You mean, beyond Lachmir the Damned trying to create a god, or a divine beast, and then sundering the boundaries between realities? Neska found that her textbook account differed from what Hadley and Jurik had mentioned verbally.
The book described a grand celebration. An end to a problem of death, a cure to a plague that no other magic or alchemical curative effort had ever been able to treat before. The same plague that took the King’s son, five years before disaster struck.
The end of death. What an ominous declaration. Death and life were a cycle, from a scientific perspective. The rot of the dead nourished the living, a fertilizer for the next generation, figuratively and literally.
None of the texts talked about the oppressive nature of Arivol. So, where is she going with this?
Gurigea leaped over to her seat, and she almost leaped away with her [Spring Scales] out of instinct. Frog or not, this was a frog who was her size and no longer a meal. “Miss Cassia, since you and Juni are new, I’d like to hear your perspective.”
Great. So much for having time to formulate a theory from the known data.
“Some call the sundering of Arivol a divine act to punish the hubris of humanity,” she stated. Hadley’s bitter words on their way to the academy resonated with her, and technically, she wasn't wrong. “The laws of magic and the Interface itself were pushed too far, with an overload of mana concentrated in one spot: The mausoleum of Petrona Lachmir. The now damned king's son. A ritual to destroy death that went catastrophically wrong.”
It wasn't all from the textbook she had been handed. Risha had theorized in her notes that a ritual must have been the root cause. No known ability could sunder reality itself; even teleports and her near-instant movement with her [Sudden Molt] followed certain rules. Something new had been written with a Ritual: a bypass on some magical limiter that made something that couldn't happen, chillingly possible.
Gurigea extended her hand. “Elaborate. Go back a step. What can you tell me about Arivol?”
“You mean, what’s in the textbook? Or my opinion of it, given this and other sources?”
“I’ll allow the latter,” Gurigea said in a soft tone, sounding almost amused.
Explaining how a thousand-year empire came to a grinding halt and a cataclysmic collapse in a single day was probably more than she could cover in a single class. The quick version, then. “Arivol was a kingdom of mixed fortunes that had a history of pushing boundaries. For most of the fourth Age, they launched frequent skirmishes with Juiksen and Valos, and other kingdoms to the west and north of them. "
“The glacial tribes to their north showed them the door by making their alpine and tundra landscape unconquerable with sheer area to capture. The glacial tribes, nowadays referred to as Iskandarians, burned any settlements to the ground to leave Arivol nothing to conquer or occupy. They also had the advantage of unforgiving winters that Arivol weren’t accustomed to, which led them to spread in the other three cardinal directions after suffering this war of attrition.”
Gurigea looked proud. “They could have done more, could they not?”
“Could have, yes. But given a decade of setbacks, they cut their losses with a mere ‘annex’ of territory that you could fit this valley in. It was an appeasement to the expansionists. This annexed territory was just paper gains. The tribes abandoned them because they were accursed lands filled with monsters and seasonal swamps.”
Is she going to poke my brain all day? Neska wondered how long this questioning would last; at this rate, she was giving the lesson for the day. Or, maybe, that was the point? To cover material, but also allow opinions to form based on controversial events?
Gurigea finally relented. “And what allowed their sudden and successful expansion?”
"They were the first documented to reach Tier four. That edge allowed them to take territory and gain influence for most of their nine-hundred-year expansion.”
“And who broke the fourth tier? Why was this significant?” Gurigea asked, looking amused.
Neska took a glance at her notes. “It was broken by Derek Therier, a researcher in the employ of Arivol’s magitech division. But only certain Classes could go beyond Tier 3, and required the cores we gain from the mana core shell of the native monsters of Galwein, or their rift-origin counterparts after Arivol fell. He also found a way to advance without them, but it was a lengthy process. Anyone who reached tier four was revered…or feared, for their power at the time was unrivaled.”
“And what was the result?”
Neska shook her head. “Predictably, the Arivol empire expanded aggressively. They pushed to the boundaries of the Thesset river, on the southeast side, and the Asterfal Mountains north of Rieviera Delta. The expansion only stopped thirty-five years ago.”
“Why?” Gurigea pointed to Juni. “Miss Semou, what caused the expansion to stop?”
The mouse girl stood up from her desk, clearing her throat. “The rise of King Lachmir, after his father's death. He was a progressive figure, pushing reforms and not sprawling outward, but upward. At least, that's what our text says. Education, research, and technical progression with industrialized mana usage were their major cornerstones.”
“That's crap. They were a despotic regime that only enlightened those willing to push against every ethical limit.”
All eyes turned to the young monster in the front of the room, a mohawk of bright red and orange feathers reminiscent of deep autumn bloom, meeting Neska’s. The rest of him was far less desirable.
He was a large feathered bird of prey, roughly the size of the other humanoids in the room, with alternating gold and orange feathers. Unlike the others, he rested on his chair with one leg poised delicately, his other leg pointing a sharp talon in Juni’s direction. He had broad wings for arms tucked to his body, and what appeared to be two finger claws at the knuckle joint. A bright yellow beak with a wicked hook and angry orange eyes peered out across the room.
Right. I forgot I might run into my natural-born enemies here. It's not hot in here, is it? It wasn’t hot in here; that was just her scales venting excess heat energy. Probably. Juni’s whiskers twitched once at the students' outburst.
She would laugh at the unintended pun if the firebird weren't such an existential threat to her life. He waved his one clawed leg like it might as well be an arm for him. “Juni, right?” He asked her, now glaring at her less intensely.
“Y-yes. While it's still relatively ‘new’ history, people cannot discount that the Arivolian empire did make immense contributions to the understanding of classes and souls ever since their expansion with the unlocking of the Fourth tier, which did filter to Juiksen, Valos, and beyond, even to the Somersian Archipelago to the west, and to the Eastern expanse.”
Juni aimed a less-than-polite scowl at the firebird. “Finding ways to advance Tiers may have opened the door to disaster, but they have also created ages of enlightenment, Valos in particular. The modern-day version of Rivilat is a testament to that.”
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The firebird leered at the mouse, clacking his beak. “Small consolation for dooming the world. Nothing can justify what they did.”
“Kasfew Stoltz, I’d ask you to refrain from speaking out of turn. Again.” Gurigea addressed the firebird with a tone of resignation. “Juni is correct. In the years preceding the catastrophe of Arivol, the knowledge of acquiring classes of Tier four grade was distributed far more broadly. Their magitech industry trickled to the surrounding countries as time progressed, improving the lives of millions of people. In addition, Arivol's aggressive expansionists slowly died out over the prior three hundred years and were slowly transitioning to a policy of benevolence.”
“Until Lachmir the Damned burned that all down.” Kasfew’s beak clacked again in agitation, and Neska saw a brief spark of flame along the edge. What a peculiar evolution, and different from the other bird of prey she'd met; a more fiery, deadlier version of Zhuren. With an equally worse attitude.
Great. Deadly birds, and deadly fowlpower. I mean firepower! Why am I making puns in my head now? Neska peered at this upstart, wondering if he was like this all the time.
But the bird untensed and shook his wings in annoyance. “Nothing good ever came out of Arivol, and nothing ever will. There were monsters before the Sundering, and now all that's left are monsters.”
“All empires have their downsides,” Juni interjected. “Juiksen had a delayed abolition of slavery up until two hundred years ago, and piracy and slavery persisted in the archipelagos to our west, even though it was within their sphere of influence."
“I believe you’ve all hit on the point, though indirectly.” Gurigea leaped to her podium, tapping the board, where small, dimly lit particles rearranged, floating in the air and moved by an unseen force. Soon, the small motes of light had formed the image of a city split in two, with fire and smoke coming from rifts in the ground. And through those rifts, monsters and twisted abominations emerged.
“A rotting moral and ethical infrastructure, and the hubris of men, caused the disaster. And that rot manifested metaphorically, as well as literally. Societies can rot to the point of failure or collapse. It is why we must remember that."
Eventually, the chimes rang, and people shuffled off to their next class. Juni nudged Neska as she scrawled notes. “You coming? We have our first day with defensive lessons with that enchanting blonde young man.”
“Enchanting?” Neska’s pen drew an erratic line across the page. “That’s a…peculiar word.”
“No more peculiar than a lot of others. But hey,” Juni said with a smug smile. “You liked him, too.”
“As a defensive instructor, not in any lustful or primal way.”
Neska filed out of the classroom shortly thereafter, pondering Juni’s words. I mean…I guess she could have a crush on a professor, or a human in general? We were human. Or are human, but with several layers of monster body.
Vivi, these are weird thoughts, and I don’t want to entertain them at all.
I can’t help with that one.
The click of claws interrupted her internal discourse, and she looked to her right. She gave a glance to Kasfew, eying her intensely. “Can I…help you?”
“You’re a lamia.”
“Astute.” Juni suppressed a snicker as Neska’s words came out a little exaggerated, and she clasped her snout. “S-sorry, that came out a little exaggerated–”
“Don’t bother apologizing. You are who you are.” Those piercing eyes of his looked up and down at her, then he frowned. He almost looked…disappointed. “Hope your combat skills are better than your smarts.”
“I value my s-smarts. Knowledge can be a weapon or shield unto itself,” she said, though her rolling ‘s’ sounds were a little exaggerated.
“Look, you can slither in here and make a showing, be the teacher's favorite student, and you’re probably above average, knowledge-wise. But don’t forget what matters.”
“Which is what, exactly?”
“Survival. And cutting weak links.” He turned to leave, clenching his beak. A subtle glance over his shoulder at Juni rubbed her the wrong way. It was the way he sneered at them.
“He’s trouble,” Juni said, her tail tensed.
“He’s something. But I don’t know about him being trouble.”
Juni folded her paws, still not convinced. “Oh? If he’s not trouble, then what is he?”
“Practice.”
The next class was their defensive lessons, and much of the class roster was the same as Gurigea’s class. Syra met them between classes, beaming proudly. “How’d you fare?”
“The lessons were interesting. Are they all relatively new to the academy?” Juni asked.
Syra nodded. “Yep. Usually, for those who Awakened within the last six months. Are you guys ready for the next class?”
“Hopefully, we won’t be put on the spot again.” Neska did not like the attention she was getting, as if the professors hadn’t gotten the memo that they shouldn’t spotlight her.
Or, maybe that was the point, to avoid the appearance of giving her preferential treatment. They walked up to the barracks, where students were lining up, and while most of them were in such forms that they didn’t need any protective equipment, a few of the more fragile Awakened did put on armor vests and bulkier padding on their arms and legs.
“So how’s the academy train on combat?” Neska inquired.
Syra sidled up to her, and the lamia swore she heard ocean waves cresting nearby. “So, Corvin gives a hands-on demonstration and has a few aides who will direct the others. You’re new, so…”
“Cassia, Juni, glad you could make it!”
Neska snapped to attention and raised her body just a bit so she could meet Corvin at eye level; Juni cast her a baleful eye as she tried to stand as tall as she could. His blonde hair waved gently in the morning breeze
“At ease, you two. Alright, so there’s a little tradition: the first few lessons, I focus on newer students, get a feel for your evolutions and abilities. Have you read any of the basic training texts?”
“A little,” Juni admitted. “With so many classes on our first day, we didn’t have time to cover everything. We have alchemy and rituals tomorrow, too. Apparently, we get a rotating schedule?”
“Correct. It’s fine that you didn’t cover everything. I’ll explain this as I go.”
He cleared his throat, as if he had a speech planned. "The Valos military believes that the Awakened are more than shock troops. They are specialists who have specific roles, the same as you would have healers, archers, durable front-line attackers, and artillery-based ranged support.” He had already donned padded armor and put on armored bracers for protection.
I’m not artillery. I’m a one-witch wonder. Neska glanced at the protective equipment and sighed. Nothing for a serpentine lower half, and she pondered if she should try to put any on her upper half.
Ultimately, she decided against it. “I have a style already–evasion with frequent ranged and disabling techniques. Has Harvine indicated my…capabilities?” she asked in a quiet tone.
“An unusual lamia subspecies?” he also took a quiet tone, nodding softly. “Yes. I was told the basics, Cassia. Now, a little tradition,” he said as he waved to the arena. “I have new students demonstrate their abilities. This is for your benefit, as well as that of your classmates and prospective team members in the future. This will help you all learn each other's capabilities as well as weaknesses to exploit on the Varadur, or cover for our team. We focus primarily on defense and a broad introduction to monster types and abilities we’ll see in the field. Next semester will have classes focused on greater specializations. They will be smaller class sizes and have more direct instruction.”
“Sounds good,” Juni shrugged. “So what happens next?”
Corvin smiled proudly. “Cassia, will you join me in the center of the sparring pit?”
The ‘pit,’ as he called it, was an open arena with two bridges leading to a central platform.
It was quite large, roughly a hundred feet in diameter with patchy grass, dirt, and a few scorch marks. Surrounding this raised area was a moat of a foamy-looking substance colored a bright blue. At three locations were ladders leading back up to the platform, and also to the broader training arena floor.
She didn’t feel like taking a swim in that foam. She joined Corvin at one designated mark on one side of the arena. Corvin stood at the other, and the students all watched from seating and perches with interest on one side.
She felt the leering eyes of Kasfew on her even without looking at him, and Syra beamed proudly from another stand nearby. “Professor Corvin, what is my objective?”
“Stay in the arena for one minute, and feel free to use your abilities. Whatever you can throw my way, will likely not hurt me too much. My class has layers of protection and resistance for this express purpose."
Neska blinked. “No ‘destroy this target’ or ‘go through an obstacle course?’”
Corvin laughed. "Nah. Those are later. The best way to build skills is to use them as closely to field conditions as possible, while keeping it relatively safe. So, Miss Cassia, one minute on the arena floor. That’s all you need to do. Failure isn't pleasant."
"So that foam below is..."
"Cushioning for a fall. It's a little foul-smelling."
That explained the awful scent of dead fish. Either way, this task was...interesting. This alternate objective was new. She’d have to think about how to use her abilities and build space between her and Corvin, and keep him slowed down. “Should I…lessen the power of my abilities?”
“No. I’m practically immune to venoms and poisons, but they might slow me down a bit,” he said confidently. “Starting…Now!”
Corvin sprinted forward, as Neska coiled her body. She had already sent out a sprawl of roots that she triggered in rapid succession, trying to create obstacles. With her [Woven Root Hex] now capable of greater durability, she should be able to make an impassable–
Corvin smirked as he charged the thrashing vines head-on, as if he had no intention of stopping. Uh, hang on, did I miscalculate this?
The drill instructor charged through the thrashing vines and roots. He didn't slow down; he ripped through them like they were nothing more than paper, and her eyes widened.
Buying a whole minute to victory might be a lot harder than she thought.
But fighting unconventionally was her specialty, and she aimed to win, as mana surged into her hands.
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