Throughout the history of Eristia, the Giland continent was famed as a land of prosperity, and riches. Within it, stood the most famous empire that has never been toppled: The kingdom of Alswin reigned supreme.
The Alswin kingdom was home to the human race. Due to their comprehension of Laws the humans of the Giland continent had caused the elven race and beast-men race to form an alliance in order to combat their threat.
A long time ago the king of Alswin feared that one day the Elves and Beast-men would seek the destruction of humanity. Fearing the worst the king prayed to the God ruling over this world. Seeing the distressed king devotedly pray to him for years on end, the God blessed the king with a tier 5 bloodline artefact.
Using the artefact the king supressed the demi-human alliance and forced them into submission. Bathing in the glory of victory, the king didn’t realise the threat slowly approaching him.
On the night before the cusp of victory, an unknown army of horned demi-humans and beasts invaded the unguarded capital of the Alswin kingdom and slew its occupants.
After returning back to the capital expecting cheers and applause the king and his army were met with blood and silence. Disfigured corpses littered the capital’s floors, walls were painted red with blood and towers of bones were raised high in the sky.
In a fit of rage the king slaughtered the Elven and Beast-men prisoners and stormed towards the last safe haven of the demi-human alliance.
Once there the king found the same tragedy. Mangled bodies, towers of bones and a forest on fire welcomed him. In the wreckage left behind by the invaders an elven child was found curled upon and whimpering. Seeing the weak child all the rage and hatred the king held towards the demi-human alliance vanished.
Soon after the king called a ceasefire and met with the leaders of the alliance and formed a treaty. By defeating the unknown army the king swore that for as long as the Alswin kingdom stood, they would never go to war with either elves or beast-men.
The war against the invaders raged on for many years. Hundreds of thousands lost their lives. The ever so arrogant king thought that using the tier 5 bloodline artefact would be enough to wipe out the invaders. But to his surprise he found what he assumed to be the leader of the invaders wielding a tier 4 sword. Although the invader wielded a weapon with a lower tier, his physical abilities outclassed the king in every aspect allowing him to fight the king on even ground. On the battlefield the warriors of the Giland continent discovered that the invaders did not fight like them.
Like the beast-men the invaders had strong, durable bodies and could fight evenly against them. But what tipped the scale was the red energy gushing out of their bodies. This energy was different to laws used by humans and elves. Laws could be said be a force that constantly surrounded them. A force able to be manipulated if one was able to feel and understand it. But the pressure being given off by the invaders felt like they weren’t manipulating the force in the atmosphere but instead drawing it out from their own bodies.
This energy allowed the invaders to send out long ranged energy attacks which forced the bow and arrow specialised Elven race into a corner. Their strong bodies gave them the advantage in close quarter combat against humans and their usage of energy allowed them to dominate the Law-less Beast-men.
The war was hard fought but eventually the Giland continent warriors drove the invaders away and secured peace across the land. But any who survived that hell knew it was only a matter of time until they returned.
In preparation for this the King set up an academy in which to educate the people of Giland and prepare them for when the invaders would return.
The Elves and Beast-men did the same. Although it could be said the war against the invaders robbed them of many things, in truth it brought all three races closer together than ever before.
…
“So what do they teach in these academies?”
Walking along a deserted road surrounded by grassy plains, a lone vagrant was donned in a long black sleeved undershirt that was covered by a sleeveless grey overcoat that reached just below his knees. His knee high black boots complimented his rugged looking black trousers. What stood out about him the most was his tanned skin and bright golden eyes giving him an intense animalistic aura.
Touching his neck, the young man felt a warm sensation run through his body when he touched the purple crystal ball necklace. This feeling made him let out a small smile. In contrast the cold unadorned silver ring on his finger gave him a sense of worry.
By his side a purple eyed teenage girl wearing a luxurious purple dress that complimented her purple hair a pointy ears strode by him with a carefree smile on her face.
“From what I can remember I think they teach people how to fight. But from what I recall within the past one thousand years the academy in the Alswin capital Breamore has started to discriminate against commoners and non-human students.”
“Oh” A surprised look appeared on the young man’s face. “Why would they discriminate against people they’ll be fighting side by side with?”
“Well it’s like I said. A thousand years ago this trend started. If you were told you were being prepared to fight a war but then that war never happened how would you feel?”
“Disgruntled.” Without any hesitation the young man answered without a single change of emotion.
“Exactly! Now imagine that your grandfather, father and now you were told the same thing, received the same training but then never fought against these so called invaders. What would you tell your children about to go through the same training?”
“Don’t take it too seriously.”
Nodding her head seriously the teenage girl continued. “Now imagine you’re from a noble family with lots of money and connections. You’d be able to hire a personal tutor to train your children from a young age so by the time they enrol in the academy they’re already unrivalled. Not to mention the amount of protective artefacts they’re wearing that commoners could only dream of makes them practically invincible.”
“No wonder they’re arrogant” letting out a sigh the young man’s opinions towards nobles fell even further. “But if that’s the case why enrol them in the first place?”
“Status, by graduating they’ll cement themselves amongst the top elite of society.”
“What about those who aren’t nobles but still graduate?”
“They either join an adventuring guild, become mercenaries or work under a noble. If they do exceptionally well they even have the chance to work under the royal family.”
“I see.. what are the requirements for graduation?”
“They’re mastery of laws have to be on par with a teacher by the end of 3 years.”
“How do you test that?”
“Mock battles.”
“But didn’t you say nobles have protective artefacts?”
“They’re not allowed to use them during the exam.”
Understanding more and more, Daelos’s thirst for knowledge increased. “What if they fail?”
“Then they get their arms broken and fined 20 gold coins.”
“I’m not entirely sure how much that is but it sounds like a lot.”
“Uh huh, 1000 copper coins equal 1 silver coin and 100 silver coins equal 1 gold coin, the average commoner makes a couple hundred copper coins in their lifetime, so the debt is carried on by their children, not including tax.”
“WHAT THE HELL! why do you want me to enrol in this academy?”
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“Because the only knowledge I have towards the world comes from the memories that I inherited from the arch-mage and I want to see how different the world is compared to what I remember.”
After waking up on a messy floor after leaving his mindscape, Daelos found himself surrounded by corpses and city documents. To his surprise the body of Halloway Carn was amongst the rest of the dead.
What freaked him out was that he was tightly grasping the Agnos Requiem to the point that his hand felt like it was cramping. After that a purple glow dashed out of the artefact and standing in front of him was Lyla.
According to her when Carn was transferring the negative emotions from the Agnos Requiem to the Ring of everlasting torment, Daelos appeared out of nowhere and touched the Agnos Requiem which caused Carn to lose his concentration for a split second. Within that small window of time every bit of resentment spread across the city stopped what they were doing and shifted their hate towards Carn and devoured him. Everything else in the room such as the attendees were just collateral damage. Daelos got lucky as the Agnos Requiem shielded him from the attack.
After telling him all that Lyla suggested that he take both the Agnos Requiem and Ring of torment.
Not being polite in the slightest, not only did he take the Agnos Requiem which Lyla had transformed into a necklace to make it easier for him to carry and Ring of everlasting torment, he also took whatever he thought was valuable from the bodies of the attendees and destroyed room. Then he roamed around the mansion until he found some size appropriate clothes and jewellery.
After leaving the mansion Daelos was greeted with the sight of a corpse ridden city. Knowing that these people were terrible people in life he didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt while he ransacked their corpses.
From one of the shops he looted he found a map and headed towards the capital in hopes of finding a library.
On the way Lyla informed him that the Agnos Requiem was currently empty but should be able to absorb any mental attacks directed at him. On the other hand the silver ring on his finger was usable but he’d need to learn how to use mental energy.
During their long journey from Halthor to Breamore Daelos and Lyla came across merchants and travelling commoners. What Daelos couldn’t understand was why they only ever greeted him and not Lyla. Feeling puzzled by this he asked Lyla, she then responded by saying that only Daelos could see her because he was always in contact with the Agnos Requiem.
Realizing that people had been giving him weird looks whenever he motioned to Lyla, Daelos felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him.
“Lyla.”
“Yeah.”
“You said I’m the only one that can see you right?”
“Yeah.” Nodding her head Lyla looked at Daelos waiting for him to get to the point.
“Then why did you change from a robe into a dress?”
“Huh.”
“I mean I’m the only one who can see you so what’s the point of changing clothes?”
A look of surprise couldn’t help but appear on her face. “Is that what you’ve been thinking about all this whole time?”
“Not really, it’s just that we still have about a month left until the academy entrance exam and if I have to see you in that dress for one month straight, then I want an explanation.”
“Why does what I wear matter?”
“It doesn’t, but I still want to know why you changed.”
Apparently during the 3 weeks of traveling, Lyla had slowly been unravelling the memories of the arch-mage who instilled their will upon the Agnos Requiem. The more memories that were unlocked, the more Lyla’s personality continued to change. Back when she first met Daelos she was nothing but a naïve teenager. In comparison the current Lyla was a more serious but snarkier version of herself.
It also seems that the arch-mage was a teenager during the time the Agnos Requiem was in her possession, so Lyla’s current appearance is a reflection of that.
For Daelos this situation was complicated and annoying. Only recently had he come to terms with the fact that the world he was in was different to the one he remembered. Long gone were the bright skies filled with red clouds, long gone was the world of technology he was used to, and worst of all, long gone were the physics he understood.
Invaders, Laws, knights, mages all these things were alien to him. And Lyla’s insistence on training him at every opportune moment in preparation for the exam left him drained both mentally and physically. What made him want to scream was Lyla saying the more mental fatigue he built up the more adept he would be at controlling it.
“If I had to give a reason it’d be to differentiate the difference between the mage Lyla and the artefact spirit Lyla.”
“Meaning what exactly?”
“Meaning I don’t see myself as the same person as her. I see us both as separate individuals.”
“But don’t you have the same appearance and memories.”
“You know the mage Lyla once read in a book that ‘people define themselves through their memories. They’re able to recognise their existence through special events that happen in their lives.’ The mage Lyla never experienced meeting you nor did she see an entire city of people be massacred. It was me who experienced these things, so I’m sure if she was still alive she’d recognise as me as my own person.”
“Pretty profound stuff.”
To that, Lyla replied with a smile and pushed Daelos to increase their speed.
…
The day before the entrance exam Daelos found himself sitting cross legged on his bed inside an inn. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was steady. Around him danced various flames of different sizes.
“Your pretty good at this.” Standing in front of him. Lyla watched with a smug expression. “According to my memories it’d take at least 2 years to create this many flames after gaining a basic understanding of the law.”
“Too bad this is all I can do. I’ve been practicing the way you told me, and I still can’t command the flames to move the way I want them to.”
“That is pretty odd, maybe you’ll luck out on the actual day.”
Looking at her with a downtrodden face Daelos couldn’t help but sigh. “I don’t think that’ll be the case.”
Seeing him like this, caused Lyla to be unable to utter a single word of comfort. “I’ll head back into the Agnos Requiem now, keep practicing then head to bed we’re waking up early.” And with that, Lyla started glowing purple before turning into a flash of light a burrowing into the artefact around Daelos’s neck.
Luck out on the actual day, what crap. If I’m going to pass I’m going to have to do it my way.
Looking down at his palms a playful smile hung on Daelos’s lips.
…
Standing in front of the academy building Daelos felt his jaw hit the ground.
The academy was just too beautiful. It was made out of a material Daelos was unfamiliar with, but just looking at it caused stars to appear in his eyes. From its basic fantasy castle like structure to its awe inspiring presence, Daelos couldn’t help but gawk at it.
What that ruined moment was-
What the hell is up with this line!!
In front of him stood the longest line he’d ever seen!
‘Oi Lyla, the hell is going on? Why is the line so damn long?’
Speaking to him through the necklace Lyla’s voice sounded out directly in his mind. “I dunno, this wasn’t included in my memories. Anyway get in line or something these exams only last 3 days.”
Must be nice watching others do hard work.
Keeping that comment to himself, Daelos decided to look around to see if he could somehow cut the line. While searching for a gap, he realised that this was not the only line in front of the academy.
Compared to the line he was currently standing in, the length of the other 2 lines were considerably shorter. The first line had about 19 people all of which wore light or heavy armour. By their sides were all sorts of melee weapons ranging from swords to hammers. On the other hand the other line only had about 5 people, 4 boys and 2 girls all of which wore clothes that seemed easy to move around in.
Tapping the shoulder of the person next to him, Daelos discovered that all 3 lines represented different classes. Apparently the line Daelos was currently in was for those who wanted to be mages. The line filled with people wearing armour was for those who wished to be knights. And the shortest line amongst the 3 was for those who wished to be mage-knights.
Apparently only the students who were accepted from the mage class line would be able to enter the Breamore academy. On the other hand since knights rely on their physical bodies for close quarter combat, those who passed the exam would be taken away and trained within the Beast-men academy.
Similar to the knight examination, those who managed to pass the mage knight exam would be taken away and trained in the Elven academy.
“I can guess the difference between knights and mages, but I don’t understand how mage-knights fit into all this?”
“That’s simple, mage knights are those who have the potential to be mages but choose to fight like knights. Mage-knights are able to fight in close combat like knights do but they’re also able to strike from a distance and depending on which law they use, they become tricky opponents for both knights and mages. I’m surprised you didn’t know this, mage-knights are famed across the continent for being the best fighters when it comes to combat.”
“If that’s the case why are there only 5 people lined up?” A look of suspicion couldn’t help but cross his face.
Oblivious to Daelos’s doubtful gaze the stranger couldn’t help but continue answering his questions. “Duh! The mage-knight exam is by far the hardest of the 3 examinations. Unlike the other 2, mage-knight examiners are famed for their strictness! In the past only five out of one hundred candidates managed to pass. Since then the amount of candidates attempting the examination have declined.”
So that’s how it is.
“Thanks for the information.” Turning away from the stranger, Daelos walked out of shot.
“What a weird guy, showing up to the examination without even knowing the first thing about the categories.
After confirming no one was paying attention to him, Daelos stood at the back of all the lines and talked to Lyla.
“Your thoughts.”
“I didn’t anticipate this.”
“Ha me neither. What do you think we should do?” Daelos had a surprising carefree expression on his face.
With a regret filled sigh Lyla’s voice sounded out. “To be honest with your current capabilities the mage examination is a stretch and the knight examination would probably break you.”
“You didn’t say anything about the mage-knight examination.”
“Do I even need too. If you can’t handle the knight or mage examination then the mage knight examination is out of the question.”
“Lyla I’m hurt! Where’s the faith you had in me when we first met.”
“When we first met I didn’t have my inherited memories! I was essentially a baby and you were the first person I saw.”
Grabbing his chest tightly, a shocked expression filled his face. “Lyla don’t tell me, I’M YOUR DADDY!!”
“…”
“…”
“Are you done yet.”
“I am very sorry.”
*Sigh*
Letting out a dreary sigh Lyla shook her head inside the Agnos Requiem. “So what do you plan to do now?”
“Hmm, I think I’ll join the mage-knight exam.”
“…. How did you come to that conclusion?” No longer willing to entertain this idiot, Lyla decided to ask a basic question.
“Lyla, Lyla, Lyla” shaking his head in disappointment Daelos looked towards the mage-knight line. “Don’t question daddy.”
“…”
Once he was done shutting her up, Daelos joined the mage-knight line.