Current Story – Jillesha

Character – Ryworn

Role – Major

Stage Directions (Day 2) –

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The tents in the camp were arranged at random. They were all in the same clearing of a forest, but had no coherence or pattern in terms of their placement. The only semblance of planning was the fact that there was a small open space in the middle of the camps where they put up a bonfire every night. The tents were in a circle around this area. Towards the north of these tents were the training grounds.

The grounds were almost as large as the area covered by the tents. They seemed to have some unwritten divisions to them, since different sets of people were practicing all together in particular zones. I asked Prince about it, who had met me at the entrance of the grounds.

“Oh no, its first come first served. Once or twice a week, you’ll see people fight over not getting the perfect place to practice. The only people safe are the archers, who don’t really have a choice.” He pointed towards them. The thing holding them back was the fact that they couldn’t move their targets anywhere they wanted. At least they seemed pleased with how they were, so that was good.

In one corner of these grounds, a lot of people had gathered, and were chattering and shouting. Prince led me there, and pushed past the crowd to get me to the middle.

In there, were Ginzari, Kaisel, Hess, and another man that I hadn’t met yet. The four of them were talking with each other when I entered. Then, they all turned and Hess mocked me, “Well, looks like the man of the hour is here. Should we begin if we have your permission, sir?”

“I’m so sorry.” I bent down my head just a bit to apologize for sleeping for too long. I wasn’t actually asleep, but my anxiety had gotten the better of me.

“And the rest of you, get back to your training!” She shouted, which made all the mercenaries run away at once.

The only people who remained where Sylvia, Typhen, and the three people who were talking to them. Sylvia told them something, and the three others left too, leaving only her and Typhen standing there.

“And you’re special?” Hess looked at them.

“I think so.” Sylvia replied with a smile, before stepping in and standing beside Kaisel, “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

“I think it’s fair for her to stay, considering she’s the one who met him first.” Kaisel protected Sylvia, which made her happy, “Although I apologize that I can’t find a similar excuse for Typhen.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Typhen groaned.

“You heard the man. Get back to practice! You better have that new dagger movement ready by the time I’m done with this.” Hess ordered, which made him stiff up and move to where the rest of the archers were practicing.

Ginzari stepped forward towards me and asked, “Are you ready?”

I hesitantly nodded my head.

“That’s as ready as you’ll ever be.” He said, and then pushed me towards Hess.

She stepped back to avoid me colliding with her, and cleared her throat while looking at Ginzari, “So, since I assumed you weren’t going to be good at it anyways, I asked for them to get done with the archery stuff early. Pick up that bow and spectacularly fail while trying to fire an arrow.”

She gestured towards a table on which a bow and a few arrows were kept. Close to the table was one of the targets that the archers used to practice.

“You’re an archer? But you were using a sword that day.” I looked at her as I picked up the bow. It was heavier than I had expected it to be.

“I can use all of them. Much more skilled with the bow and dagger, though.” Hess explained, “Just shoot already.”

Of course, she hadn’t even been using her actual weapons during the fight with the large demon. For now, I decided to focus on the bow and arrow. She had been fun yesterday, but she had already warned me about being serious when required. I definitely wasn’t giving a good impression right now.

I nocked an arrow on the bow, just how I always imagined it being done, and aimed it towards the target. I heard some murmurs behind me. Between those, I was also sure that I heard Hess softly laughing. I knew this wasn’t going to be good anyways. But still, I pulled it as hard as possible and sent it flying.

But it did not fly, at all. It just fell down in a second, with no power in it. My hands weren’t built for tough things like archery. I put it down and turned back to see that Hess was already heading towards the archery practice area. Typhen definitely hadn’t gotten enough time to practice his dagger movement.

“Since you can’t shoot an arrow, it’s fair to assume that you won’t be able to lift one of our standard swords either.” The man I didn’t know spoke up, “How about you try magic with Kaisel to give your hands a rest.”

“Magic can strain the hands much more than you think.” Kaisel spoke in his ever-calm voice as he looked at him, “But definitely not as much as holding one of your swords, I guess.”

He pulled out a pair of gloves, which were identical to the ones he and Sylvia were wearing, and gave them to me. I put them on and stood in front of him to wait for instructions.

“Magic is simply the ability to harness a particular element that exists in our atmosphere.” Kaisel spoke, “The gloves make it much easier to do, since they don’t really need to practice or think about it. The element, when manipulated properly, can change forms to whatever you require. For now, just try to feel it and move it around. If it works, then your hands should start glowing orange.”

The instructions were highly unclear. I mean, I understood what he meant by manipulating a certain element. But how was I supposed to feel it?

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With no idea of what he meant, I closed my eyes and tried to move my right hand around.

“How are you going to see it with your eyes closed?” Sylvia’s voice suddenly said.

My eyes shot open and I looked at her and Kaisel. The teacher told me that there was no need to close my eyes, since it did not help in any way. Of course.

I sighed and raised my hands once more, waiting to see if anything would happen. I tried to move my hands around randomly, acting like I was grabbing something midair. Nothing happened for the longest time. But Kaisel and Sylvia kept their faces straight. I was probably doing it right, since they weren’t stopping me. All the while, Ginzari kept staring with a weird expression.

Then, it happened. A soft orange glow appeared through the gloves. I almost jumped with excitement. I moved my hands around a bit more, mainly in the spot where the glow had appeared for the first time. The color grew darker and more pronounced. A huge smile appeared on my face. This felt nice.

The same fluid-like substance appeared in those areas and covered my entire hand. Sylvia’s expression slightly changed. I wasn’t able to pinpoint its reason, because Kaisel did not have any reaction at all. I kept moving my hands anyways, bringing them closer together to merge the two visible pieces of magic with one another. They formed a larger bubble.

Then, I pulled both of my hands back, but it stayed connected, creating a sort or bridge between both of my hands. I laughed with excitement. And then, it vanished.

“That was-!” Sylvia turned to Kaisel with disbelief. His face now had a slight smile.

Kaisel turned to Ginzari and asked, “I think it’s obvious, Ginzari? He’s a magician.”

The leader did not look pleased. He sighed with a disappointed face, “Of course.”

He moved to the other man and then to the sword rack that was beside him and pulled one out. He threw it at my feet and said, “Pick it up.”

I hesitated, but bent down towards it anyways. It was way too heavy. Kaisel and Sylvia’s smile had vanished. They were looking at Ginzari with doubt.

I tried my best, but it was impossible to lift the sword properly. I grunted and my feet started to skid due to the force. The sword slightly budged from its place, and I was able to pull it up into the air for a few seconds before it almost fell on my face. I stepped back and avoided it, as it clanged on the ground.

I looked at Ginzari, who seemed a bit sad.

He sighed and declared, “Welcome to the band, Ryworn. You’re recognized as a swordsman.”

“What?” Sylvia shouted.

The other man and Kaisel looked bewildered too.

Ginzari patted my shoulders before leaving the training grounds as he said, “The word is final.”

I spent the rest of the day in my tent as Kaisel and Sylvia tried talking to Ginzari about what had happened.

It was quite obvious. Probably to them too. It had been what Ginzari had been directed to do. I apparently had an affinity for magic, but I was to be a swordsman. I wondered if that meant I wasn’t allowed to use magic at all. It did not make sense for me to just not be able to use it. Maybe I could use both of them at the same time, and hang a sword on my waist as a way to make a visual statement of being a swordman.

That probably wasn’t possible, though.

It was funny how ironic this whole thing had been till now. The parts which were supposed to make a sad effect according to the story had no effect on me. But things like these had the most impact. I had spent two evenings in a row wallowing over how stupid it had been to come to this place. Once more, as the sun set and I heard people talking to each other while laughing and playing around, I tried to go to sleep.

But I couldn’t bring myself. Yesterday’s conversation had made me tired of everything. This one, on the other hand, made me more awake than ever. It seemed like death was closer than ever. I couldn’t even pick up a sword, and had already almost killed myself when I tried to pick one up today. How was I supposed to be a swordsman mercenary in such a case? I would die during practice itself.

I wasn’t sure of how much time had passed until someone shook the tent from the outside. Then, a second later, Sylvia’s voice called out, “You awake?”

“Uh, yeah.” I whispered back.

“Come out.”

I didn’t feel like it. Even so, I got up from bed and opened the flaps to the tent. She was standing there, with her arms crossed. It was night outside. Should have guessed. It was also probably two o’clock.

“That was…something.” She began.

“Yeah.” I replied.

She turned around and started walking, “Let’s go.”

I didn’t want to ask where, so I just followed her blindly. Everyone was talking to each other in groups as they laughed and joked around. It was quite a departure from how this usually went in the hospital. It was a bit refreshing to see.

Sylvia led me to the training grounds, and then to grassy area right on its borders. She sat down on the grass and then lay down with her hands resting on her stomach. She gestured to the area beside her.

I followed her and lay down. The stars looked great. The same thoughts as that one day came to mind again.

“I have never seen anyone do that before.” She started, “To actually visualize magic on your first try is just insane.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course!” She exclaimed, “I did not get past a faint glow on my first try. Kaisel did not get any visuals until his sixth or seventh try. You’re…made for it. And still,” She banged her fist on the ground. Since it was grass, there wasn’t much of a sound made.

“Not like we can do anything about it.” I replied, “I guess I’ll learn how to hold a sword.”

“Right. Obviously.” She scoffed.

I had no idea how to continue this.

“My brother thought I was lying when I told him.” She spoke.

Her brother?

“Your brother?”

“Typhen.” She sighed.

“Oh.”

Of course. He was her brother. Should have been a bit obvious, considering how they behaved around each other.

“You thought something totally else, didn’t you?” She laughed.

“Um…no.”

“Everyone does, for some reason.” She explained, “It’s whatever. It used to get on my nerves, but then I just got used to it. Some of the mercenaries still don’t realize that we’re siblings.”

“That’s rough.”

“It is.” She cried, “Anyways, let’s feel a bit sadder about how you don’t get to be a magician because of that idiot.”

She stared up at the sky, at God. But, how did they know that God actually lived up there?

“Does God live in the sky?”

“Where else would he? It’s the perfect place to look down on all of us.”

“Well, I mean, the stars suggest something else.”

“What are stars?”

“Are you trying to make fun of me?” I asked.

She turned her head towards me, “No, I am not. What are stars?”

She seemed quite serious.

Then, it took a while to get the concept across to her. She seemed a bit unwilling to believe that all of those dots in the sky were balls of gas with planets around them, but it eventually got into her head. I also explained my idea of believing that I might be from another planet, and that all that had happened was that I had been moved across space to a different one. That idea landed quite easily.

“That’s crazy.” Was her first response when she understood everything.

“Uh huh.” I looked at her face. Her eyes were sparkling all of a sudden. Anyone would feel the same after learning the scale of the universe. Especially when you were old enough to truly appreciate it, and hadn’t been introduced to the concept at all in your life.

“We always thought they were-”

“Dead humans who reached heaven?”

“Yes.” She laughed, “Oh, how do you know?”

“We thought the same thing. Some still do.”

“That makes me happy.” She couldn’t stop laughing, “I thought our world had no hope, if we couldn’t figure that out. At least the true reason is that we’re, what, a thousand years too early for that?”

“Not anymore.” I said,

She nodded, “Yeah, that’s what I’m going to dedicate my life to now. Roam around the world and tell them about stars. People are going to think I’ve gone mad.”

“They most definitely will.” I replied, “But if something like that mattered then none of us would be here, huh?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, God constantly keeps giving you impossible choices. You keep choosing the best one, but still keep having to sacrifice people. I can’t believe that all those deaths don’t weigh down on you. But still, here you are, getting angry at him and learning about stars while laughing. Sounds pretty mad.”

The smile disappeared. I had been way too much into the moment. He had warned me about this before.

“Typhen told you?”

“Not…really.”

She sighed and turned back towards the sky, “You just told me one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard, so I’ll let it slip. I appreciate what you just tried, but I’m fine. I don’t need reassurance to do what I do.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Just don’t do it again.”

“Yeah.”

She did not move from her place. A little while later, her smile returned and she started asking random questions about space. I tried to tell her whatever I knew. Even after the unmonitored time ended, we kept talking.