"While every living being has the right and potential for a blessing, sometimes they can be too small, too weak to manifest itself at the 18th birthday, thus the Imperium in its infancy devised a method to tease out the blessing via the massive surge of both regular mana and Divine Energy, the tool was thus sent to every corner of the known world and nowadays its a common item in many a place for those who require it"

On the Imperium Vol 1.

 

"You better give me a good reason for lugging this heavy box around Lu" Saa'ryu spoke as William smiled. "Believe me I do" as they filed out into the warded training space Richard asked, "I wonder why our mages haven't been able to crack the enchantment placed in the Fields of Seresval yet, you would think with the advancement in magical theory the big countries would have something similar right?"

Saa'ryu placed the box by William's side and disappeared into the air causing a small stir with the people near both of them. Willaim took off his jacket and placed it on top of the box as he flexed the arm saying "Not possible, the Goddess of Magic has banned after being accused of muscling into the Lich's God Sphere of Power, all kept hush-hush by the Divine of course"

A momentary lull descended around William as a small voice spoke next to his ear "Found of the old spot of blasphemy aren't you?" Richard jumped in fright as William turned towards the speaker, her cat ears floppy and her face betraying either severe depression or intense boredom, Castra-Cam stared at William with the sort of intensity no one in their right mind would like.

"Imagine my surprise when I get a Greater Wraith knocking on my door with a spoken message from my Grandmother "Watch out for the Wulfgrem woman," she says at the dead of the night as if my insomnia wasn't bad enough, Now I am not a fan of skulking around and gathering intel like your usual Cat-Kin so Imagine my surprise when I found out you wanted to become a Necromancer and even asked for the chamber, Nobles and Necromancy is a recipe for disaster Little Lady, doubly so when Mind Magic is added into the mix"

More gasps as the classroom realized the extent of William's mad rush for power, that he would tap into schools of magic at best seem like a necessary evil likely plummet his social stock with some people here.

Not that he gave a damn of course.

William also knew any spoken reassurance he gave to the Undead Cat-Kin would fall on deaf ears, the woman in front of him had to put down too many people to count who said the same words, nay the only thing she would believe would be his deeds and conviction.

"A pleasure to meet you Lady Castra" William bowed and she sighed "Please none of that, I came to this place to avoid it and it is a shame seeing your kind perpetuates it, Well I told you my piece, and now..."

A part that most players saw as the game went on was that While Castra-Cam was an insanely powerful ally and if the build was right could stand shoulder to shoulder with the protagonist in sheer damage output. She was also a complete klutz when it came to the social game, lacked any grace, and was often called an Orc by her family members when she fumbled her way into a meeting or gathering.

"Orc-Cam" was what they told the poor woman and she hated it. Of course, William wouldn't spill the beans at this instance but seeing this golden opportunity to reel another powerful individual to his retinue he shot his shoot.

"Indeed, it is shame my people seek to undermine one of the pillars of the Academy, alas human nature is ever the insidious killer slowly warping even the most solid of foundations. And I am sorry I put you in this predicament Castra, I pray my actions will be enough to show you and yours that I mean no harm and I work to further the cause"

Castra smirked "Yeah, I saw the books you delivered, Sis was bubbly with joy which is always a sight given you know, being undead can do quite the number on your emotions, but I'll see about the first part in time..."

William felt the air shift to his left and Kaine showed up eyeing him with distrust "Lucrezia don't go around spreading Divine secrets godsdamned it, do you want to be killed by a bolt of magical lightning or something?"

William wheezed as a few other students cracked a few laughs "Yeah right, Fae’Zhurar herself will chuck a bolt and kill me" William said as Richard knocked on the wooden box his eyes full of fear.

"Quite the harem you have here Wulfgrem, big merchant scion, the Arch-Mage's kid, and even the Orc prince, I would joke about being air-tight in the night but given your blessing maybe that is no joke" Castra-Cam spoke and Kaine nearly choked on his spit, Richard did a double-take as he couldn't fathom how someone would make a joke like that and William couldn't help but slap his knee while laughing.

A klutz and crass as a sailor, Castra-Cam was the bane of every family gathering by making these horrible jokes.

"Don't say that, the man has a wife waiting for him" William said feeling the need to defend Orthus "Yeah right, Wife-to-be now has to worry about being replaced by a tall cold beauty that can turn sex-starved beast at the drop of a hat, just saying she has competition" Castra smirked as Kaine began ranting "The gall! I am solely dedicated to magic! Don't you dare-"

"Yeah doesn't care little mage, now shush the Professors are about to speak" Castra shut Kaine down as both Professors walked into view.

Emmilie and Themitrocles were the opposites of each other, where the mage woman was a gloomy and morose lass Themitrocles was bright and warm, with a big smile on his face as he walked towards the group of students with gusto.

"Welcome! Welcome! you lot might be asking yourselves "What's this all about, why are we outside on this fine day?" Well, let me get right on with it!" Themitrocles snapped his fingers and training dummies popped in the far end of the field, to the other side a small fighting ring was made itself manifest.

"Professor Emmilie here suggested to the board that we joined forces, as you may well know our Kingdom is famous for its employment of both magicks and martial arts in the field of battle, a tactic many of our old and new enemies have tried to copy but never with the same level of mastery as we have, so every odd day of the week Magical Theory will be joining forces with Martial Arts and Ki Arts to better blend your talents!"

More than a few cheered, Themitrocles was always a player favorite for his upbeat and hype demeanor, always spurring the player to reach higher and higher and giving them an insanely hard boss fight when you reached 100 percent completion in the game, the man had every mechanic from every boss and a boatload of health points, truly a challenge to the players.

William smiled in wonder if he would be as powerful in reality, a part of him wanted to find out but he could feel Lucrezia screaming at him from the inside to not upset a Professor of the Academy.

Quite a few perked up when he mentioned Ki, Including the protagonist.

"She has a name you know" Lucrezia spoke in his mind with a sigh "Are you sure it's wise to reveal her blessing like that?"

"The whole school you know sooner or later, I rather sooner as I don't want to be in the spotlight for long" William replied.

Deep in thought with Lucrezia, William failed to notice that Kaine had sneaked in with the rest of the group, He started humming as he began setting up the apparatus that would tease out the All-Father's blessing from Hope, in-game that would happen a few days from now when the player is confronted by a few thugs sent by Lucrezia and in the heat of battle the protagonist awakens it, but now that he was in charge the reveal would be in far more agreeable environs.

He also failed to notice when Emmilie was staring at him, his humming of Baddest by K/DA and focus on the setup was eventually broken when Kaine poked him in the ribs and he jumped on reflex.

"What in the goddamn?! Kaine! fuck was that for dude? I am busy over here" William spoke without a filter as he stared at the gang around him "Woah, Didn't know I had an audience"

A voice that betrayed an age beyond the calenders of men and divine spoke "Lady Wulfgrem, would you be so kind to explain why are you setting up this device?" William took a look around as he saw the rest of the classroom either fighting in the ring or training with the dummies, Ki and Arcane flew in flashy lights before he heard a cough from Emmilie.

"Don't ignore the Profressor Lucrezia!" Richard poked William in the ribs again.

"Forgive me Professor Emmilie, I got distracted... This here is for one of our classmates you see" William pointed to Hope whose face went red "She needs her blessing to be teased out and I came prepared"

"Of course" Emmilie turned to Kaine "I am told you are a Chronomancer, is that true?" Kaine gave Lucrezia a look and William spoke first "Indeed he did Professor, together with me we raided a Ziggurat of the Ancients who lived in this planet before the All-Father came and within we found Magicks that allowed one to tap into the river of time, as Kaine is a master magician I decided to entrust to him these magicks and together we managed to crack the code of them, earning Kaine here a blessing by the Goddess of Time"

Kaine looked flabergasted "Lucrezia!"

But William didn't care, he stared "Emmilie" down as the woman trembled in myriad emotions, to his back he saw Arthur gasp in horror as the Royal Knights got the hint and moved in to protect the Prince.

The professor fell to the ground, her knees landing in a thump as everyone around William was shocked. Arthur clutched his leg as he spoke, barely a whisper "...Untold sorrow that stretches to infinity, to see Her depart our home and my kin go insane in grief...They must succeed! They cannot fail in taming the waters of Yu-Ka! lest all hope is lost, lest all hope is lost..."

Kaine's eyes nearly popped from his sockets "Gods above that's a passage from the diary! Lucrezia you don't-" He gasped as William smiled, fast as always when it came to putting two and two together, Kaine fell silent as William kneeled by the woman with the diary in his hands "They failed, without your Goddess, not even a full circle could musted the astronomical amounts of mana and life force to travel back in time to stop Her from leaving, but that you already knew" He placed the diary in Emmilie's hands "Your children of the frost didn't...deal too well with what happened after it but thanks to the All-Father the other seasons found meaning in their lives"

"All-Fathers balls a godsdamned living Ancient!" Kaine couldn't control himself "Lucrezia how! How did you know?!"

William smiled and for once didn't bullshit to his friend "In the diary, there were pages about other projects to bring back their Goddess, one of those was a small scale stasis spell that would freeze several ancients in time, except it didn't work and all manpower was diverted to the taming of the river of time"

Kaine got a bit red on the years "I kinda uh...Skipped anything that wasn't about that part yeah..." to which William smiled "Before we left I spoke with my Spirits, they told me a smaller Ziggurat was made here in the capital and they gave me the means to detect anyone who entered or left it" William pulled a small pendant from his neck, its icy spikes pulsing in a rainbow of colors"

"But the experiment failed, and from the Spirits account the Ancients were taller elf-like monsters with 10 eyes and five wings each! Emmilie here is a regular if short human" Arthur spoke as he called off the Knights, his Mind Magic powers no longer making him attune himself to the Ancient's sorrow in front of him.

"I found this body just as my ethereal form was about to break down, while many of our scientists were relocated to the Waters project I objected to such fate and decided to go through the Stasis procedure alone, it failed as its stated in the notebook you gave me and my body was destroyed. I was stuck in a limbo between life and death as I watched my facility fall around me" Emmilie rose and with a snap of her fingers cleared her robes, her face was wet with tears "After a while, the Soul Automaton that was in charge of the facility performed its last routine check and what I can only assume was a faulty line in its programming created a flesh simulacra and placed my half-dead ethereal form inside of it"

"The Proto-Spirit" Kaine spoke as he put the pieces together "that the Ancients could manipulate the soul like that is nothing sort of amazing"

"Not so, any planet without a God to regulate Necromancy has this type of soul manipulation, and the Ancients were magic focused" Castra-Cam spoke "Had it been today you bet your little mage butt they would face the full force of the Undying" she spat as Emmilie shook her head.

"Hyzoarkian," she said.

"Glory of Arkian" Kaine spoke his face lighting up "That's the name of the Ancients Goddess!"

"And the name of my people, being called Ancient is getting tired at this point" she sighed "This diary is yours by right Lady Lucrezia but may I?"

"Yes, I and Kaine already have extracted its magical values, and it's just an item he likes to read, return to him once you are done" Kaine nodded as he spoke with child-like happiness "What a godsdamned find! Lucrezia you Madwoman I could kiss you right now!" the rest of the party around him laughed as the absurdity of the deal washed over them, A living breathing Ancient!

With that William noted down another important quest as completed in his mind, Soon the priesthood of the All-Father would come and formalize Emmielie's status and she would still teach them Magic, but upgraded with the full breadth of her Hyzoarkian knowledge and years as lead researcher in the fields of time magic, together with Kaine they would become a powerhouse unmatched.

Before Kaine could spirit the woman away he spoke to her "On my word as Duchess of Wulfgrem and the last member of one of the five houses I promise you no harm will come to you, After we talk with the All-Father priesthood you will still enjoy your job here in the Academy" he paused "And I am sorry for throwing your entire life into the upcoming whirlwind of chaos that it's coming but it had to be done" Emmilie nodded as she spoke "I can not deny that, alas I do not fear the overlord or his children, for I saw with my eyes how they treated our creation and did not found them wanting"

"And yet I must ask Lady Lucrezia, why? why it has to be done?" She stared at William who took a deep breath and spoke "Because we all deserve happiness, have you not lived long enough in this quagmire of self-loathing and pity? of hatred and frustration? When everyone else gave up you remained in that facility, you kept the faith and held on until all else was lost, and when the deepest of despair gripped your people you were spared of it" another pause "And when you woke up to see these aliens in your planet, creations from an invader that conquered the leftovers of the great civilization that once stood at the apex of arcane you did not give in that fire, that rage against the dread of being tossed aside by your Goddess became a fuel that led you here"

"Today I grant you closure, that you might put the past behind and live again, to let yourself enjoy the love and happiness of a God that cares, of people who love and care about you! and when the time is right to reunite with the Spirits so they too might be granted closure"

"Hyzoark is no more, but you can and must go on" William finished his improv speech as he felt his face go red and sweat drip from his brow, Emmilie looked at him her face still cloaked in that morose and gloomy mask as she spoke softly "Thank you"

"All-Father above, no wonder you didn't have a mass rout when charging down Galius's men, I can feel goosebumps all over myself" Ironheart spoke with a smile on her face, the rest of the gang nodded as Dkhar sighed "Seems the Duchess has a knack for sudden revelations, well assuming we don't lose one of the best Magical Theory teachers of the Academy I'd wager we move on to...Whatever the hells you are planning to do with that Diviner's Stone"

William smiled as he turned to Hope, the young woman stared as he said "Miss Hope if you would be so kind?"

---

"When met with an unknown opponent the best course of action is to run" Hope's father words were echoing in her head as she stared down the woman in front of her, Gods it was easy to lose herself in the sight as she was beautiful beyond belief, no wonder given the Blessing that she could almost sense coming from Saal'Xhir.

She was scared From the prince's sudden burst of a headache to the revelation a godsdamned ancient was their Magical Theory Professor to that inspiring speech Hope was honestly fearful of being swept under Lucrezia Wulfgrem's mad tornado and ending up in gods know where! yet a part of her begged for her to take her invitation and see what was waiting on the other side!

Of course, she knew something about her Blessing when Hope tried to tap into it she could barely feel the damn thing, ever since she had that strange dream she could feel something down in her soul but tapping it was nigh impossible for some reason, and so she used the time-honored tradition of not revealing her blessing and so far it hard worked fine.

Why she confessed to the prince she didn't know, it was easy talking with him she felt, even in her lack of manners or bad social experience she could talk with him for hours and he would always have something interesting to say.

It felt good, really good she found.

Same for the other 3 that had joined her, Kaine was always doing something or another, Dkhar and Ironheart too as the two bonded over their lives as children of important people, if this was how friends were formed then Hope was more than happy to call them that!

And yet there was something in Lucrezia, a pull that made her want to join up with her even after knowing what she did and the madness she was capable of, when both of them stared at each other in the classroom she felt intense sorrow and want to come from the young Duchess, and something more that she couldn't decipher nested deep inside her.

"I won't bite," Lucrezia said with a smirk on her face, to which Castra-Cam spoke "I don't believe you, Saal'Xhir followers are all up to freaky stuff like that you know? Once I heard..."

"Ignore her, Please come" Lucrezia shut the woman down as Hope stepped forward and faced the apparatus.

"That's all good and all, but how did you know hope here would need one of those to tease out her Blessing?" Castra-Cam spoke again "Mighty convenient I must say"

Lucrezia smiled and said "I have my sources"

With fear and trepidation in her heart, Hope took a deep long breath and placed both her hands on the stone, its smooth exterior was cool to the touch. "Do not worry yourself, anything happens I'll be right behind you" Lucrezia whispered as she moved to Hope's side, her voice had a warmth to it that made Hope calm her emotions, and yet something deeper hid behind those words.

Alas, she could barely speak a word, the stone glowed brightly as sun and Hope felt every drop of her Mana flee her body. then her Ki and she heard Professor Emmilie gasp in terror as the Ancient spoke "The conqueror's essence!"

A beacon of the brightest of light blasted upwards! its shrill scream spooking the birds from the trees, Hope saw the rest of the class turn her way as the other Professor with the weird name leaped towards her only to be stopped by Emmilie with a hand gesture.

Hope felt a cold metallic hand on her back as she turned around and saw Lucrezia's gentle smile and deep azure eyes nodding her along, closing her own eyes Hope focused her Ki and Mana and pushed into the stone as the Beacon went from pale white to a rainbow of colors, Hope could barely hear the gasp coming from her classmates as her very soul began to tremble.

Power, so much power! at the flick of her finger, she could unmake worlds! destroy universes! creation itself at her command and hers alone! the power to create life from nothing, to weave her will into the building blocks that made the material and immaterial.

"..Ye gods, the Blessing of the All-Father..." Hope heard the Prince speak as the raw power of the chief divine flooded her soul and body, and from her left side, she heard a whisper.

"Listen to my voice, Listen to my heartbeat Hope, in granting you this power I have set your life into the path of the heroes of yore, your name will be known far and wide and even the Gods themselves will bow to you for a sliver the All-Father's power! Chronomancy, Necromancy, the Healer Arts, and even the Secrets of Ki are yours to tame and master! Ask and I will grant you my knowledge, my skills, and even my very name if should desire it. Together we will rise to the very apex and every ambition you have, every dream you ever dreamed will become reality"

"Ask, and all of this will be yours, ask and the whole world shall know your name!" Lucrezia's fervent whispers made Hope feel dizzy, what the woman was proposing was nothing short of madness!

And yet it was that selfsame madness that had made her win against an army commanded by the First Prince, that forged an alliance with the Arch-Duke and kickstarted an industrial revolution with Magi-Tech. Thanks to her the son of the Arch-Mage was on his way to becoming the most powerful arcane user in the Kingdom.

And all that power could be hers, to make her dreams come to reality faster than she could do it on her own, with the social and political protection of both Duchess and Arch-Duke, yet another part of her was screaming in panic and fear, what if this was all a trick a deception to snare Hope into some madwoman dungeon and have her be milked dry for her powers?

Could Hope trust Lucrezia? Should she trust her?

"Mayhap a show of good faith is in order? I cannot divulge all my secrets but I can show you that I mean what I said" Lucrezia replied to Hope's thoughts and the girl nearly jumped, was she reading her mind?! No, it couldn't be, Mind Magic could be spotted by anyone with the knowhow, that knowhow was reached to Hope by her parents. Nay, it was like Lucrezia knew the future almost, and knowing what she knew about her involvement with Kaine...

"I would like to see this show of good faith then, Lady Wulfgrem" Hope spoke as she felt the Beacon of light flare down little by little, she heard Lucrezia laugh "Please, just Lucrezia is fine, I swear I'll have to tell everyone that as the year progresses... All-Father's beacon is about to die out, get ready to explain yourself to everyone little Hope" and she hopped back as Beacon died out and the entire classroom was staring at Hope.

Hope collected herself and with a fast throat-clearing she spoke loud and clear, as her Mother had reached her in front of her soldiers "At ease my classmates at ease! Everything is all right!" a pause as she noticed they weren't panicking "As you all have seen I am blessed by All-Father, and uh" an awkward silence fell as everyone didn't rightly know what to do, usually a Blessing was celebrated with parents in a private setting.

"Congratulations I guess?" spoke a voice and a few others joined "I mean it is a big deal but I doubt anyone will want to mess with the daughter of a notorious mercenary band" another voice spoke as more joined in speculating the socio-political ramifications of such a rare blessing, its power over all other gods and even the Fallen plus devils meant it gave the individual an absurd degree of personal power.

But even then history has shown that such individuals could be brought down by the sheer force of arms or masterfully political maneuvering, the debate was raging on before the professors put a stop to it and got them back to what they were doing before.

"I was expecting claps, or boos knowing these nobles" Kaine spoke to the side "What a queer reaction"

"Indeed, but it has given our friend here time to collect her thoughts, no doubt she will become the talk of the Academy and beyond but given the uh, recent events your 15 minutes of fame will be more like 3 minutes and a half," Castra-Cam said "Still, a powerful blessing that one, what would take a month for a mage or warrior to master she can do in seconds, gods will throw themselves over her for and she will be able to enjoy their blessings"

"Don't forget mastery of all elements" Lucrezia said as she pulled a strange vial from her person and threw its content on the air, with a snap of her finger the dust became a sharp iron stake.

With her left hand slowly close it into a fist and a fan of crystal clear ice formed, its edges dripping as the sun melted the magical construct "Damn Summer Spirits messing my Ice Magic..."

Lucrezia then pointed to one of the Royal Knights "You, coat your blade and shield with Ki" the woman frowned but Arthur nodded, she complied as Hope had a puzzled look on her face "What is the point of-" Suddenly her head was slammed with something, she felt a sharp pain for a split second and then deep inside her soul something clicked.

It came as natural as breathing, Hope felt the iron in her blood burn and her strength nearly double! she sent a tendril of her mana towards the iron stake and when it reached she felt its pull, with minimal effort the spike was now hovering by her side.

With a simple swipe of her hand, a beautiful ice fan manifested itself as well, gasping could be heard all around Hope as the gravity of the situation settled down for her.

"Now focus on your Ki, let the image from the Knight's own Ki take hold in your mind then draw it out!" She heard Lucrezia's instructions and closed her eyes again, to the left side of her heart she felt her Ki begging to be used and with a deep long breath she focused on the Knight's manifestation but something was lacking! the Ki wanted to come out but she needed a-

"Silly me, got all hot and bothered with the display of magic I forgot to give you a weapon, let us remedy that shall we?" Lucrezia said with a wry smile, she then summoned her maid again who had a blade and shield made out of crystal and gleaming steel.

"Magi-Tech forged and made by the very best of my Duchy, bar dragonbone, or Divinely blessed materials this is as good as it gets!" the Duchess exclaimed as a few dwarves leered and booed her "Shut yer trap ye noble princess! what does ye know about forging weaponry!" to which she replied "Meet at the forge after class ya gobshite! I can outlast all of ye!"

A few hollered and some laughed "I wouldn't doubt it, that Saal'Xhir blessing can give you plenty of stamina hehe" Castra-Cam smirked as some of the other nobles recoiled at her crude remark.

Hope took her new weapons and her Ki flared Crimson, it was beautiful and she could feel the power flowing as the crystal glowed and the weapon became heavier, the same happening for the shield.

"Morugarius above to be able to manifest a Ki this strong in her first time" One of the Royal Knights spoke breaking his silent vigil "Marcer look at that, that girl could blast through the gauntlet I bet"

The other knight grunted, then Professor Themitrocles spoke with his cheerful voice "What a day! What a lovely day! to see someone wield both Ki and Mana! Come, miss Hope, to the Arena! Let us test your newfound might in the field of battle!"

Hope was taken aback as the man who looked very strong asked her for an honest to gods fight! the weapon she had won from her parents was in her room! she turned to Lucrezia who smiled again and said "Keep them, consider a gift for making you the most popular woman in the Academy" then she turned to the man and spoke "Professor Themitrocles! Powerful her blessing may be, Hope is barely a novice in the art of war, May I and my Friend Kaine help her? 3 on 1 seems a fair fight for me wouldn't you think?"

Themitrocles laughed "If you wish to throw your hat in the ring of honor my young duchess then let it be so! and you Kaine? do you wish to join us in this exercise?"

Kaine called down his Magi-Tech staff and with a flash of light he was armored head to toe with Lucrezia's armor, Hope wondered if she could get one of those for her but she had already gotten priceless artifacts from the woman, asking for ore would not sit well with her.

Lucrezia, on the other hand, pressed some hidden button inside her clothes and with a moan that would be considered obscene even in an appropriate setting came out with her mesmerizing suit of armor, on her back a mighty ax made out of bone, white as snow.

With a whistle the maid appeared to her side and handed Lucrezia 4 spellrods that were floating on her back "Healing spells, in case Themitrocles there gets rough" Lucrezia whispered with a playful smile "Pay attention to every spell, Kaine he lobs at the man, then try your best to use them, same for my fighting skills and own spells, don't be afraid of mucking up he casting, I'll protect you"

The trio walked together with Themitrocles towards the arena as the class conjured chairs and tables for the upcoming spectacle, Hope saw the Prince cheering her own as the others who had joined them nodded or waved at her.

As they stepped into the Arena, she felt another click inside her soul and an otherworldly calm flooded her, she took everything in as her brain analyzed her surroundings at speeds so alarming she would panic if she could.

Gathering her Ki to her new weapons she took a stance and grunted, Themitrocles nodded as he spoke "If you can survive for 5 minutes, you win" the man had a simple wooden stick on his hands that had no blade on its ends.

Hope felt a wave of arcane to her side as Kaine began casting a staggering number of spells, her mind capturing every single one, then Lucrezia summoned a mighty arcane Aegis spell and Hope did the same except hers was golden in color unlike the pale white of Lucrezia's

"Ready or Not, Here I come!" Themitrocles bellowed as he charged forward, with a war cry as strong as his Lucrezia lunged herself at him with Kaine teleporting himself to his side, Hope ran as the rush of battle kicked in, with a smile on her face she screamed and went faster.

Towards the glory of combat!