"What?"
Everyone stared at Grease inside the cell. Grease himself stood as his hands held onto a piece of paper in disbelief. His face looked almost excited, as if something good had come out of… the paper he held.
The room shines dimly—lanterns and chandeliers didn't help properly down here. It was dark, one could barely see. The cages, the cells, were all over the place. It was a long passage-way. After every few steps, more cells could be cells, it felt never-ending, until you reached the one Grease was at…
Inside most cells, except a few, were blobs. Beings that suffered due to Demon Possession. Magic Overload evident in their bodies. They were chained with magic restraining cuffs, not allowing them to overpower the chains and cell itself, leaving the beings stuck in there.
"Grease."
A man spoke. He had armor like that of a guard, a sword sheathed on his waist. He took off his helmet, showing his long spiky brown hair and green eyes.
"We have enough possessed ones to deal with as of recently—no. That mad scientist has enough, don't you think? He's the only one that even understands how "Demon Possession" ravages the body, and what it even is…"
He argued with Grease. Only one man in this whole establishment knows how Demon Possession works and putting more people for him to work with would do nothing but add more of a headache overall.
"That's the thing, Gorou!" Grease raised the paper and pointed at the name. "Claire Kagenou has been cured of Demon Possession! Either that, or the Possession itself just didn't go! Either or, it's too good of information for me to let go off!"
Everyone present were guards. The scientist himself was not here. They all stared at Grease, wide-eyes.
"Someone was cured?" The now named Gorou asked.
There's no information and there has never been any information on how someone was "cured". All that's known is that Demon Possession, depending on the person, sometimes doesn't ravage the body, thus not manifesting.
"According to the Higher-ups in the Cult, at least! Jean had given them information that Claire Kagenou has been cured from Demon Possession! These papers come directly from them!"
Which is a reasonable argument. Jean works for the Cult and all information he gathers goes directly towards them, the Cult. The Cult has a way of working; they have priorities…
"That's why I say that we need to grab Claire Kagenou, immediately. If we can figure out how it stopped, or how it was cured, then we'd be able to use this information to cure Millia…"
Grease walked around the table and showed the paper to Gorou, showing what the Cult had directly written.
"I… still think it's better to wait."
Gorou pushed the paper away as he looked away. Grease eyes widened in disbelief as Gorou said what he said.
"Look, Grease. I understand you want to save your daughter, but you work for the Cult, as do we. We were told to prioritize that man, Noir, and his research. Anything came second… and while it'd be beneficial to have a healed one to further push his research, it'd only delay what his never-ending amount of work—"
A sword was pressed against Gorou's neck. Jean himself didn't look so bothered by it, as Grease gave a small glare at Gorou.
"The Cult made you work under me. You are to do as I say, you know that, right?"
The sword pressed even harder against Gorou's neck, making him bleed a bit. Gorou still didn't look too bothered by it, though. He didn't respond, though, because he knows that Grease is capable of it—of killing him.
"We are going to grab Claire. We are giving her to Noir for him to do what he needs to do."
And that's final.
"I agree with Gorou."
Another guard spoke up as he stared at the scene. He walked forward without a care in the world as Grease's glare turned to him.
"We may be working "under" you, but that's it. We were told by the Rounds themselves that our main goal is to protect the scientist and his work. We all think he already has too much on his plate, and adding more would be nothing but a nuisance."
He had black hair and blue eyes. He stared directly at Grease without a shame as he said what he said. Grease dropped the sword from Gorou's neck and sheathed it back to its sheath.
"You work "under" me?" Grease made a quotation gesture with his fingers as his body fully turned towards the new voice, "Whatever the Cult intends doesn't align with what I am here to do. If you don't work under me, I'll force you to do so."
With terrifying speed, the sword was pulled back out from its sheath and was pointed towards the new voice, who took a step back out of instinct.
"Grease."
Another sword was unsheathed and was pointed directly towards Grease. Another was pulled, then another, then another, all pointed at Grease who began to look around. Gorou was the first one to pull the sword, followed by other guards.
"You were chosen by the Cult by your strength. You went deep into the unknown with a goal, and while respectable, the only quality you have is "strength", and even then, it's nothing all of us can't deal with."
Grease looked as more swords were unsheathed, while he could take most people near him on a fight, all at once? Not a chance, he knew this, and they too knew this.
"The cult allowed you to get this far due to your strength and to further push their own research, yours being second. You were played."
"And you all tend to go with the cult?"
Grease commanded these guards. He's respected and is known as a strong Dark Knight, but that's it. Commanding—maybe that's wrong. It's guarding Noir, the scientist who's doing the research.
"We're here because of them, not you. Better control yourself, Grease. We work under you, but doesn't mean we'd betray you for the better of the Cult itself."
The atmosphere was so dense that it could be cut with a knife. No one in this room is really willing to back down. Not Grease, not Gorou, and no guard.
"Grease." The one who was still being threatened by Grease spoke up, "Look, man, I know you're worried for your daughter… but having someone that's "cured" won't immediately fix the problem at hand."
He tried to calm down the situation as he walked forward and lowered the sword, it not being pointed to him anymore. "We're not here to antagonize you nor anything alike. Your goal is truly admirable, but we're better off working currently with what we have. Especially with many of our bases being destroyed recently. We have to work discreetly—hidden. We have to be careful."
That's right. Some unknown people have been going around and kidnapping the possessed from their hold, killing everything and everyone in sight, leaving no evidence on who… or a why, even. It hasn't reached bases far from where they were currently located… except one, when it reached the Oriana Kingdom.
"We're not only against time because there's rising stars within the Kingdom, but we're against an unknown force, and we need you to be patient and work at the best of conditions. With this, you can also work towards your end goal."
Grease slowly lowered the sword and sighed. He sheathed it back up and closed his eyes.
"You're right… but if my position is questioned once more, there will be consequences."
He said as looked at everyone around. Everyone too began lowering their swords, sheathing them back up.
"Let's give Noir time. The paper says that Claire is twelve, no? Look, we have to capture her before she goes to Midgar… before she goes to the Dark Knight Academy there. We have two or three years to work with… we have time."
If Claire is kidnapped in Midgar, the chances of being caught are higher if things—crimes are done sloppily. If you want to do something of such scale, it must be done perfectly, in such a way that can't be traced.
"Alright." Grease walked around the table. "I'm going to continue going through the files. If there's more people cured, then I'll go kidnap her myself… and whoever else was healed. Is that understood?"
"Let's do something: If you find four more people that have been "healed" or the Possession just didn't take effect before Claire becomes fifteen, we'll kidnap each and every one of them, immediately."
Grease nodded as he fixed his chair and sat back with the files. "That'll do."
He was agitated—things didn't go as he wanted, but some would say that it's better. Noir is the only scientist, and adding more to his plate would delay previous research… and that's something that the Cult—the "Rounds" don't want.
"You're allowed to leave."
Everyone did so with ease. Grease was left alone after a few minutes of others leaving quietly, as he went back to the files…
"I'm sorry, Millia. I'll come for you, trust me… give me time."
Side-step. Duck.
No way to avoid, compress magic and immediately release, pushing the attack far.
Straighten up, using my sword to block a slime sword.
Using the same sword, push back and throw it up. A vertical slash would've broken it.
Step-back, reinforce my hand with magic and grab the slime. Pull, kick in the guts, and spin around. With the speed, let go, and with it went flying the attacker.
"That's it." I grabbed the sword I threw in the air and held it by the handle.
I looked around, everyone was panting. Everyone, as in my Seven Shades. We were currently in our "hideout" training ground, training.
"...even with Lord Shadow's magic limited due to the cuffs, overpowering him is impossible…"
Eta had suggested having cuffs all over my arms and legs. We had to destroy a couple more "bases", or as I call them, bandit's hideouts, to be able to gather the amount of cuffs required, just because we didn't have the materials to do the chains ourselves.
So I wasn't chained up, but I had cuffs covering my arms, wrists, ankles and legs. If we could find wide-waist cuffs we would've used them, but I don't think such things exist… yet.
So I was "nerfed", but my magic is so vast, and so condensed.. Why it was harder to manipulate, I was able to even use "Magic Weapons", but I couldn't form the Sphere yet. I have no name for it yet, as I don't know what to classify it as… but it's cool.
That Sphere takes a good amount of magic to start, but then it just stays as long as there are magic particles in the air. Doesn't matter how small or big they are, how condensed they are. If there's magic, it'll self-sustain and it'll also feed me the magic. For me to take it down? Condense it further, making it blow or using a "nuclear" attack… a stronger atomic.
I don't want to name this Sphere "Magic Sphere", it sounds lame. With how many uses it has, "Magic Sphere" makes it sound… like … I don't know what exactly, but it sounds lame.
Also, when I watched Anime and read mangas back in the day, the main characters tended to use the name of their attack for it to… you know, function. That's hella cool, but like, it defeats the whole point because if you learn a pattern, it'll be easy to distinguish, thus, making it predictable. That's something I want to avoid… but it sounds so cool! I mean I did it against Kaida!
"Hn…" I turned towards where someone grunted. Alpha had raised herself once more. While she was panting, she will'd herself up, not letting her fatigue take the best of her.
"That's commendable." I said as she looked up to me, "But rest is also required. Your body can only handle so much…"
That's a lie, technically. Whilst true that your body requires rest for one's muscles to heal and grow stronger… I don't need it. And it's not because I'm, y'know, me… an isekai'd character. No, that's not it. Since I was three, I've been using magic to make my muscles grow a certain way—a certain pattern. In a way that would benefit me mightily with magic and in fights overall. My muscles have grown used to it, and heal (with magic) in seconds. My body does it on its own. Since my magic is so vast, the moment a muscle needs healing, it does it immediately.
Alpha sighed as she fell to one knee. I still had the cuffs on, so I couldn't do the Sphere with no current name… but I can still send my magic towards everyone here, giving them a boost and removing their fatigue, if possible.
A spark of magic, before a purple ball appeared in my hands, of pure magic. Throwing it up, it shone brightly, before it began to disperse through the air. Small particles of magic decayed from the sphere and traversed towards everyone who was still on the ground.
It's been exactly two months and a week since we found Midgar's previous Capital… well since I found it, since Alpha and Beta knew where it was. Kaida's treasures were just as she said: Things that help her get stronger. The book itself was quite the find on its own. Everything else in her second cave was nothing compared to the book. Eta had that book in her possession and when I was not around, Alpha told me that she used the book to further understand the language itself.
In the other cave there were swords made of the "strongest" and most potent material for magic conductivity, Mythril, and while they were quite the find… they were lame as well! Weak compared to slime or magic itself!
The girls stood up. They were healed and their fatigue non-existent.
"Lord Shadow, want me to free you from the cuffs?"
Epsilon offered.
I nodded. She beamed as she immediately got to work on removing the cuffs from my body.
"Lord Shadow, how were you able to use the magic even after such restrictions against you?"
"Heh. I've been training with magic and pushing it to other levels… just to be better with it. I've told you before."
"It's true, Lord Shadow, that you've told us before, it's just quite frankly, unbelievable that even restrained, you're as potent as Kaida, if not stronger."
They've been training with Kaida when I'm not near. Some days I'm stuck with Nee-san, and they take those times to travel towards Kaida and train. They've grown stronger, and that's commendable. Apparently Alpha and Kaida have talked about something other than training, but I can't figure it out yet because they've kept it secret.
"It's all technique. It doesn't matter how much magic you have, if you don't know how to do it properly, and not waste energy, magic, nor anything across those lines… you'll grow stronger."
I'm currently eleven years old. My sister turns thirteen in two months.
"I've said all this before. Practice what you have and limit it—grow stronger without growing dependent. It'll only slow you down."
They all nodded, before all cuffs were removed from my body. "Thanks, Epsilon."
"Any time, my Lord!"
Epsilon grabbed the cuffs and placed them all in a corner of the training grounds.
"Anything you girls want to do, specifically?"
I ask. Most of the time we train or talk about magic, and while I'm fine with it, I don't want them growing to my mindset. I know how unhealthy that is. I do it for a reason, but they don't have anywhere to go, so I don't want them suffering as I do. That's a reason why I'm still with them, plus I also find it fun to be with them… that's just a plus.
"Lord Shadow…"
"Yeah, Beta?"
"I'd like to figure out a way for us, Alpha-sama, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta and I to live with you…"
"As in… the mansion?"
She nodded timidly. I blinked repeatedly. Live with me? With Oto-san, Kaa-sama and… Nee-san? Does she have a death wish? I mean not like Nee-san could beat them, not even Oto-san could, but it's just like… why?
"Why? Don't you feel… okay here?"
I asked, carefully. I don't want to be rude, but I can't find a reason for them to be living with me…
"N-No, living here is fine! But I want to be closer to Lord Shadow…"
Why are you looking away now?!
"I agree with Beta."
Zeta said as she took a step forward.
"Living under the same roof as my Lord sounds too appealing to pass out on."
Zeta, please calm down.
"Look, I understand where you all come from, but I can't just have you all seven there without a reason. We have missions—" I can't have you all under Nee-san's nose "—to deal with. We have goals. What purpose does living under the same roof have?"
"None, but transferring information and being able to to work under you would be better, in my humble opinion." Alpha said.
"Lord, even if we have to hide our identities, I'd do it willingly if it means that I get to be closer to you."
Gamma said without a care in the world.
"Look, while it would truly be beneficial, how would you even do such a thing?"
That was a dumb question, it's something I taught them myself: changing the color of slime. You can change the wavelengths of light with magic. Quite simple!
"Using slime to change our appearance, height, and costumes."
Alpha catched on immediately.
"Then, how would you be there, even? Only butlers and maids, outside of family, are the ones allowed to live inside the mansion."
"We'll be maids."
Should've seen it coming. This is just a headache waiting to happen.
"Look. Okay, if you somehow manage to convince Oto-san and Kaa-sama to have more maids working, then I'm fine with it, but listen. I'll only have one of you per week, because what's the point of our missions and this hideout if there's no-one to work with them?"
"That works with me, Bossman!"
"That's more than enough, Lord Shadow."
"As they say, my Lord."
"Yeah! Lord Shadow! That's fine!"
Okay then, one thing dealt with.
"Cool, but with that done… Anything you want to do currently?"
Alpha raised a hand, I pointed at her.
"I'd like to see what else you can do with magic."
"As in?"
"Hm… is it possible for your magic to take the shape of armor? Or for your magic to drain others' magic internally, leaving them empty, almost as your "Sphere", as you call it?"
I've tried to drain magic. So far, I can only do it with the Sphere because it's free, it's not inside something. Prime example was against Kaida. I could only use her magic once she tried to attack—her magic was in the air, not inside her. I've blocked magic… against Epsilon to be more specific, but I have to introduce my magic inside someone else's body for that to work, which is quite annoying unless I use an attack and manipulate my magic from within.
"It's possible, theoretically, but that means introducing magic into someone's body, and if I can't do that, I can't possibly do such a thing…"
"Why's that?"
"Magic inside one's body is controlled by the person, no outsider can manipulate that. I can manipulate the magic inside the sphere because the sphere itself turns the magic to my own. You've seen that I can use it when I try to attack, not before."
Alpha nodded. Though I'm making a mistake here: I'm following the rules I set on my own, maybe I could do so, but I'd need a better understanding of the world before anything else. Maybe some of these rules don't apply, but since I'm using my own previous logic, I'm limiting myself and my growth?
"But I want to know if you girls want to do something outside of research, killing bandits and training… something fun…"
They all blinked, before a war broke out.
"I want to hunt with bossman!"
"He said to do something other than, you dog!"
"Walking through Midgar Kingdom seeing the business and shops!"
"I like her idea, but it'd get stale… how about we go through the continent to find something else?"
"How about we go to a river bank or something…?"
"There we can hunt fish to feed to my Lord. I like it."
"We can try to find better materials to create artifacts…"
Everyone said something, other than Alpha.
"Lord. I think someone of your stature deserves to be somewhere where you won't be bothered."
"I agree, but he's going with our wishes, is he not? I think we should go explore!"
"We could buy materials and clothing for Lord Shadow, as he deserves nothing but the utmost best things!"
You're not going to use my money like that, Gamma!
"How about all of them?"
Alpha suddenly spoke up. She turned to me.
"Lord Shadow, do you think you can grant all their wishes? Whatever pattern it may be, whatever way, whatever order…"
"Of course, but I have yet to hear what you want, Alpha."
"I…" She lowered her head. I think she doesn't really have anything in mind, "I just want to spend time with you, Lord Shadow."
I blinked, "That'll do. Then let's do this. First we'll go with Gamma's suggestion. Walking through Midgar is something I've been wanting to do for a while, and it sounds fun as it is. Then we'll go with Epsilon, walking through unclaimed parts of the continent to do Beta's thing, which is the river bank… and with Zeta, we'll hunt for fish. That's fine?"
They all nodded, all enthusiastically… but Delta.
"We aren't hunting for bandits?!"
"Not today, Delta. We have limited time, it's almost one in the morning. I have to be back with Nee-san before five, else she'll beat my ass."
"Claire-sama is that ruthless?"
"You don't even know half of it. Anyways, let's go."
I stretched my hand for someone to grab. It'll be weird for guards and such seeing eight children, pretty much just walking through the streets of a kingdom, but who cares? We're Shadow Garden, they who lurk in the Shadows to hunt the Shadows!
Why are they all fighting on who gets to grab my hand?
Two years ago, this Kingdom had made peace with the neighboring Kingdom of Oriana. I don't know the details, fully, yet, but I am well aware that both Kingdoms will protect each other from any external conflict. It was all over the newspapers, after all. It is said that Klaus Midgar, the current Ruler, did it because "there's malice that we're not aware of", but it sounds like a lot of baloney. There's not much else to say, though, about the Kingdom itself.
As far as I'm aware, techniques, teachings and such depend on the country of origin. There's a student in this Kingdom, currently, Iris Midgar whose method is the Royal Bushin method, which goes against the one before that this Kingdom had, that is the Traditional Bushin method. People aren't keen to give something they've grown accustomed too lightly, so for her to be using something other than the Traditional is surely pissing people off.
Nee-san's fine with it, though. She's willing to learn both of them, anyways. But as I said, people don't like changing something that they've grown used to, so if Iris Midgar's style wins the Bushin Festival in any of her years in the Academy, it'll create havoc amongst the masses when it comes to all that.
Bushin Festival? What's that? Well, it's a tournament held here, in this very Kingdom once every two years… I think? Fighters come and y'know, fight. They do that often to prove strength and skills… In other words: clash swords, don't lose 'cus fatigue, win. Easy come, easy go.
"Using the slime as Lord Shadow says is really beneficial."
"It's our motto, after all. "They who lurk in the Shadows to hunt the Shadows"."
Epsilon and Alpha said as they walked besides me.
Yeah, while I did think that guards from the Midgar Kingdom seeing eight children in the middle of the night would be funny, I have limited amount of time—[4:30:31]— I have four hours, thirty minutes and thirty-one seconds before the house where I'm currently living in, explodes.
A gas leak? A fire, maybe? No—-[4:30:30]— Nee-san is going to notice that I never returned to her in bed. That'll do mayor damage not only financially to our parents, but it'll mean that whatever little gold coins I'm hiding in the mansion… are going to be either: evaporate, Nee-san could possibly snitch, or they'll be found and used to reconstruct the mansion back, all of which are no-goes!
"You know, I thought that the Kingdom would've been more diverse…"
I said as we walked through a random alleyway. Eta sat on my shoulders, sleeping. I was carrying her because mid-way towards the Kingdom, she wanted to sleep, and I didn't want to leave her behind… though I have a sneaking suspicion she did this on purpose so I could carry her.
"I agree… shops are rather… sour."
Gamma said. And I can't help but agree. They're not "sour" though, they're lame. They don't have anything that stands out. There's nothing of value or something flashy to catch someone's attention.
"I agree, Gamma. There needs to be something that could grab the people's attention, because this won't do."
Her eyes flashed for a second, admiration present on them.
"Yes! I'll figure out a way, Lord Shadow!"
I'm not telling you to do anything, Gamma… But yeah it'll be cool. Most stores weren't flashy, so if one came out, no matter the price, and was, y'know, flashy, it'd get people's attention in a heartbeat.
"It's this year?"
The person that held my hand, Zeta, asked. She won the fight (verbal) and proceeded to hold hands with me during the entire trip. I could feel jealousy radiating from everyone, and I.. don't know why?
I mean hey can you really blame me? I've never been someone interested in dating and such, so I am not well versed in this! Are they throwing hints at me? Probably, but unless they tell me out-loud, "I love you Cid/Shadow", I ain't believing whatever else goes! Should I even be dating? Probably not…
Anyways to what Zeta pointed to. I turned, and saw a poster of sorts. It was Iris Midgar clashing swords against a blond-man. It was really well drawn, I have to say. In between where the blades clashed, "Bushin Festival begins once more! Iris Midgar, Crown Princess enters the tournament!"
Oh? It's held this year? Hmmm… interesting. Who was the previous winner?
"Apparently so." I said, we never stopped walking, though, as we went through the Kingdom.
There were tall buildings made of brick and… cement… slabs and such. Truly impressive architecture too! But these buildings were just houses or apartments, such for students or those with normal day jobs. Remember when I went to that town with Nee-san? Well merchants from there traveled here, and from here to there. Goods are transferred all the time, and I can say with certainty as well: Goods in the town were way cheaper! Lower quality? For sure, but cheaper nonetheless.
There's nothing major to add. We weren't walking through any important place, in my opinion. After all, it was Gamma's idea to walk through and just look at the stores. I repeat, nothing major, but still cool to do, I guess.
—[4:03:56]—
Midgar is big. Things switch after those twenty seven minutes. I was now holding hands with Alpha as I carried Delta. Why the sudden change? Six minutes ago Delta began to complain that she wanted to be carried, and it was a sentiment everyone else felt. While I couldn't carry everyone (with my body), I said I'd carry someone else… since Eta was awake, and I knew.
Zeta willingly let go of my hand and an order was set. Every set amount of time they were going to switch—they as in the seven shadows.
There wasn't much to see, truly. I repeat my previous words: Buildings were really well done, peak craftsmanship. Truly impressive, as in width and height—details, as in glass and the strength behind them, to prevent robberies.
"Who's there?!"
We turned. Behind us were some guards of the Kingdom. They stared at us.
"Who are you people? Why're you walking in the middle of the night?"
Because that was Gamma's idea.
"Lord, how do we deal with them?"
They were approaching us slowly. I turned around, and everyone else did so immediately after I did.
"Antagonizing the Kingdom won't do."
Delta held tightly to me, as I grabbed Alpha bridal-style. Her cheeks turned red, her ears wiggled happily. I stared down at her, and she looked in an opposite direction…
"Let's disappear to the shadows."
"Wait-!"
"Don't try to escape!"
As I said that, we all jumped in different directions. Onto the roofs. I saw that Zeta, Eta, Gamma, Epsilon and Beta all ran alongside each other on a roof, and I was carrying both Alpha and Delta.
Yup.
"This is so fun!"
Your drool is falling on my outfit, Delta.
We continued running through the roofs, and I have to say we should've been doing this since earlier. I could see clock towers, and…
"That's the current capital."
Alpha said as we stared at a giant castle. That's all there is to describe it, really. Its walls were wide and large, made of stone and bricks. It had four corners that worked as watch towers, and I could see guards within, looking over the kingdom. In the middle of all corners, was the main castle, where one would assume the princesses and the… king(?) are.
We continued in our run, though. There's nothing of importance currently there, nor anywhere around. Time to head towards wherever Epsilon wants.
"This is the best meat!"
"No, it's raw. My Lord can't eat something like that."
"I agree with Zeta, Delta…"
"Yeah but cooking it is a hassle!"
"Lord Shadow taught us for a reason."
When we went with Epsilon's idea, we were quick to notice that there wasn't much to see. While it was cool to walk through the woods or in open fields, especially in the middle of the night, with a cool breeze, but, again, there was nothing.
While walking, we were able (we: Delta) to hunt down food (hunt: Kill and steal from bandits). She and I carried it all, until by pure coincidence we were able to find a river bank, where Beta wanted to be. I used my slime and made us a blanket, where we could all sit down.
"Let's cook it, Delta. It might be a hassle, but it'll be better."
Since I didn't carry Beta nor did I hold hands with her since we got here, she took it upon herself and sat on my lap. All I could see was silver hair—it covered my vision.
"Ay-ay! Bossman!"
She saluted as she went somewhere to grab whatever. Pretty sure she went to grab firewood. How sure am I? Not very, because it's Delta, I can't understand her at times.
"My Lord." I turned my head to my left, seeing Zeta's face near my own, she blinked, "Would you like for us to do something?"
"Yeah, to relax. That's what we're here for."
They always work too much on trying to "please" me, and most of the time I'm fine with it, but this time I am was my idea, for us to go out since we don't do it often.
Zeta blinked once more, before she nodded and sat down to my very side.
"As you say, my Lord."
Everyone saw that she sat waist to waist next to me, and an avalanche sans of Beta and Delta happened. Everyone rushed to sit to my right, and who won the competition was Alpha, who, just like Zeta, sat waist to waist with me.
"No fair!"
"I should be next to Lord Shadow too!"
"...Lord Shadow, carry me again…"
Gamma, Epsilon, and Eta said, in that order.
"To the victor go the spoils." Alpha grinned as she rested her body against my own.
"I have a question to ask." I spoke. Gamma, Epsilon and Eta sat near me as well, but unless it was behind me, there was no physical contact between them and I.
"Other than training and investigating the Cult—" They always tell me that they investigate the Cult and their possible locations, which is great lore for a book! Beta could do such a thing, no? "—do you girls have any hobbies?"
Silence ensued, and the smell of raw food was all there was.
"I like to write everything you talk about, Lord Shadow!" Beta spoke up from my lap, "Your stories, your theories… your Shadow Wisdom…"
"Oh so you want to be a writer?"
"Um… I don't know, but I do know that when we first met, you didn't save your theories and such, and doing it for you makes me feel useful for your end-goal…"
What end-goal? Being the Eminence?
"I thank you for it, Beta. Truly. But your writing these last few months has been outstanding, you should think about being a writer, if I do say so myself."
Her ears wiggled, I can't see her face, though, but she seems pleased with what I said, so with that I'm more than fine.
"Do you truly think so, Lord Shadow?"
"No, I don't think so… I know so."
Them ears be wiggling!
And I'm being honest there. Beta has a lot of potential when it comes to writing, as with the books that she's written of me and how I conveniently use magic, it goes really into detail and it's really well written. The potential there is outstanding.
"Lord Shadow…" Epsilon spoke up, "Have you ever dabbled in music?"
I blinked at the question.
"Yeah, I have. Not much, recently, as I haven't found a reason to, but I used to."
Back in my old world, while I didn't care much for music… outside of becoming an Eminence then, I played instruments to make myself a theme song for when I was going to attack and such! I recorded myself playing the trumpet, piano, guitars, bass and such just making myself a theme song! I never finished it because I died in the truck, but I had perfected almost every instrument just by making myself a theme song…! Except for the triangle, I never learned that one.
"I… want to learn from you, Lord Shadow."
I haven't touched an instrument in ages, hell will I remember how to do so properly, even less teach you!
"Of course. Eta."
"Yes, Lord Shadow?"
I turned to look at her. She was staring at me, waiting for whatever I would say.
"Do you know how to make Pianos?"
She shook her head.
Yeah me neither…
"That's fine, I'll teach you, and we'll make one, for Epsilon to practice on."
I said, and both Epsilon and Eta beamed.
"Thank you, Lord Shadow!"
"As you say, Lord Shadow."
Now I have something to do when I don't come over to the hideout: Practice in the Piano and learn how to even make one. Plus if I find any other instruments, I'll practice on them too. I must be quite rusty, after all.
Suddenly, Delta was coming back. I turned my head and saw that I was somehow right, she brought wood.
"Bossman! Let's get to cooking!"
Alpha, Beta, nor Zeta are willing to move, and thus, I am incapable of moving.
Delta dropped all the wood behind Gamma, Epsilon and Eta before she walked and stood in front of where Beta was sitting—my lap.
"Let go of Bossman! We're going to cook!"
Zeta never grabbed any fish because Delta had already stolen food from the bandits, so seating in the river bank was all she did after we arrived, not having an actual reason to grab more food.
"No."
Beta didn't even budge, though, as she got even comfier on my lap.
"But Bossman and I are going to cook!"
"No."
Delta whined as Beta didn't think twice before answering. The answer came immediately after Delta said that we were going to cook.
"Epsilon, can I ask you to take care of it?"
Epsilon stood up immediately and nodded, "Of course, Lord Shadow! Come with me, Delta."
"But I want to cook with Bossman~"
That won't happen today, sadly enough. You'll have to do with what you got.
Delta and Epsilon went walking away (Delta against her own will) and began starting a fire. Where were they going to get salt and such to cook the meat and have it well done? Not sure, but that's something for them to figure out.
It's relaxing —[3:12:53]— but there's limited time. How will we spend three hours here? I'm not sure, but I'll try my hardest for these girls to not lose their heads 'cus they do non but train and research stuff. Like it's hypocritical if I'm being honest, since I'm the one that needs said rest for me to not lose my head, but I've done this since my previous life, (I'm technically twenty-eight years old) and I'm used to it, but I don't think these girls reincarnated, no? I don't want them to suffer because they're trying to copy me…
"Lord Shadow…"
Alpha spoke to my side, I turned to see her. She was staring directly at me.
"When can we start living in the mansion with you?"
"Hmumumu…"
I am a plushy yet again! I mean it happens every night so I'm already used to it, but it still sucks at times. You know, I barely sleep. I don't know if you can tell, but since I have to tend to the girls, giving them materials, books, clothes, food and such most of the time, it's hard for me to get actual rest. Not like I really need it… to some extent. With magic, anything is possible.
You know. Something that's been bothering me quite a lot is how I've been trying to integrate things from my previous world to this world. It's not the same. I had said this prior, but they're not the same, some things are clearly different… there's magic, for one. And if that's the case, trying to apply everything from my old world to this one won't do me good. Sure, it's beneficial, especially showing how I was able to get "atomic" attacks, and "Nuclear" attacks using science, and being able to form weapons out of thin air thanks to physics, but… what if things just happen because of different rules in this world?
Look, I don't know enough of this world to make a conclusion, but magic is diverse. It has different benefits as it has different ways to do things… and if that's the case, maybe there are different types of magic that would allow someone to disappear or make their whole body vanish, thus ruining my current perspective on how magic works. Maybe I'm thinking too hard to apply things from my old world when they only work thanks to this world! My logic and understanding has to change for me to further pursue and understand magic.
"...huuu…"
But that'll be done another time. It's currently… eight in the morning? I can't see currently, as I am being held against Nee-san's neck. So yeah, all I knew was that the sun is out.
"Cid! Claire! Get down to eat breakfast!"
I heard Kaa-sama scream as she opened the door and saw me being strangled.
"Claire! Let go of Cid! He's purple!"
"Whaaaaa!" she yawned without letting go of me, "What's all the screaming for, Kaa-sama?"
She didn't even open her eyes as she asked. She merely held me tighter.
"You two are going to the Dark Knight Academy in Midgar, are you not? Why are you two not up then? Eat breakfast and begin training, there's only so much time!"
And that's a reasonable argument. It worked, as Nee-san opened her eyes.
"I still need to get Cid to skip two years!" She said, suddenly awake and with energy not shown a minute prior, "Get up, Cid! We have some training to do!"
I didn't even get to sit up in the bed before I was being dragged out of the room, followed by Kaa-sama who stared at us, a small smile on her face.
"What's so funny, Kaa-sama?"
"It's nothing. It's just quite funny seeing Claire doing the same thing day-in, day-out…"
Kaa-sama has seen how Nee-san acts every day, every hour, every minute. Nee-san would continuously have me training with her. I don't really hate it, since I've also been practicing with something I call "mob techniques", which are to further enhance my mid-level talent! It's scary to be hit, I know so, but I can really push myself quite far into my mob persona with those techniques!
"She thinks that you have a lot of potential, Cid, as do I, but… are you sure you want to go to the Academy as well? I've seen you're more interested in research and such… you can go to Laugus, if you want."
"Nah, it's fine, I want to train to be a Dark Knight."
Laugus doesn't sound bad, quite the opposite. Sounds like a great opportunity, but it doesn't fit with my goal, I guess. Since Nee-san got interested in the Dark Knight Academy, I've heard how many students there are, all quite strong, and if I want to be the Eminence, they all seem to have Main Character potential. Laugus doesn't appear as often in the newspapers…
"Laugus? What's that?"
We sat at the dining table as maids (One of them being Eta) began placing food on the table. Nothing really out of the ordinary, mainly being seafood with rice and such. Quite well done, as well.
Eta didn't look like, y'know, only thing that remained of "Eta" were her purple eyes, but even her hair had changed, now being black. She wore a maid outfit and was as tall as Kaa-sama. What did she do? Well she just acted as if she's always been working here, and both Oto-san and Kaa-sama believed it without a care in the world.
"Nee-san, Laugus is a laboratory in the college town where smart people—brilliant minds go when they want to develop technology and such."
"While sorta right, Cid, it's also THE college town, and it's named Laugus. It's the laboratory AND the town itself."
Kaa-sama clarified, Nee-san looking baffled in between her and I.
"Cid's not smart enough for something like that, Kaa-sama. You know that better than anyone…"
Oi.
"He's shown great potential, especially in the topics of Ancient Language and such…"
Kaa-sama didn't sound too convincing when she said those words. Look I know I'm trying to look myself like less compared to what I actually am, but there must be something that stands out, no? Like there's something that catches everyone's attention (which is something that I don't want)... no?
Wait I'm just noticing, this is breakfast? Seafood?
"Not even you sound convinced with what you said, Kaa-sama."
"Speaking of, where's the book, Cid?"
Fuck. I mean it's been over the three week period she set me up when it came to understanding the book (or at least trying), so I really have nothing to worry about, but I haven't been using it here, since I don't even have it. Eta does. She has both the books Kaa-sama bought and Kaida had.
"I traded it for coins."
That's no truth, but I can't have her knowing the truth, can I?
"Oh, is that so? Where are these coins, then?"
"I got pickpocketed."
"You don't even leave the mansion, Cid. How are you going to get pickpocketed?"
Kaa-sama can be pretty rude sometimes. But she ain't wrong.
"That's what I ask myself! I don't even know how I lost all of it!"
Even if it were true that I was pickpocketed, the only way for it to actually happen is when I go on "walks", and speaking off, I'm surprised Nee-san never told Oto-san nor Kaa-sama about that, y'know.
Speaking of, when I first used my "Test Atomic" attack, Oto-san and Kaa-sama got together with us and warned us about it. That "you two have to be careful, as that was one powerful artifact" and stuff like that. That we have to be careful on how we act, what we do and such. They were panicky after the first week, then seemed to not care since it didn't happen again.
"Anything you desire, Lord Kagenou?"
I heard a voice say to my side, switching the topic of me being pickpocketed. I turned my attention to the maid who stood by my side. Eta.
"I'd like a cup of water, if possible."
"Of course, my Lord."
She bowed down and went towards the Kitchen. Nee-san was eying Eta warely, almost as if she noticed something…
"Something up, Claire?"
Kaa-sama asked as she too had noticed.
"I've never seen her around… maybe I'm crazy but…"
No maybe, Nee-san, you ARE crazy.
"Oh, she calls herself Elly Edwards. She has said she worked here prior, and showed us information of previous payments we'd done for her."
Damn! It's been less than a few hours since we talked about them living under the same roof as I and they already have information as such at their disposal?! That's quite outstanding.
"She also said she's not here often, as she works with six other maids that switch every week or so."
Eta. I can't say anything other than I'm very impressed!
Such information in such little time and already having plans for all other seven is quite outstanding, I repeat: Impressed. Very much so.
"I see…" Nee-san muttered as she looked down to her plate.
Silence ensued, as we all ate quietly. The cup was brought and I said my thanks to "Elly", who I could feel was happy, as her hair wiggled, meaning Eta's ears were wiggling.
"Damn, that was fast, Claire."
Nee-san had emptied her plate, and was staring at me with daggers. Almost as if wanting me to finish the plate as fast as I could, and you know, me being me, won't do so.
"Kaa-sama, where is Oto-san?"
Kaa-sama blinked.
"Baldie is currently at his job…"
It's rare to hear those words, you know. Oto-san works, that's for sure, but since he's so… prestigious, I guess, it's rare to hear that he's "working". In the past years it's been like five times only that I've heard those words, this being the sixth.
"I forgot what he does…" Nee-san muttered as she continued staring at me… especially at how slowly I was moving the fork towards the food.
I have to say, while she's nowhere near someone like Alpha yet, Nee-san's magic has continuously improved. While she does what most people do, and that is use it without any technique behind it and boom, it's still quite potent, I'd say. She's on par with Oto-san… But both are miles behind the worst magic user in Shadow Garden, that being Gamma… and I don't think those in Shadow Garden have really trained for that long, merely a couple months… They just had a great teacher.
Me, of course.
"He manages Dark Knights profiles. It's why he has so much time. Few Dark Knights are given a higher position in Kingdoms, but when they do, he's the one that manages them. He checks how credible they can be for higher positions and how "high" they could be."
The Kingdom (I don't know about others yet, only Midgar and Oriana… if there are even others. Never really researched 'bout 'em.) has ranks for Dark Knights. The stronger or smarter one is, it diverts and heads to different branches. It's a bit of a nuisance since it doesn't combine the branches. It's either strength or research; protector or protected. Quite stupid, if you ask me. I don't even know who's on top of the food-chain currently when it comes to all that…
I mean it's obviously Klaus Midgar, but that's because he's Ruler… He's King. Who in terms of the branch of power is the strongest? Who in the previously mentioned branches is the strongest or smartest? Are there different types? Magic branch? Swordsmanship? Muskets? Artifacts? Magic research? It's too vague. But it's a thing that the Kingdom does. While, again, I find it stupid, it can be convenient for higher-ups to find people who work on certain specifics…
But why not combine it all to one, like I'm doing? Magic, Blood Magic, Ancient Language… There's so much I've done in such little time and with such little resources. What the fuck happens in the Kingdom that takes forever to understand a concept as basic as Artifacts?
Something Kaida clarified about the Language, though. I misunderstood something. The language at its peak diverts the magic making it fifty fifty, but again at its peak. If the language is used with fewer words, or its less complex, or its poorly done, or it has poor magic quality, it diverts thirty seventy, or even twenty eighty. The higher amount for the Language itself, while the other is the magic inside the object… which is absolute ass. You mean to tell me that it has to be well done, and for everything to be pretty much perfect for it to be fifty fifty?
I'm getting side-tracked. Kaida has been awesome to further understand things like that, though.
"So you're telling me that if I ever join the Dark Knights, he'd have a file of mine? A file of mine would be traveling through the Kingdom's system?"
"Yeah, exactly. The Kingdom asks for certain papers about you, just to know where you come from and where to contact your family if something is ever to happen…"
"But I bet there's a lot of private information there too."
"It's the Kingdom, they govern over stuff like that. Jean-kun, the doctor who came around two months ago works for them. While he really doesn't relate to the Dark Knights by any means, it's a way they gather information about possible Knights."
"Does Baldie give information about me to the Kingdom?"
"Both of you."
"Is it legal?"
"It's required. What if you do something that breaks the law and they only have your physical appearance? They'd need a way to identify you."
"And you're not against Kaa-sama?"
"I am, to some extent. I feel like there's a lot of private information, such as diets and such that's being shared. I prohibit baldie from giving that information, but certain "doctors" for some reason require it. It's weird."
"I agree. Why would they require such information?"
Nee-san asked. Before she spoke once more.
"Also how long do you plan to take on eating that small ass plate?"
"They require that information because one never knows what may happen, and they want the strongest Dark Knights possible. Diet matters just as much as strength and power."
"I'm trying to enjoy the food as much as possible, Nee-san."
Kaa-sama answered as I too answered Nee-san's question.
"But can't that be handled then? Don't you think it's too suspicious?"
"Nah I don't think so, at least yet, Claire. It's a way to make sure who's working as a Dark Knight and what their habits are."
"That's unreasonable."
"To some extent, sure. But this world is uneven. There's things happening with continents and a war can break out any second. Strength is needed…"
I have no idea what Kaa-sama is talking about, but I guess she's right.
"What are you talking about, Kaa-sama?"
"Some stuff Baldie says. How true is it? I can't say for certain, but I'd rather believe it, since he works sorta close to the Kingdom…"
"You sound like you have some knowledge, by the way you're speaking."
Nee-san was scrutinizing Kaa-sama.
"I have to be honest. That power we saw a few months ago near here has me paranoid. How can we be certain that it wasn't an evil do-er? There was no trace of what happened where it's thought that power happened. So, I think this world is uneven because there's people that are doing stuff behind curtains, keeping them closed, and could probably damage the lives of many if not taken care of…"
I think she's thinking too hard about what I did. I mean sure, that power might've been strong, but I've begun to control it to levels and such destruction won't happen again unless I decide for it to, yet I can't find a reason for it to happen, yet… unless someone taunts me.
"That's why Baldie has been so persistent on finding an Artifact?"
What? Oto-san wants to have an Artifact?
"Yeah. He's also been paranoid."
I've learned that Artifacts are dumb. You're using someone else's power, meaning that you yourself are not growing in terms of strength. No, you're growing dependent on something else, and that by itself bothers me. I want to grow stronger, that's my end-goal, I guess. Have the strength to speak and for me to be able to back it up, but with Artifacts, people can't do that. If, for example, I were to fight against Oto-san and he destroyed me because of the Artifact… It'd be fine. But imagine he continues using it, barely growing himself, but I took the time to grow further and further. At some point I'd be able to neutralize the magic itself from the artifact, making it useless.
That's why I find Ancient Language stupid yet fascinating, because it can work to cut off magic flow as proven by the chains, but when it comes to attacking, it's nothing but a growth stopper.
"Is he looking for something specific?"
"No, not actually. Just something to defend this mansion with. There are many Artifacts, after all. Some for temperatures, some for barriers, weapons…"
Wait hold up. Temperatures? Barriers? Look, I can manipulate things with ease just feeling energy and particles around me, but I have to be doing so constantly for it to function, unless I have a sphere up. So that sounds actually quite good to learn to do…
"Is he looking something similar to Iris Midgar, Kaa-sama?"
I asked. He might've read the newspaper after I did when I got that book, so it's completely possible—
"Yeah. Not as potent, I believe, but something of strength."
I'll have to look more into Artifacts. Maybe there's more to it than I believe. It sounds quite convenient, actually. With Epsilon and Eta, I'm sure we'll do quick work of anything, if handled properly…
"Are you done, Lord Kagenou?"
I blinked. I accidentally finished the food in my plate. I wanted to delay this as much as possible, because it means—
"Let's go, Cid!"
—yeah…
"I'm surprised you girls managed to gather so much information in such little time."
It's night time, and I'm taking a shower, with Eta seated on the toilet, still in her made form.
"Whatever it took to get closer to you, Lord Shadow, it was done quite quickly and with ease, too."
Yeah don't worry, I could tell. I mean it's even surprising that you're here too. I mean it's also a bit embarrassing since I'm naked before her, and I can feel a gaze devouring me, but I just act as if it's non-existent.
"Also, what do you think about the artifacts Kaa-sama mentioned, Eta?"
Nee-san is waiting in my room. I know she's there currently…So I can safely say that we're safe to talk about this topic here.
"Kaida's book went into detail on their existence and function, but being able to make a barrier as such takes quite a time to craft."
"What did the book say about barriers?" I haven't read it.
"Forming a barrier immediately as the ancient language takes effect is enough for an object to drain and take the barrier, thus when an artifact is manifested, so does the barrier."
That's quite easy then, the problem is using the language itself… that's reasonable…
"While at the end, no matter how you use the language, it'll have the same result, depending on which words of the language you use, it may have a better effect… not any better of the fifty fifty, though."
I imbued the water with magic once more. Compared to eight years ago, I can now manifest a dagger way easier, and even if it only conducts twenty percent, with my constant pour of magic, it's stable enough to be deadlier than even Mythril…
"I see. Eta, we'll take next week to further look into that." I said.
"As you say, my Lord."
We are currently here, and she's going to stay here for six more days… so things are going to be delayed unless we work at night… where we can go to the hideout… I think that's what we're going to do… at a later time, though.
"That's all for now, though, you can leave."
"I have to protect Lord Shadow as he washes himself, I can't leave right now."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"No. I won't leave until Lord Shadow is finished…"
I could force her to leave, but that sounds mean and that's something I don't want to do. So I'll deal with it.
"Lord Shadow."
I had my back turned to her, but I knew she was staring at me, so I just nodded.
"What do you intend to do once you turn fifteen? You told us you plan to go to Midgar Dark Knight Academy, but you never told us "why"."
Honestly I just want a place to be the Eminence, you know. Somewhere with such high potential of there being Main Characters that would be interested in my Shadow Persona sounds dope as hell. Laugus, as Kaa-sama recommended, just doesn't have that same hit, in my opinion.
"Darkness resides everywhere, no? Even in places where it seems light shines the brightest. People suffer because Darkness there consumes them unknowingly. We are to remove that darkness with our own… but it'll take time. Things can't be rushed."
Saying that, I defend myself as to why I'm not going there yet. I mean I still feel like I need to be stronger… Who knows, maybe I'll fight a hero or something? That'd be cool, I think.
"As you say, Lord Shadow…"
Author:
I'm going to be honest, I'm having a hard time coming up with these people to do lol. I'll begin quickening from here on out a bit. Most of my main goals are explained, and I have an idea that I really like. But yeah, I can only speak so much about magic and so much about artifacts. Everything I wanted explained HAS been explained, in my opinion, so the stage itself is set. Now it's just a matter of it flowing well with everything else.
ASB11: Honestly I'm not sure currently. I have a lot free-time outside of hobbies and work. I'm always trying to hit 10k words per chapter, and I hope to keep that constant, even if it delays development at times. But as in frequency of updates? Not sure yet, I'm just doing so with what I'm proud... but once classes start again, that with my job and basketball will have me on choke hold, lol.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.
CTN out~!