"Make no mistake young centurion, for every fancy woven unpractical armor and weapon those knights have, what lies beneath is nothing short of a perfect warrior ready to fight and die for his Kingdom, their faith as strong as our steel and their fury as hot as that of our mages"

Tribulus Celsius to his new commander at the eve of the last invasion by the Imperium.

 

Hope rushed ahead when she saw Lucrezia flying! towards the Professor, a huge halo made of iron spikes blossomed from her back and it spun like a mighty drill straight into the man who slapped his two hands and separated them with a flair as a blue pane of force came into being and Lucrezia's assault was halted, the woman then spread her arms as a rod of iron fell from the sky and lodged itself into the barrier.

with a motion akin to bringing a hammer down, Lucrezia summoned a mighty thunderbolt that vibrated across the entire barrier and scorched the earth around it, Hope's mind was flooded with new knowledge as the second rarer attribute of magnetism was unblocked for her: Electromagnetism!

"Kaine, Hope do it! now!" Lucrezia's voice was empowered by her blessings as the command shook her mind out of the first time combat anxiety and a serene calm flooded her as she knew exactly what to do with her newfound powers.

Sending mana to the ground Hope found vast quantities of iron deep below the arena, nestled within the soil, with a grunt of power she pulled them from the earth, her body doing the same gesture she saw a few nobles doing when they were at the gym doing lifts.

"O mighty river of time smite my enemies!" Kaine's staff flared as the symbol of Gwenarius showed up in the skies, an ancient clock mechanism that counted down to 3, and beams of pale blue light began descending into the Professor at high speeds!

Another ping in her soul and mind let Hope know she could do that selfsame spell! yet her mind did not waver and with another grunt and burning massive mana reserves she didn't know she had Hope manipulated the iron into a huge spike that drove itself into the barrier, not missing a beat she closed her eyes and focused inwards, gathering the necessary amount of mana for the spell.

A lighting strike so strong it nearly broke the nearby windows nailed the barrier together with Kaine's spell and the whole thing went up in the air with an ethereal crack. Hope heaved as her mana reserves nearly bottomed it out and barely saw the bottle Kaine gave her to regen mana as the dust settled around the Professor, the man had a grin on his face as he began to clap.

"Congratulations! you lasted a whole minute!" he then leaped forward making a beeline towards Kaine and Hope remembered the very first rule of any combat drilled by the forces of Vermilion into their recruits

"Take out the mages first"

Her mind went overdrive as she counted the seconds for her mana to come back to acceptable levels, as it did Kaine had already layered himself with several barriers and aegis but something told Hope that wouldn't last

So in a bold move, she dashed towards the Professor together with Lucrezia who was panting hard, her cheeks red as a maniacal glee took hold of her usually calm and collected face, another ping in Hope's soul let her know that her future teacher was under the aforementioned effects of Battle Lust!

And that Hope could do the same if she wished to. Holding that off unless things got extremely dire she rushed forward and plated her shield in front of her just at the edge of Kaine's spells when she heard the Prince scream from the side.

"HOPE!" in his hand was a beautiful shield and around it, a mighty Ki construct!

The Crimson Shield of the Dragonblood Family, a unique Ki technique only those of the Dragonblood line could employ said to have stopped the almighty attack of Gods itself! Hope drilled her eyes into it and within a second her soul and mind knew how to use it.

Stabbing the ground with her new sword Hope roared a mighty war cry and at that moment the selfsame Ki shield came to her, the Professor was visible taken back as the technique only a few in the entire world was used by some random commoner! His strike faltered as it slammed into her shield of Ki and for a solid 10 seconds, she was locked in place holding for dear life.

A shadowy figure warped to his side and a mighty ax made out of solid bone came crashing down, drawing blood in its wake as Hope heard Lucrezia moan again, the woman then rotated herself and planted a kick right into his ribs, her boots expanding into a nasty looking ice dagger! and she didn't stop there as she pulled the ax back from the ground and slashed the man's face!

With a grunt, he removed the ice dagger from his ribcage and the wound closed in seconds, with a face that had none of the earlier mirths he turned to Lucrezia and punched the air in front of her.

Lucrezia planted her ax straight to the ground as if predicting his move, alas the pressure of the spell was too much and she went flying towards a tree, slamming her entire back into it and plopping down on the ground, Kaine without wasting a beat grabbed Hope's arm and teleported both of them to her and Hope was quick to use the staffs with healing spells on them.

Which in turn made her learn the spells! Gods above! if she could learn one of the most difficult schools of magic from staff what was the limit in her blessing?!

"Use the teleport spell you just saw, it's modified to not tax on mana" Kaine gave her an order and Hope nodded "Lucrezia! talk with me, you mad woman!" Kaine poked her in the face as she moaned and groaned.

"...I need a new set of undergarments..." Lucrezia whispered as she got up "I'll pretend I didn't hear that, nor your obscene moaning earlier" Kaine fired back with a sigh "Hope, DO NOT use Battle Lust, without a blessing or the training for it like the Orcs have you are liable to losing your mind"

"Got it" Hope replied as the Professor looked up and said "2 minutes" the man was not messing around anymore. Alas, Hope was running on fumes after that huge lightning strike.

"To think I would need to tap into that power this soon...Fate perhaps?" Lucrezia said while looking at the skies, she grabbed her ax and took a deep breath.

Kaine's eyes bulged from his sockets "What in all hells are you doing Lucrezia!" then Hope noticed a maelstrom of pure energy that was neither mana nor divine, or even from the hells!

Rage, Wrath, a feeling of overwhelming anger that overpowered everything Hope could think and feel, a song of pure distilled vengeance against all of creation and its people. gasps around the fight-filled the air as the Prince fell on his knees his hands clutching his head in agony

"Listen to its song Hope, its cries for blood and war, how it consumes and overpowers, a constant flux of eternal wrath against All-Father and its children, let the waves wash over you, embrace its power and drink deep from the fountain that is the Sea of Wrath!" Lucrezia's voice had a distorted tone to it as her form blurred for a second before affirming itself once again, she was taller, meaner and her eyes glowed.

"A shame I am stuck in the shallows, but not you Hope, you and our Prince over there, ours is the power only one person in the entire Kingdom enjoys, and today we will help you unlock it!"

Hope's mind was cast to that dream she had on her birthday, of the deep dark ocean she explored and it finally clicked, her mind and soul gave her the now common ping and a wellspring of power rushed into her very being.

"Stage two, look at that" Lucrezia said with a smile on her face, but Hope didn't listen to her as a power strong, ancient, and angry as all hells!

"Rage-that-Dwells" is the power that allowed Queen Malphas to stop the mad royals of Grannarius, so strong even mid-tier gods wouldn't dare to fight the woman unless with heavy backup, and Lucrezia said both her and Arthur had it! and strong enough to equal that of the Queen!

Hope looked to Arthur and saw the young man standing still shaking, the powers of the Rage-that-Dwells fully manifesting in himself as well, but all eyes were on Hope and Lucrezia as Kaine sighed "Of course, of bloody course, you had that saved for last you bloody madwoman!"

"A Shallow-Walker and a Deep-Peregrine, rotten luck..." said the Professor as he shook his head and pointed his staff at Hope and Lucrezia "Ready yourselves! For I will not hold back now!"

a burst of guttural laughter left Lucrezia's mouth as she picked her weapon and pointed towards him "Come and meet your destiny!" Kaine dashed backward and began summoning something big as Hope to let the power of the Rage-that-Dwells fill her, her mind deadset on destroying her enemy. It was hard to not lose herself to the rage she felt but she recalled that light that protected her in her dreams and focused on it, as her soul and mind focused on it she fell into a balance and was ready for the final bout.

"Let's finish this," she said picking up her sword and slamming it on her shield, trying to look as menacing as Lucrezia, alas she lacked the certain conviction one had after fighting a battle against overwhelming odds.

Hope spared a single glance towards Arthur, the prince looked like he had gotten a grasp at whatever had plagued him, focusing her sight on the professor again, Hope called the heaping wreck of iron to her side and bent parts of it into thin rods floating behind her back, as the metal neatly slide itself on her Kaine floated in the air and pointed the staff at the Professor, a circle of arcane spears blooming from his sides and flying at great speeds towards the man.

Lucrezia leaped like an animal towards him, and Hope used the teleport spell Kaine had used before, she warped to the Professor's left side and tried to stab his ribs as Lucrezia came flying with a mighty downwards swing of her ax, the arcane spears slamming into a newly formed shield that also blocked Lucrezia's swing.

With another air charged punch, he tossed her ax far away and began raining blows on Lucrezia with his strange weapon, she, on the other hand, was deflecting, parrying, and even fighting back with strange moves unlike anything Hope had ever seen before, kicks, punches, grab moves! it was like she was one of those monks from the west who mastered the hand to hand art to perfection.

Not wanting to lose her weapons as well, Hope tried calling down Kaine's Chronomancy's spell only to find it wasn't working! like a mighty river current being blocked by an even mightier dam, she was missing something that would allow the spell to work.

with a grunt, she called the iron rods and sent them upwards near the Professor, now that the unholy power of the Rage-that-Dwells was keeping her in top shape she felt the very fabric of creation cry out in anguish as she deployed an incredible amount of whatever force powered the Sea of Wrath into a lighting strike!

A bolt came and struck true, breaking the Professor's spell and more arcane lances came flying towards the man, Hope rushed in and slashed at his back only for the man to kick Lucrezia right in the belly and push her backward, parry Hope's strike and deflect another shower of arcane lances by Kaine who teleported again and began summoning a fireball the size of a small carriage.

Lucrezia bonded back to the fray with a blood curling warcry and began raining down blows on him, Hope was readying herself for another lighting strike when the man leaped to the far end of the arena and held his hand up "3 MINUTES, ITS OVER" he bellowed as Kaine sighed and dispelled the fireball, the young mage had to support himself with his staff to not fall flat on the ground.

Hope on the other hand was grinding her teeth in expectation for another bout of violence, it took all of her willpower to calm down, and once she did she felt her entire body drop before stabbing the sword in the ground and using it the same way Kaine was using it.

Themitrocles clapped hands and everyone focused on him "My students! full glad I am that our rising stars here could give us such a display of combat! Of course, not all is well and I will personally drill you, fine people, into mean lean killing machines that would make even the most veteran of knights blush with envy!" he laughed at his joke but most of the class did not join the man "At any rate, I hope you all have learned something from this short bout, now regarding their strategy..." with a snap from Emmelie chairs appeared from thin air

The other students quickly got themselves into a long debate mixed with a breakdown of the fight, of note was ramifications of Hope being able to use secret techniques and spells from a glance, as the Blessing of the All-Father was rare but not unknown there were rules in place in case a noble wanted complete ownership of his or hers spells and martial arts they would need to file a report to a nearby church of the All-Father and do an ungodly amount of paperwork for it.

Of note was one of the Royal Knights out of her own volition teaching Hope after she recovered standard moves every Knight in the kingdom should know by heart and pointing out beginner flaws as even the Blessing couldn't give Hope everything.

Kaine also taught her a prayer for Gwenarius and Hope felt the sigil of the Goddess burn her left arm. As per tradition, it was known those blessed by the All-Father could have up to 4 Blessings at all times, and if they needed to change they would select one to replace it. From the Knight, she learned the blessing of Morugarius and the sigil appeared in her arm without hurting her this time.

It was clear Gwennarius wasn't happy with this, but only a fool would refuse the power of the All-Father, and she was no fool.

Thadeus Shatter-Spear proved to be a boon as well. the young man was positively vibrating as he broke down the fight together with Themitrocles, Hope saw Arthur sighing as Thadeus bombarded Lucrezia with questions, the Duchess on the other hand looked like she had run the yearly marathon and could barely keep up with him, Hope watched as Kaine and Emmilie talked in hushed whispers.

The fight had taken out the sting of the earlier revelation, that and the newer revelations of her unholy powers. A living ancient... how would the spirits around the world react, how would the gods react?

And yet Hope felt an air of cheerfulness coming from the woman, it seems that Kaine's mastery of time magic gave her a spark to enjoy life again, and who knows maybe together with Lucrezia they could do something about the Goddess that abandoned the Ancients so long ago...

Lucrezia, Hope stared at the woman who had now shed her armor and looked like she was ready to sleep on the spot, her maid had shown up and cleaned her with some sort of spell that Hope learned as she watched the magic doing its work.

Something deep inside Hope told her that Lucrezia has the key for something...something important in her life and the life of the people around her, she knew too much, had powers few could boast about and was a beauty to boot! but watching her now, Hope saw past the carefully made mask she had and what was there was a tired woman who weighted an entire duchy on her shoulders, but even then the happiness in her face could not be denied.

Hope realized she didn't want to be alone, friendless, and sulking like before. Nay, she would have friends this time, true lifelong companions who would help her through thick and thin.

Even if the first of them was a maniacal horned up heretic prince killing woman.

---

"Your over-reliance on big flashy moves will be your undoing Miss Wulfgrem" Thadeus spoke to the woman as she mediated on the air thanks to her powers of Magnetism, he watched as the class tried to return to normal, and to their credit, his classmates were trying their best.

Still, it wasn't every day you would find out a race previously thought to be extinct to the last in an act of mass suicide, actually had the last living survivor walking around for decades now, enjoying a quiet life on her own.

"I appreciate your concern Thadeus" she spoke with a weary voice, ah yes the effects of a Shallow-Walker first time tapping into the Rage were usually extreme tiredness and headaches, combining that with Lucrezia's absurd usage of mana for those lighting spells and he could guess the woman's head was buzzing as if she had come from a 3 day party drinking the most expensive of wines and distilled beverages the capital could give.

For someone who had killed her parents and a prince, Lucrezia looked and acted with sanity, yet Thadeus saw that mask slip off in the battlefield, the madness that lurked behind the facade was a thing of beauty! Oh, how Thadeus hated the fancy nobles who lost their taste for blood after centuries without a good civil war! even his own family the Dragonblood's had all but 1 become passive as the principality's elves.

Of course, aunt Malphas didn't count, that woman was a one-woman army and very few would even dare mess with her.

One of those few was right in front of him.

"Are you perhaps done with the questions? I really must focus..." Lucrezia asked in a weary voice, yet Thadeus could feel the woman wasn't all that against him bugging her, for every question he shot she gave him clear and concise answers. Almost like she was enjoying the chat!

"To think old Arthur there was also born with the power of the Rage... wonder how aunt will react to the news" Thadeus spoke out loud as he sat down in the grass near Lucrezia "He wasn't that much of a fighter, or a mage either even with his association with Kaine, wonder what secrets he's hiding..."

"I am sure will find the news very exciting" Lucrezia spoke again "How about you Thadeus, fearful of losing the spot as the best fighter of the family?" He couldn't miss the little tease at the end there, Ahh Thadeus smiled as his Blessings flared into life to ward off the influence of Saal'Xhir. As always that blessing had to be countered as fast as possible, lest the leftover effects of his curse flared again.

"Be seeing you soon Miss Wulfgrem" Thadeus got up and walked away, it was time to blow off some steam.

---

William stared at the awe-struck guy in front of him as he handed the man his dish, working in the cafeteria this early in the morning wasn't his idea of a good time but he had a quest to finish and big rewards to get.

By working with the school Chief, he would be getting a specially made dish made out of the draconic chicken with oil extracted from divine olives only found in the city of the gods. In-game it gave a permanent stat boost to the protagonist in all of its martial and magical stats.

But to earn this mythical mean he had to ace this morning rush for food, and so using ample amounts of Ice mana and Magnetism to improve his reaction speed he was blasting through the line, to the point small lulls would happen as more people got into the cafeteria for their breakfast.

"This is so bloody undignified! I am a godsdamned Duchess! not some peasant worker aah!" Lucrezia roared in his ear in outrage, the woman had been against the idea because her image would be tarnished beyond the point of repair and that this would spell doom to her social networking, William elected to remain quiet as she cursed and threatened him.

"I swear on All-Father's name when you come down here tonight I will beat you to a pulp you bloody Terran! Don't you dare-" Lucrezia was cut short by the figure of a huge Orc who began speaking with William.

"Working with the staff now Lucrezia? what's next cleaning the halls?" Orthus asked with a laugh "Just a jape my friend, just a jape! It is good to see a high born working with the real people of her nation, often than not your kind can lose themselves in the good life and forget the struggles of the little ones" he spoke as William made his plate and out of memory William finished his phrase

"For it is in the struggles of the little ones where we find the true face of our people" William spoke out loud and the orc stopped, a few others near him also stopped and nodded with respect "Spoken like a Village elder my friend! Best of luck in your trial and thanks for the meal" he went away as the line moved along.

Time flew by as William worked, and soon he was face to face with the chief of the Academy Kitchen. A bald ashen Ogre twice as tall as Orthus stood quietly as he stared William down for a full second, the workers around them growing nervous by the second since the man was known to be very demanding and a fan of throwing ingredients at his would-be cooks.

A rumbling voice growled in a myriad emotions William couldn't right nail "Not only the whelp worked hard she worked smart, what is usually the hardest part of the job bar parties she nailed as she had been catering to uptight nobles her whole life, aren't you a woman of many talents Lucrezia?"

"I aim to please Chief" William replied.

"So she does, so she does now come, let no god or devil say I did not reward you for a job well done" he beckoned William closer and opened the lid on the divine cooked bird, he salivated as the Chief spoke again "I am told your "Pizza" is the stuff of dreams, even when you lack a proper Blessing by a Culinarian God, you teach me how to make it and I will put the good word with the rest of the staff"

What a bonus reward! William didn't know this was possible in-game also. with a nod, he quickly got into the motion of prepping the dough and toppings together with the sauce, finding the right cheese was proving too hard as the one they had wasn't the one William was used working on it, with a bark the Chief got several workers to make a supply run and a short few minutes later they had William's preferred cheese.

The Kitchen staff watched mesmerized as William did the classic dough throwing and prepped the dish, after putting it in the oven and waiting for the whole thing to be over the Chief spoke "Very good, very good indeed, Now go, get out of my kitchen"

William left with a smile on his face, and the best chicken he had ever eaten on his hands.

---

Hope watched as Lucrezia shoved half a bird that smelled like it was made by the God of Cooking himself on her plate, the table as it were was buzzing with activity as people from the bout congregated around her, minus the Prince as he stayed in the Noble part of the cafeteria.

"Lucrezia! how did you get that!" Kaine spoke loudly as he stared at the divine bird "very few cooks can work with that bird, much less get the right oil for the frying! Explain yourself at once you demoness!"

"Don't call me that" Lucrezia replied from her seat as she slapped Kaine's arm to which Richard laughed "You two keep this up the rumors will get worse you know?" Ah yes, Hope thought to herself in a way to distract from the smells of the bird that demanded her to consume the food, the Academy was hellbent on proving Lucrezia was dating Kaine due to their friendship.

Even when the woman herself mostly spends her time with Richard! the young man was always a bit nervous around Lucrezia which to be fair was a normal reaction given her reputation but after nearly a week of staying together every day, he was relaxing more now.

"Lass you better eat that bird before I do it All-Father as my witness" Spoke Ironheart with a smile as she laughed at Hope's face "I jest I jest, but gods it does look and smells good, to echo's Master Kaine question, how did you get such a prize Miss Wulfgrem?"

Hope couldn't hold herself any longer and finally dug into the food, feeling her very being getting stronger with each bite as Lucrezia's voice was heard "A secret my friends a secret!" she clapped and that spooky maid of hers appeared from thin air "As a consolation prize I made you fine people a pizza! please eat away!"

"She cooks as well, impressive, impressive Wulfgrem" Dkhar spoke as she dug into a slice "Gods this is good!"

"So" Lucrezia turned to Hope who had just finished her dish "Did the blessing work? can you cast Chronomancy spells now?"

Hope drank a cup of cider and spoke "Yes! the Goddess spoke with me yesterday, she was very rude but now I can use every spell Kaine taught, a few of them demand too much mana and I have to tap into the Rage..."

Lucrezia waved her hand "You will get the hang of it sooner rather than later my dear, and the martial training?"

Dkhar spoke up "I had her train the basics with me and Ironheart here, she has them down and we are moving up with the more complex stuff at a steady pace, being able to outright change blessings to specific gods tied to weapons is...well there's no right way to say it but brilliant"

Hope nodded with a big goofy smile on her face, so far the training had exceeded her expectation! Lucrezia truly wasn't kidding when she said Hope would become a legend with this power.

"Hmm" Lucrezia placed her fair hand on her cheek "How about the rest of the activities, how are you enjoying those?" she asked as Hope searched around her mind, then the events came rushing in as she regaled her friends with the discovery of a new type of frog, running from a huge Cerberus that was living in some forgotten corner in the Academy and even singing in the Academy's band!

"You can sing?" asked Richard who motioned his hands "Of course, you can sing, Musical Gods, are known to bless people at random..."

"Were you sleeping when I explained the ins and outs of the Blessing Richard?" Lucrezia teased him as she smiled again, Hope felt a strange but welcoming sense of peace wash over her as the people around her talked and joked amongst themselves. Every once in a while someone would come over like the big Orc who Dkhar told her was royalty or the representatives of organizations inside the Academy who had dealings with Lucrezia.

Yet Hope had hidden a small part of her tale, a chance meeting with the Prince late at night on the rooftops of the main building, earlier that day Lucrezia had told Hope the sight there was something everyone should see at least once and so she went there, meeting Arthur who was all by himself.

They talked at length, about life, about the Rage and its ramifications, Hope felt a strange kind of kinship with him as he opened up to her about life in the palace and dealing with the duties of being a royal.

They only stopped when the sun came out and Hope couldn't help but grin on her way to the dorms, Gods above this was great!

"Lucrezia Sommer Wulfgrem!" a voice spoke with a commanding tone from the background and Hope snapped from her daydreaming, A tall-looking man stared at them, he was flanked by a legion of women one as beautiful as the next.

Hope watched as Lucrezia's face flashed with pure rage before the mask of tranquility settled and she got up, ready for anything the world could throw at her.