Skirmish 5

Since Class 13 was given a sudden break and Malachi had left with Arlianne to the armory, the Eskurs of Class 13 were together talking about what to do. These Eskurs, unlike the Perlasians, often come together for each possible moment—with the exception of Malachi, being a half in the first place; though that ‘half-ness’ may not have something to do with his lineage, but his inherent personality.

Levi, Isaac, Reuben, Dinah, and Genevieve were still in the classroom while all the others had left.

“A break,” said Isaac, “How nostalgic.”

Isaac was grinning as he spoke. He had a rather boorish appearance for an Eskur and towered over the other Eskurs being 1.98 meters tall at 28 years old. The average male Eskur height was around 1.8 meters, with females being a bit shorter at 1.73; this also makes Malachi shorter than most at 1.78 meters. Since Issac has also been using steam knights, he was fairly more muscular compared to the others. He also had, like Malachi, eyes that give off a dazzling glow of sharpness and determination.

“The last time we ever had a break was before Young Master came,” commented Genevieve, “Hmhm, I never would have expected that a Skaria would have made such a comeback.”

Genevieve was one of the three senior Eskurs in Class 13, along with Reuben and Isaac. Being one of the elder Eskurs in the Academy, she had an elder sisterly aura that surrounded her at her age of 24 years old. She was only 1.75 meters tall, a bit above the average, and had a lithe body. Although her eyes droop a bit, one could never mistake the hidden sharpness that occasionally appears from the corners of her eyes.

“Still, is it right to take a break so soon?” wondered Reuben, “I would rather take this time to prepare for the coming mission with the Hell Worm.”

Reuben appeared to be the most average between the two other elders. He was only 1.78 meters tall, as tall as Malachi, but he had a comparably lean body. His eyes, despite seemingly shadowed by uncertainty, betrays his often resolute demeanor when executing tasks—often given by Malachi. While some non-Eskurs would have some degree of difficulty in identifying other Eskurs, Reuben was easily identifiable with his gold ear piercings.

“Well, I’m still glad we got a break,” commented Dinah, “I don’t know how long I could hold out from all that running…”

Dinah was sprawled out on her desk. Being one of the newcomers with Levi, she was naturally unused to the strenuous exercises Malachi had them do—compared to the ordinary drillings the other classes do, of course. Who, in their right mind, would let loose a beast just to make people run laps? At a young age of 15 years old, the same as Malachi, she always wore a cheerful expression with her round and lively eyes—an expression she only shows to the same race, or when panicked, which still made her cute for her height at 1.63 meters.

“Hmm…” sighed Levi.

Stoic as usual, Levi was deep in thought with closed eyes compared to the rest. Even though he was still young at 16 years old, his perpetually furrowed brows make him seem older than that. Especially with his narrowed eyes and eternal frown, one would think that he would was more mature compared to others of his age cohort. It does not even help as he was 1.73 meters tall with a lean body similar to Reuben’s. His stubbornness, however, betrayed that calm façade as could be seen when interacting with Malachi.

“What’s up with you?” asked Isaac.

Levi opened his eyes.

“I still can’t come to terms that the family living in that house was Skaria’s,” he answered, “Our tiny village actually housed the last members of that clan.”

Dinah perked up.

“Oh, yeah, you lived in the same village,” she voiced, “This was the one nearest to Rhiamalka, right? How was Young Master back then?”

Levi shrugged.

“He hasn’t changed a bit,” he commented, “What you see before you now, is what he was like when I saw him in the past. He was ridiculous, preposterous, but very charismatic and seemingly mysterious.”

Levi leaned back on his chair, letting one arm hang off the backrest.

“Let’s see, I almost always see him and Arlianne run off to the village furnace,” he recollected, “And almost always heard the screaming wrath of Lady Bashia by dusk. Then it would repeat like that by the next day. Hmm, although I did say ‘screaming wrath,’ Lady Bashia was still composed like nothing happened the day before. Now that I think about it, there was one other Eskur living with them. Ibrahim, he was called, if I recall correctly.”

Suddenly, Isaac perked up and darted his eye towards Levi. No one noticed this, and they all continued listening to Levi.

“He was a doctor, or so the scent of medicinal substances that waft through their windows tell me,” continued Levi, “Other than that, he rarely shows himself unless they were to go to the city to buy goods. Hmm, that’s right, I recall his clan name.”

This time, Levi sat upright and turned to Isaac.

“Isaac, you’re a Skrima, right?” he asked, “This doctor, Ibrahim, was called Skrima as well. Are the two of you related?”

Isaac sighed as he massaged the back of his head.

“I was wondering about that when you mentioned his name and occupation,” he replied, “Once you said the clan name, I finally became certain of it. So that’s where my father went.”

Levi was surprised.

“Well, I didn’t expect that,” he commented, “So he did have a family. I was curious since there was always a pair of visitors who would visit, and Lady Bashia would lovingly embrace one of them despite living with another man.”

“Hmm, so your father went into service under Skaria,” said Reuben, “Say, I’ve heard that Clan Skrima was a clan of doctors. Why weren’t you one?”

Isaac frowned.

“I never had the aptitude for it,” he grudgingly answered, “My other clansmen were all exceptional when concocting medicine, and father was one of the best. Even though he treats us all equally well, my inability to meet his expectations kept a scar in my heart. One day, he said that he will be leaving for a while. A while, but he never came back. I thought he gave up on me. To think he would go under a Skaria, this sort of honor shouldn’t be withheld from the rest of the clan.”

Genevieve placed her hand on Isaac’s shoulder.

“Maybe he had a reason for not telling any of you,” she consoled, “If we ask, maybe Young Master would allow you to meet him again”

Isaac gazed at Genevieve.

“I hope so,” he said, “I’ve always wanted to know why he left a decade ago.”