Nessa jolted awake. Her senses slowly came to her as she snapped out of the deep sleep she was enjoying. As she stirred awake, she realized her abrupt awakening resulted from the sound of metal clashing below her. With a swift glance, she saw that Mair's bed was already empty and that a clear mess had been made on the path to the stairs. Without a second thought, she leapt out of bed and rushed down the spiral stairs until the context of the situation revealed itself.
She saw Mair, standing poorly fitted into a chestplate and surrounded by a clutter of weapons. He appeared disheveled as he struggled to adjust the unfitted armor, but he was clearly excited and energetic as he held a steel pike in one of his hands. Nessa sighed both with relief for his safety but also annoyance over his stupidity. She glanced out of an open slit in the tower wall to see the crystal lights of the city still fairly dim.
"What are you doing messing with all of this stuff so early in the morning?" Nessa lightly scolded through a yawn. She stepped down the stairs approaching her little brother.
"Sorry sorry, I just couldn't help myself. You said we could go to the guild on your day off and I couldn't sleep last night and-" Mair lit up with excitement, interrupting himself as he tripped over the clutter around him, undoing a majority of the straps on his chestplate.
"I know, I know. We're going. But we can't take anything from the manor. If someone recognizes anything from here, we could get in trouble. Besides, the guild will provide what we need for the exams." Nessa calmly explained as she tied her long white hair into a ponytail and proceeded to clean up the mass of decorative weapons that littered the floor.
Mair sat down on the cold stone floor to undo the rest of the straps of the armor hanging off of him. Prying the plate of metal off his body, he brought his knees up to his chest and studied the point of the pike. The designs had long since faded. The only discernible mark was a pair of initials carved in the elvish language, KM. His sister looked up from the cleaning to see him sulked upon the ground. Her eyes drifted over the weapon and a melancholy wave washed over her. The weapon belonged to their father, and it was one of the few keepsakes Mair still had of him. She quietly released a sigh under her breath.
Nessa stood over Mair nudging him on the shoulder, "You can bring the pike," Her brother returned to his lit up expression which infectiously spread to Nessa, "Just don't break it again, I'm going to start charging you for mending that thing back together."
Mair leapt to his feet and gave Nessa a quick hug before rushing down the stairs, "Thanks sis! I'll be careful this time!"
Nessa was left alone in the middle of the tower with the scattered armor and weapons still scattered on the floor. Mumbling to herself, she settled to deal with the mess later. She returned up the stairs to get ready to leave for the guild. However, before Nessa left, she noticed an armor stand that her brother had dragged in and knocked over. A thought popped into her head as she quickly gathered her tome and wand from her satchel. She headed back down to the cluttered floor. She needed to make sure her magic would catch the attention of the guild, otherwise they would never let her become an apprentice. So she set about to prepare herself for the day ahead.
Deep breaths, in and out. Nessa flipped through the pages of her tome as she stumbled on her way down the stairs. She ended her search near the beginning of the tattered book and kept her finger locked to the page. She held the tome in one hand while the other guided her through the details of the spell, holding her wooden, worn down wand in her teeth while she situated herself. Finally, she grounded herself and held the tome open with her wand aimed forward.
Nessa emptied her mind of any and all distractions around her to let casting be the only action on her mind. She felt a tinge of static momentarily warp each of her senses as mana surged through her body. She sought focus, and her gaze nervously shifted from her target to her tome until she was finally able to do so. A violet shine radiated from her wand and wrapped both the wand and her wrist in a faint glow, wavering like a bubble blown in a slight wind. The purple glow slowly crawled from the point of the wand through the air, approaching the armor stand. The glowing cloud of mana swallowed the wooden frame little by little, until it too, was encompassed by the faint fog.
Her hands shook ever so slightly as she raised her tome hand in an arc, her breaths became more erratic as she made the motion. With her movement, the armor stand slowly picked itself up with a slight tremble. Nessa's grip tightened over her wand as she noticed the slight trembling grow fiercer. She struggled to correct the situation as she failed to find the right pace of breathing. Her focus was lost in an instant as the armor stand dropped back to the ground, with the violet mist fading away into the air.
Silence fell over the room. The page of the tome crinkled slightly and the grip on Nessa's wand tightened until it was about to snap. In a sudden lashing movement, Nessa whipped her arm in a threat to throw her wand against the stone wall. To her surprise, a scarlet and violet flash of energy washed over her hand, and the armor stand was thrown across the room at the wall.
Nessa jumped back as the wooden frame shattered against the wall. She briefly stood in confusion and awe at what she did before a stinging feeling stung at her wrist. Nessa rolled up her sleeve and let her gaze travel down her arm with worry, but also curiosity. A shallow scar started at the base of her palm and ran down her wrist with intense pain. With a swear mumbled under her breath, Nessa covered the strange scar and returned upstairs to prepare, silently vowing to clean up the mess later without a word to her brother.
In less than an hour, Nessa stepped outside ready to join her brother on the short trek to the guild. She pulled back the long sleeve of her jacket and checked the scar on her wrist. Though it had faded surprisingly fast, a faint outline of it still remained.
"Gods, what took you so long? It felt like I was waiting forever." Mair complained, leaning onto the metal fence with his pike slung over his back. He opened the gate and kept the lead throughout their travel.
"Quit your whining," Nessa playfully shoved him forward and adjusted her newly repaired satchel, "I have much more to worry about than just lugging around metal on a stick."
"Psh, Whatever." Mair scoffed and rolled his eyes, but got distracted as they approached one of the bridges of the city. He sped ahead and leaned over the ledge to look at the guildhall down in the ravine. "I still can't believe we're gonna get an apprenticeship at the guild." He said with giddy anticipation.
"You're awfully confident. Just do your best in whatever test they throw at you and it should work out just fine." Nessa giggled and continued past her brother.
"You think they'll actually extend the invitation for the both of us, sis? I'd feel pretty bad if I just swooped in to take your chance."
"Didn't I tell you not to worry about that? Hell, I think you'd be lucky without me constantly fussing over you." Nessa teased her younger brother.
"Bleugh, you're right. You're better off as a mom than an adventurer." He teased back as they both laughed over the exchange. They spent the trek playfully bickering through the morning traffic of the underground city.
In only a matter of time, they arrived at the main entrance of the guild hall. The bridge led forward through a path lit with mana fueled flames to an opened grand door made of an olive colored wood framed with silver lining. A flank of armed and helmed guards checked the emblems of each individual that passed through. The traffic picked up to a hustle as the near hundreds of adventuring teams awoke to set upon what quests were laid before them for the next day, week, or even few months.
Nessa paused briefly, which inclined her brother to stop and check as well, "Everything alright, sis?" He asked with a hint of concern.
"Yes yes, I'm alright." Nessa laughed it off and continued forward towards the entrance, keeping a tight grip on her satchel as the guards took notice of the two visitors without emblems.
The guards were lightly armored from the shoulders down, but the steel helms they wore formed the visage of a surface beast that gazed diligently as if prey stepped before them. The grip on their spears remained firm as one had approached to address the two strangers.
"Hail, what business do you seek here?"
Nessa froze for a moment, before finally clearing her throat and responding, "We were invited for an apprenticeship opportunity. Specifically by a demifai named Hela." Silence fell over the conversation for a moment following her response.
The guards looked to each other as if confused, "You said you were invited by Hela? As in the leader of the Crimson Shield?"
The elven half siblings' hearts skipped a beat at the same time.
They remained stunned until Nessa finally snapped back and responded through nervous stammering, "Uh, well yes. We met a few days back, and um, she failed to mention her status at the guild to be entirely honest."
"Ah, right." The guard remained stalwart but spoke with slight doubt in his voice, "Follow me and I'll set you up to meet with Head Director Veridan to sort this all out. He handles the apprenticeship program, among other things."
The guard waved the siblings forward, so they both nervously nodded and followed several paces back.
"Are you serious Nessa?" Mair leaned in and whispered to his still panicked sister, "What could you have done to impress the highest ranked adventurer around here?" He pressed on with shock, denial, and hidden fascination.
"I didn't do anything I swear," Nessa whispered back, matching her brother's tone of bewilderment, "I didn't even piece it together that she was from Team Crimson Shield. Gods I had no idea. I should've seriously noticed."
The two attempted to wrap their heads around the situation, but Nessa's attention was turned away as they traversed through the guild hall. The brick stone floors echoed with their footsteps as their paths were lit by sapphire flames from torches on the marble walls and pillars. The duo made their first steps into the main hall which expanded to connect the entire guild. A spiral staircase led down through every floor of the fortress as the bustle of workers, guards, and guild members all worked to form the perfect image. Cogs in an efficient machine. The portrait that matched the wild expectations of the life of adventure Nessa had dreamed of since she was a little girl. She stood in the middle of it all, a moment she had dreamed of, but never expected.
"Hey, you good?" Mair had snapped her out of her daydream.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Nessa smiled back to him and gestured to the scene around them, "It's just a little surreal this whole situation is, I still can't believe I'm standing here right now." Before Mair could respond, the guard had stepped aside as he led the others to their destination.
A dusk elf man who looked to be well into his 16th decade stood confidently with his hands politely held behind his back. Despite his age, he still possessed a fierce glare and a fit form. Fitting of his position, he wore a dull colored suit marked with the emblem of the guild.
"I am ecstatic to hear of your enthusiasm over The Hidden Star guild," His words were kind but they were spoken with a lack of intent and emotion that ruined the impact of his greeting, "I hope you've enjoyed your tour. Unfortunately it appears there was a mistake. I've heard nothing from the Guildmaster or Lady Krisofft about such a circumstance. Go ahead, on your way now."
"What!? My sister was invited by Hela to join the guild, you can't just send us away without confirming anything!" Mair retorted.
"I have all the confirmation I need, every morsel of thought and information passes through me first you see," The Director continued to talk down to Mair as Nessa stood in a nervous silence, "I hope this misunderstanding can be swept under the rug and forgotten, completely. Now shoo."
"Please, sir," Nessa spoke up but choked up slightly as the full attentive gaze of the director shifted to her, "We'll be willing to leave as you wish, but if you could give us any benefit of the doubt, we'd be immensely appreciative." She concluded, waiting to be shut down when his response was cut off by a shout from across the grand room.
"Hey Saul!" A cheerful voice rang that turned the conversation in its direction. Hela had waved and greeted the group from afar and approached alongside an old and intimidating dwarf dressed in a long coat and a braided black beard that reached down to his chest, "Oh cool, looks like you met Nessa already, and this must be her brother. Now the both of you can join in. A pleasure to meet you dude." She waved to Mair who stood starstruck but ended up nervously waving back to her.
The Director cleared his throat before addressing the intrusion, "Forgive me Ms. Krisofft, are you saying that you recognize these two?" He shifted to a much more polite tone as he spoke to Hela.
"Well duh, I already told Guildmaster everything." She obliviously responded with a grin on her face while the dwarf next to her nodded.
"Guildmaster," The director's voice heightened in pitch with disbelief and annoyance over the situation, "Is it true you knew of this and did not inform your trusted advisor?"
The dwarf scratched at his head for a moment and pondered, "I think I might've forgotten to ol' chap. No harm done in the end, start some trials for these youths," The dwarf turned to face Nessa and Mair. His stone cold empty gaze acted as no window into him, but instead a reflection of his identity as a proud Earth Dwarf, "Hela here told me the two of you couldn't make it to the last apprenticeship exams, so the least I could do to alleviate the incredible debt we owe to her is to give that chance to you both," The Guildmaster laughed heartily and offered a handshake to the two siblings, both accepted graciously. "Good luck on your trials, I'm afraid I have an unimaginable and taxing duty to attend to. Paperwork." He laughed once more and left on his own path.
Director Veridan stood silently with his eye twitching during the exchange. He sighed and addressed the siblings again with a forced smile on his face.
"It looks like there was a lack of communication in the end here. Follow me to the guild's training grounds. There we can test your mettle to see if you're both a fit here at the guild. I hope we can then put this misunderstanding behind us."
Mair scoffed and rolled his eyes, but Nessa accepted the apology with a smile and polite half bow. The director led the way through the winding halls of the guild as the siblings followed with Hela walking close behind to observe the makeshift trials for herself. Passing the personal quarters of the guild members and the multitude of facilities available, such as infirmaries, armories, and dining halls. The group eventually reached an open air battleground that led to a beautiful underview of the city.
Several teams of adventurers gathered together there to spar and practice drills in the expansive space provided to them. Nessa observed in awe at the battles that raged on the field before her. The combatants for the most part fought with wooden training weapons except for a couple that caught Nessa's eye. She spotted a demiserpus with a blonde streak through his dark green hair who wielded a copper blade in one hand while the other was held behind his back. He sparred and kept the defensive against a full blooded serpus, a green scaled snake-like man with a long tail, who pursued his target with a steel two-handed axe. The two battled with ferocity and without fear of the sharpened weapons they lashed at each other.
"You two!" Director Veridan yelled over the commotion of the training grounds at the serpus and demiserpus. The two stopped their duel, and as they paused, a green glow visibly radiated from their weapons. Nessa recognized the magical glow as a dulling enchantment that was customary for adventurers to use to spar or to spare their opponents.
"What's the deal, Director? I was just about to close that victory out." The demiserpus complained while resting the copper sword on his shoulder casually.
"A momentary interruption, I need one of you to spar this one here," Veridan motioned to Mair who gripped at his pike ready to prove himself. Veridan's hand waved over Mair and his weapon. One of the rings on the director's hand flashed with green sparks as the weapon was bathed in the same enchantment that the others possessed, "I'd prefer these makeshift trials be over quickly so as to not hinder my schedule. A short round of sparring will be enough for me to judge your potential."
"You can do it, brother," Nessa encouraged him before he stepped forward, "Do your best, and it'll be enough. I'm sure of it." Her brother gave a confident smile and nod in thanks as he stepped up to the snake-blooded duo.
The demiserpus sheathed his sword and stepped away from the soon to be battlefield, "Sounds good, boss. Go ahead and make it quick, Kross."
The serpus nodded and held his axe up with a deep breath. The director stood off to the side as judge to the battle. His hand rose above him, and he called for the duel to begin. Despite the command given, both combatants remained still. The serpus observed Mair for an opening while Mair nervously waited for his opponent to make the first move. In a spontaneous moment, Kross pounced with his axe held behind him ready to swipe at his target. Mair lunged in response and jabbed the pike into the serpus' open chest. Both of their weapons connected with their targets. A field of verdant aura halted the blades from striking at their skin, yet the concussive force of their attacks knocked each other back to square one.
They traded blows, back and forth, avoiding the clashing of their blades in favor of landing the strike that would finish the battle without care of the damage and wounds that would follow onto them. Each of them employed a vicious offense with unfailing counterattacks as each warrior refused to fall until their target was already on the ground.
"Gods, it's like they're just reflecting each other. They keep going but just don't make any progress but wear themselves out." Nessa sighed and watched as the serpus and her brother both ended up going for an overhead strike, only to meet their blades and immediately disengage to go in with a new approach.
"That's Kross for you," Hela responded while keeping her gaze fixed on the battle, "He's one of the apprentices that joined last year. He's on a path to mastering a fighting style known as The Way of the Twin Edge. That fighting style is all about pushing for ridiculous offenses to outlast opponents through sheer will."
Mair stumbled back with gasping breath. His grip loosened as he struggled to remain standing. Kross stood in a significantly better state and prepared to finish off the duel. He approached and reared back with his foot raised to kick Mair down.
Mair saw his opening and reached for it, his grip on his pike was released completely as the kick struck directly into his gut. Just before Mair was sent collapsing to the ground, he grappled onto Kross's leg to trip him off of his balance. The two of them crashed onto their backs at the same time with a loud thud.
"An impressive display," The director interjected as the two struggled to rise to their feet, "Once your sister finishes her part, I'll prepare the written segment for the both of you. As for you Kross, and by extension Rex," Director Veridan addressed Kross and the demiserpus on the sidelines, "Keep up with your training, I haven't forgotten your recent failures."
"Come on boss. You can't hold this against us, that was a total fluke." The demiserpus named Rex rebutted through gritted fanged teeth. Kross simply kept silent with his head low, returning to his teammates' side.
"We're not discussing this now." Veridan dismissed the apprentices and led the group to an empty corner of the training grounds. "Now then, Nessa was it? I can sense the residue of mana on you. I can only assume you're expecting a test of magic?"
Nessa paused while Veridan continued walking and stopped several meters away from her, "Yes uh, what should I do sir?" She stuttered slightly in her question as she reached for her tome and wand in preparation.
The Director raised his palm as a green bubble formed a shielding ward around him. The magic that pulsed from the rings on his hand formed the abjuration in front of him.
"I've created a weak shield around myself, cast against it from this distance to prove yourself."
Nessa nodded and gazed at the target in front of her. She flipped through the pages of her tome and found a simple spell she could use to attack the ward the director had put up. She raised her wand out in front of her to aim and focused to create a bolt of mana to fire off. Sparks and flashes of violet energy coalesced at the tip of Nessa's wand to form an orb of erratic mana convulsing and ready to burst. With a deep breath and a moment of hesitation, the bolt of mana was loosed from her control and was flung at the ward. The bolt whizzed forward but lost its path and ended up careening into the air until an outside force suddenly paused its momentum completely. The bolt fizzled out in its paused state into nothing.
"Thank you Sir Wright," Veridan addressed someone near Hela and Mair that Nessa had not noticed. She turned back and saw standing close to Hela was a black coated human with curly scarlet hair and an eyepatch concealed over his right eye. The man said something to Hela but the words were blocked out as panic set in for Nessa.
"Try one more time, Nessa." Veridan waited for another attempt as Nessa's hands began to shake. She struggled to find her rhythm as her wand rose once more to attempt to charge the bolt of mana. Nessa felt the whispering voices of those waiting for her to either pull through or fail miserably. Her heartbeat escalated to cloud her hearing as she felt the eyes of the entire training ground on her. Her focus was lost, the orb of mana she sent without consciously thinking had faltered in its path and hit Veridan's ward with a pathetic gasp as it sizzled out of existence.
In an attempt she made without realizing, Nessa had failed and watched as Veridan's ward was cast down. He said something and shook his head disappointingly. Nessa could not hear over her heartbeat. She believed to have seen Hela and the stranger turn their attention elsewhere to ignore the scene and saw her brother's admiration burn away, yet her head was locked forward and her focus could not leave what was in front of her. The dreams and hopes she carried through her life shattered and fell away into the abyss of doubt and failure.
The eyes that stared and looked down upon her seared upon her skin as a surge of mana rushed through her arm. Only her body knew what to do as her wand was dropped and a continuous beam of scarlet and violet magic poured out from her hand and pulsed towards Veridan like a bout of raging flame.
Veridan had barely noticed the beam approaching and recast the ward to shield himself. A flash of light and cloud of smoke enveloped the area. Nessa came back to her senses as the dust settled. She quickly pulled her now burnt sleeve up to reveal her scar had reformed and traced her veins all the way back to her upper arm. With quick movements she attempted to conceal the damage as she shifted her attention back to The Director. He stood shocked, and yet he was wearing a smirk on his face with his ward almost completely shattered from the devastating spell.
"Well done. You had me worried there for a moment, in more ways than one," The ward dropped as he put his palm down, "Let's move onto the written segment, afterwards I can show you to your new living quarters." He added on confidently.
Nessa nodded and kept her arm pressed to her body hoping no one had noticed. Mair had rushed up to his sister with a tackling hug and lifted her up happily, "That was awesome, sis! I didn't even know you could do something like that."
"Yeah I have to say, I wasn't expecting something like that at all," Hela praised, "Even my teammate was surprised by that." She attempted to refer to the man beside her, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Huh, strange of him to disappear like that. Well good luck on the boring part of apprentice exams, I think I'd fall asleep if I tried to support you through that." Hela giggled and waved goodbye to the siblings.
Nessa was put down by her brother and they both waved off Hela, "Thank you again for this opportunity." Nessa showed her gratitude sincerely which warranted Hela's fanged smile to shine through as she gave a wink of understanding before finally exiting.
The siblings proceeded to follow where Veridan had left off to but Mair suddenly paused in a panic, "Crap! I left the pike over on the battlefield, I'll catch up just keep going!" He ran off which led Nessa to chuckle briefly as she left into the halls of the building.
Just as she was about to turn a corner, she felt a grip on her arm as her burnt sleeve fell to reveal her scarred arm. Nessa snapped to the assailant, the scarlet haired human who stood at Hela's side. She jerked her arm away, but the damage had already been done. The man with the eyepatch saw the strange scar in its entirety.
"Hey! What's your problem?" Nessa attempted to hide the scar once more by crossing her arms and stepping away.
"Just confirming my suspicions," The man who was called Wright answered, his voice was soft yet threatening as he brushed aside his blood red hair out of his one good eye, "Don't be so stupid in the future. What you pulled was no correct or effective way to cast. You could hurt yourself."
"Thanks for the warning." Nessa sarcastically dismissed the man and turned to walk away, she briefly looked back to find he had disappeared just like before. Nessa took one last look at the burning scar that traced her veins before finally leaving to follow The Director. The sting of the scar on her arm followed her throughout each step into her new life.