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Prologue (4/4)
“It doesn’t hurt any more…?” Ellia had regained consciousness, the pain in her heart gone as if it had never been there, to be more specific, she felt energised, the air not toxic and her lung detoxified of all the dust particles. The soft sensation to her head and warm lap her face rest, she was almost certain whom she would see upon opening her eyes.
“Ellia!” the pat intensified, Ellia wiggled her face around, an action reminiscent of the old times, though her mother would soon enough prop her up in a sitting motion. Only then did Ellia realise her clothes had been changed into something ‘fancier’.
There was a trend in the imperial capital, an alternative to night gowns, ‘pyjamas’. The one she wore felt extremely soft and lightweight, as if she wasn’t wearing anything. “Feels like cotton…” Ellia’s internal thought would be the correct conclusion.
She checked her hands, there were scarred before, but the scratches from the fight would perhaps add to them after the clot clears, fortunately those wounds were treated rather expertly. There weren’t any additional injuries aside from what she remembered.
“I can read your minds~” Talia proclaimed, “After you fell to the ground rather unceremoniously, Ellie and her sidekick managed to take down the other two wolfies~ Isn’t that impressive?”
Ellia nodded, internal thought betrayed current expression, “How is that possible? The wolves were equivalent to the first one, without outside intervention, victory was extremely unlikely, could Arieno have a trump card up his sleeves? Or could it be… when I was asleep on that train, did something happen to Ellie, and she gained some sort of power…? No, she would definitely tell me if that’s the case.”
She didn’t like it one bit, the uncomfortable sensation combined with anxiety was suffocating, chipping away her calmness like a relentless swarm of piranhas. Normally, with her mother so close in proximity, she would come to the rescue with a reassuring hug or pat, yet nothing came.
“{Atelier!}” with a sharp shout came a shovel like before, clouded by conspiracies and doubt, the girl announced her murderous intention. She swung with all her might, expectantly caught.
“Not a hint of hesitation, even if it could be your mother?” Talia’s voice and shape switched into that of an older woman, proper description would be a ‘crone’, attiring herself with a black-green cloak, revealing naught but the staff which caught the blow and her aged face. “But I might ask, how can you tell?”
“Three reasons” Ellia pressed the attack, imitating a combination of attacks she has seen throughout her life, while it was not a perfect replica, against a non-melee specialised opponent the efficacy was not much diminished. Yet, the old woman managed to kept up with her pace, deflecting the blows in odd motion.
The door to the room opened, in came Ellie with some snacks on hand. “Eeeeek!” she exclaimed, her grip on the snacks loosened, some fell before she could set them aside.
“That’s enough.” another unfamiliar voice came from outside, the commanding tone made Ellia stop right in her tracks. She recognised the attire, one of the professors made way. His sharp gaze under the glasses was so powerful that it could stop time by itself. His blonde hair had greyed out, but the astute demeanour and sheer muscles radiated commanded respect.
“Can’t an old lady have fun once in a while?” the hag shook her body, undoing the robes revealed the uniform of the professors beneath, identical to the male counterpart, it seems the standard issued are unisex.
“You can dismiss your spell now, Marcerath.” he addressed. Ellia squinted her eyes, but nothing happened, the shovel still in her hand. “So you are not properly trained? What was that man thinking… Claudia, if you will.”
The elder professor nodded happily before placing her palm on the tip of the shovel, it corroded into mere particles of light.
Ellia had some speculations about ‘magic’, when she muttered Atelier, it activated without needing to do anything else. She tried to will it to be something apart from a shovel, but it did not work, nor could she activate the spell mentally. Perhaps it requires training or there’s some fundamental level of misunderstanding from her part, still, for the professor to deactivate the spell without a single utterance of anything. Dismissing speculation about words itself being base requirements.
“I should stop thinking about these, it will be taught in the institute anyway…”
Claudia made her way to the door, “You have the right killer instinct little girl, your time will probably be pleasant…”
Ellia merely nodded, Ellie rushed to check if she had sustained any injuries, she gave a light smile upon seeing all in order.
“Are you not going to greet me?” asked the professor, aside from his remarks, he was carrying what seemed to be an envelope.
Being in pyjamas, Ellia decided to bow, since it got no immediate reaction, she assumed that to be the correct move.
“Hm… That will be sufficient, put your heads up, the longer you stay, the less importance you are giving to that person.”
“Yes sir.”
There was a brief moment of silence, the professor sighed deeply, and made his way out.
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Day 167 of 1877, month of Treldop
Marcerath family was touring the streets, since Ellia had been unconscious she had only then learn of the layout of the so called Five Institutes, to call it a city with institutes in the middle would be an understatement. Perhaps a ‘fortress’ would be a more appropriate descriptor.
Firstly, there were three layers of walls to the city, each progressively taller. The external layer, do not have it air-conditioned. It houses industries and agriculture supposedly capable of sustaining the whole country in of itself. The Travelling handbook suggests it to be fully automated by magical constructs and beings created by the arcane arts of science.
The second layer houses residential districts, namely where they lounge at. The population density and amenities rivals that of the Imperial Capital, or so Madoff explained. Upon entry, people will automatically get their lungs and body purified from the dust outside, method unknown.
Lastly, the internal layer houses the Five Institutes, Imperial Institute of Science and Imperial Institute of Magic in the very middle, like a crown jewel. Its casing would be the three sections of the Imperial Institute of War.
Stone streets and reinforced architecture were immensely impressive to Ellia, the number of resources poured into the construction of the city was unimaginably high from her perspective. She noticed patrols of armed men, so-called policemen, keeping the streets clean of literal rubbish and being intimidating to any aspiring outlaws.
They weren’t equipped with any sort of armour, simple cotton uniform and strange-looking sticks, a squad of them saluted as they walked past the trio, an action done to every passer bys.
“Hm… I’m surprised how expensive things are here now.” Talia remarked sadly, had she been here before Ellia wondered. She looked around, the streets filled with only adults, her and her sisters were probably the youngest in her sight. Granted, considering the time of day, which is slightly before noon, perhaps they are in school or some sort.
“Um… Have you been around here before, mother?” Ellie asked, she was trying to evade something on the ground, but Ellia couldn’t exactly see what it was.
“Hm… not really, but your mother has been in the Imperial Capital, prices in the administrative wards are fixed to be the same, no matter where-” she then paused rapidly, prompting Ellie to walk into her back, slowly the little sister peeked her head to see what had caught her mother’s attention.
“Parfaits~” Ellie happily pointed at a needlessly large sign which reads in Serinnian Commons, “Parfait.”
Her home ward, East Tapol, was not known for fruits, instead its fields housed mostly starch-based plants and vegetables, even still the family managed to secure sour fruits occasionally and make all sort of desert from them.
“Parfaits!” Talia exclaimed in response before picking Ellie up and carrying her to the store. Ellia attempted to glance at the pedestrians, to see any sort of reactions, but she found none. To be precise, no one was looking at them.
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“Greetings dear guests.” an angelic voice greeted the trio upon entry, a ding sound upon opening the door was somehow familiar, almost the same tune as when the ‘invitation’ letter was sent to their home. The interior of the parfait place looked more like a library than a café, wood veneers, golden ornamentation and chandeliers. One would assume it could be an actual library with the name ‘parfait’, but the tables set in an eatery manner betrays that assumption. Granted, there were no other guests in the store.
“Hello~” Talia responded, attempting to find the menu, eventually she gave up and decided to ask the librarian-looking store clerk. “Mmm… how do I order?”
The clerk simply nudged her head towards the seating area, “Please take a seat and our staff will receive our order, thereafter, you may search for a book to enjoy.”
“Eating parfait… while reading books? What.” Ellia’s internal monologue would brew up a conspiracy, though with a shake of the head, those quickly went away.
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“Your orders have been received, we shall prepare it soon, if you are interested in any books you find, you may register borrowing orders up to the amount listed in this transaction bill.”
Ellia reached into her pocket to pay the amount, she possesses 7 quarts and 200 clanes, the amount hasn’t been deducted at all since their departure. The transit, free. The lounging, free. Medical, free. Snacks, and meals in the lodgings were also free.
The amount she had to pay was 100 clanes. 15 of those was enough for a good meal for one, but sacrifices had to be made if one wanted to taste the sweet goodness.
1000 Clanes make a quart; however, there are slight differences. While quarts were represented via coins, whilst Clanes are denoted in banknotes of 20, 50, 100, 500. There used to be smaller denominations like 1, 2 and 5, but they were all outlawed in accordance with the ‘Anti Small Purchase Act’. Thus, if the purchase is not payable with the four notes, they round it to the nearest possible value or, in some cases, round it backward.
The true reason behind the obviously absurd law was not known to Ellia, nor did she care to find out, while it may inconvenience the life of many, she supposed that the government knew what they were doing.
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Payments were made, and the waiter in suit disappeared into the back of the shop, leaving the trio and the store clerk.
“My dear daughters, let’s talk for now…” Her tone betrayed her relaxed mannerism, it was quiet and serious; thus the sisters inched their faces closer. “Unfortunately, your mother has to depart as early as this evening, don’t miss me too much, try your best to not die and write to me often…!”
Perhaps noticing the gloomy mood, the tone shifted to her usual energised self. Ellia certainly had been having thoughts about the situation, her life, and time spent with her father and mother. Anything that her mind could remember condensed into welling tears. The three went for a group embrace, since the situation cannot be averted, it would be best to remember appreciative feelings and not dwell on the matter. Furthermore, they would meet again after graduation or even during semesters’ downtime if they have one at the Imperial Institute of war.
Parfaits, soft served alongside the family’s chatter, would arrive. One last meal together before the situation changes for the better or worse.
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Day 181 of 1877, month of Arell
To be given a head start, one would consider that an extreme blessing, especially considering Ellia’s situation. She could’ve mastered spells before entry and impressed not only her peers but instructors with her magical prowess.
Yet, the world is not that simple, motivations oft drained by endless swamps that are temptations, the most rudimentary pitfall of those that could not discard their desires.
The Marcerath sisters would be the same, for they had effectively turned themselves into shut-ins. The month of Treldop transitioned into Arell, rain turned into the scourging heat, or perhaps more appropriately, the hellfire of summer. Inside the high walls and magical domes of The Five Institutes, it was conditioned year-round to be entirely unaffected by the annual sharp turn in climate.
For two weeks they had been doing nothing but staying in their room, reading on their newest discoveries, ‘comics’. An arcane form of storybook which somehow captivates the reader like an addiction that would not let go. Books and parfait, books and parfait, budget death spiral.
“Whaaaaat are you reading!” Ellia massaged her sister’s back, she had a bad reading posture, the table was far too high to be sat comfortably, so they elected to read in bed instead, and with that came back pain.
“It’s about some high school students exorcising evil spirits… The characters are really well-made and the fights well planned… And-”
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“— That’s why it’s the best piece of fiction I have ever read!” Ellie happily concluded, earning pats from Ellia who frankly lost interest in listening after the fourth sentence. Her little sister’s newfound appreciation for comics targeting adolescent boys was rather concerning, and the impressive rate of consumption was something of note.
“Yup, she’s definitely obsessed…” Ellia concluded before ending the massage session with a light slap to the back of Ellie.
The little girl pouted before retreating under her warm blanket. “What has sis been up to?” considering how they had been in the same room ever since Talia departed back to East Tapol, the question could only mean one thing.
“Well… the new ‘sciences’ stuff is pretty interesting, it spawned a new genre called something like ‘science fiction’, going into space odyssey and fighting giant rogue robots are very fun to read…!”
“… What is a robot?”
“Well, fundamentally, you have to understand the difference between-”
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“— And I don't believe I can go back to reading normal fiction ever again!”
Ellie made a small smile, expression reads “Yep, she's definitely obsessed”
Perhaps deriving enjoyment before the semester starts may not be the worst idea. For instance, they could potentially converse with their peers in those various subjects. Had they not done this ‘research’, religiously parsing text as if they were a reverse-printing press, they would perhaps be left out of social groups. When one articulate the those points, and especially practices, it can easily become the adopted rationale of the false dichotomy.
“Oh… didn’t senior Madoff offer us a tour? Should we search for him?”
“I believe it’s just a nice gesture, not an official proposition… Gosh, I’m starting to sound like him! Help me, little sis.” Elia replied as she shook Ellie.
After the incident in her room with the soon-to-be teachers, Arieno dropped by with some salty cookies, but not much happened beyond that. How did the youth even know where they live? He explained that his sense of righteous people led him successfully to find the pair, thus Ellia deduced that he’s merely stalking them, an acceptable yet not comforting conclusion.
A knock came from the door, “I will get it.” the big sister responded immediately, perhaps she could let Ellie go, but she was currently wrapped under the blanket. A cursory glance reveals the other side to be… a policeman. “May I help you, sir?” Ellia called out, but to no response. “Is the room soundproof…? No… I can hear voices from outside fine… One way soundproof…? But for what-”
With the door unlocked, the man entered, holding a box of sort, the width couldn’t be larger than a standard textbook. He handed it over without a word before closing the door and retreat.
“These people…”
She placed the box on the cabinet immediately before the door, the room was spacious, containing a private bathing area, a curtain to isolate the bed area and the guest area, though the curtain was open so wide that it looked as if it wasn’t there.
Ellie poked her head from behind, knife in hand. Quick motion unwrapped the box, revealing content two of something they had never seen. Each is square in nature of uniform size, the surfaces dark and reflective with some sort of alloy making the rest of the frame, their weight couldn’t be heavier than a damp towel, yet the quality of material suggested it was built to last. A small booklet placed underneath the two, introducing the name of ‘Tablet’ into the sister’s vocabulary.
“Place your hand on the circular thing…” Ellia recited, soon enough the screen flashed open, she would have been startled had she not read the next few lines in advance from the paper ‘User Registered: Ellia Marcerath. Authorisation level : 0 Available features: Enrolment, Time Table, Basic Information.’
The screen shifted to another page, displaying ‘icons’ with large enough descriptors to make sense of what they are.
“Let’s make sense of these things…” She clicked on ‘enrolment’ as the instructions on the paper suggested and a prompt emerged, “Make sure you are well seated before clicking, your body will fall into a ‘sleep’ state after clicking confirm.”
“Should we ask someone else before doing this…?” Ellie asked, receiving a negative shook of the head.
“According to instructions, we should keep these to ourselves and finish it within an hour after receiving. She entertained the idea of some candidates being dragged to some sort of prison for not reading the instructions or sleeping on the package, the two made their way towards their respective beds.
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“... See you soon, big sis.” After Ellie clicked on the button, her eyes gradually closed as her muscles lost strength, as if she had been tranquillised.
Ellia breath deeply and click on hers.
The scene shifted into a world of mirrors, a reflection of herself on every side, feeling so reminiscent of the so-called initiation rite performed previously. She looked around, only to find crystallines and reflection of hers from the myriad mirrors.
She raised her hand forward, expecting to touch something, but there was no mirror immediately before her, optical illusion made it hard for herself to determine the actual distance or the roughness of the surface both below and above. “This is so disorienting…” she imagined that making a sharp turn without closing her eyes might make her puke from all the motions. Thus, she looked forward, into the reflection of her.
“Pft, hello me.” she felt relatively juvenile, waving a hand and smiling at the reflections of herself… Only for one to smile back kindly and wave back.
“WHAT THE-” a soft, warm yet coarse finger touched her lips, the reflection of hers spoke. “Don’t be too scared, I am you…” She circled Ellia slowly, a motion which disoriented her even more, “Perhaps you can call me ‘Perfect Ellia’. I’m here to assist with the enrolment process.”
“...Okay.” seemingly shocked, she answered curtly. “That almost gave me a heart attack… can’t they just use the tree thing from before instead of whatever this is?!”
“Very well, have a look at this!”
Five neons coloured boxes floated mid-air, at this point, Ellia stopped questioning the transformative reality around her
Commanding
(Not Recommended)
Diplomacy
(Not Recommended)
Espionage
(Not Recommended)
General
(Not Recommended)
Reserve
(Not Recommended)
“Hehe~ As you may notice, I have arranged recommendation level-” ‘Perfect Ellia’ turned around to look, before snapping her finger rather loudly, something normal Ellia could not accomplish.
Commanding
Recommended
Diplomacy
(Not Recommended)
Espionage
(Partially Recommended)
General
(Partially Recommended)
Reserve
(DO NOT PICK THIS)
“Anyway, as I was saying, these are the ‘tracks’ you can choose from the institute, your selection would be final, and it affects: Your examination, course works and some track-exclusive courses. So which one are you picking? Commanding, right?
“I… need more information…” she wished there was something to note down the conversation. “How does examination work…? How many courses are there and would the tracks-”
The reflection seemed annoyed, “This is your first question, decide with your heart and the rest will be explained later. For now, praise the state for even giving you a choice and pick.”
“Can I ask what they are about?”
“Gosh, you’re sooooo annoying, fine.” the figure dismissed the displays, creating some as she explained, “Commanding will focus on leading non-magical troops, Diplomacy will focus on Serinnian Diplomacy, Espionage will focus on what its name suggest, General is done whatever you expect a mage in a book do blast building open etc.”
“What about… reserve?”
The figure stared blankly, “It means certain death, now pick one of the four. If your brain isn’t for separating each ear, then pick what I recommend.” the nice mannerism had all but been dropped.
Ellia steeled herself, with overflowing emotion, culmination of so many things, perhaps she would allow herself to act out of spite for once “I will pick reserve.” She imagined the complaint, more berates, the angrier her mirror self the more comforting she will feel.
. Yet, the figure laughed and paced a few steps back“...Ahaha, good choice!” with a snap, everything else but ‘Reserve’ dissolved, more information about it, however, would be put on display.
“Reserve —
To be a substitute means you are capable of filling any roles and executing their tasks to almost perfection, master of all, champion of none. Are you certain this shall be your path?”
Ellia’s eyes widened as her eyes glanced through the texts faster than her brain could process the weight behind them, Perfect Ellia skipped to press on the floating ‘Confirm’ button, thus her fate had been locked in.
The descriptions shifted,
‘Mandatory courses for the semester: None.
For more information, head to the registration page on your device.‘
“Don’t look so shocked and listen to me carefully, to graduate from this place, you merely need to pass four aptitude tests, one will be held at the end of every semester, in theory, you need only two years to graduate, but failure is expected, thus as long as you do not spend over eight semesters in the institute, you will be fine… As for what contents are in each aptitude test, you will have to find out yourself, but rest assured that the difficulty is adjusted into a ladder, suppose you fail the first aptitude test twice, the third attempt will have the same difficulty as the first still.”
Ellia nodded in understanding, and the mirrored version continued. “You may take as many courses as you wish from the registration menu, it is not mandatory to register in any as long as you can pass four aptitude tests. Should you pass four aptitude tests and wish to continue studying, there will be a certain number of courses you have to take to prevent stagnation.”
“I understand now… but isn’t this strange…? I don’t know much about the military, but shouldn’t the training be uniform, at least in some way…? Why do they give us so much autonomy…” she recalled the existence of other two other sections of the Imperial Institute of War, Madoff did mention difference in curriculum. “Could this be some kind of experiment…?” She would continue her line of thought, but her forehead was flicked.
“Have all the time you want to cook up conspiracies when you go back to reality, but currently, there is more to be done.” flashes of glitter-like lights engulfed Ellia, when she can feel herself again, she had been transported to another place, one so familiar yet so distant. The very planes she was transported to once she touched the onyx orb.
She looked around at the vividly coloured grasslands, yet the massive tree was nowhere to be seen, without a particular landmark, something felt off.
“You certainly are hard to impress,” Perfect Ellia said from behind, stretching her limbs in such an odd motion that every observer would autonomously fear of one or two breaking, still nothing bad happened, not even a crack. “Mm… this gets a better reaction. You’re strange, imperfect me.”
Ellia decided it would be best to say absolutely nothing, a simple blank stare should be sufficient to advance the dialogue.
“Well, hold your hands forward like this, it’s called an initiation rite and-” the mirrored version paused, a wry smile formed. “I see, guess we are done after all.” with a snap the scene flashed once more before her.
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Her eyes were wide open, the tablet that was in hand laid helplessly on the carpet, had there not been one, the screens might have shattered. She darted her eyes across the room, Ellie was nowhere to be seen.
“Did she finish before me…? No, that’s impossible” the confidence in that thought was not baseless by any means. The big sister got up, and walked to the other bed, yet no clues to be found from there. The screen on the so-called tablet kept on flashing, she did not know for how long as it had been laid face down, bare fragments of light scattered from the miniscule gap between the carpet and itself, she would have gone outside had it not been for an obnoxious beeping noise.
“Due to health concern, your sister is escorted to a medical facility and will be promptly returned before tomorrow’s night…?” the message popped off into nothingness, returning to ‘home’ screen. She wanted to re-read the notification but could not quite figure out where to; thus she would begin on clicking on random unnamed icons until eventually giving up.
Fear welled up in her mind, of course, but there was nothing to be done except wait. The most she could do was to file a complaint if Ellie wasn’t back by the designated time.
“Let’s do what I can for now.” with newfound determination, she explored the labelled icons, noticing that more had been added. “User Registered: Ellia Marcerath. Authorisation level : 1 Available features: Course Registration, Your Time Table, Basic Information, Assignments”
“Course Registration it is…” expecting the scene to shift back to the dimension of mirrors, she sat dawn as was previously, but nothing of the sort happened, the screen merely flicked to another page, the interface clearly well-designed for without intuition.
A wall of text appeared, listing the courses she could enrol, ones that she couldn’t are categorised at the bottom and the reason displayed in clear, red text.
“That’s…. A lot…” glancing to the side, she saw that each have maximum attendees. “I see… if a class is full, a new section would be made when the number of students in the waiting queue exceeded 50% of the maximum”
She recalled that the university of East Tapol employed a similar method, granted she was never part of it, nor were any of her acquaintances, but it was mentioned in local literature works.
“Maybe they are trying this system so it can be implemented in section 1 and 2…? I guess, it might not be so bad…?” she hoped, looking at the names of each subject. “Geography, Geopolitics, Close-quarter combat, Logistic, Internal Relations, Necromancy…?” the list went on and on, some subjects have tiers, like Necromancy being one to three, the previous tier being prerequisite to the next. If someone were to take every course possible in each semester that did not have conflicting time, they could, in theory, manage to finish everything before the end of the eighth semester. “Learn what you think is useful… Could they not ship us to the war? They have no reason not to standardise conscript training… Wait… Do are we even in a war?”
Ellia paused, a good moment to reorganise her thoughts. “The ministry of internal affairs said that we have potential… so could it be that the state merely wants to train everyone who’s capable of casting magic? But does that mean only a few can use magic…? No, that doesn’t seem right… Gosh, I hate not knowing anything” Before she started transitioning into a room-dweller, the sisters looked at everything the library possessed and came to a conclusion that not a single one was about magic theory.
Perhaps they could’ve asked someone besides librarians, but they did not have any will to do so, not when reading comics was so fun.
“I should wait for Ellie before picking one…”