Rising from the Abyss Rising from the Abyss - Chapter 10

Healer Faruk Bell didn’t tell Yaric much through their entire session. He just asked questions, leaving Yaric speaking for almost the whole hour. And afterward, Yaric felt like he had just repeated the exercises from earlier, leaving him feeling strangely exhausted.

The map was a life saver, as he quickly found his way to the food hall. Getting a plate was very simple, with the buffet style layout enabling him to pile up his plate with a wide assortnt of food. He went straight to his new room after his al, and discovered that the small bathroom had a simple looking bathtub, but the copper pipe above it had a lever that let water out when he swung it, filling the tub quickly and easily. Yaric simply stood under the running water and washed, before flopping onto his bed and passing out.

Early the next morning he was just as hungry, as if he hadn’t eaten at all the evening before. Every muscle in his body was sore, with a deep ache that didn’t go away when he started moving around.

This ti Yaric took the opportunity to look around properly, and quickly received his first shock. The Academy was going to be much tougher than he thought.

The queue he was in displayed an ID card exactly like his own, with the sa ribbon tied over one of several grooves indented into one side of the card. The queue at the far side however displayed the sa ID, but without a ribbon tied over the ID card.

Yaric tapped the shoulder of the guy standing in front of him, and asked, “Excuse , do you know which queue I should be in? The queue over there looks different. What’s the difference?”

The taller student turned around, and Yaric noted he looked much older, probably already in his twenties. The student took a look at where Yaric was pointing and smirked. “That’s the queue for people who lost to personal challengers.”

He had already turned back to face forward before Yaric could respond. “Excuse , but what are ‘personal challengers?’”.

“You’re new here?” he asked, again with a slight smirk.

“Arrived yesterday, I start the training tomorrow.”

“Ah, well, you’re probably going to be spending most of your ti here in that queue then. That’s the queue for people with no ribbons. You lose your ribbon if you lose a personal challenge.”

“But what does the ribbon do?”

“The food you’re eating here now? That’s for ribbon holders. The food in the other queue isn’t as good and you’re given your plate and al, you can’t dish up for yourself. Or get more.”

“But why challenge then?”

“Partly because extra ribbons entitle you to extra als, so you always want a couple of extra ribbons. But mostly because it weakens your competition.”

“What!? Why would you students be trying to weaken each other?”

The mans smile turned a little pitying as he looked down at Yaric. “You really haven’t learned anything about the Academy yet, have you? The better perforrs get access to extra and more advanced classes. Everyone gets them eventually, but the best can advance faster. And there are the Solstice Tournant’s as well. The weaker everyone else in your year is the higher you should place.”

Yaric thought for only a second before asking, “But you have to be able to beat your opponent to begin with. If you can already take soone else’s ribbon, they’re already weaker than you.”

The man’s smile dropped slightly as he added, “And then you can be more confident that they will stay that way. While you can more easily push yourself even further.” He turned around at that as the queue made its way to the start of the buffet, and he pointedly ignored Yaric as he started piling his plate with food.

Yaric dished up for himself and ate alone again, now more worried about how the classes would be going once they started. He also realized that he was missing a lot of information, and worried about what else he didn’t know. With no way to contact Lloyd, Yaric finished his breakfast and started exploring the campus, looking for any areas of interest and making note of places he would need to be.

He was feeling more alone now instead of feeling part of a class of friends. People were moving around all over, most in training robes, with very few seeming to be out for a casual stroll. Notably, everyone seed to be focused on their own destination, hardly anyone ever greeted anyone else as they rushed around. The Academy seed to take on a harder, slightly more brutal feel to Yaric.

It was almost lunch when Yaric found himself near the admin buildings again. He had already decided to try to find Jeffrey, the Novice who had helped him the day before. He was about to climb the stairs when he noticed the sign above the entrance two doors closer, ‘Student Counseling’. There was no risk to trying there first.

The entrance was cooler than outside, and the reception counter was partitioned into individual booths. All of them were empty, and only four had anyone staffing the other side. Yaric walked up to the closest one, staffed by a friendly looking woman, with her red hair in a bob cut and wearing the sa robes as the administrators from the day before were.

“Hi, I am Novice Chelsea, how may I help you?”

“Hi Chelsea,” Yaric smiled. His smile faltered as Chelsea started to frown slightly.

“Sorry,” he stamred, “I just arrived yesterday and was given my class schedule and room. But I found out, by accident, that there are things like personal challenges. I was wondering where I can find out about how they work, and what else I need to know?” Yaric rushed the last part out, feeling embarrassed by Chelsea’s initial reaction.

Chelsea, however, stopped frowning as she heard Yaric’s explanation, and gave him a slight smile.

“We don’t often get questions at such a basic level, but I can definitely help you with that. You won’t need to book an appointnt with one of the councilors. Before we go over your questions though, we really need to go over forms of address, before you insult the wrong person.”

Yaric was a bit taken aback at that, and it clearly showed as Chelsea quickly continued, “It’s not an issue if you make a mistake and the person you’re talking to knows you’re new, but that won’t be the case most of the ti. It’s better to get it right anyway. Take a seat over there in the waiting area.” She waved over to so chairs in the corner and started making her way around the reception area.

Yaric took a seat, and Chelsea sat opposite him shortly after. “Right. First of all, you should be aware of the various titles that show rank amongst arcanists?” Chelsea paused for a mont, but continued as soon as Yaric gave a brief nod. “Outside of close friends, you should always address everyone by their title and na. For instance, I introduced myself to you as ‘Novice Chelsea’, which is what you should have referred to as from then on.” Yaric smiled apologetically.

“Don’t worry, I realize you wouldn’t have known and that you didn’t do anything intentionally. Second, you should have introduced yourself in turn. And you should preface your na with ‘Prospect’ every ti you introduce yourself to anyone.”

There was an awkward silence for a mont, and Chelsea eventually raised her eyebrows slightly while looking pointedly at Yaric.

“Sorry! Hi, I am Prospect Yaric,” he stamred awkwardly.

“Pleased to et you, Prospect Yaric. From now on, whenever I address you directly, it will be as ‘Prospect Yaric’, the sa way I would expect you to address as ‘Novice Chelsea’. I rember how silly this seed when I first joined, but you have to be aware of how others will take it if you drop their title or refer too casually to people you don’t know well. Your title is considered a basic sign of respect, both as a fellow arcanist, and with regards to your achievents in advancing your rank. Much more importantly however, the lack of a title is considered deliberate disrespect, and this can have serious consequences for you if you incorrectly address the wrong person.”

Yaric nodded emphatically, feeling extrely relieved to be finding this out before anything bad happened. He had been in two minds about actually approaching anyone just to find out if there was anything he needed to know, and only now realized just how vital taking the initiative had been.

“Third, the na you use can be important as well. In most circumstances, you will use first nas for anyone below Mage. For the most part, a na is just a na, but if you are speaking with soone who you want to show extra respect to, you can refer to them by their title followed by their last na. Usually this will be soone like whoever is at the top of your year, or even the top of a year in the years below you, once you start advancing. It’s just an acknowledgent of soone who as earned particular respect.”

“Lastly, you always refer to anyone who has graduated as a full Mage, and any higher rank, with their full title and last na. Using a Mage’s first na is considered very disrespectful. You also need to use their full title and na in the sa way as you would use a word like ‘sir’. Never just answer a question with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, or even greet or thank any Mage or higher without using their full title and last na.”

“Thank you, Novice Chelsea, I will keep that in mind.”

Chelsea smiled at his obvious attempt to answer correctly, which he had done successfully.

“The only other thing I can think of to ntion is to always introduce yourself using your own first na, and never use your last na. It is considered arrogant to assu that others should show you extra respect. If you really feel it is owed to you, at least introduce yourself with your full na, and allow others to choose whether they will use your first or last na. Now, you also had questions about personal challenges?”

“Yes, soone in the food hall explained what the ribbon on my card was for, and the different queues. But I don’t know how challenges work. And I still don’t understand why making life harder for other students is sothing to aim for, not when they already have to be weaker than you for you to beat them in a challenge. If there was a way to impact people you couldn’t beat, that would make more sense.”

“Ah, ok. You are currently a Prospect, so any other Prospect can challenge you. You yourself can challenge any Prospect and above, which is everyone, though I wouldn’t advise it. For now I would recomnd doing your best to avoid any challenges. If you’ve only just joined, you would need to have had private combat training from before you joined to have any chance of winning. Have you had any training before?”

Yaric shook his head.

“Then do whatever you can to stay under the radar for now. Which class were you joined with? And how have you got along with everyone so far?”

“The class I have been put with is just preliminary, I don’t know for certain yet. I have to do so private training for a while before my class is confird.”

Chelsea winced slightly at that. “Alright, that’s both good and bad. For now, you are basically immune to challenges, as you can’t be challenged until you actually start classes, and private training doesn’t count. So you are safe until you join with others. After you join a class however, you will likely be very behind compared to everyone else, considering instructors felt you needed a period of private instruction to catch up enough.”

'Problems for later,' Yaric thought, 'and all the more reason to work harder during the private instruction.'

“Once you are open to challengers, you need to try to avoid any challenges until you are strong enough to have a chance at winning. When you reach a level where you feel confident, you will probably want to challenge soone else yourself, just for the extra protection.”

“Extra protection?”

“As long as you have at least one ribbon, you cannot decline a challenge from anyone at your level or below, unless you have already been challenged that month by the sa individual. Having at least one spare ribbon ans you can lose a challenge without having your als affected. Extra ribbons also entitle you to extra als. With no ribbon, you not only get lower quality food, but you only get breakfast and dinner, compared to breakfast, lunch and dinner for those with a ribbon. There are also extra, smaller als available between breakfast and lunch, and between lunch and dinner. A second ribbon entitles you to a fourth al in the midafternoon, and a third ribbon lets you eat at all five.”

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“Well that’s not important then, how much food can soone possibly eat?”

Chelsea just laughed. “Wait until you are running miles every day and training every other minute. Then you will see how hungry you can get!”

“So three ribbons is the limit?”

“No, you will see there are five grooves for ribbons on your ID card, you can fill all five. There are so extra luxuries you can have with als when you have a fourth or fifth ribbon, but it is commonly accepted that the food you get with even a single ribbon is actually better for you and your performance than the luxury foods are. In reality they serve more as a buffer in case you lose a challenge.”

“Ok, so how are the challenges made? And how are they carried out?”

“Anyone at your rank or lower can challenge you, and so long as you have at least one ribbon, you can’t decline. Challenges are mostly issued at the start of a month, when all ribbons are handed in and each person is issued a single ribbon, resetting everyone’s ribbon count. Instructors have thods for determining the truth of challenges, so no one ever tries to break the rules and squirm their way out. The sa goes for hiding ribbons. They are always to be kept on your ID card. The punishnts for breaking the academy rules are severe.” Chelsea looked pointedly at Yaric again.

“Ok, I understand. But how are the challenges actually issued. And carried out?”

“Making a challenge is easy, you simply walk up to whoever you wish to challenge and clearly state that you challenge them. They must either accept, or, if they can show their ID card has no ribbon, they can decline. Once a challenge is made it cannot be rescinded. The challenged get to pick either the ti or the type of challenge, with the challenger then picking whichever is left.”

“All challenges must be fought within 48 hours of the challenge being issued, and can be fought unard or with various types of weapons. If weapons are chosen, they can either be left open for each to choose whatever they prefer, or they can specify broad categories of weapons, such as spears or swords, in which case both must use the sa. You cannot limit anyone to a particular weapon however, such as short swords only. Both challenger and challenged would be able to use any kind of sword they want - if for example swords were specified.”

“There is a challenge arena with multiple fields that must be booked for the ti chosen, and challenges are held there. Instructors will transfer ribbons as required. You will find you ribbon is magically fixed to your card, and impossible for you to remove.”

Yaric was surprised to discover that the ribbon was magical, as it hadn’t seed particularly special to him. Just how little he understood about his new world was again brought ho to him.

“I take it you also need to know about the Solstice Tournants?” Chelsea smiled at Yaric.

He just nodded, relieved to be getting a clearer picture of the Academy, and to finally find soone both friendly and helpful. Although he also got the impression that Chelsea was enjoying her break from behind the counter.

“As you must have gathered from the na, they are held twice a year, on the sumr and winter solstices. Everyone of the sa year competes within their own year only, so there are both separate winners and separate rankings for each year of students. Competitors who rank highly earn credits, with more credits earned for the highest ranks.”

“Your most imdiate concern will be the increased one on one instruction the higher rankers get between the solstices. There are things you can turn your credits in for, but there is nothing of major value until you reach Apprentice rank, and it is far better for you to save whatever you can for when you do. The increased one on one ti with your instructors is invaluable. I can’t stress enough how much of an advantage that will give you. Look at yourself right now, you are going to be having one on one instruction for the next few months, for you to catch up to a class a few years ahead of you.”

“The third-year class.” Yaric offered.

“Exactly! There you are then. A few months of one-on-one instruction is enough to bring you up to the level of students who have been training for three years. Now don’t misunderstand ! You won’t actually be at their level, you will just be close enough for your skill level to be tolerable. So things just can’t be compensated for, and there are no short cuts for combat experience. You will likely lose every fight you have with any classmate of yours for several months after joining, but you will be expected to at least put up a fight. Now imagine if you had the sa three years they will have, but all one on one. Or at least mostly one on one. There would be no comparison! And that is what is up for grabs during the Solstice Tournants.”

“Of course, that creates so other problems you need to be aware of. The intra-class competition can be intense, and only increases over ti. You will often see that in the weeks and days before the solstices, there are a lot more injuries during sparring matches. Personal Challenges often get a lot more aggressive as well, and so will use those as opportunities to cause minor injuries to anyone they view as a threat. Anything to improve their ranking in the upcoming tournant. So will even negotiate for stronger competitors to remove competitors ranked between them, to bring the weaker competitor up in rankings. You need to really be on your toes before Solstice Tournants.”

Yaric was feeling very uncomfortable with the thod of competition in the Academy, especially with the openly acknowledged, underhanded tactics used by so.

“How many people compete in that way?” Yaric asked. “Shouldn’t we all be pushing ourselves to do as well as we can? Instead of trying to sabotage others?”

“There are a bunch of reasons. It teaches students to be on their guard for when they are working outside the Academy. It opens everyone’s eyes to different tactics that can be used and gives you experience in countering them. It even makes things a little safer, as people can use these tactics openly instead of trying to hide them. Do you really think banning these strategies would stop everyone from trying them? At least this way it can be moderated.”

Yaric really didn’t like this answer, but he knew he would have to adapt. From his experience with other kids back in Lekton, any kind of complaint he made would just make him seem weak and make him an even bigger target for these kinds of tactics. 'No, I will just keep my head down and avoid whatever I can.'

“As for how many people use these tactics, it varies a lot. It will really depend on the kind of people in your year. In general though, there is very little of this at the very beginning, as people don’t really understand just how important the rankings are. People also tend to think of themselves as special talents when they first join, with delusions of grandeur. Once they have their first few Tournants however, the majority tend to try these kinds of tactics. Over ti it gets harder and harder to successfully hurt or hold back those that threaten your own position, so it tapers off again over the next few years.”

“It does start becoming more prevalent once more amongst Novices, but by that point it is mostly the lower ranks desperate to find a way to move up the rankings. Prospects and Initiates quickly develop a clear hierarchy, but it’s definitely possible to raise yourself higher through hard work, pushing your own developnt to the point that you can compete against higher ranks. Once you reach the Novice level, you will find that the gaps between ranks have increased to the point that it takes exceptional effort just to move up a couple of ranks, and everyone starts putting in that kind of effort, so you are really just working that hard to keep your current ranking.”

'Everything I learn just keeps emphasizing how important these first few months are going to be. I have to close the gap as quickly as possible, or I’m always going to be behind everyone else. If I don’t close the gap early on, I never will...'

“Do you have any suggestions for my first months of individual training? Sothing I should focus on, or extra classes I can try?”

Chelsea just laughed at the last part. “You are going to be in for a surprise! Wait until you start your classes before you ask about extra classes. You are going to be pushed to the absolute limits of what you can do. There is no way you will be able to take any extra classes, even if that were possible for soone with no credits or rank. Besides, you will have a dedicated instructor for all of your training, I wouldn’t dare to presu to be able to tell anyone what their focus should be, even if it wasn’t soone I have just t and know nothing about.”

“Surely there is sothing you wished you could have done better in your first year? Sothing you didn’t understand at the ti or didn’t appreciate the importance of?”

Chelsea looked uncomfortable with Yaric’s questions, and no longer seed as sure of herself as when they had first started the discussion.

“You really just need to listen to your instructor. They will point out any weaknesses or areas for you to focus on.” Chelsea hesitated for a mont, before continuing, “Just keep in mind that physical abilities co with ti no matter what you do. Almost any training you do will push your strength and fitness. But skills can only be improved with intentional effort. The biggest differences between ranks in Novices isn’t normally strength or power, or even staying power. It’s almost always talent and skill. The better you are in unard combat and with each type of weapon, the higher you will climb.”

“You also get layered advantages, as training in any kind of combat overlaps with most other things. Don’t forget that working on your unard combat will also improve you physically like the physical training does, and will have so impact on most weapons as well. Sa thing with weapons training, sothing like an axe also has a fair amount of crossover with sothing like a mace, and the improvents you get in things like footwork and reading your opponent carry over to every other weapon as well as unard combat. Even sothing as simple as improving your understanding of the weaknesses of a particular weapon you use will help you anyti you face soone ard with that sa weapon. Always look for ways to improve multiple things at once with the sa training.”

Yaric smiled widely at that. He would need to see exactly how that would work, but that sounded like it was just what he was looking for. 'Maybe I can push for more combat training? Would my instructor let substitute so physical training for combat training? There must be sothing I can do!'

“Thank you! That sounds great, I will definitely keep these things in mind! Is there anything else I should know about?”

“Probably - it’s almost impossible to know what you don’t know. But just be aware that very few find out everything in advance. It’s normal to make mistakes or discover new things as you go along. The things I’ve told you are really just the things you directly asked about, but most importantly they are things that would get you in trouble or hold you back if you had to find them out by yourself over ti. Don’t stress over not knowing everything, the Academy is new to everyone at first.”

“Alright, thank you. This has helped a lot. If any other questions or issues co up, is Student Counseling open to anyone anyti?”

“Of course, you can co through and speak to anyone here anyti you need to. This is a service available to everyone and all are encouraged to use it. Don’t hold yourself back by being too afraid to ask questions!”

Both Yaric and Chelsea stood up and shook hands. "Thank you Novice Chelsea," Yaric said, before leaving the reception area. He felt much better than when he had arrived. Things had seed to get worse in the beginning, and Yaric still wasn’t comfortable with so of the things he’d found out, but everything was much clearer now and Yaric definitely felt more confident with the information and reduced uncertainty.

Possibly more importantly, he now had a plan. Or at least, he had an indication of what form his plan should take. The next few months would be the most critical of his life, and he had to make absolutely certain that he was improving at the fastest rate he could.

There was one other thing that Yaric hadn’t ntioned to Chelsea. He clearly rembered the words of the Battle Mage who had tested him the day before. ‘You will be staying in one of the empty dormitory buildings to begin with, for the first 3 to 6 months, while we get your fitness up to scratch. I will be training you personally while training my other classes, understand?’ - 'Until we get your fitness up to scratch'! The one-on-one training would include both physical and combat training, but he would only join the regular classes once his physical training caught up. So he would push as far as he could with his combat training. Not only would more combat training obviously improve his combat skills, but the more ti he spent with combat training the less ti he would have for purely physical training. Increasing the overall amount of one-on-one training he would receive.

When Yaric had first laid eyes in Lekton, he had been very nervous. Seeing the campus grounds for the first ti had been intimidating. The tests themselves had been nerve wracking, while being summoned to the Council Chamber had made him extrely anxious. And there was no forgetting the display Lloyd had put on during that sa eting – that had been terrifying. Finally, Yaric had gone through a highly stressful morning as a learned more about the Academy and how things worked here.

But now, for the first ti since getting off the river boat, Yaric felt genuinely excited. There was so much opportunity, and he could clearly see a path forward for him to improve himself as far as possible. He could finally start to pay Lloyd back for everything he had done, not to ntion the faith he put in Yaric. And of course, he could see a path forward that he was certain would make his parents proud. Everything was there in front of him, he just had to put the effort in to grab it.

The walk back to the food hall was entirely different from the earlier trip in the opposite direction. The sa streets felt completely different, and Yaric felt like he was looking at the campus buildings with new eyes.

He noted how well maintained the parks and fields spread throughout the campus grounds were, with wide paved paths across the fields. Each had small stands of trees and flowers spread throughout, and comfortable looking benches scattered between them.

The roads between buildings were paved as well, leaving no areas of bare dirt like he was used to when living in Clery. Every building was made of stone and marble, gleaming in the midday sun. The buildings sohow managed to look old, with great history and providence clearly evident, but also brand new, with no signs of weathering or wear to be seen anywhere.

The people around him still seed to be in their own personal worlds, and were still rushing from place to place, but now Yaric noted how everyone was either smiling and looking happy, or had determined expressions on their faces, clearly focused on so kind of goal. All of the students were also well dressed, even robes that were dirty from recent training were clearly well-maintained and of good quality.

Yaric made his way inside the food hall, grabbed a plate, and this ti thoroughly enjoyed his lunch. He made note of how many people arrived in groups, clearly friends, and how food was continually replenished as people helped themselves.

It was with a much lighter heart that Yaric made his way back to his room, determined to rest and recover as much as possible for dinner and an early night. Yaric didn’t even notice the silly looking smile he had on his face as he walked to his dorm building, nor did he notice how he was already finding his way back without even concentrating on where he was going.

Feeling like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders, Yaric enjoyed his last day of relaxation, looking forward to his first day of training. His first day would also be his first opportunity to take advantage of everything he'd learned. If he pushed hard now, he'd be better off later, and he might even have an advantage when he joined a proper class.

'At least it won't be as hard as the physical test. And I'm used to working in a mill all day... this will be easy!'