Nocturnio (14.11.9978 AS)
One week had passed since Laura and Tristan were allowed to rejoin classes. The whole week passed without incidents, so why were Tristan and Laura sitting now in front of the office of the principal?.
“Did we do something wrong? Did he change his mind and is gonna expel us now?” Laura asked with a hysterical voice. “I don’t to be expelled from this school, I don’t know if I could bear the boring curriculum of a normal school!”
Tristan didn’t pay any attention to his friend, he had decided to ignore her for the time being. She had been talking nonstop asking the same questions over and over again, since they had been asked to visit the principal’s office after classes ended. Five hours had passed since then, and so Tristan had decided to pretend as if she wasn’t there.
15 minutes after they arrived in front of the office, principal Kuro finally decided to ask them in. To Tristan’s and Laura’s surprise they weren’t alone in with the principal in the room. But Sabrina was also sitting there looking quite annoyed and another person they didn’t know. It was a young man wearing a beard.
The young man stood up and introduced himself as soon as he saw the two of them walking into the room. “Hello, my name is Melodias, currently in command of the Devil’s army in Terra.” He said, bowing in a graceful manner.
“I guess you already know Sabrina.” Pricinpal Kuro said clapping his hands. “So let’s start with the meeting! Let’s see, where do we start... Oh, yeah! Do the two of you know the job of our army in Terra?”
Laura, who was expecting the worst was lost of words and couldn’t answer the question, so Tristan had to step in to answer the question. “Well, we search for unregistered Elders to pull them to our side and to ensure the safety of our trade routes; the gates.”
“That’s mostly correct.” Melodias said as he started playing with his beard. “ We don’t search for the unregistered Elders to pull them to our side, but to protect them from the Horde; the Seraphs army. Since they hunt down everything they don’t feel align with their principles and Elders are seen by them as our key to world domination. So they decided to launch a witch hunt against the Elders, especially those who aren’t protected by us.”
Laura nodded amazed as he heard Melodias words; it was as if she was a sponge she tried sucking up every bit of knowledge offered to her. Tristan on the other hand looked with critical eyes towards Melodias and Ares.
“So what does that have to do with us?” He asked. “We are just starting up with the military course and we weren’t that successful on our first mission” He continued as he looked towards Sabrina.
Melodias looked troubled towards Ares, he looked like he was screaming for help. “Well, you sure are a direct one...” Melodias said as he laughed awkwardly. “Well, you we found a very young but the naïve Elder girl and we want you guys to bring her on our side... Of course you don’t have to need to worry about protection, since we’ll be there for you twenty-four-seven, providing the protection you need.”
Tristan looked confused. “I don’t get it, why did you choose us for this mission and not one of our classmates? Don’t get me wrong, we might be prodigies, but we still almost killed all our teammates during our last mis-“ Laura rammed her elbow into Tristan’s ribs, who started chocking.
“I’m sure men of your caliber thought a decision like this through and it’s not our job to question it, right Tristan?” Tristan just nodded silently trying to hide his pain.
Melodias looked flustered. “Well,... What a wise little lady you are. Of course we did think this through and came to the decision you two are the best choice for this job.”
Laura looked towards Melodias with bright eyes, while Sabrina just rolled her eyes and stood up. “I guess, I’m not needed here anymore. All my objections were shut down anyways, so there is no point in me staying here any longer.” She once again sent a hateful glare towards Ares and Melodias before leaving the room.
Ares gaze followed Sabrina’s back, until she closed the door. ‘I’m sorry darling, but I have my reasons.’ He thought before clapping with his hands. “What do you think Tristan? Would you like to take part in this mission?”
Laura nodded enthusiastically next to Tristan, trying to convince Tristan to be part of the mission on Terra.
“All we need is your consents, since it’s clear that the fine lady next to you is really keen on going to Terra.” Melodias added.
Tristan still looked indecisive. He was trying to consult his passive; because he knew something was off, how both Melodias and Principal Kuro were approaching the whole situation.
And there was also the fact that Sabrina was opposing this mission so openly, he was sure she must have had very good reasons to speak up against Ares and Melodias so openly. Tristan was sure; Sabrina must have known the true nature of the mission and was thus trying to protect Tristan by speaking up for him.
‘I know the way they’re approaching this mission might feel fishy to you, but why don’t we go along with it? I promise nothing is going to happen to you or your friend, if things get out of hands, I’ll make sure to step in and save you guys.’ Tristan heard Schattenklinge’s voice say in his head.
Tristan grimaced and looked towards Melodias “Ok, I accept the mission, so what exactly are we supposed to do and what’s the easiest way to approach the mission without failing?”
Laura’s elbow once again landed between Tristan’s ribs, causing him to choke. “Of course we don’t mind if the mission is a little bit demanding. After all, we’re prodigies and are supposed to behave like those.”
Tristan sighed ‘I guess, I wasn’t the only one that was shown how powerless I am, during the incident with the Bards. Luckily she didn’t realize I was the one who knocked her out in my efforts trying to save her and my friends.’
Melodias looked pleased as he heard Laura. “Did I already tell you that I like you young lady? Yeah, I really like your motivation. Unfortunately, we still need the permission of your guardians so we can’t disclose anything about the mission to you yet. How about we meet again in three days once we all the paperwork is cleared up and you two are ready to depart?
Nocturnio (17.11.9978 AS)
Meolidas and his men lead the kids through the catacombs of the Academy, three days had passed since their first meeting, in the meantime the kids managed to get Nana’s and Dolores’ permission for the Mission. It wasn’t easy to get the permission from them, considering the difficulty of the mission and the results of the last, nevertheless their ‘mothers’ agreed to the mission because of Ares.
With a mad smile on his face Tristan followed Melodias and his men through the catacombs of the Guardian Academy. ‘What’s wrong partner? You look scary, did something good happen? I want to know what’s so funny.’ Tristan heard Shattenklinge’s creaky voice in his head.
‘Nothing much, it’s just that I always wondered why the Guardian Academy is built like a gigantic Fortress from the inside while the outside looks so frail, like they were trying to avoid something to break out. But with one of the gates being here it makes quite a lot of sense.
If we get attacked by one of the other races through the Gates we can stall them here for quite some time till the population of Nocturnio is evacuated. Also, if my passive didn’t betray me the academy itself is a gigantic Magical seal, so if our army doesn’t stall for long enough we can still seal the enemy away. I’m actually quite impressed by how save we actually are against the attacks of the other races.’
‘Boooo, booo!! That sounds soooo boring! Where is the fun in stalling and sealing away the enemy?! A real warrior fights his opponent straight on, also it’s more thrilling fighting the enemy haing the pressure of saving the civilians, don’t you agree?!’
‘You have a quite messed up mind don’t you?’
‘Not really, the you kids these days are just too spoiled, also you can’t blame me, I’ve been inside that seal for over 9500 years, my only companions being those wild monsters and when I finally found someone to serve: He turned out to be a spoiled wimp!’
‘Hey, don’t get ahead of yourself just because you’re a little stranger than me!’
‘A little? Hmpf as if! If I wasn’t holding back, during our fight in the forest you would be ten feet under by now, missy.’
‘Oh, shut up! You... You just wait till I got a little more training and catch up to you!’
‘Not in 10000 years, missy.’
-
Their conversation was interrupted by Melodias who in front of a large door within a ginormous door. Without Tristan realizing they had walked into a dome shaped room, there was a big barracks build near the only entrance.
Everything in the room brimmed with magic, wherever Tristan’s eyes wondered there was a magic circle: the walls, the soil, the barracks and even the air! But the enormous door was just that, a simple, very big red door.
The ‘small’ door within a huge door was still bigger than the biggest portal on Nocturnio’s ‘Portal Main Station’, standing a little ahead of the door blocking them was a group of heavily armed soldiers. The Soldiers saluted towards Melodias showing him their respect.
“Well, from here on we will enter a new world! Aren’t you excited young recruits? I can still remember my first time passing through this door, I was so excited my heard almost stopped beating.” Melodias said and laughed embarrassed.
Laura nodded and looked enthusiastic towards Melodias with her big brown eyes, while Tristas just continued to survey the big room with his eyes.
Melodias nodded towards the soldiers and they started chanting some random words in a language Tristan had never heard of nor read about it before. ‘The language of the gods’ Shattenklinges creaky voice whispered into Tristan’s head. ‘They’re opening the gate to terra.’ He added.
‘Wait, aren’t the gates always open?’ Tristan asked confused.
‘They are, but this door works like a seal, so that no one without the authorization can trespass it.’
Tristan nodded to himself as he observed the door slowly starting to open under the influence of magic circles? If they really were magic circles, they were really strange ones! Tristan had a hard time trying to comprehend them even while putting his passive at full use.
‘Are you mad?!’ Shattenklinge screamed in his head. ‘Your ability allows you to see the magic circles, right?’
‘Yes’
‘Well, don’t! Many people have lost their mind trying to figure out magic circles created by the gods, so don’t even try to comprehend them.’
‘You are right, this seal is really complicated, it makes a portal look like a childsplay I would never even hope to understand what every magic circle is supposed to mean, so I gave up on it already, you see I’m not some retarded scholar.’ Tristan giggled at Schattensklinge concerns. ‘Still, I wonder how these lowly soldiers are able to activate such advanced magic by themselves.’ He added.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
-
“Before entering Terra let’s go over the three most important rules for during your stay in the world of the humans.” Melodias announced with a serious face.
“The first and most important rule is that Humans aren’t allowed to find out about ours nor the seraph’s existences, so please don’t get yourselves caught by a Human while using magic beyond the level of an Elder. This means spells above ‘Super Devil’ tier are forbidden to you, not that one of you has reached said level already.”
Tristan grinned happily as he heard that.
Melodias continued on a serious mood, showing a two with his fingers. “ If you realized that the battle is gonna go beyond ‘Super Devil’ tier, then you have to activate this item.” He took out a greenish crystal from his pockets and pointed at it.
“This item creates a very strong barrier that encloses everyone who’s MR is higher than ‘Super Devil’ in a radius of 50 meters. So no Human will interrupt your clash, also you won’t damage anything around you.”
Melodias showed a three with his fingers. “Please try to avoid battles as much as possible, running is no shame. If you encounter Seraphs don’t engage them if they aren’t doing nothing suspicious, and with suspicious I mean abducting young Elders. ...”
Melodias continued counting down some rules while Tristan didn’t pay any attention to him, he had already heard the rules earlier so there was no reason to go through them once again. Laura on the other hand was happily listening to every single word said by Melodias.
Half an hour passed, long since Melodias had ran out of fingers in his hands to count down the rules. “And lastly, the simplest rule of them all, but given your record, I don’t mind repeating it again and again: Follow the commands of your higher ups. Don’t hesitate to follow any orders you receive.”
‘What if the order is really stupid?’ Tristan thought, but refrained himself of saying so and just nodded at Melodias. “Yes, Sir!” Laura replied with an earnest tone.
“Very well, then it’s time to go!”
***
Not knowing what expected them on the other side of the gate, made Tristan and Laura feel really excited. Tristan, especially because not even his passive was able to tell him what awaited him in Terra, usually he could use his passive to determine the outcome of a decision, it was like showing him what would happen next, this time however he saw no option ahead of him.
However, soon after stepping through the portal their expectations were crushed, both of them had really high expectation of the ‘other world’, but what they got was an exact copy of the room they had just been in. There was the barracks, and the same grayish colored stone walls shaping a dome. The only difference was the uniform of the soldiers present.
“What’s wrong?” Melodias who had been paying a lot of attention to their reactions asked with a smug smile.
“Nothing” Both of them replied disillusioned.
“Melodias! Welcome back!” A very feminine voice greeted Melodias as he was standing in front of the children and his men.
“Hi, Katy.” He blushed and waved towards the petite woman approaching them with top speed. Katy wore a tight black suit and big red glasses that harmonized with her red lips, pale skin and raven black hair.
Katy hugged Melodias tightly as she reached them, while Melodias just stood there glued to the spot turning red like a tomato.
“Erm... Thi... This is Katy the Elder that supervises the our stay in terra.” He finally brought out, while his men looked at him with pity.
“And his fiancée!” Katy added while stabbing her index finger into Melodias chest, who just smiled off the pain she just had caused him.
After a few minutes Katy finally let go of Melodias and looked towards the children, while rearranging her clothes so she would look as professional as possible. Even the way she spoke changed.
“I believe Melodias already told you, but just keep in mind, Humans don’t know of any of the other races so please behave while your stay that would make my job easier, I don’t want to have the same fiasco I had to deal with a few months ago...- I shouldn’t have said that right?” Katy said as she looked towards the face palming Meldias.
‘I knew it, there is something off here! I don’t think it was a wise decision to join this mission.’ Tristan said towards Schattenklinge.
‘Calm down Missy! We are already here, so you can’t do anything about it anymore, live in the now and not the pass!’ Schattenklinge laughed manialically.
‘Yeah, but still -’
He couldn’t finish the sentence because he suddenly noticed how the magic circle under them was activated.
“What’s going on?!” Tristan exclaimed.
“Don’t worry, we are relocating you to your base for during your stay in Terra.” Katy answered with a calm voice.
Lilith (17.11.9978 AS)
The grayish colored walls of the room where they were in disappeared from their sights and was replaced by gothic buildings neatly build next to each other around a stone paved plaza.
“Where are we’” Laura asked with big eyes.
“This is Lilith the base the Demon use here on Terra, well actually one could say it is a flying fortress above Terra.” Katy answered.
“Although, this is our main base here in Terra we have many affiliated buildings on the ground.” Melodias added. “And in precisely one of those buildings will be your base during your stay. So don’t make it yourselves too comfortable here, you’ll soon be teleported there.”
“Cool, so you’ll finally go into the details of our mission?” Tristan asked, still looking around the plaza not really paying attention to Melodias.
Melodias started moving towards a big house. “Well, you already know why you are here, we found a special Elder living in the City of Solum, thus we had to find some people to recruit said Elder.”
“What do you mean by, special?” Tristan asked nonchalantly, his attention till on his surroundings.
Melodias looked troubled. “Well... you see Demons that mate with Humans have the obligation of taking care of their offspring, but this Elder we found is an orphan! Cases like this are really rare, but unfortunately they happen and what’s more is, that the abandoned Elders are an easy prey for the Seraphs.”
“That’s something I don’t quite get, why do Seraphs kill Elder like her and don’t just try to recruit them? And if the kill Elders anyway, why don’t they kill grown Elders as well? And why are they even allowed to enter Terra?” Laura asked bewildered.
“You sure have a lot of questions missy.” Katty said smiling towards Laura. “Let’s start with your last question, we allow them to enter Terra because it is Fors will, but also because they would go nuts if we allowed the cute Demons to enter and not them. They would start a new war race war if they weren’t allowed to.
To your second question, it is also Fors will. They aren’t allowed to kill any Elder that fulfills a function as civil agent, because that would weaken us Humans as a race and this whole open the gates for a good dialogue is to improve each race by adapting things they don’t have in their race.”
Katty took out a commu out of her pocket and showed it to Laura. “For example, this thing here, if the Gates were closed, neither we nor the Seraph would have this marvelous little thing that allows us to communicate with other over insane distances.”
“Wait you have commu here too?” Tristan asked dumbfounded.
“Of course we do, do you think we would let such a marvelous thing just to you Demons.” Katty giggled.
“Where was I? Ohhh, yeah” Katy took out a crystal out of her pockets. “You see, without Terra you wouldn’t have such a precious item either, it’s a magic generator, most of the devices of the Demons and Seraphs use them to provide them with energy. You see we have a symbiotic relationship.
And to your first question, they kill young elder because most of them have Demonic blood in their veins.”
Laura nodded as she received the answer.
“So we will go to terra and befriend this young Elder girl and convince her to come with us to Umbra to one day come back to Terra as a full grown Elder? And all this before the Seraph realize she is an Elder?” Tristan asked to clarify things.
“You catch up really fast, but there was to be expected from a prodigy like you.” Melodias answered satisfied.
“Thank you, by the way, whey is there an arena in a place like this?” Tristan asked still looking around the buildings they walked by.
“You see, that’s how settle disputes here in Lilith. If two parties start arguing they have the opportunity to settle it in the arena, by betting a command spell.”
“That’s disgusting”, Tristan answered without second thought.
“That might be true, but it’s still better than having fights all over the place don’t you think so? It’s also really entertaining to watch, if you ever get bored here, don’t hesitated to visit the arena there is always something up there.” Melodias said as he started walking a little faster.
Lilith (20.11.9978 AS)
Three days had passed since they had arrived to Lilith, Tristan and Laura had started getting used to the live in Lilith. They were received with smiles and pity, since they were the youngest recruits ever to be on duty on Lilith.
Melodias had told them, he had to prepare a few things before they could actually go to Solum and disappeared soon after he had shown them their rooms.
“What are you doing Trist?” Laura asked as she sat down next to Tristan.
“Nothing much, just counting people pass by, although this is supposed to be a military base, the live here seems to be any different to any other city in Umbra. Most of them don’t even seem like Soldiers but do look like civilians. Well, they are all our seniors, so it is obvious they aren’t much different to us, most of them are probably here because the pay is really good and the parchments you get for your future life.”
“What do you mean by that? Aren’t they here to prove themselves as Demons and to make our race proud?”
“Ugh, sometimes I just wonder what’s wrong with you... Aren’t you supposed to be smart and isn’t your mental age supposed to be way higher than your physical age? Anyways, the only reason most of us are here is, because it looks good in any CV, who doesn’t want to employ someone that served protecting our race? Even if most of the people just sit here and hope they actually are never called to the arms, they still get the Veteran stamp and they are seen in a different light back at home...
Also, this place is the perfect place to make connection with the high society since the only rank that counts here is the military rank you have, so having the high society guys hang out with normal folks like us...” Tristan let once again a sight out as he slowly raised from the chair in the Café he was hanging out.
“Wait, so you mean that it is possible to raise once social status by working hard in the military?” Laura asked with shining eyes.
Tristan rolled his eyes, of course, so why else do you think so many people would volunteer for this? No offence to your naïve idealism and patriotism, but I doubt people do it for those reasons.”
“So, the higher the military rank ones have the higher your status will improve!”
“Oy, didn’t you hear what I said?”
“Ehh, did I say that out loud? Well, where are we going anyways?”
“I overheard that in a few minutes two guys will be fighting in the arena, and I don’t intent to miss such a fight, I can’t wait to see the amazing spells our seniors will show us!
***
‘I can’t believe they dared call that cheap brawl a duel! They didn’t use high level spells, just some shadows magic attacks and a few defensives spells and that's all! Truly disappointing if you ask me’ Schattenklinge complained as Tristan’s mood got even darker. “Didn’t Melodias say that the fights in the arena were entertaining?” He complained to Laura.
“Well, wasn’t that fight entertaining? I’ve never seen people fighting with such passion!”
“Yeah, passion I don’t care about that, all I wanted to witness is some high end techniques!”
“Ohhhh~ we have a demanding and rebellious recruit over here, I better watch out~” A female voice belonging to a red-haired beauty said towards them.
Tristan stared at the woman dressed in a human military uniform behind them. Her sharp face looked was softened a little as her big full lips formed a smile.
Her green eyes were glued onto Tristan’s.
“I finally found them!” She clapped her hands and jumped up and down with her small slender body.
“Melodias is looking for you two.” She added and grabbed Tristan’s and Laura’s hand with her slender, almost bony hand and started pulling them towards Melodias’ tower.
***
“I believe you already got to know Erika Halblicht?” Melodias asked while pointing his hand towards the red-haired woman wearing a human military uniform that had escorted them to the tower.
Both Tristan and Laura nodded after looking towards the woman.
“From now on, till the end of your mission, she’ll be your aunt.”
“Pleased to meet you!” the woman said while she jumped and hugged Laura. “You both are just soooo cute!! I can hardly believe you’re soldiers!” She said while rubbing her cheeks to Laura’s, who had just stood there trying to endure the embarrassment.
“Erika is an Elder and as you heard she’ll be playing your young aunt that has to take care of her nephew and niece after their parents died in an accident. “
“Well then, now learn this till you move to Solum in three days.” Melodias handed them a big book. Tristan eyes couldn’t help but twitch a little when he read the title of the book. “The backstory of the Halblicht siblings.” written by Leonora Black, Tristan’s favorite rising new author.
‘This is the sad backstory of the twins Laura and Tristan Halblicht.’, were the first few words Tristan could read once he opened the book. ‘Twins?! But Laura and I don’t look even remotely alike!’ Tristan sighed and closed it instantaneously while Laura finally managed to free herself from Erika’s claws.
Solum (23.11.9978 AS)
Laura, Tristan and Erika were standing in front of an old villa in the outskirts of Solum, it was so early in the morning the sun wasn’t even up. “This will be your new home kids! Hey, don’t look sad I know you miss your mom and dad, but let’s do the best out of the situation we are, ok?” Erika said giving her all to sound as empathetic as possible.
“Yeah, sure” Tristan said while rolling his eyes. “Anyways when are our things arriving? And why did we have come here so early, again? It’s not like a Fors forgotten place like this is gonna run away from us!”
“Shut it bro! Don’t you see how hard aunty is trying for the two of us?” Laura said as she walked behind Tristan who had just entered the house.
“The trucks come on eight, heeyy, wait you two, don’t go in without me!” Erika said as she ran behind the Tristan and Laura closing the door behind of them.
“And how do you like it here in Terra so far?” Erika asked eagerly once they were inside.
“I really like it here.” Laura answered with a happy sounding voice.
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool here, especially the use of mana crystals for almost everything is really cool. Although, humans lack magical talent they sure know how to craft magical artifacts.” Tristan answered as he was looking outside the window marveled at the cars passing in front of the house.
“Yeah, they are, by the way, do you remember the plan for today?”
“Of course pretend like we are just moving in and later on go scout our surroundings.” Tristan answered.
***
It was already afternoon when the moving trucks left the villa they were staying in and Tristan finally got time to scout the surroundings of his house.
‘Let’s see the girl we are to persuade is staying at an orphanage close to our base, it should be behind that hill. Well, let’s go and check it out the faster we can talk her into joining us the faster I can go back home and continue my training. I have still so much to learn and yet I’m here playing bodyguard for some random brat, just because you persuaded me to come!’
‘Aww, come on, how is it my fault now? All I wanted is to have a little fun in this beautiful world, I was just feeling too boxed after spending so much time sealed in that mountain.’
‘... Yeah, I probably would have been forced to come here anyways and since we are here we should try and make the best out of it and finish this mission as fast as possible.
‘Who is that?’ Shattenklinge pointed towards a girl that was standing there trying to evoke a fire ball.
‘Ohh, she is trying creating a magic circle for a simple fireball spell, who would have thought that humans also like to use that spell, let’s move closer and see how she does.’
Tristan jumped on a tree and started observing the girl.
‘Well, she seems your age, and she does seem pretty capable, I have never seen a fireball that big.’ Schattenklinge said.
‘Is she trying to kill herself?’ Tristan who could see and analyze the magic circle the girl was using couldn’t help but jump down the tree to help the girl who was starting to lose the control of the spell.