Van

A day had passed since the conclusion of their mission to recover the stolen Azurite cache. Van found himself in the smoke infused room of his detestable superior—the one that his beloved junior adorably calls the witch.

The longer I serve her, the more that nickname grows on me, he thought as he completed his report on the outcomes of their mission.

“…In the end, about 95% of the Azurite cache was recovered. A Nostra metallurgy facility, a Nostra executive who was an Exalted, and an entire cadre of their members were eliminated. As part of his undercover duties, Emil also executed a Desperado from Aois Nua.”

On the night of the mission's conclusion, Van was patrolling the Lower Dannan slums as an undercover member of Aois Nua when he suddenly saw a thin beam of azure cross the night sky. To an Ordinary’s eye, the light could have been easily mistaken as the vestiges of a bright star or a hallucination of the mind. For Van, however, it was a signal that demanded immediate attention.

Without hesitation, he abandoned his position and sprinted towards the light's source. The beam of azure continued to flicker and vanish at a constant cadence, solidifying his suspicions. It was a call for help.

Is that Emil?

Van traced the direction of the distress signal to the outskirts of the industrial district—the section that encroached onto Nostra territory. He sped up. His junior had already missed the previous night’s scheduled meeting.

When he arrived, he discovered the burning ruins of a metallurgy facility. Dark fumes bellowed. The brilliant fire towered to the night skies, cackling as it feasted on the structure. The walls to his left suddenly collapsed. Out of the wreckage emerged Emil—a haggard mess. His face was drenched in ash and soot. His body in the midst of being devoured by flames. In his arms carried several unconscious children.

Van later learned that they were orphans employed by Nostra.

He massaged his forehead, suddenly back in the office. Hortensia was reading his report. Her eyes darted across the pages as she let out a plume of smoke. An absurdly long cigar was in her left hand. Her office was filled with a sweet fragrance, infused with a lingering hint of oak. Not an unpleasant scent, but Van would have much preferred something stronger and more stimulating. Something to make him forget the hellish nightmares inside the ruins of the Nostra facility.

“Well done,” Hortensia finally said after a minute of silent contemplation. As a veteran of Steiger, Van knew better than to interrupt her while she was quiet. His shoulders relaxed as he heard her affirmation. I guess we get passing marks.

“…There’s the remaining 5% of the reported Azurite that was not recovered. What should we do? It’s not a trivial amount,” Van asked. The entirety of stolen Azure cache was reported to be around 300 uncia, roughly the weight of an adult horse. Five percent of that was enough to supply a small number of Steiger Cleaners through a half a year’s worth of missions.

“It’s within the margin of error,” Hortensia said, scowling, “At least, or so the royal family claims.” She let out a short, exasperated sigh. “I don't agree with their decision, but they told us to close the case for more pressing matters. I don't have the jurisdiction to refuse. At the end of the day, they’re the ones who pays our salaries.”

Hortensia removed the blemished cigar in her mouth and shoved it into the ashtray.

“Van, I want you to look into a person behind the raid on the cache. There was a Desperado with the profile of an Eastern swordsman. As far as I’m aware, that person does not belong to Nostra. My suspicion is that he works for the ‘clients’ mentioned in Emil’s report.” She pushed a set of documents close to Van. “Someone is using Nostra as a scapegoat. Find them.”

Another mission this soon? Van frowned with bitterness. The cadence of their workloads was starting to get ridiculous. It was a sign of turbulent times in Ardair if the nation’s secret police force was becoming understaffed and overworked. Reluctantly, he accepted the documents.

He had to—if he wanted to get what he desired.

“By the way, how’s Emil?”

“Alive. Our little rising star is recovering well.” Hortensia smirked, shaking her head. “He’s just full of surprises, isn’t he? To think he would undergo a proper Awakening into a full fledged Exalted. When you made that silly proposal to save him and his friends four years ago, I would have never expected him to turn into one of our best agents. Life really is absurd. Perhaps, we ought to revisit the Bestowed Project once more.”

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The mere mention of those words made Van wince.

The Bestowed Project.

It was a set of horrific research papers written by an unknown author. He first heard of this enigmatic project several years ago, just around the time when he found Emil and his companions in the aftermath of a Desperado’s rampage within the Lower Dannan slums. The details of the project were apparently leaked to Steiger by an anonymous source.

The papers made a terrible hypothesis—that the organs of an Exalted can be implanted into an Ordinary to induce an artificial Awakening.

The procedures laid out in the papers were later used on Emil who was already on the verge of death. His survival and subsequent Awakening proved two things.

One, the revolting research was valid. And two, there was someone in Ardair who was committing atrocities through conducting abhorrent experiments.

“Does this mean he was two Gifts now?” Van asked.

“Yes. He does,” Hortensia said with a sinister smile. “This is unprecedented. His very existence disproves the theory that an Exalted may only possess one Gift. He might upend all our of existing knowledge. Whoever was behind the Bestowed Project must have been a madman.”

A surge of anger flared in Van’s chest. The sensation of disgust was palpable, clinging dryly onto his throat. Azurite and its use as an efficient storage and conductor of mana was discovered only a century ago. Since then, human beings have remained the only living being capable of bending mana to their will.

In other words, the forbidden knowledge described by the Bestowed Project was likely obtained from a mountain of human corpses. And now it was in the hands of this foul witch.

“Your eyes could kill, Van,” Hortensia said, “Don’t worry, I have no plans to use this research. Confirmation that it was real was enough. In fact, I’m more curious about who its authors were.” Her eyes suddenly narrowed with a dangerous gleam. “Ardair is a wretched nation, but even so, for the sake of upholding some semblance of ethics, we can’t have people running amok and experimenting on our fellow countrymen.”

Silence followed her declaration. Van stood there awkwardly. It was finally time. There was a question that he wanted to ask ever since he was summoned into her office. Those who worked under the witch all have something they want.

“Director,” he began; his voice teetering with unease, “do you have any news about my sister?”

***

KLEINE

Somewhere on the northern outskirts of Lower Dannan, out of the arid fumes of the industrial district and near a set of ruins deep in the northern woods, Kleine sat down by a tree.

Pale moonlight leaked in from the tiny gaps of the canopy, offering the dimmest of illuminations. He leaned back against the trunk and removed the black hood covering his head. A bundle of white hair fluttered out. He brushed his hands through it, straightening the messy folds. The strands flowed amidst the night breeze, glistening under the wary moon.

For a man with such a distinct appearance, the uninhabited wilderness was the one place where he could let his guard down.

His sharp scarlet eyes suddenly peered into the darkness. There was a faint shuffle from a nearby bush. Soon, a petite Gharian lady emerged from the undergrowth.

“You’re slow, Karni.”

Karni clicked her tongue at the unnecessary jab, “Naturally. My legs are like stubs compared to yours.”

“Fair point. But fret not. You have plenty of other attributes that make you a radiant lady,” Kleine said, barely concealing the faint grin emerging on the corners of his mouth.

“Don’t patronize me,” she spat. She walked towards the center of the ruins. Fragments of stone and broken pillars littered the vicinity. A broken statue, shattered and overtaken by moss, towered nearby. A similar sight could be seen all over the uninhabited lands of Ardair. These were former sites of worship, dedicated to the pagan Goddess Endora—the patron of the Exalted.

She was once a beloved Goddess, worshipped across the lands for her benevolent blessings. Now, she was forgotten, her religion rendered obsolete by the discovery of Azurite, which led to proliferation of Exalted across Ardair. What used to be an esoteric power wielded only by mystics and shamans was now the currency of influence and authority within a militaristic nation.

As Karni reached the center of the ruins, she snapped her fingers. The ground stirred. Hushed pitter patter rippled across their surroundings, no louder than a whimper. The nearby undergrowth began to shake. Suddenly, out of the woodworks emerged a cadre of rats. They scurried across the stone ruins with a frenzied speed, their red beady eyes piercing the darkness, converging onto Karni’s location.

“Here.” Karni pointed to a spot beside her. From Kleine’s eyes, a wisp of mana gathered at her fingertips. The rats immediately rushed towards the spot. Then, each of them dropped something that was kept between their fangs.

Once all the rats were done, a small pile of radiant ores were left on the ground.

“Fifteen unica of Azurite,” Kleine said, marveling at the pure cerulean blue.

“And all it took was three weeks of scurrying around Lower Dannan like moles and crippling an extremely useful pawn in Nostra,” Karni lamented, “Don’t expect to make any moves in Lower Dannan for a while. Steiger will be on full alert.”

“It's fine. You should be happy instead. We gained a lot and learned plenty about one of our biggest oppositions. Frankly, I’m a bit underwhelmed. Steiger underperformed to my expectations with their response this time,” Kleine said as he stood up. He strolled towards the pile of Azurite and traced his long fingers along the stones. His heart swelled at the presence of concentrated mana. “With all this, we’re set for the next stage of our plans.”

“Give me a week to process these into useable accessories,” Karni said.

“Of course, take your time. We’re ahead of schedule,” Kleine replied as his eyes danced with madness. An insidious smile crossed his pale ethereal face. “I can see it now. It won’t be long before we can finally drag those indolent fools to their graves.”