Chapter 54

  There was a line before our door. That, by itself, wasn’t too big of a deal. It was just that the line consisted mostly of losers hoping to get a quick boost to gain an advantage over the others. Other than that odd Seres girl, nobody from the great powers bothered to knock on my door.

  I mean, how could we sleep if they kept at this? What was the expectation here? Did they think I was that stupid to actually hand out Runes to every person in this academy? What would that accomplish? Sure, I would get some money, but money alone didn’t mean much to me.

  For all I knew, these people could be my competition in the future, or, worse, enemies. Treating your enemies with mercy means you’re betraying yourself, as Radek told me so many times.

  “I’m not going to do it,” I said after what felt like hours. “They can wait as long as they want.”

  Right.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t want people beside me. That was a no-brainer. Getting them hooked on the Runes would probably make some of them grateful for the effort. Then, considering they’d need refills pretty much every month, they had to keep coming back like addicts.

  But the problem with addicts is that you can never trust them. If I could choose my own company—which, in this case, I very much could—then I’d never be going for this senseless lot in a million years.

  Yes.

  “You’d expect better from a place like the Creator’s Academy,” I lamented.

  “It’s the heat of youth,” Valar said with a smile. “They’re being active about it. That takes courage. Doesn’t change that they’re fools, though.”

  “It does seem like the case,” Keralth nodded. “A much better way would be to first gain the Runemaster’s favor before actually making a demand.”

  “You say that, but you’ve just asked me if you could join the line,” I said with a dead look. “How does that make sense?”

  “For a second there, it looked like you were about to get swept in the momentum. I didn’t want to be left out of it,” Keralth said. “Was I wrong?”

  “Obviously!” I said.

  “Turned out you did have something of a backbone, he’s saying,” Valar smiled, then rose from his bed and stepped closer to mine. “For which, you’ve earned my respect. Now, about the Runes—”

  “Not just them.” I shook my head. “I’m not doing it for anyone.”

  Valar paused. “That ain’t fair. We’re supposed to be roommates!”

  “We barely know each other,” I countered.

  “We’re to be brothers sleeping side by side, taking on the whole academy on our own,” Valar said. “But this ain’t it.”

  “I believe we’re not in a position to understand his side of the matter,” Keralth interjected. Thankfully. “He doesn’t owe us. If anything, we should strive to make ourselves useful to him so that he would consider it. Isn’t that the case?”

  Valar didn’t seem like he wanted to admit it, but in the end, he agreed with a grunt.

  “That…” I shuffled uncomfortably on the bed. “That sounds too formal. I just want to take my time to adjust to this place. It’s that simple.”

  “Yeah,” Valar said. “You’re right, but you don’t get to see a Runemaster every day. Not in flesh and bones, and not one as young as you. It ain’t going to be easy. I reckon attention is one thing you’ll never run out of supply of in this academy.”

  “I agree,” Keralth said, glancing at the door to our room beyond which the din still kept growing at an alarming rate. “You can ignore these ones with ease, but when the great powers come knocking on our door, you’ll have to make a decision. They tend to get aggressive when they can’t get their way.”

  “Like that Seres girl?” I asked.

  “I’m expecting worse,” Keralth said. “She did, after all, seem desperate enough to eat your words. Not all the scions will like that.”

  “Well, they have to deal with it,” I said. “I didn’t come here to become their common slave. I was raised by a monster and taught, with brutal precision, the importance of becoming your own master. I don’t intend to forget that.”

  “A monster?” Keralth said, looking confused. “You mean your Mother, who is also a Celestial Knight?”

  “What?” Valar shot to his feet. “Your Mother’s a Celestial?”

  “Yes,” I said, a smile stretching my lips. “I’m a bit of a Young Master as well.”

  ……

  Heavy steps thudded across the corridor, a man roared, and a shuffle of chaos followed as the first years scuttled away in panic like mice that had happened to come across a particularly hungry cat. Within moments, silence was back in our room, which, considering it was nighttime already, didn’t mean much other than we’d be getting some sleep after all.

  I was hungry, and since I was a Silver Undying Knight, my body demanded more than what was reasonable to feel somewhat full. Thank the Creator and whatever Gods were out there, I did bring food with me. Belfray’s sandwiches and cookies, to be precise, which I wolfed down quite literally.

  Then I lay across the bed, feeling the strange sheets biting into my skin. They were soft, you had to give them that, but they were nothing like the plushy heaven I’d grown used to back in Sangdon. I missed my bedroom already. I missed the lush scenery and having familiar people around me. Never once had I thought I’d feel nostalgic about my rather cruel upbringing in this second life.

  Circumstances change a man’s view. This was that, I guessed. I just hoped the character of my first day wouldn’t persist across the entire year.

  Sleep came easy. It felt like I got a good eight hours before the noises pulled me out of my dreams. I found an energized Valar stretching beside the door, clad in the newly brought uniforms of the Creator’s Academy. As a Knight, his uniform had two pieces: a black shirt and leather pants, both carrying the Creator’s singular dot that indicated he was a first year.

  Keralth was up and alive as well. His uniform was a black robe, looking comfortable enough to give a Mage generous freedom of motion. His long sleeves flapped against each other whenever he moved, and there was a hood stitched into the robe, making him look like a medieval fantasy wizard.

  I changed into my uniform in silence, my back stinging, my legs dull with all the tension from the day before. It wasn’t anything physical, or else I’d have had the Undying fix it quickly. Sometimes I wished my Manual had a bit of a mental kick to it. That would’ve been useful.

  I still had my Bloodline, though, and it was silent. That meant things were good. Not worse, at least. I felt its presence somewhere around my heart, having grown distinct enough for me to tap into. And yet, whenever I did, nothing much seemed to happen. Other than being an instinctual guiding tool when things actually got serious, it didn’t do anything else.

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  Belfray had said it would take time for the Bloodline to flourish. In time, he’d added, the Song would take its real color, and that would be when I’d be granted its benefits.

  My shirt fit perfectly on my body. I wasn’t as tall as Valar, nor did I look like a bodybuilder ox like him, but I was a head bigger than Keralth and I sure didn’t appear as fragile as a Mage.

  “You’d think they’d be delicate,” Valar muttered when he was done with his stretches and registered the fact that I was now awake. “Yet this one looks like he knows his way around the sword.”

  “That is unusual, indeed,” Keralth said. “The common knowledge is that Runemasters hardly bother with other fields. Almost all of them favor soul energy over anything else. That is in part because they’re too valuable to risk on a battlefield, or put in a situation where they’ll be vulnerable in any way. They’re much like—”

  “Bastardly Kings and Queens,” Valar said. “Too precious, the lot of them are.”

  “That is one way to put it, yes,” Keralth nodded.

  “I don’t know much about the others, but I like my sword,” I said, feeling Beatrice’s handle with my fingers. “Can’t think of a life without this one by my side.”

  “We’ll see that,” Valar said. “I’ve heard today’s the day we get to see some action.”

  “Action?” I asked.

  “He heard it from me,” Keralth said, gesturing with a hand at the stack of paper across his desk. “The schedule was delivered this morning. You were asleep. We didn’t want to wake you up.”

  He picked one of the papers and handed it out to me.

  It was a list of classes I was supposed to attend.

  “We only have one class the whole day? And it’s… Basic Combat Training?” I read the first one out loud. “It starts at 9. What time is it?”

  Keralth folded his right sleeve and took a look at the watch wrapped around his wrist. It was an analog thing. “We have about fifteen minutes. We should go.”

  “You’re taking this class?” I asked. “With Knights? Isn’t that odd?”

  “I don’t believe we’re going to be a part of the same group,” Keralth said. “It wouldn’t be fair—”

  “You’re right,” Valar said.

  “—to you,” Keralth finished.

  I watched the two of them give each other a surprised glance. I myself was a bit surprised as well. Who were Mages? Delicate people who could barely react to a Knight’s fully charged momentum. They could throw a Fireball or two all they wanted, but so long as they lacked a proper meat shield, they didn’t have a chance against us. It was then odd that Keralth seemed so confident in his belief that Knights were easy prey.

  I guessed we would see if that was the case. After all, I’d never fought against one before.

  Outside the room, we found a hectic corridor bristling with shuffling heads and running legs. Keralth guided us through the throng, across the main halls, out of the dorm building and into the wide academy beyond. Hundreds of first years were in a rush to attend their first classes, which, to me, still felt odd.

  What was the point of having classes here? From what I could see, all the first years already came here with a set foundation. They carried weapons. They carried themselves with a certain weight. We were all either Silver Knights or Silver Mages, which easily put us over what was considered average across the Planar System.

  Sixteen was too young to be Silver in anything. That meant these people were geniuses, in one way or another.

  So then, I was curious to see how the Creator’s Academy handled its students. Would there be a formal lesson? Would they put us in desks and force us to study theoretical knowledge? That didn’t seem efficient at all.

  Anyway, we found our way to the place where we would take the Basic Combat Training class. It was an open field, surrounded by stone walls much like a gladiator’s arena. Hundreds of seats stretched over the walls, all of them empty, probably because there was nothing to see here. In the middle of the field stood a tall, broad-shouldered man with a giant sword strapped to his belt, and a lean, blond woman whose robes were the color of the morning sky.

  Already, dozens of first years were gathered around them, waiting for the rest of the class. We took our place at the back, but soon were forced to follow Keralth, who slipped through the crowd until he reached the very front of the group.

  I wanted to curse at him because my cape, on which the words “Twelfth Concordance” rested in muted gold, basically took fire from all the glares people kept throwing at me. Never in my life had I felt more conscious of who I was. The expectation alone was torture. They probably hated my guts for not accepting them into the room the other day.

  Well, I couldn’t blame them. I would’ve thought the same if I were in their shoes. A young Runemaster acting all high and mighty, thinking he was better than others to the point of refusing to hear their offers.

  It was kind of cool, though. I felt as if I was finally getting close to understanding why pricks acted like pricks.

  “Gather round. All right, be silent now!” the towering man addressed the crowd after a while. “I can understand the enthusiasm. This will be your first class. Hold onto those smiles as long as you can, for I doubt whether any of you will be laughing in a minute.”

  “I want Mages to move to the side,” the blond teacher said in a strict voice. “I said move! Stop staring at me like dimwits and leave these muscle-brained fools alone. To. The. Side!”

  Keralth had already separated from the group and was on his way when the rest of the Mages stirred after the teacher’s second warning. They looked like toddlers in comparison to the Knights, but they sure didn’t act like it. It didn’t take a second for them to start glaring at us arrogantly.

  “Should count themselves lucky, those fools,” Valar said with a disappointed look. “They’ll keep their bones intact today.”

  It seemed to be a shared opinion among the Knights, as I heard similar phrases from around me. Snickers and chuckles, mostly, with a jab or two thrown into the mix. That didn’t feel like a good thing. It was becoming clear why Knights had a certain reputation. These people were like gruff army guys bonded through grit and combat.

  “We’ll leave them to their fancy tricks and rainbows,” our teacher said, which made most of our group laugh. “And instead, we’ll focus on what truly matters. Bring your weapons out.”

  My hand jerked Beatrice out of her sheath with haste. I swirled her around to get a feel for it, then rested her gently on my left shoulder and waited while Valar leaned on his axe.

  “I know some of you have your doubts about the name of the class, so I’ll clear them out from the start,” the teacher said after he planted the tip of his giant sword into the ground. “The Basic Training part of the class is just a matter of perspective. I won’t have you hack at dummies and teach you how to handle a damn weapon. That, you should’ve done plenty by now. Instead, we’ll take a more active approach.”

  A low murmur broke out in the group as the teacher let his words sink in slowly. He didn’t wait too long, though, and smiled widely as he went on. “I don’t care whether you’re the spawn of a King or a Queen. I don’t care what sort of wet dreams you have for your future. What I know is that you’ve taken a step or two into the Path of Glory, and that, children, means you have to get some blood on your hands.”

  “Belinda!” the teacher roared after a beat, the blond woman who had taken the Mages to the side giving him an annoyed glance. “The badges!”

  She waved an almost lazy hand, and lights shimmered out of nowhere, spilling directly into our hands before materializing into round, palm-sized badges.

  “Normally, we’d start the Training Grounds lessons after a month or two, after giving you enough time to settle,” the teacher said, turning toward us. “But a word from a certain individual changed our plans. He wants to see if his disciple has any true worth, and there is nothing better than a free-for-all to see that.”

  I tried to keep my cool as the teacher trained his gaze across our ranks, pausing briefly when it was my turn. A certain individual changed their plans, was it? And this particular person wanted to see his disciple’s worth? This whole thing stank like a bastard.

  “There are about a hundred badges in total, one for each of you,” the teacher continued. “They represent your survival. You’ll have ten hours in the Training Grounds to gather as many badges as you can. The top five will earn a visit to the Wilds.”

  “The Wilds?!” someone uttered in pure shock.

  “Is this real?” another said. “He’s just giving out a ticket like that on the first day?”

  “That’s one of the Grade A Planes!” The guy right behind me banged a fist into the pommel of his sword. “I’ve heard it has one of the most vicious collections of beasts across the Planar System. They only let students through once they complete their first-year trials.”

  “Do you actually know anything about the Wilds?” I decided to ask Valar, not really expecting anything. “Seems like it’s a big deal.”

  “Never heard of it,” Valar shrugged. “But if it has monsters, I sure am not going to miss it.”

  “Silence!” the teacher barked, then jabbed a finger toward the Mage group. “The same goes for those fancy fools as well. They’ll be there to accompany you. If I see a damned Mage in the top five, I’ll make each and every one of you pay for it, understood?”

  “Yes, sir!” came a surprisingly heated answer.

  “Good.” The teacher smiled. “There are no rules in the Training Grounds. You are free to try and kill each other. Your teacher Belinda is one of the finest healers this Academy has ever seen. She can stitch you back up even if you have your head delivered on a silver plate. Use everything at your disposal. Group up or stay alone. Your choice. In the end, only five of you will earn a visit. It starts now.”

  Before any of us could voice a question, the whole arena began to tremble as though a terrible earthquake had decided to make an entrance. I swayed like a drunkard, barely correcting myself with the tip of Beatrice, the colors flashing, the air getting too heavy for me to breathe. I closed my eyes as the disorienting sensation sent my mind reeling.

  When I finally managed some semblance of balance and opened my eyes, I was standing alone in what seemed like a giant forest.

  I blinked.

  There was no one beside me.

  I was alone.

  Alone in a forest. Again.

  ……