Athen Caldor was an older man, around his mid seventies, with a short, scruffy, brown beard, shaggy, hair, and always wore spectacles. His rectangular face, accompanied by his large nose, imposed an air of authority and power upon those who had the pleasure of greeting him.
His solid build distinguished him from the average office holder. Large broad shoulders, tall, almost muscular, frame, but a sweet smile, immediately pegged him as someone from a humble beginning.
Highly ranked as he was, he sat down, on a comfy, leather bound chair. As fancy as it looked, the colors used were dull, matching the color of wood and his hair.
His hand streaked across the paper on top of his desk, leaving multiple letters strung into words. Neat and tidy, the sleeves of his robe hung closely by his elbows where he had folded them. Unlike many of the higher positions, Athen opted for loose, comfortable, clothing rather than the suits that seemed to crawl around everywhere.
Long had the man held his position, and longer would he hold it. Being an overseer was certainly a difficult job, one where the person in charge would have to sacrifice much to maintain the occupation. Based on this man's, Athen Caldor's, achievements, it would be hard to find a more suitable replacement.
Yes, managing and issuing commands to the various groups of the Twelve was a demanding task.
The underlings were impossible to predict at times. The underlings of course being the Twelve themselves. Whether they had come for money, as most did, to grow in strength, dish out their own sense of justice, or to simply have an excuse for murdering, each person was hardly normal.
Those who leave the group with little notice was already tough enough for him to handle. The person in question would have to be monitored and, sometimes, made to sign an agreement that they shall not give away any information of the Empire or of the group's activities in the city.
Though, hardest out of all of these, were the betrayals. Luckily, for the empire, people, and Twelve, those were much more common in the earlier days when the empire was nothing but the size of a kingdom. Yes, the betrayals had cost the young empire much, even the life of one of the seven mages. Now, after conquering much of the underpowered nations, it had become far too large for anyone to choose another, human, side.
There were other, human, kingdoms and empires on the same continent and on the southernmost continent, but hardly have they ever made much contact.
Doing the necessities of the job, Athen continued to write.
*Knock Knock Knock*
"Enter." he said without looking up.
"Excuse me." A man with a crescent shaped, porcelain, mask entered.
"What is it? It's only been a week or so since we sent the Seventh to Aurora City. Is he back already? Or do you have something else for me?" Athen said without looking up. His hand continued to work the pen until it's ink ran out.
"I have something else Sir. A... concern more like." The masked man held one arm stiffly at his side while he used the other to assist in his bow.
The official lifted his paper up and adjusted his glasses, "Go on. I'm listening."
"I believe that we should keep a closer eye on Aurora City, and on the Twelve there. I know that you've sent them a replacement for their recent loss, but I'm convinced that more problems may arise there."
Athen sighed, "Yes, I do understand your concern, seeing as how the city now holds a valuable artifact, it may become an even larger target in the future. However, I also have my own beliefs." He carefully placed his spectacles on the desk and locked his fingers together, using it to rest his chin. "Is that all that you are worried about?"
He shook his head, "No sir. There is another member there, a Thirteenth. The problem isn't so much that he is an unneeded addition, but it is the fact that he has been given free reign for who knows how long. I believe that he has become somewhat of a famous figure there."
"And?"
"And, I do not like that the First simply allowed a new member without going through any of the official processes." The masked man was no longer in his lowered position.
"You had no official processing." The older man commented.
Agitated by the words, the masked man did his best to hold back, "But I served under the empire for years. I'm not someone off the street like those Twelve from other cities."
"Right right. Of course you're not. You serve directly under the emperor." Athen looked at the stack of paper next to him.
"Also, there may have been a betrayal."
"What?" He raised an eyebrow. "From Aurora City? Which one?"
"No." The masked man responded. "One from the Green City. After the kidnapping incident a while back, the knights and guards there were unable to find one of the Twelve, the Fifth specifically if memory serves."
"Hoh. How come this was not brought to my attention?"
"The First didn't want you to be bothered by it. He assumed that the Green Fifth would've went into hiding and stayed low for a while."
"Hmph. I understand that those of you here in the capital do not fall under the same rules as the other Twelve, but I am still your superior. Report anything of even the slightest importance to me." Athen rubbed his brow. "I'll follow your suggestion then. I'll have the Seventh tell them to halt any activities unless given permission."
"The Seventh has already done so." the crescent masked man answered.
"I see. That's fine. I'll have the newest member report back to me. So, on to the Thirteenth. Has Carlyle, or the Thirteenth himself, filled out the necessary forms?"
"Unknown. But the Seventh will send someone as soon as it is done."
"Right. Is that all you have to say?"
"One more Sir. Why has the First, Carlyle as you call him, been given what seems like special treatment?"
"Special treatment you say? No, that is not it at all. I've known the man and worked over him for much longer than I have worked with many of the other 'Firsts.' He is capable and intelligent. Not to mention, the headmaster of Renard Academy approves of him as well."
"Yes Sir. I understand. Is that why he is allowed to recruit his own underlings?" the voice has a tinge of edge.
"Correct. Now that I have listened to your request and answered your question, may I go back to my work now my dear inferior?"
"Of course. Sorry for the intrusion."
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Blue Hair, she's seen too much. I didn't take her for the observant type. No, that's my mistake. I should've learned about her when she gave me that look back then. She also spends a lot more time listening and watching than the other way around.
I just never assumed she'd speak about these things, considering how shy and reserved she is. This is troublesome. As long as she doesn't mention this to anyone else, especially her friends, I should be fine. Iris pries enough as it is.
I hope that I was able to, at the very least, convince her she was seeing things. Blue Hair may not be dumb, but she's not very confident in general.
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Three Days Later few minutes before bell.
We're taking a one day break before we move onto the next tests. The mixed magic testing took all three days. With a whole lot more failures than success. Surprisingly, Blue Hair and I did pretty well for ourselves.
I have no clue how much she trusted me, but it was good enough for us to do it.
Axel and his partner, Feno, were barely able to. Iris and Elis, Blue Hair's friends, had little trouble, other than controlling it of course. Turns out, everyone felt really tired after they attempted it, and basically everyone I observed had a hard time controlling it.
"Hey Rai." Axel pulls my attention. He sniffles, "You wanna complete that quest tonight? I'd feel bad if we held back on it for too long. There's another group with three members on the quest, but I kinda want the money. If you're busy, I can handle it by myself."
I rub my wrist and take a moment to consider his proposition, trying my best to fit it within my busy schedule. Truthfully, I have none. Going on another quest to get my mind off things doesn't sound like a bad idea either.
"Okay." I say, nodding. "I've got no plans. We can fini- start it and finish it after school. Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll have enough points to rank up."
"Sounds good. But ranking up doesn't really matter, since we'll mostly end up doing rank F quests too. Once we get to B, then those are out of the question." Axel replies. I can't tell whether he wants to rank up or not.
"F ranked quests are really simple. They don't pay much, and aren't anywhere close to enough to live on." I say.
"But they're good for some quick extra income to buy things like clothes." he rebukes.
"So are E ranked quests, like this one. Though, they're a little bit rarer, seeing as it's hard to place things between the D and F ranks." I take a hard look at him, "did you get yourself any Winter wear yet? And no, your uniform doesn't count."
"Pfft. Course I got some Winter wear man."
I continue to stare at him, unconvinced.
"Look. How about I swear to you that I bought Winter wear recently." he raises his hand. "I solemnly swear, to my friend Rainen Weaver, that I, Axel Naklo, recently have bought Winter wear, like jackets and scarfs. I also swear upon the god, Oilrau, of the god of promises. If I have lied, may I be struck down."
Axel puts his hand down and stands patiently. Eventually, he shrugs his shoulders.
"See. I didn't lie."
Who's Oilrau? First time I've heard of him. I'm sure there are lots of other gods I haven't heard of before either, but one of promises? I guess it's possible.
"Fine." I say, rubbing my wrist and accepting his vow.
*DING*
Axel files back to his seat like most other students. At this point, it's pretty much become a habit. Everyday, the same routine over and over. The two week break we had from school hardly interfered at all. Everyone is back to their normal selves, like it hadn't had any effect on them at all.
More than what some could say.
Like all the other days, Miss Ein bounds across the room, only stopping once she reaches the podium in the front. Leaning on the wooden object, she curls her fingers around the sides and scans the room. No doubt she's already memorized everyone and their seats.
With a nod to herself, as if satisfied by the attendance of the class, Miss Ein begins speaking.
"As you know, we're finished with our mixed magic testing." she looks around the room again, focusing on the faces of various students, including me. "There has been some who were successful and those who weren't quite as lucky. But! Worry not. The test did account for your grades, but is not a very important part at this stage."
A girl in the front row raises her hand, her curly blonde hair sways as she does so. "Then what was the test's point?"
"To test your trust and compatibility with your partner." Miss Ein announces.
It sends some giggles through the room. I hardly find it funny.
"Does that mean in partner partner terms?" The curly haired girl's partner, a boy, asks jokingly.
"Very funny." Miss Ein says, shaking her head. "No, not quite. When one speaks of compatibility between mages, they're speaking of the natural connection between their mana. Though, one could still take this as between two people. As some of you may have experienced, sometimes it seems like magic has a mind of its own." She forces her head to stay facing this side of the room.
"Ahem!" she clears her throat. "So, with that in mind, please continue to build your relationships with your partner and of course, those around the school."
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"So what are we looking for?" I ask my oh so dear friend who's hogging the slightly crumpled piece of paper. He's stretched it out a couple of times and tried to straighten it but it obviously hasn't worked. Axel and I have talked about doing this quest over the short two week break, but I wasn't there to get the quest with him. He registered me in the party, so whether or not he does this by himself, I still get points for it.
Once someone reaches a certain point, they can rank up. I think it's a fairly new system. Before, it used to be that one needed only a certain amount of quests of their rank under their belt to move up. Right now, my card, which has my info on it, shows that I have 238 points. I need 250 for C rank. Axel is at 214.
He's been doing quite a few missions without me.
"Looking for a Hexat."
Oh. It's one of those strange reptilian cats with six arms. These things are somewhat rare. I suppose that's the reason for this being an E ranked mission. Normally, this could be listed under the F rank category.
"So do we split up?" I ask while rubbing my wrist. "We'd cover more ground that way. Seeing as how the cat isn't hard to distinguish from the crowd, we should be able to find it pretty quickly."
He shakes his head, "No. I think that going together is better. Though it's unlikely and against the rules, one of us could get hurt by the other group hunting this thing down.
"Worried?" I ask.
He smiles, "Yeah, about myself. Besides, how would it be fair if I found the cat and you also got to share in the wealth?"
"Ever thought about what would happen if I were to find it first?"
"Yup. We'd share the money." he grins innocently while marching on in no clear direction.
The alleys we're exploring have probably never been taken before by the average citizen. Truthfully, I had expected to run into some kinda thug by now. They like to hang around these places don't they? Maybe they're deterred by the dozens of guards patrolling the streets right now.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
The guards might be just play things for those of Krestfall, but to the average criminal, they're a huge annoyance. That said, we're still near the middle of the city. Just a bit further and I can swear we'll find someone looking to swipe our pouches.
"Kitty kitty kitty. Where are you my little kitty?" Axel quietly sings to himself as he opens the lids of garbage cans and sticks his head inside. Sticking his head under every single nook and cranny, Axel doesn't hold back looking for the lost pet.
"Hey Axel." I call out to him while he's still bumbling about. "How much money do we get if we save the cat?"
"Two gold pieces." he says, the excitement evident in his voice.
Two gold pieces? So I guess this is why it's an E ranked mission. The reward could easily make it D or low C ranked level. But I guess no danger with this reward only makes it E ranked. Lucky for us that this was a limited distribution quest. Only two teams on this huh?
"What? No response Rai? Too much money for ya?" he says while pressing his face against the ground.
"Little bit. Just wondering who have such and uncommon pet and enough money to pay two gold pieces for it."
"Probably a noble visiting the city or something. Maybe they wanted to see their kid and brought over their favorite cat." Axel says while moving onto the next alley. I follow closely behind.
Looking around for another hour or so, we're unable to find anything. It's around four. It's Winter, so it'll get dark sooner but there's still a bit of daylight left. We increase our efforts and start to rummage through the trash at amazing rates. Eventually, we find ourselves near some older, worn down, buildings.
A meow catches our attention and we spend the next few minutes searching in the general area. A cat, maybe not the cat, should be around here somewhere. I rub my hand, what a pain it's going to be finding this thing.
"AHA! Got ya!" Axel lifts a large six legged cat over his head. "Rai! Let's get going!"
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"Thank you for finding my cat." a tall, bright eyed man says while kneeling down to play with the cat. The lower part of his face is devoid of any hair, this nose is short and rounded. The thing that sticks out the most are his large eyes that seem to peer straight through you.
"No problem." Axel responds with a smile.
"Are you boys from the academy?" he inquires.
"Yup." Axel nods. "We're both first years. Do you know someone attending?"
"No. I was just curious. I had heard quite a lot about the academy from the people at the capital." he says, not bothering to look up.
"So are you a noble?" I ask.
"Nope. Just someone who's got a bit of money." he flashes a grin before taking two golden coins out of his pockets. "Here you boys go."
"Thank you." Axel seems ready to jump for joy.
"Ahaha. I simply paid the reward for your deeds. Thank you boys once again." we turn around to leave. "Ah, could I please get your names?"
"Axel."
"Rainen." I say.
"Mm. Have a nice day." he extends his arm out and the cat, like a well trained bird, climbs up to his shoulder. He turns his back and walks away, his suit flowing in the wind.
"Strange guy." Axel comments while fingering the coin in his hand. "We should get going."
"Yeah." he did seem a little odd. Rich but not a noble, then maybe a merchant perhaps?
While wandering aimlessly around the streets now that our job was completed, an air of silence formed between Axel and I. He's stopped throwing the coin up in the air and placed it into his pocket for safe keeping. His arms are locked together behind his head.
I, on the other hand, am now just starting to toss the thing up in the air. I'm counting the outcome. So far, three heads and four tails. Why might I be doing such a thing? Well, it's because I have two tickets in my left pocket. I'm still debating on whether or not to ask Axel to go skating for fun so I'm letting the coin decide.
"Hey." Axel breaks the silence. "Rai. How've you been doing recently? I didn't get to see you for a few days after the attack on the school."
"Dude. We were hanging out all last week and you're only bringing this up now?" What's Axel thinking?
He shrugs and bares a frown, "I dunno. It's just that... just that you don't seem like yourself recently. Is something up? Is your right hand hurting or something? You've been rubbing it for a while."
Huh? I glance down to find my left hand turning around my wrist like it's trying to turn a doorknob. That's funny. It just feels a little... uncomfortable, a little disgusting, like there's something invisible stuck there.
"There's nothing wrong." I say. "Honest. It's just been feeling a little off. Not a big deal." I take a breath.
"If you say so Rainen. I'd get it checked at least. Maybe you've fractured a bone or something, knowing you, that's probably the most likely thing." he says while giving me a grin.
"Heh. No worries, I'll be fine." I would know if it was broken. It just feels like something gross is covering my hand.
"Right." he loses his smile for a second, but it instantly reappears. "I'll see ya later Rai."
"Bye." I wave.
When he's gone, I sigh. Have I been acting strange recently? I've been showing up at the warehouse a lot more but I don't think I've been interacting with anyone differently than how I have before. And my hand, is there something wrong with it? Maybe I should take my bracer off, it might be too tight.
I slide my left hand into my pocket and it brushes against two soft, flimsy, thin objects. GAH! I rub my temples. I forgot to ask him if he'd want to go skating. Ehh. On second thought, though it might've been fun, I don't know since I've never been skating before, but it would've been weird for me to go with a guy.
My master did say for me to take my girlfriend, but I don't have one. There is Blue Hair but I don't know her well enough. She'd probably decline anyways. It's also best for me if I avoid her for now and let her doubts about my powers grow. Eventually she'll just believe it was a mistake on her part.
"Haaah." my breath is easily seen rising up to the sky in the cold air. A little over two weeks since Winter. A little over two years now. The sky, it's so clear today. Only a few, thin, clouds roam the darkening orange above. What a pretty amber.
"PFFFT! D-Don't do that! It's t-too c-cwold."
"Awww comon sis! Have some fun!"
The two kids stand near the town square. The girl brushes off the snow on her face, revealing rosy red cheeks. Her brother's black mittens are covered in small chunks of the white beneath our feet. He's giggling as she chatters her teeth.
Ah. That reminds me. I've been visiting those two a bit. Maybe they'd like to go ice skating.
With a breath, I shake off the cold surrounding my body and start towards another direction.
In no time flat, I'm standing in front of a familiar orphanage. One that I've spent a good amount of time at during the last two weeks.
Outside of the building are two nuns. They're ringing bells. Many ignore them but a few stop and drop a coin or two inside of their buckets.
I walk past them, going to enter the building when my master's voice appears in my head. "What's the point of money if you're not going to spend it? At least give some to the less fortunate." I blow a wave of warm air through my nose and pick out two slivers. Tossing them into the bucket, I enter.
"Oh. Rainen, glad you're back. Are you here to see Aron and Maia?" Inside, I'm greeted by a smiling woman. Her brown hair is tied into a bun. She wears a white tunic tucked into her dark trousers.
Mrs. Rindo Unan. She's a young woman, in her thirties, who is one of the main caretakers of the children here.
"Hey Rindo. I was walking around town with nothing to do and I thought about them. Where are they?"
"They should be-"
She's cut off by the sound of scurrying feet.
"It's big brother Rainen!" the two kids surround me.
"Hey hey!" Aron asks. "What are we going to do today?"
"Aron." Maia says, crossing her arms. "We didn't even say hi yet." Maia says with a pout.
Aron's eight while Maia is ten. Their mother died after giving birth to Aron and their father overworked himself. Apparently they had no relatives willing to take them in.
Ever since two weeks ago, I've been paying more and more visits to these two.
"Where are the other kids?" I ask.
"Sleeping." Rindo says. "They were helping out outside all day."
"Oh. What's going on?"
"We're just raising some extra money for supplies. We've been doing pretty well recently. Even better ever since Alia came. She really helped us out. Right now she's taking care of the kids in the back."
Alia, Heclan's kid. The eldest one out of all of them.
"I see. That's good." I was a little worried about Alia remembering me, but it seems like she and the rest have no clue. She has noticed me talking to some of the children, though, she hasn't approached me to say anything. "Do you mind if I take these two out tonight? I have some tickets to go ice skating."
"Sure, I don't mind. Make sure you bring them back before eight though. Go put on your cloaks kids." she says while putting her hands on her knees.
I wait patiently in the front while the two get dressed. Within a few minutes, they come back out fully armored in fat wool cloaks. The donations must've been really, and I mean REALLY good for them to afford all of these for the kids. With a hat, mittens, and scarves, they're ready for any Winter.
"W-where are we going?" Maia asks, her brother's hand in her's.
"This way." I say, ushering them before me. "I've heard the rink is near Treant Park."
"Are they real?" Aron asks, burying his face in the scarf. "I heard they were monsters!"
"Don't worry, they're not that scary." I reassure them.
"Yeah! Don't be such a baby Aron!" Maia says while tugging him along. Their boots leave little footprints in the snow.
"You're just acting tough in front of him!" Aron retorts, trying to pull himself free of her grasp. "Because you like him!"
I raise an eyebrow. I do believe that this is the first time I've been crushed on. It's a pleasant feeling, too bad she's a kid.
"S-S-Shut up!" she hurriedly covers his mouth. "D-Don't listen to him. H-He's just, just making it up!"
"Aww." I say jokingly. "I my heart was skipping a beat for a moment there."
"W-wha!" Maia's cheeks flare red.
I pat her head, "I was kidding."
"Hehehe." Aron chuckles. "Big brother Rainen wouldn't like a kid like you anyways. So rude and mean."
"Uuuu. I'm not a kid! I'm elven now." she says while using the scarf to cover up her face, just like someone I know who would do it if they could.
"Since when?" I ask her.
"T-Today." she mutters.
"Happy birthday then. Take this as your treat from me."
"T-Thanks." she looks away shyly.
They really are alike in both the stutter and they shy look.
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Walking down the hallway with a book in hand, I'm stopped by Mr. Rune.
"Hello." he greets.
"H-Hello." I reply.
"Ellar correct?"
"Y-Yes. Is there something you need? O-Or was there a problem with our test?" I ask while pulling my book closer.
"No, there was nothing wrong. I'd just like to ask you a few questions about your partner."
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"Here." I hand the tickets over to the man in front of the small gate.
He raises an eyebrow upon seeing the tickets. For the longest time, he studies them.
Damn that bastard. Did he give me some fake tickets? What if I get arrested? I should've known they were suspicious, considering that he gave them to me months in advance.
"Who's going in?" he asks. "The two kids?"
Huh? I guess they worked. "Yeah." I say. "Just them."
He nods. "Alright. Here are your tickets back."
I slowly take them from his hands.
Noticing the confusion plastered across my face he says, "Those are good for two uses each. If you want, you could go in as well."
I stare at the tickets for a moment. "No thanks, I'll just watch."
He nods and hands two skates to Aron and Maia. We find an uncrowded bench, which is quite hard, and sit down. I assist Aron in putting his on and move on to Maia.
"N-No." she says. "I-I can do it by myself!"
I back away while she does her best. Eventually, she manages and starts going around with Aron in hand. She's not half bad. I never did ask how long ago since their parents died. Maybe Maia went ice skating before they passed. Leaning against the bench I smile as I watch a plethora of people fall on their butts while those two kids circle them.
Some adults stare on with smiles on their faces and others, namely the guys around my age, start getting competitive. Losing to a kid in front of a girl you brought wouldn't score too many points I assume.
"Big brother Rainen!" They come back up to me, we're separated by a short wooden barrier.
"You're having fun?" Aron asks confused. I'm not skating so he must be a little curious as to why I'm in a good mood.
"Yeah. You guys remind me of my sister."
"Do you miss her?" Maia asks.
I nod. "Just a little bit." a smile breaks through. "But she'll be here soon."
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Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. In the next chapter, I might try and experiment with writing in first person past tense.