It had been a couple of days since the encounter with the Knights of Draco, one of Lord Voldegard's elite kill squads meant to hunt down so-called 'enemies of the state' according to Nina. She had begun telling me everything I wanted to know that she knew herself. Her mother was apparently one of the royal concubines and they were the daughters of the Great Emperor. However, one day, their mother was framed and was supposed to be executed but their father intervened and instead, banished them from the Empire to live as lowly serfs on the frontiers.
Their mother supposedly told her to study abroad as an engineer after giving her most of their family's remaining wealth. She took up the challenge, managed to pull it off, and was about to bring her mother and little sister to a new home where they were accepted. Then the cult kidnapped them both.
I felt her sadness when she mentioned the kidnapping, she knew that if I wasn't there, both of them would have died in vain and she'd be left with nothing. If that ever happened, I knew for a fact that she would undoubtedly end her own misery as soon as she arrived. The fact that her sister survived was a miracle itself and the fact I was summoned instead of the so-called Demon Lord was nothing but pure chance and luck. The cult was notorious, or so Nina claimed it to be. Kidnappings, mass murders, all kinds of atrocities under their belt, and yet the Empire did nothing to stop them. I wanted to contest her accusation that the state did nothing until she told me the time when she pleaded to the local lord of help.
"Peasants like you should be grateful that the Empire and his majesty let you live on our lands," Was the answer she got. It was a terrifyingly stupid answer that made even the nobles back on ancient Earth look like saints. She did not, however, explain why the state wanted them dead. I told her what Tereque told me about them but other than that, I had no other clue. She too was dumbfounded, she claimed that their family posed no threat to the royal family nor did she commit any grievous crime to be hunted down.
I wanted to believe she was just being vague but she was actually telling me the truth as far as I could tell. She had no idea what would force the local lords to act in such a way. I had one, it was a vague assumption but it was the best I had to explain the situation. But, I needed to be sure. I needed to be careful and not be careless lest I deal more damage than the enemy in the shadows.
Due to how backward the era this world was in, chances of revolt or reform was slim for the masses were put against each other using petty conflicts. It was the classic divide and conquer shebang, a disunited people won't overthrow a united despotic system, would they?
Not to mention that it seemed like all beings capable of magic were under the control of the state.
However, like many things in the universe, all of this would eventually come to an end. How everything would end would be determined in the future, by the key players of both sides. If one side decided to do unspeakable acts, the other would do the same. The chances of total extinction because of recklessness would rise until either a side wins or extinction comes knocking down the survivors' door.
I wanted to hasten the eventual war, plunge this so-called Empire into chaos as retribution. Of course, that was a long term goal if I was ever going to take it seriously. I was still only a few days old in this reality, I understood little of how the world really worked and how everything came to be as it was. Thus, I needed to wait and learn, hone my skills, and ponder. In the meantime, I and the sisters needed to settle and rest. They had gone through enough hell and if I was going to plunge this continent into hell never before seen then the sisters should be far away from here as possible. Away from the dangers and toils of war.
At first, all the talk about magic and everything related to it sounded like nonsense to my arrogant ears since I was basically in denial. Being transported to a brand new world governed by the rules of fantasy was not something I had ever thought was possible. Yet, here I was, riding on a horse accompanied by two sisters whose backgrounds were questionable, reputations terrible, mental fortitude palpable, and survival alone improbable. I was still trying to wrap my head around certain concepts but I was getting the hang of it at least, I thought.
Well, for now, it was time to learn more about the sisters and keep a low profile.
One key thing I had begun noticing about the sisters ever since the encounter with Tereque was that they were good with animals, especially Yuna despite her young age, she knew how to handle a horse four times her size. We had stumbled upon a vague but navigable dirt road that ran straight through the forest when I noticed how they handled the horses. Yuna was riding on Goldy's back while Nina rode on Browny's. The two horses had formed a somewhat strong bond with their respective riders and had displayed behavior keen to how a dog would treat a loving, caring master. I, on the other hand, had to deal with the constant stubbornness of Sandy while Whitey constantly licked my back. We haven't found any freshwater sources ever since leaving the stream and I really, really wanted to take a dive.
It was also ironic that none of the sisters chose Whitey. The horse didn't mind but I thought they'd choose him, you know, for aesthetic purposes.
'It's surprising someone as young as Yuna knows how to ride a horse all by herself," I said as I turned my head towards Nina. It had been an hour since we started following the dirt trail.
Nina smiled at me and shrugged which was odd.
"We sisters have a talent for animals, like, we can tame any animal as long as it's a normal one and not a magical beast," Nina said.
"Magical beasts?" I asked. She nodded and continued.
"Magical beasts, creatures powered by magic. You can always tell if a creature is magical by searching for the magic stone on its forehead," Nina explained. I pondered for a moment, digesting the information into my brain before asking more questions.
"So, animals powered by magic, I assume that the magic crystal is the power source?" I asked.
"Yep, if you pull that out or shatter it, the beast will fall and die," Nina confirmed. While we were discussing the nature and anatomy of these so-called 'magical beasts' Yuna was busy talking to her horse.
By talking, I really meant she was actually conversing with the horse. The horse seemed to understand every word she was saying and its neighs' were understood by the little girl. This intrigued me but I did not inquire into the nature of the little girl's strange ability. Maybe she was one of the real animal whisperers.
But those people were psychics.
Was she?
No, her psychic link was too weak to even feel the psychic energy floating around in the surroundings, she was basically just a normal living being with a normal mind. Her sister was no better as well, they were normal people with no connection to psychic power. They were, to put it mildly.
Too normal
Maybe this was magic? I needed to learn more about the strange power. The more I encountered and suspected it, the more anxious I became due to how unstable and powerful it was.
Captain Tereque showed me two of the common uses of magic which was the ability to cast a protective barrier around yourself and the ability to conjure a concentration of energy by the tip of an instrument that served as the catalyst of said magic. The abilities Tereque did against me were weak, to say the least. His attack did not even put a dent on my passive barrier nor did his own barrier withstand my attack which was already toned down as to not destroy too much fo the forest. Also, his abilities seemed limited in terms of usage. It may be safe to assume that most magic 'spells' and 'casts' could only be done to oneself and could not be shared. However, this may be a premature assumption that may cause me dearly in the future and thus I needed to always assume that whatever magic cast by my enemies would be cast on their allies.
"What are the most powerful of magic users called?" I suddenly asked.
Nina raised her eyebrows and thought for a minute. She then shook her head as if she was wrong about something.
"I never really met any but they are called Archs, or Arch," Nina said.
I pressed on, determined to know more about these people and the threat they possessed.
"Archs are humans with exceptional magic ability, able to cast the most powerful of spells and wield ancient artifacts left by the gods of old, or so were the stories mother told us when we were young... there was an Arch under the service of the emperor back when we lived in the palace but I never met him," She finished. I thanked her for answering my question despite being unsure of herself. It seemed like she didn't learn much about magic when she went to study abroad because her course and field of engineering had nothing to do with magic other than trying to come up with countermeasures on how to save a structure from a magic attack.
Archs huh. A funny name for beings who allegedly have a lot of power in their hands but not in their heads. Well, who was I to judge how other realities named their most powerful champions.
I didn't exactly know where our horses were heading but I chose the direction of the dirt trail with the least psychic resistance detected by my enhanced sense. The direction with the least psychic resistance often meant that populations weren't concentrated that much and urban centers were scarce in that general direction and since the sisters were basically enemies-of-the-state, it was for the best.
"You don't mind right?" I suddenly asked Nina.
"About what?" She asked as she titled her head to the right.
"If you noticed. We are moving away from the land you had called home since you were young, so I was wondering if that was okay to you and Yuna?" I said. She gave me a smile and then nodded.
"Our home was where my mother would stay, never the land. Now that she's gone, we found a new home to follow," She then stared at me with passionate eyes.
So I had taken the reins of her mother. I was now their one and only hope, their refuge, the person they could count on other than themselves and each other.
I was home.
I turned away from Nina and looked down upon the back of Sandy. I stared as the wind bent his fur, creating a wave that flowed from top to bottom. I then felt it, that slight tingle in my chest. I didn't understand what it was because it shouldn't be possible in the first place. It was a tingle that was followed by a pain that tapped my chest.
"What is this?" I whispered the words that echoed in my mind. The world around me then began to swirl and then I looked at the sisters who were right behind me.
They looked right back at me. As the surroundings dimmed, something peculiar happened.
They shined.
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