Spoiler :

Sadly something came up and this fic had to be pushed to the side, luckily it doesn't to seem to have that many fans so there shouldn't be that many people angry with me

;)

Anyway once again here is my one-shot Bitter Blood and those that read Behemoth Rodeo may or may not hold a major clue/giveaway especially if they remember a certain character, because that character is not unrelated to one of the characters in Bitter Blood.

Although I feel it is a bit of a failure hopefully you will still find it enjoyable to read it.

The Ridiculously Long Ceremony

(Wilhelm Dragonsong)

It was my belief that one should only regret after a decision has not only been made but followed through. But although there was still a chance to back out in my mind things as serious as those involving oaths were an exception to that.

In such cases one can easily regret even before the last line had been signed for they are matters involving honor. And with such a complicated thing as honor not only regrets but especially apprehension is inevitable.

Such feelings are good things though for it ensures you never take the decisions that involve them too lightly or for granted. So at least some of such feelings is expected.

In my experience only if your gut instincts are screaming at you loudly and often. Or perhaps achingly whispering to you at a low consistency that one should rethink making such a serious decision once the initial choice has been started.

Hearing the expected question I was a bit uneasy but my feelings were nowhere near what it would take for me to risk the loss of honor let alone want to.

So I steadied myself by controlling my breath until I was fell in a semi meditative state. Then I prepared myself to reply.

This mainly involved adding a bit of power to my voice whilst keeping it in a neutral almost chanting rhythm. This was necessary for a grand magus such as myself to give events such as these prestige. Even though there was no one there learned enough to know what I was doing besides myself, I still did it out of principle.

I didn’t find adding my power to my voice that difficult a task, in fact I had had done it so often and for so long that it had become almost easy as breathing. The true challenge of this ceremony lay in the use and type of language.

If one were to try and read the simplest aspect of any of these ancient rituals it would be difficult even if one is a scholar well versed in the ancient tongue. Even if you were reading the completely translated and simplified/streamlined version.

This is first of all because apparently the ancient humans thought the more words the better. They would use twenty when really just one or two or even one would have accomplished their goals much better.

This is partly for practical reasons. Because of their more primitive magic knowledge, during that time, the longer you drew a spell out the more powerful it would be, but it was also because obviously, large flashy bangs and whistles in your magic accompanied by other flourishes such as epic flamboyant hand gestures were fashionable.

The other reason for the over complicated language was back then apparently they were all quite obsessed with honor and etiquette to the point that they would get touchy about the slightest things, and emotional to the point that they would kill for them.

I myself was born just as the last remnants were starting to fade and as the human side of my family is quite old fashioned and slow to change I grew up learning a lot of it naturally.

It was tiring and annoying at the time but boy has it sure come in unexpectedly handy in my chosen occupation. While it does take up a lot of time and it is extremely out of date, especially since the speed of magic casting has been getting quicker all the time but there are more benefits then you would think.

First of all to ordinary folk it can bring the illusion that magic is greater and more mysterious then it really is which I am told can really come in handy if you want to convince a stubborn peasant type to do something, you awe them to the point that they become obedient.

Second of all and more importantly tradition has its own magic. The more times something is repeated the more binding it becomes and the more powerful it becomes. When you perform a ceremony it is necessary if not at least convenient to incorporate some traditions as that way the ritual practically powers itself.

This may change in the future as if eventually all civilizations do not come to an end modern times will surpass ancient times in length and new traditions will be more firmly formed.

It is also good for impressing certain kinds of nobles and other wealthy folk with too much time on their hands. But even if they are impressed they usually don’t know what I am saying, I fondly remember this one time I insulted this one arrogant noble pup to his face and he thanked me for it.

Obviously I am not going to treat my almost apprentice in the same way. Whenever I say I spoke in an ancient manner the words I share with you are far from being the ones I had actually said. This is definitely for your own good as the language is enough to give anyone headaches.

Actually when I spoke to Vanessa while out loud I was speaking the mostly dramatic nonsense that was an ancient styled ceremony I was also translating at the same time in my head and then telepathically sending her the translation as well as the responses she should when necessary but as simplified as possible.

“I am honored to accept you as my apprentice”

is what I basically said if you cut out all the flowery prose about just how honored I was and why I was honored and why she should be honored etc.

To give you taste of the prose I shall attempt to translate it again here more exactly7=despite my burgeoning headache:

“Verily pleased stand accordingly this greatly lacking in emendable self that thou hath answered mine hopeful beckons whilst advocating thine peaceable side to thine nature in addition to your obvious firm delightful patience and so to …”

oh never mind.

But to continue just when I had nearly succeeded in the great feat of getting that large mouthful out whilst translating and conveying it to Vanessa I had a slight slip when I felt the surprise of the crowds and the stunned shocked anger of Vanessa’s father. Though I had steeled my mind I still became slightly distracted but I quickly managed to get ahold of myself and blocked off everything except Vanessa and the ceremony.

So focused on her was I that when she started the carefully les not she stumble reply that I fed her that was basically my acceptance in reverse and simplified I almost fell out of my trance again. Grabbing a firm hold of myself I listened carefully to her part which was not bad for what was probably her first time and started on the next part of the ceremony, which I had modified to both our benefits so that she would have as minimal of replies as possible.

To continue talking about the words of the ceremony, after the long intro about honor and pleasure at acceptance I had to go into this long rant mentioning the history of apprenticeship (as far as was known) along with a lot of hinting about how basically what is good for the master is best for the apprentice.

At this point in time to my surprises I nearly got Vanessa in trouble because apparently she found something about my translation hilarious but fortunately she was made of stern stuff and managed to pull through.

The way I said it I was indeed joking but I don’t see how my little comment about her being my master as well and thus it would be true for me also was so funny.

After the long intro was the slightly shorter second part which was all about honor. How the master apprentice bond would tie our honors together so that whatever one did would affect us both. I grimaced inside as I vowed that if she did something to damage my honor I would take her to account.

Although it may seem otherwise I don’t really care that much for my honor and could easily live without it but as such a threat can help with motivation to act with honor and inspiration to avoid bad behavior for certain kinds of apprentices I included it, not knowing what kind of person Vanessa was and that it was mostly harmless.

Finally the third part was basically what I considered the most important part of the contract because it got down to the details. It stated what was expected of us both in this arrangement and what would happen if one of us broke it.

The apprentice would give the master loyalty and obedience. And their aid through their assistance with their masters work and sometimes their household chores depending on the masters station in life and whether or not they were sadistic. There was also an apprentice fee that was partly paid by the work but also needed in some material form.

As informed Vanessa her fee was mostly to be about continuing to be my master in martial arts, she didn’t object but I felt her amused incomprehension which I was fine with.

In return the master would give their protection, their loyalty and of course most importantly by passing down their teaching all the skills that they have and what their apprentice needs.

Finally after quite a while to the point that some people were snoozing as not even the power of my voice was enough to keep them awake it was time for the final part of the ceremony the sealing of the contract.

Chapter Notes; He is not originally from the land he currently lives in, and he is not completely human so he gets a bit confused on how to refer to the ancients he talks about because in his family they wouldn't be considered ancients just folks who had been famous or infamous for their strange fad. But he is also considered quite young in that family so...