x
There was a rocky aftermath, but after a great campaign of sporadic inattention, we completed our long slog through the chapter of Divine Mandate I. So, what did we learn? Holy magic's three branches are Storm, Intervention, and Light. What do they all mean? Storm harnesses heavenly energy to manifest destructive spells; Imagine beams of light that can carve stone, the antithesis of dark matter. Intervention is a Chant meant to protect oneself and others from things earthly and supernatural. Finally, Light is a nuanced medium that communicates healing and illumination – Chanters who follow this path never tread alone and never find a dark corner that cannot be lit. Overall, the power to heal and protect people is admirable and useful. Maybe, I could understand a little bit of why Serrina was so devout... Her dedication to prayer might also explain her stoicisim. Who was I to judge?
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Hl2zPqQsS
Onward, the Storm discipline is a specialty of the vicars, and it places them on par with the magisters in terms of potential. The chanters who understand Storm are fully-fledged casters with the ability to smite the wicked. Church Inquisitors are prime examples.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxDJ5z94Yt
Intervention is alslo a Holy discipline favored by knightly orders. It is common knowledge that knights are the most able-bodied warriors of the fief. They swear their oath to Lord and land, Lord with a Capital L, for their patron is the God of Justice Ziu. The Chant of Intervention imbues them with the power to defend themselves from the arcane and combat the other worlds. However, only master knights, or paladins, stand a chance against Mara crystals, which lend power to magisters and maisters. Whenever knights go after an apostate, they accompany an inquisitor. Often, they succeed in the hunt, so the church would have us believe. Inquisitors are yet a bit of a mystery, aren’t they?
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXu3hegGrU
"And that's the chapter," I declared.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZYmDby66y
"Wait, wait!" Roy scribbled notes as if it were a timed exam. "What else?"
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVlU8G4VflK
"Thirteen more chapters to go," Elise yawned. "If this is the beginning of a greater school of thought, I shiver at how many tomes await."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5D5hDJZRyz
She really is lazy. "Try not to complain about something you haven’t even started."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFJ97SHo6P
"I am simply thinking aloud. Anyway, you made a promise."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTW495HEkxL
"What promise?" I said like a buffoon.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS35uEorqNY
"Don't play the buffoon. Tell me about the boy you mentioned."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctRnazjNCS
I sat back in my seat. "Well, a promise is a promise."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbehIXW7h6
Roy, meanwhile, set his quill down and began staring with a blank expression. I didn't even think about him before now.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJm72ZndRO
"Okay, so, I was in the banquet hall, minding my own business..." I slowly recalled the very brief yet annoying interaction with that other first-year boy from the cafeteria. I recalled it in detail, as well as the strangeness of it all, from the staring to the point where he started playing pranks. Elise clung to my every word, and in the end, her brow lifted in satisfactory delight. She seemed proud. "How did he say it?" she asked.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48GQiVgDws
"Normally, I guess."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtN19eaVqbL
“No, but how? Did he say it like ‘your face!’ she said with jubilance. Or ‘your face.’?” she sneered.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0unFMQ1nJN
“I don’t know.”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypOeSCDVth
"Then I think a boy complimented you because he thought you were pretty."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRaxLmNWHB
"Really?".
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXa5cC1sOA5
"Have you never been complimented before?"
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikZhHBsd2X
"I've been called smart before, although most people would say it as if it were a revelation."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3fjze2uhr
"Yes, but no one has flattered you as a woman?"
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzDyWTvlu2l
Thoughts in Limbo, I gently shook my head.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftaeFvAtJV
"That's very sad."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaL0lmpYgcu
"I guess that's why it didn't seem possible."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiIkzdcIlQ
"Oh, come on now. She glanced over at Roy. "Ron!"
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8oclZjBeY6
Roy made eye contact.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56cdYG5xVz
"You're a boy."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ydSZeXd3j
"Yes," he confirmed.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFvduge9fk
"Do you think Pollux is pretty?"
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbEDdImSw8
She had to go and make the poor boy feel awkward and puzzled...
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdjjMEX7sa
"Doh," he swallowed his tongue, blushing. “Well…”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMr2i0zfVI
And I leered at Elise.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbDtvdHcPl
Elise smiled innocently. "See..."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8E8Hn92wKJ
I didn’t know what to make of it. "Is that why you wanted to study together?" I asked Roy.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qEJwgfO76
He seemed genuinely puzzled. "No."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUobuh1AhYA
I don't know why I asked the next question. "Do you think Elise is pretty?"
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScwvy5hhAi
Roy stared at Elise.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFMFgPUdJv
Elise glowered.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqJbduH01bM
"It's hard to tell," he said.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElBjVCud7Y
"The fuck does that mean?"
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ujdbq1pqL
"Hehehe.” I smiled. “Shall we continue this time next week?"
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLKnIuMEgc
"Yes!" Roy stood up.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyPwluSqHhI
Elise rolled her eyes. "Fine."
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyxebhvNwK
In bed that very same night, I tried to remember a time where I had study partners. It was difficult enough finding people who could read, let alone study. Back home, a lot of the boys used books as stools, and I would lament the occasionally lost page. So, I would read in the stalls, a horse named Wilbur as my sole audience. I miss Wilbur. Wrapped in clean bedsheets now, those memories felt surreal, but they lulled me to sleep...
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4JfRvVAag
The next morning tarried from normal routine. At the break of dawn, our class representatives called us to the great hall. This meant there would be an announcement. What kind of news? It was anybody’s guess, but inside I was an ember of worry and excitement. It’s because this announcement was not on the calendar. Something sudden had happened. What could it be? What would it mean?
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikMWxgUWiT
Four students took to the rostrum, standing on the stage before us. One for every corpus of the student body. From there, the boy who introduced us at the Cinderfall entrance ceremony, darkly groomed and square-chinned, showed a calm yet serious expression. As the brawny and tender boy made the gesture for silence, everyone complied. The illusory decorations had been dissoolved in preparation for his new announcement.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGWB1etgdh
“Good afternoon, everyone. Hear ye, hear ye: though there is no immediate need for concern, we have information that must be shared. As of yesterday, hostilities have commenced between Lords Calabeck and Rochambeau.” Those names are familiar. Calabeck has declared himself proper heir to the diogese. However, the cassus belli is not important. “This concerns us because Calabeck borders the Cinderfall fief, and Rochambeau borders Baumwolland to the west. While Lord Raygen has personally assured the headmaster that this will not affect our fair academy, this series of events requires our grim awareness. Please, stay alart and remain safe as the conflict unfolds. If you must travel, do not venture off the roads… Such is the norm.”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZjJgV19Zh
“If you have family in these lands, pray for them,” one priest interjected.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQ0rqujswg
“Right,” the rep continued. “And a reminder: always wear your uniform. Venture between classes with them, never without, and… for the foreseeable future, students may don them for the road.”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhs4hdL9xDv
Murmurs and more murmurs confused the crowd of kids. I saw a sober disparity between panicked and inert faces. I knew that many of them had family in the countryside, so I couldn’t imagine the thoughts racing through their minds. Meanwhile, most students hailed from outside this county and outside the duchy. Cinderfall was famous, remember? They came from all over the Imperium, even from provinces that were home to rival schools.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMqrjGIQ92
But of course, those who had never seen a war now carried a morbid curiosity in their wide eyes. Not me and not the locals. Believe it or not, this was nothing new for imperial denizens like us. It’s why I had so many siblings at the orphanage. Yes, some had parents who didn’t want them. Others got to see them die. Which was worse? If I ever meet someone lucky enough to experience both circumstances, I’ll be sure to ask them.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqor4sw1HKX
That same afternoon, I had other plans outside matters of war. See, when a good idea stuck, I was very terrible at procrastination. You could say it made me reckless, reckless as I strolled through the ringed walls and armed guards, for classes were done and I dared to do something unpredictable, possibly dangerous. It was the kind of venture no student should endeavor, no matter how burdened by curiosity. But I had done it before, and I thought this should be no different as I waited in the Hunter Quarter.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIqqFq4BdU
“Usually, the lasses waiting outside my door are much older.” It was Magister Renaud, who had arrived outside his classroom just in time to let me use up his free time. “What brings you here, Pollux, when class is over?” He already had one foot through the door. We walked in together.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcK91yuX0rC
“I had a question that has been pestering me for a while now, and I knew I could only ask the best, most skilled and handsome teacher in the school.”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZZfSAquKi
He trod over and ‘round his desk draped in drake hide. “Well, one of those is true, but I only ever hear it when people want something from me.” Renaud’s voice was very husky, and his beard was always growing out but never grown. Not enough to hide the scars. Though the gray strands were starting to show, they complimented his blue eyes quite well. There was a kindness in them that helped subdue his fierce demeanor. I could have called him the most grizzled teacher in the school, but there were no brownie points for that.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZGNm2a08Z
“I have a question, professor.”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Kx5Mvy8Ic
“You have a question. There’s always a question, but-”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMIYUUObY6
“Can one possess magic without casting spells?”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYkYFQa8EY
I couldn’t tell if he was puzzled by the question or the interruption. “You don’t mean a sprite.”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAY43P1NIsz
“No, I mean, can someone possess mara in their blood and lack the ability to affect the arcane. And I don’t just mean a small amount of blood. I mean as much as a maister if not more.”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDrMtzSGsw
“Every boy and girl from every hearth of every village and canton is tested for blood. If such a person existed, we’d be well aware, Lux.”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3bQ1kduYW
In my heart, I already knew his answer, yet I was still disappointed. “So, there’s no chance of an anomaly? They’ve never been found?”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLS62o8Ig0
“If they have, then it’s a well-kept secret.”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXupTP80w5p
“Hmmm.”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpctkJTAPxB
“Why are you asking this?”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6B8nQIKR2
“I guess, I’m just paranoid. Curious about myself…”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkJCX6Ld6p
“Why so curious?”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnUUz0PL4Q
“Because, though I have undergone the tests, I have never successfully conjured an element or anything… nothing but light. But that’s not tangible. It’s not…”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Mg6REDUtt
“It’s not the affinity you desire?”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxF0AAQ9Rk
“Is it an affinity? Or is it just pity from some diety?”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBydPAdgJGv
Hunter Ludwig picked up a scabbard resting next to his exqusitely carved desk. The sword was still in it. And from the equally exuisite scabbard lined with silver inlays in the vein of tree branches, he pulled out a long blade that looked like it had never seen dirt. “Magic may be a fascination guided by our will, young Lux, but it remains now and forevermore a manfestation of nature. No less than the bees and the beasts that live among us. It does what it may, whether we aknowledge or understand it.” As if taken somewhere else, he began handling the blade like a fencer in a dance, lost in his own thoughts… or so it seemed.”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QhBtPnbOT
“I’m not sure I understand your point, professor.”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZ2b1aBCag
“My point,” he returned, aiming the tip of his sword at me, “is that in any moment of any hour, any action of any motion, any thought of any emotion, may spark the arcane of thine intent. Do not confuse it with will or want, but let it happen as it may. Then, do what you will if it be thy will.”
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ELXyWyLqo
At the time, I didn’t know if I was too dumb or too smart for his reply. However, it helped me realize that I just wanted one answer, and I was a fool. “Thank you for your time, professor,” I said with a bow.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90qZ54chCr
On my way out the door, the mighty hunter spare one more line of wisdom. “Be wary of the night, young Lux. It, too, has an intent of its own.” Now, that was less cryptic. You could count on Ludwig to make sense about anything related to monsters. Everything else was hit and miss… or a jest.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1xbGNcYQk
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2r78onROJ
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPwQdrfrkN
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRN2S6Bcajt
