"We are concerned with the future. The victory of the Imperium depends on those who lead and those who serve. That responsibility is ours; that future is ours to bring to pass."
- Professor Bernar Skrayling of the Schola Progenium
***
Codex: The Pantheon of the Great Ones I.
The Great Ones are a group of immensely powerful, multi-dimensional beings that can exist across several planes of existence. Nobody exactly knows when they started interacting with the mortal planes, and especially with the world of Azyr, but one thing is sure: that the power of the Great Ones is beyond the imagination.
Within the Pantheon of the Great Ones are several notable beings that are the target of the primary worship of the entire Holy Arcadia Empire and the Healing Church.
***
Evening, Cainhurst the City of Silver, Holy Arcadia Empire, Lordran
Soon enough, it was already evening, and after unpacking her things and accommodating herself within her chambers, she was assigned to the castle Cainhurst by Lord High Magistrate Annalise Vileblood. Cersei and Maria were both called to the dinner.
The dining room was rich and had a deep dark red color mixed with black. The entire place could be described as rather gloomy, yet holding a particular sort of elegance and refined beauty.
Walls were adorned with ornate wallpaper featuring intricate patterns, damasks, and, in some places, even floral motifs. Wainscoting was made of dark wood, as it was a standard feature on the lower portion of the walls.
The ceiling itself was another piece of art that was decorating the entire dining room with its decorative molding, intricate plasterwork, and even ceiling medallions.
Chandeliers were suspended from the ceiling, made from a mixture of crystal and glass elements, holding in them several small Lacrimas that were producing the light, as they were the sole source of light in the dining room.
Naturally, the light wasn't very strong, and the entire room was only lighted slightly, giving it some sort of dimmed feeling.
The furniture was made of a dark, polished wood directly exported from the Reikland's dark forests, with its naturally black and dark colors. The tables around the room were large and rectangular, with ornate carving and details. Dining chairs had high backs and upholstered seats, often in velvet or other luxurious fabrics, with intricate patterns naturally unique to the culture of the Cainhurst.
The most notable thing was the dining table that was made from not wood but rather unknown black stone, large enough to accommodate larger gatherings. It also had carved legs and a polished surface, showing the masterful work with a stone.
At the end of the dining room, there was a fireplace with an ornate mantel and decorative tiles or carving. Large, ornate mirrors and oil paintings in ornate frames are often hung on the walls, adding to the sense of grandeur.
Both Maria and Cersei were wearing a dress for the dinner, an indirect order or direct advice from Lady Annalise, much to Maria's dismay and Cersei's delight. All three of them were sitting behind the table, with Maria and Cersei facing each other with Lady Annalise sitting at the end of the table, a special seat for the lord of the house.
"I am glad that you decided to wear a dress for once, Maria... it is a delight compared to your typical combat outfits that you always wear."
Lady Annalise remarked, seeing her daughter wearing something different than the armor or combat outfit after such a long time already.
"Don't worry... this won't become a new standard for sure... I can't understand how you can bear in something this impractical and uncomfortable."
Maria almost immediately scoffed at her mother hearing that because she didn't like wearing dresses, especially the ones that were popular fashion among the Imperial Nobles and the various balls and gatherings.
In her mind, they were impractical, pretty much uncomfortable clothes, and she would feel better in her Hunter outfit.
"Shame... that dress fits you perfectly, my dear, and is enhancing your female curves splendidly... I fear with this tempo, you won't be able even properly to seduce your man and give me a grandchild."
Lady Annalise Vileblood said with fake sight as she teased her daughter; this was a rather common occurrence in their family dynamics, to which Maria was more or less used.
Though, at the same time, she was also being constantly annoyed by her mother's teasing because it was annoying to a great degree. Especially when she was hinting that she lacked feminine charm due to her style of clothing.
"Again? This tactic is getting pretty old, mother dearest..."
Maria smirked at her mother before she cut into her steak.
"Your worries of not getting enough of Karl's cock into my cunt are not really substantiated."
When that was said, everything went quiet in a mere moment. Cersei gasped a bit hearing such vulgar and crass language, but Lady Annalise Vileblood just smiled without saying much.
"What could I expect from my warrior daughter... absolutely zero level of standards... but what should I expect."
It wasn't anything surprising, as they continued eating, because the steaks from the True Dragons, which were considered of the utmost delicacy among the Imperial Nobles of the Holy Arcadia Empire, were served.
Even Maria chose to ignore her mother's teasings and remarks but rather focused on her plate of food. Meanwhile, the young Lannister girl was focusing on her food, tending to ignore more of Lady Annalise's remarks because sometimes she felt that the discussion was really "morally breaking"...
"Now to our second guest, who is pretending not to be here."
Suddenly, Cersei felt something went wrong because she felt that Lady Annalise looked at her with an intense glare, which made her realize that she had instantly become the topic of the discussion.
Much to her dismay, Maria finally imaginary sighed in relief as she wasn't, for now, a point of interest for her mother.
"How are you feeling about attending the Schola Progenium?"
She asked as she scrutinized the young woman up and down, seeing that she remained calm upon hearing her question, though considering how much she managed to acclimatize to the Lordran, she must know about the fearsome reputation of the Schola Progenium.
Officially, the Schola Progenium was categorized under the joint control of the Healing Church, Byrgenwerth, Imperial Military, and Imperial Administration as a joint project between them, making the unique status of the Schola Progenium.
"Truthfully, a bit nervous, but that will pass... from what I have heard about the General Forge, it will be even beyond hard..."
The Schola Progenium had several types of Programs called Forges, which basically represented the specialization of the Progenas, the students of the Shola Progenium.
The most notable Forges were General Forge, Cadet Forge, and Administrator Forge and there were several minor Forges that served purpose.
Like the Intelligence Forge or Scholar Forge...
Cadet Forge was a specific program focused on forging the officers for the Imperial Army, Silver Knight Order and other military Units. The Cadet Forge was then divided into several subdivisions based on the future area of their activity...
Administrator Forge was, on the other hand, cultivating the best bureaucrats within the Holy Arcadia Empire that would be ruling the Imperium and carrying out various administrative tasks across the entire Imperium.
Most of the Progens of the Schola Progenium were actually orphans that were collected by the Imperium so that they could be educated and brainwashed into blind loyalty towards the Holy Arcadia Empire.
The system was personally created by the Holy Imperator to cultivate stable and absolutely loyal administrators and officers of the Holy Arcadia Empire. Approximately 50% of the Progenas were orphans that were collected across the territories of the Imperium.
The rest were children of military officials, Imperial Nobles, high-level Professionals and other people of high standing within the Holy Arcadia Empire.
"Yes... the General Forge is the hardest one among all Forges and only elites among the elties could even dream of completing the General Forge."
Lord High Magistrate Annalise Vileblood stated as General Forge, contrary to the name, which may tell somebody it was in the mind of jack of all trades master of none, it was the exact opposite.
The General Forge was a combination of several other Forges, mainly the Cadet Forge, Administration Forge and several minor Forges together and was served only for the best students of the entire Imperium.
It was typically visited only by the children of the Elector Counts, the strongest and most powerful Professionals off the Holy Arcadia Empire, or other high-ranking officials of the Imperium that could afford it.
"Each year across the whole Imperium, from the millions of citizens of the Holy Arcadia Empire, only twenty people are chosen for the General Forge. This signifies the high standards of the General Forge of the Schola Progenium, and technically speaking, you can complete the Forge within the two years if we are talking about the basic course."
The educational system of the Imperium was a mess, and it wasn't really unified... one could say that every single Grand Province had its own educational system, and the only thing that was even remotely unified were the great educational institutions.
"Karl told me that I would be attended to a somewhat adjusted one; what does that exactly mean?"
Cersei asked curiously as she looked at the Lord High Magistrate Annalise Vileblood.
"You won't be attending the great parts of the Combat Course and Magic Course because those courses would be handled respectively by Maria and Supreme Patriarch Balthasar Gelt. While the Schola Progenium is the best educational institution within the Holy Arcadia Empire, it still couldn't be compared to the personal tutelage of Senior Hunter and Headmaster of Byrgenwerth."
Lady Annalise stated that due to specific reasons, Cersei's education was adjusted to suit perfectly her needs.
"You would attend only combat evaluation and practices, but you won't be attending drills and training; for that, we have better means within the Cainhurst."
The young lines nodded her head, rather unsure and nervous, because she had a feeling that training at the Cainhurst would be even more arduous compared to that of the Schola Progenium.
Unaware of her, it would be even worse than she imagined.
When they finished eating, all three of them departed to their chambers, not before Lady Annalise told them their next program for the upcoming days. At first, she planned for Maria to train with Cersei because she thought that it would be best for the adjustment period.
***
Training Yard of the Castle Cainhurst.
At the next morning, very early, within the private training yard of the House Vileblood at the Castle Cainhurst, two figures were repeating the basic combat stances and acts...
One of them was Lady Maria clad in her Hunter outfit, as she was showing the basic combat moves to Cersei, who was wearing a rather similar light outfit that was created for better mobility and agility for the combat.
They were repeating the same thing for one hour already, as Maria would be teaching Cersei some basic combat techniques and just the fundamentals. Maria wasn't as good at teaching as she thought she would be, so in the end, she settled just with the basics.
"How long must we be doing this?"
Cersei Lannister asked with a tired voice because not only was she forced to wake up at five hours in the morning, but she was also spending the past hour since she woke up doing harsh training and exercises.
For someone as pampered as her, this was a literal nightmare... while she always wanted to learn to fight like a man, she now realized that her wish and dream had many problems and it would be a thorny path to walk on.
"Probably a few weeks; you are learning fast, so be grateful for that..."
Cersei revealed a mortified expression when she heard that this would continue for several weeks, but she also understood that a stable foundation was everything for the future.
"Don't give me that look; basics are everything... without a stable foundation, you won't be able to advance as a warrior in the future."
Basic combat, basic footwork and stances, and several of the most fundamental sword stances.
"Come on, chop, chop, chop..."
Lady Maria then followed after Cersei by showing her the proper execution of the techniques as she was training together with her.
For Maria, she started training when she was little, she was literarily born with weapons in her hands, and she was a prodigy at combat.
If not, then she wouldn't be the prized student of the Gehrman the First Hunter together with the Holy Imperator Karl Franz. Lady Maria Vileblood was hailed as the strongest female warrior within the entire Imperium for a very long time and one of the greatest geniuses...
"When will I start combat against real opponents?"
After another half an hour of practice, Cersei asked as Maria gave her a small pause in her training.
"You can barely swing the sword and already want to fight against a real opponent?"
Lady Maria Vileblood asked rhetorically as she looked at the young lioness of Westerlands incredulously.
"I don't really know if you are foolish or if you are just arrogant... no matter the reason, you won't be fighting any real opponent, at least for a few weeks, until I deem you prepared enough."
While Maria was a strict trainer, she didn't really agree with the training methods of the Gehrman the First Hunter, whose training method for newcomers was just to arm them with a weapon and order them to slay a few beasts.
"... If you say so..."
Cersei was indeed disappointed by that thing because she wanted to fight against something different than her very own shadow.
"Now, less talking and more practicing..."
Maria then said as they resumed their training for the next one and a half an hour.
***
Several hours later, at 9:00 in the morning, Cainhurst the City of Silver
The branch of the Schola Progenium within the Cainhurst was located at the center of the city in an enormous interbuilding complex that interconnected more than ten buildings together and several other areas.
This, in turn, created an enormous area that was exclusively reserved for the Schola Progenium and its uses.
After finishing the morning exercises with Lady Maria Vileblood, they had breakfast and it was already time for Cersei to attend the first classes within Schola Progenium. She also had the status of Special Student, meaning that she had certain privileges that the normal students didn't have.
Within the Schola Progenium, there were such people, at least a few of them were there each year, that, due to their particular situation, needed special attention or different conditions.
For example, due to this pass, she didn't need to live within the spartan-like dorms of the Schola Progenium and several other things that would be much more annoying to her. She was wearing the set of clothes that was issued as a uniform of the Schola Progenium, which was a rather simple and plain military uniform of grey color.
There were almost no patterns on it, and it was not for her tastes, as she would appreciate something more comfortable and pleasing to the eye. But there was nothing that could be done about it; the only solace was that, at least, the uniforms for the General Forge were a bit nicer compared to the other Forges.
"We have arrived, My Lady."
She heard the voice of the butler of Cainhurst, a personal retainer of Lady Annalise Vileblood who was tasked with guiding her to the Schola Progenium. She had her hair tied in bun, for more practicality for the upcoming tasks.
Cersei then disembarked from the war wagon and headed directly to the Schola Progenium... for several moments, she felt like those who were joining the Maester Order within the Westeros.
Mainly because, within the Westeros, there was not any unified educational institution that would be providing education to the masses and commoners. Now, after living in the Holy Arcadia Empire for some time, she learned the benefits of educated peasants...
For example, some of the greatest technological advances, especially the ones that were related to the popularization of Lacrima Technology, were the work of the people who stemmed from common origins.
Lacrimas were something that was indispensable to the Imperium because they were used practically everywhere. Be it in the civilian or military sector, they tremendously improved the area of communication and many other things.
After she entered the premises of the Schola Progenium, she was welcomed by several members of the staff, who then showed her to her class, which she would be attending for the foreseeable future, depending on her skills and learning speed.
Within the General Forge class, there were only something about fifteen students, which was a lower number compared to the previous years, but the numbers of students within the General Forge were ever fluctuating.
There was never a stable number or one hard constant as the number was constantly changing with each year or even with each month.
Most of the students that were attending here were between fourteen to sixteen years old because the Schola Progenium preferred younger students as they were more moldable for their needs.
And in case of need, they were more prone to brainwashing and ideological indoctrination to the blind loyalty towards the Holy Arcadia Empire and Holy Imperator as easily as it could get.
"Now we have here a new student with a Special Pass that is joining us this bit late... other unnecessary things like introduction could be done later, now sit somewhere in the third row and we will continue."
The almost archaic voice of the old man was heard across the class as Cersei did what the old man said and sat next to one of three girls in the Class. Of fifteen students of the General Forge, there were only three girls, and Cersei even managed to recognize one of them.
Mainly the one to which she sat because she recognized the girl as Lagertha Stark an Russ, sister of the Elector Count Leman Stark an Russ of the Grand Province of Fenris. Actually, even Lagertha recognized the young lioness because they knew each other from the Imperial Palace.
When her brother, the Elector Count Leman Stark an Russ visited the Holy Imperator for the journey to Westeros to meet with his long distant kin of House Stark, they met because she was following Karl even to the official meetings sometimes.
So, from then on, one could say that Cersei made a friend with Lagertha Stark an Russ.
"Now where have we ended... yes, the second resurgence of the Fire..."
Ironically, though, it was the history class...
***
Some Time Later
And thus, the weeks have passed one by one since the moment Cersei started attending the Schola Progenium. Contrary to her initial expectations, the situation was better than she anticipated and what she heard...
She took her classes with relative ease and even started excelling at combat. Her inner desire to be the best of the best was showing itself greatly. She always wanted to hold power, a lot of power and now she was given the path to what she desired.
Naturally, she would never neglect this opportunity and made full use of it and she was making it greatly. Her training with Maria was showing great results, and she even started occasionally sparring with Lagertha.
While Lagertha's combat style was especially barbarous and brutal, mainly due to the fact that she was from the Fenris and was taught the traditional combat style of the Fenrisia. Lagertha was what was called within the Fenris a Shield Maiden.
Her choice of weapon was axe and she was taught the traditional ways of the Berserker, who were the most brutal and barbarous warriors of the Fenris. And naturally, they were also the most feared warriors of the Fenris, as nobody wanted to fight a Berserker in a single combat.
Within the Schola Progenium, she was actually excelling at her subjects and she got acclimatized to the standards of the Schola Progenium relatively fast. She understood that if she wanted to become someone great, then the competition of the Schola Progenium and the General Forge was essential.
Right now, Cersei was sparring against the Lagertha Stark an Russ, or more like she was constantly dodging her strikes. Lagertha was using a huge waraxe as her weapon of choice, while she was using the Blades of Mercy she got from Karl.
She was training in the dual-wield because she felt that it was the right combat style for her, and even Lady Maria commented that she was natural at fighting with the dual-wielding and the Blades of Mercy were ideal weapons for her.
"Can't you stop dodging already?!"
Lagertha almost shouted in frustration as her grey eyes narrowed at her opponent because it was already getting to her nerves. Her opponent didn't even bother fighting back, as she focused solely on dodging and avoiding the blows because Cersei knew that in the direct confrontation, she was losing greatly.
"No... in strength contest, I am losing greatly... even though we are of the same Level, you are strength-oriented and I am speed-oriented, so the logical thing to do is to keep dodging and avoiding the strike."
One of the first lessons she learned with Karl or Maria was that, to be a truly elite warrior there was one crucial aspect that every single elite warrior needed to learn and comprehend.
It was to be perfectly aware of your own weaker sides and strong sides, analyze the opponent you are fighting against, and use the comparison to choose the best combat strategy that is most suitable for the current scenario.
"Ts..."
Lagertha scoffed hearing that as she looked at Cersei before she lunged at her once more, as she gripped her axe and attacked once more.
Lagertha was Cersei's sole training partner aside from Maria, and during the few weeks they were sparring together, both of them managed to get acquainted with each other's fighting style.
"Fucking dammed dancers..."
Lagertha cursed loudly when she noticed that Cersei had dodged another strike of her axe and had appeared behind her as she felt something kicking her at her back. With one powerful kick, she was forced onto the ground as she fell down in a mere moment.
Dancers were often a term for high-speed fighting tears that fought with either swords or daggers and depended on their overwhelmingly higher agility and speed to overpower their enemies.
They were called such because sometimes, when they fought, it reminded the people how professional dancers danced at the theatre, with their exquisite movements and light steps, with every single move containing unprecedented beauty and wonder.
"You were once again blinded by your anger and forgot to take into account my superior speed."
The young lioness said with a somewhat haughty voice as she looked at Lagertha who was panting for breath. Each Professional, even at the same Level had a different predisposition towards various physical aspects, or rather everyone had their weaker and stronger sides.
For example, while both Lagertha and Cersei were at Level 3, Cersie was at least thrice faster than Lagertha. But at the same time, Lagertha was around four times stronger physically than Cersei was.
"Yield?"
Cersei asked as Lagertha nodded slowly because she wasn't in the mood to fight anymore and that their fight had, technically speaking, already ended the moment she was kicked down because if this was the real fight, it would be like her death sentence.
When she was recovering from the kick, Lagertha made a mistake that would probably cost her life in real combat because her recovery time took several more seconds than it normally should.
"Now that it 24:41."
Cersei said as she now obtained another one victory, now having a total of 24 victories and 41 losses against Lagertha Stark an Russ. Both of them sat down on the ground, resting after the hard spar they had, as they were fighting against one another for the past one and a half hours.
Lagertha had overall more victories because she had far more experience when it came to combat. In the end, she started training with weapons when she was five years old and her real training started at eight years old.
Not to mention the combat and battles were in her very own blood. It was something that flowed through her veins and she was natural at that.
"You are getting better and better... maybe soon we can go on some mission to hunt for Danger Beasts or whatever."
Lagertha said because she wanted to go out and fight against some Danger Beasts or perhaps against the Greenskins, Daemons, Heretics or other enemies of the Imperium. Not like she didn't before, because she had her first kill at ten years old approximately.
Norsca Peninsula was a very hard place that bred very harsh people...
"Maybe... Maria said that for me to go out is night impossible right now, and only after I passed her test would I be allowed to undertake some mission that included real combat against enemies."
Because Cersei was the fianceé of the Holy Imperator, no matter how much she wanted and how much she pressed for that, they wouldn't allow her to undertake the mission that included real combat without proper preparations.
And that was up to Lady Maria to see when she was ready, as she was responsible for teaching her the basics. And just for a note, the basics in the vocabulary of the Holy Arcadia Empire was the same as relatively experienced Knights within Westeros and Essos.
Even Lagertha felt a bit jealous that her friend got trained personally by Lady Maria Vileblood of the Astral Clocktower... Lady Maria was one of the idols for countless young women across the whole Holy Arcadia Empire and the lands of the Ancients.
"So... I was wondering to ask..."
Suddenly, Lagertha's tone of voice changed rapidly, as Cersei got a very bad promotion of what was going to follow after.
"Wondering about what?"
She trod carefully on this unexplored territory because she had already several times fallen into Lagertha's traps that were either some crass language teasings or some other inappropriate comments.
"Did Imperator already fucked you? I wonder how big his dick would be..."
And naturally, Lagertha didn't disappoint Cersei a bit with her answer because it was as vulgar and crass as she expected it to be. Now, at the same time, she almost coughed at that because such a conversation...
Was probably highly inappropriate...
"I... this is not really an appropriate topic to be discussed."
Even though Cersei learned that within the Imperium, there were different social norms and not everyone was so uptight, at the same time, she didn't really like to discuss such matters out of loud.
"Why not?... In Fenris, everything is much simpler... if you like someone, you fight and assert the dominance in the relationship and then you fuck, as simple as that."
Lagertha said because she didn't really understand the non-Norscans... it didn't really help that the dwarves were similar in mentality to the Fenrisians. In Lagertha's mind, the topic of relationships were simple; everything was solved with a good fight and good fucking.
"Not everyone is an uncultured brute like you, Lagertha... some people have a certain class."
Lagertha Stark an Russ was the daughter of the former Elector Count of the Fenris and sister of the current Elector Count of the Grand Province of Fenris; thus, her position was even higher than that of the high-ranking nobles with the other parts of the known world.
And yet, she sometimes behaved like a common thug in the undercity.
"What did you say both?! What class? Just a pretense for the fact that you want to ride him to oblivion, at least compared to you I can say something like that out loud."
The young lioness of the Casterly Rock rolled her eyes as she heard her friend's faux anger because she knew that in a certain sense, Lagertha was right?
Certainly, she was, because she wanted to be dominated like Maria was in the bed, she observed them fucking like rabbits for several hours straight and she couldn't help but get moist in between her legs.
"When are the Classes starting again?"
Right now, they were having a break from the Schola Progenium classes for a few days.
While the schedule of the Schola Progenium was strict and harsh, the cadets and students were occasionally getting some mini holidays.
"In three days. And the first day after the end of our free time, we have the first practicals in the survival class..."
It didn't escape Lagertha's attention that when Cersei mentioned the Survival Class words, she was feeling dread passing her.
"Is that fear that I am feeling? Is our little princess feeling the Survival Class?"
Indeed, Cersei was feeling a bit scared of the Survival Class, but not for the Class itself, but she dreaded the feeling that she would be sleeping in the forest... without a proper luxurious bed, without the comfort that she was used to.
In the Survival Class, they would be dropped somewhere in the forest and left to survive on their own for several upcoming days, something that she was dreading dearly.
There would be enemies awaiting them, but for Cersei, the greatest enemy was dirt, cold and other things related to camping outside.
"What? Already thinking about breaking your nail or getting your hair dirty?"
Lagertha mocked her rival/friend because contrary to Cersei's fears about the Survival Class, for Lagertha, it was a piece of cake. In the Grand Province of Fenris, the conditions were harsh and survival skills were imminent to know for every single citizen of the Fenris.
"Shut up, Lagertha... I don't like sleeping on the ground in the freezing nights of Klander, being surrounded by insects and other infernal things. Sorry for it not being my ideal evening..."
Even right now, she was already scheming on how to survive the Survival Class in a more manageable way, but the sole solution that was coming to her was to get help from someone who knew how to survive on their own.
Fortunately, it wasn't really forbidden for the cadets to help each other and work together within the Survival Class, as it was also part of the test.
Just if they decided to work together, they would be tested in a different way compared to those who were working alone.
"If you agree to work with me during the Survival Class, I will in turn, help you with your essays on the topics of the politics of the Imperium, agree?"
Lagertha almost immediately agreed with the suggestion because she hated politics to the core and she preferred to solve her problems with her weapon and fist.