{[ April 11, 102 A.A. ]}
If Athelei thought that the acropolis and pantheon of Aren City was wondrous, then he would be damned at the sprawling designs of Avina.
The buildings were washed with white and light blue. Their walls, carved with textures not unlike the shells found in the nearby sea. The architecture was half akin to waves and half like solid, rectangular building blocks. Many towers with unwalled and spiralling staircases were littered throughout the city.
'It's beautiful...' Athelei stood at the top of one of those aforementioned towers. He glanced over the many white roofs before him, looking like numerous sandcastles before the aquamarine seaside.
In fact, there were quite a few human-sized sandcastles made out of pristine white sand. Whichever person had enough time to build such an architectural feat was sure to earn praises for their diligence.
Athelei bathed in this feeling of arriving at his destination for a while.
'Hello, my home city for the days to come,' Athelei smiled, allowing the salty sea breeze to blow through his hair.
EEEK! EEEEK!
The screeches of an eagle rang in Athelei's ears, wrenching him from his reveries.
He glanced to his right, where Lisa was holding his hand, to make sure that he would not fall off the precarious tower top.
EEEEEEK!
The eagle cried out again, its beady eyes were staring straight at Lisa.
Athelei noticed the intelligent glint in its eyes and nudged his companion, "I think Mister Eagle is here for you."
Lisa's expression moulded into one of confusion, making Athelei laugh before saying, "Hold out your arm, maybe?"
The older kid did as the younger one told her, and extended her free hand. Although slightly hesitant, she tried her best to keep her hand straight and sturdy as the large eagle swooped down towards her.
EEEEEK!
There was a gust of air as a landing was successfully performed. The eagle's talons clutched at Lisa's rather small and thin—and luckily, gloved—arm. Lisa winced when the eagle made its landing, but her fears were erased by the sight on the avian's back.
The eagle was wearing a small backpack, and from how the pack was cylindrically shaped, Athelei judged it to be delivering a message.
Lisa expectantly popped open the case and extracted a scroll of coffee-coloured parchment. The ink was a magical sky blue that seemed to shine under the late-morning sun.
The eagle then flew off swiftly after, for the message had been sent.
Athelei let Lisa take in the scroll's contents and immersed himself in observing the delight that dawned on his companion's face.
"What does it say?" He finally asked, when Lisa glanced away from the scroll.
"It's from Sky Cross!" Lisa shook Athelei in excitement, "Sir Paliver Hare had already finished my enrollment and I can participate in the classes after I settle down!"
"Oh?" Athelei was likewise excited to hear that, "Where will you be staying? How about your daily necessities?"
"Sir Paliver Hare said that I would be staying in the Sky Cross village where many students and teachers already live. It's an enclosed space within Avina, exclusive for those with relations to Sky Cross." Lisa said while pointing to specific parts of the scroll's contents,
"As for the necessities, a very special Mystic Robe is supplied to all of the students upon enrolling. Food can be found in several places inside the Sky Cross village, so 3 meals a day can be received through the Mystic Robe. Necessities such as water and other similar day-to-day objects can be found in our cottages or rooms."
Lisa breathed, "And luxury items can be purchased through different means if desired."
Athelei nodded in awe of the system present in Sky Cross, muttering to himself, "...Worthy of being one of the top places of centralized learning in the world. Sister Yan really has high expectations for Lisa and me."
Suddenly though, Lisa's expression changed as she scanned the coffee-coloured scroll again, "...There's nothing that mentions you here, Orien."
Athelei found nothing wrong with that, but he could somewhat guess Lisa's current thoughts.
With a pat of reassurance on Lisa's shoulder, he said, "I never asked to be included, and this decision is something Sir Paliver noticed. Don't worry about me so much, because I have my own plans."
Athelei then drew all three of his well-practised Mystic Patterns. His hands left trails of a beautiful white light, creating three images suspended in the air. He also summoned an olive-gold aura to encompass his hands like gauntlets of energy. It shone and danced with the young boy's breath.
Athelei stood in the lights, looking like a costumed game character, with cash cosmetics floating around him as aura skins.
In Athelei's original plan, he wanted to get to Tier 1 before arriving at Avina. Being able to make use of another Cosmic Interface skill would be lovely and Inspect would most likely be enhanced when he gets promoted.
Unfortunately for him though, Inspect proved harder to level up than calculated.
But through his interactions with Irene, he gained a Tangible Will normally seen in teenage humans. He was at mid-level Rank 0, which was the equivalent of an average 17-year-old. Arnold and Hyeon, were anomalies because, despite their young ages, they were already at peak Rank 0.
What was different though was the fact that those two Heroic Luck teens had only one class. They had practised a single power system to get where they were.
Athelei had access to two classes, which meant that he already met one of the requirements to be an elite Harmonic Knight. Of course, that didn't count how skilled and powerful he was with his two classes.
He only met the requirement of [Double Class] and only that.
But having two classes despite its okay-ish strength meant that Athelei could do a lot more things. He had more tricks, and more avenues to turn to. All he needed was a good brain and information.
Sway would allow Athelei to fast talk and/or persuade those who would speak to him.
Guide would help him if he was lost, bored, or searching for something.
Hunter gave him a stronger and faster body for small skirmishes.
And his Tangible Will single-mindedly enhanced most of his actions. It allowed him to step closer to what he desired.
"I should be able to survive with these," He said with a smug smile.
Lisa, who had watched the entire dramatic display, blinked at all of Athelei's plafyul bravado.
"I see..." She managed to cough up a reaction, "What exactly would you be doing though?"
Athelei put a finger on his lips, depicting himself to be in thought, "I'll first find a place to stay. As you might be guessing, I don't really want to stay inside the Sky Cross village."
He then pointed to the south of Avina, "I will spend my nights in different inns, and then earn coins during the day by practising my abilities. That's the gist of it."
Athelei gave Lisa an oversimplified version of his plan. The reality of things however included a few things he wouldn't share with her, and that included the things he would do with Sleepwalking.
'I'm able to change the shape of my fog-body at will, so it is the best way to portray the image of an adult to earn a coin or two. Sway can help me get into inns, either through charming with my physical body's... cuteness... or straight-up intimidation with a made-up monster of fog and smoke.' Athelei inwardly grinned. His eyes glinted a mischievous light.
"I understand..." Lisa sighed softly upon hearing Athelei's plans.
She knew how oversimplified it was, and hearing it gave her way too much room to imagine. With the young boy's reputation, she wondered about whatever his reasonings were whenever he acted.
"Oh," Athelei then spoke again, as if remembering something, "We should meet perhaps once or twice a week. We can exchange resources and information we would need."
"I will have to frequently visit the libraries then," Lisa commented in understanding.
Athelei nodded, "Yup. I can also give you money I earn so you can boost yourself in the school. How you'll use the coins I give you would be up to you. All I need is what you learn."
Lisa glanced at her coffee-coloured scroll. In her eyes was a wise shine that superceded her age as she said, "Alright. I'll be heading to Sky Cross now then."
Athelei grinned and waved, "Goodluck!"
He did not miss the faint fluctuation in Lisa's bearing. That was a look even blessed children did not have. The blessed were still children at the end of the day.
They had immense intuition and a mystical instinct. And that's it.
Wisdom, an aspect that came from age, was rare to see in inexperienced children.
Not even Athelei had such 'wisdom.' Sure, he had a perspective no one else would have, but at the end of the day, the world of mortals was unfamiliar to him. He was still learning, while judging based on stories, advice, and borrowed knowledge.
Now, add such wisdom and experience to a girl who keeps sneaking out when she can to pray to The Gods in a different language, you get something suspicious.
'It's as if she had learned of similar things long before, somehow, somewhere.' Athelei watched as Lisa descended the spiralling staircase. He hummed to himself as he thought, 'What a curious characteristic,'
.
.
.
{[ April 11, 102 A.A. ]}
{[ Small Salt Inn, Great City Avina ]}
Ring ring!
It was late in the afternoon when Small Salt Inn received a new visitor.
Elle, a middle-aged woman who sat behind the counter looked over to tend to the guest. She was surprised to see a young child, about the age of 4, walking in.
The child had silky black hair tied up in a fancy hairstyle that Elle only saw on noble daughters. The face it framed was one that lined up well with the childish stature of the kid—cute and youthful.
Elle couldn't discern whether the boy was male or female, or if the kid really was a kid.
Aside from the child's young features, the clothes he wore were simple yet allowed ease of movement. The child's torso was protected by what seemed to be a beast-leather vest and a dagger hung on their waist.
Padded pants protected the child's legs and ended with a pair of iron-studded boots that stank of beast blood.
Elle felt that she was looking at a juxtaposition of innocence and lethality.
"Good afternoon," The kid spoke in a polite manner, "I would like to rent a small room for a week. How much would that be?"
"E-er, normally, we charge about a large copper for a day. Since you're staying for a week straight, I can give you a discount and make it five coppers. How does that sound?"
"Can it be four instead?" Elle heard the kid's soft and innocent voice singing in her ears.
She hesitated but she felt it was fine, "That's no problem, little one."
The sound of coins falling onto the counter echoed out and Elle swiftly registered the kid's presence in the guestbook.
"Please enjoy your stay." She bowed slightly as she handed the kid a key, "We can serve meals upon request. Just holler."
"Thank you, miss...?"
"Elle,"
"Ah, then, thank you, miss Elle." The kid smiled, and Elle couldn't resist smiling back.
The kid then happily raced towards the room assigned to them with a skip in their step. The setting sun shone through the windows of the clean, but old hallway. It bathed the kid's snowy skin in red and orange light.
"I wonder what kind of nights Avina has..." A whisper sounded from the child's lips and a door creaked open.
.
.
.
Night had now fallen on Avina.
A figure was hovering far above where only clouds roamed.
Athelei was looking at his tri-coloured Cosmic Interface, and two other versions of him were floating beside him. The three 'hims' were all quite faint, and not exactly bearing much substance.
He had been playing around with his abilities when he had stumbled upon the idea of clones of himself in his fog-body.
Of course, he had tried it before, but it was a simple alteration of shape. It was just his fog form being denser in specific places. It was very different from the complete humanoid shape where his wings could appear.
Nonetheless, Athelei still enjoyed the practice. He was training his abilities in multi-tasking as he moved his two clones around behind him. His sight was glued onto his Cosmic Interface while he did so.
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
Orien (Hidden: Athelei, Inactive: Guardian Angel, Angel)
- Race: Human (89%), Starless (1%), Unnamed Mutation (10%)
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
Athelei could now pinpoint what the Unnamed Mutation was doing to him: While he was still awake, small parts of his body could turn into a grey fog and back. It was weird and interesting to him, and he wondered if he could somehow name the mutation once it affected him completely.
After a while of dreaming, Athelei descended and snuck into an alleyway near Small Salt Inn. He coalesced into a small, childlike form with folded wings of grey. He stood in silent focus, as his wings turned into 2.5-metre long tails that extended from his back.
The Nefarious Icon appeared on his chest and his tails took on a crystalline quality. It then quickly disappeared as swiftly as it came.
Athelei nodded. What he had just been doing was akin to a human doing warmups and stretching. He then felt his tails and fog-body shudder as he 'breathed' and sharpened his focus.
The tails dissolved into a special kind of grey fog. It looked nothing like the fog of a Nightwalker's body, with its beautiful purity. Athelei's fog-body dissolved as well and made that contrast very clear.
The two types of fog combined under Athelei's commands, mixing together to craft a humanoid form that was no longer as vague as his fog-body.
The pure fog brought with it the same details it could create when it formed either his wings or his tails. What could have created many gorgeous feathers, now helped sculpt the human body.
Athelei gained a detailed face, proper fingers and fingernails, hair, and many smaller details.
You could now see the indications of a skeleton from beneath his 'skin and flesh' and watch his hair flutter in the soft breeze.
The human that Athelei sculpted himself as was a young and androgenous being who stood at about 1.73-meters with shoulder-long hair. To Athelei, it meant that he could easily sculpt himself into a male or a female body shape when a specific occasion required it. This ability had a good affinity with his Sway.
As for his voice though, he had referenced the vocal cords of humans he had the luxury to analyse. He used his fog to enter their body and run Examine on singular parts. To his victims, they would get slight discomforts when he did so, but nothing too obvious.
Such a research technique helped him craft his current body.
"My everyday control training has paid off," Athelei muttered in a voice that sounded much more mature than he was used to. It resonated within his chest and throat, and he adjusted his body further.
After a few minutes, his churning fog-body had settled into a remarkably concrete form. Athelei flexed his fingers and hands and copied a few of the Harmonic Knights' moves. He was a bit sluggish at this moment, but Athelei knew he would just have to get used to things.
He then glanced towards the depths of the alleyway where a discreet leather bag lay. Athelei moved toward it with a few awkward footsteps. It was difficult to synchronise what used to be material for his wings with his movement. He had to move his skeleton, as well as the details he gave himself in tandem with the rest of his consciousness fog.
Upon reaching the bag, Athelei sluggishly picked it up and retrieved a few pieces of clothes. He put them on and they all fit quite snuggly as per his calculations.
Now, he looked like a normal human, clothed in clothes made for combat, and cloaked in brown. His skin though was a unique grey, as were the features of his face and hair.
It was a bit weird, but Athelei could not do anything about it. He could give his pupils an olive-gold tinge using his Tangible Will, but the metallic colour didn't help how unnatural he looked.
Athelei shrugged after having these thoughts. He put on his hood to hide himself as best as he could and moved out of the dark alleyway.
He walked past many citizens who had yet to return home, navigating the city almost aimlessly. After a while of walking and searching, Athelei found himself in a suspicious neighbourhood.
It reminded him of a certain place underneath Aren's territory, but here it was less a grand secret and more discreet. Athelei had entered the slums, but in this specific portion of the slums, he could tell how things were simply hiding in plain sight.
Eyes were watching him from within the shadows, while a few cloaked beings could be seen amidst the thin crowd of sleazy faces. Coins jingled in Athelei's ears and the stale smell of salt, grime, sweat, and booze permeated the low atmosphere.
"Ah," He sighed in expectation as he whispered to himself, "Crime and coin. A good pair."
He then took off his hood, exposing his grey features and olive-gold eyes. He then smiled as he looked around.
Athelei felt a few of the eyes that had given him chills earlier with their Analysis Skills look away in fright.
This made Athelei curious as he ducked into the covers of darkness and ran Inspect,
"What did they see me as?"
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
- Name: ??? (Hidden: N/A)
- Race: Mutated Human
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
Athelei chuckled upon seeing this and muttered, "The way the Cosmic Interface displays names is so fickle. It makes sense though, as it is but a manner of others' recognition and association..."
'I wonder, what should I introduce myself as?'