Irregular - Chapter 7

“There is a low level dungeon nearby, we send the virgin adventurer groups there for training. These three-” He gestured towards the three who stood with them, one was female the other two were male. “Have been part of my class for a few years but they have yet to complete their team, I would like you to join their team, you haven’t reached level two yet, so your stats are not yet available but with your skills and perks the dungeon should be of no danger for you.” Cilestius told them.

Three having no idea what the man had said tapped Sumi on the shoulder for a translation, when she started signing to him she drew weird looks from the others but Three was too focused on Sumi’s translation to notice.

[It would not be smart to join these people.] Three signed.

Sumi blinked asking aloud, “Why not?”

[The sharp-eyed man pointed out that these guys have been following his classes for a few years, yet they do not have a team. There were plenty of others at that meeting around their age, that they do not have a team yet, indicates they are weak or have other deficiencies, our goal was to find strong allies was it not?] Three signed, staring her in the eyes.

“That shouldn’t matter that much should it?” She retorted.

Three sighed, [At least use signs, and yes it matters. We should not join.]

It was hard not to notice the two were having an argument of sorts, Cilestius swiveled his gaze between the two. “Is there a problem?”

“Three does not want to join the team.” Sumi replied,

Three narrowed his eyes at her response, but switched his gaze to Cilestius and gave him a kurt nod.

Cilestius looked at the two”Why do you not want to join?”

Three folded his arms, frowned but answered, “Weak”.

Cilestius blinked, “You don’t think you’re strong enough for a dungeon?”

Three shook his head, pointing in the direction of the three people they didn’t know. “Weak.”

The three of them started shaking, the girl with the dark ponytail stepping forward with trembling fists, “I am NOT weak!”

Three signed at Sumi, [They are the leftovers, either weak, clumsy, or terrible teamwork. Tell them.]

Sumi glared at him, “I don’t want to.”

[Tell them!] Three signed.

“Just tell me what he’s saying!” The dark haired girl told Sumi.

Three nodded in agreement, Sumi grumbled under her breath. “He says, since none of the other people picked you guys for their teams, you guys are either weak, clumsy or have terrible teamwork. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be left over.”

The girl trembled but glared at Three with tears in her eyes, “I am not weak” She mumbled, then she regained some of the fire in her eyes. “Follow me and I’ll show you!” She stomped out the door heading to one of the nearby training halls.

[Why did you hurt her feelings like that! Why are you being so mean!] Sumi asked glaring at him.

[I do not want to hurt her feelings, but our task is more important, Jer has trusted us with finding strong, capable, and loyal allies, he has a plan, he always does. I’m trusting him and I will do what I believe to be necessary to complete the task he has given me even if I have to say some things I would prefer not to.] Three told her before following the dark-haired girl. Sumi stood their with a puffed up chest watching his broad departing back before deflating.

“So that is why he is being like that, now it makes sense. He’s usually such a softie but he takes tasks and promises very seriously, this is so like him, the idiot still has no tact what-so-ever.” she muttered to herself, sighing she followed hoping to be able to repair the damage that would undoubtedly be done.

They ended up in the training hall, following the two out of either sheer curiosity or necessity. The two young men whose name they still didn’t know, were friends of the dark-haired girl. Telling Emmi, supposedly the girls name, to send three crying into the arms of his mother.

The word mother had an effect on Three, He glared at the other two, his muscles rippling, his already large size seeming to increase a notch as he stepped forward dark murder in his eye. Sumi quickly jumped in front of the two [They don’t know her!] she quickly told him, [Mother is someone else to each person, they don’t know the hag, calm down!] She signed in near panic before she placed her hands on his chest and tried to push him back. He noticed what she had signed took a deep breath and let the tension flow, his muscles deflating as he returned to his normal size, his actions had an effect however, the two boys had backed up as far as they could until their backs were against the wall, Cilestius had his hand on his sword and was standing protectively in front of his students looking ready for a fight.

Three snorted and walked up to the dark haired girl, she looked afraid yet still had a determined glint in her eye. Three grunted, he atleast respected her determination. She grabbed a wooden greatsword of the rack and headed to one of the dummies, she took a stance holding the sword low and to the side, then in a burst of motion, she swung towards the dummy roaring “Slice!” Her sword had a slightly red glow as she hit the dummy and left a sizable dent in the iron thing. The two boys clapped in excitement, even Cilestius had a pleased smile on his face.

Three just frowned and shook his head, he walked over to the rack and grabbed a very real knife, then he stalked towards the black haired girl, who was still smiling proudly about her achievement until she saw him walking up to her with a knife in hand, her eyes went wide and she backed away, holding a now trembling great sword between them, she stumbled over her own feet landing on her backside. Three stood over her without even having really done anything. He pointed at her dealing a blow to her confidence, “Weak,” He said, the girl got tears in her eyes gripping the hilt of her sword with white knuckles. “You fear, stop think, make wrong, will die.” He told her as best he could with his small understanding of the language. Then he smashed the knife blade through his own hand, blood splashing over her face as she stared up at him with wide eyes. Three then pointed to himself, “No fear, no weak”

Cilestius stepped forward this time and helped his student up, giving her a pat on the back. “It was a good swing Emmi, you have improved a lot since I last I saw, I bet you were constantly practicing even when I wasn’t watching.” The girl sniffled, hair hanging over her face as she stared at the floor, she nodded slightly. “As for you big man, First of all you should get that checked out and there is no need to go to these extremes to prove a point.” He sighed as he made an effort to calm his trembling student. “Though I understand what you mean, you think my students are weak because they will freeze up and make mistakes when you are in an actual battle, which may cause harm to either you or your friend in the future, should you team-up with them, correct?” Sumi was quickly translating as usual.

Three looked at him and nodded, meanwhile the other two boys had stepped next to Emmi and were glaring at him.

“They lack experience, it is indeed possible they will freeze up, which is exactly why I want you to join them, you have killed before right?” Cilestius asked.

Three grunted his consent.

“Monsters?” Cilestius carefully inquired.

Three hesitated a moment then shook his head.

“People?” The question seemed to hang in the air, Sumi saw Emmi and the two others freeze as they stared at Three waiting for his answer.

Three remained silent for a moment then nodded. Sumi saw Emmi and the boys back away from him quickly, she glared at them angrily, “He had no choice!” She yelled at them, “He did it to save us! You have no idea what he has done for me!”

“He murdered people!” Emmi screeched, “How is that okay!”

“You don’t what kind of people they were!” Sumi screeched, her hands balled into fists. Fingernails piercing her skin at the memory.

“They were still people, PEOPLE!” Emmi countered, pointing an accusing finger towards Three.

“He did it for us! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE HIM!” Her voice cracked as she screamed at the girl, tears falling from her eyes onto the ground, her voice switching to a barely understandable screech. “YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S BEEN DONE TO US!”

Sumi started trembling, various colors rippling across her skin, she saw it, froze for a brief moment, then started tearing at her arm, prying loose her arm string by string, sobbing, screeching incoherently. Desperately trying to tear apart the body that was hers , yet not hers. Three quickly stepped forward and wrapped her tight enough in a hug that she could no longer move. Soft sobs and a whispered sentence was barely audible from the small girl, “I just want to be normal again why can’t we just” The rest of her words were drowned out by soft sniffling as Three held her to him, using one of his large hands to softly pet her messed up hair.

Emmi and the others stood their frozen, unsure what to do. They seemed horrified by what they had seen, but what they had heard had enough of an effect to shut them up. Cilestius walked up to them and carefully phrased the next sentence. “The people you killed are they the ones who” He hesitated, then continued, “Are they the reason for the skills the both of you possess?” Sumi had recovered enough from her outbreak to do some half-hearted translating for Three.

Three nodded grimly, Cilestius scratched his chin. “I understand why you think the way you do, but I think you teaming up with them will be an important learning experience for both sides involved. I would still like you to work together with them tomorrow, for now I suppose you need a place to sleep. Follow me.” Cilestius told them beckoning them to follow, “Emmi, Davis, Talin, you guys know the way out, go home and think about what you heard.”After a brief hesitation, he added, “and saw.” They stared at their teachers back as he walked through the hallway the giant with his contrasting skin and hair colours protectively carrying a trembling girl covering her arm.