Campaign 19

Three men and a woman were meeting in an undisclosed location. Two of the men wore nondescript tan-colored clothing, but the woman was wearing a pinkish-white dress with a shawl with gold trimmings and the remaining man wore a pure-white cloak. The men in tan clothing were also vastly different in appearance from the man and woman in white but, even with their differences, the two parties were seemingly amiable towards one another if their smiles did not lie.

One of the two men, however, was extremely vigilant; always looking around at their surroundings even if they were the only people present. As for the other man, he spoke to the woman.

“How is everything, Bashia, Ibrahim?” asked Emmanuel, “I hope the past few weeks hadn’t been rough without Malachi and Arlianne.”

Bashia playacted sadness in response.

“Aw, I had hoped you wouldn’t ask,” she said in a playful tone, “It’s too quiet at home without Mally, and I lost my little dress-up doll, too.”

Ibrahim let out a dry laugh and scratched the back of his head.

“Well, as you can see, everything’s fine,” he added, “Though, she is right about it being quiet, Your Majesty.”

Emmanuel raised a hand.

“Please, Ibrahim, no need for any formalities,” he argued, “We are practically family, now. Just call me by my name.”

Ibrahim shrugged.

“Hmm, if it’s too quiet, would you like to visit them?” continued Emmanuel, “I’m certain that in the coming months, the preliminaries of the academy’s Martial Competition will begin. It would be nice to see how much they have grown, the two of them, and how much Malachi’s intervention would have supposedly improved the academy as a whole.”

“Supposedly, indeed,” interjected Gregory, “I keep hearing reports of Malachi smashing common sense with every action he took. I don’t even understand why you didn’t stop him from using the name of Skaria, you know how risky that name is with regards to the rest of Perlas.”

Emmanuel crossed his arms and posed as if he was in thought, and Bashia only brought her hands behind her back and swayed her body where she stood. Emmanuel opened one eye, looking at Bashia, and she met his gaze. Bashia said nothing but only smiled.

“Why did I not stop him?” repeated Emmanuel, “Well, I had a feeling that it would all work out. Besides, you’ve seen his creations and his designs, right? Even if he did make a lot of enemies, he will surely be able to find allies with father and the engineers—especially with the Eskurs working in the academy. Also, when father came to me regarding being the Headmaster, I guessed it had something to do with Malachi. With him there, there’s really nothing much to be worried about.”

“Something to worry about?” wondered Ibrahim, “I’m certain that once you announce to everyone about your family, we will have something to worry about: your brother, for example.”

“Which is why we have been preparing for such an occasion,” reassured Emmanuel, “We’ve already predicted that Elijah will cause problems for us—especially when he was the one that lost the most back then. It is understandable that he will hate us for it, adding on to his other hatreds for me.”

Suddenly, Gregory pulled out a gun. It was a handgun, similar to what Malachi created, and he aimed it at one direction. His sudden action cause Emmanuel to pull out his own gun, and brought the two Eskurs behind him.

“What’s up?” whispered Emmanuel, “Did we get followed, again?”

Gregory did not reply and remained fixated in one direction. After a few tense seconds, Gregory relaxed his arms and holstered his gun.

“Sorry,” he apologized, “I thought I sensed someone watching us.”

“Then,” added Emmanuel, “Why not fire a warning shot just to make sure?”

He fired a shot in the general direction where Gregory aimed at. After a while, there was nothing amiss in their surroundings, but Gregory still strained his senses to see if anything was wrong. Nevertheless, nothing happened, and they returned their attention to the Eskurs.

“Hmm, must have been the wind,” commented Gregory, “Apologies, if I scared you.”

“It’s fine, Gregory,” replied Bashia, “All this secrecy is understandable. Besides, there will come a time when I will be able to walk with Emmanuel side-by-side in the open. I’m willing to wait for such a time.”

“Then, let us cut this meeting short,” suggested Emmanuel, “Like I said, you can visit the two during the Martial Competition and, as Malachi and I had promised, it will be the time that I will no longer hide this secret if he comes out victorious. I will speak with father to arrange an escort for you, just in case Elijah tries something.”

Emmanuel approached Bashia and gave her a kiss before the four people parted. Once the two parties were gone, silence remained in the area; except, a lone man emerged from the shadows that was holding his left waist that bled. The man wore black exotic clothing with a hood and a mask. As the man held his bleeding waist, he ripped off his clothing, gouged his flesh with his hand and pulled out an object—it was a bullet; the same bullet that Emmanuel shot. Since he was completely alone, he removed his mask and tore his hood to bandage his wound. Once he did so, his features were revealed. Black hair, like the Perlasians, but had black eyes and pale skin—yet not as pale as Eskurs. The man gritted his teeth as he tended to his wound and stared where Emmanuel had gone off to.

A few days later, Malachi still went through the academy in hiding. Since he had the class go on break, he spent the remaining days stuck in the armory studying the Hell Worm’s carapace. During his freer times, the construction work on his requested training complex was ongoing that he occasionally dropped by to oversee its progress. Since he was the one who designed the supposed architecture, his input was greatly valued by those who were working on it. Even then, a few accidents were unavoidable since they were unable to see through solid rock and identify what could be hidden within the mountain.

“Pyrocite cluster!” warned a worker, “Watch out!”

A worker had unearthed a hefty deposit of pyrocite in front of everyone. Having hit the rock with a pickaxe, the rock collapsed showing an entire vein. Other workers were immediately dispatched to harvest the vein to let the construction work continue. The length of time stalled would depend on the size of the deposit, and would take at least two to three hours before they could continue again. At worst, they would need half a day to harvest all of the pyrocite.

As for the harvested pyrocite, they naturally had uses for it, and were sent to the armory to be processed into ammunition. Although, a few crates were taken by groups of Eskurs for one other reason—such as a lazy Hell Worm. Speaking of Hell Worms,

“It would be nice if I could get Jin to help out with the digging,” commented Malachi, “But, with its current size, Jin would just be a hindrance to the workers.”

Malachi was helping out with the digging and held a shovel. At the very least, he was shoveling the excavated soil and rock to clear out the site and to do his own digging around. He had a bag full of rocks due to his digging around. While the rocks varied in colors and sizes, he did not seem to have a particular goal in mind and just took anything that seemed colorful. Most of the rocks he found, however, were grayish to brownish black, and a number had brilliant luster. He seemed like a curious kid in the eyes of the others.

Arlianne arrived to help him with a mine cart full of excavated rocks.

“What do you plan to do with those rocks?” she asked, “I know you, Malachi. You certainly have a use for them.”

Malachi picked up a rock to inspect it before tossing it away to grab another.

“I just needed to be certain of some things,” he replied, still picking up rocks, “If I’m right, then none of the rocks we’ve found are useless. These rocks could even help us out.”

Arlianne cocked her head in confusion. Malachi explained further.

“That flashlight the engineers got from the Eqari merchants,” he continued, “They said that the empire was the first to produce them using electrocite. However, electrocite could only produce electricity. Meaning, that filament was made from another mineral.”

“So, you’re saying, that mineral could also be found in one of these rocks?” she inquired, “Do you plan to make your own flashlights?”

“Hmm, nah,” he denied, “While it’s good to produce our own electronics, I have something else in mind with that should be useful in my case.”

There, a worker approached him.

“Excuse me, we found more of those rocks you are collecting,” said the worker, “Would you like to have them?”

Malachi looked at the worker and was guided to a pile of similar rocks. The rocks had appearances similar to what were in his bag. Malachi whistled in awe.

“Thanks,” he replied, “Could you set them aside and make a delivery to the armory under my name, if possible?”

“Certainly.”

The worker signaled to the other workers to begin moving the pile of rocks. Malachi deposited his own collection on to the pile to be delivered, and the mine carts moved out of the area. Afterwards, the rocks would be collected by steam knights and would be sent to the armory. Malachi and the rest resumed their excavation.

“I wonder if I could find uranium here. Heh heh.”

Malachi decided to finish up and leave the construction site with Arlianne. Like before, he would “hide” himself from the rest of the academy as he proceeded towards whatever destination he had in mind. This time, he decided to go to the armory, but…

His gaze was drawn to a young woman that stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of the field. The young woman stuck out because of her blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin compared to the rest of the class she seemed to be drilling with. Well, rather than drilling, it was a reenactment of Malachi’s first day in class, with two factions forming against one another. However, it was worse than Malachi’s—the young woman was alone against the entire class.

“That’s the imperial, right?” said Malachi, “So, she got saddled with Class 7 and got isolated.”

“Want to have a look?” asked Arlianne.

Malachi thought for a bit.

“Eh, sure,” he replied, “Let’s go ask Axton what happened.”

When they reached Axton, like most, the drillmaster was surprised to suddenly find Malachi behind him. The two inquired the drillmaster about the situation, and it was roughly the same as Malachi’s case—the seat of Class Leader.

“It would seem that the imperial boasted how she should be the leader compared to the people of a small kingdom like Perlas,” explained Axton, “Well, it just burned the hearts of the class in anger, considering that Class 7 is filled with people who already experienced war first-hand.”

Malachi observed Class 7’s makeup, and found that each one could be considered as old as Patrick Bryant.

“Huh, I guess,” he commented, “So… why and how did the imperial get into Class 7 in the first place?”

“Truthfully? It was the only class with a free slot,” answered Axton, “Since all the classes are full, and her grades weren’t good enough to be placed in Class 1 or bad enough to be placed in Class 13, she was placed in there. Though, in hind sight, Class 7 is well-known to be the most patriotic of the bunch so it might have been a bad choice to put a proud Imperial there.”

“No kidding,” replied Malachi, “Hmm, say, do you mind if we join in? I’m getting a bit impatient with the lack of action, you see.”

Axton stared at Malachi for a moment.

“Uh, you do understand that this is Class 7’s problem, right?” clarified Axton, “Why would you need to get yourself in trouble that you have no hand in to begin with?”

Malachi looked at Class 7 about to duke it out.

“Come on, I’m bored here,” he replied, “I gave my class 2 days of rest—I had to give them rest. With no one for me to piss off, all I can do is work in the armory or help with the construction and excavation.”

“Did you seriously just say you’re just here to piss people off?” asked Axton, “Unbelievable. Hey, since you’re a prince, just make sure you don’t bring that… unsatisfactory behavior when meeting other officials. Please, we’ve got enough problems at home; we don’t need a reason for other states to start a war with us.”

Malachi shrugged.

“Hey, if I can’t make them change through amicable means,” he continued, “I’ll just flare them up and beat them down to submission. Besides, I always give them a choice: either to follow me or to go against me—to be rewarded or to undergo suffering—and those that do follow me, I keep my word and give them suitable rewards. Why the heck do you think I’m out here in the first place?”

Without another word, Malachi pulled Arlianne along and went towards the imperial girl, Erika Li. Axton tried to follow Malachi’s silhouette but only found Arlianne in his field of vision. Malachi had returned to his hiding as he and Arlianne approached Erika despite the heavy atmosphere in the field.

Once Malachi and Arlianne were only a few steps away from Erika, the imperial girl turned her head towards Arlianne.

“What are you doing here, Skaria girl?” she inquired, “And…”

With a raised brow, Erika looked towards an empty spot beside Arlianne.

“You… are alone…?” she wondered, “Is there something you need from me?”

Arlianne still stood without a word before Erika, and the rest of Class 7 finally noticed their visitor. Before the next word could be said from whomever, Malachi appeared behind Erika and spoke beside her ear.

“Hello, Miss Beautiful,” he greeted, “Would you care for my assistance?”

A chill ran down Erika’s spine and Arlianne covered her face with her palm in embarrassment. A moment later, Erika returned Malachi’s greeting with a reverse hook kick followed up by a roundhouse then a leg sweep. Malachi reacted by back-flipping to avoid the first kick and landing with a handstand, continuing further back to avoid the next with another flip, and finally jumping out of the way to evade the sweep.

In five seconds, the heavy atmosphere was dispelled with Malachi’s sudden entrance and mischievous grin.

“Hahaha, well, that was a first,” laughed Malachi, “Apologies if I scared you silly.”

“Baendan!” shrieked Erika, “How did you…! When did you…!”

‘Hmm, looks like I need to learn this girl’s language if I am to effectively hide from her,’ he thought, ‘Her senses are pretty sharp since she noticed something strange earlier.’

Erika was still demanding an answer from Malachi.

“Answer me!” she bellowed, “How did you get here!?”

Malachi shrugged.

“While you were busy looking at Arlianne, I only came from behind you where none of you could see my approach,” he lied, “I mean, seriously, I understand that you’re all ready to tear each other’s throats out, but to think you’d actually lax your guard over your surroundings—pathetic, really.”

This time, the hate that was once being directed towards Erika was then placed on Malachi.

“Silence, child of filth!” roared a middle-aged man.

Malachi looked towards Erika and pointed at the man with his thumb.

“See?” he added, “Too much hate going around here that I had to use it as an opportunity to get close. Of course, with Arlianne’s presence, some of the hate went towards her, making me slip in with extreme, and I repeat, extreme ease.”

“And what, pray tell, do you wish to achieve by coming here, Skaria?” inquired Erika, “Do you wish to watch me defeat the rabble you call future soldiers of Perlas? That is all well, and I will show you the abilities of an imperial woman.”

Malachi blinked repeatedly in silence before placing both of his hands behind his head.

“Uh, well, no. Not really,” he clarified, “I was just wondering if you didn’t mind reinforcements, seeing that you ARE up against… one, two, three… uh, wow, 49 cadets. That’s a lot. I’m certain even I would find it hard to go up against that number.”

“What a load of…” commented Arlianne before she stopped herself, “Let me explain: Malachi is just bored and would like to have a bit of… fun, in his sense of fun, and wishes to join you. We’ve already received—well, not exactly received—permission from the drillmaster to do so.”

Hearing this, a number of the other 49 members of Class 7 punched their palms in open and hostile anticipation. Erika looked at where Axton stood and only saw him watching them in silence. She returned her gaze to Malachi.

“Do NOT get in my way,” she said, “I have no need for your help or any of your kingdom’s help. We imperials are not as weak that we deem to request the help of others.”

With that, she turned around and went for the weapon crates to pick up a gun. Except for the fact that Malachi was already a few steps in front of her. Erika and Class 7 were surprised and looked back and forth between where he was before and where he right after.

“Hmm, fusils and repeaters again?” He commented when he arrived at the crates. Malachi looked around and spotted an engineer on standby, and called for him. “You, get a few crates of the new guns and bring them here. It should be time to allow the other classes to have an upgrade.”

The engineer saluted and ran towards the armory.

“What are you doing?” interrogated Erika, “And what are you— hey! Why did you lock the crates!?”

Malachi sat on top of the sealed weapon crates and looked at Erika with a smile.

“I’d like to see how well the superior imperials work under pressure with unfamiliar weapons,” he explained, “It should be a good way for you to retract that the kingdom, my kingdom, is weak; wouldn’t you agree?”

“I already told you not to get in my way!” she roared.

“And I am not getting in your way,” he replied, “Well, not ‘yet’ anyway.”

A while later, the engineer returned with a few steam knights carrying the crates of weapons he asked for, and replaced the fusils and repeaters with the guns he designed. However, when the rest of Class 7 arrived, a large man kicked a crate of assault rifles over.

“I refuse to use tainted weapons!” he bellowed, “How dare you tarnish the pride of Perlasian engineers!?”

“Oh, for the love of…” said Malachi in exasperation, “Tainted this, tainted that! Filth this, filth that! Fine, then! Use your shit fusils and repeaters, and we will use my assault rifles and other guns to beat you all to submission until you get in your stupid little heads that YOU. ARE. ALL. WHINEY. PIECES. OF. SHIT! Ms. Li, I will not get in your way, I promise you that. What I want you to do: is to beat these pieces of shit using that imperial prowess of yours and my weapons!”

Another Class 7 cadet suddenly charged out in mad rage with both arms forward to grab Malachi where he stood. Instead, Malachi received the attack, parried one arm, twisted his hand and gripped the other arm, spun forward towards the cadet’s back, locked the cadet’s arm, and pinned the cadet to the ground. Without a chance for the cadet to realize what happened, Malachi chopped the back of the cadet’s head, rendering the cadet unconscious. Malachi neutralized a cadet that was more than twice his age.

As he stood up, Malachi glared at Erika, and she was already wide-eyed at his sudden change. However, she did not seem to be afraid as she immediately regained her composure in front of Malachi. She breathed in deeply before exhaling slowly.

“I… understand.”

While the 48 remaining members of Class 7 chose to wield the old weapons, Malachi and Arlianne gave Erika a crash course on the new weapons available. After the crash course, Erika was able to understand and execute the usage well enough that Malachi had a big smile plastered on his face as he taught. Even though the time Erika spent with each gun was shorter than the drillings he gave with Class 13, Erika was able to live up to her boasts about being an imperial to a frightening degree. In the end, Erika chose a weapon that neither Malachi nor Arlianne would have expected from her.

Erika chose a handgun, and the highest caliber in Malachi’s available arsenal: the bolt-action rifle.

“Uh, you sure?” wondered Malachi, “Interesting. None of my class, except for me, could use that. Let’s see how well you perform with it. Will you be using a scope?”

Erika looked at the scope mounted on the rifle.

“No, no need,” she answered, “I assume that this scope is meant to magnify far off targets, and will be useless when shooting anything closer.”

She handed the rifle to Malachi and he removed the scope. This left the rifle with only its iron sights.

“Well, I’ve already fixed the pyrocite dust amount for the cartridges and had new alloys for its construction,” he commented, “That only leaves if you can handle the recoil. The prototype numbed my arms, by the way, and left a big mark on my entrance to the academy.”

“Hmph, worry not,” replied Erika, “I will show you how well we Imperials perform on the battlefield.”

Erika went on ahead and left Malachi and Arlianne alone with the other weapons. Arlianne turned to face Malachi.

“Is this all right?” she wondered.

Malachi shrugged.

“It’s fine,” he answered, “Besides, the bullets are all non-lethal. As long as they don’t get hit in a sweet spot, they’ll live.”

“That wasn’t what I meant, Malachi,” she refuted, “What I mean was, was it all right sharing to the others this early without the approval of Grandfather.”

Malachi made a sidelong glance.

“Does it matter?” he returned, “You did see what the soldiers are carrying now, right? They’re all carrying the guns I designed, without my knowledge. This is just to get even. Although, Axton should be alarmed by the developments any time now, and should have dis— Ayep, he’s gone. He should have gone to Gramps, already.”

“You really don’t care about what happens, do you?”

“Nope, I do not.”