Oathtaker | Chapter 4 - First Day

  [Kristoph Ranger College]

  [Revalante, Western Sentralis]

  “Ever fought a Chimera in the past?” Kal asked as they waited for the next class that afternoon. It was the second class they were entering that day, which was Chimera Studies.

  “Just smaller ones, ones that can be handled for anyone with proper self defense training.” Mark shrugged as he rested his chin on his shoulder as they waited for the arrival of their next Professor, the two of them chose in the back of the classroom to avoid any unnecessary attention.

  Every now and then he can spot the Elven woman from earlier glancing at them, it was hard to tell why she was glancing at him and Kal every now and then.

  “Ever wondered what a Chimera tastes like?” Kal added.

  “I’m not that desperate just yet,” Mark commented with Kal chuckling, by then their classmates have started talking amongst themselves trying to get to know each other. It reminded him of the early days of High School or College, though back then Makoto was often ignored with other kids spending time.

  And unlike before where the isolation gutted Makoto which further drove him deeper, Mark had no reason to socialize and just needed to use the skills he can learn to find his family and a means to an end if you will.

  This also makes Kal reaching out to him all the more baffling.

  “No way!” He heard one of the students shout as they all turned to the front of the classroom to reveal it was none other than Headmaster Freia entering the room carrying her signature Staff. A staff made of White Oak containing a massive Mana Quartz at the end as she walked into the class room.

  Her arrival alone had more or less caused the entire to go silent even the noisier students had gone silent as she quietly tapped her staff on the ground.

  “Good afternoon students,” She said with a quiet nod on her face as she gave everyone a smile. “Starting today I will be your Instructor in all things regarding Chimeras.”

  “I expect the best in all of your efforts in this class nor should you expect me to go easy.” She said but it was clear that her gaze met his eyes once more, indicating that she no doubt placed her highest expectations not on the class but for Mark in particular.

  ‘Is this favouritism? Or a Roman-esque decimation?’ Mark thought with a rather amused scoff. Either way, this would no doubt take a turn to the interesting.

  “Let us get to the first lesson,” She said with a smile as she raised her staff high and slammed it to the floor below that it caused it to crack, no it wasn’t the floor, but reality itself as light begins to seep through the cracks on the floor underneath.

  Everyone, save for Mark, had a look of awe in their faces as the cracks began to expand and fracture as it slowly broke apart reality with some even panicking as a result. Mark just quietly closed his eyes, ignoring the panicking Kal who was clearly the first time experiencing this.

  Mark woke up to find himself lying on a field of flowers looking at a vast blue sky above him, next to him was his Imperial Steel Sword and revolver lying next to him as he got up and picked the two weapons, beside him was Kal who was clearly shocked from the whole with a large tower shield on top of him.

  “What the hell was that!?” Kal got up as he looked around and found their classmates were also surprised by what they saw.

  “That was–”

  “–a Realta.”

  The two of them turned to find the elven woman walking towards them with a calm look but her dark purple hair had this sparkle in her eyes that indicates that she was very much enamoured with witnessing the spell for the first time.

  “It creates a small pocket of reality, often used as a safe space; how it would be used depends on how the Mage works.” She said taking a seat next to Mark and Kal, Kal was about to ask further but she placed a finger on her lips and pointed to the distance as Professor Freia started her lesson.

  “Today we’ll be focusing on assessing your skills,” Professor Freia said, summoning a chair underneath the shade of a large parasol. “Yes, I am aware that you are confident of your skills but no I will not use them as a basis for your skills as they are susceptible to forgery or bribes.”

  “Then what's the point of taking the test?” One student asked aloud.

  “Formality, I am sure that some of you managed to enter simply because of unconventional means.” Freia said, wiping the dust off her staff. Mark scoffed as he knows he's one of those students. Thanks to being royally screwed over by the Werheins during the application process, Mark had no choice but to submit a padded application to get in.

  That's one of the reasons why Clint was upset, he was certain that he denied Mark the chance to enter the College by locking the doors but not bothering to check the windows.

  “You may have passed through your own means but your true test begins whether you are as skilled as your papers say you are.” Freia said as she stood up. “Now here is how things will go, I will summon an illusionary beast and each one will fight and see how far they can survive.”

  “What?!” The Elf Woman and Kal said in a confused and shocked look, the other students around them have equally confused and horrified looks.

  ‘Some things never change,’ Mark thought with a nostalgic smile as he fondly recalled her early lessons. ‘I remember she taught Ai how to fire more accurate spells by placing the target over our heads.’

  “Why are you grinning, I've seen the beasts they can summon that aren't easy to deal with.” The Elf woman asked.

  “Yeah those look like they can rearrange your face next week,” Kal added.

  “I–wait you haven't told us your name yet,” Mark turned to the elf woman, meanwhile the students began to reluctantly take turns being tested by Freia herself, only being de-summoned the moment the Students were in imminent danger.

  “Yeah you just slipped in and acted like you were here from the start like it's nothing.” Kal commented, the Elven woman sighed and she nodded.

  “Sierra, my name is Sierra Lindbeck.” She said almost reluctantly. Mark paused, he felt like he heard the name Sierra in the past but he wasn't very sure about it. He was about to open his mouth to speak and–

  “Grauwolfe! Your turn.” He heard Freia speak as she looked at him alongside the other students, he noticed Clint with a smirk expecting him to fail.

  “Alright then,” Mark said nonchalantly, earning a confused look from both Sierra and Kal as he grabbed his sword and gun and walked closer to Freia.

  “You look like you were not paying attention, I'll make it harder for you as punishment.” Freia said with a rather confident smile on her face.

  ‘I don’t think you plan to go easy on me in the first place,’ Mark thought as he could sense the worried looks, and Clint’s smug smirk, all fixed on him as Freia raised her staff up high and before her stood a massive fifteen foot tall Ironhorn illusion.

  A massive bipedal Chimera with a head of a Rhino and was known for its massive strength and was difficult to deal with. He had always found it difficult to deal with them only to be saved by his brother or Freia withdrawing before it could cause further danger.

  The Ironhorn Illusion let out a roar, its voice was distorted showing it was just a fake.

  Mark kept a long distance as the Ironhorn readied to charge at him, for a brief moment Mark looked at his Thunderbull Revolver gripped it with both hands as he aimed at the Ironhorn and–

  Bang!

  Mark flinched as the sound of the Thunderbull went off, it was the first time he actually used the Revolver but he never expected to be that loud, though given he’s a Beastman his ears could possibly be more sensitive.

  The shot managed to land a hit on the Ironhorn in the shoulder the impact caused it to stumble for a brief moment as it took a knee down, but then it stood up once more as Mark fired another round this time the second as he started walking towards the Ironhorn this time it shot it in the head but Ironhorns are notorious for their reinforced skulls but with the right bullet could have easily disoriented it as it collapsed on its knees clearly disoriented.

  Mark walked towards the Ironhorn as he holstered the revolver back into his shirt as he unsheathed his Imperial Officer sword and gripped it with both hands as he walked closer to the Illusion. He glanced at Freia who was asking for her approval to execute the Ironhorn, who couldn’t help but smile in approval and nodded as though realizing he was asking for her approval.

  Mark silently stabbed the Ironhorn in the center of the neck as he gripped it with both hands and twisted it as the head snapped off like it was the real thing but instead it crumbled into bits of stone.

  He heard the sound of applause as Mark turned to find Kal and Sierra clapping as though impressed by his performance while many of his classmates had a shocked look on his face for his rather levelheaded and quick takedown of a notoriously strong Chimera, even if it was just an illusion.

  “Impressive Grauwolfe, not many are able to handle one much less take it down.” Freia said with an impressed nod as well.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  ‘That’s because you used to send that thing against me, of course I'd be able to learn how to deal with one overtime.’ Mark thought sheathed his sword and looked at Freia with a rather annoyed look. ‘At some point, Ironhorns became a phobia of mine until a few years later.’

  “Professor Friea, I'd like to volunteer.” A voice said as they all turned to a Young Woman with a Mask.

  A familiar cracked Ballistic Mask.

  It was the woman he ran into days ago in the Nightfall Expanse. Her usual bluish white hair now tumbled down to her shoulders, no longer in a bun as before.

  “Miss Shizuki, of course volunteers are welcome.” Freia said with a smile as she gestured to her to come forward.

  ‘So she's here too huh?’ Mark thought as he watched her walk towards them as she raised her staff, on one end appears to be an uncut Mana Quartz, a type of gemstone that contains a notable amount of energy for Magic and a sword tip that took one third of the staff.

  From what Mark heard there's two types of Mana Quartz, the Uncut ones that work as Jacks of all trades meaning more versatility but lack the Mana capacity for stronger spells. And the Polished ones that are fixed on a certain type of magic with more mana capacity but lack the flexibility for other spells.

  He knows this as he once spent an entire week with his sister as she debated on which is better. It did not help that Freia told her Mages can only use one staff at a time and dual wielding is impossible, her disappointed face hinted she tried.

  Freia nodded at Mark as though to dismiss him as he walked past Shizuki, for a brief moment their eyes met as he could see the faint red in her eyes twinkle for a moment as though she was ecstatic to see him again.

  “You ready?” Freia asked as she readied her staff.

  “Ready as always,”

  Shizuki said with a smile as she readied her spear-staff.

  Class had ended in a blur, everyone was more or less exhausted but apparently Freia considered them as passable with a few exceptions. She made it a point to highlight that Mark and Shizuki were the ones who fill that position for not only barely injured by their respective summoned beasts but also took it in less than a minute.

  “By the Triumphi, that was exhausting,” Kal said as he faceplanted on the desk as soon as they were sent back to the classroom as Freia withdrew her Realta and left the room leaving a handful of pages to read on their textbooks to study for their next class for next week.

  “That’s what we have to deal with on a daily basis as Rangers? Please shoot me…” Sierra said with a tired and blank stare at the ceiling above them, it appears to be the general mood of the entire class at the moment.

  “It wasn’t so bad,” Mark said calmly as he casually spun Thunderbull as sat up.

  “Clearly, you had a flawless takedown of that Ironhorn.” Kal said with an annoyed look while Sierra just nodded in the same irked look.

  “That was rigged, you bribed Professor Freia didn’t you.” Sierra commented.

  “It comes with experience, having been hunting them since I was 13.” Mark commented with a rather confident shrug. He really was fighting actual Chimeras since he was 13, just after the Empire had fallen and he has dealt with a few of the more common species. But he would pick his battles, often taking down those he knows he can handle.

  “He's not lying,” The three of them turned to find a Dwarven girl walking towards them. She had curly red hair that fell to her shoulders but her bangs were tied up in a small ponytail exposing her forehead as her half lidded brown eyes looked at the three.

  She was a Type Two student like Mark as evident with her uniform which had the coat tied around her waist leaving her wearing nothing but the white button up shirt and the standard regulation black skirt but he can tell that she was a Type Two due to lacking the Black and Gold eagle heraldry.

  What stood out the most however were a pair of firearms slung over the shoulder. Immediately Mark recognized her as the Dwarf that took down an Illusionary Summon by gunning it down with a pair of pistols, one a fully automatic and the other being a semi automatic both are notably lethal.

  “I’ve had my share of Chimera hunting and I can tell the stature of someone who’s been fighting for a while.” She said looking at Mark, it wasn’t exactly awe that though. Almost pity, as if saying ‘you’ve been through a lot haven’t you?’ which Mark can’t help but feel a bit annoyed.

  “I wasn’t able to catch your name, who are you again?” Mark asked, looking at her.

  “Nerissa Walsh, call me Neri.” She said, offering her hand as Mark shook it reluctantly. “Like you I've been hunting those things for some time now and have some experience in handling them.”

  “Yeah I saw you gun a Beast down earlier, clearly your trigger discipline is worth noting to be honest.” Mark commented as Nerissa let out a rather proud huff.

  “It’s thanks to my kids I was able to do so.” She said showing her two pistols but aimed at Mark, behind him, Kal and Sierra flinched as they backed away but Mark knew that the safeties were on which he smirked.

  “Not bad, are they custom made?” Mark asked, crossing his arms.

  “Vintage and Custom but yes,” Nerissa said confidently. “Your Revolver is pretty neat too, a straight build but impressive nonetheless.”

  “Personally the Thunderbull is already my ideal gun, no need for modifications.” Mark commented in a low voice but then they heard the bell ring indicating lunch.

  [The Reluctant Reincarnation]

  Mark wandered into the Cafeteria holding his hands on a tray of food, looking for a spot where he could eat on his own. The least he could do and just enjoy the food on his own, was a while since he had a proper meal that isn’t crudely prepared preserved food due to ration shortages from Last Light.

  “Grauwolfe! Over here!” He heard the voice of Kal as he turned to find him, Neri and Sierra waving at him with an open spot for him to sit on.

  ‘Oh hey that’s new.’ Mark thought as he made his way towards them, as Morishima Makoto his presence was forgettable that people tend to forget that he was with them the whole time so he just tends to sit alone with lunch. Got to the point he enjoys the presence of being alone all things considered.

  “You guys don’t mind if I sit here?” Mark asked, almost confused as he hesitated as there had been moments where students or co-workers would trick him into joining only to reveal they were pulling his leg and telling him to piss off.

  Cruelty is part of human nature after all.

  “Well yeah that’s why we called you here in the first place,” Kal grinned as Mark awkwardly made his way and took the seat as he quietly ate while watching the three converse the whole time. Something about their classes that on occasion veer into their backgrounds letting Mark learn a few things about them.

  Kaellum apparently came from a line of Farmers that gained some prestige the Empire Fell, their farmlands being the source of food in that area boosting their economy.

  Sierra was from a long line of Mages who were not strong enough in terms of magic bloodlines but intelligent enough to be respected.

  Neri’s family was a long line of Imperial Soldiers who were very skilled with firearms making her affinity for it almost inevitable.

  “What about you Mark?” Kal asked as they turned to him who was about to finish eating.

  “What about me?” Mark asked in a confused manner.

  “I mean what's your story?”

  “Oh Parents died when the Empire fell, ended up in Last Light and spent the last five years in that shithole.” Mark said quickly as he readied to pick up his tray, he wasn't fond of the idea of going into details of it much.

  And almost immediately the hairs of the back of his neck stood, for a moment he felt like he was in the Citadel once more.

  The feeling of the ground trembling as the Citadel fell.

  The smell of smoke burning in the breeze as the fire consumed everything.

  The voices of the people, his people, as they fled in panic.

  All the while his heart began to race while at the same time he felt difficulty breathing as he remembered that day. It may have been five years but he remembers the day it all happened like it was just seconds ago.

  “That must have been horrible,” The now distant sound of Kal’s remark echoed through his head causing him to immediately snap back to reality.

  “You get used to it,” Mark said as he got up and left hoping to dispose of the scraps and return the plates as he hurried out leaving the trio confused as he did so. “I should go.”

  With nothing better to do with his remaining time, Mark made his way to the main grounds mostly since he had a difficult time breathing that he had to loosen the collar on his shirt as he felt his heart running so fast that he was having a difficult time breathing.

  ‘Hate it when this happens,’ Mark whispered as he took deep breaths, he sensed someone approaching him as he turned to find Shizuki standing before him clearly planning on trying to talk to him.

  “Thought you were a Ranger,” Mark commented.

  “So you do remember me,” She said, almost sounding pleased at this revelation.

  “How can I not forget the woman who walks around in a mask like that?” Mark commented as he looked at the statue before then as she did the same, which was the Emperor Christophorus Noxsolis Orthros or later known simply as “The Ranger” and was known to be the first to found the Ranger College or as it was once known as Collegium Anteceptor.

  He stood proudly with a different set of armor and in his hands was a longbow that he was readying an arrow that became his signature weapon as the Emperor.

  “I guess I left quite an impression then,” She playfully said, skipping towards him. “I saw you during the enrollment process, staring at the Sol Triumphi.”

  “Did you now?” Mark responded with a curious glance but turning his attention back to the Statue of Christophorus. “Then I assume you must have heard my little hissy fit no less?”

  “I also saw that yes, bold move to be honest.” She responded casually walking to the statue and leaned on the bit earning a frown from Mark. “I will admit it takes balls for someone to oppose the system.”

  “They probably just chalked it up to someone in denial or something like that, usual stuff to be honest.” Mark comments as he buried his hands in his pockets and glanced at Shizuki. “Can you not? That's disrespectful to the Emperors.”

  “You practiced the Imperial Cult?” She asked standing up, that was one of many official names referring to the Imperial Church.

  “Raised as one, I don't see them as Gods and more like…Men and Women trying to be better.” Mark commented as he looked at Christophorus. “The Empire lasted for nearly a Millenia and a half after all, that has to mean something on how they ruled it right?”

  “I see, for a moment I thought you were just some fanatic who worships the ground they stand upon.” Shizuki said with a shrug.

  “Who says I'm not?” Mark remarked sarcastically, he heard a faint scoff from Shizuki as she moved closer to him again.

  “I got to introduce myself to you haven't I? My name is Shizuki.” She said, offering her hand to Mark for a handshake. “Nice to meet you, Mark Grauwolfe.”

  “Just Shizuki?” Mark asked, almost curious as he shook her hand. It was soft, like she'd spend her free time using hand cream over it.

  “It's the only name I have, unless something else happens.” She said, moving her hand away. “I still owe you from last time.”

  “I thought the blind eye was your way of thanking me.” Mark answered, raising an eyebrow at her.

  “That was an obligation, I want to thank you personally.” She said, placing a hand on her chest but she glanced at the sword on his belt. “Is that the sword?”

  “Yeah,” Mark pulled the sword out as the afternoon sun looked like it glowed faintly in the sunlight.

  “Why go through the Trouble for that anyways?” She asked, tilting her head in confusion.

  “Personal reasons, no need to concern yourself about it.” Mark said with feeling his lips slightly curl upwards as though almost amused at his response as he knows this is a subtle reminder of their previous encounter. He noticed her eyes narrow down at him as though she was less than pleased from his response once more.

  “Seriously? Are you trying to look cool by putting on this mysterious lone wolf imagine.” She said placing her hands on her hips clearly his attempt at trying to push her buttons worked.

  “No not really, I really prefer not to talk about pointless things.” Mark responded as he placed the sword back to its sheath as she looked at the sword once more.

  “Does it even have a name?” She asked, crossing her arms.

  “It’s a rare Imperial Officer Sword, calling it that is enough.” Mark said in a low voice. “Besides, having one is already a status symbol with how impossible it is to replicate one.”

  She was about to say something else, but then the bell had rung indicating that Lunch Break had just ended. He noticed her shoulders had slumped a bit, as though she was disappointed.

  “Just so you know I’m serious about returning the favor, so be prepared.” She said before heading off leaving him even more confused.

  “Be prepared for what?” Mark asked in a confused look.