Talent

“Hello, my name is Marriane Adler. I’ll be looking after you during your time in the Academy.” The young woman bows her head to us, her long, snow-white hair draping her shoulders, as her cat-like ears twitch nervously.

A pretty face and gentle demeaner can be convincing enough to gloss over genocides sometimes.

“You’re a welfare officer?” I ask, knowing the answer already.

“I am.” She says proudly.

Eshya is containing a groan to my side, this was one of the things she was most concerned about. With a welfare officer watching over us, life could become much more difficult.

Nel and Vii seem mostly unconcerned, though they do keep a distance from her.

“Well, it’s nice to have your company.” I say, trying to keep civil, “I hope you aren’t going to be causing us any trouble.”

“No, no. Not at all.” She says as if horrified at the suggestion, “I’m here to support you all, I promise to do my best to that end.”

I’m not sure about my ability to read people, but she seems to be genuine in her intentions.

How terrifying.

As with all evil people with good intentions, she’s most likely to stab us in the back ‘for our own good’ if we misstep. Though it’s all still a guess, I’d much rather be overestimating her potential for harm than underestimating it. This may all be paranoia, but I think I’d prefer Red’s violent and easy to understand nature and ideals over an unknown like Adler.

“It’s been decided that you’re going to join the academy you were headed to before the incident.” She says cheerily, “Except for Nel, of course. Who’s free to find work within the Unified States worlds when ready.”

“She’s coming with us.” I inform her.

“There is always plenty of work on the academy worlds, that’s a fine decision.” Adler says with a smile.

“So… how are we getting to the academy?” I ask.

“There will be a ship coming along for you shortly.” She replies, “If you’ll follow me, we can go and wait for it at the port.”

There are other welfare officers dealing with the students down the hall, but Adler is responsible specifically for us. It doesn’t take much of a look to notice that the officers have been selected to suit the students they’re escorting. I suppose Adler being one of the mostly human chimeras, is meant to appeal to us somehow.

“Another ship… I wonder how long this one will last…” I moan as we follow her.

The pale white, stone walls surrounding us are already a little too much, even though only a day has passed since I first awoke here. I will not miss this place, even if it’s better than the hell I came from.

At least we were given access to clean clothes and a cleaning enchantment, as discomforting as that thing was. While it might sound nice for the dirt to literally drip from your skin, it makes my skin crawl.

“It’s not far.” Adler says, pressing her hand on the stone door which promptly slides out of the way.

True to her words, we leave behind the prison facility ahead of the others and come out into a wide, open space. The stone here is more a proper grey than the clean whites we’re leaving behind.

There are many simple buildings around us, with little colour, or artistic design. It’s all brutalist facilities with the only thing breaking up the harsh atmosphere being the many trees that fill the open space.

To one side a massive trench has been cut from the earth, and this is where Adler takes us.

“The ship should be by any second now,” Adler says staring up into the sky.

“So, how do you think this one’s going down?” I ask.

“A super-massive beast.” Eshya says, smiling coldly.

“Mana vortex, maybe?” Vii suggests.

“What’s that?”

“A vortex of natural mana, they’re common up in space, but rare on the surface. They release magical effects, until the vortex stabilises, massive blasts of fire, frost, kinetic force, anything magic can do, though usually they keep to the one effect,” she explains.

“That one sounds interesting at least.” I say, imagining a massive floating vortex of fire burning away our ship.

“Ghosts. The ship’s haunted.” Nel suggests, “It’ll shift realms, and drift into port, but we’ll all be missing, and no one will know why.”

“That’s a cool one. Ghosts. I’d like to meet some ghosts.”

“What are you talking about?” Adler asks, confused.

“Just wondering how this ship is going to crash.”

The ship appears in the air above us, looking just like the first I saw. It slowly lowers, a faint shimmering orb surrounding it, that slowly engulfs us as it comes to port. I feel the mana in it this time, shifting through me and slightly disrupting my mana flow.

It’s the ships little bubble of personal space, shame that it pops just like one too.

“This trip will be fine,” Adler says, “Incidents like yours are exceedingly rare.”

“You’re no fun.”

The ramp door slowly lowers as the ship levels with us. There’s that same busy sound coming from inside, and I feel tense as I flash back to that day I first stepped into the ship and my life changed.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” I ask, walking up the ramp.

“Ghosts?”

“Mana vortex?”

“Super-massive Beast?”

“I’m going to say a teleport failure that manages to warp us inside each other and turns us into twisted bags of flesh, conscious only of our own suffering.” I say.

The others stop behind me, their eyes locking onto my back.

“What?” I ask.

“That can happen?” Vii asks, shivering as she turns to glare at the ship.

“I’d prefer the ghosts…” Nel says.

“I’d prefer a ghost of a super-massive beast…” Eshya says.

“Where did you hear of such a thing?” Alder asks me, totally serious and just as unnerved as the others. I suppose it’s not a very nice image.

“Books. Come on, no point in waiting around.” They jump to join me as I head into the ship.

“Kyra, that’s not real, is it?” Nel asks, sticking close.

“Probably not? I don’t really know much about magic.”

Even the inside of the vessel is the same as the last one, I see many familiar species and even a few humans cowering and crying in the corner. Ah, I remember suffering with the pains of teleporting, or realm shifts, or whatever it is.

The students gathered all look at us curiously, deep in conversations, or standing awkwardly aside. I suppose it makes sense, especially if they weren’t told to expect us.

Everyone else arrived here in groups of the same species, mostly confused, or at least nervous. We’re neither.

“Let’s get some seats,” I say, “I could do with a meal.” I take a seat by the window and near to the door in case we need a quick escape.

Nel is waving down a waitress before we even take a seat. Adler joins us as if it were natural.

With a bit of explaining I manage to order the same meal I ordered when I was last on a ship to an academy and try and settle down. Best to eat and rest while we can before the next big stinking turd hits the fan and paints everything brown again.

“Adler? The other students aren’t joining us?” I ask her, looking back to the closing ramp door.

“They’ll be separated depending how it’s best seen fit to treat them.” She replies.

“Hey, are you human?” I turn to see a human girl talking with me, interrupting the conversation.

“I hope it’s not rude to ask.” She continues with a bow, “But if you are I was hoping I could ask you some questions.”

I wave to a spare seat at the table while I finish a mouthful of the fruity, spicy dish. Damn, this is good stuff.

The siren starts playing and I watch as the girl flinches, holding tight to the table to prepare herself.

I put down my fork and wait in anticipation myself.

It doesn’t take long for the energy to start flowing through me, but it isn’t the same torturous experience as it was before. I do feel a little bit of a chill, then a warm flush as the shift completes and another world appears, but it isn’t painful. If I’m to guess, the chill is the mana invading, and the warm flush is from the mana activating into magic. I wonder why the mana feels different from when I absorb mana…

“What’s your name? I’m Kyra.” I say, meeting the girl’s eyes. She looks Asian, pretty but not stunning. Definitely doesn’t seem to be handling the situation well, but better than most of the others. I notice that there’s a young man taking charge of the other humans, that also seems comparatively okay.

“I’m Saya. Do you know a way to stop the pain?” She asks in a rush, tears in her eyes. As desperate as she looks, but still has the energy to glance over at the other humans with concern as their crying and weeping continues.

“Mana.” I tell her, “You feel a slight tingling on your skin? In your lungs? That’s from mana, draw it in and swirl it inside until it doesn’t itch painfully anymore,” I explain as I look out of the ship’s window. I see nothing threatening, but there are a few students gathering below, strange, I was expecting that we’d be the last ones picked up.

“Adler, how many more stops before we get to the academy, do you know?”

“I’m not quite sure, I don’t have the schedule.” She replies, eating her own meal slowly and delicately.

Saya is making a difficult expression with closed eyes. Either she’s shitting herself, or she’s absorbing her first mouthful of mana. Could go either way.

“The realm shift worked fine.” Nel says, settling down a little.

“That it did.” I say, also thankful that we aren’t flesh blob monstrosities.

“I think… something’s happening, it feels warm, but it’s fading...” Saya says, her breathing a bit ragged.

“Swirl it around inside.” I tell her between mouthfuls of food. “Whenever it stops moving it’ll leak out like that. Get as much mana as you can squeeze in, it’ll save a lot of pain later.”

“Thank you. How long have you been here?” She asks, her eyes still watering.

“Vii, do you remember how many days it’s been?”

“Four days, I think.” She says, counting it out in her head, “The day the ship crashed, then when the beasts attacked, then the day Red took us out to battle the insect people, then today. Four days, roughly, considering we’ve shifted worlds to the prison.”

“Right, right.” I nod, “It’s all really blurred together.”

“Four days? I thought you’d been here at least a year!” Saya says surprised, “And what was all that about beasts and battle?!”

“Our ship crashed. We were enlisted in a rebel army, or it was more a fucked-up training camp, I guess. We’re the ones who survived to be caught by the Unified States forces.”

She looks at me unblinking before doubling over as the ship shifts worlds again.

“This looks like the one.” Eshya says, gazing out the window. I quickly look as well but I notice no immediate threats. I get back to my meal, shoving the food in my mouth, not a fuck given for dignity.

With a quick goodbye Saya is rushing back over to the other humans, to tell them about mana and magic while the inhuman students start to chatter more loudly and busy about.

“I wonder what awaits us this time.” I say, standing and feeling out my mana form. The flow is steady and stable. I can call upon a mana vortex either for a mana shield or for a fireball if needed.

We gather at the door while the others are still figuring out what’s happening. Vii, Eshya, and Nel group up behind me, we mightn’t have weapons but we’re ready as we can be.

We may not be warriors, it’ll be a long while before we stand toe to toe with Red and her sort, but we’ve wet battlefields with our blood and seen slaughters that we won’t soon forget. That’s more than enough to set us apart from the scattered students still awkwardly figuring out their place in the group.

We head down the ramp as it lowers, looking out over this new world. Adler follows us, watching us closely and making my skin crawl.

The sheer diversity of the stone masonry surrounding us shakes my understanding of the ancient craft. Every wall is cut with intricate murals detailing countless peoples and beasts, in so many alien styles, and some which are nearly familiar. They’re painted in vibrant colours with great care that they do not clash with the next in line, forming a flow between the works that continues on far as I can see. All is maintained perfectly without hint of vandalism or wear.

As I watch the beasts and people in the mural move about, they make new scenes as the stone itself is remoulded to form valleys, mountains, oceans, and skies. I could sit and watch for hours but I peel myself from the sight to take in the rest of the scene.

The street we walk upon is made up of stone slabs, fitted together such that I can’t see the seams between. My eyes drift to the subtle lines skilfully cut into it for purpose or design so grand that I can’t see from where I stand, but I feel that should I look down from above I might see a beautiful pattern in it.

Breaking away from the works of stone are the trees that line the street, each standing just a little taller than the next, cut and maintained to look otherwise uniform. Tall, green and vibrant, they would look at home in most forests on earth. A refreshing sight considering the rather unusual landscape we’ve survived through recently.

We only get a brief look at the city beyond, the towers that reach upwards, twirling shapes that encircle a giant tree that stands taller than anything I’ve ever known. Its great branches grant shade, even as far from the city as we are now. The canopy must be up in the lower expanses of space, and I don’t even want to question how that’s possible.

We’re soon guided into a nearby building. Simple in structure compared to those around, but still quite impressive, with intricate trees carved either side of the polished wooden doors.

Inside is much more plain, the white stone walls illuminated by the gentle glow from the ceiling. Some form of magic. It reminds me of the prison facility.

We sit together as the teachers run about their business and ready to test us for our talents.

“What do you think of the city? It’s really nice, though my home is more homely. What about your home city?” Vii asks.

“It’s pretty here, home is a lot more ‘rough’ I guess you could say. Not as bad as that shithole we just left behind, though.” I answer her without much thought, the conversation soon flowing into inane topics.

One thing I’m quick to learn about Vii is that she chatters quite a lot when she’s nervous, and I’ve yet to see her not. Her wings flutter about and her head does the same at twice the speed. She occasionally pulls out her little red notebook that I finally notice is usually kept in a strange holster on her thigh.

“You’re getting your talents tested, right?” Nel asks.

“It seems like that,” I reply, “Nothing strange is going on, Adler?”

“This is normal procedure.” She confirms with a smile, “It wasn’t so long since I was in here getting a mana scan.”

“Kyra Baker.” An elf calls my name.

“You’ll be alright?” I ask Nel. She seems to have recovered some since yesterday, but we haven’t had to split since then.

“I’ll be fine.” She reassures me, while she nervously rubs her hands and taps her feet. “It was just too much for me when I thought you were dead. I’m feeling much, much better now, so you don’t need to worry.”

Her smile doesn’t seem like a lie, but the trauma of the last few days still sticks with all of us.

“I’ll stay with her.” Adler offers.

“Vii, Eshya, Nel.”

“We’ll stick together.” Eshya says with all seriousness, giving me a nod. “Shout if something happens that shouldn’t.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll scream for help the moment they pull something funny.” I reply, following after the elvish man into the ‘testing room’.

I’ve already concluded that if any of these freaks bring out anything resembling a probe, I’m going to fuck up their day. I can make a pretty mean blast of fire if I need to.

“Stay still and don’t make a fuss.” I rush a step back and leer at the elf while readying a spell.

“That’s something people say moments before they do something regrettable…”

“Don’t waste time, I’ve got a whole lot of students to get through. Just stand over there, on that spot, and don’t move.”

I slowly comply without letting my guard drop.

“I’ve been told some of you have difficulty with processing mana, so this might prove a little painful. Please speak up if you have difficulties.”

“Painful like in the ship, or painful as in your about to pull out some evil looking contraption?” I ask cautiously, looking for anywhere such things might be hidden.

“Nothing like that, it’s just a mana scan. Usually you wouldn’t feel anything out of the ordinary, but I’m informed your species is underdeveloped.”

The tall elvish man says this as he finishes adjusting my position, I swallow a sharp response before it has chance to escape. When I’m standing just where he wants me to, he begins placing small crystalline panels in stands around the room.

“So, ah, how does this work?”

“The room is flooded with mana, your natural reactions to it are measured and compared with recorded samples. Which should tell me rather accurately where your talents lie.”

“So, it’s all based on magic? What about non-magical talents?” I ask, and he looks to me with a moment of confusion.

“Only magical talents are measured. Stand still.” He says, stepping out.

“Feels like a damn x-ray…” I say to the empty room, looking about for something that might make some sense to me.

After a while the walls start to glow, and that painfully familiar sensation of skin prickling warmth spreads through me. It doesn’t particularly hurt, but I feel my mana circulation reacting to the intrusive mana. I push it out as it runs through me, and throughout the process I’m made increasingly aware of the flaws in my mana form.

There are countless places where my mana doesn’t flow smoothly, made clear by the tickling of the foreign mana. It doesn’t hurt in the same way as it does when I absorb mana, as it’s still flowing beyond my control, and escaping when I try to grasp it.

“Slytherin, Slytherin, Slytherin.” I chant to the magical sorting hat while dealing with the worms of mana wriggling their way through me.

The process eventually dies off. I shiver and wipe away the cold sweat that’s formed on my skin. The elvish man doesn’t seem to care as he busies about collecting the crystal panels he’d placed before the test.

I follow the annoying elf from the room. He stares deep into the crystal panels and rubs at the side of his head in thought.

I quickly check what image is stained on them, but thankfully they aren’t magical nude pics, or anything else that I’d have to kill him for.

He finally sets them on his desk with a sigh and a nod, feigning confidence.

“Your talents lay in the combat course,” he says, “Specifically you have talent for tactical command, reinforcement magic, and wilderness survival. Though they’re all average quality and, as expected, undeveloped.”

“Combat?” I suppress a laugh. It’s not like I’ve ever wanted to become the protagonist in an action flick, but it seems everyone out here in the wider universe wants me to fight for them. It’s especially twisted considering how anti-violence these people are.

The least that can be said of the idea is that I should be able to freely practice fighting while here. Useful for when I inevitably have to escape this academy.

“I would suggest you accept the outcome and take separate classes in other topics that interest you. It is possible to shift out if you show high performance in other areas.” He says without much concern, “Now, move on, there are others that need to be tested.”

“Alrighty.” I move out and join up with the others.

“What did you get? What did you get?” Vii asks excitedly, bouncing on her… talons?

“Prodded and poked with mana, then drafted.”

“Huh?”

“Combat course, tactical command, reinforcement magic, and survival training.” I say, working my tense jaw. Frustration isn’t an excuse to grind my teeth.

Eshya laughs, sounding truly amused.

“We’ll be in the same course. That should make it more entertaining.” She smiles and gives me a hug.

“I wander what I’ll get?” Vii asks nervously moments before she’s called into the room.

“Every talent is respectable, but combat talents will be difficult.” Adler says as I take my seat, “Understand that I’m here to support you if you ever start having beastly thoughts or feelings.”

Yikes.

I’m going to have to do something about her.

Nel, Eshya, and I chat quietly to the side of the room, watching the rest of the awkward teenagers of all sorts and species mumbling as they go through the process of finding talents. It’s almost cathartic to see them all suffering, even if it’s only silly social anxiety from the new environment.

Vii rushes out after only a few minutes, exclaiming happily about her combat course and earning quite a few glares and concerned looks. Adler looks somewhat alarmed at her reaction to the test, but the air-headed girl doesn’t quite notice.

We settle in and wait, as the testing finishes up. Eshya gets her talents confirmed before much longer, whatever testing her parents used coming to the same conclusions as the testers here.

A good half of the students came out confused more than frustrated, I can already read that they come from third grade civilisations like mine. The elves and a number of other students seem to understand their talents before they even came here, the privileges given to them by a civilisation aware of and supported by the Unified States. I get the feeling it’s a distinction that I’m going to have to get used to.

I can always tell when the other humans are the ones being tested. The screaming is raw and guttural and quiets the conversation out here, I feel a little sympathetic as the next one is dragged unconscious from the room.

For some reason, no one pauses to consider maybe not sending the next human in.

“Adler, maybe as a welfare officer you can do something to stop that?” I ask her as the screaming starts again.

“Talents need to be understood.” She says, though her face is pale, and her ears are twitching anxiously, “It’s unusual for it to be this painful, but things still have to be done this way.”

I think I can see a hint of doubt in her eyes as another student is dragged out.

“Even if it kills someone?” I ask, “I had thought you would hate violence, yet here we are…”

I relax in my seat, glaring at Adler as she shrinks in her seat. Still, she doesn’t move to stop the torture.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~Mana Form: Grade 1

Current goal: Develop your mana form.

Current mana density: 311 units

~Mana distribution:

Skin: 21%

Muscle: 6%

Mind: 3%

Cardiovascular: 7%

Misc.: 1%

Efficiency: 38%

~Fire Magic: Grade 1

Current goal: Develop a Skill for fire manipulation.

-Skill: Flame burst

-Skill: Fireball

~Defensive Techniques: Grade 1

Current goal: Develop a Skill for reactive mana skin.

-Skills: Mana skin

~Combat Techniques: Grade 1

Current goal: Develop a Skill for mana infusion strikes.

-Skills: Mana shield.

~Infusion Techniques: Grade 1

Current goal: Develop a Skill for lasting infused delayed casting.

-Skills: Infused Delayed Casting