POV: Third (Cecilia)

Cecilia had absolutely no idea what time it was because she was underground at the moment with no sun. She also had no idea where Descal ran off too. It was quite… unnerving to wake up in a room with nothing but undead; however, she was slowly getting used to being around walking corpses.

Realizing that Cecilia had woken up, one of the zombies walked over and gestured for her to follow. The zombie eventually led her to Baniti who had re-applied her illusion magic. Baniti gestured to a nearby table and poured her some tea.

“Well. How was your little nap?” (Baniti)

“At least I woke up alive. How long was I sleeping? What happened?” (Cecilia)

“You were asleep for about an entire day. We secured the entrance and right now there is a stalemate at the third room. However, I have more resources so I should be able to win the war of attrition. Anyway, it will take a day for the mount to be prepared according to Descal’s conditions so wait in this room for a bit. I have some things to finish up. Thank you for your help.” (Baniti)

“Wait. Where is Descal?” (Cecilia)

“I will send a zombie to lead him here. After you fainted, he… lost control to say the least. He locked himself in a random room and went violent. He should have calmed himself by now judging from the lack of screaming and pounding. Any more questions?” (Baniti)

“No. Thank you.” (Cecilia)

Once Baniti left the room, Cecilia began to sip her tea and began to read a book that she pulled from the nearby bookshelf. It was a thesis about the ancient creatures and the ways they could have shaped this world. Interestingly, she found the chapter about the ancient ones. It was mainly the author complaining about lack of data about them since they went extinct 900 years ago. While she was reading, she pondered about her next move. Since she was stuck in this tomb for another day, she might as well use it to learn more about Descal. The mysteries surrounding Descal only deepened: the weapons and his ability. If anything, Cecilia was certain that Descal was holding back. A Lot. Anyway, she had to be careful with the questions she asked in order to reduce the amount of bullshit answers she might get. Perhaps she should start with… Her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened.

“Are you okay?” (Descal)

“Yes. I am alive and in one piece.” (Cecilia)

“Good. And you suck at fighting. Do you have any idea how many times you gave me a freaking heart attack? What type of an idiot just stands there and shoots without any evasive maneuvers? Do you have any idea how many times I had to knock arrows out of the air? Did you even notice the skeletons that were sneaking up on you? And how could you just stand there when four skeletons charged at you at once? Did you really think that you could reload that fast? My god. I have never been that pissed in my life.” (Descal)

“In my defense, I have never been in a fight before. I guess I just became petrified. Please take a seat. Have you calmed down? Have some tea. Baniti has informed me that you went on a rampage after I fainted.” (Cecilia)

“Ahh… that… Let’s not discuss that. I just needed to relieve some stress? Get my emotions lined up again.” (Descal)

“I see … Baniti has told me that it will be about a day until the mount is ready so we have some time. I would like to use the time to ask the three questions you have promised me. Please provide satisfactory answers.” (Cecilia)

“*sigh* you are just… Augh. You are frustrating. Alright. Fine. Ask away.” (Descal)

“First, why can you not decide your own name?” (Cecilia)

“… It has to do with my strong connection with mana. A name represents who you are. My mana is so ingrained into who I am as a being that I am bound to my true name. As a result, I can’t just make up names for who I am. You know of how chants can initiate spells. My case is something similar. However, I can receive names because names that are given to me become a part of who I am. It is kinda like how parents name their child.” (Descal)

“So you are an ancient one.” (Cecilia)

“Oh hell no. Those bastards. Whatever made you think I was one of those assholes? Let me tell you. If you were near one right now, you would combust from the sheer amount of mana they ooze out. Also, they are sadists. They would sometimes destroy an entire city or just mess with your plans because they feel like it.” (Descal)

“So you have met an ancient one.” (Cecilia)

“Well duh. It is insulting that you compare me with those guys.” (Descal)

“Interesting. The ancient ones went extinct 900 years ago, and you claim to have met them.” (Cecilia)

“Ummm. You sure they are extinct?” (Descal)

“Yes. In fact, I have not heard of an ancient one until Baniti mentioned it. She says that the only beings that are unable to pick names for themselves are the ancient ones because of the exact same reason you have provided me. Also, I have never heard any reports of ancient ones, and from your descriptions of them I should have heard of one if they were still existed. Explain yourself.” (Cecilia)

“Look hasn’t it been three questions yet?” (Descal)

“No. I have only asked one. Now explain yourself.” (Cecilia)

“Make that into a question.” (Descal)

“… Fine then. It will count as a question. However, you must give a satisfactory answer.” (Cecilia)

“My physical body is 19 years old. However, I existed in this world a thousand years ago, but I got sent to another dimension. When I came back to this world, a thousand years has passed. Happy?” (Descal)

“………….. Hold on. Let me just…” (Cecilia)

“I have not told a single lie. I can even repeat this in the mortem language. In fact, I bet Baniti has a book about the translations of the mortem language so you can tell that I am not lying.” (Descal)

“So… You are a thousand years old...” (Cecilia)

“Not really… time passes by differently in dimensions. Also. You are off about my age by a long shot.” (Descal)

“Wait. You were in this world a thousand years ago. So you’ve seen it… the first calamity war.” (Cecilia)

Descal froze and crushed the cup he was holding, and the tea began to spread all over the table. Wordlessly, Descal took out a towel from nowhere and began to wipe up the tea.

“Sorry. I didn’t know it was such a sensitive subject. Sorry. Well, this world must have been very different a thousand years ago… *nervous laugh*” (Cecilia)

“Oh you have no idea. It feels like this world got blown to the Stone Age or something when I compare the present to the past.” (Descal)

“I see.” (Cecilia)

“Well. What is your last question?” (Descal)

“I have a lot more questions I want to ask, but instead of a question, I am going to make a request. Is that alright?” (Cecilia)

“Is the request going to pry even deeper into my past or into who I am?” (Descal)

“No. It is something else.” (Cecilia)

“Okay…” (Descal)

“Teach me how to fight.” (Cecilia)

“Wait… What? Were you even paying attention to my rant? Use the bow if you want. I recall you having a bow during our travels.” (Descal)

“Yes. However, the bow is too limited in my hands. I am unable to use magic to speed up the arrow or increase its penetrative ability. As a result, I am unable to even hit nor injure my targets usually. But now that you have told me that you have come from the past and have experience of living in a different world, you must know of some fighting skill or weapon that will suit me. The pistol you gave me was an amazing example.” (Cecilia)

“I don’t even know where to start refuting you. But I am the wrong person to ask. I have no qualifications to teach you. My fighting style is extremely unique and self-taught.” (Descal)

“I think you made an excellent teacher. You were quite clear with your instructions with the pistol.” (Cecilia)

“That is something very different. I was only teaching you to reload. It was awfully straightforward. Nothing about situational awareness, evading, or disengaging.” (Descal)

“Then teach me those things.” (Cecilia)

“Easier said than done. I learned those things through experience and almost dying a lot.” (Descal)

“Well then, I am going to get a lot of near-death experience on this trip anyway so… I don’t see the problem with giving me pointers in fighting.” (Cecilia)

“It is my job to make sure that I minimize the amount of experience you get in fighting Princess.” (Descal)

“We are now a two-man group. We are going to be in a lot of situations in which I will need to fight.” (Cecilia)

“….” (Descal)

“Look. It will be much better if I can defend myself at the very least. They wouldn’t be expecting a princess like me to fight back. Also, you will have someone to look after you as well.” (Cecilia)

“Fine. But if one of your knights gets mad at me for teaching you, then you will defend me with all your might. Got it?” (Descal)

“Done.” (Cecilia)

“But first, let me write a contract. Just to make sure.” (Descal)

Descal pulled a piece of paper and pencil out of nowhere and began to furiously write out a list while Cecilia looked over what he was writing.

“Is this going to be a magic bound contract?” (Cecilia)

“Kinda. It won’t have severe consequences like the super powerful contract. This contract will simply burn into ashes if someone breaks one of the terms. Truthfully, I am only going to use this as a defense against your ever loyal retainers.” (Descal)

“Wait…. What does it mean that I give you permission to beat me?” (Cecilia)

“I have not written that anywhere.” (Descal)

“Yes. It does. There the fifth paragraph. It says “I give permission to my combat instructor to use physical methods that may result in bodily harm in order to simulate real life fights.” Isn’t that a nicer way of saying that you can hit me?” (Cecilia)

“Tch... I was hoping you wouldn’t notice that. Anyway, my way of teaching will involve lots of sparring. As a result, you are going to be hurt a lot when we first start. I don’t want that to turn into an issue so…” (Descal)

“…Can we specify this more?” (Cecilia)

“How much?” (Descal)

“Like no moves that may result in fatal injuries as well as no attacks that result in permanent injuries.” (Cecilia)

“Alright. Wrote that down. Anything else?” (Descal)

“I want to look over the ‘privacy’ paragraph.” (Cecilia)

Truth be told, there was a lot of problems with the contract. Cecilia was trained in a cutthroat court where a single word can result in a full out family feud that will severely hurt the reputation of the royal family. She was drilled by the harshest tutors day and night over the importance of contract wording and intent. Although Cecilia could tell that the intent was on the right track, the wording left many loopholes that could be exploited. As a result, Cecilia and Descal began to debate and wrestle over every wording of the contract until every loophole that Cecilia could see was closed.

“Oh my god. Next time we are in the market, I am going to leave buying supplies to you. Holy shit. This contract went from two pages to freaking five pages.” (Descal)

“What did you expect? I may be useless in a fight, but regarding politics and debate, I am one of the masters. But I am surprised Descal, you are quite good at negotiations yourself. You are also quite educated. Are you a noble?” (Cecilia)

“Nope. Not even a former noble. The previous country I lived in provided basic education.” (Descal)

“Interesting…. What was the country’s name?” (Cecilia)

“Umm… I moved around a lot, but I was last in the United States. Alright. I signed it so sign here now.” (Descal)

“Okay. So when will we start?” (Cecilia)

“First, let’s test your magical abilities. So… how much mana can your body handle?” (Descal)

Cecilia immediately became embarrassed. Out of her entire family, she had the lowest skills in mana and could barely conjure a rank 1 fire. It turns out that she had a very small reservoir of mana, and her body could not control large amounts as well. As a result, the tutors gave up in teaching her magic and put more focus on her political and social studies.

“…Can’t use magic very well…” (Cecilia)

“It can’t be that bad. C’mon. Condense a ball of mana into your hand. Make it as big as you can.” (Descal)

Sadly, the largest one she could make was a ball as small as a grape. She saw Descal look surprised; however, to his credit, he quickly recovered.

“Well. You have very little future as a mage… Any other talents? Usually, royal families have a couple talents up their sleeves…” (Descal)

“Excuse me? Get that ridiculous notion out of your head. The only thing that shows I am royalty is my stupid purple hair.” (Cecilia)

“But seriously. Any special talents?” (Descal)

“… Well I have pretty good eyes. I have a very good sense of distance, and I can see things from a distance quite clearly. It was one of the reasons why I chose to do archery. However, as I have stated, I have a hard time hitting my targets at times because they can dodge my arrows with ease since I can’t use enchanted arrows or reinforce my shots with magic.” (Cecilia)

“Does the public know that your magic is this abysmal?” (Descal)

“No… My family went through great pains to hide this information. It was one of the reasons why I was not allowed to learn to fight since people would quickly find out my lack of magical skill.” (Cecilia)

“Okay…” (Descal)

“You do know of ways I can deal with this weakness right?” (Cecilia)

“…Yes… However, the methods I know of aren’t suitable for you. Too much time is needed. Time we don’t have. To be honest, I want you to stay as far away from any fights as possible… I’ll think about it; however, the more pressing matter is what weapon will you use?” (Descal)

“I was thinking the pistol. It is a ranged weapon, and I think it makes great use of my accuracy.” (Cecilia)

“…No. The pistol is too… limited. But that is a good line of thought… I’ll think about it later. First, I am going to teach you a few moves of unarmed combat. C’mere.” (Descal)

Descal walked to the middle of the room and beckoned to Cecilia. He got ready into a stance and asked her to put a hand on his shoulder. As soon as she did, she found her vision shifting and a sense of weightlessness until she felt the cold hard ground smashing into her back.

“Gah… THAT HURT. YOU ASSHOLE. What was that for?” (Cecilia)

“That is a move that I am going to teach you. It might turn out to be very useful. On the bright side, I am going to give you the chance to throw me over your back.” (Descal)

“But couldn’t you have given a warning?” (Cecilia)

“Why? It’s not like your enemies would give you a warning. Also, would you put your hand on my shoulder if you knew that I would throw you?” (Descal)

“I am going to regret asking this from you.” (Cecilia)

“Probably.” (Descal)

“Let me up and teach me. Damn it.” (Cecilia)

“Alright. First, get into this stance. Nope, shift your balance a little….” (Descal)

It took Cecilia multiple tries until she could finally throw him over her shoulder; however, she lost her balance while she was throwing Descal so she ended up falling on top of him after throwing him onto the floor. She then proceeded to face plant onto Descal’s crotch.

“FFFF. GGH. *long list of expletive words*” (Descal)

“Ewww. Eww. Ew.” (Cecilia)

She immediately got up and left Descal rolling on the ground groaning in pain. Cecilia quickly composed herself and waited for Descal to stop. At the very least, he was wearing pants, and in her opinion, he deserved it.

“You… have an extremely… hard head.” (Descal)

“Let’s never discuss this again.” (Cecilia)

“Not one word.” (Descal)

It was in that moment that Baniti poked her skull in and asked if everything was alright. Her timing was so impeccable that Descal and Cecilia began laughing to their heart's content while Baniti looked confused as to why her two guests were acting in such a manner.

“Yes. We are all right. What’s the matter?” (Descal)

“Well, I have lunch ready if you want some. I forgot that the living requires food.” (Baniti)

“Thank you. How long until…” (Descal)

“Ten more hours. On schedule.” (Baniti)

“Okay. Do you have something like a forge? I want to craft something.” (Descal)

“Go ahead. After your lunch, I will send a guide for you.” (Baniti)

Lunch was quite simple. It was merely a wild goose that has been cooked with a fruit salad. As Cecilia began to munch on the bland goose, Descal once again surprised Cecilia when he began to nonchalantly sprinkle what looked to be expensive spices and salt on his goose.

“Where did you get those?” (Cecilia)

Descal simply froze and guiltily looked at Cecilia.

“Uhh… Counter proposal… I’ll sprinkle some on your goose, and I don’t answer that question.” (Descal)

“*sniff* Fair enough. Hand it over.” (Cecilia)

Once lunch was over, Descal’s guide came and took him to the forge. Of course, Cecilia was not going to stay behind so she decided to follow him. She was also curious about what he was planning on making. She tried asking; however, he dodged the question. Instead, Cecilia had to be content with watching him hammer away at the piece of metal watching as the sparks flew into the air before fizzing out. Eventually, she began to start tinkering with the metal pieces and practiced flipping a practice dummy over her shoulder.

“There. Done.” (Descal)

“Jeez. Took you a while. Is that a knife?” (Cecilia)

“Close but not quite. I’ll tell you later. I am still trying to decide if this is a good idea or not. I don’t know if I have said this or not but you don’t act like a princess at times.” (Descal)

“Because I don’t need to right now. Do you have any idea how suffocating it is for me to talk like one of those stuck up princesses?” (Cecilia)

“No. I will never find out so I will never empathize with you. I can only offer my pity.” (Descal)

“And why would I ever want your pity?” (Cecilia)

“*Cough* Descal. You are treading on some dangerous ground right now.” (Baniti)

“….Oh… You are smarter than you seem Baniti. It seems you can spot clichés very well.” (Descal)

“I don’t know what clichés are, but I do know how people fall in…” (Baniti)

“Let’s not give her any funny ideas. Thank you though. I guess I got caught up in the moment. What brings you here?” (Descal)

“Your mount is ready. Here. Two skeletal horses at your disposal.” (Baniti)

“Time sure flies when you are busy. Thank you though.” (Descal)

“You should be able to find your own way out I presume?” (Baniti)

“Yeah. I mean if we get lost, I am pretty sure I could just yell really loudly for some help.” (Descal)

“Please don’t.” (Baniti)

“Don’t worry. Anyway, hated doing business with you, but I must get going. Good day.” (Descal)

“Night actually.” (Baniti)

“I stand corrected.” (Descal)

With a nod, Baniti walked out of the room. With that, Descal pocketed the orb, and he briskly walked toward the exit of the tomb with Cecilia following close behind. When Cecilia reached the ladder, she felt a huge weight fall off her shoulder as she breathed in air that did not smell of rotting corpses. She looked forward to the cool night winds.

“Slow down Cecilia.” (Descal)

“That is asking a bit too much of me.” (Cecilia)

“No… I really mean it. Calm down.” (Descal)

“Why? I really want to go out and breathe in some nice fresh….” (Cecilia)

Suddenly, Cecilia saw a glint of light out of the corner of her eye until she was yanked back. A knife had bedded itself into the stone right beside her. Realizing that his plan had failed, the assassin ran forward with a sword in his hand as he swung downward at Cecilia. However, the blade was deflected by Descal’s gauntlet, and Descal ran his blade through the assassin’s heart. Descal picked up Cecilia and prepared to run out into the room and into the open world, but the entrance was quickly blocked off by assassins. When Descal tried to run back, it was also blocked off by assassins. They were quickly surrounded.

“Well. Shit. It looks like they got your blood, Cecilia.” (Descal)