“What were you thinking?!” Petra fumed as she paced the room, huffing.
Letty, Grandall and I were kneeling down in the living room after my contest with Letty. Letty and I were here for starting the whole thing and Grandall for not supervising.
She had come home just in time to see the wave nearly destroy Grandall’s farm and watch Letty almost get hurt. Luckily she came out with very minor scratches or I’d be in more trouble.
“You could have gotten her killed. Why would you do that?”
In my previous life there’s a specific type of human, I avoid—an angry woman—they know no logic and holding a conversation with a woman that’s fuming at you is pointless.
I kept quiet and avoided eye contact with her and sure enough she turned her attention to the person who would bear the burnt of the flames she spat.
“And you! You left them unsupervised!”
“I—”
“Not a single word from you.”
Grandall apparently still doesn’t understand women. He hung his head and there was a brief moment of silence between us and she sighed before turning to Letty, now speaking more calmly as she caressed a scratch on her left cheek.
“Are you okay sweetie?”
Letty was silent and had her head down the whole time—something was different after our contest—but she abruptly sprung up and had a toothy smile on her face. “Yes auntie. I’m sorry I worried you.” She clasped her hands together and bowed her head. “I won’t do something so reckless again.”
“Don’t apologize. You were the one who you hurt.” She shot me a gaze and I turned my head away from her. ”Let me fix you up.” She grabbed Letty’s hand into hers and all her scratches healed up.
“Thank you auntie.”
She sighed and patted Letty’s head. “Don’t to that again okay.” Letty nodded in response. “Up.”
Our punishment was over. Honesty it felt weird being scolded by Petra. She was always very patient with me, well I guess I did cross the line today.
“Well I better get going. I have lots of things to do. I’ve spent long enough already.” Letty said skipping towards the basket she bought with her resting on the table—which Grandall has filled with the things she needed—and she bowed again before making her way to the door.
She was acting weird so I followed her. We both stepped out of the house and she stopped walking and just fell silent.
“So you’re going to be a royal knight too?” I could sense hurt in her tone.
“I’m not interested.”
“Why? You obviously have the ability to. With that spell they’ll pick you in a heartbeat.”
And risk them finding out what I truly am and be taken as a property to the kingdom. I refuse.
“It’s not my scene.”
She chuckled and turned to look at me. I could tell she was biting back tears from her clenches fist. I wasn’t equipped to deal with a situation like this so.
“How do you do it? That spell should be impossible for you—I mean….”
Oh I know what you mean
I was expecting this question, luckily I picked that spell for this exact reason.
“I’ll have you know aside from that spell I can’t use any other attack spells as it would kill me.” Obviously a lie. “That spell draws on one’s aura. The more aura you put into it the more powerful it’ll become, that’s just a little bit of what it can do as I only put one tenth of my aura into that spell any more and I’d be a goner.”
She froze and looked at me suspiciously.
“What?”
“You heard me. So it’s nothing to get sad over.”
“I-I’m not sad.”
“You feel all your efforts were wasted after seeing me use my spell. You shouldn’t, you have more potential to grow. I’ll most likely remain stagnant at this stage.” Yes it’s cruel I only said those words to console her but it’s better then making her lose interest in her dreams because I wanted to show off.
“You, you’re stupid. You could have just said that. So that means I’m still the stronger one.”
“My spell was stronger. Come back with a stronger spell and then I’ll concede.”
She puffed her cheeks and punched me on the shoulder before running to her coach. ”Goodbye.”
“What are you? A child?”
She hopped in and was on our way.
I knew what to expect as I opened the door and as I guess it was correct.
Petra pulled me into a hug as I shut the door behind me.
“What we’re you thinking? You could have exposed yourself.” Her voice broke as she spoke.
“But I was careful to use only water magic.”
“You couldn’t have used a simpler spell? You had to use that one.”
Petra was a Librarian, in this world that word is closer to a scholar than it so to a bookkeeper at the libraries in my previous life. Their duty are similar though the ones here are required to read, learn and understand every book that comes into the library—it’s not an easy job—whether it was spells they could or couldn’t do, as one of their duties was help people who have trouble understanding certain things about a particular book. As such she could tell spell I used.
“I chose that spell because it was the easiest to debunk.”
“Still doesn’t change the fact that you were reckless. Who knows if she believed you? I’m an idiot for letting you go unsupervised.” Grandall stepped in sounding disappointed.
This is one of the reasons I hate being a spectre. It feels like I’m walking in egg shells and every single move I make should be watched. I was quite irritated by this conversation.
I broke free from Petra’s hug and picked the grimoire she had bought home for me in her leather purse and made my way upstairs without saying a word and they didn’t protest or try to stop me, they could tell I was upset. I couldn’t stand having a conversation with them, not when I was in a mood like this.
***
It’s been three days since that whole incident with Letty. The house had been quite awkward since then. I guess the situation went deeper than it ought to be. Those two weren’t as talkative as they usually are on a daily basis, they must be feeling guilt for yelling at me because I haven’t spoken a word to them since then, not that I was mad or anything, they just never bought up any topic that warranted me speaking. They’re reading too much into my mood.
We were sitting at the dinner table and as per the last few days it has been a graveyard during dinner. I could catch them occasionally sharing stares and stealing glances at me, like they wanted to say something but by the time I look them in the eye they’d shift their gaze—talk about awkward
I better make it feel right again. I can’t stand this level of awkwardness.
“I’m done eating.” I dropped the spoon in my hand and took my half eaten food off the table and into the kitchen. Today was peas, they knew I didn’t like peas and usually don’t protest when I refuse to eat them, partly because they know nothing they would do would make me eat them.
They looked shocked that I spoke. I saw a glimmer of joy in their eyes but they still hesitated to speak to me.
“I’ll be going out tomorrow. Letty invited me to watch her spar at the training court. ”
This ought to get their attention.
“Sparing!” They both exclaimed at the same time.
“Yeah…”
“At the training court?”
“Yeah. The royal court at the centre of the town. I’ll just be watching so it’s nothing dangerous. Plus she’s old enough to watch after me. Like she’s done many times before.” The sad reality is I was the one watching after her. As smart as she was she had a knack of putting herself in terrible situations that I end up bailing her out of it.
“You’ll just be watching?”
“Will you keep repeating what I’m saying?”
They finally got with the program and cleared their throat?.
“Well if Letty will be with you I guess there wouldn’t be a problem.” Grandall said scratching the back of his head and looking to Petra for confirmation.
“Her mother will be there too.”
Well that was a lie
“Oh really?” They both looked relived.
“Honey you know we would have taken you there ourselves we’re just—”
“I know. You have work and harvest season is coming up real soon. Do what you must.”
They still looked sad hearing that. I could understand their sentiment. The longing for a parent to want to be around their child every step of the way as they grow so they don’t miss a single moment—something I never had. Having someone care for me this much is weird to me.
In my previous life from what I was told my mother was a greedy drunk whore who would sleep around with anyone with coins for a bottle of beer, my father, unknown.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Looking at Petra and Grandall, it makes me think of what my life would have been like if I had them as my parents in my previous life.
I wouldn’t have gone to the Sanctuary, I would have felt the comforting unconditional love of a parent, had many experiences I had been deprived of growing up.
“So is that a yes?”
They hesitated. “Have Letty bring you home by two. No later.”
“Thank you. I’ll be up in my room.” I said and made my ways upstairs.
“Ard….” Grandall called to me and I turned to look at him. “We’re sorry for yelling at you the other day. You’re such a good kid and we overreacted and—”
Imagine apologizing for something that’s all my fault. These people are too kind.
I stopped him mid-sentence. “I should be the one apologizing. I made you worry. I should have done that and I’ll be extra careful next time.”
Their worried looks softened and Petra sighed in relief.
The mood around here became lighter, not back to normal but it should be by tomorrow. The house can be bearable to live in now. Crisis averted.
“Oh that reminds me.” Petra got up from her seat and dashed into the living room and came back with a black book in her hands. “I got this for you. I figured you’d need something like this.” She handed it over to me.
It was just a black book as thick as a regular grimoire, nothing written on its cover.
“What is this?” I asked as I flipped through the pages in the book but they were all empty. “It’s just an empty book. Is this a journal or something?”
“A journal…? What’s that?”
I forgot although this world might be similar to my old one there are some differences between the two.
“Never mind. Why give me a blank book?”
“It’s not blank. Go to the very first page and read out the word there.”
I opened the first page and there was a single word written in ancient script which read Gamora.
I said the word in my head and words started writing on the blank pages of the book, words I’ve seen before.
“It’s your personal Grimoire. It helps store the spells you’ve learned. Every magic user has a personal grimoire.” Petra lifted her hands in front of me and a green grimoire formed out of thin air and fell into her hands. “They’re concealed within our Aura’s and can be called forth anytime we want. The knowledge stored on your grimoire is tied directly to your consciousness making casting spells easier and quicker. Normally we get our personal grimoires when they chose to appear to us, but they only appear when a person has reached the height of their capabilities but for spectres it’s never been recorded for them to have personal grimoires as the height of their capabilities is nearly unknown. So I had someone at the Citadel craft it specifically for you. D-do you like it?”
This was something new. So not every magic user can use all types of spells tied to their abilities. I guess that makes sense in some way. Your personal grimoire is a sign that you can never progress past the stage you are when you get it.
I was stunned to say the least. To think she had thought this far.
“Thank you.” I shut the books and headed back into my room.
***
The Royal Court
A training ground set at the centre of the town. It was an open ring dome-like structure towering up to fifty feet, the walls had magic flowing through them—I suspect it being a product of magic itself. It’s said this structure had to be around for a three centuries and it has never been worn out and was said to be indestructible—also another result of magic. It also serves as a quick response dispatch centre for emergencies. Think of them like regular cops, so naturally we had many low ranking knights in bronze plated armour moving about. Letty had a bronze armor but she wasn’t officially a knight. Children like her in training are told to wear the armor only inside the court, but Letty being as stubborn as she is ignores those rules and has gotten in trouble a lot of times but it’s never anything serious as she was really good at this knight thing.
In this world the material your armour is crafted out of determines your rank within the military. We have four different materials.
Bronze: Lowest rank in the royal military. They’re low class and only handle regular duties around the town like city watch, catching crooks, separating bar fights. Stuff like that.
Silver: a little higher than the bronze plate, they are the bulk of the military, foot soldiers in the army their duties are to defend the kingdom, out and within the walls. Over glorified bronze men if you as me
Gold: These are a lot higher in the ranking as people with gold plate armour are usually seat holders within the army. Generals, sergeants, deputies. Although they have tons of military experience that never get deployed into battle unless in situations where crisis arises.
And finally, Platinum: they are the real deal. They are in charge of running the entire show in the military, whatever they say goes. The people who hold these ranks aren’t more than five. They are called the Order of Five. A group of terrifyingly dangerous individuals closest to the royal family and they only answer to the king. No one in the kingdom can give them orders or boss them around.
Letty aspires to become one of them. It’s practically impossible but you can’t stop someone for dreaming. It’s best to let them experience for themselves what it’s like and watch their dreams slowly get crushed in the process, talking to overly ambitious people with unrealistic goals is like talking to a brick wall.
I was outside the arena, sitting on a bench and looked down into the arena where the students gathers to mingle before their training session begins and I watched Letty stand awkwardly away from the other people in her class. It was a weird sight to see. Everyone had their backs turned to her basically and continued on with their conversations with each other. She was usually outgoing around new people and wouldn’t care about boundaries just to be friends with you but I watched her twiddle her thumbs and play with sand with her feet—it was sad—reminded me of me in my previous life.
The training instructor stepped in. He was a soldier in silver plated armour. His left eye was covered with an eye patch and his head shaved sparkling under the sun. From where I sat he had to be about five feet eleven in height. He didn’t look like much of a challenge. Even for me in this body but all the other kids seemed intimidated by him, we’ll all except—
“Letty.” The man called out her name and she enthusiastically skipped out from behind the crowd and he gave he a pat on the head. “How’s my favourite student doing?”
“Good morning sir.”
I see. Teachers pet.
My eyes gazed to the students standing in the sidelines and I got the full picture now. They all had a scowl and the look of irritation on their faces. Some whisperer words to each other, I didn’t have to be close enough to know what was being discussed.
The man then turned to the remainder of the class and with a stern voice he addressed them.
“And all of you.”
“Good morning sir.”
“You waited for me to speak to you before greeting? It seems most of you aren’t ready to become knights.”
“We’re sorry sir.”
“Save it. After todays session you all will run laps around the kingdom. You aren’t stopping until I give the say so. Well all of you except Letty.”
The mood in the class dropped that instant and the kids there protested and all had their eyes set on Letty as she hid away behind the instructor.
I don’t like the look of this but it was interesting seeing this part of our little hyper mania
“Today will be a sparring session. The first every sparring session since you got selected. Let me make this crystal clear to you all, from now on no more baby stuff. I’ve had you all go through that training long enough. This sparing match marks your transition into the selection process.”
They all gasped.
“Yes. If your skills aren’t up to my standards. You will be going home. So make sure you put all that training you learned in the year you’ve been with me to good use. I should also add this. Losing a match doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get kicked out. The final decision falls on me.” He said and turned to Letty.
“Why don’t you go first?”
She nodded gleefully and stepped forward. I’ve never seen her this quiet before.
“Any takers?”
Immediately everyone had their hands up in the air.
Oh no, this isn’t good. You could tell from the looks on their faces that they really hated her but she was unmoved by the sudden uproar. Her demeanour screamed confidence. I mean there has to be a reason why she’d be the instructor’s favourite.
The instructor browsed through the crowd and pointed at a blonde haired boy. He unlike the rest had a certain feature to him. He strode forward with his head held up high and a cocky smile on his face. I swiped a glance at his aura and unfortunately Letty stood no chance. His aura was as black as night, meaning it was something sinister
“The rules are simple. First one to get knocked to the ground loses. There is no restriction on what type of weapon or spells you decide to use. As long as your opponent is on the floor.”
“Hmph. We finally have the chance of speaking in person. I’m Louis Xavier. A pleasure to meet, fair-lady.”
From his body movements to the mannerisms in which he spoke, you could tell he wasn’t raised normally. I suspect he’s either noble born or noble kin. He’s certainly not a commoner.
Letty kept mute with a confident smile on her face and reached for a wooden sword on the rack of training weapons beside them.
“Straight to the point. How brazen for a filthy commoner.” He stretched his hand towards the weapons rack and the shadow at his feet extended in a straight line and slithered up a wooden sword bringing it back to him.
The others gasped in shock. You could tell that they’d never seen magic like that before. I’ve only heard about it from Petra and books but it’s said the type of magic a noble—upwards—had was uniquely different from us commoners.
Commoners shared magic, you could see five hundred commoners using the same type of magic but nobles and royalty had magic specifically unique to them and although it’s possible, it’s hard to come by royalty that bore the same kind of magic.
“I’ve watched you in class. I’ll commend your efforts, you truly are one of the best students in this class but compared to me. You pale.”
Letty gripped the hilt of her wooden sword tightly and flames engulfed the sword.
Infusion magic….. interesting. She can do that now?
“Begone.” He pointed his sword at her and his shadows broke into several lines and darted towards her.
Her feet burned bright orange and she kicked off the floor, gaining her composure whilst in mid air she landed gracefully and dashed towards her opponent.
His lips curved to one side and she clashed swords with her, locked in place and pushing against each other, his shadow climbed around his right arm and with a single flick of his finger he sent her flying into the air. Letty was about to fall on her back but she controlled her landing with her two hands.
“You’re strong.”
“You finally speak…..”
“I’m sorry. I’m not good around crowds.”
Lies….
She got to her feet and brushed her hair back, her toothy smile returned to her face. “I’m about to get serious. You ready?”
He shot her a glare of disgust but she brushed it off. She exhaled and a spark of orange flames flashed in our eyes and closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye.
Everyone collectively gasped—including me.
Her opponent staggered back but held his ground, lifting his sword in the air and bringing it down at her she swiped her weapon upwards at his hands, swatting the sword away from his hand. Everyone gasped as she spun around, delivering a round house kick to his stomach, infusing her feet with flames, the collision caused a small explosion and he was sent flying back and down to ground.
“Winner. Letty.” The instructor called and she broke into a smile stamping her weapon down on the ground.
No one cheered. Well no one except—
“Woah you sure she’s a newbie?”
“That was impressive.”
“You think she’ll make silver?”
“Nah… she hasn’t gone into real combat yet. This is just a sparing match between the newbies.”
“But she beat sir Louis. He’s noble kin.”
I heard a couple of voices discussing at my right and I looked to find a group of four bronze plated soldiered who had snuck in to watch the match. On the bright side, guess Letty had fans already.
Lazy sadistic men who had nothing to go but watched children beat each other up. My stomach turned in disgust and I blocked their existence out of my mind and turned back to the arena.
Letty was holding her hand out to Louis who was red in the face from embarrassment and fury. He obviously wasn’t raised to mingle properly with commoners, I can only imagine what was going through his mind.
He ignored her offer and got up on his own and said in a snarky tone.
“I don’t touch the filth.”
Letty withdrew her hand and turned to leave as Louis silently fumed as he patted the dust off his clothes but something from off.
He reached for his pocket and a glint flashed and before I knew what I was doing I kicked off the seats just in time to catch the point of the dagger Louis had pulled out of his pocket.
Everyone gasped and I heard a girl scream from the crowd. Louis looked mortified.
I looked into his eye and saw the darkness behind the mask of remorse he wore and I realized in that moment that Louis wasn’t just trained to fight, he was trained to kill.