“This is your fault.” Apherward says in the voice of a frantic old man.
“How the hells is this my fault?” Warumasa speaks as a demon who is clearly offended.
“I had him! I had him right in my grasp. I only needed to take him alive and demand he spill his arcane secrets. How else can I learn how to make the sky bleed? And you! You let him keep his legs so he can run away! You just had to stop at an arm and an eye!!!”
“Kiss my hide! This is the first I’ve heard that you wanted him alive!”
“Oh! So not knowing that, you failed to kill him! Is that it?”
“And I suppose you and all your magics couldn’t hold him.”
“What was I supposed to do, the girl was out like a light when all was done!”
“Exactly! What was I supposed to do without the girl?!?! And what is this?!?!”
Ren earned the title Ren the Red.
Strength: 21 -> 31
Magic: 27 -> 37
Agility: 15 -> 25
Vitality: 17 -> 27
“What in the world is this?” Apherward says.
“That’s a personal title! You know, the kind with the girls name on it! The one that enemies give each other!” Warumasa says.
“What? That’s a big stat boost? Why are enemies giving each other titles?”
“It’s a mark of pride, you pansy ass wizard!!! And you don’t always do it on purpose! You do it out of fear! Out of madness! You conquer a foe so thoroughly that they call you a monster. They call you a one eyed dragon. They call you a savior. It is a rare boon given to few.”
Ren wakes up in her room at the inn. She is covered in bandages and her left leg was raised by a leg support stand. As she wakes up, the innkeeper looks over and speaks up.
“Ah! You’re awake! Let me get the chancellor.”
She leaves Ren’s room and a well dressed young man enters.
“The lady says she will find you some food. Somehow, a chancellor is now the messenger for a simple innkeeper.” he says under his breath.
“Hi.” Ren says flatly.
“Anyway. I am Chancellor Luard Luminite. I was tasked with aiding in the restoration of my queen’s control of Blue Pine town. As of yet, the Albrinter family is recovering from their injuries. They will reward you for your aid to them when they can. Now, my main concern is that you are responsible for part of that light show above the town. That was your work, yes?”
“I think so.”
“What do you mean you think so?” the man who introduced himself as Luard says in a low threatening voice.
“I used some supreme magic and combined it with awesome skill to beat two enemy leaders. I do not know if this is the same ‘light show’ you are referring to. For the sake of brevity, do you mean when a big red sword made of magic slashed up and down?”
“Okay, so you did take part in that.” the man nods. “So your class is spell sword? No. No, it's samurai… how did you use a skill and magic at such a high level?”
“I read it in a book.”
“What?”
“I read it in a book.”
Luard furrows a brow. He then shakes his head in frustration.
“Fucking weebs.” he snaps out of it and resumes the discussion. “Anyway, you have me at a loss. You’ve been asleep for 2 days now. And you have thoroughly confounded me and my men. With all the authority afforded to me, I cannot find a single clue as to your history. Best my boys can come up with is that last octant, you were found by the Vert family in a ditch down south. So, I figured I'd try the simple route.”
Luard stares Ren down in her makeshift hospital bed.
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“Who are you and where are you from?”
“I’m Ren. I’m trying to be an adventurer.” Ren responds without any emotion in her voice. “I don’t know where I’m from. I don’t know where my parents are. I found a book, and learned magic. Then I tried moving to a new town and forgot to eat.”
Luard just stared at Ren. Once she stopped he gave a heavy sigh.
“You’re either a killer at poker, or that’s all true.” Luard pulled up a chair resting beneath a table. “To call you tragic or a liar that surpasses my skill. That is my hang up with you. A kid who got lucky with a book and sword. Adventurers have carved out their legend with less. What are you trying to do by becoming one?”
“Find cool magic stuff. Slay powerful enemies.”
“That’s all part of the job description. What are you really after?”
“Just Mackamer. He has a super cool spell or something that I want to learn.”
“Daniel Mackamer. That wealthy merchant. What magic are you trying to learn from him?”
“A spell or ritual that made the sky bleed.”
Luard broke his stern expression and furrowed his brow in confusion.
“That bleeding sky thing was magic? Like, wizard magic?” he asked.
“I don’t know what kind of magic, and I don’t know if it’s magic specific to wizards. Actually, I think Mackamer was an alchemist who signed up with demons, so I think you can perform this magic without being a wizard specifically.”
“You’re starting to talk like an expert, Ms. No Last Name Given Like I’m Some Kind of Superhero.”
“I got my expertise from a book, Mr.Lumanite.”
“Alright. I’m a summoner. Not the most knowledgeable of casters, but I know a good bit. Tell me about it. Everything you saw.”
“I saw a weird looking tattoo on Mackamer’s right hand. The tattoo served as a ritual circle, throughout the process. He pointed at the sky. Then the sky started bleeding.”
“He tattooed a ritual circle on his hand? Ritual circles take up large space. Like space on the floor kind of space. You can’t make a ritual circle that small.”
“It was demonic in origin and he used his own body to facilitate the magic. The additional magic properties of being a vampire also assisted in facilitating the process. It is likely that he also took performance enhancing potions to further enhance his ability to support a magic circle.”
“Well, to my unprofessional ear that adds up. Let’s say I believe you. You intend to learn this spell or ritual. Next question. Why?”
“I’ve never heard of magic that makes the sky bleed.”
“Is- is that it?”
“Yeah. I know a lot of magic, but not that one.”
“You want to make the sky bleed because you know a lot of magic, but not this particular magic. Is that right?”
“Nope! I want to learn the magic behind it.”
Luard shakes his head.
“Okay, the inner workings of the spell. You want to cast a spell to make the sky bleed because-”
“I said I want to learn the magic behind it. I don’t care about casting it.” Ren says without a hint of emotional inflection.
Luard is taken aback and looks frustrated and confused.
“So you’re telling me you want to learn the spell, but never cast it.”
“Yep.”
Luard narrows his eyes.
“You can’t be serious.” he says.
“I am serious.”
“Why?”
“What purpose would I have for casting it?”
“What purpose would you have for learning it?”
“To know about it. Expand my knowledge of magic and it’s inner workings.”
“How are you saying that all with a straight face?”
“Because it’s the truth.”
Luard grips his hand into a fist and shakes it lightly while giving a heavy sigh.
“I’m going to need you to stop. I will not allow you to pursue this insane spell.” Luard says.
“But I want it.”
“You can’t have it.”
“But I want it!”
“You can’t have it!”
Luard Lumanite spent nearly 10 minutes arguing with a girl he just met. It never evolved into a screaming match, but even a noble trained in the ways of dealing with unreasonable people had a hard time trying to tell a girl to stop pursuing a notably dangerous magic spell of some kind. After a while he gave up and excused himself when the innkeeper brought her food. He has since returned to the Albrinter estate. There he knocks on the door to the study. This is Luard’s first time in Blue Pine town, but typically nobles would employ a butler or something to stand outside the study.
The Albrinter family is in a precarious state. Lord Oschont Albrinter has been unwell since the death of his wife. When Luard last visited the man, he was entertaining a foreign dignitary by day and having a mental breakdown by night. Blue Pine town is under the jurisdiction of the Albrinter family. However, Lord Albrinter hasn’t been to the town he is supposed to be steward of. So here his children are. Fighting a battle that is his. As a chancellor, Luard can see the writing on the wall. He’s going to have to do something he doesn’t want to do. Luard lets himself in.
“Hey there!” Luard says as he steps inside.
“Hey!” Lutz Albrinter greets his guest.
“Got a minute?”
“No, but we need to talk regardless. Is this a tea kind of talk or a mead kind of talk?”
“It’s a mead, but we’re not in a position to drink like we’re still in the academy.”
“If you say so. Grab a seat.” Lutz gestures to a cushioned sofa.
“Alrighty.”
They both land hard on their seats and let their respective sofas hold the weight of their burdens for a moment.
“Ugh. You get a chance to see Parnidot?” Luard asked.
“Yeah. I’m told the cut in half part was Ren’s work.” Lutz says.
“Oh! That girl. You hear that she was after some crazy spell?”
“What? I think she just wanted to complete quests and do adventurer things.”
“If you say so.”
“Speaking of which, I need to award her something for completing her quests.”
“Getting a girl a gift. What would Millia say?”
“Oh! The whole arranged marriage thing is on the rocks.”
“Is that so.”
“Our families' status as nobles are in question. What’s the point of maintaining an arranged marriage?”
“Right. Well, maybe you can talk it over with her when we get to the capital.”
“So we are getting voluntold to go to the capital?”
“You know it.”
“Well, looks like I can hire that Ren girl for an escort quest while I award her the other things.”
“You’re going to hire her for an escort detail.”
“Did you see the part where she stabbed the sky or whatever that was?”
“Ugh, don’t get me started.”
“So when do we go?”
“When is on you. The town is kind of a mess. Just know that you’re hosting me and a few knights until you get started heading out.”
“Pfft. You’re a chancellor. Luard the Gangster Chancellor. The queen doesn’t need you to keep the country from falling apart?”
“Our queen is fine without me at her beck and call. She just has to stop her romantic pursuits for however long you take.”
Lutz goes wide eyed at Luard’s words.
“Our hella single queen can’t make a pass at the direction of her affection because of me?”
“Yeah. All the time you take is time our queen could be hitting on her crush. You and your siblings can take a bit of time, but not too much.”
“The others are coming with me?”
“Yeah. Your dear old dad needs to hand over the reins to one of you. Our queen wants to size you guys up before she chooses your dad’s successor.”
