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Another wave of nostalgia hit Seraphiel as she walked through the Tatsumiya Shrine. Most of the old shrine had been relocated to a hill just outside the academy, most likely because the shrine was traditionally used to host the Mahora Martial Arts Tournament. With the level of destruction that such competitions could cause, having the tournament inside the city surrounding the academy was a bad idea. The big colosseum used for official duels was heavily protected with magic that would’ve been out of place at a shrine open to the public at all times.
She wasn’t here for fights though. She bypassed the arena portion and went straight for the shrine itself. The academy had two places of worship. The shrine and a large temple dedicated to the various gods of this universe. Seraphiel preferred the quiet dignity of the shrine, especially since she had memories of the place and the tournament she'd taken part in so many years ago.
She went through the traditional ritual of lighting an incense stick and ringing a bell before bowing her head as she clapped her hands together. “Father. It’s been a while. I know you’re not one for explanations, but I must admit that my presence in this universe confounds me a little. I would appreciate a bit of a hint.”
The world around her grew even more quiet and suddenly stood still, as if time had suddenly frozen. In fact, she was quite sure that was exactly what had happened. “Amenadiel.” She greeted with a smile without turning around to see her brother.
“Sister. You’re smaller. And horned. And kind of greyish purple?” Her brother’s deep and somewhat confused voice was music to her ears.
“Had no trouble recognizing me even with that.” She pointed out.
“I would never confuse someone for you, or you for someone else, sister. You are not exactly hard to recognize even as you are.” She could hear the smile in her brother’s voice. That was rare enough to cause her to turn around.
She took a long look at her dark-skinned brother. The brother that most adamantly stood by Father’s side in all things. “You’ve changed.” The change was obvious. He looked less holier-than-thou stick in the mud, and more like a real person. A happy person.
“While it hasn’t been as long for us as it has been for you, a lot of time has passed for all of us as well. A lot can happen in that time.” Amenadiel had a sage-like calmness to his person now. “You’ve changed a lot as well, and I don’t just mean your new appearance.”
“Yes, though I think in your case the change has been more positive. You look good.” While they didn’t always see eye-to-eye, Amenadiel was her brother, and she was happy for him.
“I’m about to become a father.” He announced suddenly.
She lifted an eyebrow. “Really? I suppose it makes sense it would be you. Lucifer would’ve knocked up so many women by now if it was going to happen for him.” She laughed.
Amenadiel’s smile widened. “Yes, although our brother has changed in some ways as well. Still, while pleasant, I wasn’t sent here for exchanging stories. Father sent you here for a reason, but it’s not for a mission strictly speaking. You were called, and while Father believes it is a call worth answering, you don’t have to worry about saving the universe, unless you want to, and you don’t have to worry about being whisked away after your job is complete.”
She frowned. “Come now Amenadiel. We both know Father will not allow me to stay here forever. And reaching immortality in this place is almost inevitable for me. In fact, I’m probably already immortal just due to my race.”
“Things are…changing back home. If you choose to make your permanent home here, that is allowed. Or you could jump off anytime this universe comes into contact with another in the future. Your duty is complete.” He explained passionately. He’d always been passionate about duty.
“Yet my exile is not.” She pointed out.
“Who’s to say this universe never comes in contact with our own?” Amenadiel pointed out. “The question is, when that happens, will you want to return?”
“I want my real body back if I’m supposed to stay!” She blurted out immediately.
“And should you choose to leave this universe, you shall have it. After all, the other universes do not have the benefit of the System. And you know as well as I do, that as time passes, this new body of yours will turn into your real one, so you’ll have your own body eventually anyway.” Then he vanished without waiting for an answer, and time returned to normal. It seemed that even in this place, Amenadiel's powers were absolute.
He had posed a good question though. She’d long been focused on her exile, but did she even want to return if given the chance? She’d like to see her siblings again, but in all honesty, her old universe was rather boring after everything she’d seen and been through. She’d like to visit, certainly. But to go back permanently? She wasn’t so sure. As far as visits to shrines went, this had been a very enlightening one…
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“Sephy, over here!” Her brother enthusiastically waved at her from one of the tables in the cantina. He was surrounded by a large number of other students, outwardly a few years older than her, which meant they looked like in their early-to-mid teens. Some were Draenei, or Angels in disguise, but there was a surprising number of other races as well. She could see a handful of humans, a pair of Elven twins, an Aeldari, a Turian, and an Asari around the relatively large table. All of them were wearing the black armor of the Knight track, which wasn’t surprising considering this particular cantina was mostly used by the knights.
She carried her already filled tray towards the table and Raziel waved to the others to make room opposite him. The two Elves grudgingly moved one space over. Before either Raziel or her could say anything, the Turian female spoke up. “So, this is the sister you keep bragging about? The one who supposedly taught you everything.”
“That better not be true. If my brother has learned nothing in these few years we’ve been apart, I’ll be sorely disappointed.” Seraphiel replied jokingly, causing the others to laugh and even her brother to grin. She’d broken the ice successfully.
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All of the students at the table had a small number 3 signifier somewhere on their uniform, implying they were all third-level students. The academy didn't separate students by years, as everyone learned, advanced, and aged at different speeds. Instead, you had to partake in a test at the end of the year if you wanted to move up a level. Once you reached the 10th level, you could apply for graduation, or if the academy determined you didn’t have what it took, you could flunk out, although Mahora was known to be rather patient with the students.
“I would certainly like to try my abilities against yours if you’re even half as good as your brother implied.” One of the Humans, a man with long dark hair and vaguely Asian features stated.
His suggestion wasn't received well by the others. "Really Hou? You'd challenge someone almost a hundred levels below you? Someone who has just unlocked their first Class? That’s a bit low.” The Asari girl was quick to point out, getting nods of agreement from the others.
The boy named Hou didn’t share their view. “I wasn’t talking about a full-blown duel with no holds barred. Just a friendly spar to test things out.”
"Hou, is it?" She confirmed with a smile. "I wouldn't mind a spar, but our Asari friend here has a point. I'm only just starting to get used to my Class and Skills. I'll be happy to accept that spar once I've gotten a better handle on them. At the moment, any attempts at a spar would be insulting. I’m barely learning how to run right at the moment.” She easily defused the situation.
“Ah yes, the bane of the first year. All that running.” One of the Elf twins commented.
“Well now, they’re doing it for a reason.” The Turian defended the instructors. “Most of us need some time to get used to our new Skills and stats. Not only is running a good way to do that, but it’s also a good way to improve your fitness. Most of those applying to Mahora are already in decent physical condition, but there’s a difference between what most people think of as decently fit, and what a soldier should be. Or in this case a knight.”
Seraphiel smiled a bit internally. As usual, Turians were very disciplined, military-minded, and dutiful. Nice to see some things had not changed.
"Speaking of being fit, you really need to take it easy with the Charisma points, sister. You're on the knight track, not the general track." Raziel brought up his worry from before.
“Charisma is my lowest stat though.” She pointed out innocently, which caused everyone to stop eating.
“Wait, really? I wasn’t going to comment anything, but I thought you were putting Free Stats into Charisma as well.” The Asari girl asked.
“I’ve kept a fairly balanced stat build so far, though of course investing mostly in my Physical and Psionic Stats. It’s not like I’ve put zero points into my Social Stats, but they’re my lowest stats.” She explained without worry. Her high stats were going to be obvious, so there was no point in trying to hide them, and while revealing your exact stats was unwise, giving general hints like she’d done wasn’t too bad.
“That’s…” The Asari was a bit speechless.
“Draenei do get a fair bit of base Charisma.” The Aeldari girl finally spoke, not seeming as affected as the others. “I’m more curious about your Class. You mentioned Psionic Stats. We don’t get very many psionic knights.”
Speaking with Aeldari was an interesting thing. That was largely because the language was not comprised of words alone like most languages, but also accompanied by a detailed set of poses and gestures. Just the way an Aeldari stood, or how they cast their features, or a simple gesture of their hands or fingers could change the meaning of the spoken words dramatically. For instance, the Aeldari in question was signalling that she wasn’t too impressed by most psionic Classes. As an inherently psionic race, that wasn’t too surprising.
The girl’s eyes grew larger as Seraphiel returned the favour by wordlessly implying she should watch her words, and that judging others before knowing the details was not a good idea. “As it happens, my Class is somewhat relevant to your people, as I believe the Aeldari were the ones to introduce the base form of the Class to this universe.”
“Base form?” The Aeldari girl asked, and her demeanour suggested she already had an idea what Seraphiel meant.
“Yes. My Class is a specialized form of the Path of the Seer.” She didn’t bother hiding the information as it would soon be out anyway.
“I was under the impression that only Aeldari could access the Class.” The Asari girl pointed out.
Seraphiel smiled mysteriously. “As with all Classes, all you need to do is to fulfil the conditions for acquiring it. And like I said, it’s a specialized form of the Class.”
"I've…never heard of anyone gaining that Path as their first Class." The Aeldari stated very carefully. Even she didn't know what the conditions for acquiring the Class were, but all Seers were highly valued among her people. Even the greatest Seers usually started as another Class and gained the Path of the Seer as a second or third Class before dedicating themselves to leveling it. She also knew it was a very high-ranking Class even from the very beginning, and doubted that whatever this ‘specialized’ form was, it likely wasn’t any lower ranked. If anything, special versions of Classes were usually higher ranked.
One of the Elven twins frowned a little. “I believe the Aeldari are rather protective of their seers. I can’t imagine they’ll take this well.” The Elves considered the Aeldari to be like distant cousins, as the two races were so similar.
“That would depend on the craftworld. Those from Ulthwe would have an aneurysm if they found out, while my own craftworld of Iyanden and some others would just be happy to see more seers guiding other races to the correct path. Still, it might be a bit like Elves thinking that only your rangers are real rangers.” The Aeldari girl explained. Her wordless communication had been subdued ever since being called out.
“Ah, I can see how that goes.” The Asari girl interjected. “My own people have a similar opinion when it comes to biotics.” A blue biotic aura suddenly surrounded the girl, revealing that she was a biotic warrior of some sort.
“Huh. Didn’t think a biotic would enrol on the knight track.” Seraphiel commented.
The Asari looked at her strangely. “Why would you think that?”
“Well, it was one of the Classes I was offered. The Class was not exactly heavy on Physical Stats.” She explained.
“I…suppose that depends on what you consider heavy. Twenty points just on Physical Stats is pretty average for a starting Class. You can specialize when the Class evolves of course.” The Asari pointed out.
“Yeah, twenty points is pretty good for most Classes. What do the Seers get?” The Turian asked.
“They don’t. It’s all Free Stats.” Seraphiel revealed, causing everyone to react with whistles and gasps.
“That is quite rare. No wonder the Aeldari tend to be a bit protective. Especially if the trend continues. Generally Free Points are a rare treat.” Even Raziel was surprised. “I can see why you picked the Class. You always were something of an optimizer.”
“I resent that statement. I’m merely prudent.” Seraphiel stated playfully.
“Isn’t that the same thing?” One of the Elven twins whispered the other, before being hushed by his brother.
“No wonder I get the sense that you’re a bit stronger than your level implies.” The Asari suddenly smiled, looking like she’d figured out something that had been bothering her.
"Which is why I still want that duel," Hou explained himself.
"Later perhaps," Seraphiel repeated.
“I have to admit that I’m kinda curious what Raz's sister can do. He's already one of the top people of third level, and from everything he's told us, it's unlikely his sister got a lower-ranked Class." One of the Draenei spoke up.
"Well, you'll have something to look forward to then. You're going to take part in the tryouts for Mahora's tournament team, right?" Raziel looked towards her sister like the answer was obvious.
“I had the intention, yes.” She replied demurely. Evangeline would kill her if she didn’t.
“Well then. You’ll see my sister fighting in three months.” Raziel stated happily.
“How do the tournaments work exactly? We haven’t been told yet.” Seraphiel asked her brother.
"Every academy has their own way of grading and classifying their students, but the academies have come to an agreement with what kind of students roughly match each other. That means there are three categories. Complete newbies of level 1, intermediate students between levels 2-6, and advanced students between 7-10. Most tournaments are divided into these categories, though since the events themselves can be wildly different, sometimes that isn't true. Either way, every five years there's a larger tournament where all academies take part. The exact format varies, but usually direct combat is involved. Between those large events, we can have multiple smaller ones. Sometimes we have several each year, while at other times there could be entire years with no events at all." Raziel told her, eager to inform his sister of something she didn't know for once.
The Turian student interjected. “It seems the gods often arrange suitable opportunities. Sometimes one academy can challenge another, and sometimes there are friendly small tournaments between a handful of academies. It really depends.”
“And since I know you’re going to ask, the last big tournament was two years ago, so you won’t be able to participate as a newbie.” Raziel pre-empted Seraphiel’s next question.
“Unless you don’t advance for some odd reason.” The Asari added.
“Which is rather unlikely.” Raziel looked at her firmly, causing the Asari to just shrug in response.
“What’s stopping an academy from having a group of high-level rounders just to use them for these tournaments?” She noticed an obvious loophole.
"Ah, right. You wouldn't know. Most competitions are level restricted. The events are held in specially created arrays that suppress every participant's level to a pre-determined maximum. Their Stats and Skills will be reduced to what they'd be at that level. Usually, the maximum is around the places where your Class evolves." Raziel quickly answered.
That didn’t entirely address her concern though. A specially trained student, or several, trained especially to excel in such competitions would crush any normal participants. Even with level suppression, that only meant they had all their Skills capped, which would be another advantage. But it wasn’t her concern for the moment. She was practically cheating herself with an extra Class, so she didn’t have much room to talk…