The day of the conference between the Three Thrones was fast approaching, though unbeknownst to the general populace, there would be no such event, as Domitor had made its move behind the scenes by secretly reaching out to the nations of the Northern Alliance, as they never aimed for peace in the first place. Amvine, and Ulsset accepted the deal they were offered, and allied themselves in secret with Domitor to attack Merdelum during the day of the conference. The other members of the Northern Alliance, who decided against contributing to the upcoming war, fell victim to coup d'etates:

  The capitals of Yhose and Eurosa where occupied overnight by troops of their former allies, their rulers assassinated and replaced with nobles who embraced conflict against Merdelum with open hands. The Duchess of Balmung and the King of Jhargas, both of which were approached by envoys of Domitor as well, however, managed to dodge the attempts made at their lives and informed the emperor of Domitor's schemes, causing the three to forge an alliance of their own.

  On the day of the conference, all troops of the Empire where simultaneously mobilised, with one half protecting the biggest cities, and the other being stationed near the borders. Meanwhile, Jhargas began preparations to free Yhose, while Balmung would try the same in Eurosa, both fighting against the traitors of the former alliance along the way. As expected, within Merdelum's cities many an enemy solider has been found amongst their own ranks and neutralized, and those who tried to invade the northern borders came across unexpected resistance, resulting in heavy casualties among the vanguard of Domitor's forces.

  Thus, the Three Thrones had declared war against one another.

  "This concludes the recent events.", headmaster Calros concluded the briefing of Rouclier's students, who stood at attention in front of him inside of the assembly hall.

  "Next up, what this situation will mean to you, as students of this military academy. First of all, for an entire month, starting next week, there will be no lessons held, and you are to use this time to train and reflect on what you learned at your leisure. The reason for this is that the 12 Zodiac Knights of Merdelum will be sent on a mission that would serve to demonstrate just how powerful of an enemy the forces of Domitor have made for themselves, and seeing as our academy's instructors occupy 5 seats of the Zodiac Knights, closing the academy for a month seems to be for the best. Do not worry, this missing month will be compensated for by taking a month off from your scheduled summer break."

  This statement caused unrest among the students, who started to discuss how this would ruin the plans for their vacations. Their bickering was immediately stopped with a loud clap of Calros' hands.

  "Secondly, since Rouclier is a part of the Empire's military, all of you are required to join the war effort as soon as during your fourth year at the academy. From today on, dropping out on your own accord is no longer permissible, as due to the Empire being under attack, you are now considered drafted by the military. Today's lectures will resume as scheduled at 0900. You are dismissed until then. May the Light of Order guide you on the Ardent Path.", he concluded with a proper military salute, which all students reciprocated in unison.

  This was followed by Calros turning around and exiting the stage he was standing on, leaving behind a hall of dumbfounded students.

  "EH? WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE?", someone in the crowd blurted out, causing the others around him to break their silence as well.

  "Does that mean we have to fight at the front?"

  "Don't worry, until we reach the 4th year, this probably has all blown over already."

  "But my parents said that I would be able to work a normal job after this!"

  "Whatever, I wanted to join the military anyway.", and many other exclamations of similar nature buzzed through the hall, as the students started to disperse.

  Corvo, Mira, and Sean, who due to his unique type of bard skills was now placed in class A as well, decided to slowly make their way towards their next class while discussing what had happened. On their way through the halls they noticed a familiar face appear from a nearby corridor and slowly heading towards the exit.

  "Hey, isn't that the girl that always sits in the back of our class and keeps to herself?", Sean asks the others, and all of them follow his gaze.

  "Oh yeah...Eleonora, right? I didn't see her in the hall earlier...do you think she might have missed the announcement?", Corvo responds.

  "I mean, maybe? I think we should go and tell her anyway, you know? Just to make sure she knows what's going on...", Sean continued as he kept staring at her, slowly trailing off as if distracted. Mira seemed to have caught on, and replied with a smirk.

  "Oh, I see how it is, you want to start to talk to her so you can get to know her, isn't that right?"

  "WHAT? I mean, no, of course not. Just wanna make sure that she knows what is going on...", Sean, blushing from having been found out, tried and failed to deny the accusation, causing Mira's smirk to grow ever wider.

  "Let's go, Corvo. We shouldn't stand in the way of these two lovebirds", she said mockingly as she turned around, followed by the snickering Corvo.

  "Oh come on now, is that revenge for calling you Corvo's girlfriend when we first met? Don't make me go alone!", he called out to no avail, as his friends simply shrugged and waved him goodbye.

  "Traitors...Well, here goes nothing." , Sean tried to muster up as much courage as he could, and followed his secret crush outside. Once outside he looked around, and could barely make out Eleonora's feet vanishing behind a corner. He walked towards the corner, but before he could turn it as well, he could hear someone's voice call out to her.

  "Well, well, well, if it isn't young El! I hope you have some good news for me, because the messenger from the boss has already given me a rather unfriendly reminder not to overshoot the deadline.", the voice of a middle-aged man called out.

  "So? Shoot."

  Not recognising the voice, Sean decided to sneak a peak around the corner to find out who Eleonora was talking to.

  Leaning on the wall in front of Eleonora was a man clad in black leather armour, whose face was hidden by the hood of a black cloak. He had several pouches hanging from his belt, to which a short-sword without sheath was affixed as well.

  "Yes, it is in the room next to the arcane archmage's office. However, I was not able to get inside, as the room was sealed off with magic. Just in case, I have taken notes of his schedule.", Eleonora explained, and handed over a small piece of paper.

  "Hm...Good thinking... Don't wanna mess with him if I can help it, no matter how much they pay us... or with the other Zodiacs, for that matter. Anything else?"

  Eleonora just shook her head.

  "Alright. Looking at this, 3 days from now seem to be a reasonable time to do this. Meet us at the front gate to let us in. And remember: if you blow this gig, your days are numbered!"

  'Whatever this is about, I don't think I should be hearing this. I'd better make sure that they don't-', Sean thought to himself as he tried to silently sneak away, but he accidentally caused the gravel beneath his feet to audibly crunch.

  "Shit, whassat?", the man hissed out, and Sean could hear foot-steps quickly approaching his hiding spot.

  Eleonora drew her dagger as she rounded the corner, and now pointed it towards the source of the noise, the cowering Sean, who raised his hands to signal that he was unarmed and not looking for a fight.

  "Well?", the man called out to her, and Sean started to silently plead to her to not mention his presence.

  "...just a sewer rat. I guess even the nobles up here cannot get rid of all of them.", she responded while sheathing her dagger and returning to the hooded figure. Sean wanted to sigh in relief, but he knew that if he made another noise, he would probably not be able to make it out of the situation unscathed, therefore deciding to hug the wall and hold his breath.

  "Tch, can't stand this fucking place. Entire school's filled with big shots of the Imperial Army, makes me all jumpy. Once Dark Taipan stops poking his fangs into my fucking neck Imma leave this shithole faster than Edenia vanished from the sky... Anyway, don't contact me until it's time to meet up. I'm counting on you, El!", the man exclaimed mockingly, and Sean could hear his footsteps slowly growing fainter, causing him to finally relax. However, he was yet to leave the danger zone, as Eleonora quickly made his way towards him, hoisting him up by his collar and pressing him to the wall.

  "YOU! What did you hear?", she lashed out at him.

  "Uhm...nothing?", he responded nervously, not being able to look her in the eyes.

  "You'd better keep what you heard today to yourself, you hear me? Don't make me regret saving your miserable life! Why were you even here to begin with? There was an announcement in the assembly hall, right?"

  "Oh yeah, that was the reason I was trying to find you in the first place! They said that we are now at war, so we cannot leave the academy anymore!"

  "War? ...whatever, just keep this to yourself if you know what's good for you!", she scoffed at him, before letting go of his collar and storming off.

  "...you're welcome?", was all a very confused Sean could mutter as he watched her walk away, before getting back on his feet and walked back into the academy building, where he met up with Corvo and Mira, whom he informed of what had happened.

  "Wait, so there's someone pressuring Eleonora to find something within the academy? Should we tell one of the instructors?", Corvo asked, but was quickly shut down by Sean.

  "Definitely not. Who knows what that guy would do to her or her family if word comes out that she was caught!"

  "You may have a point, but what else are we supposed to do then? Ignore it?", Mira chimed in, visibly annoyed by the situation.

  "If I wanted to ignore the situation I wouldn't have told you guys about it...But I'm at a loss at what to do as well...should we tell one of the instructors?", Sean stated.

  "'Hm...What if they have her family hostage? How about we ask her about the whole story? Maybe we could help her that way?", Corvo inquired, but Sean rejected this proposal as well.

  "She told me to keep this to myself, I don't think she'd be happy if she found out that I told you about it."

  "How about we keep an eye on her and stop her from doing anything stupid? Shouldn't be too hard, seeing as it would be three against one.", Mira proposed.

  "Sounds good, but do you two really want to be dragged into this? We could become expelled from the academy, or worse, if we are not careful!", Sean asked his friends with a worried expression.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  "Eh, I'd say helping out someone in need takes priority.", Mira answered bluntly, and Corvo followed soon after.

  "If I drop out of here, I could still go to the monastery, you know? In the end, it doesn't really matter, as long as we can go on adventures afterwards, right?", he asked, and presented his hand for a fist-bump, which was mimicked by Mira.

  "...Right. Thank you guys! Let's help her out of this!", Sean exclaimed and completed the three-way fist-bump.

  The next day, the trio made it their mission to follow Eleonora after their classes together in what they believed to be an unsuspecting distance. However, as she had already been on edge due to the task given to her, she quickly caught on. As it meant that her mission could become compromised, she decided to confront them by quickly rounding a corner and waiting for them to go after her. Just as expected, the three almost ran into her while trying to keep up, and immediately froze as they noticed her annoyed expression while looking at them.

  "I thought I made myself clear when I told you to keep this to yourself! Do you realise how dangerous it was for me to lie and tell that man that you did not listen in on our conversation?"

  "I know, but I couldn't just ignore it either, could I?", Sean retorted angrily.

  "Why not?"

  "Because he likes you!", Mira answered for him with a mischievous smile, causing both Sean and Eleonora to blush.

  "NO I DO NOT!", Sean blurted out, causing Mira to giggle.

  "Oh, that so?"

  "...Ahem, anyway, there is nothing you can do. I have no other choice but to do as I am told, and I advise you to ignore what you may have heard.", Eleonora continued.

  "Can't you just tell one of the instructors?"

  "It is not that easy. Have you heard about the Crimson Snake?"

  "Those criminals who all have the same tattoo of a red snake somewhere on their body? My father told me that they were responsible for at least half of all crime within the city, and that they're part of an even bigger organisation"

  "Exactly. They have connections to dark guilds and assassins all over the world. It is not even a matter of fleeing. Do you know what these monsters do to people who try to go against them, especially for non-humans?", she continued, and removed her hood, revealing long, beautiful brown hair, out of which two pointy ears peaked through.

  "You're an elf? But I saw you using magic!", Corvo asked, shocked about this revelation.

  Elves were not only a rare sight on Corus, with the only exceptions being Elfenwacht in the south and the Arbrevie Dukedom, as they preferred to keep to themselves, but also incapable of using spells due to them being born exclusively with spirits of nature. However, there was a way for an elf to be born with a soul instead. And that exception was...

  "I'm an illumni, a half-elf. Only my mother was an elf. Do you understand now? Being killed would be one of the best outcomes for an illumni, as they are often sold off to serve as someone's slave for the rest of their miserable existence!"

  "Yeah, but-..."

  "No buts. Forget that we ever met. And refrain from doing anything stupid, or I will make sure you regret it.", Eleonora shut down the rest of the conversation and stormed off.

  "Well...that did not go well at all.", Corvo sighed.

  "We're still gonna help her though, right?", Mira asked, and the others nodded in agreement.

  "Alright, but let's not discuss this here, who knows who might stumble upon us while we talk about this.", Mira said while looking around to make sure that nobody listened in on their conversation, before following the others outside the building.

  A disgruntled Irene Karm slowly closed the door in front of her, which she had cracked open just enough to listen in on the conversation that was just held in front of the lecture hall. She had just finished an errand for Kassandra Lambert, who had forgotten her notes after holding her class, and was about to leave the room, as she came across 4 first-years of class A discussing a crime that would commence in two days.

  'Tch. Not even 3 months in training, and they already think they can solve whatever life throws at them on their own. Once this is dealt with, I will make sure that they are worked to the bone for the rest of the year... And to think someone would have the gall to try breaking into Rouclier, of all places. Hope the others are in for a little warm-up before we get sent to the front-lines', she thought as a vicious smile spread across her face.

  The day had arrived, on which the Crimson Snake would attempt to steal the relic mirror Vrai Soi. Their last lesson on that day had been Magic Theory with Kassandra Lambert, in which she talked about Skills.

  Legends from the Dark Ages which survived the Great Cataclysm tell of how a human named Viktor Salvador managed to discover how to use skills by trying to mimic the abilities of certain monsters, as they could use magic without incantations and without being born with spirits of a specific element. With the discovery of skills, humanity, which in the beginning of the Dark Ages saw itself oppressed by the other races due to their lack of magical knowledge and physical strength, managed to level the playing field and start to compete with the rest of the Divine Tribes.

  Skills were a primal form of magic, where the user produces effects similar to regular magic solely through the manipulation of their inner energy, which was known as vita, and their outer energy, or aura, which surrounded one's body like a layer of steam, ever flowing and shifting if one did not consciously try to control it. Though every living being, which did not actively try to hide it through various means, possessed a noticeable aura, it was usually invisible to the naked eye, though the activation of skills would cause one's aura to emit a visible light, not unlike the light produced by the creation of spell-circles. Depending on the type of skill, the colour of the aura would change, though the light emitted by most basic-skills was pure white in colour. The better one's control over one's aura, the more smoothly and evenly one's aura would flow. However, certain skills, especially those which aimed to intimidate or increase the damage potential of an attack, would always cause one's aura to resemble a violent current.

  Though all skills were triggered by the manipulation of one's arcanum or anima, not all skills would use up this very same energy throughout their activation. The most common prices to pay for the activation of a skill were replenishable resources of the body, such as one's stamina, body-fat, or even blood. Some skills would even drain the user of their vitality, thus shortening their life-span, or mental-strength, which could cause them to slowly go insane.

  Skills could be split into 3 different categories:

  Techniques, which could be taught and learned by those who fulfilled the conditions to be able to use them.

  Bloodline-Skills, which could not be learned, as they were determined by genetics, as well as some other factors. This form of skill was often not activated consciously, but triggered upon the right conditions being fulfilled, which led to them becoming known as passive-skills as well.

  Blessings, skills which could only be attained through divine intervention.

  Her lecture concluded by explaining as to why both spellcasters and sorcerers were believed to be incapable of learning skills despite skill-users being able to learn magic. The reason for this was that the bodies of magic-casters differed from those of skill-users, as they were born to be able to release their energy in large quantities in a single moment, while skill-users were only able to release small amounts of energy over a longer period of time. For this reason, most magi were not able to use skills and skill-users were incapable of using magic greater than that of the 5th-Tier (or its sorcery equivalent for those born with spirits), though there may have existed a few yet not fully understood exceptions to this rule.

  During the lecture, Professor Lambert's gaze seemed to mainly wander between Corvo's group, but also to Eleonora, causing suspicions to flare up about the group having gone against her wishes and actually involved the lecturer's of Rouclier. She would see her suspicions validated, as the four of them were instructed to stay behind inside of the classroom by Lady Karm, who entered the room shortly after the lecture had ended.

  "Cadets Adelaide, Boreas, Rhedi and Riddar, at attention!", the intimidating woman yelled out, causing the four to jump up from their seats and greet her with a salute.

  "Ma'am, yes ma'am!"

  "I have received information of you four being involved in a criminal act that will commence today at dusk, so I will ask you only once: What do you have to say for yourself? And stop staring daggers at the others, Cadet Boreas, they were not the one's who started to talk about criminal activities with only a thin door between them and me.", Karm demanded in a threatening tone, which caused them to freeze up.

  "Well? You should know in advance: since Rouclier is part of our empire's military, do not think that you will get away with a mere slap on the wrist!", she continued while her right hand fidgeted with the handle of her sword, causing the four to wince upon the mention of harsh punishment.

  "That's enough Ira! They may be recruits now, but they just started training, not to mention that they are still children! At ease, you four!", Lambert chimed in, and the four released a breath they did not realised they had held before slumping back into their seats.

  "That is all the more reason to give them a good scare after such foolish actions. Did you three really think you had a chance against adult criminals just because you are in the talented class? You four barely managed to get through the first few weeks of physical training!", she chastised Corvo's group, but instead of getting an answer, the three only managed to look at the floor in shame. Corvo knew that what they tried to do was dangerous, but hearing just how badly they misjudged the situation made his heart sink.

  "And you, what do you think would have happened if you and the rest of your hoodlum friends tried to break into Blanche's storage room? How moronic-", her attention was now on Eleonora, who tensed up upon being mentioned.

  "Irene, I said that's enough!", the small mage behind her yelled out while slamming the table with her fist, causing a large crack to appear in the wood and Lady Karm to stop her berating immediately. There were few things in the world that Irene Karm was afraid of, and an irate Kassandra Lambert was one of them. Not only because they had become close friends during their time at Rouclier, and there was nothing in this world she would trade for this friendship, but also because she had knowledge of the nickname the blue haired mage had received while still being employed by the previous Duke of Balmung, and more importantly, how she received it.

  "Sorry, Kass. ...I mean, I apologize for my behaviour! I may have gotten a little heated about this topic. Let me start from the beginning, and do so by rephrasing my previous statement regarding your punishment. You will neither be expelled, nor will you be handed over to this city's law-enforcement. However, there will be consequences for your actions thus far. Secondly, as we do not know what we are dealing with exactly, I am going to need some additional information. Cadet Boreas, are you capable of talking about your situation here, or would you rather do so in my office?"

  "...", Eleonora remained silent.

  "If you want, you can talk to me instead, if you are more comfortable with that.", Professor Lambert chimed in, but still nothing.

  "I don't want to pressure you, but you will have to talk about your involvement in this eventually.", Karm added, though Eleonora did not answer.

  Instead, she decided to get up from her seat, and approached the desk of Professor Lambert. Shortly after, she began to remove her hood and opened her jacket, to the confusion of all present. However, once she opened the jacket and revealed what was underneath, both Lambert's and Karm's eyes began to widen in surprise, with Lambert starting to grow pale.

  "Is that...? How can this be, AND IN THE MIDDLE OF CAELUM, NO LESS?", Karm asked, burning with rage, her hands balled to fists and her entire body starting to give of a faint, red glow, which immediately vanished as she was calmed down by a hand on her shoulder, that of Lambert.

  Corvo and his friends looked at each other in confusion, but seeing as neither of them knew what was going on, he decided to raise his hand.

  "Erm...sorry, but what is going on?"

  "...do you want to share this information with them?", Lambert asked, and Eleonora nodded.

  "She has the Mark of Obedience, more commonly known as the Slave-Crest. It is a powerful curse which restricts the very essence of a being, be it a soul or a spirit, to obey any command given to them by their master, which is likely the reason as to why Cadet Boreas could not speak openly about what is going on. Since slavery has been illegal in Merdelum since it's conception, all who are found to use this spell are to be punished by immediate execution, and rightly so, may I add. Just thinking of what happened in Miellas..." Irene Karm explained through gritted teeth before trailing off, her gaze on the floor as Eleonora closed her jacket and put on her cloak before returning to her seat.

  "Wait, but she told us what was going on, right?", Sean asked out loud, and was quickly answered by Lambert, who until now had tried to calm Lady Karm down.

  "She probably worded it in a way that would not trigger the crest. Curses like this are quite complex, and if one does not use the right wording in issuing a command or fails to implement the curse in the correct manner, the accursed can exploit loop-holes that are created by them. For example, if one is commanded not to tell others for which organisation one is working for, one can still casually mention the organisation if one does not explicitly state that one is a part of it. All this will be part of a future lecture, as one needs to be prepared to both be able to exploit such loop-holes that come with the use of curses, as well as how to avoid them from occurring if one is using similar magic on someone else. However, that is not important right now."

  "You are right. This changes everything. We need to change our approach, seeing as Cadet Boreas cannot go against the orders of the Crimson Snake... I have an idea. Kass, please inform the others. There will be a slight change of plans."

  Slave-Crest

  Rainier de Léones, with the others being related to extracting information from Mana.