Negie stretched as she woke up on the warm grass, having had a fulfilling slumber. She yawned and sat up, rubbing her eyes as she saw Paley. He sat on a small platform in the river supported by a thin earth stick, trying to keep his balance.
"Good morning," He greeted, losing focus and falling off the platform and into the water after the stick snapped.
"Good morning. What're you doing?" She asked as he stood up and shook the water from his hair – which had grown to below his eyebrows. When he joined the orphanage, his hair was shorter and even throughout.
"I'm trying to use Arts." He walked over and sat down next to her.
"Arts? Isn't it super hard for a mage to use them?"
"Yeah. But I'm fairly confident I can do it."
"Right, you *are* a Quimnia." She rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, that too,"
"Morning!" Amasha greeted from behind them.
"Morning. You're up early." Paley replied.
"Yes, I am. Adimia told me that William Bizak woke up at 5 am and spent the first four hours of his day practicing."
William Bizak is a High Knight from long ago, during Manoha's (the fourth Quimnia) time. Commoners see him as an idol because he managed to climb the ranks despite having barely any mana.
"You want to become a knight too?" Paley asked in a slightly patronizing tone.
"No," Amasha grinned, "I want to be a Great Knight! Then, Dillie can work under me when she becomes a High Knight. You'll be my right-hand man, and Adimia's gonna be my left-hand man because he's going to be a Great Knight like me."
"Your right-hand man, huh?" Paley smirked, amused.
"Can I work for you too when I become a Monster Hunter?" Negie asked, humoring Amasha.
"Of course! What do you think my Great Knight name should be?"
"Pesky Monkey," Paley teased.
"Hey! Monkeys are cool!" Amasha pouted. Jurie read to him a story about a monkey king who fought valiantly to protect his country.
(Erian countries tried to invade Nijia long ago during the imperial times. Long after, authors wrote stories on how the Nijian people, driven by their patriotism for their nation, fought back against the oppressors. Erian people, both for and against the invasions, loved those stories.
Though, the one that Jurie read to Amasha was about a brown-skinned Nijian prince who gathered his forces to counter Eri. In the story, the prince was a monkey because that's how Erians saw brown people; as monkeys. And they saw black people in an even worse light. They saw them nearly as lowly as demons. Hence why there are virtually no black people in Lusitra and many other Erian countries.)
"You're Nijian, right?" Negie asked.
"I think so."
"Then, how do you feel about Vahayse?"
"That sounds awesome!"
"It's the name of a fairy tale hero that I look up to. He saved us from the Erians." She explained.
"He's just like the Monkey King," Amasha said nonchalantly.
"He's way cooler, but yeah, sure."
Amasha spent the rest of the morning hanging out with Paley and Negie. Rauba and Reben joined them at some point, having woken up because of Amasha's loud and enthusiastic rants. As they chatted, Paley began training again and balanced himself on the earth platform, trying to meditate to strengthen his mind. He ended up not even beginning to use Arts.
They went in at around ten and had breakfast with everyone else, who were all still in their pajamas. They all talked about their lives, but the conversation soon shifted to the person linking them all: Paley.
Uncomfortably, he listened as they spoke about him. Libon boasted about Paley's hunts while trying to not reveal how injured he got during some of them. Hig spoke about how Paley helped him pass the monster hunter examination to acquire a license.
Dillie romanticized their first meeting, saying that he took her into his arms and whispered in her ears – this was to get on Negie's nerves. Negie was tempted to retort with their little adventure last night but decided that Paley wouldn't want Madella to know about it.
Eventually, the conversation inevitably shifted to the Watchman, turning the room gloomy. Paley sighed after gulping down his fresh, cold water.
"What's wrong with you guys?" He asked, "It's gone."
"But what if it comes back?" Bacha asked, shivering.
"It won't. And even if it does, Paley will beat it." Reben reassured.
"Agreed!" Adimia slammed the table, making the plates jump, "And I will help him. Next time I see that thing, I'm gonna-"
"Adimia," Madella called sternly.
"I won't do anything." Adimia retreated into his chair.
"I can't believe you all saw a demon." Nova began, "How did it feel? If you don't mind me asking."
The orphans fell silent, trying their best not to remember the Watchman's horrible, wide, white eyes, and its terrifyingly wide, white grin containing hundreds of razor-sharp teeth.
"It felt like," Teerom began, "It felt like all my organs just fell down. I've seen a demon before when I was younger, and it felt the exact same."
Teerom didn't tell them he was a Dark Conjurer because they were seen as instruments of evil and were feared throughout the world.
Paley noticed Dillie looking down in pure dread and spoke up. "Can we not talk about this? As I said, it's gone. Besides, as Reben said, I'm here. I'm a Quimnia. Have some faith in me." His sarcasm lightened the mood, "What do you guys say about some Dungeons and Dragons?"
"Yes!" They exclaimed. He glanced at Dillie, who gave him a thankful smile.
"You're welcome," He mouthed as they set up to play Dungeons and Dragons.
Divol (who looks like an eighteen-year-old Paley) sat on his throne atop the Tower of Hell, surrounded by frost. Adimia came up from a staircase behind Divol, holding two young knights – a man and a woman - by the scruff of their necks.
He wore pure white armor with a greatsword holstered on his back and two regular swords by his hips. They were all magic swords; the greatsword was an Air Magic sword; the sword on his left was a Water Magic sword; the one on his right was a Fire Magic sword.
"Paley- I mean, Divol. The two you asked for." He said, shivering in the cold.
"Took you long eno-" Paley put on a deep voice that made everyone laugh. "I thought the voice was good," He said, slightly upset.
"Just use your normal voice," Diz giggled, "It's plenty evil."
"I'll try not to take any offense from that," Paley said. They immersed themselves in the game again.
"Took you long enough," Divol stood up and walked over to the two knights. Dillie came up the stairs and saw his icy gaze, fainting on the spot. Adimia caught her before she fell off the tower.
"How are you still fainting?" He asked as she slowly got used to Divol's incredibly handsome face for the thousandth time.
"Do you two know why you are here?" Divol crouched down to the two young knights on their knees, quivering from terror. They shook their heads quickly.
Divol sighed and stood back up, "You two have proven yourself time and time again in battle, and yet you are still Lesser Knights. Why is that? You've fought for this country against me for so many years and yet your King didn't bother to give you your respective titles."
His words confused them, but the way he spoke, with a commanding yet gentle diction, calmed them. "Do you know how many men and women I've lost to you two?"
"N-No, sir…" One of them built up the courage to speak, pleasing Divol. (All NPCs are voiced by Nova)
"Two hundred and fifty-three. That means that each of you is worth around a hundred and twenty-five soldiers. So, from now on, you will work under me, as High Knights. How does that sound?"
"It's a great offer, don't refuse it," Dillie commented, though Divol had already entranced them with his words.
"We shall dedicate our lives to you, Lord Divol." Their fear turned to immediate determination and fealty to Divol.
"Good," Divol walked back to his throne. "Have you gotten rid of those intruders, Dillie?"
"They're currently dying a really slow death in a bunch of ice." Dillie grinned.
"Why are you so paranoid of intruders? None can even begin to fathom touching you," Adimia asked.
"There is a prophecy; told by my people. It says that the Great Sage will bring light to the eternal darkness." Divol sat down and bent forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, "They can stop me. Whoever the Great Sage is, they are the biggest threat to my goal."
"No one can defeat you, Divol." Dillie sucked up to him.
"What I need right now aren't compliments. I need to begin conquering the whole world so that I can thrust it under the veil of night. Then, I shall destroy everything." Divol rubbed at his chest. At a scar from long ago, that was now throbbing. "I fear that he has already tamed a trinity. Call my Seven Ministers."
Tommie sat shirtless under a waterfall with his eyes closed, pressing his index fingers and thumbs together. He took deep breaths as he tried to focus on the mana in the flowing water that fell on him. A forest of supernatural trees surrounded him. Higorius watched him from under one of these trees with Elfie.
"So, what's your story, old man?" She asked.
"You really wish to know an old man's tale?" Higorius asked.
"Well, what else do you want me to do?"
"Right." He cleared his throat, "I was a historian. I was the one who discovered the ruins of Plece and through bits of scriptures that I found, I pieced together their story. When I came back, no one believed me when I told them of the impending darkness, Divol.
The sons of bi- worms all laughed at me as though I was crazy. However, in time, when Divol revealed himself and took over Primea in a violent coup, they began to believe me. Though, by that time, Higorius Demarcus III had been announced dead.
I was held as a war prisoner in Primea. I met Madella when I was eighty years old and she broke me out and guided me here to the Graveyard Fields."
"How old *are* you?"
Higorius ignored her rudeness and continued. "I have been looking for Tommie ever since. I've traveled far and wide but found no sign of the Great Sage. I gave up when I reached my hundredth birthday and decided to leave behind a message through Madella for someone else to search for him."
"Dear Luneia! You're an ancient relic!"
"I am only one hundred and ten years old, okay?" He retorted.
"He's doing it!" Madella suddenly popped out of the ground. "Do you feel it?" She asked Higorius, who nodded calmly, as he watched Tommie intensely. He sat perfectly still like the timeless Sages of Plece. His chest barely rose and fell. Surrounding him was an atmosphere of peace and pure focus, but inside, his mana was screaming with power as he began using the Sage Arts.
"Tommie!" Elfie exclaimed and jumped with excitement, breaking his concentration.
"No!" Higorius watched Tommie lose his focus and felt his raging mana fade away. "He had it! Why did you get in the way?" He clashed with Elfie.
"Come on, great gramps, he can always do it again." Elfie chuckled mischievously.
"Elfie! Did you see that?" Tommie asked, ecstatic, "I felt everything go quiet and then my mana just went woooooosh!" He gestured his hand up like a plane.
"I know! I felt it!"
As they laughed, Madella and Higorius watched in envy.
"How it must feel to be young." Higorius commented.
"Hey, you're only one hundred and ten years old."
"Right, I apologize."
Tommie spent the rest of the week perfecting his Sage Arts; Diana and Claudia also came to watch during breaks – they were training together – as well as all of the souls. Tommie felt slightly pressured, but he pushed through and mastered the Sage Arts in no time.
"Alright, Tommie," Higorius carefully spoke to not break his focus. Black lines appeared on Tommie's body, traveling from his eyes to his collar, then swirling around his chest before going straight down to his feet. Two branches split off at his collar and swirled around on his back.
"Try using two magic types," Higorius asked, and Tommie complied. He made his mana flow out into spheres atop his palms, one turned into raw Fire Magic – his main Magic Type - and the other became Air Magic. He took it one step further and combined them, aiming the new spell toward the sky.
Everyone watched in awe as the Fire and Air Magics mixed and blasted upwards with incredible force. The flames lit the sky and the wind that ensued was strong enough to rip leaves off the trees. It was so powerful it blew Higorius away, but Elfie managed to catch him by his overly long beard.
Everything settled down and they all saw Tommie standing perfectly still. He had passed out on his feet.
"What an incredible young man," Higorius rushed over with Madella, Elfie, Claudia, and Diana.
"He used too much mana." Madella said, "Oh, how it must feel to be young,"
"He must've gotten too excited. Classic Tommie." Claudia chuckled.