Sir Gildal Rhuncaldon was a fromer knight of the Ludunhime family, an exceptional prodigy of his time however magic was an ability he had never acquired. From the young age of ten he was already found to have the common numerical value of V, squandering all his hopes centered around magic as he settled for knighthood.
Behind a Wizard or Witch in terms of glory and valor was a knight, it was his second best option; he hadn't expected to do well in it either. The next moment he was a squire to a knight who's name he'd long forgotten now, then came their death, those memories of his first ever real battle where his body shivered in cold sweat and his every limb ached all over. He remembered that day well, spending endless nights in a god forsaken forest he neither knew if the Republic were aware of nor if they wanted anything to do with it. He was bruised, he was broken but still alive and it was then on that day of his most dire moments did he hear the soft galloping of horse hooves.
'There's someone here!!'
Gildal's mind spiralled back into reality, that was a long time ago, the Ludunhime family had saved his life so he'd tried join their small army without much thought, ready to swear an oath of eternal allegiance but he surprisingly never had to. On a night as starless as most nights were in the republic as the moon stood as the only beacon in the ever spanning deep a did Gildal remember the only order he was ever given by them, 'Protect her at all costs'.
Soon he was her first and final guard, heeding his master's words but by the time she'd turned four, he was set free; Why?. Gildal had asked a long time ago but acquired no answer, during that time he'd grown fond of the child, endlessly curious with an amusing yet admirable level of fearlessness. Sooner or later and Gildal perhaps started treating her as a little sister rather than the daughter of his master, perhaps that was the reason? He couldn't tell, the Ludunhime family were seemingly all experts of secrecy.
"Do all noble's really do these kinds of things for their children?" Ludmilla suddenly asked him, he glanced at her.
The two had already began snaking their away across the outskirts of the ballroom, eventually finding the table of food contents and the moving waiters and waitresses with drinks on top of trays to which he'd already had quite a few. He smiled, noting her incessant behavior to ask questions hadn't quelled through time.
"Of course, of course!" he glanced at the ballroom, "It's a tradition, Witches and Wizards are our country's pride and joy after all"
"Aren't there hundreds of them?" Ludmilla inquired as Gildal stared at her with a little surprise.
"Oh no, those numbers are insignificant" he downed another glass before continuing, "Of course there are hundreds…no, thousands of Magi-born children who earn a numerical value of III and become Wizards or a Witch however that isn't to say that their lives are set for glory"
This was something Gildal himself had only learned after his departure from the Ludunhime family, "Just as many of them are born, many others die"
He glanced at Ludmilla and analyzed her expression before continuing, "Magic isn't something just anyone can grasp, your body may be able to handle it and use it however your mind is a different story altogether"
There were stories he remembered hearing and things he'd seen for himself and his gaze narrowed, "It's a dangerous occupation, words can be your undoing as there are spells and incantations never to be uttered with knowledge not to be known"
He sighed, "It's dangerous as….acquiring knowledge and delving deeper is what makes a Wizard and Witch stronger…so, to grow in strength you must be ready for whatever lies behind your endless curiosity and hope it never gazes back at you"
Ludmilla's gaze grew complicated then she stared at the ballroom of conversing figures, rich smiles and the sort, "So…it's like a good luck party?"
"Hahaha, perhaps but don't take much of it to heart" he patted her on the shoulders, "A Senior Witch could easily subdue an achieved knight such as myself, any time of day, I'd still want to become one even now"
Ludmilla glanced at him with a small smile, "I see"
There seemed to be some kind of emotions in that voice that Gildal didn't sit well with, perhaps he'd accidentally scared her? That wasn't his intention! He cursed himself inwardly and decided to brighten her mood.
"By the way, it's usually in these occasions that one acquires their chosen wand"
"A wand!?" She nearly yelped but managed to keep her voice low enough that no one stared at at her, "R-Really…?"
"I wouldn't lie"
Crusch suddenly felt excitement, was it the kind of wand selection where the wand chose her? Who was she kidding, when was it where the scenario hadn't been a magical item choosing the wielder rather than the other way around? She didn't like scenarios where she had zero control though, the thought of the weird worm-like creature that had set her mind blank flashed when she thought of this as she shuddered; Magic is dangerous.
Was the magic in this world not the fanatical and fantastical kind she'd thought it was? She glanced at Gildal whose attention was glued to a waitresses tray of drinks as she shook her head helplessly, 'Yeah, I think that's something I'll need to figure out on my own…'
**
The celebrations proceeded as Crusch had expected an occasion like this to, there was eventually dancing and although she'd tried her damnedest to avoid it there was still those who still somehow managed to catch her into small and short conversations along with little questions. While some were unpleasant, Crusch really did end up learning quite a bunch about the region she was in.
The place she was situated in was called Luran Forest which was situated around the city of Giad or more commonly known as Luran under the governance of The Sorcerer's Republic of course, Noble families actually didn't own things like large estate castle's or anything of the like, they lived in a part of the city called the upper district while the middle class were situated in the lower district and the severely unfortunate, well…their district didn't have an official name really but it seemed as though everyone had unanimously agreed to call it the slums.
The Ludunhime family were simple one of if not the only family allowed something as frivolous as a castle and a part of the Forest for their own affairs, a privilege earned through contributions made in the Republic's Third Era of existence. In these conversations Crusch was able to properly guess what year they were in, it was the early 1900's to either mid 1900's.
There were certain aesthetics, knowledge, forms of speech and technology they spoke of that gave her this idea. Less on that though, Crusch came to realize that Wizard and Witch culture weren't anything starkly different from one another and magic was most notably a widely known fact however what truly and utterly flabbergasted Crusch was the religion.
These people worshipped Dragons! It wasn't the kind of reverence brought from their might alone as the beast's she'd heard of in various popular works of fiction either but that they actually saw them as God's. She was only able to acquire the most popularly worshipped Dragon God in the city they were in though, The Dragon Of Death. Why anyone would worship a bringer of death was beyond her though but then again, she'd only acquired small bits and pieces of information around the religion, there was most probably something like a Bible surrounding it.
The information though seemed not to be that important to many people and although Crusch could've easily ignored her own innate resilience to social interaction had someone been willing to continue the conversation on Dragon religion, no one did and she grew resilient again though it seemed as though her small interactions brought the false pretense that she was actually more social than she let herself on to be.
'Let me live damnit!!'
She cried inwardly but rudely refusing everyone felt more than just rude, she had to remind herself that everyone here could've easily refused to come but then again it also wasn't her choice to host such an occasion.
Thankfully, the party had switched atmosphere's, a ringing noise overcame most of the subtle noises of conversation, music and fun dancing as head's turned in its direction; it was her father. Viktor Von Ludunhime held a tall glass of sparkling golden contents in his hands to the ceiling above him, his expression both excited and anxious.
Beside Viktor was of course his wife, her expression no different while behind the both of them and not so far away was a woman. This was a person Crusch hadn't seen before, although her greetings had been brief, Crusch had practically been forced to speak with a large majority of the people present so there were faces she could recognize and at this point she wouldn't be surprised if she'd nearly spoken to every guest present but the woman that stood slightly behind her parents was unknown to her.
She wore something akin to a short trench coat, buttoned up and followed by a dress beneath who's skirt went halfway across her shin. Around her neck seemed to be some kind of Medallion holding a spherical gem of amethyst color, her hair was of a deep raven with young facial features and eyes of the same color as the gem around her neck, in her hands that sat in front of her was a briefcase that Crusch for some reason felt attracted to. She scrutinized the woman and as she did so her gaze was reciprocated as the woman tilted her head to the side and lightly smiled.
It was a Witch.
Viktor stared at the crowd who's attention he'd now fully grabbed and cleared his throat.
"It brings me great joy to stand before you all and announce the ascension of our most cherished youngest daughter" He took a short pause, finding Crusch's gaze among the crowd and smiled as a wave of warmth overcame her.
"Events like this are one's we must all cherish well, the continued existence of not only our society but our ideals and customs fall in the hands of our young Wizards and Witches" Everyone nodded, "To that end, we welcome our most newest member, our pride and joy"
Crusch smiled.
"Ludmilla Von Ludunhime!!"