Chapter 16: Side Chapter Planet 2: A Hidden Arrow

Side Chapter Planet 2: A Hidden Arrow

Beatrice's situation kept me thinking. Not deeply but it came back every now and again.

It had been one month since we parted ways and continued our work. Me, Rosa and Benard continued our work onboard the Johnext Vessel QM206 (JVQ for short). At the moment our current destination was some small colonies on the outer edge of a galaxy.

Anyway, the thought came back to me during a couple of moments of rest in my pod. Well, the thoughts started to come to me after a small conversation with Rosa.

---

“Did I tell you Ella? My little sister is going for her Vocation next week!” Rosa spoke excitedly.

Lila Rewolf, Rosa's little sister was a nice girl. Met her a few times during holo-calls and once in person. She even called me Aunty Ceella! Very cute, not as much as my own sister however!

“Yes yes, you have,” I laughed. “Did she tell you what she wanted?”

“Noooooo,” Her face puffed up. “She wanted to keep it a surprise.”

“Ohhhh nooooo. Whatever shall you dooooo.” I waved my hand in an overly dramatic fashion, “Look I can promise… I won’t tell you if she tells me first.”

“...no dinner for you.”

---

I’ll get my revenge, Rosa…

Beatrice's decision was clearly affecting me more than I ever expected. 

Did I spend days looking for the perfect Vocation? No. I spent a day looking at the most common options, there were just too many to go over all of them… but maybe I should’ve.

Honestly, I don’t think I could reset my Vocation even if I hated it.

Vocation could be levelled by doing anything. Using skills and being under ‘pressure’ helped with the process but it was still a lengthy one. I was someone who practised with mine a lot. Always wanted to just be that little bit stronger to take care of myself–dad’s influence–and playing fire was fun.

The size of one’s soul mattered a lot. Skills were like malleable puzzle pieces that had to fit into the space of the user’s soul.

On a scale from 1~10, I was about a 3. A bit below the modern average. Beatrice and Rosa were about 6. Ever since the shift happen, the base average size of people's souls slowly increased, plateauing about three hundred years ago.

Some people with the [Fire Mage] Vocation received [Fire] when acquiring the Vocation. For me? Only upon reaching level 20.

The more I thought about it… the more I understood how hard it must have been for Beatrice to ask. I’m happy she would be happier.

Name: Ceella Stella | Race: [Human] 
Level 34 | Awakened
Mana: 100%
Vocation: [Fire Mage]
Skills:
- [Fire (II)]
- [Quick Step]
- [Calm Mind]

The skills one would gain were mostly related to the individual’s Vocations. It was possible to get some other skills through effort and experience. [Quick Step] was something my dad trained me and Tyell hard to acquire–in his so-called hell week training routine–, “Just a quick reactive dash can save your life” he said. Probably planning to brutally train poor Mella too.

I had a general feeling of the size of each skill within my soul. 

[Quick Step] was kind of small, [Calm Mind] wasn’t too big but [Fire] was huge. Element skills were massive and powerful. Bigger skills also had some benefits as they could ‘hold’ part of the resources for other skills.

[Fire (II)] - [Fire Arrow], [Ring of Fire]

These were two additional skills (technically sub-skills) I possessed. [Fire] let me manipulate fire freely using mana, I could even create a fire arrow but if I used [Fire Arrow], it was so much more powerful–this version was part of the soul after all. Originally they were two separate skills but joined as sub-skills under [Fire] when I acquired it.

I am happy with [Fire Mage] choice.

[Fire] let me create sparks–that I pretended were stars–that I could watch during the day. Provided a good amount of mana and gave me combat options if required.

But maybe I would’ve preferred an Enhancer like my dad or Vocation that was related to a passion I hadn’t discovered yet…

…I got to make sure Tyell and Mella don’t deal with these thoughts at some point.

 

---

Currently, I was off duty. I mean most people were, still travelling through space, with not much to do. Of course, I helped clean and take care of the ship but it was very–easy.

At the moment I was watching some downloaded videos on my computer. Everything was going well. Then the ship shook.

What the fuck is happening. Didn’t feel like a meteor colliding, or anything I felt before.

The ship was shaking and I could feel heat generating. Unsure of what was happening, I tried to get into positions to assess the situation.

Bang! Something smacked against my head before I was even able to move out of my room and I was knocked out.

*
*

“Ehrrrr!” I couldn’t be exactly sure how long I was out but it didn’t feel long maybe five minutes–I’m skilled at knowing how long I’m asleep.

I couldn’t stand up, the roof had been bent down–which was what knock me out. Smashing everything below it. If I was in my pod… I would’ve been crushed.

I crawled towards the door that was thankfully broken open. Standing upon my wobbly legs I used the hallway wall as support, I made my way to the canteen. Which was the nearest open area.

Corpses and blood were my company, as some seemly died within their rooms or in an effort to reach the hallway.

Rosa, Benard be safe! Please!

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Finally, I reached the wreck canteen. Tables and chairs were broken off the magnetic connectors, bent walls and smashed equipment. Then across the room, I saw Benard unmoving on the floor, pushed down due to a foot pressed on his back by fabric cloaked figure.

A combination of rage, fear, and hope–due to not being noticed–led me to attack first.

[Fire Arrow]!!!

Summoning four arrows aimed directly at the figure. My fire used mana as fuel so I didn’t need to worry about it using up any oxygen.

The arrows of fire dashed towards the figure before, “That’s rude,” being kicked out of existence by a cloaked man. This second figure carrying a large bag rushed towards me “Little lady.” And began to beat me down.

Tears broke out as bruises covered my skin and I fell to the floor.

“Found the shit btw!” He proudly wave the bag in the air to his partner, “It was a pain to find, hidden in the edge of the dude's storage. Disgusting!”

“Good, get ready to leave then,” he apathetical replied.

“Yeah, Yeah.” He pulled out an arrow from the bag to show to his partner. Pitch black shaft with no fletching and a crimson red tip.

My eyes blurred, but still able to see. All I could do was think and look. My body was too sore and hurt to do anything…as the two figures continued their chatter.

“Clean up went well?” The arrow man asked.

“Course, some people had to.”

“Not my fault I ain’t good at it!”

“Haaa... Just get ready.”

Hooded figures… No one wears that amount of cloth in space unless it has a purpose.

My scatterbrain thought everything it had together trying to find anything to explain the situation. Unlikely to be pirates, they don’t have the tech to hide from the ship's radars. Rival company? To high profile, would have better gear. Then mercenaries? Possible…

After hundreds of thought one that seemed right came to my head…Dominous Hood. 

From what I understood, Dominous Hood was something of a terrorist organisation… I regretted not paying attention to the current news. The hoods match their aesthetic and they were known to attack transport vessels.

What is that arrow?

One of my jobs was to double-check the onboard cargo, and those weren’t anywhere on that list… Fuck, they kept it secret! Smuggling? Or they just didn’t want any record of the item. Either way, the action was dangerous. Especially for those who didn’t know. Cause some bastards might go after it!

The one who had beaten me glanced towards me again. Sighing for some reason he just walked towards me, before stopping and while I couldn’t see his face underneath the mask he wore I knew he was smiling.

“What are you doing Thomas?” The stoic one asked.

Spinning the arrow around, “Well, best we test these puppies out right?”

“Dude, we can go that later.”

“Nah!” The man–the bastard–walked towards me. Fear clouded my eyes before he forcibly stabbed the arrows to my upper chest. “Always best to learn if something is useful as soon as possible.”

Then the arrow evaporated into dust.

Bones broke and something snapped! 

“So? Is it working?”

W–ha-t? Pain engulfed me, along with a large amount of dizziness that was quickly replaced by sickness. I could feel everything gushing out of me.

“...yes.” The other man sadden and annoyed but with a tinge of happiness in the corners of his tone sighed. I knew exactly what he was talking about, fear swallowed me.

Name: Ceella Stella | Race: [Human] 
Level 5 | Awakened
Mana: 17%
Vocation: [Fire Mage]
Skills:
- [Quick Step]

Levels, mana, blood, everything was leaving me and it wasn’t stopping.

Name: Ceella Stella | Race: [Human]
Level 0 | Awakened | Broken
Mana: 0%
Vocation: [None]
Skills:

“*Cough*” Ev..ery..th..ing go–ne I could barely think, thoughts were slipping away. 

“Now what are you going to do with her? It doesn’t seem easy to heal.”

“Leaving it. Won’t the first one who died on this ship today.”

“I–..’ll” kill you! Barely able to speak, blood filled my throat. For the first time in my life, I wished death upon another. 

“Wish you didn’t kill so many.” 

“You guys killed majority of the crew with collision,” Thomas replied. 

“Accidental causalities aren’t counted.” He shrugged, “What’s your reason?”

“Those with hate in their eyes ain’t worth taking.” The two figures walked off. In the distance, I could hear random bits of noise. Sounding like another ship flying away. Before long, my grave started to accelerate.

T..hey-started. The boosted…

The standard, safest and easiest way to remove the evidence of an attacked ship. If the ship was destroyed it would immediately send out an alert everywhere. 

Everything faded as the ship rocketed into the far distance. Eventually crashing upon a planet that the ship was directed at.