章 10: Blood
Professor Renly had been staring at the door, wondering how a child had been able to peer through his spell. He had cast it out of sight before the boy had managed to call his name. Still, he couldn't sense much Arcana within the boy or girl.
"They aren't even at the level of Initiate yet." He mused, clad in his hazel black cloak that bore the crest of the Golden Stag. "There is little chance they would know anything."
Hesitant, he looked at the door one last time and left. He doubted that the kid, who looked no more than six or seven, could help. They looked barely proficient in magic themselves. He returned, entering the tavern where Egidius welcomed him back with a pint of ale.
"Found anything, Professor?" Said Egidius.
Rendly accepted the tankard and shook his head. " Nothing. Whoever killed Livius was trained… not even the spirits are talking." He took a seat by the tavern stool, ignoring the rowdy shouts and cries of the locals singing and brawling.
"I didn't know Arcana could be used like that," said Egidius.
Renly found a little smile."Neither did I. The Dean once said the only limitation to the Arcanes is one's imagination." He said, sipping the ice-cold apple crisp ale. "I suspect some unknown group did it: Assassins, maybe. But who can say…" his voice had begun to trail off as he tried recalling Livius's face. He'd never lost a student before. And the shock of it all had led him here, in Four Rivers. Renly had successfully pushed back on Quinn's effort to kick them out, but it was only a matter of time before he, too, would be forced to leave.
"I'm sorry," he said, finishing his ale. "Had I known…"
"It's not your fault, Professor," Egidius assured him. He lowered his tankard, frowning." Livius went off on his own in the dead of night. We've rules, and he—"
"Was still a child of eighteen," said Renly, sighing. He felt old. "The Dean will not be pleased, and neither will the boy's family. We'll be leaving soon, Egidius. I've already sent you, Logan, Zamtii, and Xefa your contributions. I tripled it for all you've endured."
"Thank you, sir."
"... you needn't thank me… not for this." He smiled and left for his room on the second floor. Inside, he sighed, looking out in the direction in which the lighting struck. No grass or trees had returned to that area. It was as if the Earth still remembered that horrid power that had descended, leaving behind its wreckage.
"... it was all for not." He said, shaking.
***
"Come on," Sura shouted, waving the twelve men forward carrying three large chests that required four large men to lift one. She herded them forward within the small cottage where a young boy and girl ate from a bowl of blueberries they'd picked from their garden.
"Hiya boy!" Shouted Sura. "I got your money! Seven million Gils. How's that sound?"
Zariel, who had zero understanding of this world's currency, nodded indifferently. "sure. Just set it down there, and I'll tend to it later." He said, enjoying the blueberries that exploded with a sour, sweet sensation on his tongue.
"Oh, come on? At least try to show some excitement. Seven Million Gils is ridiculous. You can have me for that much." She exclaimed, hurrying over to the boy on his rocking chair he'd carved out with his sword.
Aurelia offered Sura a few blueberries, to which she accepted and smiled. She handed Zariel a quill and stack of parchment and said. " now give us the formula."
Zariel never reached for the quill but touched the stack of paper. Suddenly, words followed by numbers, runes, symbols, and glyphs shone over the paper.
"Alteration!" said Sura, shocked. She hadn't even sensed when he pulled the Arcana from out of subspace. Dazed by skill, she glanced down, staring at all fifty sheets of parchment filled out with a simple tap of the paper. " amazing…"
"Arcana isn't necessarily about destroying things. If you focus on one attribute, you'll miss out on many things." He said, recalling the words his Mother once said to him. " Well, here you go. Nice doing business with you."
"... so what are you going to do… with all this money?"
Zariel glanced at the hungry eyes of the soldiers and said, "Buy a castle or estate in the nearest major city. Assuming those men don't try to rob me."
As if they'd been caught in the act, Nate and his fellow black brothers stiffened.
Aurelia laughed, though Sura wasn't. Her eyes smoldered like hot coal as she tore into the soldier, swearing every curse in the book, that Aurelia and Zariel learned a great many things that day.
By the time she was done, Nate and his Black Brothers dared not raise their heads.
"I'll see you next week," She said, waving them off as she left with her party.
"How long do you think they'll stay in Four Rivers?" said Aurelia to Zariel, watching them leave.
"Who can say, though, it's not our problem? First and foremost, we ought to focus on creating our Core," Zariel told her. "Your practice with Resist really aided your understanding of Spirit Control. If you get a bit better, I'll teach you how to—"
"See, I told you they'd be here!" Shouted a boy in the distance, rummaging through bushes until he was just outside Zariel's courtyard. "It's Aurelia and that silver hair douche."
Zariel didn't recognize him, but Aurelia did. "Thebes," She hissed. "Go away. You're not welcome here."
"As if I'd listen to a girl." He said, laughing as if what he said was the funniest thing. More and more began to show their faces. One of them, a tall boy, Zariel faintly recalled meeting when he entered Four Rivers for the first time.
"We were wondering where'd you run off too," Thebes said, shambling behind Alerio like his little lackey when he spotted the three large chests. He smiled. " Alerio, look. What's that?"
Aurelia snapped to her feet, grabbing hold of her wooden sword, she shouted. " Stay away from that." and ran in front of the crates.
"The girls got a wooden sword!" Laughed, Thebes pointing at the little girl who'd barely just started to gain a bit of fat on her cheeks.
Zariel stared bored.
"You're just a girl! I'm not scared of you," said Thebes, assuredly. He moved, striding to Aurelia. "Dad said women ought to stay in the kitchen."
"This is big brothers!" Shouted Aurelia, tightening her fingers around the wooden blade."Stay back."
Thebes continued forward when the silhouette of Aurelia's wooden blade clocked him across his chin, snapping his jaw out of place. Teeth whipped from out of his mouth, following the red mist that branded the air, staining the grass a bright crimson. Thebes staggered back and delicately touched his jaw, which dangled like a loose noodle. What echoed from Thebe's throat was hard and feral as he bore a shiek that stirred the ravens in the distance, batting their wings; they took to the air as black feathers danced through the air.
"Oh no!" Shouted Alerio
"Thebes!"
"Brother!"
They ran to him, shaken by the blood that didn't seem to stop. It was so much; Alerio didn't even know what to do as he stared at the pool of blood streaming down his clothes, staining his tunic. He was so scared he dared not even touch him, unsure and frightful that his touch might hurt him. He turned to the aggressor, gripping her wooden sword, which Zariel had carved for her.
"Monster!"
That was when her second blow came, the Blow of Mercy, Zariel had called it. Over his skull, she struck so hard the wood shattered, cutting through the air like wild shards.
Thebes didn't move then, nor did he cry or lash out. He stared at the girl as two streams of blood trickled down his brow and eyes, down onto his tunic and trousers. He shuddered for a second and dropped like a bag of bricks before convulsing over the ground, foaming at the mouth.
He was still before long; no one knew if he was still alive or dead.
Zariel whistled, "Nice," and ate more blueberries.
Aurelia lifted her wooden sword shattered at the center, about to perform the double tap, when Alerio hurriedly scooped Thebes up. Teary-eyed, he ran and ran as the other followed, weeping.
When, at last, they were gone, leaving behind only a pool of blood, Aurelia turned to Zariel. "They used to pull at Aurelia's hair or dunk dirty water on me." She said, almost as if to explain herself, but Zariel didn't care.
He pointed towards the boxes and said. "Come bring those things in. I'll cast Feather Foot on them to make them light. The rest is up to you. After that, we can work on your swordsmanship."
"You're not mad?"
Zariel looked at her oddly. " Why would I be? You can do whatever you want. I don't care."
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