Going on a mission was nothing that felt new to Cael. Old, forgotten memories flared up at once in his mind from a time when he was still a newbie in the Golden Claw Sect. He was forced to accept similar tasks to gain resources, traveling all around Meriath, which looked thoroughly different back then. Yet, somehow, it all made perfect sense and also washed him with a feeling of nostalgia.
"This is life..." He whispered as the group set out from the city, heading towards the city of Deliah.
He didn't really know what the cargo was, but it should be potions as it bore the insignia of Alchemy Haven, the Academy's most prominent alchemist association. Besides him, no other students were present as they had yet to fully discover their options to make CP, making Cael feel like someone special for once. Not that it mattered; he thought having a student or an adventurer as a partner was irrelevant. What mattered was that he completed the mission to perfection and earned money for the Headmaster's future notes and books.
He was immersed in his thoughts, recalling previous lessons as they cut through the more lively jungle than ever before. Even if there was no sunlight to speak of, the trees didn't stop growing, and the animals were adapting to it day by day. The only bright light was coming from the enchanted lamps, glowing in an amber color on the top of the carriages, not counting some of the changed, odd trees that had an exotic hue to them here and there.
What brought him out of thinking was a sudden ambush he failed to pick up on. From within the trees, two beams of light hit the first and last carriage of the caravan, setting them ablaze while multiple shrouded figures jumped out of the jungle, attacking them. Cael didn't panic, and even though he realized he had lesser power than their assailants, he stepped forward bravely, meeting one of their metal blades.
While fending it off bare-handed, his arms surrounded by blazing fire, he couldn't help but furrow his brows. Bandits? Here? So close to the Academy? Were they mad? This could only end in their death!
"Ugh...!"
Suddenly, he felt as if he was hit by something. He couldn't determine where it came from but already knew he was being careless. A spell ravaged his insides, one that was invisible to the eyes, and soon enough, another one rammed into him, making him dizzy. He could no longer conjure fire or any element at all, and before long, his vision began blurrying as he fell forward, trying his best to not faint.
"Damn it... just when... it... started to make... sense..." He whispered before everything went dark for him.
The battle around him continued for more than ten minutes before a long whistle sounded, and everyone stopped at once. Those who were injured shook it off like nothing, and the 'dead' rose back up, starting to pat themselves off with some uncomfortable groans but still in a playful mood.
"Put out the fires, Misfits!" Simbad shouted, taking off his mask and nodding at the others while Lucian, accompanied by Melody, also appeared next to him. "It seems we are not followed or spied upon!"
"Did I good? I was good, yes? Rewards?" The faery asked with glinting eyes.
"It will be given by Lia; go bother her." Lucian grinned, and the little one happily flashed her thumbs, agreeing with him.
"She will call you names again," Simbad warned the sly fox, but he just chuckled, picking up the unconscious Cael.
"I am already used to it. First, let's bring the kid away! Or... old man? His soul is supposedly older than any of us here. Even older than Erias..."
"Just don't think about it; that will do no good! Go, I will stay with the Misfits and clean up the mess before reporting back!"
"These are the times when I truly miss teleportation..." Lucian grunted as he began walking through the jungle, heading towards the village of the faeries.
...
....
......
When Cael began to regain consciousness, he felt the same when his memories were returning as a kid. The world was swimming around him, going in and out of focus while his stomach wanted to throw up all of its contents. It took him multiple minutes to finally regain control of all of his senses and manage to sit up, just to find himself sitting in a shabby hut made out of sticks and leaves.
"Kidnapping...?" He asked, bewildered, as that was more of a stupid idea than robbing a caravan.
"Not really." Answered a voice that he recognized right when the first word left her lips.
"Headmaster!" He gulped, realization dawning within his mind. It made sense now... "Why the charade?" He asked, turning deadly calm at once, shifting towards Lia, remaining kneeling before the sitting figure of his Headmaster.
"We don't know who may be watching, so we had to put up a play. Your Sect can be insidious, so... I wasn't going to risk it. Plus, this was a great exercise for my Misfits, too, ahaha!"
"We are not in contact." Cael answered, shaking his head and looking into her mismatched eyes, "I don't even know who the others are as we report back independently."
"I see." Lia nodded after watching his pupils remain the same, and nothing from his body showed signs of him lying. But... that could be because he was an exceptionally well-trained spy. "What did you report so far?"
"Nothing."
"You know that it is something that I don't believe, yes?"
"Of course." Cael nodded, unbothered by the accusation. "But I am not lying. I assume you can check it via this?" He asked while raising his hand with the Academy's bracelet on it.
"So far, I didn't find any bodily changes that would indicate lying." Hajna's voice echoed from the one on Lia's wrist, followed by her transparent projection appearing beside her.
"..." Cael couldn't help but stare at her. Something was bothering his memories as the voice inside the bracelet was familiar. Now, with the figure before him, he knew he saw her somewhere... but where? When?
"You know her?" Lia asked, watching the change in Cael's expression.
"I may... I don't know for sure. Many of my old memories are hazy... I am defective compared to the others. My guess is that all the other spies are in the same boat as me."
"Elaborate."
When he finished retelling everything, including how he regained his memories, what his task was, and what he remembered from his previous life, he felt like his throat was dry, and speaking became difficult and painful.
"Here." Lia smiled softly, summoning a bottle of fresh, cold water and presenting it to Cael.
"Brave." He murmured, taking a swing from it.
"My ring makes it possible to use holding bags without fearing its contents going missing... But the space is limited. And... I could have said the same!" She laughed in answer, "Drinking so readily? What if it's poison? Or have some truth serum in it?"
"There is no point in hiding anything now." After emptying half of the bottle, he replied, "I know I will not survive this... most likely."
"That is one possibility, yes. Let's continue... if you don't relay back information, there are others who do. Do you know how many?"
"No. But shouldn't be too many. A handful at best."
"What happens if you don't report back for a long time?"
"Probably, I would be marked as dead or unstable, so maybe one of the others would be sent after me. But that is just a guess... I don't know how it would work now."
"And you are fine with that?" Hajna interjected, honestly surprised.
"They ought to be the same as me. I would have a fighting chance, and they would be hard-pressed to do anything within the Academy. There, I would have been safe. It is still early, and if I managed to get in some quests, I could stack up enough CP so I don't need to leave the Academy for a year or two."
"Huh... Forward-thinking, eh?" Lia grinned, measuring him. It was weird to hear such a calm and collected voice coming out from a young body, but then she remembered her Mom. Which soured her expression that she tried to hide. "You didn't tell me the actual reason for it so far..."
"For?" Cael asked, noticing her posture and tone changing, becoming firmer.
"For why are you not complying with the orders of your master."
"..."
There was no quick answer this time. Cael couldn't help but stare at the two before closing his eyes, going through many things within himself, remembering memories from not just his past life but from his current one, too. The friends he had back home, his parents and their unconditional love... their proud looks when he departed to join the Institute of Eight Elements. Then came the imagery that he could not forget. He watched from the ground as the Realm Gate was almost destroyed and how the Soulbound Sect's leader almost destroyed Meriath itself. Lia was about to speak again, thinking Cael stopped interacting with them, refusing to answer, but then the boy's eyes slowly reopened.
"I don't believe in our cause anymore."
"Lia..." Hajna spoke the moment she saw Lia leaning forward, her eyes flashing.
"I know that he could be lying now... But unlike you, I have a fresh look at things. I want to give him a chance! Now, what should I call you? What is your real name?"
"Cael. I enjoy it very much, and I can't help it... Probably my mind was screwed up while reincarnating." He added with a half-joke, letting himself grin a little.
"Well, Cael, first, I want to know everything about the Golden Claw you can tell me! All that you remember! Their structure, the workings within the Sect, and how they operate! Can you do that for me?"
"I can, but I can only tell things that an Elder was privy to. Above my level, there were Venerables and Grandmasters. I don't really know about them much. Also, our Sect had a separate branch, the Chameleon Claw, which included people who reported directly to the Sect Master. They were the real spies, figures who were operating within other Sects, meaning the other big five."
"No worries! I didn't expect you to open a door for me leading straight to your home Realm... which has been lost."
"It is still present." Cael answered quickly, "It has around a hundred tendrils that connect it to Meriath; those are all possible entry points, and they can close it off at a will and move to a different location. Finding it from the outside is impossible."
"I had visited it, I know!" Lia sighed, explaining her experience, making Cael nod rapidly after hearing it.
"You are not wrong. It had to be an entry point, and those who disappeared there were most likely called back and set on a new mission. The reawakening of memories is natural; nobody can help you with that. Not even the Sect Master. But now... I am sure if you could tear space itself apart, you still wouldn't find the entrance as it had been moved."
"I guess you know none?" Hajna questioned him with an untrusting look.
"No. I would only know where it is if I am being called back."
"I could feed you information that if you relay back home, you would be called upon sooner or later..." Lia murmured, but then furrowed her brows, "But I don't think that would work... Only one spy has something like that? Suspicious. A few others must relay the same thing, too!"
"How are you going to find them?" Hajna sighed, shaking her head, but Lia didn't look frustrated; on the contrary, she was grinning.
"Cael, if you want me to trust you, here is your first mission! Continue as is, and don't report back anything."
"I am willing to be the bait." He bobbed his head, quickly catching on, having no issues with Lia's intentions.
"When they go after you, I will step in. We will see if they are like you and willing to join... or I will have to be a bit more imposing."
With a satisfied chuckle, Lia couldn't help but feel excited, and she was sure the moment Erias heard about it, he would jump on the occasion to surprise the Golden Claw.
Going on a mission was nothing that felt new to Cael. Old, forgotten memories flared up at once in his mind from a time when he was still a newbie in the Golden Claw Sect. He was forced to accept similar tasks to gain resources, traveling all around Meriath, which looked thoroughly different back then. Yet, somehow, it all made perfect sense and also washed him with a feeling of nostalgia.
"This is life..." He whispered as the group set out from the city, heading towards the city of Deliah.
He didn't really know what the cargo was, but it should be potions as it bore the insignia of Alchemy Haven, the Academy's most prominent alchemist association. Besides him, no other students were present as they had yet to fully discover their options to make CP, making Cael feel like someone special for once. Not that it mattered; he thought having a student or an adventurer as a partner was irrelevant. What mattered was that he completed the mission to perfection and earned money for the Headmaster's future notes and books.
He was immersed in his thoughts, recalling previous lessons as they cut through the more lively jungle than ever before. Even if there was no sunlight to speak of, the trees didn't stop growing, and the animals were adapting to it day by day. The only bright light was coming from the enchanted lamps, glowing in an amber color on the top of the carriages, not counting some of the changed, odd trees that had an exotic hue to them here and there.
What brought him out of thinking was a sudden ambush he failed to pick up on. From within the trees, two beams of light hit the first and last carriage of the caravan, setting them ablaze while multiple shrouded figures jumped out of the jungle, attacking them. Cael didn't panic, and even though he realized he had lesser power than their assailants, he stepped forward bravely, meeting one of their metal blades.
While fending it off bare-handed, his arms surrounded by blazing fire, he couldn't help but furrow his brows. Bandits? Here? So close to the Academy? Were they mad? This could only end in their death!
"Ugh...!"
Suddenly, he felt as if he was hit by something. He couldn't determine where it came from but already knew he was being careless. A spell ravaged his insides, one that was invisible to the eyes, and soon enough, another one rammed into him, making him dizzy. He could no longer conjure fire or any element at all, and before long, his vision began blurrying as he fell forward, trying his best to not faint.
"Damn it... just when... it... started to make... sense..." He whispered before everything went dark for him.
The battle around him continued for more than ten minutes before a long whistle sounded, and everyone stopped at once. Those who were injured shook it off like nothing, and the 'dead' rose back up, starting to pat themselves off with some uncomfortable groans but still in a playful mood.
"Put out the fires, Misfits!" Simbad shouted, taking off his mask and nodding at the others while Lucian, accompanied by Melody, also appeared next to him. "It seems we are not followed or spied upon!"
"Did I good? I was good, yes? Rewards?" The faery asked with glinting eyes.
"It will be given by Lia; go bother her." Lucian grinned, and the little one happily flashed her thumbs, agreeing with him.
"She will call you names again," Simbad warned the sly fox, but he just chuckled, picking up the unconscious Cael.
"I am already used to it. First, let's bring the kid away! Or... old man? His soul is supposedly older than any of us here. Even older than Erias..."
"Just don't think about it; that will do no good! Go, I will stay with the Misfits and clean up the mess before reporting back!"
"These are the times when I truly miss teleportation..." Lucian grunted as he began walking through the jungle, heading towards the village of the faeries.
...
....
......
When Cael began to regain consciousness, he felt the same when his memories were returning as a kid. The world was swimming around him, going in and out of focus while his stomach wanted to throw up all of its contents. It took him multiple minutes to finally regain control of all of his senses and manage to sit up, just to find himself sitting in a shabby hut made out of sticks and leaves.
"Kidnapping...?" He asked, bewildered, as that was more of a stupid idea than robbing a caravan.
"Not really." Answered a voice that he recognized right when the first word left her lips.
"Headmaster!" He gulped, realization dawning within his mind. It made sense now... "Why the charade?" He asked, turning deadly calm at once, shifting towards Lia, remaining kneeling before the sitting figure of his Headmaster.
"We don't know who may be watching, so we had to put up a play. Your Sect can be insidious, so... I wasn't going to risk it. Plus, this was a great exercise for my Misfits, too, ahaha!"
"We are not in contact." Cael answered, shaking his head and looking into her mismatched eyes, "I don't even know who the others are as we report back independently."
"I see." Lia nodded after watching his pupils remain the same, and nothing from his body showed signs of him lying. But... that could be because he was an exceptionally well-trained spy. "What did you report so far?"
"Nothing."
"You know that it is something that I don't believe, yes?"
"Of course." Cael nodded, unbothered by the accusation. "But I am not lying. I assume you can check it via this?" He asked while raising his hand with the Academy's bracelet on it.
"So far, I didn't find any bodily changes that would indicate lying." Hajna's voice echoed from the one on Lia's wrist, followed by her transparent projection appearing beside her.
"..." Cael couldn't help but stare at her. Something was bothering his memories as the voice inside the bracelet was familiar. Now, with the figure before him, he knew he saw her somewhere... but where? When?
"You know her?" Lia asked, watching the change in Cael's expression.
"I may... I don't know for sure. Many of my old memories are hazy... I am defective compared to the others. My guess is that all the other spies are in the same boat as me."
"Elaborate."
When he finished retelling everything, including how he regained his memories, what his task was, and what he remembered from his previous life, he felt like his throat was dry, and speaking became difficult and painful.
"Here." Lia smiled softly, summoning a bottle of fresh, cold water and presenting it to Cael.
"Brave." He murmured, taking a swing from it.
"My ring makes it possible to use holding bags without fearing its contents going missing... But the space is limited. And... I could have said the same!" She laughed in answer, "Drinking so readily? What if it's poison? Or have some truth serum in it?"
"There is no point in hiding anything now." After emptying half of the bottle, he replied, "I know I will not survive this... most likely."
"That is one possibility, yes. Let's continue... if you don't relay back information, there are others who do. Do you know how many?"
"No. But shouldn't be too many. A handful at best."
"What happens if you don't report back for a long time?"
"Probably, I would be marked as dead or unstable, so maybe one of the others would be sent after me. But that is just a guess... I don't know how it would work now."
"And you are fine with that?" Hajna interjected, honestly surprised.
"They ought to be the same as me. I would have a fighting chance, and they would be hard-pressed to do anything within the Academy. There, I would have been safe. It is still early, and if I managed to get in some quests, I could stack up enough CP so I don't need to leave the Academy for a year or two."
"Huh... Forward-thinking, eh?" Lia grinned, measuring him. It was weird to hear such a calm and collected voice coming out from a young body, but then she remembered her Mom. Which soured her expression that she tried to hide. "You didn't tell me the actual reason for it so far..."
"For?" Cael asked, noticing her posture and tone changing, becoming firmer.
"For why are you not complying with the orders of your master."
"..."
There was no quick answer this time. Cael couldn't help but stare at the two before closing his eyes, going through many things within himself, remembering memories from not just his past life but from his current one, too. The friends he had back home, his parents and their unconditional love... their proud looks when he departed to join the Institute of Eight Elements. Then came the imagery that he could not forget. He watched from the ground as the Realm Gate was almost destroyed and how the Soulbound Sect's leader almost destroyed Meriath itself. Lia was about to speak again, thinking Cael stopped interacting with them, refusing to answer, but then the boy's eyes slowly reopened.
"I don't believe in our cause anymore."
"Lia..." Hajna spoke the moment she saw Lia leaning forward, her eyes flashing.
"I know that he could be lying now... But unlike you, I have a fresh look at things. I want to give him a chance! Now, what should I call you? What is your real name?"
"Cael. I enjoy it very much, and I can't help it... Probably my mind was screwed up while reincarnating." He added with a half-joke, letting himself grin a little.
"Well, Cael, first, I want to know everything about the Golden Claw you can tell me! All that you remember! Their structure, the workings within the Sect, and how they operate! Can you do that for me?"
"I can, but I can only tell things that an Elder was privy to. Above my level, there were Venerables and Grandmasters. I don't really know about them much. Also, our Sect had a separate branch, the Chameleon Claw, which included people who reported directly to the Sect Master. They were the real spies, figures who were operating within other Sects, meaning the other big five."
"No worries! I didn't expect you to open a door for me leading straight to your home Realm... which has been lost."
"It is still present." Cael answered quickly, "It has around a hundred tendrils that connect it to Meriath; those are all possible entry points, and they can close it off at a will and move to a different location. Finding it from the outside is impossible."
"I had visited it, I know!" Lia sighed, explaining her experience, making Cael nod rapidly after hearing it.
"You are not wrong. It had to be an entry point, and those who disappeared there were most likely called back and set on a new mission. The reawakening of memories is natural; nobody can help you with that. Not even the Sect Master. But now... I am sure if you could tear space itself apart, you still wouldn't find the entrance as it had been moved."
"I guess you know none?" Hajna questioned him with an untrusting look.
"No. I would only know where it is if I am being called back."
"I could feed you information that if you relay back home, you would be called upon sooner or later..." Lia murmured, but then furrowed her brows, "But I don't think that would work... Only one spy has something like that? Suspicious. A few others must relay the same thing, too!"
"How are you going to find them?" Hajna sighed, shaking her head, but Lia didn't look frustrated; on the contrary, she was grinning.
"Cael, if you want me to trust you, here is your first mission! Continue as is, and don't report back anything."
"I am willing to be the bait." He bobbed his head, quickly catching on, having no issues with Lia's intentions.
"When they go after you, I will step in. We will see if they are like you and willing to join... or I will have to be a bit more imposing."
With a satisfied chuckle, Lia couldn't help but feel excited, and she was sure the moment Erias heard about it, he would jump on the occasion to surprise the Golden Claw.
