Cursed Explorer of the Arcana

This morning will surely go down in my memory as one of the worst ones I’ve ever lived through. I get woken up by someone throwing my door open, marching in, and pulling the curtain away. This in itself had to be mind warfare; I was blinded, deafened, and barely awake. Truly hell.

“Wake up, little devil. We have some things to arrange and a postponed discussion to be had.” Comes the familiar elderly voice of Martha.

What the hell is up with that nickname? Eh, I like it actually.

She’s again in her Fist of Krieg standard robes, red and grey with some metal parts around the areas that really hurt when you accidentally bump them into something. She should really have some protection on that little bone at the elbow, the one inside...

That one must’ve been added by the devil himself.

It eludes me how she can always look so well rested, being as old as she is, but the frown on her face with the commanding tone are telling me this is not the time to look into that mystery.

I crawl out from under my blanket and rub my eyes, trying to gain control over my still blurry vision and failing miserably. Disheveled hair, still in yesterday's crumpled clothes, and a line of drool on the side of my face. Perfectly presentable as usual.

“Already dressed and… well, the rest needs some work. We’ll have to take care of those along the way. Follow!” She turns around and walks down the hallway.

“Where are we going? It’s only like,” I look out a window seeing the Solaire barely rise above the walls of the city. “what, six in the morning, can’t this wait until lunch?” I half demand.

My body yearns for some more sleep after yesterday. I worked hard for it, I deserve it.

I’m mindlessly trotting after Martha, trying to set my brain afloat, because right now I’m on the vegetable level.

“It could, yes.” Is all she answers.

“C’mon… Can’t I just go back? Or at least brush my hair and wash my face?” I plead, feeling miserable right now. “And maybe eat something?”

“No, waking up in the middle of the night even is totally basic in our line of work. And beasts are rarely as gentle as I was, they usually just bite. Just imagine, you’re sleeping in the woods and all of a sudden your squad gets ambushed. If someone reacts like you do right now, then guess who’s gonna be the first to die.”

Even my slumbering brain is able to receive the message: Deal with it, get used to it.

We walk in silence towards the eastern wing through the winding floors and random halls making this place feel like a watered-down version of a real castle. Grandiose and glorious but without all the fancy stuff.

If I remember correctly the eastern wing houses the armory, warehouse, and planning room. I have nothing to do with the last one, I’m no member so the armory is also out… what does the warehouse have to do with me?

The answer is… yep, it's the planning room.

It's not just the two of us standing in front of the large double doors either, Kayla and Victor are also here, waiting quietly by the wall. They are being quiet, which seems very much unlike them, so I had no idea we’d have company. Their faces brighten up as we turn a corner and our destination reveals itself yet instead of coming over to talk they remain by the wall in restrained silence.

“Come here you two, we’ll be allowed in shortly.” Martha orders, and they follow without delay.

While we wait I just straight up conjure some water to wash my face and use a warm breeze to run through my hair and massage my head while we wait. I earn some weird looks, and even a bonus sigh, except I don’t really care. If we were in this much hurry just to wait around then let me do at least this…

Thankfully we aren’t kept waiting for long and even before I can finish my little beauty treatment footsteps resound just around the corner. The new arrivals? Bennett and August. My eyes lock with the short fuck’s right away as they come into sight and the air between us turns stiff with hostility. He’s understandably pissed, after all, I did beat him unconscious yesterday. I on the other hand… I’m not the kind to forget grudges easily and there’s just something about him I simply don’t like. Like broccoli.

“Good, everyone’s here.” Bennett takes the lead and knocks on the door.

A few seconds later the double doors slide open, revealing a massive room, the head of the giant called the Fist of Krieg. Unlike the rows of weapons and grim soldiers, I expected this place to look a lot more like the back Jappo used to work as an apprentice. Since there are no windows here, understandably, a massive chandelier dominating the ceiling provides all the light, which is not much. Maybe that’s on purpose to make the planning room look as secretive and mysterious as possible and I have to say they did a great job.

Rows of desks with paperwork stacked on them manned by ordinary-looking clerks chewing through document after document and discussing matters I have nothing to do with. Despite all the activity little to no noise is made, and everyone moving about has a sense of purpose in their steps. It’s impressive, like a colony of ants. There are no carpets, paintings, statues, plants… nothing decorative on the wall. Just documents and countless maps the most impressive of them taking up the center of the planning room’s floor. An enormous map of the Green Sea.

There are even tiny figures on the map likely not put there just to look cool, even if they kinda do. They mark… things.

What’s less cool are the scary-looking men and women standing around the map, their heads turned towards us and eyes measuring our every move. Their gazes alone are heavy enough to make me lower my head and exert myself to put one foot in front of the other as we enter the planning room. None of them wear proper armor, rather the leather pants and combat boots seem to be a common piece, even for women. A gambeson, a simple, overcoat shirt, a cloak, or even something close to a bra in one woman’s case… she’s got the muscles to show off but still, have some decency.

None of them speaks, none of their faces show any emotions, and they barely even blink. Even the air feels frozen in place, not daring to move.

This has some don’t goof around the big bosses vibe. I don’t like this vibe.

Bennett and Martha approach the monsters in human skin confidently with the four of us in tow. I realize just now that I’ve been holding my breath all along with my shoulders so stiff they’re starting to tire and my mouth parched. Victor and I stare at the ground, Kayla looks around cluelessly and August just glares ahead like we’re in front of street performers...

No fucking way he can be so casual in this situation. Kayla I can understand, she’s messed up in the head, good thing she didn’t ask a commander what their favorite color is, but for this halfwit to be fine.

Maybe I too could-

I try to lift my gaze, try to fight against my instincts to show them that I’m no pushover either. However, as soon as my eyes met with the man in the overcoat… I feel so small, so irrelevant. Everything’s at their mercy. I might’ve run out of here already if my legs weren’t rooted, unable to lift them in fright.

“I sometimes forget how young some of the cadets are.” Finally the old man in the overcoat breaks the silence.

“They pass.” Says one of the women. Her hair is light blonde, similar to mine yet those two scarlet eyes… they make me uneasy even when not aimed my way. She might be the youngest one in the room but I don’t think she’s any weaker than some of the older fighters. “Actually, shouldn’t there be only three of them?” She asks, turning towards the instructors behind us.

Why are we even here? What is this all about?

“That one,” Martha points towards August. “arrived yesterday. We haven’t discussed it yet with the child, however, a scryer did confirm the date of birth.” She explains to the officer. On the contrary, I understand even less after this conversation.

“How interesting.” The old bald man in the overcoat steps closer, and inspects us one by one again his eyes stopping on August in the end. “Was it a rare coincidence that brought you here, or maybe fate?”

“Power.” August answers curtly.

“Your own two legs then.” The old man chuckles. “Give us the details!” He turns back to our instructors.

To me that sounded like an order as much as a request, which is crazy if you think about how strong both Bennett and Martha are. Besides, why not just ask us? Maybe he thinks we’d lie or we don’t understand how our own stuff works…

This time Bennett speaks up. “That boy,” He points at Victor. “can see the odds as he likes to put it. Future events, truths, lies, hits and dodges, decisions, feelings… I would call the Blessing omnipotent if not for its uncertainty factor.” I forget how intimidating everyone around me us for a moment and my head snaps toward Victor with wide eyes. He’s cheating in life. “The more meaningful the result or more distant the outcome the less accurate his predictions become. Likewise, if the opponent is stronger or has a high Fortitude the Skill’s effects weaken. Testing also shows that levels do counteract this drawback however the question can’t be too difficult and every usage of the Blessing exhausts him depending on the factors I mentioned previously.”

Seeing the odds? What magic is that? That sounds totally cheating, almost like my Bless- Ohhh, yeah. Bennett did tell me there are two more kids here with a Blessing and just now Martha called August the fourth. Okay, no, that’s on me, it was kinda obvious but I’m way too nervous. This is cool actually, I really hoped to meet the other kids here with a Blessing although they aren’t exactly like I imagined. And now we have August… So Victor can see the odds, Kayla is weird and… what about August?

“Our elf here,” Martha ruffles Kayla’s hair who simply enjoys it and chuckles, oblivious to our situation. “can form a bond with any animal magical or not. The dream of any Beast Tamer. She does not dominate the creatures, forcing them to follow her commands, instead, she asks them, like a friend, like family. Of course, more aggressive and territorial creatures or ones with high Willpower can and will resist her influence, reacting in a hostile way to her approach. The lengths the beasts are willing to go in order to help her and the likelihood of them being influenced depend on the level of her Blessing of course but also their relation with Kayla. She truly loves and cares for every animal in a fascinating way.”

The longer Martha speaks the more possibilities pop up in my head on how incredibly useful Kayla’s Blessing actually is. At first, I thought about petting any animal she wanted to or telling mosquitoes to piss off in the summer, or maybe just dropping the clothes in a pond and making fish do the washing. Then I upped the scale… Is there a limit to what counts as a beast? A mammoth, a wyvern, a phoenix… a dragon? Then a second question made things even more chaotic in my head… How many? She surely can influence more than one creature at a time so what if an entire horde of beasts followed her around?

Crazy.

“What about the new arrival?” Asks the younger woman again.

“We have not confronted him about it yet due to an… accident.” Bennett answers and soon every pair of eyes is looking at me.

Why even me, he started it? Okay, maybe I went a little overboard but don’t blame me for it!

I bet that small bastard isn’t even that special. Our duel fight wasn’t even close and only lasted for so long because he’s ridiculously… fast.

“Speed.” I whisper to myself in realization.

He was too fast for his level yesterday.

“What did you say, girl?” Asks someone, breaking me out of my line of thought.

When I look around I see every pair of eyes looking questioningly at me, again. Of course, it doesn’t matter how quietly I talk, not with these people.

I gather my courage and with a bit of a shaky voice, I try to explain. “He was too fast, yesterday we got into a fight and he moved much faster than anything should at level 18.” I describe.

The people of the top brass just raise some eyebrows and murmur among themselves.

“Says the girl with the elements at her feet.” August's voice breaks the relative silence, drawing every gaze without an exception. "Just how many elements did you use while we fought, three? Maybe even more. Your deduction is correct, my Blessing is pretty straightforward. To be fast. Simple yet effective. None of you can fight something that you can’t catch. I can steal anything and get away with it, kill anyone and run before the authorities arrive. I’ll be untouchable.” There’s no arrogance in his voice, almost as if he’s stating simple facts.

Compared to the rest of us his Blessing is stupidly simple. Which is not exactly a bad thing. If the Blessings are anything like normal Skills, and they very much are, then the effect will also be simple and powerful. It focuses on one specific thing unlike ours.

“Why did you get into a fight as soon as you arrived?” One of the elders asks. Not an important question really but something I’m also kind of curious to hear.

“I had to assert dominance. I just picked this pointy-eared mongrel because all the people were eyeing her when I stepped in.” He answers with a shrug.

I take offense at that. “Fuck off you crazy bastard, call me that again if you want to smell the floor again today.” I cuss at him, not making threats but promises. “They looked at me because I also arrived yesterday, that’s it.” I vent at him, seemingly forgetting about where and amongst who I am.

I visibly shrink and turn a few shades redder after looking around, mostly seeing poorly hidden smiles. How can that fucker act so nonchalant and why do I feel so embarrassed despite winning?

“And what about you little miss, hm?” Asks the same bald old man. “What did the young man mean when he said the elements at her feet?”

“Well…” Bennett starts, scratching the back of his head. “restricted knowledge type.” A collective sigh follows the statement. “Until yesterday I thought she had access only to the four basic elements except…”

“She learned lightning magic.” Martha enthusiastically jumps in. “Her Class is obviously arcane and does hint at some specific knowledge, except we can't confirm it in any way and she can’t even demonstrate her expertise. We tried.” She adds with a frown. “She might know more about the world than any academic old fart out there.” Her explanation is followed by a short murmur and some headshakes. “Her output is greatly lacking understandably with the actual miracle she performs which is why I doubt she could ever be a proper devastator mage, she lacks the firepower. Her control, however…” Martha chews on her words for a few seconds before presenting her idea. “A battlemage. Spellswords like yourself Ehrhardt,” She nods towards the bald old man. “are two-third Warrior and one-third Mage am I right?”

“You’re oversimplifying it a bit but you aren’t wrong.” The baldie agrees.

“And battlemages are the opposite, focused on control over the flow of battle above all else. Elyssia has no weaknesses, no elemental counters… She’s perfect.” She looks at me like the cat eyes the fish.

And my say in this?

“So they are suitable for the Academy.” The young woman who has kept quiet after starting this whole discussion opens her mouth just to judge again. What a bitch. “We should increase their leveling pace.”

“I agree.” Answers Benett right away. “However we can’t neglect all the other cadets and there’s too few of us to give them the attention that requires. Not to mention security.” The murmurs of debate return and only now do I realize why I couldn’t understand a word last time. They’re speaking too fast.

“Your suggestion?” The old bald man with his cool overcoat takes the lead again.

“Since their areas of expertise don’t cross each other we see no problem putting them into a squad,” Bennett replies with confidence only for Martha to cough pointedly. “Except for some personal disagreements. It will spare us the time and teach them everything they need to know.”

Oh hell fucking nah. Anyone but these three.