Imprinting the Eternal Factor (1)
Dusk's faint moonlight filtered through the window, bathing the room in a soft glow.
I lay on my bed, replaying Professor Rapens' tale in my mind.
The tragedy he had endured in his youth.
[Not a particularly complicated story. Undermining rival academies during competitions is an everyday occurrence in this family.]
'Yeah, I figured as much. Considering whose blood runs in their veins.'
Among the Kirchheis family's academies, there was something called the "academy competition."
A kind of exchange match where rival schools clashed to vie for prestige.
The competition Professor Rapens had participated in back then was held in the Eternal Forest, much like our recent hunting exercise—hunting monsters to outdo one another.
"The trainees selected as representatives, myself included, could hardly hide our excitement. Our opponents were Extremism, after all."
Even back then, Extremism had been the top academy.
Having produced Rohbark, one of the Eight Great Seats, it was the Kirchheis family's flagship without question.
So everyone in Eternalism had been buzzing with anticipation.
They figured that even if they didn't win, matching Extremism's performance would elevate Eternalism's reputation a notch.
"We prepared day and night. The Eternal Forest was our home turf, a hunting ground we'd scoured countless times, so we were confident. And indeed, we dominated Extremism early on."
But the professor's eyes grew shadowed as he spoke.
As if that early dominance had sown the seeds of what came later.
As if bruising Extremism's pride had triggered "that incident."
[Who knows, maybe it really did. Twenty years ago, Extremism revolved around the arrogant young Garnas and his close kin forming the 'Golden Family,' strutting their stuff. Their bullying was outrageous...]
Professor Rapens didn't seem to know about that part.
Had he known of the Golden Family, he might have been more cautious.
"In the midst of the competition, monsters not native to the Eternal Forest suddenly swarmed out. They ignored the Extremism side entirely and targeted only us from Eternalism. We were caught completely off guard."
No one could have predicted it.
It later came to light that someone from Extremism had summoned those monsters to sabotage Eternalism.
I let out a hollow chuckle.
Sabotaging a monster-hunting contest by summoning monsters yourself.
'What a creatively vicious ploy. Or should I say, fitting for Ulfric's direct descendants?'
[Actually, the direct descendants hail from Eternalism.]
'...Right, they do.'
At any rate, it had happened deep in a remote sector where intervention was impossible.
The isolated Eternalism trainees scattered in the chaos and ultimately vanished without a trace.
Recalling that moment, Schud Rapens closed his eyes, as if trying to hide his pain.
"I was the only survivor. My fellow trainees sacrificed their lives to save me."
It was tantamount to murder, yet astonishingly, no one from Extremism faced punishment.
The incident was ruled an unfortunate accident during the competition.
But Professor Rapens believed it had been hushed up because it involved influential blood kin from Extremism.
[To be frank, that's a fair judgment. Now you know the privileges those direct bloodlines enjoy, don't you?]
I nodded.
This family's direct descendants would sooner blame the victims for being weak.
They were more than capable of it.
Disgusting lot.
"That's the whole story. I'm not sure if it relates to what you all went through. Still, you're Eternalism disciples now, and you'd learn of it eventually, so I thought I'd tell you."
Having finished, Professor Rapens looked strangely relieved.
Perhaps he felt he'd partially repaid the debt of his life.
Among those he'd risked everything to protect were three direct bloodlines—truly repaying enmity with grace.
Impressive, when you thought about it.
[But he seems to believe that without that incident, Eternalism's fate might have changed. What do you think, Tiberian? See it that way too?]
Hierniorn tapped the windowpane with a talon and asked me.
Without that event, would Eternalism be in a better position now?
I pondered briefly, then shook my head honestly.
'No. If those people had survived to research the Seven Great Enigmas, maybe—but Elman Bykers is still laboring alone, just as then and now. Hard to reverse Eternalism's decline that way.'
[Exactly. This one thought the same.]
At any rate, the control magic failure in Sector 1 would soon be resolved.
The dean and other professors were clearing the forest, planning to plant a new source and reapply the control magic.
It would cost a pretty penny, but with Ulfric's research notes intact, restoring Sector 1 was straightforward.
Then a thought struck me.
'Hiern, don't these two incidents feel similar? What we went through and what Professor Rapens did twenty years ago.'
[Hm? In what way?]
'Exceptional monsters appeared right after direct bloodlines entered the Eternal Forest. The conditions and outcomes mirror twenty years ago pretty closely.'
There were eerily similar beats in how the events unfolded.
But Hierniorn snorted and chided me.
[Similar? Hardly. Twenty years ago, Extremism's cocky brats schemed to butcher poor Eternalism trainees. This time, greenhorn trainees botched a hunting drill. A mishap, that's all.]
'Hmm...'
[Situations can look alike? Sure. But it's coincidence. Means you're thinking selectively right now. Be cold! Objective! Cough!]
Hierniorn, flaunting rare eloquence, puffed up in smug victory.
Me, thinking selectively?
'Well, not wrong.'
But it nagged at me oddly.
All the pieces seemed to point in one direction.
Yet it was just coincidence?
'Feels more like inevitability—a vague hunch...'
I stroked Nirvana in my bosom and drifted off to sleep.
Several days later, Sector 1 reopened after its long lockdown.
The control magic had been restored.
However, Dean Panayul made the following announcement.
First-year trainees are prohibited from entering the Eternal Forest for the time being. Violators will face strict disciplinary action.
No more hunting drills for a while.
But we probably wouldn't enter the forest anyway.
Professor Rapens had started summoning low-level monsters himself and tossing them at us.
"Today, let's fight some goblins."
A curriculum heavy on live combat.
Amid these changes, Lorang suffered the most.
After rolling around with goblins all afternoon, he collapsed flat on the floor.
"I, I, I...!"
"What."
"Too hard!"
"Not 'hard'—say 'I'm tired,' like I taught you earlier, you idiot."
"Ahh, such an unkind Kirian..."
"Shut it."
Lorang was still clumsy with the common tongue and grumbled a bit about Professor Rapens' shift in approach.
During the Sector 1 incident, he'd passed out early and only woken after it ended.
He still didn't grasp why the professor's attitude had changed.
"...Got scolded by the professor. Repeatedly."
"That's 'cause you half-ass everything."
"Half-ass? What's that?"
"Means you screwed up."
"Aha! Weird. Why'd I half-ass? I'm X, working hard. Why?"
"Where'd you pick up that swear? Whatever, go fetch the wooden swords."
"Tch! Where's my ally?!"
He wasn't adapting well.
Come to think of it, even when Professor Rapens had us just running laps, Lorang vented his complaints outside.
This might lead to...
'He could try bolting from the academy.'
[Could be. As an outsider, pay the fee next year and he can re-enter the Tomb of Books and Swords for another academy shot. The Hoyd family is rumored wealthy, after all.]
As a Kirchheis in-law, Lorang drew less scrutiny.
Switching academies next year wouldn't hurt much.
Getting blacklisted for academy-hopping required drawing attention first.
'God, I hope he picks some other place. What a pain.'
[Harsh. Deep down, aren't you fond of him? This one sees it that way.]
'What are you on about? Why would I be fond of that guy?'
I genuinely hoped he'd aim for a major academy.
But a few days later—
"...Hey, Kirian."
"What."
"I really wanna learn now. Common tongue."
"...?"
In our classroom with all four of us gathered for once, Lorang made his declaration.
After dragging his feet on language lessons forever.
'What wind's blowing now?'
His eyes sparkled madly.
I followed his gaze.
Professor Rapens was entering the lecture hall, and I understood why Lorang had sworn to study.
A woman followed behind him.
[Hm?]
Hierniorn, who'd been ignoring things, whipped his head around and tilted it.
Sensing something off.
My Transcendental Eye picked up a faint anomaly too.
[Tiberian, that woman...?]
'She has a trace of elf blood.'
[Oh, yes! This one sensed it too. Half-elf? Haven't seen one in the last 300 years.]
The elf trait of silent footsteps.
And captivating beauty.
No pointed ears, but her aura had Lorang utterly entranced.
Mihaden too—and even Libiel, another girl, had eyes flickering.
Professor Rapens stepped forward with a chuckle.
"Today is a very important day. The day we impart the Eternal Factor to you in the mansion's basement. You'll begin handling the unique power passed down in our Eternalism academy, even if it's the training version."
The rite where initiates receive the academy's proprietary factor.
I'd wondered when it'd come—today was the day.
Held in the basement of this mansion.
[As you know, the basement is thick with anti-intruder security. Prep work first. Go in bare-handed and...]
'You'd be a pincushion in under thirty seconds.'
I knew it better than anyone.
I'd installed eighty percent of those traps myself.
Even five hundred years ago, entering geared up was common sense.
"Kirian?"
Professor Rapens, finishing his explanation, turned to me.
"Yes, Professor."
"Kirian, you'll receive the training factor in the 'general sector,' then follow Senior Obri here into the 'restricted sector.' Stick close to her guidance, understood?"
"Yes, sir."
The half-elf would escort me to the restricted area.
I bowed slightly, and she spoke.
"I'm Obri Iark. Sixth-year trainee. So you're the famous Kirian Kirchheis."
Sixth-year meant graduation prep.
No wonder I hadn't seen her at the welcome ceremony.
She spent little time in the academy, handling her thesis.
Professor Rapens must have summoned her here.
"Pleased to meet you, Senior."
"Yeah."
"...?"
But Obri's gaze on me brimmed with wintry chill.
Not just my imagination.
Lorang whispered to me.
"Kirian. You half-assed it?"
I didn't do shit wrong, man.