[Lorraine POV]
Walking into the flame, everything was white. Then, bit by bit and piece by piece, colours start to show themselves, dyeing the original white canvas until the picture in front of me could be mistaken for reality. Seeing a cup on a table next to me, it looked so real that I had to try and pick it up.
*Grasp*
"It is real!"
Putting down the cup, I look around the room to find the person who sent me here, my soon-to-be master. Looking around, I notice that I was in a sort of church-like place with a large flame in the middle of it.
Kreeee Bannn Tap tap tap tap tap
Just as I was looking around, I hear the sound of an old door creaking open before being closed. What followed were footsteps that echoed throughout the room. Looking toward the direction of the sound, I see just who I was looking for. A person in a red robe holding an unlit torch and a cup.
The whole situation was giving me creepy feelings so I got up from my chair to go and confront them.
"What are we doing here?"
"I preparing a ceremony to formally announce your apprenticeship under me."
"Why do you have to do that?"
"So others don't try and make you their apprentice, little one. You don't know but so many old people are desperate to find someone to pass down their legacy and stuff like that."
"Umm ok. Can you at least show your face before this ceremony?"
Hearing my question, she chuckles and goes to put down the torch and cup near the fire. She then walks up to me before lowering herself to allow us to be the same height.
"If you want to see my face, why don't you take this hood off my head?"
Hearing her response, I was a little taken aback, which was probably shown on my face as she once again laughs a bit. I have a feeling that this person just likes to tease me a lot. So, with a bit of vengeance, I walk up to her and quickly pull the hood off her head.
*Flap*
"..."
"So, was it what you expected?"
"Well, it's not unexpected."
Her face matched her melodic voice and her red robe. Beautiful and full of character. She had dark brown hair with streaks of orangy red. She had a small tattoo of a flame on her under her left eye. She even had a red jewel dangling from her right ear.
"You don't look a fighter."
With a simple smile, she pulls out a long sword that looked quite familiar.
'Wait.'
Looking about at my waist, I see that my sword was out of its sheath. Looking back toward my master, she pulls out a rock from her robe and throws it before me. Then she suddenly appears behind the rock, staring directly at me before performing one slash.
Slash
Before my very eyes, I see the rock break into countless small pieces. Everything happened so fast, I could even move or react.
Shhh bom
As the rocks were still falling from the air, I see a blur and the sound of my sword slipping back into its sheath. I look toward my master with a shocked expression, mouth wide and everything. I was simply stunned.
Seeing my stunned look, the perpetrator simply laughs a little before picking up the torch and cup.
"Don't underestimate someone's capabilities, a fighter doesn't have to look like a fighter and a mage doesn't have to look like a mage. Well, are you ready to become my disciple?"
"YES!"
While I didn't understand what just happened, what I do know is that my master is strong and she can definitely teach me how to become strong too. I quickly run over toward the fire to begin the ceremony.
"Alright, let us begin. Remember nothing here will hurt you."
Holding the cup in her right hand, my master floats up until the top of the flame was in front of her. There, she pours the liquid within the cup into the flame.
GRRRRROOOOO
As soon as the liquid disappeared into the flame, I hear the growls of the flame as the light inside the church suddenly disappears, leaving only the flame as a source of light. Even with the giant flame, I could no longer see my surroundings. There was only me, my master and the flame.
Then, in clear view, she dips the torch into the flame, listing it and causing a ring of fire to encircle all of us. Landing on the ground, she starts walking toward me while speaking.
"I, Aegis Aria Ignavis, ask The Sacred Flame to bear witness to this ceremony. To mark the connection of our fates, our present and our future as Master and Apprentice. Once the torch is passed, the apprentice shall speak their name and recognize this ceremony."
Once she finished speaking, she had already arrived in front of me and held out the torch in front me.
Taking a deep breath as I stared at the torch for a second, I take hold of it in both my hands.
"I, Lorraine, recognize this ceremony."
SHHHHHH FFFFFUUUUUuuuuuuushhhh
As soon as my words finished, the flame on the torch flares and jumps at me. Almost my instinct, I almost drop the torch but seeing my master calmly looking at me, I decided to trust her and let the flame drop on me. I see the flame course all over my body, it didn't hurt, instead, the flame felt like the soft fabric flowing across my skin
Before long, it started concentrating on my right hand. It pulses for a second before a blinding flash of light occurs.
"!!!"
As the light dimmed, I slowly open my eyes and see that the church was back. Looking at my right hand, I see a small flame tattoo, the same one that my master's hand on her face.
Haaa huuu haaa huuu
Unknowingly, I held my breath with a cold sweat the entire time. Taking a seat on the ground, I looked at the ceiling as I caught my breath. My master then walks up to me and crouches next to me.
"Right hand, huh?"
"ha, huu, ha, hu, what is this thing?"
Holding out the back of my right hand, I look at the intricate mark on it. It felt not different and rubbing my hand over it there was no difference from regular skin.
"That is the Mark of the Flame. Only those who have the mark are capable of performing this ceremony to grant the mark to another. While it's mostly for identification purposes but does come with some secret benefits."
"What secret benefits?"
"The Sacred Flame contains the essence of the ancestral phoenix, the Mark of the Flame contains a minuscule amount of it too. It will make you stronger and the essence will grow as you progress as well."
"Wow, this little thing can do all that!"
"As I said, looks can be deceiving... Alright, Let's get out of here and onto some business!"
"Wha-"
Before I could even react, the colour drains from my surroundings returning to a blank canvas before colour quickly bleeds in again. Next thing I know, I'm in a very fancy room with many things I've never seen before.
"Master, where are we?"
"The Capital of the Kingdom."
"WHHHAAAAT!"
I rush to look out one of the windows and I see giant houses and buildings with clean roads lining between buildings with a large castle in the distance.
"It's pretty cool right? I find the atmosphere here to be amazing."
"This giant room in the Capital, Master! What do you even do!?"
"Oh right! I never told you. I'm an envoy in the Adventurer Guild."
"What's that?"
"All you need to know is that I'm strong! Put this on and we'll head out. Also, call me Aegis, Master just sounds weird."
Pulling a red cloak off one of the clothing stands in the room, my master throws it to me. I grab it and quickly put it on. Pulling me along, Aegis pulls the hood on my head before leaving the room.
"Where are we even going?"
"The Adventurer Guild."
...
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Aegis' Fun Fact: I've read storied and myths of what the world was millennia ago. There were no demi-onics, the pure races had just formed. All that existed were beasts, ancestral breasts that are connected to all demi-onics today. Their essence lay dormant somewhere in each race. Perhaps the most important treasure that these races possess.