Chapter 317

  Shift Rotations

  (Valeria)

  Being with the Midnight Hunters Guild took some time to get used to.

  For Valeria’s first month, she never really had any time limits or constraints. Now though, now she was expected to get up at 03:00 AM to be up and ready by 04:00 AM.

  Why 03:00 AM? Well the answer was simple, she would not be able to wake up at 3:45 AM the first time. She knew this, her body knew this, heck her mother would have written from beyond the grave about this, not that it would change anything.

  Then there was the fact that apparently the first thing people invented were mechanical alarm clocks with a snooze feature. These were the bane of Valeria’s existence for they were both needed, and proved why she had to set her wake-up time to be an hour before her shift was to start.

  Worse, she had to apparently relieve Penelope for her shift. Gwen, the Doctor’s daughter, would be covering down for a few weeks to help with this transition. But it was literally hurting Penelope, the amazing Tailor of the system, and the person who created her dress uniform for the day.

  Just putting on the uniform made her realize a few things.

  First the Midnight Hunters were taking this war seriously. Valeria’s new Apprentice gear was both powerful and practical. She wore stylish black boots, with bright pink laces. Her pants were black with a pink inseam running down the sides. Her jacket was similar black with offsetting pink accents. Even the badges and rank noting her as an Apprentice had light pink accents around different symbols that Valeria was still trying to understand.

  Why pink?

  Valeria didn’t know.

  She did ask Penelope about it, which was when Penelope responded, “well you will need to match the Doctor, when she returns.”

  Hearing that, Valeria went and asked the most obvious question that anyone would have after hearing such a statement.

  “The Doctor likes pink?”

  “No, the Doctor is color blind, but we need to show her softer side to those she is training.”

  Hearing that response, Valeria waited for more to come, because there seemed to be something missing from this explanation.

  “Okay, but she is a pixie, doesn’t she normally look soft?” Valeria asked, it had been a bit, but the Doctor had been fairly small and cute. Yeah, she could command a room with her presence, but most of that was the Kujos, right?

  “Ohh, this is too good,” Penelope all but preened as she called over to Gwen. “Hey, Valeria has never seen her master train others.”

  Hearing that comment, Gwen paused and looked over to Valeria before shaking her head.

  “Don’t worry, momma is not that frightening, she just…” At that Gwen paused in her explanation, while clearly trying to think of the correct words to say. Fortunately for Gwen, Penelope was there to help out with the explanation.

  “She plays roles.”

  “Thank you Pen, that’s right she plays roles. When she is in a role she can and will do and say crazy things, but deep down inside she is always the same person.” Gwen completed her thought.

  “You just won’t see that same person until the task at hand is ended and her need for that role, she is exuding is over,” Penelope added.

  Hearing that Gwen paused before nodding in agreement.

  There was a pause as Valeria took that all in, before questioning, “and that’s why her uniform and mine will have pink accents?”

  “Yes,” they both responded in unison.

  For a moment, Valeria wanted to argue but found that she couldn’t, as there was seemingly nothing to argue about.

  “Won’t we be looked down upon having bright pink accents in a military unit?” Valeria posed.

  “Two things, first only your uniform is bright pink, you are the Apprentice after all. Doctor Spiritlight’s will be a hot pink,” Penelope cut in making sure to point out that distinction for whatever reason.

  “Okay?” Valeria questioned, her voice showing her own lack of comprehension about why that distinction was made right now.

  “Secondly, pink will eventually be a warning sign to other militaries. Similar to the red cross, but far more visible on a battlefield,” Penelope concluded.

  “Won’t that make us easy targets to spot?” Valeria asked, suddenly feeling like she was wearing a bright pink bullseye on her uniform.

  “Yes, that is the point, you two will stand out and hopefully be avoided as valid targets.” Gwen responded.

  “Oh, come on, you know there is hope that someone will take a potshot at the Doctor hoping that it infuriates her,” Penelope added.

  “Well, there is that too,” Gwen agreed reluctantly.

  These were the thoughts that a bleary-eyed Valeria had, while popping on her uniform, going over to her water basin and washing her face in the remarkably cool and crisp Midnight Hunter drinking water.

  It was odd, everything about the water seemed normal, it was clear, and cool. But somehow splashing it on your face, or drinking it, caused you to be awake and refreshed almost immediately.

  Allegedly the Doctor had something to do with this water, as it was siphoned from the giant magic rain inducing pillars that covered the entire area.

  While the patents of the pillars were open source, only the Doctor’s Enchanting students could properly create one of the pillars without the Doctor’s guidance.

  The entire thing seemed overly drawn out and dramatic, but it was clear that for whatever reason the people of the Midnight Hunters loved and revered the crazy pixie.

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  Which was another odd thing, for they all referred to her as a crazy pixie, many to her face, yet they still revered her and what she managed to do.

  That said, if half the stuff attributed to her was real, then yes, Valeria could understand the worship. Though it was hard to take in, despite having witnessed miracles herself.

  “How do you Resurrect a book?” She found herself asking her reflection in the mirror.

  Fortunately for Valeria, her reflection seemed to be as much at a loss as she was.

  “I mean the concept makes sense. You can Resurrect people, still no clue how she can do that, let alone at a massive scale like she can. Then she creates living moving and biting books. Those books die, so logically the next step is to Resurrect the books, but how?”

  Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she would not be able to believe it, especially not with the books having been resurrected to be level 1,500. Yes, she was in a land where magic was taught as a given. Where flying and soaring Skill Books could train you in odd and unique skills up to level 500.

  But the books weren’t friendly, magic was somehow tougher to cast, everyone drank magical rainwater from the sky, and somehow everyone took this all in like it was normal.

  Why did Legrand think they could win?

  Fortunately, Valeria was now awake enough to realize she should not have asked that question out loud. Not that she thought of herself as being a member of the Legrand Empire anymore. But occasionally, she still felt her mind going back and trying to understand what exactly the senior leadership of the Legrand Empire was thinking.

  From a tactical perspective. They either had to strike then and there or else lose the chance of ever conquering the Midnight Hunters. There was a perverse form of logic, hitting the enemy before they could galvanize into something stronger that was undefeatable.

  Yet, they lost.

  They lost miserably.

  To a pixie no less.

  It all seemed comical.

  An army of mages, every member of the Legrand Empire had their magical potential awoken to at least the second tier in some odd ritual.

  Shivers.

  Fortunately for Valeria she already had a magical core, one that got strengthened from the ritual, but it could have been worse. That drugged out elf could have had his way with her, if he had so chosen.

  Instead, Valeria was granted a promotion due to her allegiance to the Empire.

  Two magical core Tiers and one Resurrection later, Valeria felt her obligation to the Legrand Empire was over.

  The weird part was that right now Valeria wasn’t even bound to the Midnight Hunters. Yes, she had been chosen by the Doctor, but that seemed to not mean much in the grand scheme of things.

  Other than losing access to the overpowered military uniform that Valeria now wore, there was nothing keeping her here. Well, nothing other than the promise to be taught by someone who was allegedly the best mage in the world.

  Not that it mattered, for there were many great and powerful mages. Worse, given the state of constant change in this world, Valeria knew that this title would eventually slide to someone else. It was a natural occurrence.

  The doctor would either get old and cocky and die in battle.

  Or what appeared to be more and more the case, she would get distracted and miss something important before eviscerating herself.

  No, this was clearly an opportunity for Valeria, nothing more, nothing less.

  Hopefully if things went well, the Doctor would be around long enough to teach her and let her get a certified degree from SVC. But even that was a long shot, as there was a clear vacation time set up when the Doctor left. Meaning only one person could teach so many students. The model for SVC was unsustainable, at least that is the way Valeria saw it.

  Tink-tink-tank-tonk-tink.

  Valeria’s second metal alarm clock went off. This one was fortunately right next to her, as she was standing at her sink, where the last and final clock was located.

  Turning off the alarm, Valeria took one last look at herself in the mirror. Her uniform was straight, her hair was now straight and sleek. Looking at herself, it was clear that the water was even doing wonders for her hair, as it seemed to have so much more volume than before. Reaching up, she patted her blonde hair, before wondering if she should tie back her hair.

  There was no code given for how hair should be worn while in the military uniform, but Valeria wanted a somewhat regal look, so she quickly tied it back in a ponytail before exiting and leaving the large room she had been given.

  Guards.

  The first thing Valeria saw when she exited her room were two guards standing watch in front of the vacant room to her right.

  Apparently, some high-ranking individual was supposed to live there, but they never did. At least, not until now?

  For a moment Valeria thought about going over and asking the guards about the person living there, but seeing their stern demeanor, and realizing it was none of her business, Valeria decided to turn to the left and leave.

  Startle.

  That’s when Valeria, completely unaware of the soldier who had been coming up to greet her, jumped as if trying out for the local basketball team.

  “Sorry about that, but I was asked to be your guide to your training location today,” the female guard responded politely.

  Landing, and having a moment to reach up and grabbed at her chest, Valeria paused and then gathered herself before responding.

  “You scared me there,” Valeria stated.

  A coy smile filled the soldier’s full lips. Looking at the uniform of the soldier, it was clear she was in a different department, as her uniform had a light blue line down the pant legs.

  Clearly there was some form of color coordination going on, but Valeria still what she felt to be cobwebs in her mind.

  Charming chuckle.

  The soldier let out a laugh that would normally feel belittling, but was made easier by her overly friendly personality.

  “Sorry about that, but these morning shifts are hard to work with,” the female soldier responded.

  “I know, right.” Valeria responded and then found herself following the soldier as she made her way away from the housing.

  “Sorry, to do this, but we need to get going if we are going to arrive on time. I am Staff Sergeant Gabriellaz, and I will be your escort and training partner for the next few weeks.” The female soldier, Gabriellaz, stated warmly.

  Hearing that, Valeria paused, not wanting a training partner. Particularly as it almost felt like she was being watched.

  “I’m not certain that I will need a training partner,” Valeria replied cordially. Well, she replied as cordially as she could under the circumstances.

  Hearing the comment Gabriellaz had a somewhat shocked look cover her face as she seemed to momentarily hesitate for only a moment, before stopping and asking.

  “I’m so sorry, have I offended you in any way?” Gabriellaz asked, then proceeding to try to rectify the situation she continued, “if I have then please let how or what I have done to offer offense?”

  “What? No, you are fine, it is just that I…” Valeria began, but soon trailed off as she tried to think of the words to say to describe how she did not want to be constantly compared to the muscle-bound goddess who was next to her.

  Having been a Healer in the Legrand Empire, there was not much emphasis on physical training, whereas it seemed that almost everyone here from the Midnight Hunters all worked out diligently.

  At least, all the people who had been greeting her ever since the return of her master.

  “I just don’t think I am a good gym partner.” Valeria answered somewhat defensively.

  “Oh, is that it?” Gabriellaz responded, then gently grabbed both of Valeria’s hands in her own overgrown hands. “I’m not here to judge, to be honest I’m just here to get closer to the Doctor. In this case, the easiest way was to apply to be your guide.”

  Hearing that, Valeria felt, well she didn’t quite know how she felt. Realistically, she knew she should feel somewhat offended, but she was mostly perplexed by the sudden confession.

  “So, wait, why exactly do I need a guide?” Valeria asked, wondering if this was some deeper way of keeping tabs on her as the deposed Legrand spy.

  She could be, a spy that is, but she had no clue where to go. Then when she did manage to find the Spy Guild Hall office here, they wouldn’t talk to her.

  Or they would, but they clearly gave her the run around.

  Pushing her on information sharing that she was not able to provide. Like Legrand Troop layout, how Healers were taught in the Legrand Empire, which was not much. Still, she had provided that information and more.

  All of which got her a big pile of nothing.

  She didn’t dare offer any information on the Doctor, not that there was much for her to give, other than what she had found out on her own. Yet, it was clear that the Guild both knew who she was and avoided any insights into the Doctor herself.

  Almost as if she was a national treasure that even the Guild Hall knew not to mess with, lest she exert her wrath.

  Which was an odd concept, for the Thieves Guild was omnipresent, almost every major city had one.

  Yet, they were scared to ask about information related to the Doctor.

  Snort.

  Gabriellaz let out a cute little snort at her comment, “you might be used to how the campus was for the past few weeks?”

  “Well yeah, and I know my way around campus,” Valeria replied. Her tone denoting that is all she could have known, for she just got here a few weeks ago and the campus had been mostly dead and easy to traverse.

  Smile.

  Hearing her, Gabriellaz just gave a wicked knowing smile. The one that spoke of knowing a secret, one that apparently Valeria was not privy to.

  “You might have seen the campus during the recess that it was recently experiencing. But I guarantee you have not seen it like this,” Gabriellaz replied as she decided to continue walking forward towards the long way around to the campus.

  “Wait, that’s the wrong way,” Valeria cried out as she didn’t want to go the long way as it would add minutes to her walk.

  Gabriellaz just gave her that same coy smile, before continuing onward in her own direction.

  Distant shouting.

  Pausing for a second, off in the distance to the right, towards the direction that Valeria had wanted to go, she could hear what almost sounded like a raging rock concert. One where hundreds of voices were calling out in cadence to a verse that didn’t quite make sense.

  “Is there a concert scheduled for today?” Valeria asked, suddenly speeding up to get back in lock-step with Gabriellaz.

  “Sort of,” Gabriellaz replied, “this is the opportunity that many have been waiting for. Many for at least a month, personally I’ve been waiting close to four months for this moment.”

  More shouting, possibly from a female singer screaming at the top of her lungs, followed by a chorus of an exuberant crowd responding in return.

  Just hearing the voices cry out caused the ground to tremble slightly, from so many voices crying out and stomping their feet in an odd rhythmic cadence. The sheer volume and intensity causing shivers to run down Valeria’s spine in anticipation of what was happening in the open campus.

  Maybe a concert to welcome back the new students.

  “A welcome back to class concert that everyone can enjoy?” Valeria found herself asking as she got closer and found that even from the far side of campus hundreds of bodies were gathered around, all seemingly waiting for a chance to get closer.

  “Better,” Gabriellaz began as she went over to a security guard who looked first to her, then to Valeria and to a document held by Gabriellaz. After reading the document, the guard nodded and waved for her and Valeria to go through. Much to the annoyance of everyone who had been waiting.

  Chills.

  As she got closer, she felt an odd chill go down her spine, this time not from the odd music. It took her mind a moment to realize why she felt suddenly odd, but it was due to an odd distortion that they had entered. Only after entering the distortion did she realize that she was surrounded by ghosts, hundreds of oddly beautiful and yet cold elven soldiers all waiting for a moment to move forward.

  There was a clear line of demarcation, up ahead, she was now close enough to see groups of people running, jumping, and stomping in place. Each shouting out with wild revere at a floating and screaming pixie.

  “I said, jump! Train like you care, like you actually want to be here!” The pixie’s voice boomed out, somehow her voice was able to be heard perfectly by Valeria despite being so far away.

  “Yes, DOCTOR!” The chorus of voice cried out in unison as they all pushed themselves harder, trying to work faster.

  Seeing the odd cacophony of yelling and training going on, Valeria felt momentarily lost. Then turning to Gabriellaz she found herself asking, “what is going on?”

  Valeria yelled, expecting her voice to be drowned out by the chorus of jeers and the bellowing pixie. A pixie who even from this distance of a few hundred yards away could easily be seen in her fashionable dark uniform with hot pink markings, that did not make her look any less fierce.

  If anything, the hot pink markings just made her look somehow more intimidating, if that was possible. Maybe it was just how odd and absurd she looked, versus how she seemed to exude barely contained power.

  “This is what we all have been waiting for, our one chance to shine,” Gabriellaz answered truthfully.

  “What?” Valeria found herself asking, being even more confused by the answer than ever before.

  “Open admissions, now come on, I need to get you next to the Doctor,” Gabriellaz demanded as she grabbed Valeria’s hand and all but pulled her through the chaos that surrounded them.

  With each step, Valeria knew she was getting closer to having her whole world flip on its head.