Chapter 51: Cheep!? 49

Cheep!?

Chapter 49

Niko waited with the rest of the Greenhorns for Crowe to return. He’d brought them to a specific hall, and to Niko’s surprise they’d been split off from the former Oath Sworn and the Red Hawks. Niko felt worried over his absent siblings, but he tried to convince himself that his concerns were groundless. He knew he’d have issues with letting them out of his sight, possibly for the rest of his life, and that was something he’d have to deal with in his own time.

The doors opened once more and in strolled Crowe, holding a short stack of papers, “Thank you for waiting patiently. Is there anyone here who cannot write Kingdom Standard? Aside from Niko.” He gave a light nod to Niko then, who blinked a few times and did his best not to imagine how the man might react if he knew he could write. He might drop that bomb later, though.

“My handwriting is like chicken scratch,” Dachna shrugged while Niko found the phrase quietly amusing, “But we all know it.”

“Mmm, good.” Crowe nodded, scanning the rest of the group just to be sure no one might indicate otherwise. When no one did, he simply nodded and began to make his way to each of them.

Niko sat at a modified desk that was so close to Skye’s desk that it may as well have been attached. Crowe had insisted that they begin to practice interpretation now instead of embarrassing themselves when they left the estate. Crowe strode by each of the desks and deposited a sheaf of papers and a narrow tipped graphite pencil of sorts, “If you need to write any notes, feel free to do so.”

For a split second, Niko wondered if paper was somehow a rare commodity, but none of the Greenhorns had stared at the paper oddly to indicate that it was. They picked up the papers in front of them and sat at the ready, giving their attention more seriously than Niko had seen even in most high-level collegiate classes he’d been a part of in his last life.

“First of all,” Crowe stood at a shiny black board while holding an odd metal pen, “The Kingdom of Arnost has been around for roughly ten thousand years, but we are aware of another civilization that once occupied these lands.” That subtle bomb drop floored Niko, as the timeline was much longer than he’d been expecting. As far as he was aware, no civilization on Earth came close to anything resembling that span of time. The others nodded along, not surprised at all

“The next oldest known civilization is the Empire, at five thousand years. Neither the Republic nor the disparate tribes to the north approach even ten percent of that. However, in all that time, the Kingdom has not expanded past its original borders. Does anyone know why?” He turned his attention to the class as a whole, but Mithel was the one who exuberantly lifted her hand. “Miss Tordentach?”

“The Legacy Pact between the Arnost Kingdom, Dwarf-Gnome Clannad, and at the time several powerful beast tribes that haven’t been seen for three thousand years. In return for restrained expansion, the Kingdom was allowed to absorb the Clannad and several beast-kin tribes. In return for that reduction in expansionist ideologies, the Clannad and beast tribes exchanged information, trade, and in the case of beasts, opportunities to bond with their members on a case to case basis. This is said to have been so appetizing an arrangement due, in part, to the influence of the First King, who had bonded with a beast that eventually ascended to become a Phoenix. This had demonstrated the potential of beasts to the humanoid races, with the Clannad then wishing to establish a lasting and peaceful neighbor at a time when the underlands were experiencing significant turmoil.” Mithel ‘Tordentach’ –Niko hadn’t heard her last name before now, but found it was a fun one to say– responded happily, “My mom’s a gnome and my dad’s a dwarf. They’ve got a lot of history in their house.”

Crowe nodded, “That is correct as an overview. Your parents must have quite the library.”

Mithel nodded, beaming proudly in a way that Niko hadn’t really seen her yet, “Knowledge is power.”

“Indeed it is,” Crowe let a lopsided smile cross his visage for a second before he gestured to the board with his metal stick. “In summary, everything Mithel said was correct, and for the purposes of this discussion we don’t need to go that much further. Just understand that our lack of expansion in the Kingdom has been a strength for us, and not a weakness. We are bordered to the north all the way to the east and even partly south by the Niffel Mountain Range, thus making any assaults overland incredibly exhausting and strenuous for logistical purposes and personnel. We hold the southern pass from the Ursona Republic to the Empire through a combination of the Kingdom’s forces and the Clannad. As such, while we keep tariffs and goods flowing with a minimal fee between the two powers, they allow it because it is the only good region to cross through our territory or any territory surrounding. Going around to the north would be a ten-thousand kilometer journey at best. The sea, obviously, is another route, but not one that is usable for many parts of the year.”

“Meanwhile, our northwestern side is occupied by the Gridlands, and even Bant’s cult doesn’t go through there lightly. To the west there are fertile lands all the way until the Primordial cuts down from across the floating range to take up half of the coast. and the southlands are a ranging collection of smaller mountain ranges, Ochna’s Crevasse, and other natural barriers. As such, the Kingdom is defended virtually on all sides from large offensives, while defensive measures at more plausible locations have long been fortified.” As Crowe spoke he tapped at the board, and Niko watched in fascination as a portion of it lit up with clean lines, a minute demonstration of essence control that he likewise marveled at. He was especially fascinated when what looked like a mountain range was filled in, hovering over an open landscape largely consisting of grasslands and rivers around the north west area of the Kingdom before sweeping down and meeting ground about halfway down the western coast. As much as he knew it would be dangerous, Niko found himself enthralled with the idea of seeing it for himself. ‘How and the actual cluck!? It’s big enough to be on a map, too!’ 

“For the most part, our neighbors do covet our lands, but there hasn’t been any active talk of aggression for a thousand years, in spite of some individuals' attempts at creating situations to try to lead to otherwise. Granted, much of our nobility would be utterly useless if there–” He stopped for just a second and continued as though he hadn’t just inserted his own personal thoughts into the lesson “–In any case, our neighbors gain too much from us to risk invading. The Kingdom is the single best source of exotic and rare monster parts due to the presence of several high tier essence zones, and we are the only source of many beasts that are at least somewhat friendly to humanoid sapients. Much of this only exists because the Kingdom is friendly with our local powers, and has less to do with our position and more to do with our politics. As an aside, while the beast tribes of old have gone into hiding, you occasionally see beasts that originate from them around.” 

At that, he turned to Niko with a light nod, “Niko here, in specific, is a member of the Phorus species, which in turn is an extremely rare potential evolutionary branch-off of Red Hawks. He would be a strongly desired companion, if only because of what he represents from the beast tribes symbolically. As Niko is here, I will go over a brief overview about some background information, but there are things that I will go into detail about with him later.” Crowe tapped the board and the map detailing the borderlands of the Kingdom vanished. It hadn’t really given him a proper sense of scale, but Niko was glad to have at least seen some indication of the Kingdom’s layout.

“Tamer is the term that refers to any individual that establishes an essence bond with any beast that is two way, reciprocal, and voluntary. This is the most common method of acquiring a beast companion in the Kingdom, but far from the only method available. It should be noted that those other methods are completely illegal here in the Kingdom. If a case should be found in which some kind of alternative binding method has been used then, depending on the severity, the death penalty may be issued to the handler, unless it is clear they are an Imperial subject visiting the Kingdom, and that they have proper paperwork detailing that their companion was legally acquired in the Empire, and not in the Kingdom. The Kingdom takes this very seriously, and so if you, Niko and Skye, are ever requested to present any connection to your party, or your party to you, then I ask that you allow a surface level scan of essence to demonstrate a lack of link, or potentially an eventual presence of one if you decide to go that route.” He gave Niko a look then, “Whatever you do, don’t be stubborn about that. Most guardsmen won’t even check, but the ones that do may suspect something untoward happening. They have your best interest in mind and by resisting you only make the situation appear worse from the outside. They can and will incarcerate your party, at best.”

Niko nodded to show his understanding before he continued, “Taming is useful, and thanks to the First King, highly approved in upper society. That said, beasts are far from equal amongst each other, and some people still mistake certain companions as pets; endeavor not to imply this to anyone else, as especially among Tamers, that can be viewed as an incredibly rude slight. As for differences among beasts, certain creatures process and feel essence far more freely than others, and that is the biggest appeal for a humanoid to attempt to bind themselves to a beast. It is two way, and so a beast's instinctive knowledge of how to manipulate essence begins to seep into the tamer’s, or handler’s, mind. Many very powerful Champions have been made by developing this ability on their own during their pilgrimage, however, this can also be achieved to lesser degrees even with low tier tames. It should also be stated that any individual who willfully abandons a tame is met with scorn.”

Crowe carried on after a momentary pause, “Usually, the beast would get the benefits of absorbing knowledge from their tamer as well as the ability to develop more advanced sapience over time, beyond what would be natural for their species on their own. With Niko, this does not apply. Instead, what you might pursue is a sort of reverberation in terms of absorbing Essence, allowing both beast and human to reinforce themselves with any essence gained together far more easily and without overflowing to be lost to the world at large. While any gains are split between two individuals in this arrangement, the sheer efficiency from the process generally makes any loss in advancement null, and they tend to be able to rise higher much faster than those without.” Crowe swiped the board clean after a few seconds of writing little diagrams detailing the flow and uses thereof for the various connections.

“I’ll get into the other forms of beast-bonding with Niko privately, if only so he’s aware of what to look out for, but it isn’t relevant to the rest of this lesson. What is of more immediate importance is the political structure of the Kingdom and why your situations are as they are.” Crowe once more gestured to the board, but took a moment to consider the expressions of the individuals in the classroom. Niko could plainly tell that the others were now sitting much more attentively, having gone through all of the information that they already knew and now coming to things that were far more pertinent to their immediate situation.

“At the highest level is our King, though admittedly for the last ten generations or so the King has predominantly been a puppet of either the Royal faction and the many royally descended families therein, or the Noble faction consisting of many landed and uplifted individuals.” He stated straight out, and Niko’s head snapped to the direction of a clattering sound. 

Dachna stared wide eyed at their erstwhile teacher, pencil having fallen from his hand to the desk, “Is that something you should say?” There was a certain strain there that Niko recognized as wariness, and something more. A kind of buried hurt that spoke of past trauma.

Mithel put a hand on his arm, and his shoulders flinched at the contact, but he didn’t move.

“It is a fact that isn’t spoken of in public,” Crowe stated plainly, but Niko could see the man carefully considering his next words, “Here, we can speak on any topic, any opinion, and have a proper and peaceful discussion on it. You grew up in the capital?”

Dachna nodded mutely, and Crowe responded with a flicker of understanding, “It’s a shame how things are handled there. But, this is only the first reality that you all will need to understand going forward.” He gave Dachna a small nod. Crowe’s gaze once more roamed across his students, “The King’s seat hasn’t been established by personal power or personal potential in generations. Factions do still estimate and clamor over tamed beast’s potential and appearance, however. The more powerful the beast, the more likely one is to get more of their faction on their side. It is far from an effective system, but in fairness our original one wasn’t much better.”

The room gaped at Crowe outright disapproving of their system of governance. Unaffected, Crowe smiled at them, “Even if I wasn’t in this room, I would still hold these opinions. That is another benefit of being a Champion.”

Ronald murmured, “The power to tell other people to screw off?”

“No, though that is often the case as well. More to the point, though, it is the power to decide for yourself.” With a sweep of the metal implement in his hand, the entire board filled with noble family names and ties. “That’s off topic, however. The two main factions are, once more, the Noble and Royal factions, and then there is the unassociated faction, also called the Neutral faction. While neutral factions exist in every nation, ours happens to be much more unified, but that’s for later.”

“Dane Venn will likely be put forth as a rallying figure of any faction he enters, given the sheer potential that five Red Hawks represent. The First King began with one, and it eventually became a Phoenix. A great deal of fortune was involved, but he’d also embarked on the pilgrimage. To put things into perspective, if Dane is discovered by the factions, there will be blood spilled. No open warfare… probably, but whoever gets their hands on him will not only have a King, but perhaps the first King that even the other faction will have no choice but to capitulate to, politically. They’ve invested far, far too much in their games to do otherwise.” Crowe smiled like he had found a private joke deeply amusing. “For you all, the situation is actually quite similar!”

Skye, Dachna, Ronald, and Mithel groaned audibly at that. “Indeed!” Crowe continued on with enthusiasm, “An aberrant Phorus who just recently hit adulthood and not only exhibits premier traits of both beauty and power, he may be the most valuable Phorus the Kingdom has ever seen. His coloration alone will give him and, if he allows it, all of you great leverage over any of the families that may seek him out to breed with their own Phorus.”

“Oh. Oh, peck! I didn’t think–I mean, I knew someday that might come up but—oh nononono!” He twittered with a spluttering cadence. He was utterly unenthused with the entire concept of breeding as a Phorus, and had, for so very long, managed to not think about that.

“He is… not receptive.” Skye suppressed a broad grin in spite of herself at Niko’s distress.

Crowe chuckled, “He only hit adulthood today, as strange as it is that it happened so abruptly, he will grow into any desires on his own. It is something to be aware of, though, that any existing families with a breeding population of Phorus will be very interested in your position on the subject. Things will be tricky, considering Niko is his own person, and Skye, as his interpreter, will need to become socially adroit at navigating such situations as they come up.”

Now Skye paled, and Niko enthusiastically screeched laughter in her ears.

“On a more serious note, Phorus may reach adulthood and become tier two in quick order, but Niko began adulthood at essence tier two.” 

Niko paused, before looking into his own body with his senses. He startled a touch as he realized that his essence was much more compact than before, but there was so much less of it than he’d had previously.

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Crowe saw Niko looking at his own body and commented, “You should have felt a rush of energy in your body, perhaps a reinforcement of your pattern? Though, if you were asleep at the time… On that note, we’ll need to find out your patterns later, hmm… If you would allow, Skye can help to interpret.” 

Distractedly, Niko nodded, still looking into himself while moving his essence through his ethereal channels. It was far smoother and easier than before even in spite of the increased weight and power of his essence. ‘That’s… kind of strange feeling. It’s just so much more powerful. I wonder how that changes my patterns? Speaking of, the body one has grown a lot too, so I wonder what I can do now?’ Niko felt his way through the changes a bit, but managed to drag his attention back up to Crowe who had waited patiently.

“Your growth will be greater than other Phorus’, though where that might cap out, I don’t know. No one is quite sure of the methods to ensure that a Phorus can bridge the gap to become an Az’Phorus, but it is known in closed circles how Red Hawks may become Phorus. There aren’t many that make that jump, though, so it’s either resource intensive or very difficult and dangerous. Perhaps all of the above,” Crowe shrugged, “We’re getting off topic. The point is that we’re not going to be able to hide Niko like we’ll be able to do with his siblings. You’re all going to have a giant target painted on your back while traveling together. Is that something you’re prepared to withstand as a group?”

Crowe’s tone took on something of a grander tone. “You’re all planning on undertaking the pilgrimage, this innately will curl fate around all of you, forcing you through hardships to grow together and prosper, or sink and fall away to obscurity. Eventually, you’ll be faced with a crossroads where you can leave the pilgrimage with its blessing, but until then if you abandon it, you will lose a great deal of what you have built. The pilgrimage itself will follow you, twist the world and shape perception to challenge you. It will make you stronger, but it bases that off of the collective, not the individual. While that means none of you will usually be individually targeted, it does mean that the lot of you must come together, and be ready to stay together. You all leave the pilgrimage, or none of you do. That is what it means to undertake this together, to share in victory and defeat, no matter what happens, you’re in it to the end.” Crowe flashed a bittersweet smile at that, “It will build and break you in equal measure, and refine you into your best self, but it is not an easy journey.”

The group looked at one another, and Niko watched their interactions carefully. Mithel and Dachna’s eyes locked meaningfully, warmth and trust there. Ronald looked at that with some concern, but Niko also saw the moment when he buried that concern under resolve and sat a little straighter. Ronald turned to see Niko’s piercing amber eyes looking into his own, and Niko gave his own nod to him. The big man was surprised at that, but only smiled widely, before Skye herself spoke up.

“I’m with Niko, even if I have a feeling this is going to be oh so much harder than it should be. You guys gonna be okay?” Skye asked teasingly to Dachna and Mithel, who sputtered.

“W-what is that supposed to mean?” Mithel went bright red.

Skye blanked, “Uhhh… Like, can you keep up? What’s with that response?” The elf watched the two with confusion, and then also noted Ronald restraining a rising grin.

“N-nothing, nope, nothing it’s just–I misunderstood!” Mithel cleared her throat, as Dachna buried his face in his hands, his shoulders lifting with every suppressed chuckle rolling through him.

Mithel turned and slapped him on the shoulder.

“We should talk about that, honestly.” Ronald glanced at Niko before turning back to the two of them, “I’ve heard a lot about teams getting torn apart by relationship drama, so I need to know where you guys stand with each other. I don’t think I’d stick my nose in it if it weren’t for the pilgrimage, but…”

Dachna lifted his head, his expression one of surprise, whereas Mithel’s redness had only diminished somewhat. Skye, on the other hand, looked like a gaping fish, “Wait, you two? You’re both–Are you dating?”

Niko snorted, and rolled his eyes, to which Mithel’s expression was only a slight frown at the bird. Skye took Niko’s response in and then exclaimed, “Oh! Oh. Ohhhhhhh,” she grinned, “I didn’t take you for the type to get embarrassed, it’s a cute look, Mithey~!”

Mithel gave her friend an exceedingly flat look, “We bed each other most nights, Skye, I’m not embarrassed by that. If anything I’m more embarrassed that Ronald and the bird seem to have noticed before you did.”

Skye sat stock still for a moment before going red in the ears. With a jerking motion, her head swiveled between an utterly unsurprised Ronald and Niko, “I-I’ve never… uhh… That is to say I don’t know what to look for? I… shite.” 

Niko trilled obnoxiously at that with bird laughter, and Ronald only shook his head in amusement along with Dachna and Mithel.

“Well, since that rats out of the bag,” Dachna put his hand over top of Mithel’s, “Yes, we are a couple. No, we do not know where this is going to end up. But, we’re both mostly mature.”

“He has some things to work on,” Mithel offered clarification to the last part, getting a cheeky grin from the man in turn, “But we’ve already talked about the important points. Thank you, Ronald, for not prying before, but don’t worry. This won’t affect the team.”

Ronald’s heavy countenance lasted a few seconds before it lifted with unreserved cheer, “Well, that’s good enough for me. I’m pretty sure Skye’s brain is melting, though.”

Niko glanced over at his ‘interpreter’ with a pitying gaze as she mumbled under her breath. Her response was astounding to him, but he supposed that most people in this world probably weren’t over exposed to this kind of thing, lacking media that inevitably numbed them to it.

“Well, it seems that you all have come to some conclusion?” Crowe, smiling, stood at his position at the desk. “Now, in brief, you lot are probably going to be approached a great many times and with as many generous offers to join either of the two major factions when you are discovered, especially depending on what happens during your pilgrimage, but I believe Orson will later approach you with an alternative. That won’t be important for now, though, because I believe Camille has arranged to have some sparring done with your group.” 

The Greenhorns rose, but Crowe held up a hand, “Ah, however, Niko and Skye, please stay behind for now. The rest of you, please proceed to the left down the hall, you’ll find the training room already open and waiting for you. I have other things to go over with Niko here.”

Thinking nothing of it, Dachna, Mithel, and Ronald all left the room. A few seconds passed by as Crowe turned his gaze to Skye.

“Now, I still have things to ask the both of you together, but for now, Skye, I request that you also leave the room, for a moment or two. I have something I’d like to speak with Niko about.”

Niko met Skye’s eyes with his own, but he simply shook his head to the side. Skye understood the gesture before turning her own attention back to Crowe.

“He’d like me to be present,” Skye said to the man, a kind of calm overtaking her as she did so.

Crowe’s eyes sharpened for just a second, the same predatory bearing he’d had that morning returning in full force as he turned that focus fully on Niko. “Are you certain you want her present? I have questions of a sensitive nature that I’m afraid I must insist be answered.” 

  Niko inhaled deeply, trying to calm his beating heart. Frankly, he didn’t really want to get Skye wrapped up in this, but it was true that she knew his ‘big secret’ already. He didn’t know how, but Crowe certainly suspected something. He nodded to the man, and Crowe only closed his eyes for a moment before reigning in whatever it was that put Niko on edge.

“Very well, then.” He sat silently, clearly considering something. “I have seen a great deal in my time as a Champion. My sister and I did not have an at all normal experience on the pilgrimage. At the time, there was a great deal of activity for monsters all over the Kingdom. These Surges aren’t terribly uncommon, but this one was special in that there were a few standout creatures among them. Monsters and beasts that were bigger, faster, and stronger than their ordinary counterparts. We stumbled upon one that had, like you, grown to its adult form over the course of days from absorbing sufficient essence. At the time, we’d been wary, but also interested in seeing what was occurring.”

A reminiscing expression crossed his face as he spoke, “We were… tier four at the time. The beast, for at the time that’s what it was, was only just freshly tier two. Hardly a threat to us, we thought. So, we watched it from afar. It was a Necker, a type of spider that ambushes and lays traps, but doesnt range far from its hunting grounds. So, thinking that perhaps we’d found a particularly adept aberrant, we decided to try to court it. A friend of mine at the time had a soft spot for spiders,” he shivered in spite of the smile on his face, “I never found the appeal myself, but she wanted to see if she could convince the creature to join her.”

“Things were going well, we fed it consistently, and even managed to come within meters of the thing without it responding aggressively. It wasn’t nearly as sapient as you, Niko, which is the only reason why we’re even having this discussion.” Crowe paused, “It ate the food we brought it near endlessly, like there wasn’t enough food in the world, but it wasn’t hungry all the time. It ate what was available to it, but didn’t over hunt to feed its appetite.”

“We vastly underestimated how quickly it gained power, and one day it simply stopped moving and then curled in on itself. Essence flowed through it like a waterfall, and I realized we were there, actually witnessing a creature rise to essence tier three a month after its rise to tier two. Perhaps that growth speed was the problem, we still don’t know. But it grew and grew, and what it became was not the evolved form of a Necker, but instead some amalgamation of the creatures we’d fed it. It wasn’t ill put together like some patchwork monster, but more as though the spider had taken all the best things of its consumed prey and made it work.” He frowned, “That’s when things went very wrong. It attacked us immediately, this new form must have changed it in more than physical ways. It’d never been a high level sapient, but it certainly hadn’t been willing to throw itself at us before like it suddenly was then.”

“But, that’s the trick with a Venrisian Chosen, they hit above their weight classes all the time. It nearly killed one of us several times in a fight that ended up lasting six hours.” He shook his head, flabbergasted, “Six hours against five of us, all tier four with a wealth of experience and information. To my knowledge, we’re the only group to ever come across one of Venris’ own before they could become something worse. If that spider had ascended to tier three on its own, the nearest village would have been emptied of people. Tier four, and it would have threatened the nearby city. Five, six? Gods forbid, seven?” Crowe scowled, “Venrisian Chosen are known and confirmed city killers. And with our experiences, we don’t even think they have a real choice in the matter. Something changes them as they grow stronger.”

All while he spoke, Skye had grown paler and paler, but still sat next to Niko, unafraid of him. Niko appreciated that, especially considering she was likely considering how many ways Crowe could take them apart right now.

“As I said, the only reason we’re having this conversation right now is how intelligent and sapient you appear to be.” Crowe spoke, “This morning, when I realized what you might be, I let myself go a little bit. I apologize for that unsightly display. With this, I hope you realize where I’m coming from.”

Niko nudged Skye softly, and she asked, “So, what happens next?”

“Now, I ask a very important question.” Crowe turned his attention to Niko, “Who are you a Chosen of?”

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