Knight (17 page)

“You answered accurately. Now, taking into account these numbers, there used to be more than three million a few thousand years ago, but the rate of the demon population dwindles as we go on with our lives.”

Valeriana sighed and massaged her forehead. She watched everyone in the classroom take out some paper and their ink bottles with a feather as a pen. No matter how she looked at it, it was definitely weird. Even weirder was she had to do it as well.

Taking out her own bottle of ink, she tried to figure out how exactly she was going to open the goddamn thing. When she finally figured it out, she almost threw everything it contained over but managed to keep it inside just fine.

“Phew.” She grinned, happy to have avoided the accident.

“So this is the human attending the academy? Interesting.” Valeriana felt a hot breath on her neck and she jumped up, startled. She turned around sharply and came face to face with an unfamiliar person. She screamed, unwittingly throwing the bottle of ink forward and spilling the contents all over him.

“Oh my!” He exclaimed, shocked at the contact with the dark, cool liquid.

“Oh no.” Chavi gushed along with the whole class, mouth dropping at the scene.

“I think you should learn not to just pop out of nowhere, Claude.” Seraphina frowned in displeasure. “Lest you want more ink spilled all over your face.”

Valeriana gasped after realizing what she had done. Claude just chuckled and took out a piece of cloth to wipe off the stain from his face and clothes before it even dried. “Pardon the suddenness.” He commented, his face creasing in amusement. “I should have not startled anyone.”

She pulled her hand back. “Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to! I didn't know, I'm so so sorry!” Her speech impediment forced a chuckle out of Claude.

“It's fine. It's my fault. Anyway, I shouldn't have scared you. Does anyone here mind?”

“Here!” A student volunteered with a wave of his hand.

Water flew out of his clothes, only leaving behind dark stains on his clothes. He dropped the water into Valeriana's bottle. “I should've known it would only take out the liquid content and leave the color. How foolish.”

Although the girl was awestruck by the brief display of power, she hurriedly spoke, “Sorry.”

“I'm fine, don't worry.” He laughed. “You're starting to sound like some person I know.” His laugh softened into a smile as he suddenly looked nostalgic from what he said.

Seraphina cleared her throat, fist on her lips. “What did you come here for, Claude?”

Hearing Seraphina's call, the man named Claude redirected his gaze to Seraphina. He smiled. “That isn't a way to greet a lord, is it, Lady Seraphina?” He made a slight mockery obvious by the tone of his voice. Valeriana shut her eyes close and carefully sank back in her seat.

Someone poked her shoulder so she pivoted her head towards Chavi, who leaned close to her ear and whispered, “He's capable of teleportation.”

Valeriana relaxed on her chair. “Oh . . . I'll never get used to this.” She lifted her hands up and went back to massaging her forehead.

“You seem troubled.” Claude smiled kindly at Valeriana. He was bent over, his face nearly close. He possesses nearly identical features as hers. He had golden hair layered into locks and deep, blue eyes that mischievously twinkled like a pair of sapphires. His features depicted a slightly childish and immature look unlike Corvan, who displayed nothing but pure manliness. He was pretty short too.

“Uh . . . I'm really sorry about the bad greeting, sir.” She grinned at him sheepishly.

“Hmm,” he rubbed his chin and straightened his back. “It's not a big deal.” He radiated with optimism and pointed a finger at the ceiling while keeping his other hand strictly on his back. “It's half my fault anyway, so don't worry.”

A loud and impatient sigh escaped Seraphina's lips. “Cut to the chase, Your Excellency.”

Claude happily turned to Seraphina with his over-optimistic smile. “I came here to deliver the news!” He exclaimed. “I'm sorry for my rude appearance a while ago, but you are being called to the palace.”

“For what reason?”

“A summoning.”

“I apologize, I'm currently off-duty.”

Claude shook his head. “It's a special request from the king. It's urgent and important. I was tasked to bring you back no matter what.” Claude rushed towards Seraphina and grabbed her by the wrist.

“But can't you see I'm in the middle of a—”

“Goodbye, everyone.” Claude winked at the class and pulled Seraphina out of the door.

Valeriana stared at the spot they were previously standing on with disbelief. The class started muttering things as well, curious about what the king would want with the Celeste.

“Amazing, isn't he?” Chavi said. “Too bad he took away our teacher, though.” She said, looking more pleased than disappointed. “Well, I suppose that ends the class!” She yawned.

Valeriana's eyes dropped wearily and her face hit her desk. “What have I gotten myself into?” She grumbled.

Students began rising from their seats, taking all of their things with them. Chavi stood up with the grace of a dancer and showed off a single pirouette before frolicking towards Valeriana. “I guess it's time to go. Why don't you come with me? I have soooo many questions to ask you.”

Valeriana remained the way she was. “What's so interesting that only I can answer?”

“Yourself.”

“I've heard that I'm interesting so many times.” Valeriana muttered dramatically. She mentally counted how many people said the very same thing. Being caught by surprise with unbelievable abilities was starting to get old.

“Come on! Up on your feet!” Chavi grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged the lifeless teenager to stand.

Valeriana lazily followed Chavi's guide and flashed her an exhausted look through her eyes. “What?”

“Let us proceed to the library. Since it's a summoning, Lady Seraphina probably won't be back for a day or two.” She smiled. “You need to learn the basics, right? I'll help you. Now cheer up and let us go!” Chavi made no reluctance to usher Valeriana out of the door.

Chapter Sixteen ♣ Power Control

A
s Chavi and Valeriana strolled past the towering shelves, Valeriana decided to take advantage of the situation and picked up a single book that caught her interest. Chavi was merrily scanning the shelves containing a wide variety of available selections.

“Chavi, what's a summoning?” Valeriana asked, rubbing her chin while examining a thick black book that was kept on a shelf in the History Section. She remembered what Chavi told her about Lady Seraphina being involved in a
summoning
a while ago.

“There are two kinds of summoning. This kind is like a tasking. It's a huge honor given to a Celeste—missions and all that sort.” Chavi explained, snatching a book bound in old leather and opening it to a certain part. Her eyes speedily scanned the page before turning to the next. “The other is demon-related.”

“I see.” She sighed as she watched Chavi slip the book back in the shelf.

Chavi backed off and sighed exasperatedly. She massaged the bridge of her nose. “You seriously have a lot to learn. Otherwise, if you fail, you'll drop out of the Celestial Twelve, maybe even the school.”

“I don't know. Maybe I'll really just quit the Celestial Twelve. I don't need it, to begin with. All I'm here for is to attend the academy.” She said.

“What?!” Chavi roared. She grabbed Valeriana by the collar and began shaking her as if it would knock some sense into her. “What in the name of the king are you thinking? Don't you know how crucial being a ranker is? You're even ranking fifth among the Twelve, have a sense of responsibility! No quitting!”

“Sshhh!” An elder lady dressed in a frilly, purple dress put a finger to her lips after coming out from a corner. Her graying hair was tied up into the traditional up do with librarian glasses suspended on the tip of her nose. “When you speak of responsibility, please mind the rules. Silence must be observed.” She then disappeared as fast as she came.

Chavi seized her shoulders and dragged her away. Before Valeriana realized it, she was already shoved down a chair. Chavi took a black book about five inches thick, slammed it on the table before her, and opened it to the very first page.

The girl scanned the first few words and an evident look of relief crossed her face. “It's a good thing this is written in English.” Valeriana sighed. “I won't have to struggle too much.”

“Yes, well, it's convenient. A much easier mode of communication than the Ancient Language.” Chavi pointed to the title of the first chapter and silently asked Valeriana to focus.

“Why does Valemnia have Earth languages?”

“Or rather, why does Earth have Valemnian languages?” Chavi pointed out.

“Huh?”

“English came from us. It’s one of the language varieties developed in the Larkovian continent. You do speak a bit weirdly though. It’s not same kind of English.”

Her eyes shot wide. “Mind-blogger—I mean, mind-boggler.”

“Never mind.” She dismissively said.

Chavi discussed with her the lessons they covered about Valemnia's history. Since remembering historical events wasn't a very good point of hers, she had trouble familiarizing herself with everything written down.

“The first king of Valemnia who sealed the Demon Lord to sleep?” Chavi asked.

Valeriana paused and pondered for a moment. “Uh . . . King Fried . . . erly von Sign-mond de la Rosellevienne.”

“It's King 
Friedel
 von 
Seigmond
 de la Rosellevienne!”

Their names were so hard to remember since they were all very unusual, too. It was impossible to learn these for just a month. Valeriana smacked her face in frustration and rested her head on the table, groaning.

-*-

Chavi looked disappointed when the bell rang. The girl explained it was time for their second class and dragged the helpless girl out of the library.

“What's PC? Is it a computer class or something?”

“PC stands for Power Control.”

“Oh.” She said, feeling dense.

“What's a computer?” Chavi asked, cocking a brow while looking at Valeriana with a question-filled gaze.

“Oh, that,” she laughed humorlessly, while goofily scratching the back of her neck. “It's a kind of technology humans use to either communicate or entertain themselves.”

“That's kind of weird.” She commented, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “Our technological advancement concerns our magical capabilities.”

Valeriana nodded in understanding, brushing past another student who seemed to be in a hurry. “I see that.” She answered.

“Yes.”

Valeriana suddenly felt nostalgic.

Being away from home made her miss the old days. Reminiscing made the thought even more painful. Even so, succeeding the whole year and seeing them once more made her suffering somewhat bittersweet. This was only the first day—the beginning. The sun had yet many times to rise and set.

“You said your next class is Power Control?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Its main point is to hone your power in controlling your ability. It lets you discover more about it as well. But you probably won't be doing any of that.” Chavi paused, tapping her chin.

The warning bell rang, causing both Valeriana and Chavi to rush to their next class. Valeriana felt elated to know that she would be going with a new-made friend, who was obviously very reliable and informative.

“Let's hurry up!” Chavi beamed at Valeriana, flashing a bright smile.

Both girls dashed into the classroom while panting and made themselves comfortable just as the final bell rang. Both breathing rapidly, their instructor finally stepped into the room, wearing a sharp glare and glasses.

“Well, good morning.”

Everyone stood from their seats and enthusiastically greeted their instructor. This time, Valeriana was able to catch up with the rest unlike the first time. “Good morning, Lady Agatha!”

Lady Agatha eyed her students while gingerly placing her books down the desk in front of the class. When she saw Valeriana, she adjusted her glasses and frowned. “There's a new face, I see.” She said, making Valeriana gulp at her scrutinizing gaze.

Valeriana stood and bowed her head respectfully. “My name is Valeriana Kerrigan.”

“Valeriana Kerrigan? I see. The rumored human? I wasn't there during your duel. Well, since you're a newcomer, I should give you a briefing about my class.” Lady Agatha said with glaring eyes. “I do not care whether your human or Valemnian. I expect nothing but you giving your best. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Very good, and since you do not have any special skills, I want you to evaluate your classmate's performances and study all their magical capabilities.”

“You mean . . . everyone's performances?” She replied, dumbfounded.

“Yes.”

“How?”

“You can either interview them regarding the kind of magic they can use. If not, you can observe them when they use it. You also have to include their improvement and the common mistakes they commit often—that sort of work.”

Valeriana wanted to faint just by hearing the things she was being asked to do. Sighing, she decided to ask something else. “Uh . . . is there anything that can grant power or something? Like . . . a magic rock or . . . a magic staff?”

“Are you saying you want to attain magic to make your life easier?”

“Well, kind of.”

“Then, no.” The instructor straightforwardly answered. “There are no objects that can grant such abilities. Staffs and other things are merely used for channeling.” The teacher then turned and began writing on the board. “We'll start the lesson today with a recall of your past studies. Sit down, Miss Kerrigan. Lest you want to stand the entire hour.”

She did—with a big, loud sigh.