Regalia was walking directly to the magic center and didn't care about much else, not the people, not the architecture, and not the spirits flying across the city. She could see them everywhere which was normal, a lot of people in small places usually generated many spirits. The people were unable to sense them so when the spirits were born around them it was like nothing happened. It's a shame that humans are unaware of the magic around them, Regalia thought. If only they could understand the spirits their lives would be so much better.
Regalia's physical body or in better words her vessel was guiding her champion. Her true self was her spirit existing on a plane vastly different from the physical. The true form of Regalia was a golden glittering woman with hair flowing down to her feet with a slim build.
Adrian the boy asked, "Maybe we should ask for directions?" He wasn't looking at his new boss, he was looking at an elevated statue of a dragon that hung off a wall. Regalia thought her new ally was still inexperienced like a newborn fry not ready to fight the big fish but one day he will be. Regalia was an investor; she looked for growth in her assets.
"I am a God in the making, I have the senses to get wherever I want to be," She said with a profound and serious voice.
They kept weaving through the streets. The city was huge and hard to maneuver.
"Regalia," the boy asked, "why don't you cast a spell to get us there faster?" He was sweating a bit as the sun was on him all day.
Regalia was annoyed, as it seemed the most basic things that were significantly important her new subordinate was critically unaware of. "Magic is forbidden within the city except in special zones and places and I really need to school you on the rules the gods, spirits, sorcerers, and the world follow."
"Magic must be a dangerous thing if you can't use it in public…" Adrian walked earnestly, always keeping up and his eyes stared at every new thing around him as everything made his irises expand into black suns. Regalia appreciated his earnestness.
After an uncomfortable amount of time walking, they made it.
In the space between two buildings was a path leading to a white wall that was too tall to climb. The pair walked down the path then when Regalia got to the wall she said, "All the colors of the random."
The wall disappeared. The pair walked in; Regalia taking careful slow-paced steps while Adrian waltzed in with little mindfulness behind the swing of his feet.
Everything behind the wall changed appearance. They came into a red corridor with torches on the side. They proceeded down it as they started smelling the warm steam of fresh pastry.
Adrian asked, "What's that smell?"
"It's nothing."
They both walked out of the corridor and into a wide open street that was busy with magical creatures. There was a variety of magical creatures some had one, or more horns others had multiple of each limb many were animalistic, while a few seemed normal with only a marking on their eyes giving away their abnormality.
Regalia lifts her hands and water rises out of the ground around her and it starts drifting toward her slowly.
"Okay, get close to me, I am about to…" Regalia paused and then noticed Adrian was walking past her and to someone else.
Adrian was walking up to an eight-foot-tall wrinkly old lady with three spikes for a nose who was wearing a scarf and raggedy clothes. The old lady had a variety of pastries in front of her.
Adrian walked up and asked, "How much for the pie?"
The old lady with a smile that lacked any teeth and was far too wide said "Three ranks."
Adrian fetched out the cash and was about to hand it over but Regalia grabbed his hand with the money and said, "That food is poisoned and is used to kill pests."
Adrian's eyes widened "What?!!"
"That's a flesh slug they are good at making poison from their bodies and it is often used to kill pests."
"Are you saying this nice old lady is a monster?"
The old lady bent down and her eyes widened into the shape of bowling balls. Then in a voice that could only be described as the deepest sound a human voice could go, the lady said, "Who are you calling a monster toy man?"
Regalia intervened, "Sorry he is a light doughy bread and I have to watch over him."
The lady raised her head and said, "Don't worry I don't eat humans, especially while Iris is watching but better watch what you eat."
They rushed away before any other altercations happened.
…
Regalia and Adrian had been riding on a carriage made of water for some time now before finally reaching their destination. They arrived at a white temple. In black, there were symbols of an open hand with dual circles around it on the front side of the temple. The women around the temple wore black gowns with necklaces bearing the hand symbol. There wasn't much when they went inside the temple except a multitude of paintings depicting significant events in the history of divinity.
Adrian pointed at one where a man seemed to have been molding diamonds into the shape of a dragon and said "Explain that one to me."
Regalia sighed, "That's the story of the creation of dragons the very first ones."
They progressed again and after a time Adrian became attentive to another one "What's that one?"
Regalia huffs "That's a painting of the final battle between the old and new gods."
Adrian was in smiling and staring at every art piece they came by, "This place is amazing, I feel like I am walking through time."
Regalia hid her smirk, she continued to explain the history of several paintings they were going by.
"Wait what's that one?"
Regalia glanced and then froze and then shivered. "We do not need to talk about that one."
It had a black frame while every other painting had a gold frame. The painting was spaced out far away from every other painting with its neighbors being out of sight when looking at it. The painting itself depicted multiple things that were all a part of each other. It depicted a powerful inferno and a monstrous eye and bodies crumbling to dust. With a better perspective, one would realize that everything in the painting was just depicting one massive monster.
Adrian stared and started to frown, "That painting kinda gives me an uneasy feeling, what is it?"
Regalia started pushing him down the hallway, "Better not to know than to know and be tormented for life."
At the end of the hallway of art were two white doors with golden handles. Inside were rows of chairs and a black boulder that sat at the end of the room.
On top of the boulder was a tall woman in a long black gown. She disdainfully eyed the pair and then looked away then her arms moved slowly and carefully downwards as she bent to pick up a jar from behind her seat. The jar had the face of a woman with gleaming bright eyes. She set the jar down on the ground in front of her and gestured with her hand for them to come closer.
When they got to the jar the woman spoke in a voice that was soft and easy "Pay a thousand titles."
Regalia struggled to speak and said, "Well, umm, we do wanna start a following but the problem is we don't have that much right now."
In an instant, the woman flicked her open hand and with glaring eyes said "LEAVE!" The wind blew from nowhere and pushed Adrian and Regalia way out of the temple and into the courtyard.
Regalia landed on her feet while Adrian landed on his bum.
Regalia picked Adrian up and dusted him off, "It seems we need to make money before we can make our temple."
"Doing it alone big sister," said a voice coming from an unseen place. It was the low voice of a young woman almost like a whisper taunting Regalia from the shadows.
Regalia rubbed her head. "Sister I do not wish to be bothered."
A stream of steam popped from the ground and dispersed then in its place was a woman wearing a straw hat. She had long flowing black hair green eyes and lively white skin. She was wearing a blue tank top and shorts along with nets on her arms and legs. She held a staff.
"Then I am sorry to intrude," she raised from her kneeling position.
"What do you want?"
"The real question is, what do we want?" She smiled and raised her hand and beckoned to someone hiding around the corner.
Coming from behind an erected pillar was a petite girl in a long blue dress. She had thin lips and eyes as refined as diamond rings and skin as white as dove feathers. She walked over to Regalia with a vase in her hands.
"So you both came," Regalia put her hand to her head, wanting to hit herself in frustration.
"Sorry sis but when you said you wanted to be a deity it kinda made us want to be deities too." She was gripping her arms and looking down as if not wanting to see Regalia's response.
"Of course because whatever I do you guys wish to follow behind like my shadow."
"Sister you should stay humble it would be better for you to stay in our good graces in case we surpass you in the soon-to-be future." The woman with nets said.
"You would like to surpass me wouldn't you, even dream of it" Her face became veiny and ugly with malice as she made a fist.
"Not just a dream it will be reality," Her face returned Regalia's malice with even an even more ugly face while tightly gripping a staff she had in her hand.
"Stop it!" The girl in the blue dress's face was turning red straining her arms and trying to separate them. Instead of dropping the vase, she had put it on her head perfectly balanced.
"What did you even come for?!!!" Regalia's face had started to go red.
Her sister's face relaxed and she smiled "Well… we need money just like you do so we thought if we all worked together we could buy a shared temple and register as our pantheon."
Regalia relaxed as well, "That sounds… fine and the most efficient."
Adrian going from spectator to participant said, "Regalia care to introduce us?"
Regalia facepalmed, "Oh right you need to be introduced. Well, this is Insignia and Sceptia my kindred spirits." Insignia was the one in nets and was taller and Sceptia was the shorter one in a blue dress. She touches each one on the shoulder as she is talking about them.
"They're your family?" He went for a handshake with Insignia.
"Well, they're spirits who share strong similarities with me causing us to consider each other family." All three of the sisters smiled.
"Oh, so it's like adoptive family."
"Yes, spirits don't give birth or reproduce."
"Hi, Insignia I think."
"Correct," Insignia said.
Sceptia hustled to get a handshake as well, "nice to meet you."
Adrian then recounted how they had just met recently and what had happened until now. He told the story in an enthusiastic way drifting over the parts where he met Regalia and focusing on the parts that stood out to him like the sea drake and entering the magical part of the city. He talked with such vigor his body could not stay still.
"Ok, now we are familiarised with your new acquaintance let's go over the plan." Sceptia took a flyer out of her vase.
The flyer was a fancy paper with cursive words in red writing "Teacher wanted, 100 ranks per hour."
"You can't be serious," Regalia folded her arms.
"This isn't just a regular teaching, job it's the greatest paying teaching magic job in the capital," Insignia announced with a smile.
"Ok is that all we will do to make money?"
"Monster hunting is also profitable such as killing that serpent that you two encountered."
Adrian nudged Regalia, "Let's do it."
Regalia sighed. "Okay, since I don't have a better plan."
…
They had taken a tunnel that led to another magic area in the city that was of course closed off from the population.
The group stood before a golden gate protecting a white and gold triple-story school.
Insignia opened her hands towards the gate she then spoke with conviction, "heavenly welcome!" The gate swung open and a light shined from the entrance with a large gust of wind blowing out the gate.
They went past the gate and then noticed the school's yard was unexpectedly vacant. They went inside and were soon met with a six-eared lady with long white hair in the shape of a cow tail. She adjusted her chained monocle and walked over to the group.
"Hello, what is your group business here?" The second ear on the right side of her head twitched.
"We're here to fill in the missing positions," said Insignia.
"That's great." the top left ear started twitching. The six-eared lady pulled out a sheet of paper and put it on a table.
There were three teaching positions open, one for battle tactics, one for magic basics, and the other for magic utility.
"Who gets to pick first?" Sceptia asked.
"Oldest to youngest, I pick first," Regalia said.
"How about we draw straws," Insignia said.
Adrian provided the straws. Which he had got from his bag.
From longest to shortest, it went Insignia, Sceptia, and Regalia.
Insignia chose to teach battle tactics while Sceptia chose to teach utility and that left Regalia with magic basics.
Insignia was smiling and Sceptia had a slight smirk on her face while Regalia's face was flat.
"When can we start?" Insignia asked.
"First you need to be reviewed." The six-eared woman's ears all started wiggling as if they were wings preparing to fly, then they stopped.
"You're qualified," said the woman. "You start Monday."
They all left soon after.
…
They were in a room of an inn they found. None of the three sisters were tired because their bodies could not feel fatigued, so they were talking about giving Adrian time to go explore. Before Adrian left, Regalia told him not to do three things which were not to comment on the appearance of any creature no matter how big or small, not to go inside anywhere, and not to buy anything because there was no telling what anything was. With that, he left.
While walking down a street of vendors and merchants selling magical goodies he spots an alley with countless swords sticking out of the ground. There was a sign that read "Discarded weaponry alley."
Adrian excitedly went down the alley and saw a sword that burst into flames another one that was made out of grass and another that was bigger than a person. Each weapon seemed interesting but also had a weird defect. When Adrian so much as got close to the fire sword the flames burned him. The grass sword had a feeling of pure evil from just going near it. And the huge sword caused tremors from just flicking it. It seemed all these weapons were either too impractical or too powerful to use.
He went around trying out different swords. He realized the danger but didn't care it was fun being magical for a bit. One sword handle bit him slightly but could launch itself like a fiery arrow. One axe returned to you once thrown but could potentially cut you when coming back. One dagger turned invisible when thrown but wouldn't be visible again until you touched it.
Eventually, he noticed one sword that was situated differently than the rest. It was distanced from all the weapons and had paper wrapped around the handle with words on it.
Adrian unwrapped the paper and read, "Only a warrior of immense strength can wield this weapon." Adrian thought to himself, I only have one answer for a challenge like that.
Adrian grabbed the handle while thinking You're on and quickly with only a slight delay his eyes went dark.