“Abyssal Survival with Elder Kahua and Weaponry with you?” Talia asked.

“That is my suggestion,” Elder Krakatoa smiled. “You have three spots to fill, and few courses qualify for them. Did you already have an idea of what to pick, or would you like for me to suggest one more? I hear that this year, Lady Naia will be teaching Ench—”

“Mana Control,” Talia said curtly. “With Professor Iakopo.”

Elder Krakatoa winced at that.

“Darling,” Elder Krakatoa seemed almost embarrassed, “I would strongly advise against that.”

“Isn’t Mana Control a requirement to graduate?” Talia frowned.

That’s what Professor Iakopo had told her, at least.

“Because of Professor Iakopo not being affiliated with any School and the abysmal passing rates of his class, it’s usually considered a must for most ambitious students. The points each School earns are also based on how difficult and impartial the various classes are. And, well, the top student of Professor Iakopo’s class gathers as many points as the next top ten classes.”

Talia frowned at that figure.

“So, if I joined your School, why wouldn’t you want me there? I have better Mana Control than my sister.”

“I’ve heard,” Elder Krakatoa coughed. “But you see, Professor Iakopo really prides himself on being the harshest, which he can only do because, again, he’s not affiliated with any School. If he were, some Elder would pressure him into making the class easier. Now, that said, imagine how he would feel about someone who allowed for two-thirds of the Initiated students to pass his test – a test that normally has a less than 10% passing rate.”

“You’re saying that because of what I did on the boat, he now hates me?”

Elder Krakatoa hesitated, and Talia prodded further.

“I have the impression that Professor Iakopo had it out for me from the start, Elder. And not just because of the first test he gave us.”

Talia didn’t mention the fact that she believed the Professor had actively tried to sabotage her during the test.

Weirdly enough, Elder Krakatoa didn’t seem willing to speak on the matter.

“Is it because he has some history with my mother?” Talia frowned, remembering the portrait Professor Iakopo had shown her. “Were they rivals?”

“Yes,” Elder Krakatoa nodded with a careful tone. “See, Professor Iakopo was a Promised Slayer. Well, the Promised Slayer.”

“A what?” Talia frowned.

“You haven’t grown up around nobles, so it’s only natural you don’t know. You’ve met Lilo, Nami’s sister, am I correct?” The man asked.

“Yes?”

“Each Great Family designs their greatest talent for the consumption of all their resources—money, artifacts, consumables, everything you can think of.”

Elder Krakatoa took a mouthful of air.

“They’ll choose a Promised Slayer every twenty to forty years. Lilo is the current Chosen for the Moana Family. Professor Iakopo… his relationship with his family is beyond strained by now, but he’s part of the Kāne Family, Talia.”

The man let the words hang.

Talia’s eyes widened.

She had brushed up her knowledge of the Great Families on the trip, and she knew that while the Moana Family was the strongest in the Eastern Deep, the Kāne Family was the strongest family in the North Deep and, by extension, in the Four Seas.

“Professor Iakopo is really part of the Kāne Family?”

She couldn’t reconcile that wretched man with the legendary tales of a Great Family that allegedly had more than twenty Kraken Slayers under their name, including the first Slayer of all, Kāne.

“Not only that,” the Elder sighed. “He was the star child of the main branch of the family. Plus, being the Chosen for the Kāne Family means that you’re sure to become a Kraken Slayer. No one before Iakopo had ever been selected as Chosen and then not killed the Scourge of the Deep at least once—that’s how powerful a Chosen is.”

“But what does that have to do with my mother?” Talia frowned.

“Every Promised Slayer - every Chosen - has a Shield and a Retinue,” Elder Krakatoa started explaining. “A Shield’s job, usually befalling on the second strongest sibling of the main family branch, is to protect the Promised Slayer until they mature into a real powerhouse. This is because at lower levels, like Level 10 or Level 20, the difference between the fighters is not as marked as, say, someone at Level 60 and someone at Level 70. A Retinue can be selected from a more removed family, which is why the young Lilo has her three cousins following her around.”

“I don’t understand. What did my mother do?” Talia frowned. “What did she do that Professor Iakopo hates me? Did she just steal his place as the Kraken Slayer?”

“Oh, no, dear,” Elder Krakatoa sighed. “There were other Promised Slayers in your mother’s generation. It’s an honor to grow strong enough to slay the Kraken, but it’s not what drove Iakopo to…”

The man let his words trail.

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“Then what was it?”

Elder Krakatoa sighed and wetted his lips.

“Understand, please, that this is a matter that should not be spoken of lightly, Talia.”

“Yes, Elder,” Talia said impatiently.

“Your mother is the one responsible for the death of Iakopo’s Shield, his older sister, and his entire Retinue, which was composed of his younger siblings and his aunt.”

“H—how?” Talia almost choked on her own spit when she heard that.

“I am not at liberty to discuss what your mother did. Not for now, at least. But just know that your mother almost single-handedly ended the main branch of the Kāne Family, Talia.”

***

Elder Krakatoa had Talia promise him thrice that she wouldn’t talk about this with anyone, especially not Professor Iakopo.

For some reason, even the Elder seemed preoccupied with what the Professor would do in case Talia went ahead and provoked him.

Despite that, however, she had stubbornly decided to still join the man’s Mana Control class.

If he was really a good Professor, she would learn.

And if the occasion arose to show him her own incredible Mana Control, she’d happily humiliate the man and get the first ranking in his class.

Elder Krakatoa had tried to dissuade her, but he didn’t realize that making her change her mind about this only motivated her further.

Not only was Talia’s greatest gift her control over her Mana, especially after putting one Talent Tree Point into [Crimson Sage], which had resulted in her getting [Crimson Wisdom], but also because this was clearly the kind of crucible she could use to forge herself into a stronger individual and closer to the ideal she was chasing.

So what if her mother had somewhat caused the death of the Professor’s family?

Talia knew that her mother was a hero and that she would have never killed them in cold blood or without a reason.

As far as she knew, it was likely that Yalena had brought Iakopo and his family members into a dangerous Dungeon and that maybe they had chickened out or something.

***

“So, Talia,” Lilo chirped, her eyes sparkling, “what do you think of the Academy so far?”

Talia hesitated, still overwhelmed by the luxury of her new surroundings. “It's... different,” she said diplomatically. “Very different from Solara.”

The sisters had insisted on escorting her to her first Weaponry class, claiming it was their duty as her new friends to show her around.

Nami chuckled.

“I can imagine. It must be quite the change from a small island to... all this.”

She gestured expansively at the ornate hallways around them.

“Lilo,” Talia began cautiously, “I heard that you're... a Promised Slayer?”

Lilo's cheeks flushed slightly, but she nodded.

“Do you mind me asking, like, what that means?” Talia frowned. “I really don’t understand.”

Nami took over and started explaining in a droning voice.

“Being a Promised Slayer means that consuming the right elixirs and potions before being Initiated and spending time in an extremely Mana-rich environment while practicing the right techniques will raise your Primary and Secondary Mana Channel Affinities. But even the Great Families only have so much they can invest. Usually, while everyone receives some form of allowance, the bulk of the resources is concentrated on the Chosen, the one Promised Slayer.”

“You’ll have to forgive me for my ignorance,” Talia said warily, “but does that mean that, basically, every Kraken Slayer is a Chosen from a Great Family?”

This time, it was Lilo answering.

“Yes,” the younger girl nodded, putting a strand of her jet-black hair behind her ear. “Do you know what the average Primary Mana Channel of a member of a Great Family is?”

Talia shook her head.

“Four. Level Four,” Lilo explained.

“That’s… good?”

“Let me contextualize this for you,” Nami interjected, “only one person in one hundred naturally awakens a Level Four Primary Mana Channel after being Initiated.”

“Oh, wow,” Talia frowned. “How is it possible that you guys have such an advantage then?”

“You and your sister inherited your mother’s talent, no?” Lilo smiled. “You are the first generation, one degree removed from the Kraken Slayer. Affinities are developed in one’s blood and passed down through birth, together with a part of the strength of the parents’ Mana Channels, no matter if Primary or Secondary. However, the more removed one is from their strongest ancestor, the more their blood thins out.”

“The Great Families must place themselves in great danger every generation to try and prevent the ones closest to the main bloodline from dying,” Nami continued. “If we don’t prove to be the strongest, we would lose our spot—and together with that, we would lose the ability to reliably create Slayers and strong Water Riders. If enough Great Families fell in disrepair, as it happened to the current generation of the Kāne Family, the Kraken would eventually destroy everything.”

Talia finally understood what the girls were explaining.

Essentially, without the guarantee that someone would arise from the Great Families as the next Kraken Slayer, it wouldn’t be guaranteed that they would be able to stop the Kraken when it inevitably returned.

“I see,” Talia said thoughtfully. “So being a Promised Slayer comes with a lot of responsibility.”

Lilo nodded solemnly. “It's an honor but also a heavy burden. The fate of so many rests on our shoulders.”

“Does a Kraken Slayer usually kill the Kraken more than once?”

Lilo nodded.

“A Kraken Slayer can usually kill the Kraken two times reliably. Very few have gone beyond four. Your mother was one of the very few to die against the Scourge of the Deep the first time around, but she was also the only one to neutralize the Kraken for this long.”

“Even though most Great Families believe the Kraken might come back, many still believe that your mother might have killed it for good,” Nami added.

“If a Slayer killed the Kraken once, why can’t they keep killing it?”

“The Scourge learns,” Lilo said with a low voice. “It learns your spells, your skills, and by the third time you face it, it will have a counter for whatever you throw at it.”

“Some Slayers tried alternating, thinking they would keep the Kraken from learning too much all at once,” the younger sister continued. “But that almost led to the destruction of the entire Great Archipelago. The Scourge slowly forgets the counters, sort of resetting the cycle. But if more than one Slayer goes against it at once or even in succession, the Kraken will not grow any weaker, and it will learn from both.”

“If all the Great Families attacked the Scourge at once,” Nami clarified, “it would make it so strong that we could all die. That’s why we have a Chosen, a Shield, and a Retinue. And that’s why only the Chosen is usually allowed to attack the Scourge of the Deep directly.”

“How did my mother do it without a Shield?” Talia frowned.

“She did have one by the time she faced the Kraken,” Nami said. “It was Elder Krakatoa—they say the man lost his arm to buy enough time for your mother to unleash the most powerful spell the Great Archipelago has ever witnessed—they say the sky blackened over the entire Archipelago, that the ground trembled, and the sun didn’t rise the next day. That’s why so many think the Kraken might be dead for good.”

Talia felt pride surge in her heart.

Unfortunately, she also knew that her mother hadn’t actually killed the monster since she had seen it for herself.

I’ll show you, Mom, she thought, I’ll be the next one. And I’ll finish the job this time.

***

The Weaponry classroom was unlike anything Talia had ever seen.

It was a vast, circular arena with high ceilings and walls lined with every imaginable type of weapon.

In the center stood Elder Krakatoa, his volcanic arm pulsing with barely contained energy.

“Welcome, students!” his voice boomed through the space. “Today, you begin your journey into the art of wielding weapons imbued with magic.”

As the class gathered around, Elder Krakatoa's eyes fell on Talia and her glaive.

A small smile played on his lips.

“Now then, who would like to demonstrate their weapon skills to the class?” he asked.

Before Talia could even consider volunteering, Lilo's hand shot into the air.

“I would, Elder Krakatoa!”