Wordsmiths are 'special' entities. They speak in special languages called 'Muses' and make up a small percentage of the empire. If a wordsmith was proficient enough, they can change any situation with just a few words.
They can command kings with a simple advise, cause armies to fall with the flick of a hand, and change a society's values with a song. The more legendary ones are even capable of changing the narrative of history as they please, bending reality if they really wished it so.
But of course, everything has its pros and cons. Although a wordsmith is capable of plenty things by speaking a language, there is one thing their power cannot easily rectify: Wordsmiths cannot heal themselves with the languages of Syntaxis, regardless of what Muse it is or which Archetype they adhere.
Although this is barely an issue for a wordsmith, some cases where wounds are sustained could take a wordsmith's life prematurely. This includes the mental kind of wounds. More often than not, the dangers of pursuing the career of a wordsmith can take a toll on one's mind more dangerously than on the body.
The Nonaphrontistery knows this very well. Unknown to the outside world, only they can see what happens if a student is pushed too much. The most recent case of such situation happened just a few years ago, never to be spoken of again due to its gravity.
CK could see it in her mind's eye. A young girl on a hospital bed staring out the open windows on a sunny day, the rays of light unbelievably blinding to hide away the girl's face. The only thing she could remember about the blurry face was the bittersweet smile on her face and the glossy droplets on the back of the girl's palm.
"Isn't it strange that one has to suffer for the sake of 'happiness'? It must be terrible, these things you are experiencing right now. It hurts. It's painful. But just know, it is good that you feel pain."
"It just means you're alive."
CK hasn't felt more conscious upon waking from sleep. She sat up with a groan and the strap of her night dress slid off her shoulder lazily when she raised a finger to wipe her eyes. The usual grog from waking up in the morning wasn't there. Just a lazy glimpse upon the bedsheets.
What a strange dream sequence.
CK flinched upon hearing Malphas' voice in her mind, not expecting to hear from him suddenly. She sighed and rubbed her forehead, "Should I be concerned that you can read everything that's in my head?"
"Heh. You haven't seen everything just yet," CK replied and got up to fix her beddings. She straightened the bedsheets, flapped the curtains open, and yawned as she fixed herself in front of the mirror.
"Don't worry, I haven't. The idea of taking over my very first sift was enough to let me stay up late," CK said and walked to the bathroom to commence her morning routine, "You better hope it isn't disappointing."
Act II: Pullum vel ovum
The parchment paper crinkled as CK bit into her jam-filled donut. Powdered sugar barely missed her collar while she rode an elevator leading to the ground floors of the building, but she didn't mind the little mess.
It's been two weeks since they served some nice donuts and she managed to get the first one for the day! This was a valid reason for CK's tiny burst of happiness. On some days, she was an easy person to please.
Malphas was just as pleased. However, he had no care for human treats. Today was the day CK would re-enter his dungeon after months. Compared to Theodore Erzem, CK can be negotiated with. However, he expected a little bit more stubbornness from the girl.
CK exited the elevator once it stopped at the ground floor. She was still drunk on morning sleepiness and let out a yawn, unaware of the side glances she got from passerby's. However, Malphas noticed this and was amused.
The coming trial has become hot news in the Schools of IX as well as the comatose of her master. What celebrities they have become!
CK was passing by the practice area of the freshmen students when she finished the last bite. She tossed the crumpled paper into the trash bin nearby and brushed the side of her lips with a thumb.
'Tell me something, Malphas: What are the perks of ruling over a dungeon?' CK asked in her mind. She first thought it was like being stuck in one place for long time in exchange of some kind of power. Although some shut-ins would like that idea, it doesn't sound like there are plenty of benefits.
'Really? Huh. If that's the case, then…' CK trailed off mentally.
An amused smile crept on CK's face. 'That must be the case,' she thought and shook her head, 'Nothing. Do explain more about your dungeon, Malphas.'
Malphas made a thoughtful pause in CK's mind. CK was leaning over the rails of a catwalk to observe the training junior students. Their manner of chanting, the inexperienced casting of incantations, and clumsy mistakes made CK smile. She placed her chin on the back of her palm observingly.
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'Is that something I should be concerned with?' CK wondered.
"Vocare glaciem draconis!"
CK raised an eyebrow as a freshman's opened a vial of enchanted water from his belt. Runes manifested as the student tossed out the water, causing it to churn and swirl like a vortex in the air.
The water took form of a dragon before freezing over and becoming an ice-white dragon. Its eyes were dull as it shrieked, causing nearby freshmen to watch in shock, awe, or envy. CK, however, clicked her tongue.
'That sounds alright. But I can't help feeling doubtful. If one of your friends happened to be the new boss, there's no telling what they'll do to the little human that imprisoned their former boss once she comes back of her own will,' CK thought, 'You're not leading me into a trap, are you?'
"Hehe," the summoner of the ice dragon smirked and gestured a hand out to the other students, "Attack!"
But his command did not faze the ice dragon. The creature growled and began to thrash, alerting the summoner. "W-What the!" he said, stepping back. The other students froze.
"Undo the summoning, Wayne. That thing's out of your control," a young woman lounging on a levitating man-sized book said. The summoner gritted his teeth, "No, it's not! I can deal with it myself!"
"You're gonna get some people in trouble," the lounging girl yawned. "I told you, I can deal with it! So shut up and lay off my back!" Wayne hissed. They all turned in alert when the dragon shrieked, causing icicles to sprout violently from the ground.
The young girl glanced to the side, seeing translucent sparkles of emerald. Her face relaxed, and she shrugged with a sigh, "Suit yourself."
Wayne turned back to the ice dragon, but his eyes widened in horror when the dragon raised a claw to swipe down on him. "Waaah!" he yelled and raised his hands to shield his face.
"Disperse."
A young woman's voice commanded. Just as the claw was about to touch, the icy creature shattered into fine frost before raining down on the students, causing a faint rainbow to hang in the air. Wayne opened his eyes and was shocked at the occurrence.
"This… How did it…?"
He trailed off when a young woman in sweaters and sweatpants walked towards them unhurriedly. Emerald threads of energy stemmed from her fingertips, resembling her eyes.
She flicked a finger towards Wayne, causing the raining frost to return into his vial as water. Wayne was taken aback, feeling embarrassed but also impressed by the newcomer, who was now tilting her head with a twinkle in her emerald eyes.
"Only using a hand gesture to cast… Y-You're at Syntax Level II, aren't you?" Wayne asked hesitantly. "Wow. You're an observant one," the young woman smiled, "That's correct. I'm glad the juniors are paying attention to Mr. Zeke's class."
The students had a realization. They said that very few of the seniors have advanced to Syntax Level II, but they're all busy with preparations for the graduation rites. This easy-going senior must be…
"Sasha," CK greeted the girl levitating above them. "It's good to see you, senior CK. I thought they decided to lock you up before your trial," the young girl on the floating book spoke as she descended.
Sasha is a freshman that came from the same world as CK, which made them good acquaintances. However, their Muses are different. While CK practiced Magna Alkemia, Sasha was more adept with grimoires and magic, making Fairy Hymn the best Muse for her.
Fairy Hymn is the Muse of the Archetype addressed as the [Librarian of the Akashic Records]. It was also the most apparent Syntaxis art back at their home world, making it even better for Sasha. The man-sized book shrunk and turned into a tiny pocket book that latched onto her thigh-band. CK crossed her arms.
"I was watching for a while. You should've put in more effort into stopping your classmate, Sasha. If things went out of control, it would be him that ends up in school jail," CK chided the girl, who sighed.
"As if. Wayne's so busy trying to prove he was good enough to summon a high-ranking beast. I can't reason with a blockhead," Sasha said. "Hey!" Wayne glared.
"I think he's getting somewhere. The first part was a smooth summoning, but he lost touch when he expected the ice dragon to be sentient enough to listen to your command," CK looked at Wayne with a smile, "There's a difference between 'invoking' and 'summoning'. Invoking is making a request to a being more powerful than you, while summoning can be done towards beings whose power is lower than yours."
"The one you did was a successful summoning of a water entity to take form of an ice dragon. However, it wasn't sentient. You will have to control the summoning by yourself, but your energy leaked out, and you lost control over it," CK clicked her tongue, "Be very careful next time."
"I-I see!" Wayne's face glowed at the feedback. He bowed his head, "You are amazing, senior CK. Thank you for your wise input! I'll do better next time!"
"Ah, it's nothing~! This is just a small observation I made," CK said pleasantly, "Nothing, really! But do praise me more, hehe—Hey!"
"Come now, senior. Let us train by ourselves now. Don't you have anything to do?" Sasha asked calmly, but her hands were pushing CK away hurriedly. Her classmates better not inflate their senior's ego.
"As a matter of fact, I do. I just came by to see your clumsy classmates do their best," CK said. Sasha looked pensive, "Is it true that you're on trial because you're responsible for Professor Erzem's hospitalization?"
CK blinked in surprise. "Goodness, rumors spiral into weird and wonderful stories," she giggled, "Of course not. It's all a misunderstanding, so don't worry. I'd rather focus on enjoying life at the Nonaphrontistery if I were you. Don't bother with these whimsical rumors."
"You know I can't afford to slack off. My family expects me to be someone exceptional when I go back," Sasha shook her head. "Even so, don't let it get to you," CK smiled and turned around, "Trust me, I've been there. So take your senior's wisdom and just do what students are supposed to do."
"I'll try. In the meantime, try not to go to jail," Sasha said worryingly, "You know that scandals are very dangerous back at home. If you go back and they hear about your current situation, they won't let it go easily."
"I'll be fine, Sasha. I wasn't born yesterday," CK giggled. She then walked off, leaving Sasha to watch her disappear into the cat walk. Sasha sighed and went back to the arena to train.
CK arrived at the edge of the main island. Beneath them was a vast sky of clouds, color, and surging wind currents. Into the distance were the eight towers and a few more islets floating some distance above. She closed her eyes, controlling her consciousness to feel the structure of Syntax energy.
'After I see yours,' CK thought, 'This is a good spot to open the sift.'
She took her glass pen and sketched a faint circle by inscribing incoherent runes, recalling the memories of how she first stepped into that sift for the first time. Once the shape was complete, a palette of colors converged and swirled into a portal within.
CK stepped into it, letting her body be consumed by the surge of Syntax energy. She walked inside the sift until her environment shifted, and her foot stepped upon stained marble floors. CK's eyes glimmered as she saw what was before her.
In the halls of marble and stained-glass windows, torches flickered with golden fire. Most dungeons took form of prisons, underground caves, or mazes. But Malphas' dungeon resembled the layout of a medieval castle that stood in the humans' Gothic era, hinting at the uniqueness of being one of the 72 dungeons of archdaemons.
The castle was eerily silent. The first time CK and Erzem entered, there would be clusters of daemons loitering. Now, there were bodies across the floor and cracks on the walls, either made by slashing blades or a sort of crash.
"These daemons were killed recently," CK noticed after seeing the dark blood staining the carpets. Banners that used to hang snapped off and lay on the floor, where dirt and footprints trampled upon them. CK twisted her lips in dismay.
"What a mess. Am I supposed to clean this up when this place becomes mine?" CK asked in displeasure. Malphas hummed in thought.
CK regained seriousness as she silently agreed with his notion. She inspected the area, concluding that a fight broke out. Her eyes narrowed at a weapon lying on the floor. She bent down and gestured with a finger, causing the weapon to float towards her.
It was a spear made from holy gold, an alloy made from bronze and steel blessed by the power of saints. The crafting style resembled the pendant that Winslow used to wear. CK's eyes narrowed.
"Members of the Radiance Church were here," she said, "No signs of incantations around. They must've created their own portal to come to this dungeon."
Malphas did not respond. CK stood back up and looked at the end of the hallways.
"That's not fun," her lips twisted in displeasure, suddenly hearing scritches from above her. Hanging from the dead chandeliers was a daemon resembling a werebat, its eyes glowing gold.
It snarled and quickly darted down towards CK's back, only to feel the slightest alert when it saw CK look over her shoulder with an unimpressed gaze.
"Not very stealthy," she said and flicked her glass pen upward. A large spike shot up in time as the werebat almost bit CK's head off, but the werebat flexibly moved its body to avoid the spike. CK's took her chance to kick the werebat's chin upward.
"Kraaa!"
The werebat stumbled, and CK swiftly conjured two spears from energy. It stabbed the werebat's wings and pinned it against the wall with a pained shriek. CK walked towards the pinned beast but felt a speeding presence coming at her from the side.
"Mora," CK spoke, her eyes narrowing as the incantation made the beast pause right before her. It was a weretiger, and a very fast one.
The weretiger snarled, its fangs as large as a saber's. CK thrust a palm away, causing the weretiger roar as it was thrown meters away from CK violently. CK was ready to cast another incantation when she was picked off the ground and thrown against the wall.
"Urgh!" CK groaned as she shut her eyes in pain, sliding down against her knees from the force. She lifted her gaze and watched as a daemonic ape crushed the spears pinning the werebat. The weretiger regrouped with them and stalked warily with its slitted eyes on CK.
They glared resentfully as CK got back up wobbly. "Ha… A three-on-one looks a little unfair," she grunted, "And you all seem ready to kill me. Also, he's not dead."
"…I think we got lost in translation," CK said and thought, 'What should I do with your faithfully pesky servants, Malphas?'
"No need to tell me twice," CK smirked and twirled the glass pen between her fingers, sparks of emerald flickering around her body, "Although I must disappoint you. I usually end my battles quickly to prevent the enemy from gaining advantage, so expect this one to be short."