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Aiya woke up with a smile tugging at the edges of her lips. Pushing aside her down blanket and sliding her body toward her bed's edge, she stood and stretched. Today she would not just be a tool wielded by her parents to maintain power over the nobles, today she would be allowed to fight. Looking around at her posh over-decorated room.
She hated the overabundance in the castle. Every wall scrubbed clean daily by maids and butlers using sensory mana, ornate carpets hugged every inch of the floor woven by the most expensive crafters. Every few paces along the large castle halls were brilliantly polished suits of armor never used in battle. Her room was no exception. The too-large bed did not even take up a fraction of the large chamber she called her own. Her mirror was framed with pure gold and silver carved with delicate looping lines and swirling designs. Looking at her own reflection caused another grimace.
Tying her midnight black hair back into a ponytail, she took joy in the fact that she did not have to resemble a princess today.
Reluctantly, she rang the bell on her dresser and summoned her maids. Rushing in, they did not speak, but they knew what today was, so they brought the pieces of her purple-imbued-steel tailored armor and did the leather clasps as they dressed her in it.
Stupid, wasteful color puritans. She was forced to look the part. Armor should be practical, not colored, for the sake of appearances.
Aiya gritted her teeth, accidentally letting loose a flash of purple mana into the room.
One of the younger, more inexperienced maids shrieked. A stern look from the head maid and she bowed out of the room.
Cursing her lack of control, she stared at the floor.
She was not her mother. Most knew that, but all of them feared her just the same. As if someday, she would wake up and be cruel to her core.
Though she hated being dressed like a doll, she had to admit it was more efficient this way. The usual knife of guilt twisted in her stomach when she thought of people less fortunate than herself. Well, when she was Queen, she would do away with all of this useless grandeur and take care of all of her people. That is what her Aunt would have wanted. Aiya raised a hand to her head like a spike of pain ran into it. She did not have an aunt. Her maids stopped what they were doing and asked if she was okay.
"I am fine, I must be half asleep still. Please, ignore my outbursts," The lie flowed out effortlessly. She knew this foggy feeling had to do with blood magic, but her mother would know if she fought against it.
The women helping her knew nothing of mana and power, so they opted to believe her.
A loud grinding sound originating from the hallway disturbed the morning routine. Huffs of exertion from several of the maids followed the intrusive noise.
Opting to finish her wristguards herself, she smiled and gave leave to the ones dressing her. Walking out to the hall, she saw five of her helpers trying to bring her hammer across the floor, tearing the carpet as it dragged across the stone ground. The hammer itself dwarfed all of the women. Its handle stood a good six feet tall with the head placed on the floor. As always, Aiya appreciated the beauty of the opal wrought handle and its ornately carved silver head. Gran was a magician. The secret attack mode of the weapon was also beyond words in its beauty.
The head maid Loretta was chastising the apparently new girls when Aiya walked up, lifted the hammer effortlessly, and set it into her back clasp. She could have used one of her spacial storage devices, but she loved the feel of the heavy weapon at her back. Since she first got it, she had used its aggressive appearance to keep young noble boys and girls from trying to flirt with her, or uselessly gossip.
Having a Purple mana driven mind orb was no joke, she thought as she appraised the new girls watching them heave and shake from the exertion of dragging the weapon.
"Loretta, it is not their fault. I am sure they have seen me wearing this and assumed they could all bring it together. Ladies. Next time just leave it in the armory." She said softly with a bright smile. As she turned to leave, she overheard Loretta telling them how lucky they are that the princess was the one to see their mistake and not the Queen.
Mention of her mother only made her change her slow walk to a jog. She did not need to see her this morning. The plush carpet felt soft even through her armored boots. Aiya considered smashing one of the pompous looking suits of armor as she walked by them, but she knew that would only cause a headache for the workers, and the feeling of gratification would fade quickly, likely entirely if she was forced into another correction.
She had to control her anger. Breathing deeply, she pushed aside the aggressive thoughts and calmed her mana.
Turning a corner, she ran directly into Longwei and her father.
Aiya felt the weight of the gaze of the two men.
"I am King, am I not? Then why am I still unable to enter my own chambers. We need to-" Her father stopped speaking as he noticed she was there.
"Ah, there you are. Let's make our way to the cathedral before you have your arena fights." Longwei broke the silence with the suggestion.
"We will continue our discussion later. I trust your men got the amulets made by Aiya promptly?" Her father spoke to Longwei as if she was not there. "Yes, and they are excellent as always." Longwei smiled at her as he conversed. Seeing them together only reinforced which one of the men is her actual father figure.
"Very well, then. Fight strong today, daughter." He looked at her for the first time, his gaze was expressionless as if made of ore. He continued down the hallway to whatever next kingly conversation he needed to perform.
"What were you two talking about?" Aiya asked as the two made their way toward her family house's cathedral.
"Ah, this and that. No need to worry about it, child." His response was quick, and she knew well enough by now; that meant there was no information she would get out of him.
Making their way out of the castle and through the courtyard, Aiya met the gaze of every person they walk by. Each noble was easy to attribute to their house because of the stupid tendency to dress in their mana's colors.
Idiots.
She thought to herself as she felt the power coming from her various body gemstones. Without her enchanted gear, they would all be useless. The thought of equipping eight of the same body gemstone was ridiculous to her. Lost in thought, she let her mind wander as they made their way out of the courtyard and took the winding path sideways along the mountain to finally reach the cathedral.
This path led to four of the Shrines. If they had gone the opposite way, there would be the other four. One of those on the other side being the empty Green mana area. They each had their own mana concentration and spirit that dominated the eight major noble houses. Walking up the steps leading to the vast and tall building, she looked up at her family crest. The long-limbed Wendigo in the center of their symbol stared back at her. She had never met one, though several had to have been killed for her parents, brothers, and her own mind orbs. The thought of meeting one of the creatures sent chills down her spine. Occasionally, she felt connected to the creature her power came from, but she dismissed it as her mind playing tricks. It is said that one emotion or thought should connect you to your mind orb, some critical mentality that your entire being would scream, but Aiya had yet to place hers.
As far as she was taught, spirits were mindless, bloodthirsty creatures. That did always seem odd to her, though. Why have houses that practically worship "Mindless creatures" if they considered them enemies?
Seven days of the week, and seven areas of worship (excluding the eighth that is empty). Each day she rotated from temple to temple to saturate that specific internal mana source. Though she noticed, the progress was dreadfully slow if the color did not match her body stones. The only one that could be considered quick would be purple for her.
Taking the steps up, Aiya distracted herself by going over each house and its spirit. To all the Royal families on this side, the four cathedrals were her house featuring the imposing Wendigo, The Multied eyed Akhult for the red mana house. Further down this direction were the Peryton house representing the Gold concentration, and the Grey Turpangotoise area.
On the other side of the mountain Were the black and white houses. Their spirits were the Beragon and Dandelion jellyfish.
Giant bears with the scaled hide of a dragon sounded fearsome. Rumors of winds had also been spoken of. Longwei had only addressed it once, but he claimed to have bested on in an honorable duel. The spirit then granted him his mental core willingly. Such a thing sounded outlandish, and she had always dismissed it as a story told to her to calm her tears as she cried. She was nearly ten when he told her that story, and she wouldn't ever forget it. Though thinking back, her mind was furious. She could not remember why she had cried. Piercing through another layer of the blood magic chaining her mind, she could almost remember. Frustrated at the memory gap, she moved on.
The dandelion jellyfish was something she could not picture. Though the old man teacher once flourished around drunkenly as he attempted to describe its movements, his white robe fluttering in the wind made her sequel with laughter as a child to Longwei's disapproval. Though the two were opposites in mana and personality, they were old friends. It is a shame that the old man Geralt had that accident with his gemstones. Though he was still plenty powerful, holding on to stay head of his White mana centered house. Aiya could not even imagine losing access to her class, magic, and abilities. What an awful way to live. Worse even than those who will never attain any power, for they know not what they never had.
Along even further were the Green house, whose spirit was a five-pointed creature with one of the points being a head. She could not recall the name. That area was empty. Long ago, the Giant crystal housed inside had shattered or was stolen. People did not like to talk about it. Most of the residents of the kingdom were stopped by the blood magic even if they wanted to.
Finally, at the far edge of the other path, standing as a lone tower rather than the usual shrine-like building, was the Blue house owned shrine. Their spirit is the Enfield. There was a festival where this spirit was caught by her brother and father. It looked beautiful. Its small fox-like form had made her want to pet it when she was younger. Feathers came off its front paws, but she was never sure if it could actually fly. That harvest festival was one she would always remember.
The head and lone member of the Blue House, Roberta Levine, flew into a violent rage at the sight of the creature. Hardened rain, the size of chickens, plummeted from the sky and knocked out many of the unsparked individuals in the crowd. After being partially subdued by Longwei, and Geralt, they decided to just let the spirit go. It was that or risk their only mage forcefully turning herself into an arcane elemental.
Since then, Logan has not brought another back.
Aiya shivered as she thought of the brutality of the festivals and the fearsome power of humanoid elementals.
It was rare to have a spirit as a sacrifice. Usually, if they could not find one, they would use an elemental animal as their sacrifice. Her brother was becoming a better hunter as the months rolled on, though. Her mind was saturated with thoughts as they finally reached the top step now level with the entry.
Guards opened the magnificent steel doors leading into the chapel, and Longwei waited outside as she went in. They knew not to try and charge her the jaw-dropping monthly fee to enter. Typically they would charge and then give a token with the current month carved into it for entry. Thirty days was enough for some to saturate their core to an appropriate level, but it varied person to person. Though expensive many save up rather than risk their lives in a dungeon.
Walking in, there was a mixture of people. Many she recognized from her house meetings. Cousins, branch family members, and even her brother. They were all meditating. Mats were set out in the wide-area, all centered around a giant piece of amethyst. Descending downward, each row of mats were on their own tier. Further back, some commoners must have saved months of wages to be able to enter the building. Her brother and most main family members were right at the base, almost close enough to touch the crystal.
As she descended, waves of power rolled off of the mana filled object sending tremendous energy deep into her.
The hair on her arms raised as she reached the lowest floor, the magic at its absolute peak.
"Today is your favorite day, sister." Logan gave her is usual sideways smile. "Brother, you are never going to get a woman if you spend all of your time here," As she spoke, she noted the streaks of his hair slowly changing from black to violet from mana overload.
"Go on and relax, let me take the reins of the kingdom." She joked back. They both wanted the crown, and both knew that, but Logan had always seemed to enjoy fighting rather than caring for the people. She loved her brother, but he also had no mind for politics. If only he shared her love for the people. Then she would not care if either of them were to succeed.
"We will see, sister. Our agreement still stands. The strongest of the two of us gets the crown when he steps down. I will honor my word regardless of what father says." He looked at her, and she knew he will be faithful to his word. Sitting down next to him, she was lost in thought already. Her father would likely never allow her to rule. The ironic thing was her mother was the real leader of this "Kingdom". Her father and his sexist rules would one day be gone. She would grow stronger than them all.
Looking up to the gigantic crystal, she swore she could see something buried inside of it. Closing her eyes and dismissing the notion, she sat for a few hours and bathed in its power.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Satisfied with the power surging through her core after a few hours, she stood. Flicking her brother in the ear as she walked by, he crinkled his brow in mock frustration and put out a foot to trip her as she walked by.
He was too dedicated. Exposing yourself to too much mana was potentially harmful. Your core could only take so much at a certain level. Equipping gemstones in your sockets helped, and they even grew in capacity with upgrades, but once you hit your limit, the energy went directly into one's soulspace.
Quickly avoiding the leg he put out, she pushed aside her worry.
He would continue to level and be fine.
Aiya jogged up the stairs and back out to meet Longwei. As she did so, she noticed a group of men clad in black hiding in the shadow imbued corners of the cathedral. Thieves guild.
Aiya suppressed a shiver and threw open the overly large door to the outside.
As always, she found the man standing rigidly, even in his old age, he could stand in one spot for hours without rest or a break. His eyes calmly scanned their surroundings, searching for some non-existent threat. Without breaking her pace, she marched right by him. "To the arena!" She sang her was voice giddy with excitement. With a deep frown, Longwei followed his charge.
Making their way down to the market area was easy enough. Aiya was very tempted to visit her uncle Gregory at his guild, but she knew seeing him would just frustrate her. She wanted life as an adventurer/guild member. She wanted that life more than anything, but she had an obligation to the kingdom. Before her own goals, she had to put the people. Reaching the area of the guild, she allowed herself to gaze at the building. Though it was much smaller than the castle, she felt it held much more beauty with its eight banners representing all of their society's spirits and houses.
Forcing herself to turn away from the building, she walked opposite of it until they reached the coliseum. By the time the two stepped up to the large circular structure, the guild was far out of sight, blocked by branch family houses and various shops.
Aiya walked into the arched limestone entryway and swept right past the registration booth. They knew what day it was, and there was never any need for the champion to sign up anyways. She was undefeated and would remain so. Walking down the steps into the lowered arena, Aiya slapped Longwei on the shoulder as she pumped Purple mana into her legs and Vaulted directly into the vast circular sandpit in the center of the coliseum.
Like a comet, she slammed into the loose ground and unhooked her hammer. Though she did not keep her weapon in her dimension bracelet like many other fighters would, it was far from empty.
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Longwei watched as the girl he had grown to love like a daughter revved up the crowded arena. Their screams of passion and calls for the fight started to rumble within the entire stadium. Aiya ran through the War-hammer Kata she had been practicing since she was a child. Such a showboat. Longwei suppressed a smile. He must not let it be known that he views her as he would an offspring. They would use that weakness against him. It was hard enough to endure the frequent corrections she was put through. Such a tough child. Most would have broken or bent by now. At the thought, he clenched his fist. A crack ran down the stairs as he momentarily lost control of his mana in his unfettered rage. Accessing his wealth of grey mana, he repaired the stone before it was even noticed by the hundreds of citizens seated nearby.
They screamed to the heavens with delight. He knew the fervor was, in part, fueled by the blood magic seething through the air. "Love your royals". What a godsdamned farce. Of the commandments the twisted Queen had forced on the populous, he hated that on the most.
The love for Aiya the people shared was something genuine, more profound. They could see Aiya's kindness with children, her pain when she was forced to ignore injustice, and her sincere greetings to them.
Though he was bound to support the upper royals in exchange for the Queen to stop experimenting on children and his wife's safety. He was driven by his own reasons for supporting the princess.
He was a powerful man, not powerful enough to fix this kingdom, but Aiya had the potential to surpass him. She may one day break the twisted chains of this society. Even if it meant his death, he would make her Queen. A slight smile pulled at his lips as she put on her Gladiator mask, this one he could not suppress.
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"All right, battle fans!!" A man in a tailored suit began to shout through a device. In his hand, the receiver was crafted from rubies and opal, connected to several small opals spread throughout the grand structure. Hundreds of voices in attendance cheered from their stone seats in response.
Aiya smiled at the foolish man. Another day another outlandish look. The announcer and regulator of the arena Maximus had his hair in a new ridiculous formation today. Squinting and using her enhanced vision, she thought it looked like some sort of bird. She was grateful her mask hid her snickering face. Scanning the crowd, she was disappointed to see her mother was in attendance. Another reason to be thankful for her mask as it now hid a scowl.
"Our champion for the level 20-30 league has agreed to a special battle." As he spoke to the crowd, she realized that she had agreed to a unique battle the previous week.
People liked a champion, but her constant winning was slowing the gambling. Swearing softly, she listened to the rest of the announcement while trying to remember why she would have agreed. Another layer of blood magic fogged her memory, which she powered through.
"For an enhanced prize, the champion will fight not one, not two, but five contenders." As he finished speaking, the crowd erupted with shock and anticipation.
Aiya responded with spinning her great hammer in her hands and swinging it in an arc through the air screaming in defiance of the challenge. Its heavy weight mixed with the speed she spun caused a low whistling sound to emit.
This drew even more of an eruption from the crowd. "I bet you are all wondering what the prize issss," Maximus sang to the masses to which they all screeched in agreement.
"Now, you all know that when I am not here blessing you all with my beautiful voice," He paused for the laughter of the crowd.
"I am the announcer for the various auctions for the nobility… Well, I managed to snag something for myself." As he finished speaking, he held up an iron cage. Inside the cage was a furry creature that seemed to hate its captivity. The tiny snowball of fluff hissed and scratched at the bars causing Max to almost drop it. "Training will be needed," He joked to the crowd as he hands the cage back to someone.
Aiya was smiling widely under her mask. Her brother did not have a familiar yet. She could gain some ground on him, and all she had to do was beat a few more people.
"Challengers come on out," Maximus finished his speaking and waved his arms open with a flourish. Sitting back, he smiled wickedly down at Aiya.
Five iron gates set into the arena's ground floor opened, and the champions smile faded slightly.
Four of the challengers were level 28, and one of them was 29. This would not be an easy fight. She was only level 24.
Aiya did not need the fight to be easy. She would be Queen. She would rise to any challenge. Pushing away any and all self-doubt, she continued to swing her hammer around.
As she scanned the gear and classes of her challengers, she realized what their plan was.
Four of the men wore heavy armor colored grey and black. They all had some sort of shield. Tanks.
The high leveled one dripped in golden leather interspaced with thin literal gold metal guards. Speed type.
Aiya gripped her hammer in white-knuckled fury as she realized why her mom was there. Recognizing some of the men, she knew for a fact these were all the sons and daughters of high nobles.
Four black crows in training, and one Golden assassin. The assassin likey days away from finishing their training.
Her mother wanted her reign as champion to end today.
Before the battle started, three women and four men dressed in white robes took their places on the ring's upper edges surrounding the arena. Their classes were extraordinarily rare.
Force Dispersion tanks.
Of the thousands of nobles and commoners in the kingdom, these seven were the only ones who held this class.
They would dissipate any magical attacks before they reached the fans. At once, all four brought out their studded opal shields.
"Well, without any further ado. Begin." Maximus chimed in with a lazy clap of his hands.
Aiya had heard him start battles with that line a hundred times. As he began to speak the word begin, she was already swelling her muscles with the power of Purple mana.
The four tanks rushed forward into a V formation. Their movements showing clearly practiced form. They left the space at their sides for the man in gold armor they were protecting to jump through for speedy attacks.
Marching halfway forward, they slammed their tall shields into the ground using a combination of black and grey mana to anchor them deep into the ground.
Finishing her charge, Aiya had to hold back laughter. Clearly, her mother had not seen any of her other fights. Launching herself forward, she began to spin.
With the massive weight of her hammer, she increased speed with every turn. She was glad she did not have to see the fear in the eyes of the first tank as her hammer collided with their side.
A wicked snap sounded out through the air as her hammer shattered the bones in his arm and sent him sailing into the tank he was next to.
The ground their mana had gripped was torn up along with them, increasing the collision's damage.
Aiya had to activate the speed runes drawn along her boots to avoid the enemy assassin's thin blade as it thrust forward.
In her current state, she was outclassed.
The Assasin began to charge his mana, electrical shocks ran down his body as his limbs began to lose their solid form.
To match his speed, she would have to activate the unique quality of her weapon. Slamming the head of the hammer down on the ground, she twisted and pulled its core out. The battle was over in less than a second.
The crowd erupted with happiness as Aiya defeated the men one by one. A loud click sounds out as she connected her hammer back together. Twirling it around, she moved through her after battle Kata. Since she was a child, the moves she had embedded in her mind were completed with an improvised flourish.
Every battle won every training session, she would perform these moves and end it with slamming the head of her weapon straight down. At this point, she did not even have to put any thought into the action; they were so deeply ingrained. As she finished and slammed the hammer down, the crowd went wild. Aiya's attention was no longer on pleasing the crowd as three runes were cut into the base of her hammer. She gasped as she read the runes and broke through the bits of blood magic, still suppressing her mind.
"TE KE LEI" Connections in her mind flared to life.
Her command over purple mana dominated every foreign fragment sent in by her mother's wicked sorcery.
They killed Leigh.
Her sister was murdered by her parents. She wrote these runes and practiced this same move only to remember. Her mother would reapply the magic each time she forgot. She did not have much time.
As Aiya rushed from the arena, fox familiar in its cage at her side, she tried to remember the pieces of her plan.
Somewhere deep in her mind urged her to go to her workshop. "Bond with your familiar now. We have company." Longwei spoke in a deep and urgent tone as he hurried alongside her.
Aiya set the cage down and crouched down to peer inside.
A fox with pure white fur and crystal-like blue eyes gazed back at her. It seemed terrified of everything around it. Reaching a finger slowly forward, she tried to let it smell her. It stared at her for a moment. Aiya felt it was searching for something within her. Memories flashed before her eyes. Her life, her motivations. Seeming to find a resolution to some unexplained question, the fox quickly took a nip of her finger.
"Gods that stings!" She yelped and pulled back her finger. *Bing*
A familiar has requested to bond with you. Bonding with a familiar is a symbiotic relationship that benefits both parties. A gift of magic with the siphon of mana from the receiver. Without this bond, a familiar can not easily access their magic. Be aware that your mana will now decrease to support your familiar's life-force and spells should you accept. Offer your blood to solidify this contract.
"Well, you already have my blood now." She peered down and said to the fox as she finished reading the message.
{Accept contract with this spirit? Y/N}
Mentally she accepted, and a white tattoo was burned into the back of her hand.
[Hide me.] The creature sent over a link that was quickly forming. She felt cold, alone.
The creature's life and mind-melded with her own.
Aiya was surprised by the mental communication from the small creature. Taking off the armor on her hand, she turned it to the fox, and it manifested itself into the marking.
In the distance, she spotted an assortment of her mother's squad being held up by Longwei.
He has his hands clasped behind his back, and she could tell they want to move around him to her, but they, just like everyone else, did not dare disrespect him.
His finger flicked out, signaling her to take a side street.
Understanding the suggestion, she hurried her way back up toward the castle. Making the way back without incident, she sped into her workshop and slammed the door shut.
Frantically looking around, she remembered something about a compartment in the wall. Grabbing her forehead from the headache, the blood magic left, she stumbled forward. Frenzied scrapping along the mortar with her fingernails gt her nowhere. As she began to lose hope, she noticed one inconsistency.
A stone in the wall stood out to her. Faint, almost invisible runes were gathered around it. Lightly carved into it is a symbol that represented the pull of Black mana.
Grabbing her wand, she pushed some mana toward it. With a click, the brick popped out.
Inside was a small box. Metal on stone echoed through the hallway as her mother's henchmen approached.
Moving as quickly as she could, she put the box on her desk and opened it. Inside there is a ring.
Inventory ring 3/40
Emptying the components, she tried so hard to remember what they were, and why she had them.
A small metal stud, a tiny mana crystal, and a piece of paper with something written on it. Her limited inspection was activated.
-Earring -Amethyst sliver -Resist rune
As the fog in her mind settled, she did the only thing she could. Using her enchanting rod, she combined the stud and mana crystal. The rune is added to her list, and she quickly carved it into the stone. The tiny letter barely fit.
A loud knock swelled through the small room. Placing the earring back in the ring and the box back in its hiding spot, she just managed to hide it before the door is flung open.
Her mother is with the men now, and they drag her away. Aiya knew it would do nothing to fight back. Her fight for the moment was completed.
Deep in the dungeons of the kingdom, her mother injected her blood-magic directly into her mind.
A brutal and painful process. She resisted slightly at first, as any human would pull away from such pain, but she knew soon with her enchanted earring, her mother would lose power over her, and she would get revenge for her sister.
Confident in her plan, she allowed the mind-melting mana to win its battle and clear her mind.
Aiya smiled, knowing she will remember again the next time she does her War-hammer Kata.
Week after week, month after month, she had collected what she needed in secret. Just a few more weeks. Soon she would be free to fight back.