CHAPTER V: DISCLOSURE
"I'm proud of your growth," Cocytus grates confidently from his seat but with a hint of concern under his confidence. I try to smile for him but can't manage it because faking a smile has always been difficult. I say evenly to him in reply, "Thanks... but I'm really bad at adapting when I need to..."
"It had to be done, Beric. A blind man can see the peril in your actions but I see the necessity and the purpose. You had to make your soul your own again and rid yourself of the fragmented mess you used to be," Cocytus explains but I've heard him say this before and am too slow to suppress my irritation at his nagging. Cocytus continues to nag as he continues with, "It is already done, Beric. You have suffered the consequences of your actions for many weeks and have made slow progress back to functionality. You cannot keep belittling yourself and expect to recover fully."
I laugh nervously as I reply too quickly, "Just as a refresher, Shalltear sealed my magic because I keep misusing it, limiting my casting to specific spells. I'm still not good enough with my other powers to use them in a real fight plus they're forbidden to use anyways. I don't want to rely on the shadows to do the fighting for me and I lost most of my battle prowess when I had my soul fixed."
Cocytus laughs but keeps his laughter brief, a frustrated exhale escaping my nose as he grates in reply, "And that is why you are here, is it not? Shalltear may be one of the strongest warriors in Nazarick but she is not an adept teacher and gives you certain... accommodations with her training regime. I suppose you are her prisoner once again... though less unwilling this time around."
"Well... yes... but I don't really... trust myself anymore... and I trust her... but..." I say with diminishing confidence, Cocytus exhaling cold mist as he places something on the table. When he moves his massive hand away, revealing his personal matcha tea set that he quickly uses with his secondary arms. His movements are practised and graceful as he grates while he works, "Let me tell you about my training with your father."
My interest is piqued immediately because this was one of the stories he was reluctant to tell. I watch as he pours the finished tea into a porcelain cup, my hands gently taking the cup from him carefully. One sip is all I need to recognize Aracha green tea, the strong flavour nearly making me gag but making me smile at the same time. He always said that the raw, unrefined taste made the spirit stronger and for once, I'm inclined to believe his superstition.
"Back then, I was a simpler creation, as all of the guardians used to be. My purpose was to guard this glacial domain and I had no greater goals or conquests to note," he grates, his secondary arms finishing the preparation of the second cup of tea. He takes a sip of his creation, coughing lightly from the strong flavour before placing it gently on the table. I keep smiling from his reaction and wait for him to continue his story in earnest, his eyes measuring my enthusiasm as he grates, "Warrior Takemikazuchi was a restless soul who couldn't stop improving himself and everything he created. His sword, his armour, his spirit, everything was to be improved and improved again. It made sense that he would try to improve me as well for I was a creation of his."
That dedication to improvement ultimately cost him his life, I think sourly and the same point was reflected in my actions. Cocytus sees the melancholy creep into my mood and tries to hurry his story along, grating in interruption of my thoughts, "He gave me a simple training goal of defeating him in martial combat. The task was impossible from the start and I voiced the obvious concerns of such a task. He kept pestering me to keep training and evolving and adapting until I could do what he asked. Above all, he told me not to quit no matter how badly he beat me in a fight. I lost to him thousands of times and received my fair share of wounds from his many blades."
My father caused scars and wounds that hurt but didn't kill, an alien way of fighting to me since I was always trained to kill. Cocytus continues his story, my attention snapping back to him as he grates, "Each combat encounter, I learned more of his techniques, movements, and mannerisms. I mastered more weapons and learned of my magical abilities. I also learned about myself, my strengths, and my weaknesses. These secondary arms started to grow until they, too, could wield a blade as effectively as my greater hands. Closer and closer I crept to achieving our shared goal, each fight ending with a slimmer margin of defeat. I was so ecstatic and confident back then... until I finally struck a blow..."
There's personal shame creeping into his voice and he keeps looking at his left hand, transfixed by something that I don't understand. Subconsciously, his massive hands clench as if holding his halberd and I follow the direction of his movements, imagining how the halberd would face if he performed such motions. I note a few deflections, likely to prevent swift blade strikes, followed by a thrust pointed at-
"You took his eye..." I whisper in horror as I realize how Cocytus' strike would land. Cocytus pauses for a moment and lowers his hand, looking down at his left hand that he clenches and relaxes slowly. He grates to himself with minimal conviction, "He chose to fight within Nazarick where we could harm one another... and I obeyed him like a fool... I only wanted to deal a glancing blow to his cheek but... I miscalculated... he dodged into my weapon's path and only through sheer luck did I not skewer the point into his brain..."
I stand up and move around the table swiftly, moving to sit next to him as he becomes lost in old memories. I place my right hand on his arm to try and shake him from his spell but he stares down at his hand still, his left hand still clenching and relaxing as he grates further, "I couldn't hold a weapon after that... I couldn't train anymore... the sheer feeling of shame prevented me... to strike my master in such a way, even at his wishes... inexcusable, I thought... I expected to be dismissed and replaced... even prepared for what I thought was inevitable..."
His hand starts shaking and I try to calm his tremors by holding his arm in both hands, my efforts finally snapping him out of the old memory. His tremors stop and he chuckles without humour to himself, expelling a breath of cold mist before grating to me, "He didn't blame me for the loss of his eye. I claimed no victory that day but unbeknownst to me, I accomplished what he set us to do. I didn't understand why he forgave me so readily but after seeing you experience something similar to my shame, I think I understand why he did it."
He lifts his hand out of my grip and places it on my head, obscuring my vision slightly as he grates confidently, "He forgave me because if he didn't, I would've destroyed myself with guilt. That was one of your father's gifts to me before he left. He always saw the greater potential of those around him and chose to forgive instead of censure. It is why I forgave you so readily as well and why, when harsher sanctions were suggested against you, I stood firm in giving you a fair chance."
"Why did he leave?" I ask curiously, Cocytus exhaling cold mist in reply. We both saw the question coming but he finally gives me a real answer, grating reluctantly, "He reached the plateau of what Yggdrassil would allow. The world was slowly being wound backwards because of the misuse of magic until one day, the end of the world was prophesized. With Isnadra gone from Nazarick and your father's quest for greater prowess stagnating, he decided it was time to leave."
Cocytus removes his hand from my head while his other massive hand offers me something. It looks like a simple rope attached to a ring of metal at one end but he gestures to the dagger on my hip, summoning it onto the table as he places the rope near it. The untethered end of the rope swiftly attaches itself to the hilt of the dagger, morphing the rope to match the silver and white stylization of the dagger. The metal ring becomes silvered as well and flashes with contained magic. As I reach forward and take the strange weapon in my hands, Cocytus grates, "You are a very unorthodox warrior. Though I've taught you as best I can, I could never find the proper style to best fit your ever-changing needs. So I talked with Aura and she gave me the designs for a modified Kyoketsu-Shoge."
The metal ring rises automatically as Cocytus slashes at me lightly with a sword, the ring absorbing far more force from the blow then first anticipated. Cocytus taps the ring a few times with the sword, producing a satisfying ringing sound before he grates to me, "Mithril from Aura's personal stores. That ring can absorb a substantial amount of damage for something so small. It isn't as miraculously strong as other greater metals but it is exceptionally lighter in weight."
He moves his sword downwards and taps the rope, the material ringing with the same tune as the ring. Cocytus also demonstrates the cutting edge of the dagger by running the back of the sword along the dagger's edge, a neat groove sliced into the metal of his sword without making a sound. He grates to me as he places the sword on the table, "Speed and stealth. From here on, you will be taught by those who can teach you better than I can."
The shadows slither up my right leg, making me stand up so I can watch them spiral up my leg to my torso. They slide their way onto my right shoulder and nudge my right cheek with their mass, an odd sound emanating from them as I nudge their mass back in reply. I can already feel myself sinking into the ground and sigh lightly as I say, "Shalltear wants me to come home. It was nice seeing you again, Uncle."
Cocytus laughs and tells me that it isn't her who's calling.
The style of the room I'm dumped into indicates that I'm on the 9th floor, the last place I would expect to go. I immediately ditch my weapons into the emerald box of my inventory as I take in my surroundings, noting the simple white walls, artisanal wooden furnishing, and elaborate floor rugs that normally populate the servants quarters. The only being in the room besides myself is one of the maids standing behind the centre table set, her form bowing at the waist as she states, "Welcome, young master. We've been expecting you."
"Please don't call me that," I reply swiftly, trying my best to hide my irritation at her use of the title. She gestures for me to sit across from her as she tries to sit down, struggling slightly in her large dress that isn't cooperating with her. I instead move around the table and help her into her seat, a gesture that she isn't expecting but one she accepts awkwardly. As I round the table to take my seat once she's in hers, she says with embarrassment, "Forgive me. I'm not used to sitting in this outfit."
"Shalltear has the same problem. It's understandable," I reply as I sit down, the maid chuckling slightly but quickly changing back to a professional manner. She places her hands on the table and leans forward slightly, her form going from idle maid to slightly threatening in an instant. She tells me in an even tone, "My name is Narberal Gamma and you were brought here because others willed it to be so. We will be taking over your training."
"So...Sebas Tian is taking over my training?" I ask curiously and am surprised when she shakes her head no, a warm smile crossing her face as she replies evenly, "Sebas Tian has delegated the task to Yuri Alpha who delegated the task to me. Though I'm not the best choice to teach you what you need to learn, I have experience with the New World and some of its customs. Given that your operations are within the Slane Theocracy as part of the Adventurer's Guild, I can assist you with the inner workings of the guild as well."
I don't know if I should feel honoured or insulted by her proclamation so I nod my head to answer her. Narberal seems to read my thoughts and replies to them evenly, "You feel like your importance has been lowered because they didn't select a specialist to train you?"
"No... maybe... yes..." I reply with steadily increasing levels of truth, Narberal smiling as she relaxes her posture slightly. Her professional manner gives way to an exhausted sigh and an irritated tone, the fingers of her right hand going to her temple as she says, "You're right and wrong. We're still trying to find the right specialist to train you and I happened to be available to start the groundwork early. When the time comes, you'll be given to one of the other maids to fine-tune what you learned. My guess is you'll end up in Solution Epsilon's care once she's able to assist."
I had heard my fair share of rumours from other guardians about Solution being a sadist who enjoyed the suffering of others and didn't like the idea of being at her mercy. I ask Narberal why she was the most qualified to which she replies evenly, "Despite my misgivings and the misgivings of the other maids and even Sebas Tian, Solution Epsilon is a skilled assassin and infiltrator. If speed and stealth are how you fight, she is highly qualified to teach you both."
"Did I mess up?" I ask her without meaning to, Narberal taken by surprise by the suddenness and sincerity of my question. She adapts quickly to the situation, replying in an even tone, "Yes and no. Yes, because you nearly killed yourself and proved that beings from Yggdrassil can be killed in a new way. No, because we needed to know of and counter the new danger and despite nearly killing yourself, you're willingly doing everything we ask to pay the price for your actions. None can say that you didn't redeem yourself already."
Her praise made me feel better but Narberal regains her serious composure and stares directly into my eyes. Her conviction is frightening as she says to me sternly, "But make no mistake. Our training is not like the other training you've received. You will be honed into a much deadlier weapon that wields a specific style of warfare, one that carries certain strengths and weaknesses. It will be the hardest training you've ever received while in Nazarick and there is a high chance that you won't pass our tests. Are you sure you wish to continue?"
"Yes. I can't fight as I am," I reply calmly, Narberal smiling darkly as she rises from her seat without difficulty. She quickly rounds the table and tells me to give her my hand, my right hand lifting up for her to snatch with her left. Something stings on my right hand and when she moves her hand to my wrist, I see a slight cut on my palm that starts to trickle dark blood. Her other hand produces a scroll from her inventory that she allows the blood to land on, the scroll glowing with emerald light and unfurling on its own. I don't get to read much of the contents because my attention is drawn to the final empty line at the bottom of the scroll, my name scrawling itself in crimson letters on the parchment. Narberal rerolls the scroll and releases my wrist as she states proudly, "The contract is signed. Your training will begin shortly."
She opens a gate on my right and shoves me into it without warning.
