By the time we entered the arena, I saw that my fellow new recruits were just handed swords, short swords as it would seem. The hulking mass of a man, whom had been giving out the swords to the recruits turned my way with a sword in hand and offered it to me, to which I brandished my rapier in response. He had a bemused expression as he put away the remaining swords and returned to join us shortly afterward.
“Listen up, soldiers. You were recruited by our dear princess, to join the Blue Order, and as such we are to fight for the princess, Yumari, herself. She is the future of the Kingdom of Lunari, and in defending her, you defend the future of the Kingdom of Lunari. I am the General of this Order, and you will have the honor as being the only squad of recruits to receive training from one. The princess has given me an order to train you, in the most cruel, and unforgiving training I can think of. Try not to die on me,” she flashed a smile, at the irony in her statement, “You first exercise is to run around this arena, I want to see you in a sustained full on sprint. Your Squad Captain, Sergeant Frostcaller will join you in your exercise. Stay in front of him, if you wish to not to meet the business end of his sword. Move!”
In a quick, and unorganized motion, every recruit, including myself, ran for the outer edge of the field to run along. Our Squad Captain trotted behind us, as we ran, some faster than others. I was in the lead by quite a bit, but I heard that it was supposed to be a sustain sprint, so I pushed myself to go even faster. I pushed and pushed until I could feel I couldn't raise my speed any more, so I decided to maintain my current speed. I wasn't using any speed boosters or stat boosters, this was my maximum, unaided speed. It felt good to feel the rush of wind in my face, I even closed my eyes to feel the breeze caressing me.
After a few minutes, I heard a scream. This prompted me to look in the direction of the scream, which appeared on the complete other side of the field. I noticed that the far away recruits decided to look behind them as well. The scream came from a rather pudgy, round faced man collapsing towards the ground, while Sergeant Frostcaller continued to trot past him. I figured the sergeant caught up to him and slashed him in the back. As I ran, I watched the sergeant. He ran neither fast nor slow, he kept an even pace that made his legs seem to move to a metronome.
I then counted the amount of recruits we had, including me and the guy that fell already, we amounted to only six. I took this time to look at each one. There was a woman far behind me, she had a plain face with brown eyes and hair, she had sweat beading on her forehead, and she only seemed preoccupied with moving forward. I then observed the two men just behind her, trying to trip each other up, it would seem. These two men had nearly the same features, but since I divided my focus between running and observing, and that we were far apart, I could not discern their differences.
There was one other girl that was just a head of the Sergeant. I couldn't see her, due to the distance. I did see her turn her head and then she moved with extreme vigor, I could now see that she had jet black hair and a small face with a child like appearance. She ran fast enough to pass the two boys that were playing with each and she almost caught up to the girl that was ahead of them still. It was then that I saw the energy that propelled her legs forward quickly fade, and thus she stopped, wheezing. The boys then passed her and not long after, the Sergeant caught up and another scream could be held. I witnessed this event happen ahead of me, as anytime now, and I would pass the sergeant myself.
I wonder... would it be okay, if I attacked the Sergeant? No, no, that is just an impish thought that would probably label me as insubordinate. I have no reason as to why the thought even appeared in my head, despite it actually amusing to entertain for awhile. I slapped my cheeks firmly to clear my head. I focused on moving my feet forward and the wind on my face. I rather did like the wind on my face, it was quite soothing. I closed my eyes for a moment, to drink in the comfortable feeling, however the feeling was short lived as I started to feel a little drained from running.
I looked around to get my bearings, the two boys looked worse for wear and were even leaning on each other. The girl that was closets to me, though still far away, was drenched in sweat, but she pressed on with the same monotone like movements the Sergeant had. She neither sped up nor slowed down, almost like she was accustomed to this. I then passed the lump on the ground that I have named 'Bells'. Bells is a rude name, but this is the nicest name I can give him, as I know nothing about him and only met him today. It seems his consciousness is returning to him. I decided to see how he would be handle, so I watched him as I ran.
Meanwhile, Bells slowly got up and looked around in a confused stupor. After he got up, he quickly sank to his knees and expelled the contents of his stomach onto the ground. He then cleaned his mouth with the edge of his sleeve before he slowly crawled to General Mizo. I used my sharp hearing to listen in, even the rushing of the wind made it difficult.
“...can't.... … ...please?” I barely caught any of the words, but I could hear the whiny and wheezy voice of Bells.
“No, get.... … exercise, until... last... ...Sergeant... …. run!” General Mizo had the same stern voice as earlier. I could barely pick up any of the words, but I got the gist of Bells wanting to rest or quit, and Mizo telling to continue exercising and the Sergeant Frostcaller was coming.
Speaking of the Sergeant, he was right in front of me. I slowed down to match his pace and I felt it was easier to run, my stamina wasn't draining nearly as fast, actually, this even running seem to stabilize to where it was neither dropping nor raising. Could I actually recover stamina if I went slow enough? The thought intrigued me, but knowing the NPI, there is probably a hidden fatigue gauge that heavily affects recovery and stamina draining exercises. It would be interesting to be resting while in a full sprint. Probably what the Infinite Stamina amounts to.
Thinking about stats and abilities, I decided to check my own.
Name: Jack Frost
Race: Yxdan Vampire
Class: Ice Mage
Health: 200
Mana: 440
Stamina: 175/250
Strength: 39
Speed: 178%
Defense: 34
Magical Strength: 55
Accuracy: 66%
Magical Defense: 65
Stealth: 46%
Blood Thirst: 0%
Special Points: 7
Grace IV, Etiquette I, Sword Mastery I, Sword Arts I, Ice Magic Mastery VI, Ice Magical Arts IV,
Ice Resistance III, Undead Resistance I, Stealth Mastery II, Stealth Arts I, Vampirism II, Pit Vision I,
Poison Resistance III, Mana Manipulation IX, Air Magic Mastery I, Air Magical Arts I,
Water Magic Mastery I, Water Magical Arts I, Storm Magic Mastery IV, Storm Magical Arts IV,
Spirit Manipulation II,
Double Life: Turn Undead upon death
Ice Affiliation: Increased knowledge absorption, grants Ice Resistance and Ice Mag. Str.
Undead Affiliation: Increased knowledge absorption, grants Undead Resistance and Undead Mag. Str.
Vampirism: Increased Strength, Stealth, Stamina, and Speed
Mage: Increased Mana, Mag. Str. And Mag. Def.
All-Tongue: Able to comprehend, speak, and write all languages on Aezorish
Mist Form: Able to transform in to Mist
Homescreen: Able to create a portal to Homescreen
Hero of Iglaku, Knight of the Blue Order
My, oh my! Are those seven Special Points I see? It seems like a spending spree is in order! Skill Store Screen!
Upgrade Skill Art
Upgrade Skill Mastery
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Buy Skill Set
Detection, Analysis, Cooking, Acrobatics, Gymnastics, Air Magic, Curse Magic Set, Swamp Magic Set, Water Magic, Storm Magic, Dark Magic, Spear Set, Ax Set, Bow Set, Staff Set, Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Enchanting, War Set, Maul Set, Rippling Muscles Set,
-Requirements needed to unlock more-
Buy Attributes
Dark Affiliate, Water Affiliate, Air Affiliate, Storm Affiliate, Tough Skin, Xernurochii Tongue, Seer, Tamer, Breeder, Thrift, Silver Tongue, Martial Artist,
-Requirements needed to unlock more-
Wow, there are more to pick from, and as I recall it cost two SP to upgrade a Mastery but only one SP to upgrade an Art. So many tempting things to pick from, but I think I will just choose the things that will be hard to upgrade over time, much like last time.
Skill Upgrade
Grace VII: Peasants, Nobles and sometimes Royals treat you as a distant royal member
Vampirism III: Gained the Wall Climb Attribute.
Wall climb?
SK Notice
Wall Climb: Able to run or walk up walls, even hang upside down, ignoring gravity
I almost felt my jaw hit the floor. No way! I could reenact the skin crawling scene from 'Alucard's Demise'! I must try it out as soon as I can! I was thinking of maxing out the Grace skill line, before I moved onto another skill, but I might just finish out the Vampirism skill line instead. I smiled to myself as I looked forward to the future, as I smiled, I dismissed all of the screens.
I was rudely awakened from my daydreaming by a pair of unmanly screams that emanated from the two bodies that landed to either side of me. I took this time to scan the field once more. I was just behind the Sergeant, and we both passed the two brothers that I will now name Drim and Drit, named after my favorite comedy comic stripes. They were uncannily similar. A quarter way past Drim and Drit, was the black haired girl, that I will temporarily name Pix, whom wore the same expressions as Bells while regaining consciousness. On the other side of the track was the same monotone movements of the brunette that I will call Bot. Returning to the make shift track, we have Bells, starting near Pix. It seems the Sergeant is fresh out of victims for awhile.
While I started to think about how long this was to be going, I felt a sudden shift in my immediate surroundings. It was then I saw the blade inches from my face, sending my consciousness to a deep black void.
My vision came into focus, albeit very slowly. I was hit with sudden urge to vomit at the sudden vertigo I was experiencing. Turning my head to the left or right sent my world out of focus again. I stay still, flat on my back, and waited for the sensation to subside. After a moment I slowly sat up and took note of my surroundings.
The sergeant was still running around the track, slowly closing in on more victims, Drim and Drit, as it were. Bot was still running in a metronome like pace that uncannily matched the sergeants own. Pix was now shouldering Bells. I had intense feeling of being watched wash over me, and I look about and I spot General Mizo staring at me, as if taking notes. I placed both my palms on the ground and I hauled my self up, and started running the track again.
…
After I learned my lesson with keeping a steady pace, and falling once more from severe stamina depletion, the sun had started peak over the horizon in the west, informing us that morning was well on its way. It was then General Mizo called everyone to the center of the field, of course not all of us were conscious. I was tasked with dragging Pix, while Drim and Drit were tasked with dragging Bells.
“Sergeant Frostcaller, the crystals, if you will.” General Mizo commanded.
The Sergeant then dug into the pouch strapped to his side, and withdrew a small yellow stone, wrapped in a small blue paper. As soon as he removed it from it's paper prison, it had an offensive odor that permeated the air. He took this crystal between his forefinger and the thumb and waved this crystal under the unsuspecting, unconscious bodies.
As soon as the smelly gem got near their noses, the bodies of Pix and Bells jerked to life, with their hands flying to their noses.
“Wha- What is the horrendous smell?!” Pix had small tears in her eyes, from smelling the noxious fumes. Bells was already hunched over, gagging. I noticed the Sergeant wrap the blue paper from earlier, and the horrible smell dissipated in an instant. I think this paper has either sealing properties or has a magic circle on it that contains this smell.
“That,” the General made her presence known again, “was a smelling gem. It is a gem, made to be so smelly, that it wakes the unconscious. It was invented not to long ago, if I am not mistaken. That is neither here, nor there. You may not be feeling it now, but your muscles will start killing you tomorrow, but we must push through to the end of your training.” Obviously they do not know about muscle recovery being essential to muscle growth. “This marks the end of this physical training session, I expect you to return this afternoon to this spot.” She then turned to me, “I expect you to be sooner than that.” With that, the General dismissed herself, with the Sergeant close behind her.
“I feel bad for you. The name is Yue Prefrost, I am the youngest son of Count Ye Prefrost. I hope to get along.” The round bellied mage that I had gotten to call Bells, introduced himself.
“I am- hey!” Drim had his foot stomped on by Drit.
“My name is Titus! His name- brgh?!” His mouth was covered by his brother.
“I am Potitus, we are the sons of- gah!” He was cut off by Titus by what I could only perceive as a gut punch.
““Stornavius”” They managed to say at the same time, at that time they began to beat each other up in wrestling that seemed very violent but non-harmful at the same time.
“Stornavius?” Wait do they mean that guy I bound me to a summons contract in the Solaeum Kingdom? No, it couldn't be, that would be too coincidental.
“Stornavius Heastae, a noble in the Solaeum Kingdom, though he recently disappeared with some of his subjects.” Yue said. My mouth went dry. Are kidding me? “The only reason I know this is because when they introduced themselves, the gut punching came after the introduction,” he smiled.
Now that I look at them closely, they kind of resemble the man that I slayed. “If they come from the Solaeum Kingdom, why are they in the servitude of the Kingdom of Lunari?” I asked.
“It is well known that the queen has been doing some questionably massive recruiting operations. They have lowered their standards and are accepting almost everyone willing to join their ranks. My name is Fuki Iceshell, we are a cadet family of the Iceshields.” This time it was Pix, I mean Fuki, gave a cheerful grin.
Bot, the only one who hasn't spoken yet, approached from where she was previously standing and gave a short introduction, “Mae.” She then did an about face, and left the field. I was floored by how short that was.
Fuki then gave a curt nod of understanding before she spoke, “I see. A non-noble. You don't get too many of those in a magic academy.”
“How can you tell?” I promptly asked.
“Well, you can tell from the name. Mae is a very common, bland name in the Kingdom of Lunari. Even then, she didn't introduce a last name, of which nobles where like a badge.”
“You also mentioned there not being too many non-nobles here, why is that?”
“Well, a few reasons. Peasants are busy learning a trade and trying to earn money they don't have time for schooling. Another reason, is that magic isn't rare manifest in a person, but it is fairly uncommon. Mostly it is the nobles that have these abilities, history has taught us that magic is a genetic thing.” She explained this, while she started to walk off the field.
“I see,” I think I need to write this down. I may not be able to learn what I need to in class, but perhaps I can learn about this world from these passing conversations.
Yue then spoke up, “Hey, lets get going already, surely breakfast is being served!” He started to run after Fuki and Mae, Mae almost being completely out of sight. I gave a quick glance at the rising sun, surely it was a bit too early for anyone to be awake. As I began to make my way toward the buildings, leaving the twins in their fist fight, I started to think about how the day will go. Today was the final rounds of placement battles, so I will be spectating the Elite rounds. After the Elite course placement battle, there should be an entertainment bout, and it wasn't specified when the Archmage's Apprenticeship battle was going to happen, surely it would be announced today. After that, I will probably be training until tomorrow morning, again.
I'd rather be in the library, learning the most that I could, but things could be worse. As I entered the building doors, I was met with a stream of students going in a single direction. They must be going to the cafeteria. I jumped into the steady stream of bodies, and I found myself at the destination in no time. The cafeteria was very interesting to behold, there were several long tables that had bench seats that accompanied them, as expected. What wasn't expected was the ceiling. What was a classical like painting of a mage, castle, and dragon, actually moving. Each time the dragon spewed fire, the mage would ward against it using different spells. Truly fascinating.
I looked around the room some more, and I found something missing, there were no cafeteria servers, no food bar, but everyone had food... how peculiar. It wasn't until I saw line students quickly passing by a short column, that I found where the food was coming from. This short, white column had a large metal bowl on top of it with a large blue fire within. As the students passed by, they would stick their hands within the fire and draw out a tray with different foods.
I got in line and found myself at the flames in no time, I peeked inside the bowl of fire and saw a magic circle within it, I could make out the words on the edges, 'Hidden', 'Conceal', and 'Misdirect'. It was strange that there were words that would make something invisible here, it wasn't until I tried to look into the center of the circle that I understood why. The outer magic circle was concealing the inner magic circle, which looked so incredibly blurry, that I couldn't read it.
“Interesting, no? This is the Insatiable Flame, there is only one in the world. It is simple to use, picture what you want to eat, then pull it out.” A giddy man in a Basic Light Mage robe told me.
I wanted to picture the food found on Earth, but that might draw too much attention, so I just pictured Rae's cooking before I stuck my hand in the fire. Oddly the fire didn't burn, it felt as though a warm air was caressing my hand before I felt a cold, flat metal object in my hand. Pulling it out, I found myself holding a metal tray with a fried egg and a chunk of rough brown bread. Yep, this looked liked Rae's cooking. Satisfied with my choice, I sat at a near by table. I still do not need to eat, I felt no hunger pains. The reason for doing this, was I felt the continuing sensation of being watched. I thought it was General Mizo that one time, but the feeling persisted after she left. I picked up the egg and tossed it in my mouth, and found it more lacking in flavor than when I had Rae's cooking a few days ago.
Was it because the fire was a poor copier? I scanned the crowds faces and found them very joyously chewing and talking, making merry with their friends. It appears they find nothing wrong with it's tastes. Hmm, maybe something is off with me, I couldn't tell. I quickly finished my meal, and made my way toward the library.
As I was reaching for the giant wooden doors, they swung open with the gloomy figure from the bout yesterday rushing out, curiously, he was followed by the Ashley Smith, from the other day. She was pursuing him while yelling, “Quickly, breakfast is almost done, so the last battles will begin soon.” As they ran by, I locked eyes with the gloomy kid, of which I noticed that his eyes glowed faintly red.
It made no sense to me, but as I tried to recall his face the only thing I could remember was those eyes. While it did fill me with a sense of unease, I still felt like someone was watching me this entire time, so I quickly entered the already closing doors. As the doors sealed the entrance, so did they too seal the unsettling feelings.