Chronicle of the Eternal: Volume 1 (9 page)

A strange scene can be
seen on the first floor of Grand City Theore. Veronica, her amber hair in more
disarray than usual, dragging Regal by the arm all the way from Market Street
to the public Training Hall.  Regal doesn’t fight her grip, allowing this
to happen for the entire journey.

After arriving at the
Training Hall, Veronica turns back toward Regal with a displeased expression
and blandly says, “I can’t believe you forgot in such a short time!”

“I’m sorry big sis. I had
just found a way to make money and was planning to go home and continue. I
didn’t mean to forget.”

“You can do that later. We
need to help you practice your skills, else you will fall too far behind
everyone. Now, come on.”

Regal follows Veronica
into the building and they both enter a private room on the second floor.

“Let’s start with ‘Ice
Bullet’,” Veronica says obstinately. “Cast the alchemy, but slow the mana flow
and focus on the alchemy formulae. I will help guide you through understanding
it.”

Veronica sits down close
enough to Regal that he can feel her hair brushing against his shoulder.
Effortlessly placing the sense of Veronica’s closeness to the corner of his
mind, Regal casts the Divine Art ‘Ice Bullet’ while creating a resistance
within himself to slow the stream of mana going to the skill.

The circular alchemical
formulae dimly floats above his hand and won’t activate until it can collect
enough mana.

“Great! Now, little bro,
focus on the inner most section of the formulae where the mana is
concentrated.”

Using Veronica’s words as
guidance, he focuses his mental awareness on the center of the formulae and
feels where the mana is the thickest.

“Next, you must work your
way outwards from the center to study the flow of mana entering the Divine Art
and solve the mysteries of how and why the formulae effects mana the way it
does. This is only a Tier 1 Divine Art so it is quite simple. It gets harder
the higher the Tier as the formulae include a compound of all their previous
formulae. You must also analyze and gain insights into these from the
beginning, as they cause different effects when reacting to one another.”

“Big sis, I don’t fully
understand what you mean by they include a compound of all their previous
formulae. What do you mean?”

“It is an Alchemy only
effect. Well, it’s too early for you to worry about it anyway. You will learn
more later on when you learn Tier 2 skills.”

For the next two hours,
Regal practices all of his skills with Veronica’s voice giving him hints and
directions. Thankfully she has a large store of ‘Mana Rations’ in her inventory
to make this possible. Despite all of her good intentions however, Regal finds
himself to become even more confused and lost in regards to comprehending the
alchemical formulae than he ever was.

This result is precisely
why the teachers mentioned that comprehension must come from oneself. The
effect of forcibly trying to help Regal understand, has in fact made the task
more difficult to accomplish.

After the sun sets and the
light within Grand Theore fades, the two children finally leave the Training
Hall.

“Little bro,” Veronica
stares intently at Regal while addressing him, “we haven’t known each other for
long and I understand this isn’t something I should be asking others. But, do
you need money?”

Veronica’s understanding
of Regal’s need to earn money only extends to what she witnessed today. She
isn’t concerned for his wellbeing, but does not wish for a little brother of
her’s to fall behind in study and training.

“Yes, big sis.” Regal’s
explains the story of the recent break in and theft of all his money.

Veronica frowns in
response, and unhesitantly states, “Then I will gift you some money. Keep it in
your inventory so it can’t be stolen, okay?”

“Big sis, I can’t take
your money.”

“If I want to give it to
you, then it’s fine.”

“It would be wrong for me
to accept it.”

Veronica goes silent and
doesn’t respond. After a few minutes, the two children part ways for the night
with a farewell and head home in opposite directions.

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

The following day, Regal
arrives at Bluemist Academy to find two silver coins placed on top of his desk.
He looks across the room to see Veronica looking back at him and frowns.
 Picking up the two coins, he walks to Veronica and places the money on
her desk.

“I can’t accept this, big
sis,” Regal says while the memory of his parents telling him to never accept
charity plays in his mind.

“That money is no longer
mine. Keep it.”

“I told you last night I
can’t take your money.”

As the two clash between
indomitable opinions, several of the students start to get confused, “Why is
she trying to give him money?”

“She’s really pretty, why
would he keep refusing her?”

“What are you saying!?
She’s a Soulless. My parents told me that if I’m not careful, they will consume
my soul.”

“I-I’m not getting close
to her, I was just saying she is pretty. I definitely don’t want to lose my
soul.”

The chatter continues
until Mr. River finally enters the classroom and puts an end to the rowdiness.
The only sound that persists after is one of the students tapping their foot on
the ground.

Regal feels at ease after
Veronica stops trying to force her money on him. She may be holding onto the
money for now, but Regal knows this is not the end of it. No matter how many
times she tries to give him money though, he will return it every time.

Today’s lessons are mostly
theory, yet Regal has difficulty concentrating on the material. This is because
his mana is still empty from constantly making ‘Ice Bullets’ all morning. His
mental processes are dulled and have difficulty understanding the words. Not
discouraged, Regal aptly writes down as many notes as possible in regards to
the lesson, and makes plans to revise them later when his mental processes are
more active.

Veronica does not speak to
Regal all day. She isn’t angry, but is busy thinking up new methods to give him
money. When the closing of the academy arrives at the end of the day, Regal
quickly departs to prevent Veronica from catching him. She doesn’t even try,
having instead come to a conclusion she believes will work.

“Yes, I shall ask mother
what to do. She will know,” Veronica mumbles to herself before approaching her
father who is picking her up today.

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

Already far away from his
academy, Regal steps into Atelier Gun & Bullet and sees the young girl,
Aqua, is behind the counter again.

“Good afternoon, Aqua,”
Regal says politely.

The girl looks up from a
gun she is tinkering with and speaks in immediate anger, “You! How dare you
simply run off yesterday! What do you have to say for yourself?”

“What do you mean?”
Regal’s face becomes puzzled. “Our business was finished so I left.”

Aqua’s brown ponytail
swishes to the side and her ear piercing flashes in the light as she abruptly
leaves the counter to stand in front of Regal. “Y-you! The way you left was
perfectly rude! D-disrespectful!”

“I’m sorry. I did not mean
to be rude.”

“Hmph, so what did you
come here for today? I’ll let you know now that I won’t be giving you any
discounts.”

“I have another box of .38
‘Ice Bullets’ that I wish to sell.”

Aqua’s bright blue eyes
widen in shock and her jaw moves silently as she is momentarily at a loss for
words. Recovering from her stupor, her previous anger vanishes and she says in
a serious tone, “I told you yesterday that it was a once only occasion. I will
not be buying any more such low quality products.”

“Please. Please buy them!”
Regal bows at the waist formally directly in front of her.

When he looks back up, he
sees that Aqua’s eyes don’t have any of the coldness that her voice contains.
Rather, they are indecisive, as if she is still deciding what to do.

“I need you to buy them.
Please, you are my only hope.”

Eventually, Aqua’s gaze
soften before she replies in defeat, “Fine. But this time I mean it, this will
be the last time I do. You need to find somewhere else to sell your bullets
next time.”

“I can’t thank you
enough.”

Regal reaches out and
grabs onto one of Aqua’s hands to express his gratitude. Aqua is caught
off-guard, and can’t move her hand away in time before they are grasped. She
misunderstands Regal’s intentions and blushes profusely at having her hand held
by a boy.

Regal leaves the store
shortly afterwards, this time giving a proper farewell to Aqua so as to not be
rude again.

The following day two
silver coins are left on his desk, just like the day before. Taking the same
approach, Regal once again forces the money back onto Veronica and tells her he
cannot, and will not, accept charity.

Later that evening, he
returns to the gun shop to sell two more bullet cases of .38 ‘Ice Bullets’.
Aqua once again tries to refuse him, but gives in much easier than the previous
day and Regal walks out of the store with ten more bronze coins, or seven coins
after the cost of the bullet cases sold with the bullets.

But Regal’s earnings are
too little as the expense of food outweigh his earnings. Unless he can find a
way to earn more money, he will still eventually run out of money.

For the next week, every
day follows the same routine; refusing Veronica’s money despite needing it, and
selling cases of ‘Ice Bullets’ to Atelier Gun & Bullet. Each time he tries
to sell his bullets, Aqua becomes less disposed about purchasing them. He is
fortunate she is not aware that he is a Soulless, else he thinks she would
immediately refuse him.

He doesn’t slack off
training his other skills either while making ‘Ice Bullets’. All his skills are
level 2, except for ‘Ice Heart Alchemy’ which is level 3. His senses also tell
him that his other skills are nearly level 3. All the other students are more
impressive, their skills ranging from level 3 to level 5. Regal only manages to
barely keep up to their speed with relentless practice and determination.

One particular morning,
late in the week, Regal is surprised to find the usual two silvers
were not placed on his desk. Veronica also has not entered the classroom
yet so he comes to the conclusion that she didn’t do so because she hasn’t had
the chance.

Just before class begins,
Veronica enters the room, looking around momentarily, before strolling directly
toward Regal. Regal is currently studying his book absent mindedly due to a
lack of mana, and doesn’t realize she is standing in front of his desk. It
isn’t until the sweet scent of Veronica’s perfume enters his nose that he lift
his head.

Regal is confused at
first; Veronica appears to be glaring at him, which doesn’t make any sense. Going
over their past interactions, he cannot recall anything rude or impolite he has
done.

A single silver coin
materializes in her hand, obviously taken from her personal inventory. With a
single motion, she pushes the coin onto Regal’s desk and holds it in place with
her thumb.

“This is payment,” she
says resolutely. “I am buying your services to help me practice my skills this
evening.”

Looking at the much needed
money and now viewing it as payment for his assistance rather than charity, he
answers her immediately, “Okay, big sis. Shall we go the training hall straight
after leaving the academy?”

Veronica smiles and
radiates a calming aura, stunning everyone in the class. Some even question if
she is a Soulless, but none have the courage to approach her on their own.

Regal’s days at Bluemist
Academy pass by with a repetition of study and duels. Gradually, the students
who were afraid of the pain when being shot or struck by alchemy during the duels
become more desensitised to it. Their hearts harden and they stop flinching
when struck, but a few tears still fall when someone suffers a critical hit to
a sensitive area or a surprising blow that goes beyond what each has already
experienced.

The classes have fallen
into a consistent pattern after the initial excitement of attending an academy.
Everyone has finished forming their circles of friends, with only a few
stragglers not associating with others. The entire student body, however, seems
to be split into two factions. Those who think Piora is stronger, and those who
favor Hazel. Perhaps the teachers organized it deliberately, but the two queens
of the academy have not dueled each other once.

With the exception of
interacting with his three Soulless friends while at the academy, Regal doesn’t
waste any time not training or studying. The influx of money from helping
Veronica practice her skills has also eased a lot of his stress, with his
finances no longer decreasing but instead slowly increasing. Regal still
continues to sell cases of ‘Ice Bullets’ to Aqua at Atelier Gun & Bullet,
sometimes even staying at the shop after the transaction because Aqua asks him
to stay so she can talk to him.

Visiting the Training Hall
every day, Regal practices twice as hard as even the most talented students.
After two months of diligently training, his skills are becoming even harder to
train with each level, but his understanding has gotten them all up to at least
level 6.

The skills in Regal’s
status reveal his Divine Arts as a part of their respective skills. The only exceptions
to this are the Passive Divine Arts. Apart from Passive Divine Arts relating to
the skill itself, they are either automatically added to his stats or displayed
as Passive Buffs.

His knowledge of his
skills has expanded along with the growth in level. Returning back to his own
method of comprehending the alchemical formulae and techniques of the martial
skills rather than Veronica’s guidance, the spark of understanding in his mind
has grown more vibrant.

Regal also comes to
understand the significance of Passive Divine Arts. The five percent attack
speed granted by ‘Combat Knife Proficiency’ doesn’t just apply to combat
knives, but all weapons. It only has no effect on automatic weapons and alchemy
casting speed. If another skill was to have a five percent increase to attack
speed, this would be added on top to make the total attack speed increase by
ten percent.

The other students in
class 4 are still doing better than Regal with the gap widening. Despite his
hard work and practice being many times others, he is at the bottom of the
class along with the few students who found it boring and have been lacking
effort. Most of the students are level 8 or 9 in all four skills granted by the
academy, some even breaking through the bottleneck and ascending to the second
tier at level 10.

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

At the beginning of the
third month of the year, all the students are once more riled up with juvenile
excitement. This is because today is the day they will have their first dungeon
experience. This event was not originally planned to take place for another
three months, but the teachers felt the students were ready to have their first
taste of the real world.

All the students of Bluemist
Academy trail behind the teachers as they leave the Academy early in the
morning. The residents of the city see this procession and turn their heads to
look on with interest. It doesn’t take long for them to realize what is
happening.

The teachers lead the
students to the center of the of Grand Theore’s first floor, where a large
clocktower of cold steel, copper, and tungsten alloy stands. This building can
be seen from most of the city, so its location is extremely easy to find.

Two bored looking city
guards are stationed outside a large double doors leading to the interior of
the tower. They aren’t there to prevent any monsters escaping the dungeon, as
anybody apart from young children could easily kill them, but to prevent people
from entering. This is the lowest level dungeon and is reserved for students’
private use.

“Listen up students,” Mr.
Razor stands in front of the gate, ignoring the guards while addressing the
small crowd in front of him, “This is the entrance to the dungeon: Theore
Substructure. The world outside our city is cruel, the strong standing over the
weak. Killing is only forbidden in the city, but not outside of it, or within
our dungeons.”

“The academies from the
first floor are privileged to use this dungeon, but only one at a time can
enter. This is a rule that was created to avoid students excessively fighting
with and killing students from other academies. We have reserved the next 24
hours here, so you must make sure you leave before tomorrow morning.”

“Mr. Razor,” a seemingly
meek student from Class 1 has a chilling glint in his eyes as he raises his
hand to ask, “That wouldn’t stop us from killing each other though, would it?”

Mr. Razor momentarily
stares at the student in silence before replying, “No, it does not. But history
has proven there is greater enmity among different academies compared to the
students within only one. Killing still happens within the dungeon, but you
will still have to spend time with the rest of the students so I recommend you
don’t make too many enemies. We are immortal and grudges can last a long time.”

“Now, before answering any
more questions, I will go into the details of this expedition. “This dungeon,
Theore Substructure, has three descending levels. Mutated monsters between
levels 1 and 3 reside on the first floor, levels 4 and 6 on the second, and
levels 7 and 9 on the third. Stay within the first floor today, unless you are
looking for death.”

“On the first floor are
Mutant Rats, the same enemies that drop the ‘Vigorous Earth Alchemy’ skill
book. The academy will purchase any of these books you acquire for two silver
each.”

“You can consider this
your first trial by fire. It will harden your hearts and you will walk out
stronger than you entered. When fighting with your life on the line,
comprehension of your skills will increase and you may even have sudden
insights if your luck is good.”

“I will advise you just
this once to not be reckless and put yourself in more danger than you can
handle. You have all experienced what it feels like to be shot or cut with a
knife, but none of you know the pain of death. One in five of you will most
likely die today, and you will wish to never die again.”

“Now, form into squads of
up to six members and head into the dungeon. You can only enter right now, if
you die or leave early, you will not be able to re-enter. Make the most of this
opportunity; we teachers will see you all tomorrow morning for classes and see
the results of today. Make sure to collect the ears of every enemy you kill.”

As Mr. Razor spoke those
words, the city guards open the doors with the loud creaking noise of hinges
thirsting for fresh oil.

The students immediately
become rowdy, hurriedly finding their friends to form their squads. Several
people decide to enter alone and refuse all requests to join another squad.
Regal, Veronica, Kilde and Astore group together and form a squad with Veronica
as the captain. All experience will be automatically shared between the four
and they will each have a sense of approximate direction each other is in if
they get separated.

Piora’s fiery red hair
dances as a light breeze passes by and she approaches the teachers. “Excuse me.
If I can get to level 3, would it be safe for me to enter the second floor?”

The seductive Ms. Yatta
laughs at this question, before replying, “You will be lucky to reach level 2
today, it isn’t so easy to increase your level. Also, it is recommended you
wait until you are level 4 before descending to the next level.”

Not disheartened in the
least, Piora thanks the teacher for her advice before returning to her usual
spot. Unlike Hazel who has already selected 5 people from the dozens who wanted
to be in her squad, Piora’s hasn’t had a single person approach her. She doesn’t
ask anyone to be in her squad either. It is like there is an intangible barrier
between herself and the people who admire her.

In another section of the
students, Veronica is herding the other three Soulless toward the entrance of
the clocktower. If they are too slow entering the dungeon, it is likely that at
least one of the other squads will lie in ambush to kill them because they are
the despised Soulless.

Under her guidance, Regal
is mildly surprised with how spacious the interior of the building is. The
majority of the structure is hollow, with a single ladder leading up toward a
room with the clocks mechatronics and to the roof. Stained glass windows filter
light of various colors into the building and create a multi colored spectrum
before merging together back into white light.

A large staircase sixty
feet wide descends into the bowels of the city and also serves as the dungeon
entrance. As Regal and the other three Soulless descend the stairs with the
other students, a translucent display appears in front of each and every one of
them.

Quickly dismissing the
message, Regal follows Veronica to the base of the stairs where a large square
room one hundred and fifty feet wide and long is revealed. The walls are formed
from layers upon layers of copper and steel pipes, with several sections
ejecting steam into the room to create a high temperature and humidity. The
floor is an isometric grill that rattles noisily under the footsteps of the
students.

“Quickly, this way!” Veronica
ushers Regal, Kilde, and Astore to follow her and head toward one of the thirty
or so passages leading away from the original room.

The four students quickly
leave the room while everyone else is still gawking at the dungeon. The paths
leading away from the entrance room are different from the first room. They are
full of semi-condensed steam that forms a white mist, preventing the students
from seeing too far. It is precisely into this mist that Veronica’s squad
vanishes into in order to escape any students with malicious intentions.

Walking down the pathway
that is a little less than 9 feet wide, there is nothing Regal can do to stop
the sound of his footsteps so he remains on alert for any surprise attacks by
an enemy, whether it be from a mutated beast or another Immortalis.

Suddenly a piercing
screech echoes through the passage, causing Regal and the others to pause. All
four of them can deduce that this is the cry of a mutated beast.