SWISH, the sound of a blade cutting the air echoes through the quiet room. "Please don't hurt me, I will give you anything you want, just don't hurt me I beg of you" a male voice echoes, " I would, but I have a job to do, so..." another voice is heard as a figure clad in an all-black leather body suit with a hood over its head walks into the room pointing a jade green dagger at the man on the floor before them. "I beg of you, I have children that I have to take care of, I swear I won't work with those bastards anymore" the man pleaded as he scurried away from his approaching attacker. "You knowing the reason saves me the trouble of explaining" " So how about I make a deal with you, huh?" the assassin said as they sheathed their blades while sending their frightened prey a wicked grin.
"That ended way too quickly, he didn't even put up a fight" the assassin sighed as they swung the blood off their dagger with one flick, the blood splattered onto the floor at an angle showing the precision of a hardened warrior.
"At least I got some stuff off him, 1... 3... 5... 6, 600 shins, and 4 rings. Jeez, so much for a nobleman." the assassin said as they pulled down their hood revealing a pristine, pale white face with vibrant emerald, green eyes that glistened as the early morning rays reflect of them. the glow in her eyes highlighting the lightness of her pastel mint colored hair. " This should be enough to get me some booze, the high-quality stuff" she said grinning as she walked down the busy streets towards a pub at the end of the road. "...and the rest will go into my retirement plan, that brings me to... 2,500 shins and 3 diamond rings made with mithril" "Where the fuck did this guy even get mithril, I hope I haven't gotten in with the wrong people" she said sarcasm evident in her tone as she swung her hands behind her head kicking in the door of the pub.
"Hey, it's the Tiny Devil" a voice shouted drunkenly, resulting in a bout of cheers from the patrons in the pub. She had been nicknamed 'Tiny Devil due to her excellent fighting skills despite her bare above average stature '165 cm' in a town where everyone was at least 170cm tall. "Tiny Devil how you been" " Been busy you know, taking from the rich to feed the poor and all that" her reply caused an even louder burst of laughter in the pub because they were all aware of that by 'poor' she meant herself. "What have I told y'all about calling her Tiny Devil" a muscled lady of about 180 cm with blonde hair dressed in a black shirt and a pair of red trousers, said coming out of what seemed like the backroom. Her entrance sobered everyone up except for the Tiny Devil that had just downed two pitchers of cheap, concentrated rum. "Lumin, which one of you gave her rum" "Will you leave her alone Sylvia, she's old enough to do as she pleased". one of the drunk patrons said as he poured himself another drink. The quiet in the room was broken by Sylvia's footsteps, moving unhurriedly as she stopped in front of the drunk man. "I reckon you are new here old crone?" "Yup, started coming a week ago" the man nodded as he gave her a cute smile. "Good, now here are some rules to follow in My pub.
1) Noone and I mean no one but myself serves Lumina
2) Never cross me, or I will break your jaw, and I am not kidding, ok?" she said raising two fingers in the air while staring daggers at the sobered-up man before her. " Yes ma'am" he said saluting sylvia, this caused the men in the room to burst into laughter at his expense. "Lumina, you look pretty as a peach today you know" Sylvia said with a hint of a Southern accent giving away her Southern heritage. "Missed you too Sylvie, did you get the stuff I asked for?" Lumin asked as she tried to sober herself up. "Who do you think I am lassie" Sylvia beat her chest as she hoisted Lumin into her arms. One of the men whistled after seeing the odd pair, hearing this Lumin planted a kiss on Sylvie's cheek. "She's all mine ok, anyone that tried to take her can say goodbye to their heads" she said slurred, releasing a bit of her bloodlust quietening the pub making it difficult for anyone who wasn't hardened by battle to move an inch. "What the heck was that?" "What kind of bloodlust was that?" "That had to have come from Sylvia right, there's no way Tiny could produce even a third of what we are feeling" a few of the more experienced men whispered amongst themselves as Sylvia walked away with the now passed out Lumin.
In the backroom, "You can stop pretending to be asleep, Lumina" Sylvia said as she tossed her onto the wooden floor. "It wouldn't hurt you to drop me gently" Lumin said jumping up and dusting herself off. "Yes it would, anyways, here's your ticket" "I want your butt on that train by sunrise tomorrow. You hear me?" Sylvia said as she waved a wooden plaque with a sigil on it. "Yeah, yeah, Even I want to leave this godforsaken place" "You know, I just want to leave this hell hole and get as far away from him as possible." she said with a wistful look in her eyes her voice taking on a spine-chilling tone. "Why don't you change out of your work clothes and I will feed you as full as a tick". As Lumina changed out of her 'work' clothes and talked with Sylvia, a mysterious figure of a man covered in a dark cloak makes its way toward the alley five blocks away from the pub.
"She's leaving the city tomorrow at dawn" the figure said as he came to a stop in the alley. "Are you sure about this?" another voice comes from further down the alley. "I heard her talking to that muscular woman down at the pub" "Sylvia?" the figureless voice said a hint of emotion finding its way into his voice. "How does she know that lady?" it asked. "They are apparently old acquaintances, she has been staying with her for the past year, only leaving when she gets a 'job'." the man said. "Oh, arrange for some men to ambush her at the station" "I have to meet an old friend" the voice said as its body came into view revealing a beautiful 'for the lack of a better word' man with white hair, snow white skin and crimson red eyes that shone with a sharp edge in them. He was a 180cm tall man, with an upright figure and broad shoulder that looked like they carried the heavy weight of the world. He was every woman's dream man.
Later that night, Lumina walks down the steps leading to the basement of the pub as the last of the customers leaves for the night. "I will be down there in a few minutes, just let me clean this place up" Sylvia yelled as she watched Lumina head down. When she got down to the basement, Lumin put on a lamp by her side leading to a chain reaction of lamps coming on in the form of a battle arena like those in the Guards' Compound. "These creep me out every time, now where did she put my stuff" she said as she walked off towards a brown chest to the side of the room. Inside the chest was her black leather body suit and a mask, but something was missing..."Where are my daggers, did I misplace them?" she asked herself as she proceeded to ransack the whole room. "I'm going to fly off my handle if you don't clean this place up." "Oh no" Lumina said as she heard Sylvia coming down the steps, "Sylvie, my love, where have you been" she jumped at the fuming Sylvia trying to assuage her. "Oh no you don't, I wasn't born yesterday" Sylvia caught her by the arms pulling her towards the scattered pile of clothes, weapons and boots. "First clean up this mess, then you can 'Love'." she added. "Sure but lend me a hand will you" "I was only looking for my daggers" Lumina said as she proceeded to pick up a pair of boots by her foot. "Your daggers are in my room upstairs. I figured you would need something fancier you know" Sylvia flashed a silly grin at her before joining her.
After about an hour or so of cleaning up and ignoring all of Lumina's attempt at poking to figure out what her gift was, Sylvia finally gave in. "Seriously, I don't know why I thought i could hide it from you" Sylvie sighed as she walked towards a part of the wall, everything looked normal until she began channeling a mystically an indigo-colored energy into it. this caused the appearance or perhaps activation of a sigil on the wall. the bricks began to move, opening up a secret passageway. There were multiple books in the room as well as a box with sigils drawn on it.
"You know, no matter how many times I see your aethereal aura, it mesmerizes me." "By the way, what is in that box it feels like its calling to me?" Lumina asked as she clutched her chest. "That lil one is my family's heirloom" Sylvie said as she lifted the box out of the room and closed it up. "One of my ancestors was an Artifex apparently, and a mighty powerful one at that." "How come you are Scholaria then?" Lumin asked confused. "You fool, weren't you thought anything at all." "Castes are determined by genetics, but a change in Caste is normal in families." "Apparently, my ancestors' children had all taken after his wife's alignment, and there hasn't been a single Artificer or Kyrexian in my family ever since." Sylvia explained. "I think I understand, the bare minimum at least." "So, what's inside the box, tell me, tell me" She pestered. Sylvia resigned to her fate and opened the box, multiple sigils activated in the room as a wave of energy was exuded from whatever was inside the box.
"You are a Kyrexian, huh" Sylvia said as she watched Lumina's eyes begin to glow a bright green color as her hands reached into the box. "How can you be so sure?" "First of all, you are a natural born superhuman even without channeling Aether through yourself." "Secondly, you felt the calling of a weapon, only Kyrexian's can do that." "Last but not the least, your eyes are glowing, which is a sign of your awakening" Sylvia said as she raised up her third finger. "What do you mean my eyes are glowing" "Holy shit, they are, I actually awakened" Lumina screamed as she stared at herself in a mirror, conveniently placed by the basement's entrance. "I believe congratulations are in order, you got the Caste you wished for." Sylvia said as she handed the box over to Lumin. "Thanks, but there's a problem" she said as she put her hand into the box "I don't know how to use these" she added. She pulls out a pair of curved style swords, not quite a dagger, or a saber nor a short sword, something in-between. The swords appeared to be wickedly curved, their blades a shimmering, almost ethereal green that seemed to pulse with aethereal energy that matched the rhythm of her heartbeat. The edges were sharp, like shards of jade, the metal on the hilt gave a sinister gleam as the light reflected upon the carving of a sun or moon. The handle was wrapped with a worn pale green material that attached to the twisted root-like metal on the hilt. "You stupid girl, don't you know anything at all." "Kyrexian's are able to wield any weapon, even if they have no previous experience as long as they can channel the Aether within them through it." Sylvia explained as she watched Lumina place the two swords onto the floor and attempt to channel her Aether. A few minutes later, Lumina falls onto her back looking absolutely drained. "No luck, I could sense the Aether just like you taught me to, but...I couldn't move it towards the weapon or through my body at all." "This is a problem, well look on the bright side will you" "You have a new weapon, you've awakened your class, and you have a teacher who just happens to be trained in the use of all weapons." Sylvia beat her chest proudly. "That's true, but what will I do about my problem." Lumina asked her cheerful tone completely tossed out the window and replaced by a cold, serious and calculative tone of a warrior. "Now that we can work on later" "For now..." Sylvia said ripping off the apron she had on, revealing a black training kit with a blood moon insignia on it.
The appearance of the training kit threw Lumina off for a minute, a look of fear and hate appearing in her eyes. "Lumina are you, ok?" Sylvia said rushing towards Lumina her voice soft and tender, like a mother towards her child. "I'm so sorry I shouldn't have worn this, but my kit was dirty, and this was all I had." she said in a soft voice holding Lumina tightly in her arms. "It's ok, I shouldn't be this affected anymore, this just goes to show how far I still have to go" Lumina said as she wiped the tears that rolled down her cheeks, flashing a dark smile to Sylvia. "Let's do this, ok" she said as she got up from the floor, getting into a fighting stance even as her legs shook slightly. Sylvia noticing this, smiled softly although her eyes showed remorse and walked up to the chest to the side of the room. She picked up a double-handed wooden Longsword, "I am not going to go easy on you, got it?" Sylvia said getting into a low stance with her arms raised above her head. "I don't expect you to" Lumina strengthened her stance and held her swords, one in each hand. The clanging of steel and wood echoes through the room as the door to the pub above them glows a crimson red and opens letting in a figure in a black cloak.