(CS) Chapter 10. D1. (Patreon)

Arik didn’t have to walk far to get to his next class. He stepped into Training Yard 5 to see his instructor, a heavily armored individual, swinging a sword around like a madman. No, not quite. The teacher clearly knew what they were doing, and each strike seemed to be placed intentionally, and would normally be very effective… if she weren’t swinging at thin air. It seemed more like a dance than anything else. There are training dummies right over there. Is this some kind of Skill?

Eventually, the ironclad teacher noticed him, and removed her helmet. She inspected him for a moment, then waved a hand at a rack of wooden swords off to one side of the yard. She watched him as he began walking over there, and then went right back to what she’d been doing.

Even once the other students had arrived, and the class was supposed to start, she just kept doing… whatever it is she was doing. It was honestly somewhat entrancing. He, along with the rest of the students, watched her dance in silence. The class passed by quickly, and by the time it was over, Arik felt oddly mentally strained, like he’d just spent an hour taking math lessons from Mr. Lapenbaum. If this happens again tomorrow, I’ll just take it into my own hands and start practicing what I already know.

Overall, the class had been rather disappointing, but Arik felt that he’d learned at least something from watching the teacher’s sword dance. I guess I should go look for a club to join.

Arik ended up wandering into the main hall of the Spartan Citadel building. There was a gathering of students up against a wall, looking at a board that held the names, times, and locations of all the different extracurriculars. When he’d gotten close enough, Arik found that many were just the typical things that you might hear of people doing, especially nobility. For example, there were clubs for various ball games, fencing, gardening, chess, and so on. While he was definitely curious about how a gardening class would work underground, only one class really stuck out to him. DELving.

DELvers were specialized Journeymen who ventured into DEL– Domain Enhanced Locations. DEL were separated into three main categories: Wilds, which were mostly, if not entirely, above-ground, Lairs, contained within caves, and Depths, which were underwater.

The club was interesting to Arik. Ever since the incident with the Blaze Elk, he’d been craving more personal power with which to defend himself, and the best way to do that was by gathering Essence. Perhaps the club would actually venture into Domain Enhanced Locations? If so, he would be simultaneously learning more about his desired profession and– hopefully– getting stronger.

To find out, though, he’d have to sign up and attend the first lesson in an hour.

He turned the idea back and forth, debating with himself about it… for about half a second. He signed the notice almost immediately.

Now I’ve just gotta find something to do for the next hour. Even as he thought it, he spotted a certain dark-skinned girl out of the corner of his eye. Nisha. She was also looking through the clubs, stopping to look through a few of them in greater detail.

Arik approached her from behind, nudging her shoulder to get her attention. “Boo! Found anything interesting?”

She turned to look at him with a smile, as though she’d known he’d be there. “Maybe.” She held a pamphlet for a cooking club up to him. “Do you think that the cooking club will be looking for people to help eat the food?”

He couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped him. She frowned a bit, pulling the pamphlet back to look at it again. When he’d finally gotten a grip on himself again, she looked at him with concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes, Nisha, I’m okay. No, I don’t think they’ll be looking for anyone to help eat the food.” Arik thought for a moment. “Can I see that?”

She nodded, and he looked it over. While reading the second page, he found his suspicions confirmed. “Ah, Nisha, I think you’d like to see this.” He handed the parchment back to her, pointing at the line he’d found. Her eyes bulged.

“‘This club extends into dinner. Participants will be expected to cook their own meals during this time.’” Nisha went back to the front page, reading it aloud once more. “‘Students will be taught to cook exquisite meals with high-quality ingredients, including– but not limited to: Processed Essence Venison, Essence Steaks, Essence Confections, and more.’” Her mouth was watering. She looked up into his eyes. “I could kiss you right now.”

“Please don’t, I think you’re drooling.” Arik smiled, glad he could help. Nisha signed up for the class, though she needed a bit of help understanding the purpose of a signature. She picked it up quickly though, likely due to her high Talent.

As they were leaving the room, she stopped. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I was so focused on cooking that I forgot to ask what club you joined.”

Arik just kept smiling. “It’s alright. I joined the DELving club. I’m hoping we’ll actually get to explore some Lairs.”

An uncertain expression crossed her face. She spoke with concern, “I’m not certain that’s a good idea. The… Lairs around here, there are stories about them. They’re told to us when we’re little, to keep us from wandering off into the tunnels.”

Arik was surprised. “Are there many Lairs around here? Are they strong?”

She nodded, but took a second before explaining. “Yes? It’s not that there are that many, but the tunnels around here can go a great distance. You can get lost and find yourself in a… Domain.” She still struggled a bit with Eyladian, but it was mostly with the less common terms. Really, she was doing quite well, especially for someone who apparently had only been learning for a bit less than a year. She continued, “Only our greatest hunters are allowed to freely travel through the tunnels, and even then, many of them choose to avoid some of the ones that have taken many lives.”

While that certainly was something to think about, it didn’t truly deter Arik from his desire to explore the surrounding Lairs. In fact, some part of him tingled in excitement. “I’m sure we’ll be fine. We’ll be with an advisor, and I’m sure they won’t take us anywhere they know we won’t be able to survive.”

She looked him over while they walked, reading him. Eventually, she gave yet another nod. “I suppose you’re correct. We can put our faith in the instructors.”

Eventually, they got to her room. Honestly, Arik hadn’t really been paying attention to where they’d been going, but it was pretty obvious when she whipped out her key and unlocked the door. “I’d offer to let you come in, but I doubt that would be looked on very kindly by the faculty. I’ll see you… well, tomorrow. Have a good afternoon, Arik.”

“You too, Nisha.” Her door shut with a click.

Soon after, Arik made his way to his own room. With little else to do, he flicked on the lights and pulled a book off the shelf. He hadn’t really been looking when he grabbed it, but when he set it on the bed, he looked at it with no small amount of confusion.

“A Guide to the Celestial, no author listed…” His frown grew. This book wasn’t on the shelf yesterday. He went back to the shelf to look at the rest of the books. A few indeed had changed. For example, Swords For Dummies had been replaced with The Art of the Greatsword, A Warrior’s Guide had become Path of the Paladin, and Hand-to-Hand Basics turned into The Bare-Fisted Knight. The Celestial book was the only one without an author, though, which was perhaps the oddest part of it.

Who would write a book and then not take credit for it? I mean, I can’t really complain, since all these books match me perfectly, but it’s still weird. He opened up A Guide to the Celestial, and found it to be a perfect fit. Even just the preface was a better explanation to his magick than anything else he’d gotten so far.

Arik read the introduction aloud. “Celestial magick harnesses the powers of bodies, much like our moon, sun, or even Olikros itself. While Celestial Essence itself has been accused of being lacking in variation, this is simply untrue. Celestial magick encompasses all that is, not only within the Upper Sky, but everywhere. A true user of this Essence will wield magicks without equal, calling upon strength from heavenly bodies the likes of which cannot be fathomed.”

He glanced at the index.

1. Common Applications.
2. Classes.
3. Celestial Bodies.
4. Gods of Celestial Magick.

Just one look at that made his heart pick up a bit of speed. Gods of Celestial Magick? Maybe this book will help me find out who blessed me, and why.

Before he could look into it more, the bell rang. He winced, realizing he wouldn’t exactly have time to delve deep into this book right now.

He turned to his drawer and dug through it, finding a bag to put his books in. He still had some time before his club started, but there wouldn’t be another bell, so he wanted to be ready. He shoved the books in his bag and set a brisk pace towards the Citadel’s main field.

He was early, as he’d expected, and sat down in the field. So far, the only other people there were a couple of administrators and students; probably the ones in charge of running the club. Arik got a couple of glances, but was otherwise undisturbed, so he pulled out A Guide to the Celestial and started reading.

As tempted as Ark was to skip forward, he knew that it would only leave him confused later on, so he begrudgingly forced himself to read it sequentially.

He was instantly surprised by even the earliest of entries.

“Celestial magic is the magic of stars, planets, and all other celestial objects else found within existence, as well as the vacuum of space itself,” he mumbled the words softly as he read, “As such, it can mimic almost any effect, though it is especially effective at creating large-scale energetic effects and, occasionally, terraforming magicks.”

If I’m reading that right, my Celestial magick can do… anything? I haven’t really seen that yet, but I guess it makes sense. Rarer Essence types are often capable of replicating the effects of one or more lower types. Arik continued reading, “However, no good thing goes unpunished. Users of Celestial Essence will find themselves plagued by high Purity requirements and Essence costs.” I’ve got one of those covered, though the other is a bit lacking at the moment.

“Celestial Mages will find themselves burning out quickly in fights, while those who walk the path of a Celestial Fighter will find themselves pouring large amounts of Free Points into Essence and Purity to keep up with their expenses. While a Celestial Essence user may not have great endurance in a fight, for as long as their magick is available, whether at times of peace or war, they are forces to be reckoned with.”

Arik continued reading for a while, becoming engrossed in the listed capabilities of Celestial Essence. It seemed to him as though his Starlight was only scratching the very surface of what was possible. From healing spells to meteor swarms, Celestial magick had it all. It was just… expensive. Starlight already had a Purity requirement of 7, and it wasn’t a very good spell, especially to someone who didn’t have a blessing like his.

What are the attack spells going to cost? He mused while he read.

Eventually, a shape came to a stop in front of him. Arik looked up and saw a young man, perhaps a year or two older than him, brown-haired and green-eyed, bearing a smile on his face. “Hey there, what’s your name?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m Arik. Sorry, this is just an interesting book.” Arik gave the other student a small smile.

“What’s it about?” The brunette asked politely as he stuffed the informative script back into his satchel.

“Oh, it’s just about the Essence type that I use. It’s a bit rare, and it wasn’t covered in my basic education, so I’m really excited whenever I come across any information about it.” Arik waved it off. “Now, you already know my name. What’s yours?”

“Oh, my bad, I’m Zach.” He reached out a hand with a smile. “Zach Tolatos.”