"Name?" A bored old man asked the next student who stepped up in the line for new incoming possible students and sighed. This was the gateway for nobility but it was so boring as he listened to the young master's and young mistress yell at their butler's or maids for things that were beyond their control. It turned out like this every year to the point the old man had practically become numb to the whole ordeal.
"Misty. Misty D. Whisper." The blonde girl with pink eyes said with a smile as she had to use a hand to keep her hair from blowing in front of her eyesight too much. She had waist-length blonde hair and pale skin and stood at 5 foot 2 feet tall.
The old man who heard the name wrote it down without issue but something snapped like a cord in his mind. He realized he knew the name. Not because she was a noble like everyone else who was starting the academy this year but because of what she represented. His eyes shot up to see a beautiful girl that made his bored face blush hard but that wasn't what was important to him at the very moment. "You are the illegitimate daughter of the queen! I'm sorry if I showed you any disrespect!" The old man stood up quickly and bowed. Misty honestly felt awkward about the whole thing and tried to wave him off.
"Enough." She spoke while looking away seeing that people were already gasping.
A year ago just before she turned 13 the woman who she believed to be her mother had died peacefully leaving her all alone. She never knew her father so the old woman was all she had in her life. They lived in a small village and it was occasionally attacked by bandits now and then but they would have always been driven off by the village guards. The old woman told Misty she knew her time was up and Misty stayed by her side through it all and cried when the time finally came. During those final moments the old woman known as Mary told Misty about her real mother.
"I'm sorry I've lied to you all these years my child..." Mary weakly said to Misty who couldn't stop crying. She quickly shook her head hoping Mary wouldn't leave her. Through the tears, she remembered their time together. Unlike most kids, as they got older they forgot a bit about younger life. Not Misty, however. She experienced all the pain and happiness and it helped forge her.
"You're my mother!" She yelled and hugged Mary's body desperately. "Please don't leave me!"
"Listen.....my child. I've sent a letter to your real mother....she knows of my...." Mary coughed up blood and sighed. "Someone will be here in 3 days to see you reach her safely. Please go, Misty. It is my one wish to reunite you with her...." and with those words, Mary's eyes slowly came to a close.
Misty watched this and sobbed. A piercing scream came from her but she held it in as she cried silently on Mary's now corpse.
Like Mary promised a carriage did arrive, but what shocked the entire village along with Misty herself was the fact it was the royal emblem on the door of the carriage. "This way young mistress. It is a 2-month trip back to the royal capital." The butler spoke to Misty who was still stuck in her dazed state.
Misty didn't know what to say. She was still in shock even while climbing aboard the carriage and taking a seat. She looked around several times before she saw the person sitting directly across from her.
"Oh my god, I am so sorry!" Misty stood up to try and leave but the butler outside had already closed her way off by closing the way off.
"Relax princess!" The woman spoke as she stood up and moved to stop Misty from trying to open the door. "This carriage was sent for you by your mother the queen."
Misty was left star-struck as she never would have guessed her birth mother was the queen of the entire country she lived in.
The trip was a bit rough because on the way to the capital, a bandit group tried to attack the carriage and if it wasn't for the knights guarding them then they would have easily reached Misty and the rest inside of the carriage. It wasn't until the royal capital was firmly within her sights did Misty finally calmed down because the entire time she was able to sense the magical beasts that could attack at any given moment. Luckily only the weaker ones attacked and the knights quickly dealt with them with a few scraps and scars. Nothing lethal.
"Welcome to the royal capital princess. The country of water eagerly awaits your presence." The woman opposite to Misty spoke and Misty could only make a face of concern. She was never treated like nobility and she and Mary always stayed out of the public eye even in the village she lived in. They went out occasionally but that was only so Mary could show her around and buy stuff they needed for the house. The village although small even had a library but it wasn't much now she was moving to a massive city filled with nobility. It was an odd feeling.
In front of the gates leading into the city was a long line filled with people of various races, and ages, and even some that came in carriages and caravans. The caravans were the ones that mostly caught her eye because she had only seen them once maybe twice back in her village. Mary usually didn't leave the house when they arrived saying that it can be dangerous at times.
Misty didn't believe that was the case but over time she knew because though she didn't leave the house when a caravan arrived she could always feel one presence among them that didn't fit in with the rest. Not long after a bandit group would try to attack a horde of monsters. The caravan hires protection from mercenaries or even adventurers so they can't check everyone's credibility which is how they end up with some bad apples.
The carriage Misty was riding in passed over the line entirely into the massive stone entrance with none of the knights stopping them. She assumed it was because of the knights who protected them the entire two months. Usually during moments like this when they enter a new town or village the butler slides a hatch open behind the coachman and speaks to Misty who is busy watching the busy streets of the capital with wide-open eyes. "Like usual young mistress, we will be stopping at the shopping district. You are free to purchase whatever it is you wish.
"Yes," Misty responded because she never knew nobility had it so hard. Apparently whenever nobility or royalty steps into another territory or village they are allowed or rather required to make some purchases to help promote the product and such or to help boost the profits of said area. Because of that Misty ended up with more clothes than she ever thought possible.
'When am I even going to have time to wear them!?' Was her sole thought each time this happened?
The butler's name had turned out to be Johnathan and the woman sitting across from Misty who was going to be her headmaid, her name turned out to be Stacy. "Hey um, Stacy. Do I always have to buy clothes?" She asked because she felt like she already had enough of them and buying any more would feel like an overkill.
"No princess. We just assumed you looked at them considering how much you buy." Stacy said honestly confused and it made Misty blush. She forgot all the stuff she had bought was also because of herself. They were cute outfits and she couldn't help it so she let out a sigh.
When the carriage came to a stop Misty saw Johnathan opening the door up for her to be able to step out. After her Stacy had gotten out and stood behind her with her head slightly bowed and her eyes closed as she waited for Misty to move forward.
Misty took a look around and her eyes honestly lit up with both curiosity and awe. The other places they visited were nice sure but the royal capital seemed to be on a much larger scale.
"Wow..." She spoke out being unable to keep it in anymore, so many stores surrounded them and even stalls that seemed to have sold various foods. The smells, the atmosphere, and even the people around her. A few places caught her eye immediately but she figured that if she was going to be living in the capital she would be able to visit them some other time. One place in particular did catch her eye. It was a weapons shop.
"Phase Weapons," Misty said to herself as she was seemingly drawn to it.
"I've never seen this shop before," Stacy said after she saw and even heard what Misty was looking at. Even Johnathan who had been off to the side didn't know and so he turned to look at the head knight who was guarding them. But the response was the same. None of them knew that this shop existed so it must have come up during the 4 months they had been away.
"I want to check it out," Misty said but was already walking forward to the shop. As she pushed the doors open she was able to see the inside of it. Hardwood flooring, black stone walls, and weapons along with armor lined the walls and even on top of the shelf a guy was standing behind. He was tall and incredibly handsome. Light brown skin and long hair that he had pushed back to reveal his eyes were bright orange eyes and because of the way he looked at the party Misty and Stacy were as well. The guy in question wore a black mid-sleeved shirt that showed off his muscular body and if Misty didn't look away she felt like she would have gotten a nosebleed eventually.
"Hm?" The guy commented but he didn't say anything and just smiled knowingly. "How may I help?" he asked as he crossed his arms over his chest and watched the party.
Though Misty was looking away and blushing as she heard the guy's voice she felt some form of familiarity with the guy. It was weird but she pushed it to the back of her mind.
Johnathan walked over to her when he noticed how both Misty and Stacy had reacted to the man's presence. "Princess it's best if we hurry up." He spoke softly in Misty's ear bringing her out of her daze. As she looked around she was able to see the place was staked with several good items but for some reason, none of them were calling out to her like the place had been when she first laid eyes on it. A bit of a frown was evident on her face and the guy behind the register took notice of this and spoke up.
"Nothing catches your eye?" He spoke and Misty nodded her head a bit embarrassed she wasted his time. "Not surprising really. I don't put anything premium or custom out in the open. If you people have the time we can head to the back in storage where I keep some stuff at. Anything else would have to come custom ordered." The guy said as he walked from behind the register and over to a side room that had the tag storage on the surface of the door. Misty ignored Johnathan's words about them not being interested and went to see what the man had to offer them.
"You should know I am the owner of this place as well along with being its only worker, too troublesome looking for a helper." He told them with a shrug as he turned on the light to the storage room to show them what was inside of it making even Johnathan the butler who didn't have any form of combat training know just how rare and unknown some of the weapons that seemed to be on display before them.
"What is all of this?" Misty asked and turned to the owner. If he was the owner it meant that his name had to be Phase.
"Premium weapons as I promised you." Phase spoke out and walked over to one of the swords and lifted it effortlessly. The sword itself was massive and had to be around 6 feet tall and disputed that Phase was still taller than the sword itself that he embedded into the ground. It easily pierced through it showing just how sharp the sword was. "This sword comes with increasing its owner strength by 15 and defense by 10. It's pretty handy for people who want to focus on tanking. Putting the blade back into his place he was able to pick up a different weapon which looked to be something none of them had ever seen before. It had a blade made out of lasers that shone pure white like snow,
Phase lifted the sword the same as he had done with the previous sword and as the sword moved it gave off a sort of buzzing sound that was easy to miss if you weren't paying much attention. He picked up a different blade and this time it was a dagger with some sort of ruins going all over the blade.
"What do those ruins mean?" Misty couldn't help but ask.
"This dagger gives its user a skill known as infinite slash. Now obviously the slashes aren't infinite but it gives off the impression as if they are. This laser sword on the other hand. Doesn't give you anything useful like the last sword and this dagger, this is mostly good for skilled and veteran warriors who know they won't make a sloppy mistake like cutting or slashing themselves."
Instead of putting it into words, everyone watched as Phase decided to show them. Lifting the laser blade, he brought the two close and everyone was able to watch as the laser blade sliced through the dagger as if he were cutting through soft butter.
"Why the hell did you just break such a priceless dagger!?" Johnathan the butler yelled out. Phase raised an eyebrow as if he didn't understand the question so the butler kept going. "Having a skill on any piece of equipment can price up to several hundred gold coins. Not to mention if the skill or effect is something the buyer wants it can even cost a platinum coin and you just….."
"I think you are misunderstanding something. I should be asking you why you are telling me that I did something wrong. You can easily train to acquire such a skill, if the dagger were to break or drop out of your hand you no longer know that skill. It's the downfall of such an item. But I get it, you aren't strong so you need every crutch you can get your hands on."
Johnathan had an embarrassed look on his face because of Phase's words while the one at fault looked as calm as he first did but this time with a laser sword in hand.
Johnathan was going to respond but the sound of the workshop doors opening caught all of their attention as a new voice joined in.
"Dad? Are you in the workshop?"