As Valerie fully let go of the tray full of food which she, she took a deep breath in and prepared herself. The information she had was just too important. Of course, there was also the boy… but she would get to that later. As she entered the room, she felt the temperature of the air around her drop, as if an invisible breeze of air had just blown past her a moment ago. She took one last glance at the young man and noticed a tense look on his face. In fact, his whole body seemed rather tensed up.
'He'll get used to it… hopefully.'
The room the two entered was quite spacious, which was to be expected of a training gym, especially one of this caliber. The center of the room was depressed around a quarter of a meter down, and is further segmented into four different training arenas made of white padding. Two long wooden walking platforms split the four arenas, meeting in the middle. The rest of the room was slightly elevated from the arena, allowing instructors to watch their students from a better angle.
Speaking of which, this arena wasn't oriented solely towards hand to hand forms of combat, but rather more towards combat that involved swords and the use of mantras, though the latter is usually discouraged for lower level students. Of course, as one masters their swordsmanship and refines their style, they begin to incorporate their attunement and mantras while they fight. Valerie remembered the moment where she had mostly mastered her use of a sword. Except, rather than it being in a calm and cozy room built for training, it was the harsh expanse of the depths. The image of a dozen dead companions laying lifeless on the ground flashed across her mind…
…there was no time for such thoughts, though. She had to keep composure in front of him. She put on a bright smile and greeted the swordsman like a well known companion along with a hint of reverence.
"Maestro Evengarde Rest! It's nice to see you again."
The swordsman had been gazing at the floor when Valerie and the young man walked in. His slicked back hair flowed as smooth as a passing breeze as he noticed Valerie. His scarred jade eyes… eye, and his other fuschia eye made contact with Valerie's sharp amber ones.
"Ah! Black diver… Valerie! It's quite off putting for me to refer to you as a black diver, as you are no longer associated with such a faction. Ah, but I must hold you to some level of pedigree at minimum!"
"Don't worry about it too much. I've already told you that most people just call me Valerie."
She was about to mention Quies, but that would bring up problems that she didn't feel like handling currently. Suddenly, her laid back expression flowed off of her face, replaced by one of a serious expression.
"He… has subjugated everyone. Every single soul of that city is under his hex. I tried to break the mental veil of one of the guards, but it didn't work out too great."
Maestro Evengarde's face turned grim.
"It was what I had foreseen. However, I had expected that full subjugation of the city would take at least a few decades. However, at such a pace… the drowning would be imminent."
***
'Who in the right mind wouldn't think of putting seats in a room like this?!'
Quies still felt uneasy from the constant pressure the elusive swordsman was radiating, even if he was on the other side of the room. It didn't help that there were no proper places to sit and enjoy his dinner as well! Quies adjusted his grip on the tray and slowly lowered it to the hard wooden floor. A sense of relief washed over his body as he let go of the heavy tray. He studied the contents of each dish as he sat down in the corner of the room.
'Let's see what we have here…'
Of course, the staple dishes of the eastern luminant were present. Such dishes often made use of foraged mushrooms, and were usually combined with other ingredients.
People in the luminant had to get creative with the ingredients they had at hand, so countless varieties of mushroom dishes were invented and, subsequently, sitting on his tray right now.
'Can't go wrong with a mushroom bisque.'
Using two hands, he picked up a rather sizable brown bowl, filled almost to the brim with a thick soup. White drizzles of cream and small garnishes decorated the surface of the delectable bisque, contrasting the light brown color of the soup and gobletto mushrooms. He picked up a wooden soup spoon which had conveniently come on his tray, scooped a generous portion of the bisque, and ate… drank it? Consumed it…
'Ah…'
The contents of the bisque had cooled down on the walk to the training room, but they were still warm enough to put a wide smile on his face. Its warmth permeated throughout his body, offering a short moment of respite from the chaos of the world.
The taste was just as he had expected, but due to his rather extensive isolation, they seemed to be stronger than he last remembered.
'Or maybe mushrooms from Vigil just taste better. Ah, I can't dwell on one dish for too long though.'
As he scanned his tray for what to indulge in next, the conversation across the room had begun heating up.
***
"I can do that. I'll start tomorrow then."
"Alright. Return to me with your findings, however, take as much time as you need."
The short but impactful conversation between Maestro Evengrade Rest and former Black Diver Valerie has concluded. A conversation that could possibly change the course of the luminant as a whole.
"Oh, one more request, Valerie!"
Valerie had already been walking away, and was now a few steps away from the imposing swordsman.
"Yes, Maestro Evengarde?"
Unexpectedly, he lowered his gaze, as if unsure of the words he was going to say next.
"Could I… no the whole portion would be too much… just try one of those crab stuffed goblettos?"
"H-huh? Sure, I guess."
'Most of the food's gone cold already… Goddamnit, I spent good money on this food!'
She walked back towards the swordsman and he grabbed one of the four crab stuffed goblettos. Valerie had been looking forward to wolfing all of them down, but three was… fine enough for her.
"Mmm… these are my favorites. You may depart now."
Putting on a calm appearance, Valerie gave a curt smile and began walking away, her leather boots resonating a stifled clack on the wooden floorboards. Her conversation with Maestro Evengarde hadn't taken too long, but it was most likely dark outside the training facility already. She had to be resourceful with how she managed her time, mostly because she had to plan out a strategy for her assignment tomorrow.
There was also Quies, who had already finished half of the food on his tray as he sat on the other side of the room. She was confident that he could act independently while she was away, but that meant leaving a valuable asset out of her purview. She couldn't just leave a user of a forbidden attunement in the company of these people. Who knows what they'll do to him if they find out?
When they find out.
Though, it definitely would take some time and a concrete reason for persecution. The vigils aren't senseless, after all. She was a few steps away from Quies before he asked her something.
"Valerie… Who exactly is that swordsman across the room?"
Her steps kept their cadence, her face kept composure. She liked to view herself as a humble person, but was rather boastful for the most part.
"Oh, him? He's just the strongest galebreather throughout the five luminants of Lumen, obviously."