Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! William thought as Esme completely slumped against him. What the hell did I do to her!?
"Calm down Crow. Just keep her standing.", Elianne said calmly, "She just overused her soulskill and channeled way too much magic on that last analysis, she won't be seriously injured by her own power, just put under for a bit."
"Right of course.", William said as he straightened up more and Brusk moved to help him with Esme.
"Right then, it would've been nice had you guys at least mentioned how powerful you might be, especially you William...", Elianne said while shaking her head in disbelief.
I don't even know how powerful I am, I have no idea what's going on at all! William thought, he wouldn't vocalize it however, for fear of the Captain's fuze running short.
"Anyways, we'll need to seek council with Lord Hammon and the advisors immediately, you guys have completely overwhelmed our expectations, and everyone, including yourselves, will need to reassess the situation. You guys help Esme along with us, follow me.", she finished and swivelled on one foot toward the door and briskly passed through it.
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Lord Hammon was eating dinner in his study alone pouring over a map of the surrounding regions.
Soul skill awakenings had spiked dramatically in the recent months, and the thought worried him deeply. Each and every time spikes such as these occured a dramatic event was soon to follow, oftentimes amounting to a war, but sometimes to great advances, and on the absolute rarest occasions both.
It was during one of these spikes that he had risen to power in the region. He had gained the Rare soulskill Voice of Reason, which at first didn't seem very powerful to his youthful mind, as it was a power which allowed its user to more easily convince others to follow their own reasoning; however, as it turns out the power amounted to the powers of all those he could convince to follow him into battle. Persuasion was truly overwhelming indeed, all things considered.
Unfortunately the region of his family the Strethon was currently already at war, with the Harang. The powerful nomadic tribe held several strong individuals, but the greatest advantage they had was their lifestyle. The nomads often awakened their abilities early on in life, in the face of adversity, or they would die.
Most Harang soldiers had been utilizing their abilities from the ages of 10 and up, some of their least fortunate awakening at the younger ages of 7 or 8 aswell. To the Harang strength was absolute, and they had no place for insolance in their society.
The war with them had only started in the first place, due to practices across the continent in other Alliance territories. He was simply forced into the war by capitualating to the order to join by the Divine Emperor himself. The Emperor's soulskill was widely known, Logos, the Divine Word, it was a power much like his own, only several orders of magnitude stronger. The rarity of it was unknown, all that was known is that no one, ever, had resisted the Emperor's demands.
It made it truly troubling indeed to attempt to do battle with the Harang, the one thing his region currently had the advantage in was numbers. Unfortunately higher numbers meant a higher need for food, which the poor soil of the region refused to provide in ample amounts. So, he was forced to make the unfortunate decision of pushing the unawakened youths into the Assignment, or, if their families could afford it, special schooling to encourage soulskill awakening and growth.
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Luckily his power of Voice of Reason aided in convincing the populace of the Assignments necessity, else he feared his home of Endural, forged with his own hands, would've been overcome and overrun long ago.
Suddenly he heard a knock at the door, the crease lining his brow finally relaxed as he looked up from his maps.
"What is it!", he called.
"Excuse me Lord Hammon sir, but Elianne requests a meeting with you and the Advisors. The recent awakenee's were not what we expected.", said the voice at the door, Eduard, one of the newest servants, if Hammon remembered correctly.
Ellianne never worries much over anything short of invasion. Hammon thought to himself, "Right then, I'll be in the chamber hall in a scant few minutes.", he called as he stood and reached for the robe draped over the nearby coat rack.
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William was worried. He and the others were all waiting in the hall for lord Hammon to see them. Torches placed in sconces lined the walls, all leading to a raised platform where the lord of the region could sit.
"Ay Willy. Don't worry. You 've got the strongest skill out of all of us. Stronger than the lord himself. Don't be shaken or nothin'.", Brusk said quietly after patting his shoulder.
"Thanks Brusk. But the skill is what worries me.", William replied sheepishly.
Just as he finished his words Hammon entered through a door to the side of the small throne and took a seat before them. He looked down at them. Then over to the side from the way he came in.
"Get these youngsters some chairs, they've been through something and are still here to attend this hall!", Hammon barked to some unseen servant. This was quickly followed by several servants carrying out the most comfortable chairs William had ever sat in, in his life.
Once the four awakeners were settled, with Elianne standing just behind them, Hammon began to speak.
"So I am told that these awakeners are unordinary in some way. How so Elianne?", Hammon said with an almost disinterested voice.
"Well. Sir. Brusk here awakened with a Rare combat skill that I know is specialized for close combat and-", Elianne was cut off.
"A Rare combat skill eh?! That's very good. We've been in desperate need of strong front liners against the Harang. We'll be counting on you Brusk.", Hammon said with a grin.
"Yes sir, and also there were two... Two Ancient skills.", Elliane said, getting quieter and quieter as she spoke.
"TWO ANCIENT SKILLS! WHAT? WHAT ARE THEY!?", Hammon said rising to stand in his chair, his eyes slightly bulging.
"Mmmkm.", Elianne cleared her throat, "Oru Einsh awakened to the Eldritch Force skill, and Sonia Rite awakened to the Channel skill."
"Ch-channeling? That skill that Emperor Gonbei of the Harang had. I personally witnessed it's might in my early life. The man channelled the spirit of the forest and transformed into a massive bear and rampaged through half of an army... My god. And Eldritch Force? I've never heard of it but I'm sure with an Ancient tag it will be something grand." Hammon finished spittle flying from his mouth as he recanted the tale with frenzied eyes.
"Yes sir young Oru's skill actually had a higher Potential rating. And that's not all sir...", Elianne said and paused, seemingly preparing for something while glancing worryingly at William.
"What? What is it Captain Elianne?!", Hammon questioned.
"Well sir. I don't really know how to put this. But young William here. He...", she trailed off again.
"What is it woman! What does the Crow have?", Hammon asked losing himself in the moment and not noticing his disrespect to William's name.
"The skill is called System sir. Its classification was labelled as All. Its potential. Limitless. And its rank... God.", Elianne expounded.
As she explained Hammon's eyes and slacked jaw went wider and wider with awe; however, when she finished with the tier of God his demeanor immediately shifted from one of an emotion that could only be described in one way.
Terror.