Chapter 12: The Art i

She woke up an hour later to the loud crisps sounds of wood striking wood. The two men in the room were currently sparring with wooden versions of their weapons and were constantly trying to take ground from the other. Adrien wielded his sword clumsily as he failed to parry the spearman’s blow, causing him to take a heavy hit to his waist.

“See what I mean? All talk but no skill. I don’t understand how you got selected in the first place.”

“Shut up!”

Adrien rushed at the man, but the man simply moved behind him and shoved him towards the table. Adrien couldn’t stop his momentum and ended up crashing into the table. A loud crack could be heard from outside the room as the table splintered into pieces due to Adrien’s uncanny strength.

“You’d be better off as a brawler. Drop the sword boy. You have no talent.”

The man placed the spear back into its spot on the weapon rack before taking his seat, unafraid of Adrien’s retaliation. Kiena went down to the downed boy and consoled him.

“Don’t worry, Frid’s always been like this. He may be a jerk but he knows what’s best for people.”

“Who’s the jerk?”

“Nobody Frid. Keep doing what you were doing.”

The spearman, Frid, slouched in his chair even more at Kiena’s word.

“If you say so. And just to mention, the girl’s awake now.”

“Oh!”

Kiena immediately stood up and moved towards a table, completely forgetting about Adrien for the moment. She picked up a bronze tablet from the table and handed it to Cerise.

“Congratulations on becoming one of us! Hope you manage to stick around to becoming a full member though. Also, what’s your name?”

Cerise looked at the sheet of metal before moving her sight to the bubbly human. She was rather fair skinned and her navy blue robes designated her role within the group. Her long brown hair was currently tied into a ponytail and her bright orange eyes were sparkling, expecting an answer from the young girl on the bed.

But Cerise didn’t trust the girl in front of her. She was too cheerful. Her bright smile practically blinded Cerise. She kept her mouth shut as her silent stare couldn’t even phase Kiena.

“C’mon. Speak a bit will you? Just a teensy bit?”

Kiena’s face kept coming closer to Cerise’s. It got to the point where their noses were just about touching when the door to the room slammed open.

“What in Tavroth’s name is going on here?”

A scholarly man walked into the room to find a muscular man kneeling on the ground next to a broken table clenching his stomach, a lanky man nearly breaking his spine on a chair, and two girls with their faces held together staring into each other’s eyes. The man heard the commotion from across the building and ran as fast as he could, but the sheer absurdity of the situation left him dumbfounded.

He pointed to the three probationary members and the girl on the bed.

“You, you, you, and maybe you. I expect an explanation otherwise you all will notice of your dismissal.”

Frid was the first to answer as he had nothing better to do.

“Adrien and I got into a small spar, nothing else happened other than a table breaking, sir.”

The man swerved his head to meet Adrien’s eyes.

“Is this true?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And what of the two over there?”

Frid rolled his eyes at the expected question, smirking all the while.

“Kiena simply wanted to know how the girl’s lips tasted, that’s all.”

Kiena abruptly removed herself from anywhere near Cerise’s face after hearing Frid’s remark, her face visibly flushing red with embarrassment. The scholarly man simply glanced at her face before accepting Frid’s concession as truth.

“I’ll accept that this incident is nothing more than an accident. The captain will still receive news of this in a report but for now,”

The man pointed only at Cerise this time.

“You, come with me.”

His tone was impassive, but his eyes indicated absolute obedience.

“Why?”

For the first time, Cerise spoke. Her voice regaining its once cold ring. The effect wasn’t as dramatic as it was in the tavern but it held pressure unlike before.

“Do not ask questions. Someone important wants to see you.”

“Who?”

Cerise said once again. The man didn’t get frustrated though, his patience far exceeding that of others due to the teachings he received.

“No questions. This is the last warning.”

The man emanated a profound aura, one that seemed to crush Cerise’s soul. She recognized this power. It was the same as the one in her memories. Her rage enveloped her once more, though, something seemed different.

Her eyes radiated a light, but unlike before, the beautiful scarlet was replaced with a deep crimson. Apparitions that only could see appeared from the shadows as her entire world was dyed red once again.

‘Join us’

They seemed to say. They followed her around. Their killer. The girl began to scream. Clawing at her cheeks as blood dripped from her eyes. Kiena ran to grasp the girl. Chanting, bright blue droplets of water started to float around the girl, flowing and twisting into bubbles which drifted towards Cerise’s bloody eyes.

Heavy and light footsteps could be heard storming into the room as the figures of Roy and Isbeth appeared. Their eyes widened at the sight of Cerise’s bloody state.

“What did you do to her!”

Roy immediately slammed the scholarly man against the wall, his fist raised to deliver a punch, but before he did the force from the man held him in place.

“Nothing. I had nothing to do with the state she’s in now. I suspect someone placed a curse on her, though I’ve never heard of one which causes bleeding from the eyes. Interesting.”

The man inspected the girl, uncaring for the man behind him. Kiena’s magic was currently healing her eyes, but they kept bleeding nonetheless. Between the painful screeches and the brief moment of respite when a bubble landed on her eye, he could see them. The eyes that glared at him with hatred. He had not met the girl before so why was she so angry with him? Could it be because of his Aura?

The man retracted his Aura as a test to see whether his hypothesis was correct and indeed it was. The moment his Aura was back in his body, the light in the girl’s eyes dimmed. She was still bleeding yes but she was no longer screaming and shrieking in pain. Only letting out small gasps every now and then.

“Interesting. So her body has a volatile reaction to Aura. This needs further testing.”

The scholar concluded as such. The girl was an interesting specimen to him now. One that held value so to speak. If his Aura caused such a violent reaction in the girl, then if he found out why, he would be able to exploit this in future battles.

He didn’t know that his entire conclusion was simply a misunderstanding though. Cerise wanted to kill him, but something happened to stop her. She could still feel the presence of the ones she killed but could no longer see them as her eyes were covered with blood and water. The endless cycle of pain continuing throughout the whole healing process with Kiena muttering encouragement to the young girl on her lap.

However, just as he retracted his Aura, he realized one important detail that he had dismissed earlier, ducking under the sweeping fist of the heavily muscled man behind him. The man let his Aura run rampant, as the screams of the girl resumed traction. He formed a claw like gesture in the air, an invisible force holding Roy suspended in the air.

“Let me go you bastard!”

Roy struck at the invisible fist. Swinging blow after blow but to no avail.

“Calm down boy. I mean her no harm, but so long as you keep fighting me, she will experience more pain.”

The man retracted his Aura back into his body once again, keeping it just beneath the surface of his skin ready to spring out if the man tried another assault. But Roy was smart, he understood the cause of Cerise’s pain the second time, and wisely stepped down.

“Good. Water Mage, you better keep healing that girl even if your Mana runs out.”

The man walked towards the crying Cerise.

“Oh no you don’t!”

Isbeth who was standing by the wall during the two’s fight stood between Cerise and the man. Her arms and legs held out forming an ‘X’ at the man.

“Stand down Isbeth!”

Roy yelled at her.

“We can’t win against him.”

Roy held his head down in shame. It was the first time he was bested in a fight. He could push off a few spells but whatever that man had, he had nothing against.

“But-“

“No buts. We cannot win. He won’t harm Cerise if he’s a man of his word.

Isbeth glanced back at Cerise before finally stepping away. She wanted to do something but she knew she couldn’t do anything. The man continued his stride towards the girl, moving his left hand to check the girl’s condition.

“She will live thanks to the Mage’s healing, but she’s heavily wounded. Tsk. Larc won’t be happy about this.”

The man finally decided to introduce himself to the other six people in the room. He didn’t like flaunting titles but it was necessary to move things along.

“I am known as Xuan. I’ve seemed to upon a troubling time and wish to offer my assistance to my old friend Larc. Speaking of Larc, he is currently waiting for me to bring the girl to him. You,”

He points his finger towards Roy.

“If you care so much about this girl, carry her and follow me while the Mage administers treatment.”

He left through the door in three quick strides before peering his head back into the room again.

“Come along now, Larc is waiting.”