Chapter 4: Goodwill training-Eins
I awoke as the morning rays of the sun scorched my eyes. I felt irritated already as it was only a Sunday, and yet I had to wake up at six in the morning because I have training for two weeks until the goodwill event. 'Why did he sign me up for it?' I thought to myself as I got ad got dressed as I felt something ping in my mind, like a subtle whisper. I shook my head as I thought it was just lethargy from waking up to early.
I ended up going downstairs to see that my instructor for that week was sitting at the bar, along with the others for next week. Hakuro and Shuna was going to teach me this week going over swordsmanship basics and the basics of aspectual magic and illusion magic. The system of magic in their world felt more scientific than most but I could still understand it.
I felt the ping in my head again as what felt like static was pouring in my brain. It was uncomfortable, and it must have showed. "Are you okay?" asked Shuna with a look of concern showing on her face. "Yeah" I muttered as the ping then seemed to morph into words, like a set of instructions on a computer manual.
'The vault' it seemingly whispered as I poured drinks and tea for the customers in the shop at that time. "Excuse me, I have to check on something" I said to them as I opened the door to the vault and went inside. The vault was different than the last time I was here. Instead of the various pedestals, piles, and shelves which lined the floor, it was a parlor.
It was something you might have seen in a fancy hotel or manor, as it even contained fancy sofas, a fireplace burning with fire, and a table between each chair and sofa that had two cups of tea on top of it. But, that was not what worried me about it. In one of the chairs, which seemed to have velvety cushions, was a woman.
Her hair was an almost pitch black dotted with stars. She was wearing a blue-ish purple shawl and wore a modest dress that while modest, it still seemed to emphasize her virtue of beauty and refinement, as her manor seemed to indicate while she sat and drank tea from the cup in front of her.
She looked up at me and signaled me over to the chair across from her, and I complied. As I sat down, the cup seemed to fill with steaming hot tea from a floating teapot and the tea was a beautiful amber color with a glittering and glowing hue to it. "Finally, I had waited a long time to talk to you" she said as she brought down her shawl, showing her hair to the world.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" I asked her as she looked at me with a look that said 'Are you dumb?'. "I suppose I should have been speaking to you earlier, but I needed to adjust myself for appearance and mechanic wise" she said as she shrugged her hands. "My name is Vault, at your service" she said as she lightly bowed.
"Vault, like the infinite vault?" I asked her to make sure as she nodded. My eyes widened at this revelation and I felt like I was learning something new everyday. "Okay, but can you have like a different name? I don't think the name vault suits you" I said to her. "Of course I can, but you have to decide master" she said, and I decided to ignore the master bit.
I looked at her hair, her eyes, and even her physical looks as I came to a conclusion. "Selena, named after a titan of the moon" I said to her as I felt something click between as and I felt another diluge of information enter my mind. 'Ah, that's why I didn't know about her before, I had to meet her first' I thought.
"I like that name" she said as she seemingly muttered it under her breath. "Well master, I hope our relationship goes well" she said as we shook hands. I then felt my blade, Mugen, begin to change as it now had a connection to her. "All things in this vault are under our control, so I can do something like overwriting the wavelength of a weapon with a mix of our own, or even fuel it" she said as I put the sword away.
I said goodbye to her as I exited back into the bar as I heard the sound of connection into my mind as I saw my teachers standing there seemingly waiting for me. "Well, its about time. Did you take care of your business?" he asked as I nodded. He smiled as he then went to open the door to his world as I stepped through.
The first thing that hit me was the fresh air, and unlike the air currently in my home, the air seemed to be mixed with something magical. Wanting to figure it out, I tried to use my magic to analyze it, seeing how it moves and behaves. [Note, Skill
I asked Shuna what it was and she seemed somewhat jealous. "You heard the voice of the world" she said, and I swear I could feel and see the aura within her. No wait, I could actually see her aura better now, heck, I can see basically all around me. I figured my brain might fry from the information but then Selena spoke up.
"'Im mitigating the damage for you, so you can use this skill to its full extent'" she said to me through a telepathic link with me which felt odd but it was nice to have someone to talk to constantly. Shuna and Hakuro took me on a little walk too their village of Ogres. "Our village is just up ahead" said Hakuro as we walked up on their village and I saw it.
Their village seemed to emulate old Japan to an extent, even considering how some people, who I think were soldiers, seemed to be wearing the equivalent of old samurai armor, one you can find in museums. Some were carrying swords, others were weaving threads with looms. I even saw some that were farming rice to an extent.
"Man, this is a nice village" I said outloud. "Of course, this is our home" said Shuna as they kept guiding me through the village. I could feel eyes were on us as we went through, and some greeted Shuna and Hakuro. I could also hear whispers about me mixed in there. "Who's the human?""Who knows but he's with them so he might be important". Those were just some of the things I heard.
"So, where are we going?" I asked them. "We are going to the chiefs house, can't have an unknown training in the village" said Hakuro and I could understand where they were coming from. Bringing an unknown, ie me, could be a potential security risk so introducing me to the chief should be first practice.
The hut we arrived at was a little nicer than the rest but it was still humble in a way. The door was something of a traditional japanese sliding door and it opened up by Shuna who led us inside. I wondered if I had to take my shoes off but it looked like I had to so I summoned some house shoes and put them and and went of to the meeting room.
Inside was the chief waitng for us it seems. Seated near him was Benimaru, Soei, Kurobe, and Shion. "Father" said Shuna with a bow as she took her place across from her brother. Hakuro also bowed and took his seat. The chiefs eyes met mind and I bowed and introduced myself to him.
"Thomas Evans huh" said the chief. "Your here to train with my daughter and Hakuro, is that right?" he asked and I could feel his aura shooting out from his body over to me, as if he was trying to intimidate me. "Nope" said Selena as she neutralized it, and I was left standing. "A willful one, I approve" said the chief. "Thank you chief" said Hakuro with reverence.
"Thank you sir for letting me study here" I said as I bowed to the chief. He looked at me with approval, I guess from withstanding his own aura. A test of will, someone with weak will couldn't learn from the best swordsman, atleast that's how I thought of it. 'Thank you Selena' I thought as I knew she received it. I also wanted to give him a gift to show gratitude so I grabbed a sword from within the vault, a sword of good material and presented it to him as I left with Shuna and Hakuro to begin the training.
[A/N: Hey guys, I decided to lower the word count for chapters as writing 2000 word chapters was a bit of a grind. However, to make up for it, I plan on releasing an extra chapter part to make up for it. Also, the vault made a debut again with Selena so expect to see her more often. Hope you guys enjoy!]