome the hurdle of incomplete knowledge first.”

“You should be glad you’ve got your class!” Annaliese said, planting her hands on her hips. “All my class does is make people lucky, and the Sages always tell me what to do anyway!”

Jasten Albrecht sighed. “That’s the mid-level element of fortune, Prophetess Verdon. Fate allows you to increase the chances of specific outcomes occurring.”

She blinked and looked behind her. “Is it… that different?”

Raegan rolled his eyes. “Obviously. Someone could be lucky, but that doesn’t mean they’re any more likely to succeed a King, right? The Sages can change the path of someone’s life completely.” He held up his hand to look at it. “I know because I can tell when the fortune around me changes compared to Fate. I do something different to Fate compared to fortune, but I’m not sure what.” He covered his mouth as he yawned. “But Fate can still make someone luckier if that’s all you wanted to do.”

The Paladin in the back frowned at the boy. “Raegan…”

“Yes, yes, I shouldn’t be discussing my abilities with others. Who cares.” Raegan pointed at Lucy. “She already knows what I am, and probably knows more than you, Sir Albrecht, so until you can stop my sister from coming here each month then you may as well give up.”

“Hang on… luck?” Sedric turned to stare at the boy, realising an important fact. “You can mess with luck?” He stood up and slammed his hands on the coffee table, glaring at the kid. “That means you did make me trip over and have all those accidents last month! I knew it!”

“Prove it,” Raegan stated smugly.

Lucille sighed and leaned back on the couch as the two began to fight. She pinched her nose bridge when Scytale smirked and joined in too, taking jabs at both of them. Vincent and Annaliese looked content to just watch them bicker, looking amused, while the Paladin in the back seemed resigned to listening to the argument.

Hargrave, as always, still didn’t seem to know what he was doing there.

Lucy decided that she would pour herself another cup of coffee because she knew, that once again, it would be a very long five days.

…

-The next day-

Lucille sat cross-legged on the floor of the living room, away from the couches. On the floor in front of her were thirty small white tokens. The two largest, roughly half the size of her palm, sat in the centre. Six slightly smaller tokens sat in a ring around those, then nine around them, and finally, thirteen of the smallest, barely the size of a bead, sat in the outermost circle.

She tapped her fingers against her arm as she studied them, thinking deeply.

The door opened to reveal a blonde-haired girl peeking in. Seeing that Lucy didn’t appear too busy, Annaliese came over and crouched opposite Lucille. Jasten Albrecht silently stood guard near the doorway.

The blonde-haired girl picked up one of the smaller tokens and squinted at it, trying to work out what it was. “Hey, Lucy, what are you doing?”

“I’m trying to figure out what skills I should gain through my skill books,” Lucille replied, still studying the tokens. “Some will have to go to tiering up my skill, but due to a specific reason, I only want an opportunity to evolve my skills through the subskill slots.”

The ‘Unique’ rarity of my second main skill won’t change, but its ‘capacity’ will increase, allowing me to strengthen and increase its abilities with more Influence. I have no linked Aspects for the tiers to provide me with any benefit.

Annaliese let out a hum, sitting down on the ground too. “Then what are these tokens for?”

“They’re skill books.”

Annaliese stared at her, then at the bead-sized object in her hand. She shakily placed it down, as if she would break it. “I-I thought skill books were… well, books!”

In response, Lucy picked up one of the two biggest ones and pressed it. A light blue holographic projection of a blank book hovered above it before the book shut on its own and disappeared. “They’re only usable in Obelisks,” Lucy explained, placing the token down. “But as you saw briefly, the System does have a reason for naming them ‘skill books’.”

Annaliese frowned and pulled her knees up. “Sir Albrecht and the Sages told me I can’t get skills.”

Lucille shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. As a holder of the Prophetess of Fate Unique class, you can’t level up or complete the Stages, and while you can still have a ‘Rank’, it only increases when you unlock your other main skills.”

Annaliese looked grumpy. “Is it only the Prophetess who has to deal with this or are all Unique classes like this?”

“The Eternal Empire’s Emperor is also restricted, but he still has combat abilities that he retains from before he becomes Emperor,” Lucy stated calmly. “The Prophetess of Fate class is just a non-combatant class with only support capabilities.”

Lucy’s response made the girl scowl, but Annaliese shuffled closer to look at the skill books.

“So, you’re thinking of what skills to get?” the Prophetess asked curiously.

Lucille hummed as she inspected one of the two largest tokens. “I have two Epic and six Rare skill books to use, as well as more than twenty combined uncommon and common ones. The only question is though… what skills?”

Annaliese’s eyes brightened and she clapped her hands together. “Ooh! If you have Epic skill books you could get those really amazing skills like sending out massive blasts of ice, o-or maybe a teleportation one like the Radiance abilities Sir Albrecht uses-”

Lucy shot her an amused look but shook her head. “Spatial fusion element skills are only available from Legendary onwards. And I don’t need to use a skill to create blasts of ice when I can do that with magic.”

“….oh.” Annaliese slumped. She leaned back on her arms, looking somewhat lost. “Then… what are you planning on doing?”

“Hmmm, well…” Lucille tapped her fingers against her arm. “I want to improve my combat abilities and cover for any basic weaknesses. Maybe I should work on gaining a movement ability…” The door of the living room creaked open and they looked up to see a golden-eyed snake in human form sneaking into the room.

Scytale placed a finger on his lips to shush them as he crept behind the couch they were beside and warily peaked over, looking at the door.

“If you can’t think of anything, then you could get a nice stealth skill for me with those skill books,” he whispered to Lucy, still watching the door. “I might need one very soon.”

Lucille shot him a flat look as Annaliese blinked. “Are you hiding from someone?”

“Shhhhh!” he hissed, making her hastily cover her mouth. He carefully glanced back at the door and released a sigh of relief to see nobody had opened it. “Sedric got mad at me for no reason and now he’s ganging up with Raegan to find me,” the snake told them.

“No… reason…” Lucy repeated dryly.

He avoided eye contact. “Maybe I interrupted Sedric when he was getting to the important part of making an item and it broke… but it wasn’t my fault!”

Scytale and Annaliese flinched as the door slammed open to reveal a scowling Sedric and Raegan in the hallway. Raegan pointed at the couch. “He’s there!”

Scytale hastily shuffled back to hide behind Lucy, looking over her shoulder. “If you want to get to me, you’re going to have to go through her first!”

Lucille whacked the back of her bond’s head as the other two approached. “That is not how the saying goes.”

He stuck his tongue out at her as he rubbed his head. Then he yelped as Sedric grabbed him and dragged him away by one arm.

Raegan grabbed the other arm and they took him over to the double doors of the kitchen. Sedric pulled out what seemed to be a cord of braided metal, a clasp with a single jewel on the front. They raised the snake’s hands above his head and tied him to the door handles.

“Uh… what’s this?” Scytale asked, eyeing his new handcuffs with suspicion.

Raegan looked at Sedric. “Will he be able to escape if he turns into his serpent form?”

“Not likely. I enchanted the braid with a shrinking and growing enchantment, so if he changes size it will too,” Sedric replied, crossing his arms.

The dark-haired boy smirked and crouched, poking Scytale’s cheek. “Someone is in a bit of a situation, isn’t he?”

“Hang on, don’t do this! Let me out!” Scytale yelled.

Sedric ignored them both to walk back to the living room’s entrance. “Alright, I’m going to continue crafting in peace.” He glanced back and narrowed his eyes at Raegan. “This truce is now over.”

Raegan rolled his eyes as Sedric left and then gained a wicked grin as he spotted Scytale trying to wriggle free of his enchanted metal ropes. He stood up and then left the room, clearly having a scheme in mind. Scytale watched him leave nervously, and when the dark-haired boy was gone, he turned to Lucy with wide eyes for help.

“Hey, Lucy! My one and only bond! Won’t you lend me a hand?!”

Lucille uncrossed her legs and then lounged sideways across the ground, propping her head up with one arm. She lazily tossed a skill book token up and down and pretended not to hear the noisy snake’s pleas.

“Lucy! Don’t you have it in you to help me?! I’m about to be tortured!” Scytale struggled and kicked fruitlessly, going nowhere. “I. Really. Need. These. Chains. Off!” He sagged as he breathed heavily, out of breath and still no closer to escaping. Then he thrashed around again with renewed strength. “I knew you were just a cold-hearted psychopath! Have you no sympathy?! What about the hundred and fifty years we spent together!”

Annaliese tilted her head, slightly confused by the number. “A hundred and fifty?”

Lucy ignored her bond to hum and roll onto her back, an arm behind her head as she held the skill book token up to the light. “Maybe I should try… a few other skills?”

After all, it’s not just the Aspects of the other races I can use. That doesn’t mean I’d be able to use demonic, necromantic or spirit magic without the corresponding demonic power, death mana or a unique spirit talent though…

“Argh! Is that really that important right now, Lucy?!” Scytale complained, still trying to escape.

She turned her head to give her bond a look with an eyebrow raised. “That is what I had come in here to contemplate originally.”

“But I’m this close to being murder-”

The door of the living room opened again to reveal the smirking Raegan with a large clear jug of water in his hand. He had gone the long way to enter the kitchen as Scytale was blocking the first entrance, and so was now holding the fruit of his efforts.

“Do you have any idea what this is, Scytale?” Raegan asked with an air of smug self-confidence.

Scytale eyed the jug full of what looked like water, hesitating for a moment, and then he realised. He shivered and tried to shuffle up against the door, away from Raegan. “I’m a snake, we’re cold-blooded creatures! It’s bad for our health if we get too cold!”

Raegan just snickered and marched closer, raising the jug above the snake’s head. “Too bad for you…” He grinned. “You’re just a human right now.” And he dumped the jug of ice-cold water all over the golden-eyed boy’s head.

Scytale, not wanting Raegan to get away with his revenge so easily, decided to retaliate in the most annoying way possible. He let out the loudest scream he possibly could.

Raegan grimaced as he clasped his hands over his ears, Annaliese and Lucy winced, and Jasten Albrecht scowled at the snake. The sound of rushing footsteps was heard as the door opened to reveal a worried-looking Vincent.

“Is everything alright? I thought I just heard Scytale… scream…” He took in the appearance of the shivering, soaked-to-the-skin humanoid snake, the jug in Raegan’s hand, and sighed. “I see. I’ll just return to my work then.”

As he went to turn around another person with red hair poked their head in, looking very confused. “What just…” Hargrave stared at the bedraggled Scytale. “…are you okay, Scytale?”

“Of course he is, he just wanted to ensure everybody could hear how distressing being soaked with chilled water was,” Lucille stated dryly. “Please, continue what you were doing Hargrave, and ignore all sounds coming from Scytale’s mouth from now on. Ninety per cent of the time, it will be useless information, I can promise you.”

“Hey! What about the last ten per cent!” he pointed out.

Lucy waved her bond off. “Then we’ll aim to give you a decent burial.”

Hargrave slowly nodded as the snake scowled at her, and made a move to leave the room, until Annaliese suddenly said, “Why doesn’t Hargrave help you with your skills, Lucy? If he fought with Scytale then he must know something!”

Lucy considered it and nodded. “Actually, that’s a good idea. Never mind that, Hargrave. Come pull up a chair and sit near us,” she told him, pointing to a spot on the ground near Annaliese and her.

“I… what? Skills?” he asked, confused.

“Lucy has tons of skill books to use up!” Annaliese happily informed him. “She wants to know what she should get with them!”

“But how am I supposed to…”

Annaliese stood up and once again grabbed his wrist to pull him over. “Come on, this way!”

Lucy smirked as the ex-mercenary and future Prismatic Dragon Ruler sat down with them, still very bewildered about the situation. She closed her eyes and laid down her head on her arms as they began their conversation, Scytale and Raegan bickering in the corner of the room.

All in all, the second day of Annaliese’s second visit was actually quite pleasant.

But Lucille wasn’t going to admit that to anyone.