Chapter 11: Preparation ii

Roy took out the parchment that Geril gave him and handed it to Isbeth. She took the tuft of hair and placed it in the middle of the inscriptions. The two dumbly looked at the parchment expecting something to happen, it didn’t take long for Isbeth to speak up.

“So what happens now?”

The two weren’t experts in magic and they didn’t have the affinity for it anyways. Geril did say something about even a dimwit being able to activate the spell but the two just dimly stared at the still scene contemplating about what they should do, and yet again, Isbeth being the brighter of the two asked something that ended up hitting straight on the mark.

“Don’t we have to read the incantation?”

Roy realized his mistake and began to read the incantation out loud, squinting his eyes to see through Geril’s small loopy handwriting.

“Drop a stick.”

“That’s it?”

The sheer simplicity of the activation method was staggering when compared to the complicated drawing and high quality reagents, but knowing Geril, it probably wasn’t a joke and was the genuine activation method. Though, his instructions seemed to be like a direct slap to both of their intelligences but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

“Got a stick?”

Isbeth ruffled through her bags, but all she pulled out were vials of acids and some recovery potions after the incident with Cerise occurred three days ago. She did have some fistfuls of herbs stuffed into one of her bags though, the smell quickly causing the two to block their noses.

“Nothing. A blacksmith like you should have some sticks lying around though.”

Roy lifted his arms, showing to the world that he had no other possessions on him other than his own clothing, the sword he picked up earlier, and a few other essentials.

“Unlike you, I don’t carry around random objects.”

“Then we’ll have to do this the hard way.”

Isbeth took out one of her metal dissolving acids and held her hand out palm up towards Roy.

“Give me the sword.”

Roy looked at the sword, it wasn’t his best work but it was of superior quality compared to the rest. Though, it didn’t serve much use and he only created it as a hobby anyway. The life of a girl should surely outweigh the price of a single sword right? But he will be sure to make Isbeth pay for the sword anyway as he passed the sword over.

Isbeth uncorked the vile and splatted the acid over the base of the sword where it reached the guard. She also spread a fair bit over the pommel in order to melt the bit of decoration on it. The acid sizzled and ate away at the metal, a horrid sound and smoke was emitted from the sword as the pieces broke and fell onto the ground. What being left of the sword was a separated blade and a leather wrapped hilt. Isbeth had to get Roy’s help in separating the leather but now they have a proper stick, at least, the best they can find in a city.

Roy watched as Isbeth placed the stick on top of the place where the tuft of hair was on the paper and dropped it. The paper lit up with a blinding flash, travelling up the length of the stick and guiding it to drop northward, landing on the ground with an unsatisfying plop.

The flashy light was to be expected but that was it? The spell that Geril created himself was nothing more than a glorified dropping of a stick. Roy picked up what remained of his sword and the spell parchment, he looked up only to see Isbeth standing up as well.

“Cerise must be that way.”

Isbeth began running north, running through the streets and going into paths where Roy couldn’t follow due to her lithe frame. Roy opted for a more direct route and headed for the main roads before running. Both of them ran but none of them knew what the future held in store for them.

-Cerise’s Perspective-

She felt it. She felt death in the air. It was faint at first but it grew with each passing minute. She leapt onto the roof of Roy’s smithy to take a better look. In the far distance over all of the houses and beyond the tall walls, she could see something in the north-west. It was still indistinct and blurry but she could see a tiny speck. Her scarlet eyes shifted in pattern, the cross shaped mark appearing within both eyes, spinning as she enhanced her [Hunter’s Eye] to the maximum.

Within her vision was a large dark mass blotting out the green plains behind. They were small, extremely distant, and only visible to those who hold the {Hunter’s Mark} like her or a superior variant. She only recognized this much before a throbbing pain tunneled through her head. She remembered what Isbeth said about how it placed a heavy burden on the user as she slipped and fell from where she was standing. She felt someone catching her as her consciousness faded, being whisked away by the unknown.

“I told you that she was important. She had the Eyes.”

“Yeah yeah, we get it. You were right, she ha- Ah, she’s awake.”

Cerise woke up about an hour to the familiar voices of Larc and his companions. When she opened her eyes, she saw the faces of the men and few women, all dressed in the standard Watch armor with a Golden Eagle adorning their shoulders.

“Join us, we will train you to become the best Assassin. Well, we would’ve had the Northern Balros army not started moving now.”

“Larc, you should have expected this ages ago. The Viscountess of Lanchester is a fanatic about reviving the Empire. She hates us for separating from them in their times of dire need.”

A woman behind Larc commented on the events, her words causing the heads of several members of the Golden Eagle to nod their heads.

“We need to convene with the other Captains, not mess around with some random girl.”

“She is not random. She possesses the talent we need for your plans. True we do need to meet with the others in order to discuss this issue but protecting her should remain as high as a priority. This is the Captain’s orders.”

“Well if you say so.”

The woman turned back to face the subordinates standing in the room. Specifically pointing at the three youngest of them. The two males and female saluted waiting on their orders from the woman.

“You three will guard the girl, the rest of you come with us. We’ve got a battle on our hands.”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Suppose that’ll do. Hurry up men, we’ve got business to do.

“Yes sir!”

Larc and the woman followed by the group moved out of the building, spreading across the city to prepare for the imminent threat that is the Balros Army. Leaving Cerise alone with the three rookies of the Golden Eagle. A lean man with toned skin walked forward offering his hand to the girl.

“So, guess I’ll start first. My name is Adrien and I guess you’ll be the newest rookie now?”

The man didn’t have the strange sword the other Golden Eagles had, and in fact, they didn’t have the emblem either. Instead, their shoulders had a small bronze tablet with differing amounts of marks on them. Adrien’s plate had three marks, showing that he’s only served in the Golden Eagles for three weeks.

Cerise grabbed onto the man’s arm, and to her surprise, she felt strength that didn’t fit with the man’s lean stature. Adrien hoisted Cerise off of the bed only to be hugged by the woman after.

“She’s so cute!”

The brunette woman snuggled the poor girl as she tried to escape the unexpected grapple. But similar to the man, this woman was also stronger than her, resulting in all of her efforts to be in vain.

“You should let go of her. Cap’ won’t be happy if he finds the new recruit snuggled to death by you.”

The last remaining man was sitting in a chair across the room now. He was sitting in an unhealthy posture and was currently propping his spear up on the table so it wouldn’t fall. The woman finally let go of Cerise but still held a longing look in her eyes.

“Aw~ My name is Kiena, I finally have a cute girl to work with, it gets rather dreary being surrounded by men, and the only other women I’ve met here were the serious kinds. I don’t get how they can be so stiff, it’s lik-“

“Shut it Kiena,”

The man sitting at the table finally propped his spear upright, his attention now focused back on Cerise.

“We’re here to protect her. If she gets hurt because of your loud mouth, I won’t be helping you.”

“Bleh~”

Kiena stuck her tongue out at the man who was obviously her senior. Her plate had four marks while his six.

“Why you!”

The man stood up from his seat only to be held back down by Adrien.

“Calm down you two, why can’t we just be comrades in arms? I’ve always wanted a party of four, adventuring the world and fighting evil.”

Adrien began spinning tales of heroics and justice, his personality revealing himself as the ignorant villager type A to Cerise’s eyes. The three started complaining about each other's faults, or rather, the man in the chair did while the other two just made comments about their plans. All of them forgetting about Cerise who was still standing next to the bed.

She still felt the after effects of using [Hunter’s Eyes] to the extreme in conjunction with {Hunter' Mark}, and although her body recovered, her mind hasn’t. She got back onto the comfy soft bed and instantly fell asleep, getting her much desired rest.

Name

Cerise

Age

13 Days

Race

Lesser Devil (Scarlet)

HP

47/47 (+.016/s)

MP

101/101 (+.027/s)

SP

4/35 (+.018/s)

STR

15

INT

25

WIS

16

CON

14

AGL

27

LUK

3

Skills

Level

Proficiency

[Demonic Vitality]

1/10

51.3%

[Hunter’s Eyes] {Hunter’s Mark}

3/10

1.4%

[Blood Haunt]

N/A

N/A

[Twisted Fate]

N/A

N/A