Everyone fell in line far faster this time around. Wyatt returned to his position at the front and stood next to Annabeth. She glowered at him, shaking her head. He gave her a sheepish smile before schooling his features. He may have overdone testing his cards, but he’d deal with that when he had to and instead of worrying about it turned to pay full attention to what Instructor Monaya said next.
Even if he knew anything and everything she could teach, he didn’t need the heat pissing her off would bring him. As prideful as she was, he’d be damned if he even remotely looked like he knew better or wasn’t paying attention to her lessons.
"Now, Mr. Calloway, remind me where we left off in our last lecture." She watched him with those hawkeyes.
“Yes, Instructor Monaya!” He continued staring straight ahead as he spoke. “Per your instruction, all students were to study the different card types, ranks, and attributes. In addition to this, you instructed all students to develop a deck breakdown based on their desired Classes and for each of the core three.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Calloway.” Her gaze turned to someone behind Wyatt. “Mr. Anith, would you please detail your breakdown for your desired Class?”
Malcolm’s familiar voice responded without hesitation. “Yes, Instructor Monaya! I personally favor a more balanced breakdown. To protect myself, I went with eight defense spells, four active defensive enhancements, and four passive defensive enhancements. To not be a punching bag, I also added in four offensive active and passive enhancements, rounded out with four attack spells. For utility, I added in two of each: movement, restraining, and minor manipulation. Then, to make sure I could arm myself in any situation,” he lifted his gauntlets, “I took four manifestations, two each for offense and defense. For the last ten, I decided to go for broke and chose eight summons and two form-shifting manifestations.”
“Very good, Mr. Anith. Very good, indeed.” She peered over the class, apparently finding someone who looked inattentive. Her sharp voice sounded out like a whip. “Ms. Harper! What about Mr. Anith’s Card breakdown is noteworthy?”
Someone behind him cleared their throat, a timid voice calling out from just next to where Malcolm had shouted out his listing. “I-Instructor M-Monaya, I… don’t know.”
Even from where Wyatt stood, he’d barely heard her muttered words. He didn’t remember who the girl had become in the future, which meant she needed to take these classes more seriously if she didn’t want to end up monster chow.
To be fair, she could’ve just become an aid in one of the Dungeon Towns. Just because I don’t remember her doesn’t mean she died, but…
He knew a lot of people. The fact he didn’t remember her, despite sharing classes, didn’t bode well for her, and he made a mental note to possibly spar with or help her to gain some confidence. For now, he could only wince as Instructor Monaya’s piercing gaze and damning scowl focused on the poor girl with the weight of her presence. From the sounds coming from behind him, she didn’t fare well.
“Listen up, all of you! If you’re not going to take these classes as your new doctrine of life, you should leave now. Do yourselves and your families a favor. Drop out and never try to get a dungeoneer’s license again—ever.” She looked at Wyatt. “Mr. Calloway, perhaps you’d like to take a guess?”
He locked his eyes on hers and almost swore she could see his golden eyes through the shaded glasses. “Instructor Monaya, Malcolm’s allocation is reliant on merging his cards together!”
“That is correct. How many cards can be merged at a given time? While you're at it, what is the requirement for merging a card?” she asked, arching a curious brow. She uncrossed her arms and settled a hand against the dome surrounding the NaviSys module. “If you respond incorrectly, you will fight alone. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Instructor Monaya!” He took a deep breath and collected his thoughts before responding. Then, as loud as he could, he answered, “Cards are capable of merging with others of similar type and equal rank! Two utility cards of Common-rank attack types, for instance, would merge. Two, four, eight, sixteen, and thirty-two may be merged. Theories exist of a fifty-two merger, but no experimentations have resulted in success.” Internally, he thought of the fifty-three card merger that made up his—Gabriel’s?—soul, body, or whatever medium acted as the container of an Ichor Hold. “Anything greater than eight is seen as creating an imbalance in one’s deck breakdown!”
“That is correct, Mr. Calloway.” She lowered her hand and stepped forward, eyes locking onto another target. “Mr. Lane, what do you find so amusing?”
“Instructor Monaya,” Luka responded, his voice remaining calm and quiet, “I think there’s something to be said about committing to a specialization.”
She walked past Wyatt, and he resisted the urge to crane his neck so he could see. Out of the corner of his eyes, Annabeth twitched in place. She seemed to struggle more than he did but still managed to keep still, her eyes facing forward.
“Mr. Lane, would you please tell the class your desired breakdown then?” The skepticism and disdain oozing from her voice was clear as the artificial daytime sun glaring down from above. “I’m sure the rest of the class is quite curious.”
Wyatt silently agreed, listening to Luka while visualizing the Archlord he’d become. He had an idea, but confirmation never hurt.
“Thirty-two attack spells, sixteen active enhancements, and four passive enhancements. All magical amplification of Rare-rank,” he stated with confidence, earning several snide remarks from the rest of the class.
“Your predecessors’ reputations precede you. I see they’ve ingrained that suicidal ideation of ‘the best defense is overwhelming destructive might.’ As much disdain I have for such imbalances, someone of your line will have a plentiful entourage to cover your ass when the going gets tough.”
Silence pervaded the chamber as nobody made a sound. Wyatt wondered how long things would remain as such until an abrupt sneeze ruined the atmosphere.
Instructor Monaya’s heels clicked, and then she passed Wyatt and returned to stand next to the NaviSys module again. Skipping the theatrics this time, she pressed both hands on the dome and released the illusory environment. With another tap, the dome fell away.
Another module appeared beside the first, coming out of the floor. Another appeared seconds later on the other side of the module. By the time she finished, five modules in total lined the center of the simulation chamber.
She faced them. “Today, all of you will be utilizing these offline Registries to give everyone an idea of the detailed effects of their Cards.” She pointed to the column farthest from where Wyatt stood. “You five, come. Remember, share the information you receive from your results at your own risk.”
As the first five walked up to the Registry, getting scanned by the offline NaviSys—meaning their results wouldn’t get reported to the administrators of the academy—he contemplated whether or not he should scan Wyrin and Illia.
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He wanted to, and this gave him the opportunity to see the changes in full detail now rather than later. However, on the flip side, he didn’t want to risk anyone seeing the summons. His contemplation ended far too soon as Annabeth and her column returned.
Being the first in line, he walked down the line to the farthest of the Registries. From the moment he stepped off to when he arrived, he felt the Cards’ weight in his pocket. The risk he’d take if anybody saw them didn’t make sating his curiosity worthwhile, no matter how much the nagging voice in the back of his head told him he needed to know.
Then a literal voice, that of Instructor Monaya, whispered in his ear, “Scan them all. If you don’t, I will know.”
Huh. Now that she’d made the choice for him, he subtly shifted the card holder into his pocket and shifted the two summons inside so that they’d be scanned.
“What are you waiting for, Mr. Calloway? You’re making the rest of the class wait on you,” she called, tapping a foot impatiently.
Here goes nothing, I guess.
When he pressed his hand with the card holder that contained his nine Cards against the Registry and channeled his Ichor into both the holder and the deck, a brilliant yellow filled his vision.
Offline Registry activated.
Scanning Ichor Holds…
Anomaly detected!
Reorganizing…
Scanning deck holder…
Unregistered cards detected!
Displaying Results…
Wyatt Calloway | Archangel Gabriel
Race: Human (Vessel)
Class: N/A
Profession: N/A
Attunement: HolyIchor Hold 1: 42/42Ichor Hold 2: 250/250
Deck Capacity: 9/10
You require (1) additional slotted card to be eligible for a Class.
Deck:
(Augmented Common) Holy Quick Shot
Type: Holy Attack
School: Destruction
Activation Cost: 1
(Augmented Common) Holy Quick StepType: Utility
School: Alteration
Activation Cost: 2
(Augmented Common) Holy Piercer
Type: Holy Attack
School: Destruction
Activation Cost: 3
(Augmented Common) Holy Shield
Type: Holy Defense
School: Abjuration
Activation Cost: 2
(Augmented Common) Holy Enhance Durability
Type: Holy Defense
School: Alteration
Activation Cost: 2
(Augmented Common) Holy Body Reinforcement
Type: Enhancement
School: Alteration
Activation Cost: 2
Sustain Cost: 1/hr
(Augmented Common) Holy Cloak of Alacrity
Type: Manifestation
School: Conjuration
Activation Cost: 2
Ichor sustain: 1/hr
(Augmented Legendary) Holy Silverflame Phoenix, Ilia
Type: Summon
School: Conjuration
Activation Cost: 100
Sustain Cost: 25/hr
(Augmented Legendary) Wyrin, Holy Guardian of Yggdrasil
Type: Summon
School: Conjuration
Activation Cost: 100
Sustain Cost: 25/hr
“Mr. Calloway.” Instructor Monaya’s tone was sharp, and he couldn’t blame her. He’d been gawking at his Registry for who knew how long, eyes wide and alight with fury. “Care to rejoin the class?”
Not trusting himself to respond, he cleared his throat, cleared his results, and then returned to his place in the formation. The rest of the class blurred around him as they, too, checked their Registries, but his attention was elsewhere.
All of his cards had changed, forcefully. Imbued and augmented by the soul of Gabriel, which the Registry even placed side by side with his own name. As if his body and soul were no longer his own. Maybe they aren’t.
That thought terrified him, caused him to suck on his teeth as his head spun. The thoughts raced as the implications rolled in one after the other. This… wasn’t something he could escape. The words from that far off dream, his first life, crashed down around him. He was nothing more than a vessel. A method for the Angels to revive their Archangel who would fight against the Devils and steep the world in their holy favor.
A disposable tool. One that needed to survive long enough to gather enough power so he could become a sacrifice for the greater good.
Over my dead body. Defiance of his forced fate burned within. He imagined it to be just as strong as holyfire, and he would bear it against any who tried to rob him of his second lease on life. He had too many goals, too many regrets…
He harnessed that promise to himself, to resist until he was free. Tempered it, twisted it, reinforced that resolve. No matter what becoming Gabriel’s vessel offered him, it ultimately would end in him losing himself to become a tool. If he wasn’t cleansed entirely to make space for Gabriel once the transformation truly occurred.
Whatever their plan for him, he wanted no part in it.
Turning his attention away from the burning injustice bubbling and brewing within his stomach, the type that tensed his shoulders and clenched his jaw when he didn’t remind himself to remain calm, he focused on his Ichor Holds.
Both of them.
Something he’d never thought he’d ever see and now wished he still only believed it to be myth and legend. With that second Ichor Hold alone, prior to having a Class, prior to consuming a veritable fortune of Ambrosia, he could cast his two Legendary-rank summons and maintain them for an hour. Almost two if he considered his first Ichor Hold in the equation.
While amazing, it set his teeth on edge when he looked at how his summons had been Augmented. Ever since he found them after coming back in time, he’d wondered how and why they had appeared. How did they manage to cross the void of space as he ascended into the world and get absorbed into the fully formed Gabriel?
Unlike any of his other cards, he had painstakingly bonded with Ilia and Wyrin. His soul and theirs connected deeply. That was the only way he could justify their presence here, in Demer, years before he would’ve naturally encountered them. They were as much a part of him as Gabriel. Seeing his precious summons augmented by the Archangel only added fuel to the flame of his resistance.
The stinging of his nails in his palms wrenched his thoughts back to his surroundings. Calm, Wyatt. There must be a way to turn this into an opportunity. Whatever it is, there’s time to figure it out. Weeks before licensing completes, and with Illia and Wyrin and the second Ichor Hold, I won’t need to select a Class until I have a plan.
That’s when the ground began to shake, knocking several students to their feet. Shouts of alarm rang through the simulation chamber. Wyatt, just as confused as the rest of the class, pinned his eyes to Instructor Monaya. Her hawk eyes steeled as sirens blared all across the campus, in sync.
“Ward relay compromised… Incursion breach imminent! Incursion breach imminent! This is not a drill!”
