(CS) Interlude 1. D1 (Patreon)

“For the love of the gods, would you shut that mewling Beast up, Avigayl!? It’ll wake the students.” The darkness of the Citadel’s hidden halls obscured the man’s expression, but the heavy Hulendorian accent gave away its true source.

“Aww, but it’s so cute! Can I keep it? Pleeeaaaase?!” Avigayl stroked the small, wildly trembling Essence Beast’s fur. It didn’t dare do as much as flinch.

“No. The last time you were allowed to keep a Beast in the Citadel, we had to send a team in to fix the water damage because it managed to turn on your sink and drown itself while you were away. Besides, remember how much money this thing cost. I know that I certainly couldn’t afford even a single one of these brats.” Johnseph scoffed, recalling the ridiculous price tag associated with the Spartan Citadel’s requisition to acquire not just one, but thousands of Essence Beasts. “Anything with Pure Essence is extremely hard to come by, especially in the form of a Beast, even if they’re just something as small as an Essence Badger. No, this Beast here has a specific purpose, and we’re here to fulfill it. Now let’s get our job done.”

“Hmph, you never let me have any fun, Joe!” She despaired. Of course she wouldn’t be allowed to keep the pet. The faculty here were just no fun. Sure, she scared the living hells out of anything with an instinctual aversion to danger and a sense for Essence, and sure, she had some very slight psychopathic tendencies, but those factors didn’t stop the Pedagogue from appreciating cute things when she saw them. She looked back down to the adorable Essence Beast in her arms, the only source of light in the stairwell. Awww, I just wanna squeeze you so hard that your eyes just go pop!

The big man gritted his teeth, though she couldn’t see it. “It’s John, Ms. Klandios.”

“Sure thing, Johnny.”

The big guy behind her huffed, but continued following her up the darkened stairwell. She grinned. Johnny was fun to mess with. He always took her seriously, and was dedicated to always getting the job done, which meant he never stormed off like the others.

Honestly, with the number of harassment complaints he’d filed against her, Avigayl was slightly surprised that she hadn’t been fired already, but where else would the headmaster find someone with the grit, skills (both Essence-based and regular), and slight insanity required to rip Essence Beasts apart in front of students to show them what their organs looked like? Plus, the headmaster loved her like a daughter. Why else would the old fart have set guards up outside her living quarters? They even went with her whenever she was heading out!

“You really need to get a better hold on your loose Essence, woman. It’s forming a pseudo-aura around you. Even regular people can sense the danger at this point,” Johnseph scolded.

She pouted back at him. “We can’t all have good enough Essence control to pretend we’re 2nd Degree. We all have our weaknesses, Mr. Girillen.” Avigayl Klandios felt a spike of danger behind her, and a thrill ran down her spine. Not one of fear, no, the man behind her could certainly turn her into paste in an instant with his insane Physique multiplier, but that just excited her. It was fun, playing with fire, and she felt that it was even more entertaining when she got burned.

“Do. Not. Use that name.” The danger she’d felt just a moment before, warming her back like a campfire, fell away. It was disappointing, but she knew she’d get another chance later. “I’m no Girillen anymore.”

“Then why haven’t you taken another name? The resources are there, yet you haven’t removed yourself from your old family’s records and you haven’t scrubbed your history with them. John, this is a problem you need to solve, and sooner, rather than later. If you wait too long, it could bring havoc down upon not only you, but the Citadel, too.”

Avigayl Klandios was serious about very few things, but one of them was the Citadel, and the headmaster who led it. She’d been kicked out of not only her Journeymen party, but her guild, too. She was lost, and had nowhere to go. Then, out of the blue, a random geezer walked across the street to stop her from ramming her head into a pole. It turned out that he’d been following her, which she completely understood. After all, following people was one of her favorite hobbies. They spoke briefly, and then the man asked her to teach at a school he was founding. At first, she’d been all like, “Teach? No way!” But then she thought about it for another half-tonce, remembered that she had no source of income, no family, no friends, and no fallbacks, and took him up on his offer. So far, she’d thoroughly enjoyed herself.

The big guy went silent for a while, then sighed and muttered under his breath. She heard it, of course, due to her stats. “Don’t I know it.”

The rest of their walk went by in silence.

Eventually, they reached the “secret” top floor of the Citadel, where a large runic array had been set up. Dozens of creatures, all with golden eyes and fur, were incapacitated and chained to the floor. The one they were carrying was the last of them. They set it in its place, and gave a nod to the mages, who activated the large-scale ritual.

The entire fifth floor of the Spartan Citadel lit up with a bright, golden light, as pure magic was fed into the ritual by the Pure Divine Beasts. A similar phenomena was seen on the outside of the building, as runes activated all across it, fed by the same Pure Essence.

A pressure built within the entire building as its ambient Essence was forcibly increased tenfold. The students, of course, would never notice outside of their Waking Dreams tonight, as none of them were anywhere near the level required to feel such an occurrence, even one as severe as that which was currently happening. The change would just be played off as an odd– but not harmful– phenomena. The Tier 3 receptionists, though, did feel it. Each of them briefly stopped to take a look around themselves and just feel the power, but then went right back to their job, observing the corridors with their Scrying magicks, assuring the safety of the students. The Tier 4 teachers also noticed, but most of them were aiding in the enactment of the ritual, so other than a couple grins, they made no outward reactions to the Essence.

After a few moments of making sure the ritual went off without a hitch, Johnseph stomped over towards the headmaster of the Citadel, Jerom Spartan. Leo Spartan had been the founder of the Spartan Citadel, yes, but Jerom, his brother, had been along for the ride the whole time. He’d understood the vision, and had the requisite Skills to accomplish his brothers goals, even on his own. As such, he’d been elected unanimously to the position of headmaster by the staff who’d already been inducted at that point, Johnseph and Avigayl included.

Johnseph ground to a halt in front of the frail old headmaster. “Sir, I’d like to file a complaint about a coworker.”