- 8th August 2138, GCA Campus -
A rather tedious day of lessons passed rather quickly, sweetened by the impending arrival of my new weapon later in the day.
The final lesson was another with Ms. Blume, now located in the library.
She'd be temporarily prohibited from using the training hall, due to the amount of students ending up in the hospital rooms.
All due to her unorthodox manner of teaching. Instead of practical applications, we were forced to work out of the textbooks. It was beyond mundane.
This was however, a welcome change from the normal routine we had to go through. The training hall was a place for students to sharpen their skills.
It was a place where fighting skills were carefully honed, and to be banned from it was the equivalent of the passionate kiss of death for a noble warrior.
Thankfully, I didn't consider myself a warrior. This is a school for Sorcerers.
But there was nothing we could do as a class. We were at the divine mercy of our teachers and the headmaster. There was no escaping it.
The only good thing to come out of it was the fact that we got to utilize the library more. Which meant we had more time to ourselves. It was a small blessing, but it was something. Solitude was a welcome mistress.
-------:-
Completing my final lesson for the day, I began moving thorough the corridors swiftly.
Reaching my apartment, I observed a vague silhouette of someone moving furtively in the shadows. Acting on instinct, I launched a pen at them, only for them to deftly dodge it.
Taking off with a dash, I began off running down the corridors. The mysterious figure carefully followed.
"What the hell?" I exclaimed. "Who are you?"
The figure stepped out of the shadows, now in front of me. Revealing themselves to be a sensible looking girl around my age. She was wearing a hooded cloak that obscured most of her distinctive features, but I could see the smirk on her face. It was Minerva. What a weirdo. Thought wasn't aware she was this creepy.
She still wore her hair in the same neat brown bun, more akin to something artificial from how carefully organised the hair looked. An ornate hairpin with an image of an eye on its head setting her hair in place.
Her standard uniform looking significantly out of place under her strange occult robe. Though this time she had some makeup on, pale foundation caking her face with various black makeup lining various parts of her face.
I didn't understand make-up very well but if she was going to a goth girl contest, she'd convincingly claim first prize.
"Halloween?" I asked, taken aback by her odd appearance.
She looked away from me, her pale face flushing red in response. Physically shuddering off my comment, ignoring it. Like some sort of cartoon character...
She immediately popped back into her usual creepy self.
"Hey there, long time no see! Envoy of Yellow," Minerva said, her voice sounding cheerful, juxtaposing her unique appearance. It seemed she wasn't going to pay a modecum of attention to my joke.
"What are you doing here? And how did you find out where I live?" I asked, concerned.
"I have my ways." Minerva slyly remarked, her smirk widening. "Anyway, I just wanted to say hi and see how you're doing." She said awkwardly, pointing at my left eye.
"I'm fine. And you still haven't resolved my query. How did you find out where I live?"
"I may or may not have followed you home one day." Minerva said, shrugging. As if it meant nothing.
Now frowning, I justly complained, "That's creepy Minerva..."
She laughed in a creepy way only a cultist would. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing. Join my cult."
"No!" I retorted in protest, as she hopped her way back to wherever she'd come from.
This girl's occult shenanigans were starting to really annoy me. Though a nagging thought, tugging at my brain, pulled me to the idea that her strange behavior had some logic behind it.
She seemed to know the most about my power among my supposed friends. Despite being the one, I've interacted with the least.
I wonder if she's just putting on a facade to seem more important than she actually is?
"There's no way I'm joining her cult."
An exaggerated sigh left my mouth as I turned to open my door. Finally free of the strange girl, haunting me like a ghost.
A simple, nondescript box sat right in the center of my room. Leaving questions about how it got there to the back of my mind, I rushed to open it. Among a rather sizable amount of packing peanuts lay a sword, its ornate scabbard purple with various depictions of black lightning along it. The sword itself was impressive.
The crossguard was decorated with a pair of curved horns, each with a dark purple gem inlaid in the center and curving upwards, giving the sword a distinct shape. The pommel was purple, and the hilt was wrapped in purple cloth.
The blade itself was black, with prominent hints of a purple along its edge. It seemed rather different from the one I'd ordered. Though of a similar style. A note fell among the packing bits on the floor.
========
To whom it
may concern,
good luck.
========
Must be run-of-the-mill black market cryptic messaging.
Picking up the sword, it was surprisingly light, conflicting with its appearance. I hefted it a few times, testing its weight and balance. It was a little on the light side, but it would do. The blade was sharp enough that I could shave with it if I wanted to. I decided to take it out for a test spin. Making my way to the training hall, where I set up a few targets.
Through testing a few practice swings and thrusts, I felt myself getting more of a feel for the sword. It was well levelled and easy to swing. Taking a few more swings, then started to test my accuracy. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was hitting my targets more often than not. After a few more minutes of practice, I remembered it was supposed to have some unique function, as an Ex-Foci.
Taking a few steps back, I began emulating the feeling of casting a spell, the power coursing through my veins. Though instead of projecting it out of my body, I tried projecting it into the sword held in my hands. My skin crackling with electrical energy as the sword whirred to life. I knew there had to be something more to it than that. I was about to give up as I felt the sword suddenly begin to vibrate in my hand. It felt like an electric current was coursing through the metal. I almost dropped it, but I managed to hang on.
Bursting with Extrinsic Energy, the sword began grew brighter and brighter by the second, all mauve sections of the blade glowing a brighter violet. This was astonishing. I pointed the blade at the targets I'd set up, almost instinctively I knew I could shoot something at them. With but a thought, I put this into action, a thunderous roar booming through the training room.
A glinting purple facsimile of the blade I held in my hands whizzed across the room, crackling as it sped towards, striking them akin to a head-on HoverBus collision. blasting in a colossal flash of monochrome plasma, completely vaporizing the targets, I'd set up. All it left behind were a few scorch marks on the ground.
Badass...
This was amazing, save one small issue. It had used up a majority of my energy. In future I'd have to regulate my energy more using this thing. Overall, I was happy with the sword. It was a little different from I was expecting, but it was a magnificent weapon, nonetheless. It would service nicely.
I decided to call it Mauve Allure. After the enchanting pattern of various purple along the blade. It seemed appropriate.
Having at long last acquired my own EX-Foci, I decided I should learn how to actually use it. I had a few ideas of what I could do, but I needed to be sure. It was important to have the skill to protect myself with this weapon. After all, that was the whole point of having a sword in the first place.
Flailing a blade around recklessly may have been fine for simple EX-Beasts like the Rottalon brood. Such a savage method of fighting wouldn't scale well with genuine human combatants.
Where could I acquire proper fencing techniques?
This will have to be dealt with in the future...
But for now, I felt positivly elated to finally own a proper EX-Foci. Tomorrow was the date of my second job. Acting as a bodyguard for a wealthy young brat. At least it'd be a breath of fresh air compared to slaughtering rat-beasts in the sewers.
Looking forward to it and the opportunities it brought, I went to bed early that night...