The 24th of the Great Tree Moon
"Magical tomes?" Hanneman perked up with interest, turning away from the multitude of documents on crest research towards Robin.
"Yeah. While I'm decent with a sword, my main strength comes from my proficiency with tomes." Robin explains with a nervous chuckle at how little equipped he is before choosing which class to teach.
"Ah. That's quite a shame seeing that we don't use tomes here at the monastery." Hanneman comments. He smiles seeing the confused look on Robin's face. "At the academy, we teach about the theory of magic construction."
"The theory of magic construction?" Robin was intrigued by what Hanneman was talking about.
"It's a subject that is similar in concept when using a tome. For example, let's start with a Fire Spell." Hanneman slowly channels a small fireball, floating above his hand. "In order to manifest spells, you must be able to channel magical energy from your body or the energy around you. Once you channel this energy, there must be a place to store this energy."
"Tomes are the medium in which mages store the magical energy to produce those spells. So in this case, the medium for the spell would be your own body." Robin deduces from what Hanneman is explaining. Which brings light to an idea that confuses him. "But the amount of condensed magical energy needed to produce a spell isn't easily contained and will damage the medium itself in some way. That's why tomes eventually break after a person uses them."
"Precisely, Robin. Unfortunately, the human body isn't as strong as a book whose sole purpose is to be a medium for magic. However, this differs from person to person based on their body and crest." Hanneman comments, taking a look at a book full of magical formulas. "However, understanding the construction of magic is still a skill. A better understanding of the material can lead to better results where the spell can have less strain on the body with similar results."
"That allows for people to use the spells more times than some of the harder spells." Robin slowly nods his head, amazed by how this concept works in Fodlan. There was a cause-and-effect idea being made in his mind when comparing the two methods.
"So what do you think about the theory of magic construction? It's rather fascinating how much we can understand magic compared to back then." Hanneman states, proud of his knowledge being used to help his fellow professor.
"I could see using Fodlan's method as a backup of sorts. But having our body be the medium can be too limiting in my opinion." Robin states taking a look at the board of equations. A few of the markings are aspects that he has seen before in the tomes of Ylisse. "Granted, I am rather fascinated by this idea. I want to study more on it, but practically, I believe tomes are much better."
"I can understand your viewpoint..." Hanneman coughs, slightly disappointed by Robin's response. It was still something new to him, after all. "As I said before, we don't normally carry tomes. But perhaps one of the wandering merchants at the entrance of the monastery will have one."
"I might go take a look. But I must say that discussing topics like this was quite fun." Robin pulls himself up. "We should do it again sometime."
"It would be my pleasure, Robin." Hanneman smiles seeing Robin off. "Now Lady Rhea is expecting us in an hour. It would be best not to be late for the selection ceremony."
"I won't miss it." Robin exits the door, bumping into a small girl knocking her back to the floor. "Ah sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going."
"It's fine…" Robin extends his hand to the girl. She accepts his hand, pulling herself up. He recognized her from the other day. "Robin, correct?"
"That's right. Nice to meet you again, Lysithea." Robin bows before realizing that he was standing in the middle of the doorway. "Apologies but I must be off. I have an errand that I need to get to."
Robin runs off leaving Lysithea watching the tactician off. She lets out a small sigh before entering Hanneman's office.
"Never thought I would see a familiar face here..." Robin comments, recognizing a red-haired shopkeeper bartering out to passing customers. "Anna!"
"Hmm? Ah yes? Do I know you?" Anna asks not recognizing Robin from her time as a merchant.
Robin shakes his head. "No, but I'm a regular for one of your sisters. I'm Robin. Since I usually do shopping with your family, I thought that I'd keep things consistent."
"Is that so? Well… Looking forward to business then, Robin. Are you in the market for something?" Anna asks tilting her head to some of her merchandise.
"Yes… I was wondering if you had any tomes." Robin's request surprised Anna. She takes a few seconds to process what she heard.
"Pardon?" Anna finally responds after a few seconds.
"I know that my request was going to be a bit far-fetched... Do you have any tomes?" Robin repeats himself, hesitant due to Anna's reaction to his request.
Anna takes another brief pause. She turns around, the biggest smile forms on her face as she looks at a trunk at the corner of her shop. She rushes towards it, opening it up before grabbing a few items, and rushes over with a big pile of tomes in her arms. "We got quite the selection on those!"
Robin grabs a fire tome from the pile, examining the contents. He had recognized some of the formulas present in the tome. The material and weight are also very similar to what he had in Ylisse. "Yes. These are perfect!"
"Oh thank goodness. I've been thinking of ways to sell these. No luck with these in Fodlan since tomes aren't that necessary for using magic." Anna comments with slight annoyance to a memory from the past. "I remember one of my sisters trading these to me for a few items. I thought I got scammed after carrying these for so long."
"Well, I'm glad that you've made that trade!" Robin smiles, picking up a lightning and wind tome from the pile as well. After examining the other two tomes as well, he's content with the items. Given how he didn't have much money on him, he needed to make do with the basics. "For now, I'll take these three."
"Alright then! That'll come to about 1500 gold!" Anna exclaims putting the other tomes away for safekeeping. Robin rummages through his pockets only managing to come up with 1000 gold. "Uh, Robin. I'm pretty sure that doesn't equal the money I asked for."
"Guess I was a little short than I expected." Robin sighs, taking a look at the three tomes to pick one out. He goes on for a couple of minutes with Anna simply watching him debate through choosing. After a while longer, Anna looks at the pile of tomes on the side before coming up with a decision.
"Hey, you'll probably be back to buy more tomes once these breaks, right?" Anna asks, distracting him from his debate from himself.
"Of course. Going based on history, your sister's weapon selection has been good most of the time. I won't come just for tomes." Robin replied. Anna looks at the tactician with an interested glance. In a highly competitive weapon market due to the Knights of Seiros needing constant resupplies, having a loyal customer is a game-changer.
"Alright then. Since you're helping me out getting rid of these tomes, the wind tome is free." Anna exhaled after taking a look at the huge pile of tomes at her side.
"Oh, wow. If you say so, thanks!" Robin smiles, handing the gold pieces to Anna. "I must say, I was surprised that you'd be lenient on things during my first purchase."
"A merchant knows what to do to have a regular! I had to make sure that I enticed you before anyone else." Anna boldly presents her methods to attract new customers.
"But, you already have a monopoly on items that I need…" Robin comments holding up one of the tomes that he had just purchased. Anna blinks for a second before facepalming at her choices.
"Well, what's done is done. Pleasure doing business with you Robin." Anna said picking up all of the leftover tomes and putting them back into the chest. She turns waving goodbye to the tactician who waves back before hearing the bell at the church rings.
"Ah! I'm going to be late!" Robin exclaims putting all the tomes into his bag before running off. Anna looks at the exit of the shop before turning back to the bunch of tomes to her side. It started to make her wonder.
"Byleth!" A voice calls out towards the mercenary making him stop. He turns around to see Robin making a mad dash towards him from down the hall. Robin catches up to Byleth, violently panting as he tries to gasp for air. Byleth squints at Robin's state.
"Are you alright?" Byleth folds his arms while watching Robin recover.
"I'm… fine. I'm starting to regret… skipping out on all of Frederick's exercises." Robin still coughs a little after catching his breath. He makes sure that his bag's contents are fine, letting out a sigh of relief. "Hopefully I'm not late, am I?"
"No, I just arrived as well. Am I to believe that you are still choosing the Blue Lions?" Byleth asks as the two walk towards the Audience Chamber. The two stop right in front of the door.
"Yeah, I'm set with my decision. Pleasure working with you." Robin extends his hand towards Byleth who slowly accepts it. Robin turns to the audience chamber, opening the door to see Rhea and Seteth already speaking with Hanneman and Manuela.
"Ah! Byleth. Robin. Please come in." Seteth calls out the two. The two enter making their way where the two stood next to the other professors.
"How are you enjoying your time at the academy thus far? I hope you have found our halls brimming with the vitality of well-intentioned souls." Rhea gives a solemn smile to the two.
"Hm. I suppose it is time for you to take charge of one of our three houses of students." Seteth says getting straight to the point. He folds his arms looking primarily at Robin and Byleth. "I must note that I am personally against entrusting someone as lacking in trackable history as you two with such a task, but it is as the archbishop desires."
Despite the evident circumstances that Robin has from his history, it still has a sour taste in his mouth from Seteth's evident discomfort to the idea. Manuela turns to him and Byleth, catching their attention. "The Black Eagles, the Blue Lions, and the Golden Deer… All so different. I hope you've made it a point to get to know each of them."
"Being that the two of you are new here, we have decided to allow you both to pick first," Hanneman explains to the two, picking up from what Manuela left off. "Especially with Manuela and I sharing the duties of a singular head of a house, picking the house that you're most comfortable with is important."
"Perfect since we both know the houses that we wanted. If I may, I choose to take care of teaching the Blue Lions House." Robin declares with Byleth looking sideways before taking a step forward.
"And I will be taking the duties of teaching the Black Eagle House." Byleth declares as well without any hesitation.
"If that is the case, then Manuela and I will be watching over the Golden Deer House," Hanneman concludes with Manuela nodding in agreement to the decision.
"It would seem that your heart has made its choice. All I ask of you all is that you guide these open minds with virtue, care, and sincerity." Rhea nods after hearing who would be presiding over which house.
"They are all promising youths who bear the weight of Fodlan's future upon their shoulders. I hope you appreciate what an honor it is to lead them." Seteth states to the new professors as a last-minute word of guidance on the responsibility now placed on them.
"Brother?" A voice calls out behind the group of professors to reveal a young-looking green-haired girl with matching qualities to Seteth. She turns to see the other professors staring, realizing what was going on. "Oh! I am so sincerely sorry! I did not mean to interrupt."
"I am in the middle of something, Flynn. Is it urgent?" Seteth asks with a bit of concern towards Flayn.
"No, no, it's nothing," Flayn said rather dejectedly at the circumstances that she placed herself in. She notices a few unfamiliar faces in the crowd, catching her interest. "More importantly… Who are they?"
"They are our newest professors at the academy," Seteth explains, turning to the new professors.
"Robin. I'll be leading the members of the Blue Lions House. It's a pleasure to meet you." Robin introduces himself with a small bow towards the young girl.
"Byleth. I'm leading the Black Eagles. Nice to meet you." Byleth followed after Robin with a bow. Hearing that there were new members of the Officer's Academy has gotten the young girl rather excited.
"Oh my! A new addition to the Officers Academy! I am so very pleased to meet you two!" Flayn bows as well to the two. "I am Seteth's little sister, Flynn. I am so happy to make your acquaintance."
"With all of the introductions out of the way, let us focus on the topic at hand. There is something that you should be aware of." Seteth says, bringing everyone back to the current conversation. He turns to Byleth and Robin once more. "In a few days' time, there will be a mock battle between the three houses, intended to gauge the current progress of the students. We will be using this battle as an opportunity to ascertain your own abilities as well. Please do not disappoint the archbishop. That is all."
'A mock battle to test everyone's skill?' Robin ponders a little with interest. It was something to keep in mind when greeting everyone as their new professor.
"Well then. Shall we go meet our students?" Manuela calls out to the others. Not wanting to waste time, they all nod in agreement making their way to their respective classrooms together.
"You know, I wondering about something." Annette comments after pondering for a little bit. "Didn't something happen to one of the previous professors?"
"I believe he ran away the night that Dimitri and the others were attacked by bandits," Ashe answered Annette's question turning over to Dimitri.
"Even before we could react, he was gone. Given that he didn't do anything about the situation, I doubt anyone would put their lives in his hands." Dimitri explains the situation with a frown.
"Yeah, I wouldn't want to have a teacher that runs away at the first sight of danger. Especially on the battlefield." Sylvain comments in disbelief from Dimitri's story. He lets out a sigh while scratching the back of his head. "Honestly I'm glad it happened now rather than later."
"Even still, won't that mean that they got to find a new professor to replace him?" Ingrid asks with Dimitri slightly chuckling at the idea. The others found Dimitri's reaction to being rather bizarre.
"Oh? Is there something that you know that you aren't telling us?" Sylvain laughs at the idea, patting his childhood friend's back. "So do you already know who the new professor is?"
"That begs the question of will the new professor be teaching us?" Annette states rather excitedly which catches the attention of the rest of the members of the Blue Lion House.
"I wouldn't know. I heard that they will be choosing their classes today. Afterward, they'll be heading here." Dimitri explains. A knock is heard from the door of the classroom, everyone turning over. The door slowly opens with Robin entering the room which receives a few confused glances. Dimitri walks towards Robin with a smile. "Ah! Robin! Welcome to "
"Thank you, Dimitri! Good to see that everyone is here." Robin turns to the other members of the Blue Lions House. All of the members crowd around him, curious about his sudden visit to their classroom. "Allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Robin, and I will be your head professor for this year."
Robin bows with his introduction. The surprise was quite evident on their faces. However, Annette realizes something, making her frown.
"Oh, I am so sorry, Professor! You just look the same age as the rest of us, and... Oh, and I'm sorry I just said that too! I really must watch my tongue..." Annette exclaims rather flustered by the way she treated Robin while everyone was talking the other day.
"Oh no, it's fine. Please you don't have to act so formally around me. I'd be rather uncomfortable if all of you were like that." Robin starts to get rather embarrassed at Annette's frantic state. He lets out a soft embarrassed chuckle. "I told Dimitri the same thing, so please just call me Robin."
"You say that, but... I just don't know about all of this!" Annette said rather dejectedly to the idea.
"I'll admit, it never sat well with me either. After all, we wish to show you due respect." Dimitri adds in which weighs in a little to Robin's mind.
"Sure, but if the professor says it's OK, shouldn't that be enough? That is... if Your Highness can consent to such a thing." Sylvain interjects rather jokingly to poke fun at Dimitri. "After all, we're already speaking this way to our future king, so we may as well relax our speech with Robin too, right?"
"Well, we're not in the Kingdom, so it only goes to follow that we should all speak companionably..." Dimitri caves into the request. "I concede. If you say it's fine, we ought to accept that kindness gratefully."
"As for me, I'm not sure I can manage..." Ingrid comments, still a little in disbelief about their new professor.
"You don't have to force yourself if it's too difficult." Mercedes comforts Ingrid before turning to Robin. "You're fine with that too, right, Robin?"
"That's fine. After all, it's kinda the same with me. I've called nobles by their names, but we had grown to be close friends over time." Robin explains to the group with a frown. Taking a look at the situation he's in, it's like meeting Chrom, Lissa, and Emmeryn in a manner. "So by all means, take your time. Is that alright, Ingrid?"
"I guess that's fine..." Ingrid comments taking a small breath. With a small look of conviction, she nods. "Thank you, Robin."
"I must say that I'm quite disappointed by this outcome. I had expected the mercenary to be the one who was teaching us." Felix abruptly states which has Robin taken aback for a moment. He examines Robin closely from top to bottom, disappointed by what he sees. T "You don't look like you have the might of a warrior..."
"I would have to disagree, Felix. Robin has proven to be quite capable on the battlefield with a sword. I have seen it firsthand, after all." Dimitri argues receiving a scoff from Felix.
"Talking about it means nothing. I haven't seen anything myself." Felix glares at Robin. "Come to the training grounds then. There, you will show me whether you're qualified to teach."
"You aren't wasting any time, are you, Felix?" Dimitri is slightly amused by his friend's singular focus on a person's skills in combat. Though what Felix said has caught his interest as well. "As it were, count me in for any such battle."
Felix scoffs again at Dimitri's comment before looking away. Ashe jumps in from behind the group. "Pardon me, but I would also love to observe you in battle, for future reference. If that's OK with you..."
"Ashe, I won't have you speak of merely watching. You should join us as well." Dimitri offers to Ashe.
"If you get injured, simply say the word and I'll patch you up straight away!" Mercedes states which catch Robin's attention. He makes a small mental note on that fact before Dedue comments from Mercedes' statement.
"Your Highness. Do take care not to go overboard." Dedue pitches in, concerned for Dimitri's wellbeing.
"You worry too much, Dedue. I'll be fine. I promise." Dimitri responds to his retainer in a carefree manner.
Robin had thought that he had a sense of familiarity with this group, but the way that Dedue and Dimitri acted hit a little too close to home. Almost like history has repeated itself, he could see Chrom and Frederick standing next to each other where Dimitri and Dedue stood. He's almost taken aback by what he saw. It was cruel that these bittersweet memories of good times of the past would come to plague him now.
"Well then, Robin, what do you think?" Dimitri's words pull Robin back to reality. Robin's eyes open wide before looking at everyone. "As you can see, the Blue Lion House is a lively bunch, but you'll find none who work harder. I'm certain we'll cause our fair share of trouble, but I'm very much looking forward to the year ahead."
Dimitri extends his hand out towards Robin with a welcoming smile. Robin for a split second looks at the back of his hand. Shaking his head, he returns Dimitri's smile before taking it. "To a year together!"
"I must say. You're keeping up better than most men wouldn't." Dart breaks the silence between the two.
"What do you mean by that?" Nino asked, confused by Dart's bizarre statement.
"Nothing. It's just that travels this long without breaks would lead some men to complain." Dart comments thinking back to some new members of the crew. "There were always recruits that have aspirations to travel the world. But these same people would constantly complain after being on sea for only a couple of days. Those same people never lasted long."
"But the ones that didn't complain were the ones that stayed, right?" Nino predicts seeing where Dart was going with his statement.
"Exactly. You kept a level-head the whole way there." Dart states as the two start climbing up a small hill. He lets out a small smile seeing the dedication that Nino has towards her goal. It reminded him of Rebecca who had pushed so hard to reunite with him. It's a nostalgic memory of the past. "I think you're hopes will finally be answered."
"You mean..." Nino's eyes open wide as she looks past the top of the hill to reveal the monastery past an opening of the forest in the middle of the plains. She couldn't believe that her end goal was finally in sight. She was at the place where Jaffar was. "Garreg Mach Monastery!"
"Well? What are we waiting for then?!" Dart, who had already passed Nino, turns back. He nods his head to the monastery with a smirk. "Let's not keep him waiting!"
"You're right!" Not wanting to waste any time, both Dart and Nino run towards the monastery. "Jaffar... I'm coming!"
A figure rustles in the trees of the forest, watching Nino and Dart runoff. "Haven't I seen her before? And the one with her..."
"This failure happened because you were all too goddamn slow and weak!" A buffed man exclaims, slamming his fist on a wooden table commanding the room around him. Pulling himself up, he lays a Wanted sign in front of all of the men in the room. "The Angel of Death. Bringing in a member of The Black Fang would've made us all rich! You had to go and mess it up!"
"We couldn't do anything against him, boss! He's killed so many of us!" One of the mercenaries complained about the situation.
"Hah?! I don't want to hear your stupid excuses! He is but one man against fifty strong!" The leader punches his subordinate out of anger for speaking out. He scowls while looking outside the hut, seeing Garreg Mach Monastery from afar. "We had so much time to grab him from Bern. Even if he managed to get half a day away from us on that blasted pirate ship, we should've caught him by now. So how did he manage to escape us like this?!"
Silence engulfed the room they were in. The mercenaries simply looked at one another with hesitant looks between themselves on the situation. There was something off about the situation that wasn't sitting well with them. Looking at their boss, all the mercenaries could tell that he was on edge from the whole situation.
"Why do we have to grab 'em, boss? It's making this job harder than it has to be!" Another goon shouts receiving agreements from his comrades since many people have died to catch The Angel of Death. The struggle of a week's constant travels to capture one man has taken a heavy toll on their health. They needed answers to justify all that they've been through. The leader motions for another outburst but he notices the state that his men are in so he restrains himself.
"The people who hired us insisted on keeping him alive. There wasn't any bargaining on this matter." The leader calms down while he answers the question. He folds his arms, recalling the people who hired him in the first place. "The people who hired us are a stubborn lot. No matter how we got him, it didn't matter to them. So long as gave him to them alive, we would get paid. Got it?"
Only a few people were satisfied with the answer that their boss gave him. However, silence engulfed the room once more.
"Boss! I got some news that I think you'll like to hear!" A few mercenaries barge into the room catching their leader's attention. The mercenaries make their way to their boss, showing them a Wanted picture of Nino. "While a few of our men were out scouting, one of them recognized the girl from the poster that our client gave to us!"
"Are you serious?! Let me see that!" The leader yanks the poster from his lackey before taking a close look at it. He takes a close look at the picture, remembering the information that his client gave to him. "How sure of you are on this that you saw the girl from this poster?"
"What are you waiting for? Tell him!" One of the tall mercenaries calls out to a shorter muscular man who gives a serious look on the matter. "She was a short lass, green hair and purple clothes. She even had a tome on em so they ain't a native to Fodlan either!"
"Is that so?" The boss turns to the men who told him the news with a hint of relief. "I must say... Good eye there!"
"However, she wasn't alone though." The mercenary interrupts with a frown. "She's was with another guy. A pirate I think."
"The same pirates that brought Jaffar here in the first place?! Are they in cahoots or somethin!?" The leader grits his teeth to the news looking back at the monastery with an irritated glance. He overlooks the area before a small realization is written all over his face. A strategy is coming to mind for him.
"You got something, boss?" One of the mercenaries pondered to their boss.
"The client said that Jaffar is connected to this Nino girl. This information will be essential in coming up with a method to help us capture him." The leader comments, readjusting his gloves with a smirk moving back to the table. The other mercenaries gather around the table each having sly grins at the luck that has been bestowed on them. "The perfect bait has been laid before us, men. If it works, we won't have to deal with the pirate fellow or the Knights of Seiros. However, we must tread carefully... After all, the knights are always on watch. We only have one shot if we're to make this work. The people who hired us aren't the type to be so forgiving. Let's get to work!"
Wassup my homies! So remember when I said that I was going to post more this year? Yeah, well that was a fricking lie. I can't seem to catch a break when it comes to finding opportunities to make time for my different chapters. I would like to apologize to all of you who waited patiently for these new chapters. Thank you very much for being patient with me. To make up for this, I have a little bit of a break this week so I'll try and post another chapter for this month. But please be patient if I'm unable to make ends meet. Especially since the next chapter is going to be a rather huge one so I hope you guys are excited as I am!
As for the chapter writing, I have to retcon a small bit with the dates that Nino and Dart will arrive at Garreg Mach. Since I had forgotten that choosing which house to pick was on the 24th. This was also caused by another issue that there's a time difference between when Byleth arrives at Garreg Mach and another day when they go out and explore the halls and get properly situated with all the students of each of the houses. I really need to do thorough research before doing anything. I apologize for that. For those who don't want to read the previous chapter again, Nino and Dart will arrive at Garreg Mach on the 27th. That's the first real exploration day for the academy so I thought it'd be the perfect time to bring them into the story.
By the way, what did you think of the magic system idea I had regarding how magecraft works in Fodlan compared to everywhere else that uses tomes? I wanted a comparison and contrast to make people think which might be better than the other and how Fodlan's style of magic can allow a user to use a spell more times as their Reason/Faith level increases. I know that Ezekiel explained his magic system in a recent chapter but I had planned on covering how Robin was going to use tomes in this chapter anyway so it was just a coincidence.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter of A Second Chance at Sanctuary! This is NexusMHX signing off! And I still don't know what I'm doing.