03 - Purification (1)
"Hmm. Where's Instructor Bischoff?" a man asked as he looked around his surroundings.
He was seated on a high platform, looking down at the youngsters who had gathered in the open space, arranged in rows and columns for the event of the day.
"He went to fetch one of the young masters," one of his aides whispered to him.
"Oh?" the man from earlier expressed a bit of surprise, his eyes narrowing as he searched through the gathering of youngsters as if trying to find out which one of them was important enough to make Bischoff keep him waiting here.
"Which one of them would that be?" the man asked.
"That would be Young Master Nicolas, sir."
"I see. If it's him then that's understandable."
The man no longer held any grievances towards Bischoff after finding that it was Nic Aurelius whom he went to fetch. After all, Nic was one of the stars of his generation and pride of the clan of Aurelius.
"However, he should know that this event will still proceed as planned in the next one hour whether he brings the young master here or not."
"I believe he does, sir," his aide replied and stepped back, returning to his position behind the man.
Meanwhile, the young boys and girls who were gathered here observed their environment, some of them chattering to each other and most minding their businesses.
The atmosphere was thick with tension for them, considering that the outcome of today's event would play a big role in determining how their future in the clan would play out from now on.
They were all Formless Sword rank individuals and after today, they would know if they could scale up to the Sword Warrior rank and remain stagnant.
Stagnation in a clan like Aurelius was like a knife to one's throat, meaning that it was a decline in one's usefulness to the clan.
As Aurelius clan members as well as children of the vassal clan, they understood this one law even as young as they were. The Sword Clan of Aurelius had no use for weak people, especially the ones who do not even make any kind of progress.
"Looks like it worked," one of the youngsters said to another as they cackled like medieval witches whose evil plans had come to fruition.
"I told you it would. Now let's see how he will stay ahead of us."
"Imagine reporting that you missed the ceremony because you overslept. Even for Nic, that excuse would not fly."
These two boys seemed to enjoy the fact that Nic was yet to arrive at the venue for today's event and in the manner that they spoke to each other, it was clear that something fishy was going on.
Such was the way of life inside the clan of Aurelius. Even amongst brothers and sisters, there was already one scheme or the other going on to sabotage each other.
"But Instructor Bischoff might wake him," the other added.
The one being spoken to laughed and patted the other's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Mello. We were already guaranteed that it would work."
He looked around them for a second before moving his head even closer to Mello's ear. "Remember they said he would be out for an entire day."
"I remember that Mars," Mello said, "Just that—"
"Just that nothing, Mello. I don't think you want them to find out that you are doubting them. You know what that would lead to."
In an instant, images flashed across Mars' mind and the cold hands of fear fell on his group as he started to shiver, although at a mild level.
Mars shook his head, signaling that he was not in any way doubting their benefactors.
"Then relax."
****
Meanwhile, Nic was currently staring at the mirror in front of them or at least, that was what it looked like.
In truth, a strange row of texts suddenly appeared before his eyes, leaving him shocked and confused.
Even in his past life, he had not seen anything like this before and didn't know what it was.
[Hello, host]
Nic took a few steps and moved away from the mirror, keeping a distance from this strange floating window.
'Host?' he thought. 'Is this some sort of parasite?'
Looking at the system window for a complete minute, Nic decided to ask it a question.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
[I am a fragment of the Supreme Sword, Calibra]
[My sole aim is to take you to the pinnacle of it all — the peak of swordsmanship]
"Calibra…?" Nic instinctively voiced out.
He immediately recalled the events that surrounded his death all of a sudden.
That was the target of his last mission as a member of the Emrys Clan.
"I remember," he muttered. "I acquired the sword and after appearing in that strange dark world, it suddenly vanished, leaving only a mere steel sword in my hand. Could it be…?"
Nic looked at the system window.
[Yes, Host. You are bound to Calibra]
He gave it a thought and soon a devilish grin manifested on his face as he clenched his fist.
"Then it is possible," Nic said with eerie excitement. "I can exert my revenge on those bastards."
Seeing all of the information that the system had given me, Nic could already deduce the potential of such an ability and he loved what he was arriving at.
After all, the system had clearly stated that its main goal was to take it to the topmost level of swordsmanship.
What else could Nic wish for?
[Alert! Your body has been tampered with]
[Alert! Your soul has been tampered with]
Nic's eyes grew wide as he read these sets of information.
"My body? My soul… tampered with?"
[Analysing host's current status…]
[Analysis has been completed]
[You have been poisoned]
[You have been cursed]
[Would you like to begin the purification process to create an appropriate body?]
[Yes / No]
"Yes," Nic answered quickly.
[Commencing purification…]
'I only just woke up in this strange body. How is it that I have already been pois—'
Nic's thoughts were abruptly cut off by the unbearable pain that tore through his nerves in that instant.
It felt like he was being electrocuted and burned at the same time. Sweat enough to fill buckets poured from all over his body as he fell to his knees and panted, gasping heavily for air.