How could men wear these all the time, Louise wondered. Well maybe she should correct her thinking there, since she had an experience about a week ago that explained this to her. Said experience was so humiliating that she almost swore off that dreadful machine entirely. However she did not, and instead adapted to the dangers.
She did not know then what she knows now, that if that death machine gets a lick of something it will devour it whole. The only reason that she survived was because the cloth her skirt was made of was too old to yank her into the machine. The bands that were holding it in simply snapped as it was consumed.
Now, as for the reason she was wearing pants in her normal class, well, it was because she just wanted to get back to the machine as soon as she could. Maybe it was the danger of riding a machine she knew was built for war, but Valliere somehow felt much better riding that machine than studying or socializing after school.
Then again, she never socialized since no one wanted to be friends with the Zero.
"Louise." The Teacher called out to her while giving the girl a tempered stare, "Can you answer the question?"
For the first time in her life the girl did not know what to answer. Her eyes widened for a moment before her stomach became sick. To admit to not listening was going to ruin her already shaky reputation. She could try and guess it, but that was stupid, so she needed to choose her words carefully, "My apoligies Professor Helum, but can you say the question again as I didn't really understand it the first time."
The woman seemed to weigh those words against a grain of salt, before her face grew a little lighter, "Very well, how can one who is not proficient with an element use the same powers of someone who does?"
"They would find a work around." Louise pointed out as she already knew the answer through years of tutelage, "A Mage who fails at air magic but can use water can use steam to simulate it. Though this works, it is generally agreed upon that it will be weaker than a mage casting the spell straight."
"Very good Vallerie, and do you know why a loss in power occurs?"
"Because it is a perversion of proper magic left for charlatans. A proper mage would be able to tell something is off just by the way the air moves."
"Good job, Louise." The woman said before turning to the class, "Would anyone here wish to give a demonstration?"
Unlike before Louise watched as many hands were raised. Louise could only wrap her head into her arms as she was still a failure. She knew the theory of magic but could never cast a spell herself! They always just turned to explosions.
Within her pocket lay a single vial of Warpstone Mush, as Itch called it. It was a long shot, but if she consumed it she might be able to cast the same kind of magic her familiar is able to cast. But she listened to what her rat said, that it was more than likely lethal to drink it outright. Thus she simply held it in her pocket to see if the substance could give her insight to magic.
Funny enough, it kinda did. Whenever there was magic casted near her Louise would feel its existence wave and turn a little. It was like the magic being casted slowly ate at the substance. It was odd though, as these days if she lost the vial she would start to feel much weaker than she was. It was not that she was becoming dependent on it like a drug, but she realized she was getting stronger with every moment it stayed near her.
"That is it for today's class!" Announced the teacher as Louise saw a leaf floating over a small fire, "Do not forget in two days the Familiar Exhibition shall start!"
With that class ended and Louise was quickly getting her notes together. If she was fast enough she might be able to-
"Well well, aren't we in a rush~"
Louise turned to see someone who should not be there. Kirche, the Ardent, stood there with a devious smile as she looked towards the smaller girl.
"Kirche, you're not supposed to be here." Louise told the Ardents with a firm resolve in her voice.
"Oh the teachers won't mind, today is my last day here anyways." The woman said while lowering herself so that Louise could see her breasts, "As for you, little miss Louise, I just wanted to come over and say goodbye to you."
"So you are trying to get some last minute taunts in, you harlot?"
"Oh that hurts!" She said while holding her heart, "That would have hurt if things were that bad. I for one am thankful for what you and your Familiar did to me."
"So what, you're going to use your newfound freetime to have fun with your Fiance?"
Kirche's eyes glared at Louise as she said those words before recovering quickly, "The only reason I am here is because my family wanted me to marry a powerful family somewhere, and it seems I succeeded."
"Maybe you succeeded in Germania, but being the wife of a Tristainian Noble means you play by our rules." Louise started while leaning in with a smile, "And an excommunication is the worst thing a Tristainian Noble could have."
"You-!" Before the woman could let Louise have it another girl walked up next to her and pulled on her sleeve. The girl, Tabitha, simply shook her head as the other girl relented, "Fine, enjoy winning on the last day Valliere, I hope someone poisons you."
"I hope to see you too, Kirche~" Louise finally had the last laugh as the woman was dragged out of the room by her friend.
With that done Louise gave a relieved sigh before walking in another direction and diving into a nearby servant entrance. Louise didn't know too many of these, but ever since she learned about the underground the girl found more and more about the castle. Sometimes she would cross by some servants who paid her no heed, however one of them did call out to her.
"M-Miss Valliere!" The Maid named Siesta called out as they saw each other.
Though it was kinda dark Louise was able to get a good look at the maid, "You are looking a lot healthier it seems."
"I am, if only thanks to you." She said while giving Louise a small bow, "We didn't know there were so many holes those rats were coming through. Though I still hear one or two coming by, we have gotten things under control before the students noticed."
"I am glad to have helped." Louise said while in reality she felt really guilty about being the cause of this mess, "Just make sure to have a bath drawn for me here tonight."
"Understood, madam. I will be drawing it myself." The Maid said while giving Louise a mock solute.
"Thank you Siesta." Louise said before going past the young maid, "I will be back at sundown."
"I will be ready for you then, Mistress."
Louise listened to those words carefully as she thought about it for a moment, "Siesta, do not take my question as rude, but how much is your contract worth?"
"M-My contract?" Siesta's voice shook for a moment in surprise, "May I ask for your reason why?"
The girl herself felt her cheeks glow for a moment, "You are just a reliable servant, and since you have been using my quarters for so many things I am finding it more and more reasonable!"
"Oh, well uh, it is Seventy Five Tristain." She said before bowing, "I will make sure your water is ready when it is, Miss Louise."
Louise blinked for a moment, then blinked a little more. That was well within her allowance of 500 Tristain a month. While she spent all of her money on the Doom-Flayers, she will get some more money here after the festival!
With those words the two of them broke off from one another with Louise kinda looking forward to the bath. It will be nice to have to clear off the numerous pieces of grime and grass that she is about to collect.
Once Louise had realized there were tunnels underneath the Academy, it was quite easy to follow them up into the school proper. Because of this she learned all the secret ways that led down there, as well as which ones were still working. The ones Louise showed the maids were the ones that stopped working, while she herself knew of a couple ways down.
One of these passages required you to navigate through the servant's halls then slip into a closet. After getting into the closet you just needed to pass through the stone brick that was really a clever cover of cloth.
After getting into the passages that layered underneath the academy, Louise navigated her way towards the place her Familiar set himself up at. The smell Louise slowly learned was Warpstone was both repugnant and alluring to her, to which either way she followed it to its source.
"Ah, Master-Boss!" Answered the rat as he loomed over the cauldron dropping rat carcasses into it, "Give Itch a minute and I shall be right there to help-assist you."
"No, it's fine." Louise said as she approached the death machine, "I think I have it. And this one does have blades on it?"
"Of course, Master-Boss."
With a nod Louise got onto the machine and started it up. These kinda machines were weird to her but the concept itself seemed rather simple enough. She pulled on the ignition a couple of times, soon getting the growl that told her the machine was prepared. She then removed the wood holding it up and got moving.
Going through the tunnels she had a few minutes of thought. Mainly that earlier this week she was barely able to move the machine with her bare hands. It wasn't that long since she started driving this machine, so was there a reason for her sudden strength?
It did not matter now. What mattered now for her was the open air of freedom as she pierced the opening of the cave. The growling of the engines erupted into a roar as she gave the machine as much warpstone that it could guzzle down.
Louise had ridden horses before in her life, and if she had to be honest it kinda terrified her. The speed and strength they had was enough to shake her to her very core. How she found herself enjoying this machine right here was something even she could not answer.
Her hair went wild, but was all behind her so it did not matter. The strength she felt driving this vehicle was immense, and unlike with a beast of burden it was all hers to control. It only enlightened this sense when she ordered her Familiar to grant her vehicle its blades.
She, Louise De Valliere, was operating a war machine of immense power. It might not be magic, but she did not regret having it for even a second.
The only thing that caused her problems was when she saw something on the Horizon. It looked small, but the girl knew that it was a lot bigger than it looked. She was proven right as the beast came closer and closer with its fairy like wings keeping it up in the air.
It was a Rhyme Dragon with its summoner Tabitha on its back.
Louise allowed her bike to slow down to a stop, placing her foot to the side so it would not tip over. After that the creature landed a little way away like a scared cat looking daggers at her while the woman on top slowly descended to the ground with magic.
She would have experienced embarrassment at the sight of what was happening, but something flared up in Louise. She knew for a fact
Louise felt her sense flare up at those words, "Of course it is safe, why do you think I am riding it!"
To those words the Dragon sneered at her. Now this was one of the few times that Louise had been this close to a beast of this power, but she never expected them to sneer at her. The closest thing she could think it was suggesting was that it did not believe Louise.
Tabitha stood there after, expecting some kind of confession out of Louise. Like hell she was going to give her that kind of affirmation, "Your Dragon can think whatever it thinks, Tabitha. It might be a little hard to handle but I have been using it for a week."
Tabitha once again looked at the Dragon, the two nodding before Tabitha quickly brandished her wand at Louise, "Remove yourself from the Metal Horse or I will force you to."
"Tabitha, using magic against your fellow student is-!"
Before Louise could finish she felt a ball of air slam into her, sending the girl flying. Within moments the Dragon pounced upon the machine and released a gust of pure wind upon the contraption. The Doom-Flayer was still standing, even against Dragon's breath.
It was then that Tabitha turned herself towards the machine and caused the earth around the machine to change and mold. Louise's eyes widened as she realized Tabitha was molding the earth and engulfing the machine in an attempt to shatter the machine to bits.
It was hard, but the machine exploded with a plume of green smoke rising into the air. Louise felt her eyes blink for a few moments as she watched her newest favorite device smoked.
She felt that would have been the end of it, but the Dragon was still staring at the remains of the device. Louise watched as bits of warpstone that were used to motorize the vehicle leaked out like a ruined cup. To this the Dragon once again released a torrent of energy, to which the stuff ignited in a much larger plume of green smoke.
"W-why…" Louise asked Tabitha as she turned to the girl Mortified, "WHY DID YOU DO THIS!"
The dragon once more sniffed the air, its gaze turning towards Louise with the desire to kill her. However it was then that Tabitha stood in front of her, "No, we will talk about it later."
The beast soon stood upright, its stance much more regal than before. It looked irked, but allowed its master to get on its back without an issue.
And without an explanation the two of them flew away without saying much of a word to Louise.
Louise did not need long to realize what the Dragon was actually after. Reaching into her pocket the little girl took out a vial of Warpstone that was within her pocket. Just based on how it acted, it was obvious the Dragon was after the Warpstone inside the machine. It was trying to purge the world of it.
With that thought in mind, Louise realized the direction it was going, "ITCH!"
Deep inside the annals of the Academy laid the laboratory of Itch Warpsnout. Said Skaven had truly been the plague of the academy, even if many of the people did not know it was the case. Foolish people-things, for they failed to realize the true nature of Skaven.
To Corrupt.
Itch happily worked at his place, his Master-Boss out of his hair for a good while. Ever since she had experienced the Doom-Flayer her tune changed drastically. While he could not make weapons for himself, his Master-Boss seemed more than willing to let them be made for himself.
He slowly began to fill up the tank of his Doom-Flayer. Since his Master-Boss so rudely took his previous creation he was forced to build another. Still, he was kinda happy because he was able to make a weapon for once.
"Soon-soon we shall be ready!" Laughed the Skaven as he stuck a cap on his machine, "Now-immediately, what is it I needed?"
It was at this moment his nose twitched. It did not twitch because of the Warpstone, no matter how he wished it was, but the change in the air. It was not the winds of magic, for while they existed in this world they were by far more stable than they had been before.
No, it was the activation of magic.
With a death grip Itch latched himself to his grand machine. The next moment the entire hall began to experience what could only be called a storm. Numerous dead rats were flung from place to place as they were chopped up by the incoming attacks. Some of them had in fact his Itch, but minor amounts of mutation had turned his skin and fur harder than the lowly Skaven Slaves he ruled over.
He was under attack!
Daring not to open his mouth in fear of losing all the air within his lungs, the rat thought to himself for a moment. He was without weapons against an enemy who was using magic. Very-insanely dangerous magic from what he was experiencing!
A smirk appeared on his face as he looked over at the cauldron. Right now the sludge was being held by his super duty container, but if he was to smash it then there was surely so much more he could do!
Yes that was it!
Thinking on his vermin feet the rat quickly started up the Doom-Flayer. The roar of its Warpstone Engines were enough to give him glee, and since it was more than sturdy enough the rat was soon able to start moving within the maelstrom.
He drove around for a moment, pointing his warmachine at the cauldron. The next moment was a slam that almost sent the rat flying into the air. Still he was successful.
The sludge was sent flying, quickly being taken up by the storm that was attacking him. Knowing what was about to happen the Skaven kicked his machine into high gear and sent himself flying towards one of the many exits that existed in this damned network.
Just as he was getting away the explosions started to happen.
He could feel his very soul shaking as he went down the tunnels and through the chambers, the winds not calming as they were being miscasted. Itch could only laugh at whatever sorcerer was casting the magic, for they were surely struggling to try and turn off the spell they were creating! The fool won't even realize that the magic was being fueled by Warpstone!
With a burst the rat sent himself flying through the exit and destroying whatever was keeping it covered. He did not care, for the explosion quickly came out of the hole and incinerated the entire exit bare.
Judging by what just happened here, Itch estimated that almost every entrance and exit to the chambers were about to experience the same fate as this one.
That meant the Academy, the center of these tunnels, was about to experience one hell of an event.
He thought to himself for a moment, thinking of how he got revenge against the things that tried to kill Itch Warpsnout! It seemed the situation was more than fucked, with his laboratory compromised and everyone knowing what he was capable of he could not stay here. He would flee, yes he would flee! But where to? He had a way to get there but-!
He quickly realized he was forgetting someone, his Master-Boss! If she was to be lost, he would lose a damn good asset when he started to bring back his Laboratory. She was able to get him metal and if he asked kindly could get him bodies for a new Warpstone Stew!
"I'm coming, Master-Boss! For the Vermintide!" Yelled the Skaven as he instinctually made his way towards her.
The fool traveled through the woods as fast as he could and so reckless that it was mightily unskaven like. Though he traveled, not realizing the glowing red runes that were upon his hand became more and more dimmed as they realized their job was done.
Soon the Skaven crashed through the treeline, seeing his Master running in the middle of the fields. He quickly realized what had happened and drove up next to her.
"You're safe!" Louise said joyfully before she noticed the condition of his clothing, "What happened!?"
"We must flee-run! Hunter-Sorcerer thing is out for us!" The rat declared as he looked towards the sky, "AAAAAHH! IT'S COMING!"
His master looked up into the air to see what he was seeing, her eyes widening as they did so. A Dragon just like the one before arrived at the Horizon, though this time Louise could see it covered in blackness. She was not that scared at first, then she saw the moment its rider raised its staff.
Winds began to pick up as lightning began to occur around the caster. Within moments of the magic it grew into a massive storm that was able to cover the entire sky. Both of them felt the winds pick up as Louise instinctively grabbed the Doom-Flayer.
"W-WHAT KIND OF MAGIC IS THIS!" She shouted as the winds began to pull at her, "SH-SHE IS CASTING A SQUARE SPELL! J-JUST LIKE MOTHER! IS SHE TRYING TO KILL US!"
"YES-YES MASTER!" Shouted her Familiar as he grabbed his master and moved her just enough so that he could start driving, "SORCERER-MONSTER TO KILL US ALL!"
Louise could not argue with that as they started driving through the storm. She did not know her fellow student was capable of such a feat, but to think that she even bothered coming to the academy!
This was insane!
It did not take long for the lightning to start striking the ground. Her Familiar was skillfully dodging each and every strike, though she could tell it was not going to last. They were fleeing a Square Mage, the highest grade of magic in Halkeginia! Why did they need to face such a powerful mage!? Why was Tabitha that mage!?
"MASTER!" Shouted her Familiar as they drove, "DO SOMETHING!"
Louise looked at her familiar like he was crazy, asking her to do something! He was the one who could properly cast magic! Why can't he do something!
She knew though, she knew that her Familiar was tied up in fighting against the storm. Maybe before Tabitha wanted to just destroy the Warpstone Machines, but now she was outright trying to kill the two of them! Why oh why was she trying to kill the two of them!
Louise would need to ask her Familiar what happened, but right now she needed to turn herself towards their foe. She only had one thing, and while she still had that vial her Familiar gave her she was too scared at this moment to even remember she had it. No, she instead focused on the one thing she knew she had.
Explosions.
Reaching out Louise pointed her wand at Tabitha. She would never have dreamed the day she purposefully used her magic against another person, but this storm would shred her to pieces the moment she let go of the War Machine. She would die if she let go, so she started focusing.
Little did Louise know that the air all about this area was filled with the remnants of Warpstone. Right now the amount was not nearly in a high enough concentration to affect the spell her foe was using, but as she started channeling her power the Sorceress started to call upon it just like a Gray Seer would.
Winds carrying the damned magic dripped through the air and about the area. The dreadful feeling of death and destruction filled her very being as she did so. Louise did not know what to make of it, only that it felt… natural.
It was then, as she started finishing the formulations of the spell, did green clouds start coming in from all directions. A damning thing that was surely to damn everyone involved, but Louise did not care. She was feeling the power course through her veins and the build up was causing her to feel ecstatic.
With such a large amount of Warpstone the storm began to grow sporadic. It was no longer able to be tamed by its caster but instead be flung from place to place in a beastial fashion. Normally like this the storm would grow out of control and consume the entire county in a state of destruction with Warpstone as its fuel.
Louise however did not allow that, for she already knew what was going to happen.
With the laughter of the demonic gods as her courus, Louise announced her spell, "RUIN!"
Hundreds of miles away, in the capital of Tristainia, stood the Princess. Well, it might be better to call her Queen now, for her Father had recently passed from the Bloody Cough. Her Mother was Queen, as she held the royal blood in her veins, but in such a state of grief she worried about her mother's life as well.
If the worst was to happen, she would be without anyone to be supported by.
It was then she felt herself looking at the window, not knowing why her body wished to do so. She did not know why, but that was soon explained as she looked to see the sky flash green. It was then that a horrible feeling came over her as she felt her heart sink. She did not know why, but she felt horrible for the rest of the day after that.