Seto woke up the next morning, invigorated.
He'd talked himself to sleep last night about his new identity.
He'd taken Bakura's snide comments into consideration, knowing he would be taking on a harder role as a High Elf, so to lessen that impact, he decided on a title that he would never even consider in a past life. An Arch Elven Priest. A Cleric, essentially.
An ideal version of himself would be a justice-obsessed freak who believed in a higher power. Right now, he scorned God, and maybe was even cursing them a little for reincarnating him here. So the twist was he'd wear robes as God's Messenger and try not to fuck shit up for himself.
It was close enough to the truth, but far enough away for him to remove himself from it when he needed to shed the identity when he was done with it.
He would ask Dartz later if that was a good choice, because 'moon imp' Bakura was useless.
Seto wolfed down breakfast silently beside the white-haired demon who was ranting incessantly about what 'great human' he would be, and the other creatures inched away to give them space.
"I know how to be a good human," Bakura insisted, gripping his fork in his fist. "I was one in a past life. I'll just do everything opposite. We have magical training today. I'll run it by the headmaster. How do I start transforming? I hate these eyes. Why are they so red, like a rat's eyes—"
"You just start. Maybe stop talking about it and start doing it," Seto replied dully as he set his spoon down in his empty tray and watched it vanish. "I think I want to be an Elf Priest."
Bakura scoffed and laughed. "What is this, a shitty video game? Come on. Demon Lord was a better title, you eighth-grader."
"I'll be a Demon Lord after," Seto said determinedly, standing up from the bench and seeing everyone migrating out the doors. "That was Dartz's title before he became headmaster. I'll take that title now, and work on it."
"You're hilarious," Bakura growled as he shoved his tray aside and jumped to his feet, walking away from him and following the other children out the wide doors into the bright sunshine. "Come on. I want a nice sparring weapon today."
Seto wrinkled his nose and hurried after Bakura, daring to enjoy the blast of warm sunshine down his back as the children scattered in the clearing and split off into their own groups, seemingly already knowing what was expected of them.
Bakura ran up to an empty metal rack and groaned. "Damn it!"
"Hey, God wouldn't like that," Seto said playfully, and he received an elbow in the ribs that made him cough.
"We need to put in a request for more weapons—Master Dartz!" Bakura choked as he bent himself into a bow, and Seto spun around, also bowing on instinct, thinking this man always managed to sneak up on them, probably because his level was incomprehensibly high.
"Boys," the pretty elf smiled so brightly, Seto had to wince. "I have something special-ordered for you both. Ready?"
"No," Seto said dully, but Bakura was eager. "YES!"
The elf's smile broadened wickedly before he produced two, large metal bear traps from behind his back, and they swung from his slender arms as he had them hooked through the giant openings.
"What are those for? Trapping giants?! Ogres?" Bakura asked excitedly, and Seto stared at the sinister thick chain that was as wide as his body, a chill running down his spine as he dreaded the answer.
"These are called level dampening collars," the headmaster said, and Seto felt his mouth go dry. Yep. Dartz's 'surprises' were always twisted and involved pain. Fuck this guy, seriously.
"That's not very priestly of you, Seto," The headmaster said with a graceful smile, and he knelt to gently set the collars on the ground for them, while a small crowd of children gathered to look on in horror.
"Those are for beasts…only…" Grasshopper boy spoke up in a tiny voice, and Seto felt a pang of fear go through his body. This was his first training day, and he was being put in a fucking…collar!
"So you'll know how to get out of them when you're put in one," Dartz replied solemnly as he gestured for the grasshopper boy to come closer. "Want one too, Ruusdar?"
"N-No…th-thanks," the grasshopper boy ran to hide behind the tiger-eared girl, who stepped up and said, "I'll take one, Master Dartz. If they put these on beasts, and that's what they call me, I'll wear one to see what it's like."
Dartz gave her a pained smile and swept his gaze over the crowd of fearful, silent children who were all shaking, staring at the metal collar which Bakura was boldly trying to fit on his head, but it was too big, and fell through his whole body and hit the ground with a heavy clank!
"Anyone else?" He called, his heart wrenching when he saw Seto step forward and give the collar a vicious kick. "Seto, these are standard issue. Please treat them kindly. Our budget went into them. Break one and it'll cost us…maybe a day's worth of food, okay?"
"Fine, I'll take one." The grasshopper boy stepped forward with a resigned sigh. "I'll get it over with. Thank you, Master Dartz. I appreciate the opportunity to experience this in a safe place."
The headmaster beamed and straightened up, waving his hand delicately in the air and producing a stack of heavy chained collars in the grass before them, and Seto's stomach churned. God…. This place sucked.
"How does this damn thing go on? It's larger than me!" Bakura asked furiously, and the headmaster let out a stiff sigh and began to walk away.
"Figure out how to put it on, and then take it off. Good luck. No fighting. Mealtime in 27 hours. Everyone else, pick a duel partner! I can't give you all the answers!" And Seto gaped at the man's billowing robes as he walked away. S-Seriously?!
"Great." The grasshopper boy sat heavily down in the grass and yanked one over to peer into it. It was larger than half his body. "Resizing spell needed, first."
"I've seen them on other beasts, so I think I know how large they're supposed to be," the tiger-eared girl said with a delicate nose wrinkle, poking the thick metal with a clawed finger. "Too small and you can't look around, eat, or bend your head forward, and it'll dig into your shoulder blades. Too big and it'll chafe your…what do you call it, chest bones? Collarbones?"
"Collarbones," Bakura muttered, rubbing his own pale collarbones and attempting a small shrinking spell on it, sizing it down just enough for him to pick it up and measure around his head. He lowered it carefully, his arms shaking from the heaviness of the mental, and instantly, Seto and the grasshopper boy held the collar up for him before gently lowering it down over his head.
"Too small!" The tiger-eared girl cried, so Bakura twisted his hand in the air to widen the cuff with magic, and Seto felt the cuff grow heavier and slip in his grasp as it widened.
"It's…heavy…" Seto strained, noting the grasshopper boy was using all four his arms to hold his side. "How's the size now?"
"G-Good?" The tiger-girl ventured, and they gently left it atop Bakura's shoulders. The metal stuck upwards so much, obscuring half his face, and Seto let out a laugh.
These figure-it-out-yourself sessions from Dartz were entertaining. This was gonna suck…
"It's backwards, you idiots!" Bakura cried, patting the lowered metal edge behind his head and lifting his hair to keep it from getting caught in the bottom lip. "Turn it around! Seto, can't you levitate stuff? You were trained by a mage for fuck's sake."
"Unpriestly language, fuck," Seto muttered and he tried to recall how Yami did levitation shit. He narrowed his eyes at the heavy collar and took a step back with his hand raised to cast, bracing himself for chaos.
Best thing that could happen was he'd be able to levitate the heavy collar up and turn it around.
Worst thing was that he could levitate Bakura's head clean off his body.
That thought cheered him up, so he focused his energy on his outstretched palm as the grasshopper boy and tiger-eared girl backed away fearfully, giving him space.
"I swear if you blind me, I'm coming back in my next 400 lives to haunt you, Seto Kaiba," Bakura spat, and Seto felt his vision tilt at being addressed by his surname so suddenly, a burst of energy left his palm and hit the collar, bringing it up so high in the air, it glinted before coming back down with the speed of a rushing bullet.
"AAAAAAAAAH!" Bakura crawled out from underneath and the other children scattered, screaming in terror.
"SETO! STOP PANICKING OR YOU'LL CAUSE A CRATER!"
"DEMON BOY, CONTROL IT WITHOUT LOOKING! IT'S BETTER THAT WAY!"
Too many people were shouting instructions at him, and Seto blinked viciously, feeling himself sweat as he saw the collar come barreling down at full speed, and he took a deep breath, using his other hand to steady the one he had outstretched, using his entire body planted into the ground to bring the collar to a grinding halt in mid-air, feeling the wind rushing from the force of his magic, raising the hair on the backs of his arms as his feet sank into the ground and made two large indents.
But the collar was hovering and spinning in place, inches above the grass.
"I can't with you!" Bakura fell over dramatically in the grass, and the grasshopper-headed boy collapsed beside him, wiping his brow with a shaky smile. "You're broken!"
"Shut up…I know," Seto glowered as he gently set the collar down and tried to levitate it again, softly, and with less anger. A deep breath, and a gentle…nudge… The collar floated easily off the ground and spun in a slow, agonizing half-circle. There. It was…front-facing now?
"Go stand under it! I'm not bringing it to you!" Seto exclaimed, and Bakura huffed, climbing to his feet and kneeling under the collar, wincing when it landed gently over his shoulders, and the metal edge came right up to his chin, with the heavy chain draped over chest like an ugly scarf.
"Yay. Me next," the grasshopper boy raised two arms and stood up with resignation. "Try to kill me for real this time, demon."
"That wouldn't be very...priestly of me," Seto said, and he received an odd look.
"Why? Are you converting?" The grasshopper asked curiously, and he was answered by Bakura's derisive jeer, "Seto wants to be an Arch Priest when he leaves this place to woo his guardian into admiring him. Everyone treat him like he's God's Lowly Messenger and he'll achieve his boring dream."
"Ok, Priest Seto," the grasshopper boy grinned and stood beside a large collar with his arms outstretched. "Hit mey!"
"Priest…Set," Seto corrected him, and he heard a groan from the tiger-eared girl behind him.
"Hurry up before both suns set! You boys are actually killing me."
The grasshopper boy knelt to resize the collar, kneeling in the grass and comically sticking his head into it and nodding. "I think I did it?"
Then, Seto levitated it carefully and lowered it over the grasshopper boy's bulging eyes, feeling like he was committing a crime, but thankfully, the mood was light, and there was another round of relieved cheers when the collar sat snugly on his shoulders.
"Ough. It's heavy!" The grasshopper boy moaned, raising all four arms to raise it up. "What other things can we cast on it, or am I being suppressed already?"
"Dunno, appraise yourself," the tiger-eared girl marched in front of Seto and pointed one finger at the ground, resizing the collar without even looking and turning to face him with her feet planted apart. "Okay my turn, hurry up. Worst training day ever."
"Agree," Seto muttered, and he tried using his left hand to levitate it, noticing there wasn't much of a difference. The collar floated obediently up off the grass and landed on her shoulders with a soft thump. She picked up the chain and draped it over her shoulders with a grimace. "Thanks." And she marched off to attempt casting on a tree nearby.
The grasshopper boy was leaving too, and Seto called after them, "hey! What about me?!"
"Do it yourself, big boy," Bakura rolled his red orb eyes and followed the tiger girl to the trees beyond. "You did it for all of us. Tie your own damn shoes."
Exercising his jaw and clicking his teeth together furiously to avoid shouting curses and insults at Bakura, Seto knelt and gripped the cold collar, willing it to contract, and it did—too fast and too much, turning into a tiny, silver ring that could fit on his pinky. Intrigued, he picked it up and took off Yami's cloaking ring to replace it with the ugly, chunky silver one, and immediately felt his senses dull. It felt like…a hangover.
Disgusted and horrified, Seto yanked the ring off and took a deep breath, preparing himself for it…and slowly slid it back on his pinky, the color dulling his vision as he did. Everything was oddly tinny because his hearing had been modified, and there was an odd light lining all the trees and creatures in the field. He was used to seeing crystal clear far and near, and now…he was operating on beer-goggle vision. Wow. This was…cruel. He felt instantly tired and wanted to sleep it off, but knew it would never fade.
He put the cloaking ring on his other hand, and stood shakily, walking slowly over to join the other kids who stared at him reproachfully.
"You ate it? Where'd it go?" Tiger-eared girl asked, looking him up and down. "APPRAISE!"
Seto swayed on the spot as a hot wind ruffled his bangs, and he winced. Ugh….
"Levels in the millions. Wow. That's still a lot," she sniffed, eyeing the ring on his hand. "That's cheating. Master Dartz said to wear it as a collar in case we're collared as beasts. Change it up, demon boy."
Seto groaned reluctantly and took the ring off, setting it in the grass and expanding it with a pinch of his fingers which he then levitated easily and thunked it over his head, feeling the hangover-dullness settle in the front of his mind, making him sluggish and irritated. There.
He swung the chain across his chest, and his knees nearly buckled from the added weight of the collar digging into the points on his shoulders.
"Hey, cast…What is it…hollowing? Fixing?" The grasshopper boy scratched his head with one hand. "Make the collar empty inside. They cast this thing solid." He knocked his fist on it and it made a depressing thunk sound.
"You'd think they'd cast it hollow to save money on materials," Bakura growled, raising his hand and trying to blow up a tree in the distance but only making it briefly flare up with flames before a couple of pixies zoomed over to put it out with dust.
Seto struggled to think through the heavy haze, and fixated on Bakura's collar, noticing a mesh of magic going across the top metal lip, and he narrowed his eyes at it.
"Wait. Don't move," he breathed, and he reached two fingers out to see if he could pinch a thread of magic the way he'd seen Yami do so many times. To his great surprise, he managed to pull one out, but it constricted the rest, making Bakura yell, "owowoWowo! STOP IT! You're fucking it up!"
Seto released the thread instantly and saw it bounce back into its original mesh shape. "I'll do it to myself. Got a mirror?"
"Go get it from Master Dartz," Tiger-girl muttered, raising and lowering the heavy collar with a grunt. "Let me try…." She curled her claws over the edge and let out a blast of magic which made Seto wince from the brightness of it, seeing it being sucked into the collar, and it sparked like it had been lit with a match. Hey… It looked like if she exerted enough energy, she could break out of it…which appeared to be her plan.
"Everyone step back, I'm blasting this thing off of me," she announced, planting her feet apart and clenching her fists at her sides in a power pose.
"They'll put another one on you if you do that!" Bakura cried, shaking his head. "The point is to get in and out of them. Didn't you hear the headmaster about not damaging these for the cost of food? If they captured you at a camp and you blasted this thing off your body, they'd come after you again! Do it quietly!"
Damn, he's right, Seto thought nervously as he ran his finger along the top edge of the collar and decided to sit down to deal with it, because even being on his feet was exhausting.
He sank into the shade by a tree and patted his brow. The sun that was welcome earlier was now roasting him alive because the metal was thick and insular. This thing was disgusting and cruel.
Don't…think about that… Seto told himself darkly as he flitted his fingertips over the edge of the collar, feeling the entire band of tight, mesh magic. Unweave, was what Bakura had said, and he focused on finding the beginning. There had to be one. He closed his eyes and dared to doze off for a bit while still trailing his fingertips over the metal edge, hearing someone approach him and give him a nudge.
"I figured it out. It's this rune," the tiger-headed girl knelt in the grass beside him and swirled her claw in the dirt, writing a Chinese character that he barely recognized. Oh. Shit, hey, that was a no-brainer.
"Alleviate?" Seto suggested and the collar around his shoulders lightened instantly, making it easier to move around in and even breathe. Oh…damn.
"Thank you!" He exclaimed, and she gave him a fanged grimace.
"For what? Nothing yet," she said playfully, giving his shoulder a punch and walking away. "Tell me when you figured the top part out! I'll work on the bottom!"
Seto leaned back against the tree trunk and passed the tip of his finger over a tiny lump in the metal, and he thought it was the weld seam, but upon passing over it again, it felt like a knot in a tiny thread, so he shoved the tips of his claws into it to pry the knot apart, and the tight mesh at the top fell apart with ease.
I did it! Seto celebrated as he quickly ran his finger along the bottom edge of the collar, now knowing to feel for a bump in the magic, and when he did, it fell away easily into two glowing, long, pale ribbons that hung down from the sides of the collar. NICE. He reached up and lifted it off his head, his chest light with victory.
Bakura saw him do it, and dashed over to him in a gust of wind, breathlessly raining questions down on him, "how did you unweave it? Where's the weak point?"
"There's a tiny-ass knot. Feel for it," Seto replied gleefully as the grasshopper boy and tiger-eared girl reconvened with them under the shade of the tree. "Your finger will pass over the knot, then pick it apart. Just did it by feeling."
The kids sat down around him in a circle and slowly began feeling the top metal edge of the collar, and after a long, thoughtful silence, the tiger-eared girl managed to unfurl both the top and bottom bands, tossing it off with a huff.
"I did it!" She said cheerfully, sticking her flat tongue out and Bakura was quick to follow, ripping the heavy chain off his shoulder as he kicked it aside with a hiss. "Done. Worst exercise ever. Buggy, you're taking a while with four arms over there."
"I'm—trying…!" The grasshopper boy struggled valiantly, sounding close to tears before he fell silent again. Seto was just about to help him when the kid managed to untangle the top ribbon with a sigh and said, "done. Ugh. Bottom now…"
After a quiet minute of struggling, the boy managed to undo the bottom mesh and he wrenched the collar off his head with a tired sigh, gasping, "never…again! I will advocate for un-collared beasts from now on! Who made those?"
"An elf with too much time on their hands," Bakura replied with an eye-roll. "Now back to my human identity. Seto, I was thinking I could take on my Japanese first name, Ryou. So call me Ryou from now on."
"Oh, we're that close already?" Seto asked playfully, and he dodged the lump of dirt that came soaring his way attached to a fist-sized patch of grass.
"Now I need to sleep," the grasshopper boy mumbled as he curled up in the grass and put his head on the tiger-girl's lap and was promptly shoved away.
"Get off me, freak."
Seto bit back a smile and aimed his gaze across the clearing, unsurprised to see the headmaster striding across the grass towards them, his hair flowing behind him with stunning beauty, and he stamped that image in his mind, thinking to copy it later.
"Headmaster alert," Bakura muttered, and he tucked his legs underneath him in a formal sitting position, already bowing, so Seto did the same, shaking off a sleepy yawn and sitting formally to bow.
Grasshopper boy and tiger girl sat up slowly and copied them, not really understanding why, but they did it anyway.
"Good job! I thought it would take you all 27 hours, but it only took you two!" Dartz praised, seeing four undamaged collars on the ground by the grass. "I heard no screaming and crying, although I did see a silver…ah, coin, flying through the air moments ago…"
Clawed fingers pointed in Seto's direction, and he bared his fangs defensively.
"It's my first time doing anything, can you guys lay off?" He hissed, curling his fingertips over his knees, his cheeks burning.
"Relax for the rest of the day. You've all earned it," Dartz said with a warm smile, bending down to pick up the collars and looping them onto his arm, making them look like odd, oversized gauntlets. "Seto, as promised, I have managed to obtain the location of where your Guardian is being held, and I have some…disturbing news. Would you like to hear it now? Or later? When you are less affected by the Dampening—"
"You have Yami's location? Tell me now!" Seto demanded, jumping to his feet and hearing Bakura let out a groan, falling back against the tree and making dramatic snoring noises.
Dartz nodded and pulled up a magical map, hovering it in front of them, and Seto gaped, admiring how it kinda looked like a floating touch screen. Cool trick.
"District 2," Dartz said, swirling his manicured finger over a patch of darkened, developed land. "Which is mainly…comprised of prisoners. He's being held in a mixed creature cell, and his verdict was dealt today, which was how I discovered him there."
Verdict…?! Seto froze, bracing himself for terrible news.
"Miss Tula and Mr. Ruusdar, could you give Seto some privacy to hear this news?" The headmaster asked kindly, and the grasshopper boy didn't hesitate to grab the tiger-eared girl by the arm, and they dashed away.
"They're killing him? What?" Seto asked heatedly, his eyes burning as he stared into Dartz's handsome face, waiting to hear his mouth say bad news. "They're killing me. They want to—"
"They're sending him on a Death Quest, yes," Dartz said plainly, and Bakura sat up, interested.
W-What… Seto growled, his heart pounding painfully in his chest as he lowered his head to stare at his shoes.
"The questing scroll calls for capable individuals, magical or otherwise," Dartz read the elvish script that he'd pulled up in another floating window. "A journey to the Healing Spring. Bring back at least two pints of the blessed water, and be absolved of any treason, exile, or crime you may have committed."
"Healing spring? What kind of bad RPG—" Bakura began, and Seto cut across him, furious.
"Why is it a Death Quest? Because it doesn't exist? We can make healing potions!" Seto insisted, wondering if this hell could get any worse. "How many people are allowed to go? Can…we go?"
"Who the fuck is 'we'!" Bakura cried, gearing up to throw another glob of dirt and grass. "This is a 'you' problem!"
"That was my idea, but I'm not sure you're ready if you're throwing collars 200 meters up into the air," Dartz said conversationally, closing the glowing screen and materializing a purple-colored scroll which he handed to Seto with one hand, his slender thumb over the neat knot.
"I'm ready. He'll come with," Seto jerked his clawed thumb at Bakura, who shook his head angrily.
"Hm. Let's think. NO," Bakura cried, throwing dirt for real as Seto side-stepped it with grace and sneered at him, "You want to level down and become human? This is how. Come with me."
Dartz nodded and pointed at the scroll, "the party caps out at 500 people. You may register just as it is ending, as party members 499, and 500. Take this time to learn the terrain, the surrounding villages, and travel to the spring by yourselves first. Come back unscathed, and then maybe I'll consider letting you register."
Seto blinked.
Bakura blinked.
And they both reacted at the same time, "you're making us go twice?!"
"Yes." The headmaster replied calmly, and Seto's mouth dropped open. What the f—this guy was insane! First training with collars and ….grinding hard quests…twice?!
"Now come to the library and study up on creatures you will encounter on the way," Dartz called over his shoulder with a casual wave. "Hurry, you're wasting light. The longer you stand there, the more people will register, and the less time you will have to learn."
Seto stood there, shaking and gripping the quest scroll while Bakura leapt to his feet and gave him a hard shove into the tree trunk.
"You want to get us killed?!" Bakura shrieked, gripping Seto's shirt and shaking him back and forth until he became a blur. "How is this supposed to make me human? It sounds like a suicide mission you want to go on for your stupid mage guardian! Don't drag me into it!"
"Do you…remember what he said about soul signatures?" Seto asked through numb lips when Bakura finally stopped shaking him. "People need to know us as our new identities. How do we do that when people don't even know us as we are now?! We need to establish our True Selves first on this journey, and I'll complete the trek again as many times as I need to, as Priest—"
"Okay. You've officially…" Bakura made a swirling sign at his temple and stalked off across the grass. "See you in the library!"
Seto glanced down at the scroll in his hand and unfurled it, ignoring all the gibberish text and seeing a red number inked at the very bottom that changed the second he laid eyes on it.
24/500
And it went up again.
25/500
Out of 500, that didn't seem like a lot, but he needed to make it to the spring and back, in time to sign up.
He rolled the scroll up and gripped it in his tiny fist, resolving to learn as much as possible because Dartz was keen on letting them leave.
Author's note:
Man I hate grinding quests, I feel that.