Fall of Autumn, Week 5, Day 7

"Absolutely not," I rolled my eyes and flicked the screen away with a thought.

Flexing my palm, the tightening of muscles sent ripples through my body. My eyes grew sharper, my arms more limber, my breathing steadier. As the carriage rolled, I stood. My balance was even and I stretched my hands above my head.

Eight levels. Seven, really, considering I'd been so close to thirteen on my own. Nearly two hundred monsters.

I sighed, wondering when the guilt would come for me, when the anger would seep in. When I would grow unsteady on my feet and collapse at the thought of fighting, of killing, of destroying. But as the carriage continued on, I found a sense of peace within me.

Dame Arella and Klein had fought, yes, and they'd been more strategic. More put together. But it was me that shook the bramble to its core. It was me that killed the Whisher Blight. It was my power that saw us safe—mine and the spirits.

As I was about to [Inspect] both [A Shade of Dawn] and [Shadow Grimoire], the spirits yelped.

I turned to look at them, all huddled up against each other to my side. But they weren't looking at me, they were looking behind me. I froze.

There shouldn't be anything there. [Mana Sense] told me it was empty. My Perception told me it was but a vacuum, a space so void of anything at all that it simply took from the world around it.

I turned, slowly, a shiver running up my spine.

What met me was a woman. Or something like a woman. Her features were dulled, blurred by shadowed lines. Her eyes a pitch black, her hair of thin, twirling tendrils, her skin nearly translucent. She held up a single hand, with fingers slightly too long and dripping in a dark miasma. She was reaching for me.

"Child," she said, and when she spoke, it was a familiar voice, one that had not quite haunted me, but I had never forgotten. "You are late."

I pressed my lips together, biting the inside of my mouth to stay my words. I had to be sure, sure this was who I thought it was.

"I told you to call upon me at Level 15."

I closed my eyes, relief filling me.

"We meet again, Spirit of the Dark," I whispered. And when I opened my eyes, the not-quite-woman was smiling.

"So we do, young Lady of Darkness." She laughed, and it would have been an unsettling thing to anyone else. It was a laugh, deep and dark and surely sinister. But it was beautiful. It sounded like Shade. And I loved it.

"I didn't call, though. I haven't had a chance. I just hit Level 15."

The Spirit of the Dark looked me over, and I felt as if my very soul was being pried open, as if every depth of me was being seen.

"So much power for one so young. It is all right. I will teach you." She huffed, and my soul closed.

"You'll teach me?" I asked, confused.

"I thought we'd have more time, time before you were ready to Tier up. But this will have to do." She hummed, standing.

I paused, my mind whirling with the implications of her words. More time. Tier up. No. I wanted what the Spirit offered more than anything else.

"I don't have to." I blurted, and the woman looked at me with an expression I couldn't read. So, I continued. "I can wait to Tier up. Until you've taught me what I need to know. Until you think it's time."

The Spirit of the Dark laughed again, and I felt my mana sing, its chill crawling through me in a satisfied hum. I didn't know my mana could make such a noise.

"Are you sure? Any experience you gain will not be lost, but it will not be used to empower you. You will be stuck as you are until we're finished. Can you truly handle such a stall? I will not stop until every Skill I gave you is complete, ready for its evolution."

I nodded, my face calm even as my insides turned in excitement.

"Will you help the other spirits? Will you help them become as you are? I can tell you're more."

Again, the Spirit of the Dark let out a laugh, dark and cold and feeling as if the night was enveloping me.

"You need not ask. Just as I gave you your Class, I too gave them theirs. All Spirits of the Dark fall under my Domain."

I grinned.

"I am Nora. Nora of Fellan. I can't wait to see what's in store."

The woman reached for my hands, and I met her halfway. She felt soft, but not warm. Present, but like a mist.

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"I am Cthari, Queen of the Abyss. When you are alone, absorb a mana pearl and call to me. I will come."

I blinked, and between one moment and the next, Cthari was gone.

Gently, hands patted me down, straightening my clothes even as the girl doing so cried wet tears, streaks falling from her face.

"Lady Nora," Juniper hiccuped, "I was so worried when all the knights rushed back to the estate ahead of us. I thought something terrible happened to you."

"Something terrible did happen to her, Juniper, but we must remain calm even when such things happen," Sylvie scolded, her usual monotone voice just a fraction softer than normal as she placed her hand gently atop Juniper's head in what could loosely be considered an attempt to comfort the younger girl.

"Yes, Sylvie," Juniper sighed, pulling her hands back from my clothes.

Just as she went to leave my space, I pouted and threw my arms around her shoulders. Pulling her close, I let my voice warble with genuine emotion.

"Juniper, I'm so glad you were safe behind the walls."

Without hesitation, she gripped me back. "Weren't you scared all by yourself?"

Was I scared? I asked. At first. But then, I was angry. So, so, angry. And ready to overcome whatever Eve sent my way.

Instead, I said, "I wasn't alone, not really. I had Noir, Haze, and Shade—and Arella and Klein, of course."

"And her wits." Gristle huffed behind me. "Too many wits for her own good, this one has."

I stifled a laugh, gently letting go of Juniper. And though her stats were much lower than mine, I let her grip me tightly and keep me in place.

"Oh, my Lady, please stay safe," Juniper sniffled.

"I can't make that promise." I gently ran my hand through Juniper's soft hair. "No one can promise you that."

"But—but without you—"

I quirked a smile, "What? You'd have to go back to the kitchens?"

Around me, everyone stilled, Gristle held his breath and Sylvie shot her gaze to meet mine, a critical glint in her eyes.

"Yes!" Juniper cried, "So you have to stay safe!"

Gristle and Sylvie blinked, their respective gazes turning to Juniper, but I just barked a laugh.

"I promise, I'll be as safe as I can." My voice was lined with mirth and Juniper finally let me go.

Holding out her pinky, she looked me right in the eyes.

I wrapped my own finger around hers and shook our promise to lock it in.

"It's official," I whispered.

"It's official." She repeated, a smile on her face.

"My Lady," Gristle said with a smile that didn't meet his eyes.

A smile that said, 'I'm not supposed to enjoy this nearly as much as I do.'

"Yes, Gristle?" I said, accusation lacing my tone.

"I believe we have an appointment today."

My expression fell.

"You cannot possibly mean—"

"—that you have to take your exams?" Gristle finished for me with a serious nod. "I'm afraid so. Your mother will be expecting a report in the morning, and we cannot leave her wanting—lest she grow suspicious about your extracurriculars."

It took me a half-second to process his words, and when I did, I pulled away from Juniper seriously. "All right. Then, I'm ready. What will we start with?"

Gristle led us to a room I had never seen before, one with bare stone walls and a single desk and chair. There was a tall stool in the corner that held a stack of papers and two fountain pens.

"We'll begin at the start, of course—with the Monster Manuals of the Sword Academy." Gristle pulled a stack of no less than ten pages off the top of the great lump on the stool.

Handing it to me, I flipped through it.

Double-sided too, I mused. Are they all this long?

Peering up at the stack, I was resigned when I realized that yes, they were.

"Wait," I said, shock resounding through me as I took a closer look at the questions, "Is every single one an essay question?"

"Short response, actually." Gristle's prim voice caught me off guard, and I whipped my head to him.

"You! You betrayer! Gristle, you made this the worst on purpose, didn't you?" I whined, sounding exactly like the eight-year-old I appeared to be.

I watched Gristle school his expression, but I could see the minuscule twitch of his lips as he fought back a smile. It was odd, I was sure I wasn't supposed to be able to see it. Yet the tension in the muscle was clear even from a half dozen feet away. So was the slow beating of his heart, pulsing through the vein in his throat. I could hear it as if it were a church bell resounding through a square. That was to say, loud and clear.

It was distracting.

"How long do I have?" I asked, gesturing with the monstrous exam he was giving a literal child.

"Due to your delay in arrival, we'll have to shorten the time. Half an hour—no, fifteen minutes, each." Gristle concluded.

For a moment, I wondered if I should just fail. Just write the wrong answers and report back to the Duchess that I was a low-intelligence invalid, barely able to lift a pen, let alone a sword.

But alas, my pride wouldn't allow it. Nor would my competitive nature.

"Eve, I'm going to destroy you," I muttered, beginning to write the first answer down.

You are alone, with only a spear and a basic pack. You come across three Klyr Mares. How do you approach them to collect a single strand of hair from their mane?

You wouldn't. Klyr Mares only travel in packs when they are pregnant, and a pregnant Klyr Mare would sooner gouge you than allow you to be close enough to pluck a hair.

It is Peak of Winter. You come across a clearing. There is a single hollowed tree. It is early morning and dew is collecting. What creatures should you keep an eye out for and how do you handle escaping?

Winter Ministers make their home in hollows where faerie food is found. I would simply wait for the light of day to warm the area and walk away. Winter Ministers are both nocturnal and sensitive to heat.

I wrote fast, faster than a mundane eye could see. But that wasn't all. I also used [Sophism]. In a way, every answer was a decision. The logic of the Skill could be stretched in such a way, to make the time given to me spread exponentially. The only limit was how long it took me to answer.

But I was not so slow, not anymore. Not at the cusp of Tier 2. I was power. Speed. Dexterity and Strength poured out of me. And Perception helped my logic of the situation.

[Quick Calculation] told me I was well over 150 Perception at Level 20.

The world was slower than it had been, even outside of [Sophism]. But that wasn't so bad. It gave me time to process what was happening, to decide who I wanted to be before my emotions ruled me. To strategize my life in small sections.

That was how I passed the evening.

Writing sentences about the Academy, the Tower, about Etiquette and History, about Arithmetic and Strategy, about Economics and the System.

It was surreal after fighting for my life in the forest to then sit, where corpses of trees created paper, and prove my intelligence.

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