Chronicle of the Eternal: Volume 1 (3 page)

“Mr. River!” The teacher
tries to ignore the voice as another student calls out with a question. “I
couldn’t see beyond the next Divine Art available in the skill when I entered
the next tier and could choose one. If I don’t know what lays ahead, how am I
supposed to know whether I should follow a single branch all the way?”

Julius River continues his
discussion as if the question was never asked, but when two more students raise
the question, he is forced to answer.

“The Library of Grand Theore
has documentation of most of the known skills and skill branches. Go study it
there and hopefully you will come to an answer on your own. Don’t ask me
anymore on what you should do, that’s for you to decide.”

“Anyway,” Mr. River says,
completely ignoring any further questions from the students. “Today you will be
learning and training in two martial skills. Students, when I read your name,
come out front and pick up your training weapons, one of each, and 4 cases of
ammunition. Anyone who doesn’t have the required skills to use them will also
collect the necessary skill books.”

From his inventory, the
teacher brings out a wide table and places it on the hard adamantine floor in
front of the students. He then places a total of 30 handguns, 30 combat knives,
60 skill books, and 120 bullet cases down on top of the table.

The hand guns are
extremely simple. They are six bullet revolvers with a short barrel, made from
polished brass with a box like rubber grip. A few of the students initially
mistake the gun for a toy, snickering that they wouldn’t even be able to scare
off a flock of birds.

The combat knives look
more sinister. Polished steel blades a foot long reflect the light murderously,
raising the hairs on the backs of half the class’s necks.

Before the first student
can stand up and approach the table, Class 3 enters through the gymnasium door
behind a beautiful thirty year old female teacher with long blonde hair and a
body that men would wage wars over. The faces of many of the boys from Class 4
turn red while the females frown at them with displeasure.

Class 3 is late in
appearing at the gym because their teacher explained everything Mr. River had before
leaving their classroom, answering all of her student’s questions happily
before leading them to the gymnasium. She also brings out a table, grander than
Julius River’s, covered with matching equipment and skill books.

The two teachers begin
calling out the names of the students one by one. Everyone takes one of the
guns and combat knives, but only half of the students take the skill books.
These skill books are precisely the basic martial skills needed to wield the
two weapons: ‘Combat Knife Proficiency’ and ‘Revolver Proficiency’.

When Regal’s name is
called, he deftly moves up to the table in front of the group and collects one
of everything, except for the bullet cases, which he takes four
of before returning to his position in the class with his friends and
sitting down cross-legged.

“So, Regal, how many
skills do you already have?” One of the other Soulless, Astore Jone, asks
curiously.

“I have one,” Regal
responds immediately, the answer stunning the small group of Soulless.

“Well big brother will
look after you, I have four!” Astore exclaims proudly, ignoring the several
contemptuous gazes that are directed at him.

“I’m also your big
brother, but I only have three skills,” The second Soulless male, Kilde Fen,
smiles and pats Regal on the back.

Veronica Hayfare, the only
female in the group looks at the other two and back at Regal, “Big sister will
look after you all! I have six skills!”

“Look at the Soulless,
acting like the rest of us,” a whisper too quiet for the teacher to hear or
anyone to pinpoint floats over the group of four.

That whisper is full of
disgust, the speaker not trying to hide their intent at all. Despite Regal and
the others ignoring the comment, it is clear that their conversation has taken
a hostile turn.

Skill books are difficult
to come by without purchasing them. All mutant beasts and monsters have a small
chance of dropping one on death, each specific to the enemy killed. The lowest
tier of skill books that anyone can learn already have an extremely low chance
of dropping, and that chance only becomes smaller as the skill books rise in
tiers. This makes them extremely expensive and is the reason why most students
have so few skills.

Regal and all the other
students who took the skill books place a hand on the front cover. A
semi-transparent window appears in front of them all, asking if they wish to
learn the skill.

Regal selects ‘Yes’ and
the skill book in his hands glows brightly before fading away in particles of
light. The previously empty martial skills section of his personal status now
has ‘Revolver Proficiency’ under it.

Regal opens the skill and
inspects the tier 1 Divine Arts to choose from. The skill has three branches
extending from the center: North, East and West. The tier 1 Divine Art for the
north branch is a passive Divine Art for 10 percent faster reloading. East is
also a passive Divine Art, 5 percent increase to bullet penetration. The final
branch, west, is an active Divine Art called ‘Curve’ that will shoot a bullet
that will curve in the air. The only problem is that it is difficult to aim.

Regardless of its
difficulty, Regal chooses the Divine Art from the beginning of the west branch.
He can’t see what the next Divine Art is available after ‘Curve’; that will
have to wait until he breaks into the second tier or he visits the library to
study the skill further.

Repeating the process with
the ‘Combat Knife Proficiency’ skill book, Regal acquires his second martial
skill. This skill only has two branches, specializing in either attack or
defence. Regal chooses the attack branch, learning a Divine Art that will
increase the speed of his thrusts by 5 percent.

Finished learning the two
new skills and choosing the first Divine Art from both, he then equips the
weapons, making sure to inspect their item data carefully as he does so.

While Regal is inspecting
his new skills once again, Julius River and the female teacher finish handing
out all the weapons, ammunition and skill books to the students. The teachers
give the students another ten minutes to finish before packing away the tables
and having the students stand and form a line in the centre of the edge of the
gymnasium.

As Regal is pondering what
will be happening next Mr. River’s hand moves across a translucent window in
front of him, and on the other side of the gymnasium a total of sixty straw
targets the shape of an adult man emerge from the ground. Each one has a target
circle painted on the torso, head, and each of the four limbs.

“Students, first up we
will be doing some simple target practice,” Mr River explains drowsily. “There
is one target per person, and you will be scored based on your accuracy. Each
target circle is worth ten points, anywhere else is worth one point. Missing
the target will result in being awarded no points. The person with the highest
score in this test will receive an ‘M5 Ordinary Revolver’, giving you the edge
over the other students when we do the interclass duels after lunch.”

“Everyone, be aware that
every subsequent hit to the same target will give one less point than last
time. That means the second time you hit a target, it will only be worth nine
points, the third time eight points, before finally coming to a stop at three
points for each hit. There is no need to wait for my further words, fire when
ready. Continue firing at the targets until you have used up two of your bullet
cases.”

After revealing that the
classes will be duelling each other, the teachers start to boast about their
students and even make a few bets on who the victor will be. Many of the
students are shocked that their teachers are making bets on them and then look
warily at each other, afraid of whom they might be paired up against for the
duels.  

Upon giving the go ahead,
several students are already prepared and begin firing. The room instantly
becomes full with the sound of gunpowder igniting and bullets tearing through
the air between the barrel and the targets. Fortunately the gym walls are
engraved with a stealth alchemy that absorbs sound and prevents the gunfire
from echoing.

Regal studies the revolver
in his hand, repeating the process the person lined up next to him does to load
six bullets in the gun and fire them at the target. Regal’s first shot
completely misses the target, creating a spark on the wall where the bullet
hits and disintegrates.

He was positive that when
looking down the short iron sights, the gun was aiming at the center of the
target. Yet the bullet missed entirely. Accuracy is defined by two factors, the
shooter’s dexterity and their coordination. This practice it to increase the
student’s coordination.

Regal lowers the gun
briefly before raising it back up to eye level and looking down the sight. With
the target silhouette dead center on the sights, he fires a second bullet.
Several strands of straw fly out from the back of the right shoulder of the
target, indicating where it was hit. A small number 1 is displayed above the
target to show the amount of points he has acquired.

Glancing down the line of
targets, the numbers above them are all greater than Regals. The greatest score
is 32 points, belonging to one of the class’s recognized protégés, Piora
Flameheart.

Determined to accumulate
more points, Regal consistently shoots at the target with a regular rhythm.
When the gun it out of bullets, he immediately loads another six rounds and
continues firing. One bullet case attached to his hip contains a total of sixty
.38 standard bullets.

After all 120 bullets have
been fired at the target; Regal’s score is at a total of 57. This isn’t the
lowest score, but it is still far below the class average of 93. Piora
Flameheart, as many students predicted, acquired the largest score in both
classes with a total of 332 and become the crush of many male students. The
second noteworthy student, Hazel Marquis, only achieved a score of 229, but
that is understandable as her strength lies in alchemy alone.

Among the four Soulless
kids, Regal also scored the lowest, truly becoming the younger brother to the
other three.