บท 4: Chapter 4: The rift

{Sorceress's POV}

The first night passed peacefully enough with my class dividing ourselves into the tents. Luckily, there were a lot of tents, more than enough if each of us took one for ourselves. However, none of the kids was (in)sane enough to sleep alone, so they packed up in groups of three to six. Most of the group was single-sex, though from some strange reasons, "Commissar" was tasked with guarding "Nazi" and "Miko".

And yes, I learned the habit of naming others by nickname through my boyfriend, who had been sleeping in the same tent as I did. Yes, Minh Vuong had accepted to be my boyfriend, almost jumping at the fact. He sealed the deal with a French kiss while bending me backwards. The feeling there still sent shiver upon my spine. Clearly, the time he spent watching porn and reading hentai had paid off, even if he failed to recognize that I had pulled his favourite girl proposing scene to him. Still, he was a boy, and a boy had little to no understanding in such fine romance matter.

Waking up in the morning was quite hard. The ingrained biological clock told me that it was seven-ish, but my own emotion feeling had told it to fuck off. I was blissfully sleeping in the warm and sturdy arm of my new boyfriend, and there was little that could pry me of it. Heck, even waking me up every day had been hard and risky enough already, and only Vuong was (in)sane enough to do so. Of course, the part where I loved him also helped a bit, not like he needed to know that.

My body stirred slightly, craving for more of his warmth and his scent. Sure, the Ecclesiarchy gave us some blankets woven with high-quality fabric, but they were still nothing compared to basic thick cotton ones in a heated closed room. Still, I had to make do with what I had, and there was only so much one could do for a field tent. Besides, Vuong was a good boyfriend, who quickly offered his body heat to keep me warm. Like any spoiled and new girlfriend, I accepted it a bit too hurriedly.

However, this did not lead to that and we did not have sex. We just enjoyed each other's company, especially when our love for each other was known and confirmed. Besides, I had the absolute proof that Vuong was no impotent, and he was as interested in making descendants as I did. Too bad, both of us were too clinically critical and smart, we knew the risks of having babies in a strange new world. Besides, we were just seventeen, there was still time for us to do hanky panky later, more and heavier hanky panky stuff. Now, all we were doing was to enjoy the last bit of each other's warmth.

"Are you awake?"

The calm and light voice of Vuong was raised, sound very assuring in my ears. He was my rock and my minder, as much as I was his moral support. Without turning back, I somehow knew he was still completely still, yet also wildly awake.

"Yeah, just did then… It seems like you are used to getting up early."

"Well, I have to factor in the time to wake you up every morning, so…"

I just "hmph" him, he should not have spoken that. A lady always had to protect her image after all. Sure, there were only him and me knowing this, but the point stood. There was no way in hell I would let my children with him knowing that their mother was a sleepy-head when she was younger.

The embrace around my sides turned tighter a bit, and Vuong held me firmer against his body as if taunting me a little. His upper body may appear sleepy, but his lower was anything but. To be fair though, the lower body of males was rarely lazy. I suppressed a chuckled at that. He would make very very fine husband in the future then, competent enough to earn a good job, smart enough to be profitable, strong enough to keep his check, and passionate enough to keep my gaze on him and on him only.

"Yeah, laugh on my libido all you like, you would not have such a chance after wearing the white dress."

"Oh,, really honey? I guess I would laugh even more, after all, the sisters would be jealous of your passion on me."

"Sisters?"

Right, I forgot, he was a boy. A highly competent, deadly, baptized-in-fire, but he was still a boy nonetheless. Without warning, I suddenly flipped my body back, lying face to face with him. That forced him to open his eyes, and he was definitely wide awake when my hand grabbed the budge of his pants firmly. I did not know if it was normal to have the budge twitch and get slightly larger though.

"This is another world, isn't it? And it would be a matter of time before multiple girls flocking to you, vying for your love and attention. You are a hero from another world, summoned to get rid of Darkness, so you WILL a fairly large harem soon, and remember…"

"I have you already, so I was in no rush to make a harem."

He replied with a slow but deliberate and firm voice, and he wasted no time to untangle his arms before lifting my chin up and sealing my lips with a greedy kiss. My hands had departed from his groin moments ago, and now they were grabbing onto his back. His tongue jerked a bit within my mouth, no doubt he was feeling pain from my nails digging into his skin… well, pain and pleasure. I could never understand boys in this matter though. They seemed to cherish both being painful and dissing out the pain at the same time.

Not that I minded, of course. He was mine, as I was his. That was enough.

Suddenly, someone called from behind my back:

"My Lord and L…"

His line was cut short with two very irritated teenagers staring daggers at him. It was a terrible experience for him, a junior officer by the look of it was about to suffer the wrath of two VIPs.

It was… lucky for him that I was not an emissary from Darkness. I would love nothing more than skinning him alive while having sex with my boyfriend right in front of his deranged eyes. But alas, I was a good girl, and Vuong hated excessive renegade activities. A bit was alright, but the excess was heavily frowned upon.

"My apology, I would be coming back later."

Still, he was smart, I had to give him that. It was unwise to cockblocking a bunch of horny teenagers, especially ones knowing how to kill.

Vuong grunted, clearly annoyed with the rest being cut short. However, at his core, he was still a trained operative of Security Bureau, Section Six. A junior operative with no specialization yet, but he still recognized the signs of summoning from superior. He slowly untangled my hold while caressing my body before finally sitting up. His undershirt was crumbled, but still serviceable. It took little effort and time for him to get dressed. It was enthralling to watch him doing so. The whole process was a nice balance of classy and badassery, it promised both friendships and raw savagery in the same package…

And then he handed me my clothes, which I promptly put on my body. Of course, I gave him a full alluring show of me wearing my uniform back. It was one thing to embracing me wearing nothing but my underwears, and it was another to see me getting dress. For obvious reasons, I found out his buttons via his not-so-well-hidden folders on his computer. The lust and hunger appeared in his eyes were more than enough to be a prize for me. I would love to counter them, but alas, one thing at a time.

We checked our gear one last time before walking out, and Vuong quickly sported his game face. It was full on business then, my "seals" were still intact, and his hyperspace arsenal was still 100% functional. We were good to go.

He stepped out of the tent first, clearing the way for his girlfriend. I felt there was something missing though, it was not dangerous, but it was something nagging in a corner of my mind… Then I heard snickers and chuckles, along with some feminine whispers. Right, I forgot this part. A female and a male sleeping together usually meant they had sex or at least deep skin contact. Vuong and I were somewhere in between, it was a sensual night, but not sexual (despite our frustration at just being so). I glanced toward the most likely culprit, "Commissar", who shared the tent with "Nazi" and "Miko".

There was a shit-eating grin on his face and deep blushes on the two girls' cheeks. Then I realized, it should be "groin-eating" for it to be something literally happened.

Boys.

"So, Vuong, how was your night? A gale of the blizzard? Or two? Three?"

"Meh, only one."

Vuong was goading his opponent into a trap, I just knew it. The ass-suffering smirk was barely hidden, and I was the only one knowing it.

"So, what is the first thing your girlfriend does to you this morning? These two lovely ladies here just keep grabbing on my biceps."

That was a jab. "Commissar" was one of the most muscular and fittest boys in the class, if not the most. Meanwhile, despite his training, Vuong was gearing himself to be a stamina- and speed-based fighter, not a strength-reliant one. His muscles were toned and firm, but they were less pronounced compared to "Commissar".

"Oh, she just keeps moaning and whispering to me, something about Don't stop."

It freaking nailed it. I just knew it from the beginning. Vuong was someone introvert, rarely speaking, but there existed a high likelihood that he could shut anybody down with a single line. This time it was not an exception. And I blushed heavily, wondering if he could possibly do what he had just claimed. It would be very passionate to have such a night. The activities that we could possibly do on such a night would be limitless.

My class quickly showed their support, by which I meant the boys were howling with laughter and the girls were grinning at me. It made me blushed even further. They just had no idea that it was because I was dreaming, not because it was the reality. I had no intention to correct them obviously, let them draw their conclusion.

Shortly after that, the Pope arrived with his escort, which also included "Saint Lumina". She was dangerous, I could tell it just by watching her. She paid special attention to me and Vuong the day before, most likely because she noticed us whispering to each other. However, it simply did not explain why she watched me like a hawk the night before. Still, it was not important, Vuong was mine, and she had to know that.

Sparks formed between me, the hidden sorceress of another world, and her, the saint of the local land. Of course, it was not a literal spark, it was simply an imaginative one, but it still told much about the unexplainable hostility between the two of us. One wrong move, we would unleash our spell arsenal. Though I had to admit, I was at a disadvantage here, the seals applied on my body blocked a good deal of magical power and my magical vein. However, I had a boyfriend, who doubled as my bodyguard (or a bodyguard tripled as my boyfriend and my executioner, but it was not important). He could not defeat everyone here, but he had enough skills to stop that Saint dead in her track if she meant me harm.

Literally "dead in her track". The hyperspace arsenal was not there for a show. It was used as a place to store as much weaponry as possible, and humanity was extremely brilliant in making deadly weapons.

I smirked, tempting the saint to come and attack me. I had no idea why she was watching me and Vuong, but it was not important. She was very irritated. And I hated irritation. Borrowing Vuong's muscles to take her down was one of the most cost-effective plans I had. Too bad for me (and good for her), my boyfriend had seen something wrong, and it did not take much time for him to deduce and step in the line of fire.

It was only then that I broke my visual contact with the so-called saint and paid attention to the words of Pope. Huh? Strange. He was saying something about training my class in the usage of magic. That was strange, the proportion of people able to use magic on Earth was very small, something like one in ten thousand. The probability for a magic user with meaningful magic was even smaller, about one in every a hundred. The Pope just said it, as if every single one of us had magic running in our veins already.

It was puzzling, but I did not comment it out loud. After all, it was me that did not pay any attention. Such action was highly… impolite.

"You didn't pay attention, did you?"

Vuong asked me after the Pope's delegation had left. There was no anger or annoyance in his voice, there was only serene acceptance. He had gotten used to my quirks, it seemed.

"Correct."

A not-so-silent sigh was heard among the whispers of my class. We were still standing in our place, which suggested that we would receive our instructors soon. I wondered if they would look like…

"… As it turned out, we have magic, or rather, we are given magic."

That got my attention. Humanity, for all their knowledge, had tried to make artificial magic before. I did not know the full details, but it seemed like the project had failed spectacularly. Since then, giving magic to an originally no-mag person was seen as "highly risky".

"Clarke's third law?"

"Possible. I'm putting my finger on genetic engineering or something like that. The point is, we should have magic."

"Should?"

"Expected ratio is one in five awaken."

"Power rating?"

"Among every ten, it seems like three to four at D rank, two at C rank, one to two at B rank, and hopefully one or two at A-rank."

"Seem powerful. I'm only a B-plus myself."

"But ranks are bullshit and you know it."

"Touché."

Silence reigned. It was a fact that everyone knew about. The ranking was a purely empirical measurement of raw power. That was all. Just pure and raw power, not tactical and sensible thinking, not how well they used it. Just pure and pure destructive power. The magical had learnt a lesson when a Nigeria private was able to kill an A-plus-rank sorcerer as the final spite. He was killed, but the powerful mage was no more.

To put it in respective, an A-rank magical had equivalent power to an under-a-kiloton nuke. In other words, he was highly volatile and dangerous. It made sense for the Terran to keep an eye on all the magical around.

"This is Operative Drakon-5. Serial number Delta-Lama-30-04-75. Authorization code Victor-Charlie-02-09. Restraint levels one to four are disabled."

Vuong whispered at my necklace, causing me to jump up in surprise. Hang on, since when had he been able to move behind my back? And why did he release my restraints? Still, those questions had to wait a bit, I was feeling a bit lightweight due to the rush of magic. It was exotic, almost as good as me watching my boyfriend sweating after exercise.

Well, almost.

And before I asked him my questions, he had already pre-empted that and given me the answer:

"Take names, kick arses. That is my request, can you do that honey?"

"The real question here is can you catch up with me?"

"Oh? So who snuck in my embrace like a kitten last night?"

He playfully asked me, which caused me to ruffed up… just like a kitten. Yeah, he could totally catch up and defeat me if he wished for it. He was the son of the Dragon after all. The magical like me still had an uncontrollable shudder whenever that name was spoken. My boyfriend had inherited much from his father, the tenacity, the stubbornness, and above all, spite.

I lightly kissed him once more time, the temptation of dancing with a sleeping tiger like him was too much to ignore. Besides, it was also a gesture of good luck.

The instructors had already arrived.

========================================

This society valued magic greatly. That was my conclusion when the day ended. In fact, they went out of their way to satisfy the needs of their magical, even when it went against common sense. There was nothing about dodging or running, just casting spells. The British wizards and witches had the same idea, and their regular forces were mauled within two hours. And that was before the involvement of Artillery.

Anyhow, it was just the first day, so the Ecclesiarchy was probably trying to see if we can use magic or not. Translation: they were checking to see which ones they should kowtow to and which ones they should sneer on. The second part was well hidden, but not well enough. Their body language had spoken much about it already. They were little better than the old Confederate of Wizards, a bunch of sexists and racists.

At least, they were still civil and polite to us, especially when a third of our number had shown signs of magic power. "Miko" and I were on top of raw power, and we were followed by a few more others… The second group worried me the most. They seemed to be drunk on the exotic power the moment they were able to draw it. Most of the mages could control it quickly enough, and usually, we would show little signs of drunk or high by the third time we drew magic. These boys and girls… they pushed their bodies to feel the ecstasy for ten times in a row.

Vuong and I were extremely worried. They could totally lose their control of magic, releasing the whole power into the environment. At the moment, their power was equivalent to a short artillery barrage, each, already, and there was no sign of it being stopped. Worst case scenario… no, I did not want to think about it…

At least, I had seen great signs of progress. Unlike "Miko" who spread out her magic over a wide area, I channelled and focused my magic into a single strike. Total power was the same for each of us, but we used it in a different way. She would be deployed for crowd control and suppression, while I would be fit for storming into an emplacement. Blame Vuong for my sniping style, he preferred being a dagger over a warhammer. It ran in the family, I guessed…

Anyhow, from my trainers' comments, it looked like my control over magic was abnormally high. I heard a few words, like prodigy or genius. Heh, I wondered what they would think when they found out that I had a lot of practice before. For some reasons, none of my class had mentioned the use of magic on Earth, and no one had even attempted to change the situation. They all knew the value of information then.

Meanwhile, "Miko", well, it was not like she was not able to finely control her wind and fire. She could do so, but for some reasons, she just ramped up her magical output for an area spell. I glanced to the side, and to be fair, I was not surprised in the latest. "Commissar" and "Nazi" were struggling with their training, being unable to call out an ounce of their magic. The two girls might have shared the same tent with the boy the mutually loved the night before, but it did not mean that they had become friendly.

For obvious reasons, the trainers' group being fully staffed with males did not comment it out loud. Sexist or not, they knew how to stay sane and happy after marriage.

My teacher from Earth was also a part of the training session, he spoke something about being able to protect his students. None of us denied him that chance. However, just like others, he was still failing in producing any magical power. At least he was not the minority… Vuong was also among the two-thirds being unable to awake their magical power too. As if he needed to be awakened, he was talented enough already. However, my heart still ached when the dusk came and he had yet to show any signs of power. Not because he had no magic, but because the trainers of the Ecclesiarchy had already shown contempt.

They were lucky, Vuong had already signalled me to stand down. If not, they could have been pasted on the ground already. Still, the faces they were making when they realized the two of us were kissing were wonderful. That would shut them up for a while.

My class let out a hearty cheer. For them, seeing anyone kissing was a piece of good news, especially when the parties involved were their classmates. No one had tried to pry anything from us, they knew that we were deeply in love with each other. The question was when not if, we would propose and proclaim our love. Rumours said that "Nazi" had made a killing on it, she bet on me proposing to him at night, after some emotional trauma.

That sounded suspiciously specific. But then, that was all betting about.

The dinner was trouble though. The Ecclesiarchy had already shown their attitude, two tables were set with the same food and drink. But one had definitely more food for each seat with better decoration, and the whole set looked a lot more luxury and beautiful. The other one, well, it had less food per head and the view toward the entertainment was seriously blocked. Discrimination at its finest.

Anger boiled in my vein, and I was ready to blast that arrogant Pope away. He even had the gut to say that the scriptures had written that the ones with the gift were allowed to have a better treatment. Everyone in my class knew that it was bullcrap. Multiple religious texts suffered the same, the ones who actually wrote them matter. The untarnished truth was secondary.

While most of my class loudly protested that, a fraction of my class gleefully accepted it. Unsurprisingly, those were the ones getting drunk on magic earlier today. They gave little cared about their less lucky classmates. No, actually those traitors even dismissed us, saying something about the superiority and the better. They seemed to have forgotten the painful lesson of World War Three already.

The rest of our class took the "lower" table in spite. The elite group scanned around the room… Yes, the elite group was comprised of the best ones in my class, Vuong and I, Class Rep and "Dealer", "Commissar", "Miko" and "Nazi". Our teacher was also considered as part of this group, purely because he was the elder and the voice of sanity and reason here.

The Ecclesiarchy regarded us little, the Pope and his Cardinals were pampering over the traitors and singing praises over their power. It seemed like their definition of the ones worthy, other than having magical power, was to bow down to their God. In this case, it meant following the words of the Pope. The only VIP of theirs doing something different, unsurprisingly, was the saint, "Saint Lumina". However, I could not decipher the feeling in her eyes, and Vuong had again positioned himself between the two of us.

Other countries, well, not this was the kicker, was trying to hide their reaction. But their levels of competency were a bit lower than the deceitful Terrans of the late 21st century. The Versaillie and the Volba were still their arrogant selves, though some less important figures in their delegations seemed to be more… apathy to our situation. The most important thing, however, was that the Empire of Gorgonia seemed to be bubbling in anger. Sure, they were hiding it with a façade of calm, but they were too calm for such a situation like this. Not to mention that their knuckles were cracked white.

They knew they were powerless to stop it. We knew we were powerless to do the same, but now I knew they had an apathy to our situation. For diplomatic and politic situations, that was enough. I signalled the noticeable figure to the Class Rep, who would try her damned best to get out some concessions from them. Her magic ability was low, but it was still enough to force the locals to pay some respect.

Of course, when I said "low", I meant compared to the horrific war that humanity had seen. Within the ranking of the local, she was right smack in the middle, not too powerful, but not a weakling neither.

The bards had come again, standing in the middle of the room and telling the tales of the wars passed. The group of magic junkie had fully enjoyed the attention they had, ignoring their classmates at their back. The Ecclesiarchy wasted no time to pamper their needs…

A rift had been made already. The Pope needed martyrs, not soldiers, not officers, not engineers and planners. Our class eyed them in contempt, knowing very well what would happen if one invested too heavily in front line army without bringing up the support to the desired level. However, none of us made an effort to tell the Pope that, he would just ignore us anyway. Besides, just like the elite group, everyone else was considering joining forces with another kingdom or empire. The prospect of working for the Ecclesiarchy was getting worse, while the idea of fighting with the rest was getting better and better.

I did not know about the other, but the idea to work for the Pope died that night. He had pulled back the protection detail around the camping sites, around our tents. Sure, the servants were still there, but there was only a tenth of them left, and they were within the worse spectrum. In addition, well, there seemed to be a staggering amount of religious symbols and scriptures scattering around the site, something about being the worthy…

Vuong was mad, I could see it. He never tolerated treachery, turncoats and traitors. Sure, he was an intelligence operative in the first place, but such a position was the place where loyalty was held as a badge of honour. Seeing his classmates turning their backs like that…

I pitied them. The rift they were accidentally (?) making would not be enough to save them from retribution. Nothing lit brighter under the darkness like humanity's vengeance.