Chronicle of the Eternal: Volume 1 (25 page)

During the first week of back
at Bluemist Academy, the class 4 teacher, Mr. River, takes all the students to
the gym. Regal’s first thought is that they are going to be dueling with class
1 as Mr. Razor and all his students arrive there as well. This is the common
thought of many of the students from both classes, but most change their mind after
seeing there is a long table covered by various sized stacks of countless
different skill books.

Mr. Razor clears his
throat and explains to the students, “Class 1 and Class 4, welcome back to the
academy for your second year. When you began studying last year, you were
initially given four skill books to go along with your studies. As second
years, you are entitled to another one.”

“On the table behind us
are stacks of many different martial and alchemy skill books of all kinds.
Proficiency skills, martial skills revolving around special attacks, movement
techniques, alchemy books of all the elements, they are all there. There are
only a limited number of each though, so it is first come, first served on the
books. We,” Mr. Razor glances at Mr. River helplessly, “no, I, will call out
groups of three to go choose so we avoid everyone rushing in to go first.”

“Remember, you are only
permitted to choose one. The biggest stack there is the skill books for ‘Rifle
Proficiency’, which you must be level 5 to learn. If there is anyone who wishes
to learn this, or any other skill, and isn’t a high enough level, you may hold
the skill book in your inventory until you can.”

“Now, the first group to
go up will be the participants in last year’s inter-academy tournament. Lawe,
Regal, Hazel, that would be you.”

Regal walks out as the
other students make way for the three of them. He approaches and stands in
front of the table under the guidance of Mr. Razor. His teacher, Mr. River,
sits in a chair behind the desk and only motions with his arm across the skill
books.

On the cover of each skill
book, the title is printed so it is easier to see what each one is, and decide
on which one to take. Regal notices that the martial books are on the left
while the alchemy skill books are on the right. He is more interested in the
martial books, so he moves to the left hand side of the long table.

Regal glances over the
title of each skill book and takes note of several familiar titles from his
studies in the library, but most are unfamiliar to him. There are skill books
for ‘Golden Hawk Eyes’, ‘Hundred Lotus Flower Sword Arts’, ‘Wind Walk’, and
many others. What grabs Regal’s attention however, is a stack of four skill
books named, ‘Shadow Step’.

He picks up the book and
inspects it.

Regal’s greatest weakness
is his lack of combat potential, so a skill that could ensure his safety is of
great importance to him. Not only can ‘Shadow Step’ be used to ambush enemies,
it can become a skill excelling at escape once trained to a certain level.

Choosing this skill book,
Regal quickly places it in his inventory before returning to where his friends
are. They begin talking about Regal’s skill book and deciding which ones they
want to choose.

Veronica is the first to
state that she will choose ‘Rifle Proficiency’, preparing for when she can use
her new weapon. Kilde and Piora also choose movement martial skills, but those
skills are highly popular with the students and only a few select choices are
available when it is their turn to choose. Kilde chooses ‘Wind Walk’, while
Piora finds a skill called ‘Lightning Fox Dash’.

Astore is the only one to
choose an alchemy skill. His reasoning shocks them all when he tells them that
‘Vigorous Earth Alchemy’ has already been mastered while ‘Ice Heart Alchemy’ is
in the eighth tier, so he needs another skill to focus his training on. He
chooses another earth element alchemy called ‘Tectonic Quakes Alchemy’.

Once everyone is done
choosing their skills, it is time for lunch. Most of the students don’t meet
the requirements to learn their new skills, but the ones who can spend lunch
showing them off in the field the students play in.

Just like that, Regal’s
second year begins and his schedule returns to the familiar pattern he was used
to from his first year at Bluemist Academy.

A month into his second
year, he finally masters ‘Cooking – Beginner’ and thoroughly shocks Sampson.
The head chef ends up giving Regal two gifts for mastering the skill: The skill
book ‘Cooking – Intermediate’, and a silver box containing jars of 36 different
herbs and spices, including two large ones for salt and pepper.

Once Regal masters the
beginner stage of cooking, Sampson notifies Tanner who immediately comes to the
store with a grin that made the enormous man look like a cruel ogre. He proudly
takes Regal away from the restaurant with little time for farewells and brings
him to a new store, called ‘Florence le Cuir’.

Regal asks him what this
is, and Tanner tells him it is an acquaintance’s leather craft store. He takes
Regal inside and introduces him to Florence, a beautiful middle aged woman with
wavy golden hair. This is where Regal is taught ‘Tailoring – Beginner’,
learning how to not only make clothing, but also leather armor and other items.

It is also around this
time that Regal reaches level 5 in Theore Substructure and can finally learn
both ‘Mining’ and ‘Shadow Step’. The Tier 1 Divine Art of ‘Mining’ is called
‘Ore Repository’, which rather than being something to store ores as the name
suggests, imparts to him the basic knowledge of where to look for various ores
and the correct way to mine them. It also grants him a proficiency and bonus
when mining, producing twice the results with half the effort compared to
someone digging without the skill.

‘Shadow Step’ has three
different branches in movement techniques, leaving Regal indecisive for an
entire day as to which one to choose.

Regal eventually chooses
‘Shadow Dash’ after researching what he could of the skill. The first skill
path in ‘Shadow Step’ is the best skill that can be used to flee and attack
depending on the situation, even if each skill is limited to particular
situations.

Regal slowly becomes
accustomed to the new Divine Art while testing it in the public training hall.

He can only do a forward
dash away from his shadow, but surprisingly, his speed doubles when he does. As
he runs forward, his shadow seems to push his feet forward at the same time,
giving him the speed of two Regals. From behind him, he actually breaks away
from his shadow during the dash, for about forty feet until his shadow catches
up and reconnects with him.

His only problem is that
he can’t practice ‘Mining’. From the knowledge granted by the skill, he knows
there are no places within Grand City Theore, and none that are very close to
the city either.

Regal decides to not worry
about his ‘Mining’ skill until after graduation, when he can freely leave the
city and explore the wilderness. He spends his time focusing on training his
other skills, along with the new ‘Shadow Dash’.

It only takes Regal three
months to master ‘Tailoring – Beginner’, much to the delight of Florence who
takes a liking to the young student and tries to force him to keep working for
her. She even attempts to prevent Regal from going home after he masters
‘Tailoring - Beginner’, and would have succeeded if Tanner had not arrived to
take Regal over to another ‘friend’ of his.

***************************************************

Two more years passed in a
steady fashion. Regal was introduced to many different places, learning the
crafting and miscellaneous skills ‘Carpentry - Beginner’, ‘Herbalism’,
‘Compounding - Beginner’, ‘Sculpting’, ‘Jewelcraft’, and finally ‘Farming’.
Regal often wondered who Tanner is, to know so many people, but as far as Regal
knew, Tanner was only a simple blacksmith. His only conclusion was that Tanner
was once a strong hunter who made many friends before settling down in a
smithy.

Regal is now in the middle
of his fourth and final year of at the academy. His height and stature, along
with all the other students, has grown to that of an adult’s. Regal stands an
inch shy of six feet, one of the taller students in class. His closest friend
and the woman he is in love with, Veronica, is only slightly shorter than him,
but has developed into a stunning beauty that causes the other mature male
students to look longingly at her, despite her being a soulless.

Veronica’s amber hair is
still a bit wild, but a handful of metal clips the color of rust are much
better at holding it in place than they used to be. Her face has become more
refined and her gaze clearer. Her body has matured as her hips have grown
curvier and her chest has developed a bust that very few of the other female
students can rival.

She is always seen with
Regal, often holding his arm or hand, and is publicly acknowledged to be his
girlfriend, even if they never have actually kissed before. Despite this, there
are still some students who manage to find Veronica when she isn’t with Regal
and confess their love for her. Every single person received the same
emotionless response of, “I have no interest in love,” which even caused
Regal’s chest to ache.

Another relationship that
all the students like to talk about is Hazel, one of the queens of the Bluemist
Academy with light blue hair that flows like water. She and Lawe from class 1
started a relationship early on in their second year, and have been together
ever since.

While Hazel exudes a
womanly charm almost equal to Veronica, Piora has become more tomboyish over
the years. Her hair is cut to her shoulders, and many adornments decorate it.
Her hips are still straight and the growth in her chest is insignificant, but
she is still a charming girl that holds the hearts of a significant group of
men in the academy.

Regal knows her much
better than them and often calls her a brute, as she often uses her bare fists
or knife on him whenever she is displeased or angry. Despite this, she is still
a considerate person who possibly cares the most for others out of his entire
squad, despite her having an explosive temper that seems to tell Regal
otherwise.

Astore has grown the
tallest, standing half a head taller than Regal. Kilde on the other hand is
skinnier and shorter than him, always wearing a brown aviator hat that he has
become increasingly fond of.

In addition to size, Regal
has also grown in stats. He has reached level 9, with 93 percent toward level
10 - the level required upon graduation and become a full hunter.

Regal’s stats increased in
leaps and bounds from all the passive Divine Arts the crafting and
miscellaneous skills have given him, reaching almost double the base stats most
of the other students have. His martial and alchemy skills on the other hand
have stagnated in the sixth tier, unable to reach the seventh.